Tag Archives: Rialto Distribution

Your Monster – A Tale of Monsters Within and Without

24 Sunday Nov 2024

Posted by in Movie review

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Melissa Barrera’s undeniable star power is the cornerstone of Your Monster, a feature-length adaptation of Caroline Lindy’s acclaimed short film. For fans of Barrera (Scream, In the Heights), her magnetic screen presence alone may be reason enough to watch, as she brings depth and relatability to a tale rooted in personal struggle and societal neglect. As Lindy’s script expands from its original short-film premise, it wrestles with maintaining focus, resulting in uneven pacing, but Barrera keeps the emotional center intact, inviting viewers into the stormy psyche of her character.

Your Monster reimagines the archetypal Beauty and the Beast tale, twisting its romantic elements into a metaphor for mental health—a beast that both protects and consumes its host. For this reviewer, the premise evokes nostalgia for the 1980s TV series starring Ron Perlman and Linda Hamilton, though Lindy’s darker approach is very much a product of modern anxieties. The film’s strength lies in its exploration of neglected mental health, illustrating how inner demons, if left unaddressed, can fester into something monstrous. However, the film’s genre-blending between psychological drama and fantastical horror doesn’t always land, leaving the metaphor sometimes muddled. Still, with Barrera’s compelling performance and moments of heartfelt reflection, Your Monster offers a thoughtful, if flawed, glimpse into the monsters we create—and the possibility of taming them.

Visually, the film delivers an atmospheric experience that balances between eerie intimacy and fantastical surrealism. The titular monster’s design—a blend of shadow and human-like features—is both unnerving and strangely sympathetic, embodying the duality of its role in the protagonist’s life. Caroline Lindy’s direction demonstrates a strong grasp of mood and symbolism, though some of the film’s extended sequences veer into indulgence, stretching its central conceit thin.

The Prognosis:

Despite its flaws, Your Monster is a bold, heartfelt exploration of inner turmoil and resilience, buoyed by Barrera’s standout performance and a narrative that dares to wade into murky emotional depths. It’s imperfect but worth a watch for those seeking a horror story with a poignant emotional core.

  • Saul Muerte

Your Monster will be screening in Australian cinemas nationwide from 28th Nov.

Hellboy: The Crooked Man Stumbles Through Shadows, But Fails to Find Its Feet

08 Tuesday Oct 2024

Posted by in Movie review

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

Hellboy: The Crooked Man marks the fourth live-action installment in the Hellboy franchise and, unfortunately, continues the downward trend started by the 2019 Neil Marshall-directed reboot (which, full disclosure, I haven’t seen—so I won’t judge it too harshly). However, what The Crooked Man struggles with most is shaking off the long shadow cast by Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy films, which, if I’m being honest, I hold a bit of bias for given my love for del Toro’s visionary style.

In The Crooked Man, Hellboy, played by Jack Kesy, teams up with a rookie agent from the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD) to face witches and a local demon terrorizing a small 1950s Appalachian community. The setup is atmospheric, dripping with dark and moody rural horror vibes, but the style swings between working well in some moments and feeling like a TV pilot trying to test the waters for more adventures.

While Mike Mignola himself pens the screenplay, keeping the source material’s spirit alive, the execution of that spirit sometimes feels thin. There are certainly eerie moments and a heavy use of gothic imagery, but for all the darkness, the film rarely finds space for genuine scares. The “Crooked Man” villain has some potential, but he never feels quite as menacing as he should be, and the plot doesn’t take the time to build tension or fear effectively.

One thing I will credit the film for is its aesthetic, which evokes a grungy, eerie folklore atmosphere fitting for the Appalachia setting. Yet even here, the film can’t quite find its balance, often coming across as more stylistic than substantive. At times, it feels like a collection of eerie vignettes rather than a cohesive, immersive narrative.

The Prognosis:

Hellboy: The Crooked Man is not without some merit—there are moments where the moody visuals start to work, and the film grows on you as you settle into its world. But it struggles to rise above the feeling of being just another attempt at relaunching Hellboy into mainstream success, and unfortunately, it doesn’t hit the mark. It ends up feeling more like a trial run for something bigger that never quite takes off.

Fans of the comics might appreciate the nods to Mignola’s work but compared to the grand scope of del Toro’s vision for the character, The Crooked Man leaves much to be desired. It’s dark, yes, but not quite deep enough to make a lasting impression.

  • Saul Muerte

HELLBOY: THE CROOKED MAN will release in cinemas nationally on October 10 through Rialto Distribution.

Movie Review: Immaculate (2024)

25 Monday Mar 2024

Posted by in Movie review

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

When Director Michael Mohan was asked to collaborate with rising star Sydney Sweeney to make a horror film, he wanted to ensure that it not only suited Sweeney’s status but also to make a movie that was ‘genuinely terrifying”. It’s clear as the story unfolds that Mohan is inspired by other high profile psychological, religious horrors by significant auteurs of the field such as Friedkin, Kubrick and Polanski. The latter of which is abundantly clear with whispers of Rosemary’s Baby trickling throughout, but instead of a New York apartment, we’re presented with a remote convent with an Italian countryside backdrop to lay the scene.

When Cecilia (Sweeney), a devout nun and the picture of purity is invited to join the convent, which also serves as a hospital for elderly Sisters, following the collapse of her own religious community, she believes this is a calling from on high. Upon arrival it soon reveals that this is not the sanctuary that first appeared, and a growing malevolence slowly draws forth and her meek and withdrawn demeanour begins to unravel.

The Prognosis:

Mohan steps through the horror genre door with bold proclamations and high hopes. It serves him well to aim high as he certainly delivers a thought provoking and in some places shocking narrative from Andrew Lobel’s screenplay. 

This is a film that has three very clear acts and while the first act could have added some more depth to the character and to set the scene, the slow distribution serves as a strength to what Mohan has in store. The second act shifts through the tumultuous gears that allows Sweeney to explore Ceclia’s character and valour, whilst exposing the patriarchal hold the convent holds over her, before the cord is ripped in the final act in a crescendo of cataclysmic proportions.

  • Saul Muerte

Immaculate is currently screening in cinemas nationwide.

Movie review: The Tank (2023)

27 Tuesday Jun 2023

Posted by in Movie review

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

Creature features are always a bold enterprise to undertake; reveal the beast to soon and you lose all suspension of disbelief; bring the creature into the fold too late, you may lose the interest of the viewer; and if once it is revealed, the monster has to satiate one’s desires or lose impact entirely. Thankfully writer, director Scott Walker (The Frozen Ground) is in good hands for his sophomore feature length outing, teaming up with Weta Workshop to bring the wretches to life on the screen. 

To harness his vision, Walker fuels the narrative with a small family unit, thrust into the wilderness against a dark presence to tie our interests and connect with them in their plight.

When we meet the trio of father, Ben (Matt Whelan – Narcos); mother, Jules (Lucianne Buchanan – The Night Agent); and daughter Reia (Zara Nausbaum) they are fighting to make ends meet in a rundown pet store, when they inherit an abandoned coastal property with its own secluded beachfront. What seems like an opportunity to reap from their new abode, the family look to fix it up and sell for a tidy profit, but there is something sinister lurking beneath them. As Ben sets to work repairing the water tank that is tied to the property and reconnecting the fresh water supply, Jules begins to unearth a disturbing past that is tied to the house and Ben’s family. What lies dormant, finds new life and begins to rise to the surface, stalking and laying claim to its territory. 

As Walker carves out a fairly satisfactory tale, building up atmosphere and introducing neighbouring characters that can be suitably killed off by the wee beastie, he also chooses the approach of saving the creature reveal until the characters on screen have time to be established. The indicators set up to the final climax are a little easy to spot however, including initiating Jules’ own strength and resilience earlier on when we witness her capturing a pet rat in the afore-mentioned pet store. Sure she can handle herself against smaller creatures but how will she fare when she comes face to face with a far greater foe? 

The Prognosis:

There is plenty to draw you in on the surface value, with strong performances, beautiful scenery, and decent creature effects, and the story weaves an ecological moral with greater depth than The Black Demon deigned to inflict upon us. The execution however, stays a little too close to predictability with some of the plot choices. It’s engaging enough however and sits nicely in the middle of the road. playing it safely, placing the family under threat, despite not offering anything new.

  • Saul Muerte

The Tank is currently streaming on Shudder.

Movie review: The Black Demon (2023)

03 Saturday Jun 2023

Posted by in Movie review

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , ,

https://youtu.be/uj6wkp-KA1Y

The Black Demon threatened to dominate the big screen cinemas with its theatrical trailer and megladon of epic proportions tied in with a family under threat vibe. The casting of Josh Lucas as its lead was also a relatively safe choice as he knows how to deliver in front of the camera. Yet the appointment of Director Adrian Grunberg was a worrying one despite being no stranger to action he clearly struggles with a decent execution if Rambo: Last Blood was anything to go by.

Oilman Paul Sturges has grand plans for an idyllic family holiday off the coast of Baja, Mexico whilst combining with a job trip to quality check an oil rig called “El Diamante’. The name given to this derrick should serve as a metaphor for the film; a facade that is all glitz and no glamour.

Likewise Sturges is not all he seems to be, harbouring a secret that has helped fuel the lifestyle that he has provided for his family.

The location itself is one that Sturges and his wife Ines (Fernanda Urrejola) hold strong memories with, having shared some quality time there, but upon arrival they find that it has been run to the ground and unsavoury characters are ruling the roost. 

While the family in peril provides the bait for viewers to hook onto, the mode that we are expected to traverse soon becomes tiresome and predictable and this paint by numbers approach to the story combined with dire dialogue is tiring to watch unfold. While I applaud the idea of the local paganistic views being explored, this theme is saturated by the ecological viewpoints of the writers, who continuously ram them down our throats to the point that you wish they just take us out of our misery with a carefully triggered shot with a strategically placed scuba tank. Instead we’re subjected to painfully overplayed fodder with a mega shark that only casually graces us with an appearance when the tension needs to be mounted. 

The Prognosis:

The films’ creatives need to seriously go back to the drawing board and reevaluate their storytelling methods because this film is seriously going to need a bigger plot. 

The Black Demon slaps its morals and predictable narrative round the face like a… a 60ft gigantic megaladon.

  • Saul Muerte

The Black Demon is in cinemas from June 8th and streaming on VOD from June 21st.

Movie review: Breach (2020)

15 Monday Feb 2021

Posted by in Movie review

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

Towards the end of 2020 a low-budget sci-fi, horror flick was released in selected theatres and across VOD and digital platforms with little or nor fanfare.

Perhaps this isn’t really a surprise as we currently go through the COVID age.

Yet it does star big action hitters in Bruce Willis and Thomas Jane, so what gives? Is Breach a dud or a hidden gem, list in the midst of a torrid climate?

For starters, the premise doesn’t offer anything new.
Earth is facing extinction, so a spaceship called The Ark is about to be launched with 300, 000 survivors bound for a quest to start a new colony on a livable planet called New Earth.

To prepare for the long journey the survivors must go into stasis and among them is a pregnant young girl, Hayley (Kassandra Climenti. The father of her child, Noah (Is that really the name choice they went for?? Talk about obvious!!!) is not one of the selected so chooses to stowaway in order to stay with his family.

Whilst on board, Noah takes on the role of a junior janitor as part of the maintenance crew that are charged with keeping the ship on course while the passengers are in safety. Part of this crew is Willis as a mechanic called Clay. He reluctantly takes Noah under his wing just as all hell goes loose when two of the crew become infected with a parasite.

Once the parasite takes hold of its host, the infected soon become walking zombies, shuffling around (or in some cases leaping) as they begin to wipe out the crew one by one.

The Prognosis:

The effects are cheap and in some cases are passable, but the final creature when revealed is so shonky and unnaturalistic that it really takes you out of the picture but that might be being too harsh on a film that doesn’t exactly shy away from its obvious faults. The film isn’t about the special effects, which is a little odd considering that its a sci-fi picture and these days that element is highly relied upon.

Instead, it relies on the camaraderie of its on screen talent to try and win you over.

In that sense, Willis does his usual gung-ho attitude and chews up the scenery whenever possible, chucking out quips that are obviously lifted from greater films of the genre, but nonetheless come across as humorous in this case.

And when Willis isn’t on scene, you can rely on Thomas Jane to chew up the scenery more as the hard-headed Admiral. A man who lives and breathes the Army and just so happens to be the father of the afore-mentioned Hayley.

If your in the mindset for a sci-fi action film that may not exactly set the world alight but is entertaining regardless, then this will provide enjoyable viewing.

If it’s full to the tilt, action-packed, high quality that you’re after however… you’ll be left disappointed.

  • Saul Muerte