Tag Archives: australian film

Movie review: The Faceless Man

29 Friday May 2020

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The Faceless Man is an off-beat independent horror movie that is a boiling pot of subgenres with the Ozploitation era embedded firmly on its sleeve. Like any low-budget film it has its flaws but let’s focus on the positives first, because if anything this film has a lot of heart and is prepared to face one of life’s greatest fears head on.

For his debut feature, writer/director James Di Martino decided to tackle the subject of cancer as the faceless entity stalking its prey and pushing them to the edge of sanity. 
It’s a bold approach in a playing field that deserves a higher quality offering than what is on offer, but you can only work with the resources and materials you have at hand.
Despite this, Di Martino still manages to eek out some spectacularly eerie moments peppered with some decent and dark humour along the way. 

The tone of the film is deliciously macabre in places and these moments will resonate highly with any fan of the genre and even delivers great character actors in Roger Ward and Andy McPhee who do not disappoint in their respective roles.

The story centres on Emily (Sophie Thurling) as a cancer survivor in fear that she may fall sick once again who is driven by paranoia and a past that haunts her.
So when presented with a weekend away with her friends, she sees it as a way to get away from her troubles, but fate has other plans in store.

The Prognosis:

Characteristically speaking, Di Martino provides a suitably quirky and unsettling movie which suffers a little from some performances and too many right turns in the plotline.
What it does promise is a director with a vision, who with the right tools could produce some decent storylines in the future. Definitely a name to look out for.

  • Saul Muerte

Will Sweet River be the next sleeper hit from Australia?

05 Tuesday Nov 2019

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Today we learnt of an exciting new project that is shooting in Northern NSW, Australia which could herald another strong story that exposes the dark underbelly of our Great Southern Land. Australia has been slowly carving out some disturbing tales of late such as the fantastic Hounds of Love, Killing Ground, Rabbit, and Lost Gully Road, all released within the last couple of years and well worth your time.

Described as a psychological thriller, Sweet River is set in between Byron Bay and  Tweed Heads, a land filled with sugar cane farms, that can grow up to 16 metres in height and potentially ripe enough to harbour secrets within. It’s a beautiful part of the world, so expect some stunning shots from Justin McMillan (Storm Surfers 3D), who also co-owns a drone company. 

The story unfolds with Hanna Montague (Lisa Kay – Indian Summers) who is on a quest for closure following the death of her son, and moves to a small cottage, but is confronted by a town hell-bent on hiding its secrets. She is united in her grief with her neighbour (Genevieve Lemon) who has also lost a child in tragic circumstances, but how far into their sorrow are they willing to go in order to uncover the truth?

Also starring Martin Sacks (Wentworth, A Place To Call Home), Sweet River promises to set the mystery that lurks beyond the shadows ablaze, and deliver a tale that could have devastating consequences. 

It is expected to be released in 2020 through Film Ink Presents. 

For more information see the press release below:

sweet-river-announcement-finalDownload
  • Saul Muerte

Movie Review: Sweet River (2020)

Movie review: Rabbit

28 Sunday Oct 2018

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Luke Shanahan’s directorial feature debut, Rabbit is a stellar example of what Australians do well, Dark and gritty drama.

The difference though is that Rabbit is not just grit for grit’s sake, but a compelling and captivating drama that lures you in and ensnares you to the bitter end.

The concept is a simple one, Maude Ashton wakes from a vivid dream that compels her to return home and find her missing twin sister.

The journey she takes to find her though is a far from simple one as Maude must listen to her instincts and psychic intuition through a twisted labyrinth of trauma and despair.

Shanahan has a gift for tapping into the psychological aspects of the human mind and weaving together an intriguing narrative that in lesser hands could lead you up the garden path with no purpose or direction laid down. Shanahan’s screenplay takes you by the hand and directs you with purpose.

I also want to applaud the acting accolades of the two women in this film; the lead Adelaide Clemens who plays Maude and her twin shows great depth in her character, and Veele Baetens as Nerida who is harbouring a troubled past that she displays with great restrain beneath the surface. Both their performances were incredibly rewarding to watch and keeps you engaged throughout the movie.

The Diagnosis:

Rabbit is a quality psychological drama that keeps you entranced and could very well prove to be the sleeper hit of the year.

  • Saul Muerte

Movie review: Hounds of Love

05 Thursday Oct 2017

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Hands down Hounds of Love is the best Australian film this year.

The film not only manages to capture the time period that it is set (1987) and location of Perth, Australia, but more importantly it depends was something that seems all too rare these days – attention to character.

The story itself is a fairly simple one centring on the kidnap of Vicki (Ashleigh Cummings) by murderous couple Evelyn (Emma Booth) and John (Stephen Curry) but it’s the depth of character that truly makes this film.

An example of this can be seen in Stephen Curry’s performance, which as the domineering and brutal ‘male’ presence on screen that is beautifully underplayed and only brought to to the fore when absolutely necessary.

Added to this is that the character John isn’t just a one note performance as he too is the victim of control from some local ‘thugs’ prizing him of money at any given opportunity and undoing so depriving him of any manhood.

Only from behind closed doors can he feel that he can be King of his castle.

Any sign of change therein and he will soon lay down his law.

The attention though, isn’t owned by Curry. Hounds of Love is all the more powerful because of its female leads.

Ashleigh Cummings displays a lot of heart and strength as she bares her soul as victim Vicki, which is pushed to the nth degree in her fight for survival. 

Slowly we see her confidence and strength ebbed away as John and Evelyn chip away at her psyche physically. 

Vicky soon realises that if she is to survive it will be down to her wits, but how long can she endure the torment before she will cave?

For me though, I was incredibly impressed by Emma Booth’s portrayal of Evelyn.

Her character hangs on a knifes edge throughout the film as her unhinged and unpredictable nature keeps the audience guessing as to where she will land come the film’s conclusion, which is a testament to how Booth is able to display vulnerability, rage, and confusion to name but a few of the range of emotions that she had to portray to capture the essence of her character.

I was truly moved by all the performances from the leads and for Ben Young’s penmanship got his feature debut in the directors chair.

The level of richness across the board would have some forgiven from believing that Young was a veteran of his craft.

It’s going to be interesting to see how he carves out the rest of his career moving forward. Based on this movie he will go on strength to strength.

I couldn’t recommend Hounds of Love enough and if you’d like to hear more on the matter, check out our podcast interview with producer Melissa Kelly below:

https://player.whooshkaa.com/player/episode/id/104222?visual=true&sharing=true

Or alternatively on iTunes here.

  • Paul Farrell