(2000)
Dir - Marry Harron
Overall: GOOD
Frustrating in some respects while hilarious in others, (with a command performance from Christian Bale), Marry Harron's adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho novel works best as an over-the-top satire of 80s yuppie culture and the soulless narcissism inherent therein. Nearly a decade in the making with everyone from Oliver Stone, David Cronenberg, and Leonardo DiCaprio at one point attached, Harron and screenwriter Guinevere Turner were able to crack the code in Ellis' self-proclaimed "unfilmable" source material, toning down some yet not all of the horrific violence and focusing on the sigma male qualities of Bale's protagonist Patrick Bateman, which in turn makes it a pro-feminist work. By exaggerating the laughably self-important and shallow lifestyle of privileged Wall Street bros who consider all attractive women to be of a lesser intelligence and that only smart women can be ugly since they have to make up for their lack of looks, Bale's Bateman is the cartoonish poster boy for a culture that champions vapid consumerism and greed. Him being an unreliable narrator and leaving the audience in the dark as to how much of his mass murder spree was imaginary shows a cynical yet amusing point of view which might leave many a viewer scratching their head, yet it also fits the hopeless cycle that our wholly artificial main character is admittingly trapped in.
(2005)
Dir - Scott Derrickson
Overall: MEH
On paper at least, the combination of court room drama with demonic possession movie suffices as an adequate gimmick to go with, making Scott Derrickson's The Exorcism of Emily Rose something of a curiosity to seek out. Whether or not it manages to save face under a barrage of schlocky melodrama and bombastic supernatural set pieces though is another story. As many a "based on a true story" film likes to proclaim, it was inspired at least by something "factual", specifically the 1970s case of Anneliese Michel and the ensuing conviction of her parents and priest after Michel's death by malnutrition; a death that only occurred once a whopping sixty-seven documented exorcisms were attempted. The concept of having an agnostic, hot-shot lawyer defend a clergyman while a devout Christian prosecutes him is a clever one, but it leads to Laura Linney's protagonist having a hokey change of heart as demonic forces seem to influence the very trial that she is a part of. CGI monster faces in the clouds, characters waking up to a burning smell during the witching hour, a key witness with cold feet getting "accidentally" killed, and most of all, Jennifer Carpenter contorting her body, speaking in tongues, dilating her pupils, and screaming at everything in typical horror movie grandiosity gives it all an unintended camp value that is jarring against its otherwise sincere presentation.
(2007)
Dir - James Wan
Overall: MEH
The writer/director team of Leigh Whannell and James Wan, (unfortunately), return with their first non-Saw film Dead Silence; a shamelessly stupid popcorn horror extravaganza that utilizes some of the cheapest and most hack-laden scare tactics in any such movie. According to Whannel, it was reworked by script doctors to the point of being virtually disowned by its initial author, and coming from the man who brought us both the Insidious and aforementioned Saw franchises, his own disappointment with the finished product here is telling. Opening with a misleading, black and white Universal logo to signify its alliance with old school spook shows, the resulting movie is anything but and also about as scary as a bowl of Campbell's soup. Ventriloquist dummies are inherently creepy, but they and every other visual flourish here plays into such an overdone, cheap haunted house aesthetic that it all becomes comically ridiculous instead of atmospherically chilling. This tonal misstep is a prominent faux pas in all of Wan's horror efforts and it was done to both lesser and more bloated effect in other entries in his filmography, but at least there are a few silver linings here. For one, the pacing is agreeably brisk and Donnie Wahlberg leans into his role as a wise-ass detective with a level of glee that at least seems intentionally humorous, as opposed to the asinine twist ending which adheres to cartoon logic that is likely to make every viewer point and laugh at the screen.
No comments:
Post a Comment