I think most people had an imaginary friend when they were children. I know I had one, though apparently mine was a different experience to most. I had my imaginary friend from the ages of 13 to 16, and instead of being an elf or a teddy bear, mine was a 27 year old blonde Bulgarian single mother of two with a voracious sexual appetite.
… but enough about me and teenage fantastical and onto the fantasies of writer and director of Imaginary, Jeff Wadlow, the director who also gave us the perfectly average but forgettable Truth or Dare from 2018 and a slasher from 2005 called cry_wolf, mostly forgotten except for the fact it starred Jon Bon Jovi as an educator.
It also had my then-horror movie crush Lindy Booth.
DeWanda Wise as Jessica
Imaginary starts with children’s author Jessica Barnes (DeWanda Wise) having a nightmare about a giant spider perusing her through a house, ironically in a scene similar to a children’s book she has written called Molly Millipede and the Blue Door.
She awakes with her partner, Max (Tom Payne) and they make the decision to move a few days early back to her childhood house, with his two daughters, Taylor (Taegan Burns) and Alice (Pyper Braun), the house now vacated after her father was admitted to an aged care facility.
Chauncey
Max’s life has had some tragedy as well as his former partner has been removed from society for some mental issues, including hurting the younger daughter.
Of course, being a new parent to the girls, Jessica has trouble connecting with teenage Taylor, who also won’t let her break down the walls with the her little sister, try though she might.
Soon after moving in, Alice and Jessica engage in a game of hide and seek, during which, Alice finds a teddy bear abandoned in a hidden room in the basement, which she quickly adopts.
Jess’s Dad, Ben (Samuel Salary)
Alice and the bear, who according to Alice calls himself ‘Chauncey’, become fast friends, as any child with a plush toy would, but very soon Chauncey gives Alice a list of things to do, a list of very specific things that have to be done… but why? What are these tasks in aid of… and why are some of them destructive, even self-destructive?
Unfortunately Imaginary is a great name for this film, as its entertainment value, its acting quality, its character’s likability… all imaginary. I love a film that has an imaginary friend cause some kind of terror to the family, even though each of these films has the same stuff in it like childhood trauma, a blended family, a new house, a young child who feels disenfranchised for what ever reason, and this film just sat down with a checklist and marked them off, one by one.
I will credit it with it taking the murderous demon/ ghost/ imaginary friend, and tweaking it a little to make the payoff somewhat different, though it does feel like it’s riffing a little on Steven King’s It, but because the rest of it is so mediocre, the payoff doesn’t feel like a reward, and instead feels just like a relief that it’s all over.
The menu to the DVD
Disc: Nothing
Film: 2/10
Extras: N/A
Re-Watchability: 0/10
Now THAT’s a spider.
This review was done with the Australian release DVD purchased from JB Hifi
For the past few years I have committed an experiment to the site in removing a ‘score’ from the reviews, hoping that the content would be enough to explain what the final opinion was… but after much deliberation I have decided that maybe it doesn’t work.
I think that we as consumers of any form of pop culture or artistic endeavour have become attuned to the idea that a numerical result is important in the advice given by a review, so from now on, the numbers are back.
I thought long and hard about what the score should represent, and have decided that each review will have three scores positioned at the foot of each review, will be out of ten (as I discovered I give a lot of ‘1/2’s’ so I should just do whole numbers but double the limit) and they shall represent the following:
Film: xx/10 – this will refer to my opinion of the film, in its story, effects, acting, execution and just entertainment value.
Extra: xx/10 – this score will take the release I reviewed into account, looking at the extras (if any) and any bonus stuff packed with the release, like a poster, or post cards or a book or whatever.
Rewatchability: xx/10 – it’s basically the return of my old WISIA – Would I See It Again score. Sometime a bad movie may have rewatchability value for its ridiculousness, or maybe just because it was an enjoyable watch. Also, some films are an amazing first watch, but lose something upon their second viewing. This score will represent how rewatchable a film is.
Now I am it going to return to all the old reviews rejigger their scores, but that is not to say I won’t do it later, however, I would like to give a few examples of this type of scoring I would give films that I HAVE reviewed as an explanation of this new scoring process.
The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
Film: 8/10
Extras: 6/10
Rewatch: 10/10
The Beekeeper
Film: 3/10
Extras: 5/10
Rewatch: 2/10
I don’t see there to be any real reason to comment on the quality of the disc, especially if it is a 4k or newer release as in my personal experience, most releases I get my hands on now have a decent image and sound, and I’m more interested in the entertainment value of a product rather than the tech specs that honestly, with my eyesight, I couldn’t notice anyway. I will however, make mention of an issue if it is a glaring fault, or an edited release when it claims not to be.
I hope you continue to read these reviews. I understand my output has been lacking in the past few years but I’ve had personal reasons for the reduction of output. I can’t guarantee I’ll get back to a weekly review, but I do hope for a greater frequency regardless.
Does anyone remember ‘Mad-Libs’? Mad-Libs was a game where you were given a paragraph or two that had almost all the nouns and verbs and adjectives taken out of it and you asked another person for ‘any noun’ and ‘any verb’ et cetera, without them seeing the paragraph, and when you read it back, much hilarity would ensue.
More because it was that the player would use nouns like ‘dick’ and ‘bum’ and verbs like ‘farting’ rather than anything else, but a lot of fun could be had with the game.
Now, I’ve got one for you:
(Characters name) is living the quiet live having retired from their occupation as an assassin for the underground group (group name). Unfortunately, when their friend, (friend’s name) is killed by the actions of (young relative) of the boss of (group name), they come out of retirement for revenge. When the boss decides to protect his (young relative) by employing the assistance of (military group) they are told that (characters name) is unstoppable and everyone is subsequently killed.
Jason Statham as Adam Clay: The Beekeeper
So many action films run on that formula, and it’s a formula that works when you consider John Wick and its three sequels success, and it is well and truly still alive here in The Beekeeper.
The Beekeeper is directed by David Ayer, who gave us what I think is one of the better super hero (well, villain) movies ever made, Suicide Squad and was written by Kurt Wimmer, who wrote Equlibrium and Law Abiding Citizen, but the creativity of those films is not present here.
When Adam Clay’s (Jason Statham) only friend commits suicide after being scammed out of all the money in the charity she works for by an online scammer, Clay decides to execute everyone involved.
What is so special about Clay though? Clay is a retired ‘Beekeeper’, an extreme black ops operative who has a set of skills that are over and above most normal soldiers.
Josh Hutcherson as Derek Danforth
After destroying the first call centre, Clay discovers they are run by Derek Danforth (Josh Hutcherson) whose employee, Wallace Westwyld (Jeremy Irons) finds out he has a Beekeeper after him, he calls in political favours to try and save his life… but those attempts to subdue fail… and Clay continues his way up the pecking order…
Whilst all this is happening though, he is pursued by the FBI, specifically Agent Wiley (Bobby Naderi) and Agent Parker (Emmy Raver-Lampman), the latter who has a personal stake in the whole affair as the woman who committed suicide in the first place is her mother.
Emmy Raver-Lampman as Agent Parker
Riffing John Wick in plot and action, as I inferred by the Mad-Lib, The Beekeeper doesn’t really seem to have its own identity, and most people could be shown any seen from this and identify it as any of the mass of Jason Statham as Jason Statham action films out there.
Hutcherson is as annoying as he always is in every film he is in, but thankfully the lack of acting by him and Statham is countered by Raver-Lampman and Naderi, and of course the ever vaudevillian villain Irons, still playing Scar from the Lion King at every opportunity.
Whilst formulaic to the nth degree, thats not to say the film is completely not enjoyable. It has a few moments of violence that are surprising, some characters that are SO ridiculous are can’t figure out if they are rejects from Bullet Train or The Machine, seriously, you wait until you see Clay’s replacement Beekeeper, or the South African mercenary, which makes them so unusual in something that takes itself so seriously, and there are at least a few plot twists that make for fun variations on the theme.
One thing I really didn’t like was making the scammers look like they were doing glorious work. All the scammers were attractive young people and their bosses were across between Taika Waititi in Free Guy and Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort from The Wolf of Wall Street, but when you see some of these call centres in video footage for real, they look anything but! I was confused by the need to make these guys look like they were glamorous, even though their characters were awful from a personality point of view.
I must add though that the hamfisted ‘bee’ references are as stupid as they sound.
Not liking this film is a difficult thing to do as the objection to it comes from its lack of originality, but if I don’t like one film because of that, I have to dislike MOST action films, or horror films for that matter. I think there is some good action sequences in here, but the lack of story and what appears to be a disinterested lead make it a chore.
The Beekeeper menu screen
Disc: No extras at all.
Adam Clay’s replacement; Kelly Krane (Sophia Feliciano)
In the early 2000s, an amazing TV series was produced called Masters of Horror, created by Mick Garris, where famous horror directors like Dario Argento, Don Coscarelli, Stuart Gordon, John Carpenter and others got to create short one hour horror movies, and Takashi Miike was one of the directors asked to participate.
Notoriety follows director Miike like a haunted shadow of a tortured ballerina whose sole purpose is to cut out his tongue and slice off his nipples. This, his ‘banned’ episode of Masters of Horror, sits well amongst his work. Like most of his movies, the story simmers, and is broughtslowly to a boil. With images of beautiful pain and exquisite suffering that stays with you for a time after the movie has finished.
Christopher (Billy Drago)
Based on a novel Bokke Kyote, by Shimaku Iwai (who also had a small role in the film), the screenplay for this film was written by Daisuke Tengan, who has worked with Miike before when he adapted the novel Audition by Ryu Murakami into the wonderful film of the same name.
Imprint tells the haunting tale from the 1800s of American journalist, Christopher (Billy Drago), who travels to an island in Japan in search of the prostitute, Komomo (Michie) who he had abandoned years earlier, promising to return for her. Finding himself unable to locate Komomo, he takes residence in a bordello, where he hires the services of a deformed hooker (Youki Kudoh), but instead of taking her for carnal pleasures, he asks her to tell him a story, and so, she recounts to him the fate of his beloved Komomo, and so begins a story of rape, torture and degradation…
Youki Kudoh as the story teller
Beautifully shot, Imprint at times is like watching a traditional Japanese painting come to life. The flame haired whores with their blackened teeth take on the appearance of oni or evil spirits, who live on islands and take much delight in the torture of others. Miike’s ability to take the obtusely sickening and turn it into an image of beauty is a gift that few directors have, but he has in spades.
Wow! Now THIS is torture porn!
The only real problem I found with this episode of Masters of Horror was Billy Drago’s performance, but I do not think that was his responsibility. Obviously, this film was to be part of an American television series, and the performances were to be executed in English, but as much trouble as some of the Japanese cast members had in performing in English; it seemed that the normally wonderful Drago was being misdirected, and appeared to be overacting. I imagine that this was due to miscommunication from the language barrier between Miike and Drago.
Everything Miike did right with the nightmare of Audition, he has done again here with Imprint. Both brutal and beautiful, Imprint is an experience not to be missed. The extras on this DVD make it a pretty easy sell as well.
The menu screen to the Australian DVD
Disc: There are 6 extras on this disc.
Imprint: I Am The Director of Love and Freedom Takashi Miike is a comprehensive interview with Miike, not just about this film, but about j-horror and its continuing influence in western cinema.
Imprint: Imperfect Beauty is one of the better spfx documentaries I have seen in a while.
Imprint: Imprinting is basically a ‘making of’ but an extraordinarily good one. This doco features interviews with many of the cast and crew including Nadia Vanessa, the dialogue coach who taught most of the actors how to play their parts phonetically, and is incredibly thorough and interesting.
There is a brief but fairly comprehensive biography of director Takashi Miike.
Commentary is by Chris D from American Cinematheque and Wyatt Doyle of NewTexture.com. While these two really had naught to do with this film, the talk-through is informative, and their discussion about the total influence of western to Asian and Asian to western cinema is enlightening and provides some independent insights into the production and decisions made about this film.
DVD-ROM – screensaver and script (Unreviewed as I have no longer have a PC with a disc drive in it)
I first saw Audtion many years ago on a terrible DVD released in Australia that was too dark and muddy and even in such an awful format, it effected me. This Bluray release has none of that and it is an even better watch, as you would expect.
Director Takahashi Miike (Ichi the Killer) has created such a mind blowing psycho-sexual piece of cinema that to stick it in a box marked ‘psychological thriller’ or ‘horror’ is to take away its impact. When first released in Japan in 1999 as Odishon, it was played in such a poor array of dead-end theatres that it whimpered out and looked like it was going to disappear without a trace. Luckily, in 2000, Audition was then picked up for film festivals in both Vancouver and then Rotterdam, where it won both the FIPRESCI prize and the KNF award, and in the following year at Fantsporto in Portugal, it won the International Fantasy Film Award – Special Mention award and was nominated for International Fantasy Film Award.
Based on a story by Ryu Murakami, Audition is the tale of a man, Shigeharu Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi), who, after the death of his wife, finds it hard to meet a new woman. Inspired by comments made by his son, Shigehiko (Tetsu Sawaki), as to how loneliness is making him prematurely age, he embarks on a mission to meet women. Using his position as a video producer he starts a series of auditions for a fictional project.
Shigeharu Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi)
After looking over many women, he finally meets Asami (Eihi Shiina), whose exquisite delicateness intrigues Aoyama, and her quiet demeanour intrigues him, even though she is close in age to his son.
Asami and Aoyama slowly develop a friendship which blossoms into something more intimate, but after they make love for the first, Asami disappears and Aoyama starts an investigation to find her, but what he finds is that she may not have been telling him the entire truth…
The seemingly delicate Asami (Eihi Shiina)
All through this movie there is such a feeling of claustrophobia and discomfort that unlike many films gets right under your skin, as do most of Miike other films. The juxtaposition of moments of quiet beauty and subtle relationship building, combined with some of the shock moments (that I won’t reveal here) are truly amazing. The real trick here is that there are moments of intimacy that are filmed more like claustrophobia than closeness, and that adds to the unsettled nature of this new relationship between the main leads.
… maybe NOT so delicate…
Although Miike doesn’t make horror films per say, he is however a reluctant genre film director who has had horror cult status thrust upon him, which is why films like this, and his others like Visitors Q and his comic adaptation Ichi the Killer are such fascinating watches.
This story works so effectively as it doesn’t adhere to stereotypes, as one would expect from a film that didn’t get punched out of the Hollywood thriller cookie cutter. This film reminds me of the first time I read American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis, the combination of subtle day-to-day suddenly flipped on its head. This is a movie that will stick with you for a long time after you watch it.
The menu screen to the Arrow Video Blu-ray
Disc: An absolute treasure trove of extras on this disc. I must also point out that the film can be watched with an introduction by Miike.
First, we have two commentaries, The first by director Takashi Miike and screenwriter Diasuke Tengan, and a second by Tom Mes. The first is in Japanese so it is subtitled and is enthusiastic and interesting. The second is performed by Mes, a writer who has written books about Miike’s career. It is interesting but less so that the aforementioned one. It is in English.
There is a series of interview with cast and crew: Takashi Miike, Ryo Ishibashi, Eisis Shiina, Renji Ishibashi and Ren Osugi. These interviews are each quite long and not like the ones you would get from American films with a few sound bytes of actors and directors massaging each other’s egos. These are fascinating insights into the film and each individuals history.
Damaged Romance; An Appreciation by Tony Ry looks both at Miike’s career and specifically the making of this film, and even the history of Japanese genre films.
There are two trailers for the film, one Japanese and the other the international one.
The cover to Arrow’s Ring Bluray, taken from The Ring Collection
RING (1998)
This is where you start with J-horror, right? This was the one that got us all involved in the late 90s. Ring is the parent that introduced us too all the Japanese horror we ended up craving: The Grudge, Dark Water, Pulse… not to mention directors like Takashi Miike, Hideo Nakata and their contemporaries.
Personally, I think a lot of the increased mainstream love of anime came from that time, as horror fans became more involved in the culture of various Asian countries, it leeched into the regular nerds and normal people via some good and some not so good remakes, and that trickled all the way through pop culture. I pretty much went think the popularity of Junji Ito relates directly to it.
That’s just my observation of the time.
(NB: I’m well aware that there were anime and manga fans before this time, heck I was one of them as I grew up loving Japanese cartoons, which is what they were called before the word ‘anime’ came to western culture properly, but my observations say the world seems to be more into it since 2000. Post COVID and lockdown even more so!
Asakawa (Nanako Matsishima)
Anyway, enough about my musings. Ring is based on the novel by Kôji Suzuki, with a screenplay by Hiroshi Takahashi. The film was directed by Hideo Nakata, who didn’t not want to be a horror film director, but basically became the spark that turned the west predominantly into j-horror fans.
Ring tells of journalist Reiko Asakawa (Nanako Matsushima), who has started a quite aggressive investigation into the urban myth of a VHS video tape that kills you 7 days after you first watch it, and warns you with a phone call where just the words ‘7days’ are whispered to you. This investigation is so urgent as it has just killed her niece, Tomoko (Yûko Takeuchi).
Asakawa eventually finds the tape, watches it and reveals that the myth may be true, and now she has 7 days to find a ‘cure’ to this spiritual virus that lies within the cassette. She shows he ex-husband the tape and the two of them research the footage on the tape in an attempt to find a cure… this attempt becomes more frantic when her young son also watches the tape.
Asakawa’s son, Yôichi (Rikiya Ôtaka)
There research finds a connection to a psychic woman who died many years earlier, and the mystery of her daughter, Sadako (Rei Ino’o)…
There is no doubt that Hideo Nakata has created an almost perfect horror film with this movie. It is weirdly over-dramatic with its acting at times, and borders into pantomime but it somehow all sits correctly. When it came out it was such an extraordinarily different thing, seeing as how the 80s was all about the creation of franchises, a mistake cinema is repeating now with the desperation to find the next Marvel or Star Wars series, and the 90s was predominantly a pop culture wasteland, especially with horror seeing as how self-referential stories became the norm after the popularity of the Scream franchise.
The tape!!
Basically I love this film. After being so disappointed how how awful horror had become in the 90s, this was like a breath of fresh air.
The story itself being a strange take on ‘hauntings’ and ‘curses’ was great, and probably due to the fact that Japan doesn’t have its creepies and crawlies based in Christianity like we still do in the west, judging by the popularity of the Conjuring universe. This added with, at the time, my lack of exposure to Japanese culture in general other than Robotech and Akira, just the different lifestyle, cities et cetera made it a visual feast. I actually name this film as being the thing that made me interested in watching Japanese architecture YouTube channels, especially the ‘tiny apartments’ ones.
I cant recommend this film enough. If you haven’t seen this Japanese ‘Ring’ but have seen the Gore Verbinski remake starring Naomi Watts, still give this a go as it is still a fantastic watch with a few differences in the story.
The menu screen to Arrow Video’s Ring
Disc: This Arrow video disc was available singularly, but also as a part of the Ring Trilogy box set which featured Ring, Ring 2 and Ring 0.
This disc has a bunch of cool extras on it though.
There is an Audio Commentary by David Kalat, author of J-Horror, The Definitive Guide to The Ring, The Grudge and Beyond. His is an enthusiastic commentary which reveals him to be very ‘in’ with the whole J-horror sub genre of horror, even though he has a disclaimer that he doesn’t speak Japanese so some of his pronunciations may be inaccurate.
The Ring Legacy looks at the entire scope of the Ring series, from the source material, to films, to video games and to the western remakes. A real fascinating inside into the entire scope of the series.
A Vicious Circle sees author and critic Kat Ellinger explore director Hideo Nakata’s career and the Rings influence on western horror.
Circumnavigating Ring is a video essay by Alexandra Heller-Nicolas, who here explores the evolution of the series.
Sadako’s Video is an opportunity for us, the film fan, to see the SADAKO video in its complete form… don’t forget to copy it and give it to someone else.
Three ring trailers including 2 for the Ring and Spiral double bill (which have far too groovy a soundtrack considering the subject matter), and a UK Trailer.
There’s also a useless image gallery.
The image everyone knows: Sadako revealed!!
This review was done with a copy of the Bluray of Ring taken from Arrow Video’s Ring Collection. Their was purchase from Arrow’s website
I find that sometimes the best way to watch a film is on the odd occasion when you have been lucky enough to avoid all media based around it. In this day and age that is a difficult thing to do, but I managed it with this film. This film, Immaculate, is knew nothing about: i didn’t see a trailer, no comments on my social media… it just slipped me by.
All I knew about it was that it starred current ‘it’s girl (not a female Pennywise but instead the latest movie star social media crush) Sydney Sweeney, and honestly, the only thing I really even knew about HER was that she was one of the stars of the Sony turd-that-sunk-to-the-bottom Marvel film, Madame Web.
This film was really driven by Sweeney. She first auditioned for the film in 2014, but the film was never made but the story by Andrew Lobel really resonated with her. Later, she pursued the script, took on the producer’s hat and was the driving force behind getting the film made, employing the directorial talents of Michael Mohan, who previously directed her in The Voyeurs and Everything Sucks!
Sister Cecilia (Sydney Sweeney)
Immaculate tells of young nun, Sister Cecelia (Sweeney) whose parish in Detroit closed down and she made the decision to travel to Italy and take on a role of assisting older nuns transition to Heaven in a convent/ hospice.
The usual jealousies that can happen when an interloper comes into a new environment, but those jealousies escalate when after a few weeks, Sister Cecelia, is discovered to have had an immaculate conception.
The church is dubious at first but eventually excited by the prospect of their environment being the place that the rebirth of Jesus himself may take place. None are more excited than Father Tedeschi (Alvaro Morte), a former biologist now member of the clergy, who seems to be resisting taking Sister Cecelia to a proper hospital, instead keeping the pregnancy amongst only those within the convent, including the in-house doctor, Dr. Gallo (Giampiera Judica).
The leaders of the convent.
As the pregnancy continues, the members of the order become more and more strange in the attitude towards her, and secretive… are they involved in this immaculate conception, and who are the clergy in red masks that she keeps seeing…
There’s no doubt that Sweeney’s passion for the project wasn’t unfounded. It is a very clever story steeped in religious iconography but not so deep that someone with only a surface level understanding of Catholicism or Christianity would be lost.
Tarantino may NOT appreciate the foot stuff in this flick
The tale has three very distinct acts which coincide with the idea of the trimesters of pregnancy and each trimester reveals more of the mystery and steadily the situation becomes worse and worse for the main character and more and more exciting for us the viewer.
This film was a pleasant surprise in a world of sequels, remakes and attempts at making ‘universes’ and franchises. I would even say that not seeing anything about the film beforehand was a blessing in disguise.
The menu screen of the Australian release of Immaculate
Disc: There is a series of interviews on this disc: actor/ producer Sweeney, director Mohan, and actors Morte and Giulia Heathfield Di Renzi, who played Sister Isabel, one of the sisters jealous of Cecelia’s choice as the mother of the rebirth of Jesus Christ. These make for a quite interesting collection of information in regards to the film. Well worth watching even though the way it’s presented is with text questions followed by the videoed answers.
Convent or not: skin care should always be a priority
This Blu-ray was reviewed with a copy of the film purchased from JB Hifi in Australia.
The cover to the Australian Bluray Steelbook of Kong Skull Island
KONG: SKULL ISLAND (2017)
I never like to think of any movie I enjoy as a ‘Guilty Pleasure’. I figure if you feel embarrassed about something you love, you probably don’t actually love it but enjoy it for nostalgic or other reasons… but today I watched Kong Skull Island.
KSI is the second part of the ‘Monsterverse’ series of films… you know, because EVERYTHING has to be a ‘universe’ these days… which is also known as the ‘Legendary Series’ that started with 2014’s kinda-boring Godzilla, that starred Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen.
This film was written by a handful of screenwriters: Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler), Max Borenstein (Hypnotic, with Robert Rodiguez), Derek Connolly (who, honestly, seems to be consistently a ‘team-player’ writer) and John Gatins (Flight) and it is obvious insomuch as there is a bunch of different stories a happening simultaneously, and whilst I appreciate that most movies are like that, this was very much very different stories in a similar situation.
The film was directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts, director of Successful Alcoholics and The Kings of Summer, did a great job with this film as he clearly saw that monster movies aren’t just about the monsters, but also the human stories that exist within them; something many horror movies forget… and superhero movies, and sci-fi movies… basically any ‘pop culture’ films.
Its not always about selling toys, Hollywood!
When you consider that the first film of King Kong was created in 1933, and influenced so many sequels, remakes and themes, it isn’t a surprise that films based on the character aren’t still being made. What is surprising though is that this was made so soon after Peter Jackson’s 2005 hit film which is far more a character piece rather than a monster movie like this one. Kong appears very early in this film and there is no hesitation in telling the viewer just exactly who is the star of this film.
Kong: Skull Island starts in 1973, with the Vietnam war almost officially over and Bill Randa (John Goodman) is in charge of an expedition to travel to a previously unexplored island that has remained hidden behind a serious weather anomaly.
Hiddleston and Larson
Coming with his team are members of Landsat, a computer mapping organisation, with the intention of dropping seismic bombs on the island to get an idea of the landmass, assumed to be hollow. The transportation is provided by a platoon of Vietnam soldiers, under the command of Colonel Preston Packard (Samuel L. Jackson) in their choppers, now dormant with Americas withdrawal from the Vietnam war. Finally, a former SAS James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston) and a press photographer, Mason Weaver (Brie Larson) round out the motley crew.
After traversing a quite heinous storm to get to the island, the teams set up their equipment, and start dropping the seismic devices from the choppers but they find that there is resistance to the bombs being dropped in a giant ape called Kong.
The Big Monkey himself
Kong attacks the helicopters, separating the teams. Packard and his becomes obsessed with destroying Kong as he so viciously attacked them, but the other team, including Conrad and Weaver, meet a tribe of natives and Marlow (John C. Reilly), a WW2 pilot who became lost on the island during that war, and who knows, after his years on the island, that Kong has an important role in nature… keeping the horrifying Skullcrawlers at bay…
Will Kings defenders get to Packard in time to stop his attempts at killing Kong, or is mankind doomed…
Samuel L. Jackson in angry soldier mode
I have to start with the cast of this film when discussing it. Its a combination of Marvel second fiddles (Dr. Doom, Loki, Captain Marvel and Nick Fury aka Toby Kebbell, Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson respectively) mixed with character actors and ‘I know that persons face, whats their name again’ actors like John Goodman, John C Reilly, Thomas Middleditch and Shea Whigham. I LOVE this cast as I was so shocked BY their performances. Hiddleston as the military expert takes the heroic spot like it should always have been his. Jackson plays to type as the shell-shocked army colonial still fighting a war that America lost but its a different style of performance, almost Apocalypse Now-ish in its obsession. Brie Larson, who I liked in Scott Pilgrim but detested as Captain Marvel is warm as the photographer, and surprisingly likeable. Toby Kebbell was great as a ‘doomed’ soldier (sorry) stuck by himself on Skull Island trying to get home to his family, when you consider I have only seen him in the awful 2015 Fantastic Four and as an ape in the more recent Planet of the Apes flicks, anything would have been different!
John C. Reilly was a lot of fun in his role too as the displaced World War 2 soldier as well, playing crazy but not irredeemably psychotic like some of these sorts of roles can end up.
Kong himself was beautifully designed as nature intended and ape to look but he has a fantastic presence here, and always look great in his animation expect where there is water as some of the water scenes look rough. Most of the other creatures look great except for the ‘bad’ creatures, the so-called Skullcrawlers, are supposed to be horrific and whilst there presence and intention is, they look stupid with a human looking upper body attached to a snake tail and heads that look like horse’s skulls. Surely they could have come up with a better design that this. It looks like it was designed by a bunch of suits talking about things that scare them.
Speaking of looks the entire look of the overall film is fantastic. It has a stunning visual palette that’s half (the aforementioned) Apocalypse Now mixed with a Wild West feature. There is some amazing shots of Kong with the sun at his back and they make for exciting visuals due to their used of bright yellow and red. On the flips side, the lush green environments of Vietnam are apparent and beautiful.
Like I mentioned earlier, there’s no shying away from the monsters in this film either. Kong is seen in the first few minutes and then as soon as the expedition hits the island is monster-a-go-go, with all the beast clearly on display, none of that slow reveal rubbish here: money shot up front!
The story is a great deal of fun too. It takes its silly premise just seriously enough that you actually get involved in it without it seeming like parody, but not so serious that it loses its sense of enjoyment.
I honestly didn’t think I’d like this film as i found the predecessor of the series, 2014’s Godzilla, to be plodding and uninteresting except for when the King of Monsters himself lumbered across the screen. This, however, was truly a blockbuster of the highest order. Like a Fast and the Furious film, there was always something happening and at no point did I look at my phone or watch as I was completely enthralled and entertained.
Guilty pleasure indeed, but with zero guilt, so I guess that means this is just a pleasure.
The menu screen to the Australian Release on bluray
Disc:
A whole bunch of bananas on this disc!
Creating a King, which is broken down into two parts, Realising an Icon and Summoning a God. Honestly I don’t know why these are two features as they could have been cut together nicely into one 25 minute feature. Together they look at the themes of mans intrusion into the primative world, much like Cannibal Holocaust did, and his destruction of it, combined with the cinematic history of the monster that is Kong, but transforming the character into a god-like character. Lots of amazing design paintings and special effects explanations for those who love HOW movies are made.
On Location: Vietnam is almost a travelogue of how lush and beautiful some parts of Vietnam are. I have gone from no interest in travelling there to a GREAT DEAL of interest!! Hiddleston does say its more beautiful than the other locations of Hawaii and Australia so screw that guy.
Tome Hiddleston: The Intrepid Traveller follows Hiddleston’s journeys across the world as the feature was filmed and the interesting things he found about each location.
Through the Lens: Brief Larson’s Photography is a selection of photos and footage of Larson taking said photos. I think its pretty cool that Larson was actually taking these pics that her character was taking.
Monarch Files 2.0 (Companion Archive) is a fictional file of Monarch’s exploration of Skull Island. It is a delightful addition to the mythos.
Commentary is performed by Vogt-Roberts, and is an enthusiastic and informative commentary. Its always nice to watch a film with a commentary by someone who is so influenced and informed by film, comics, manga and video games.
Deleted Scenes are, as usual, unnecessary additions that the film benefits from their absence, though Hiddleston’s and Jackson’s character’s first meeting was deliciously uncomfortable.
Recently, my wife and I bought a house in the country. Quiet, secluded, peaceful and away from the city. We gave up our lives of hustle and bustle to enjoy the countryside, but being a horror fan comes with its disadvantages. All I could think of before the move was the ‘supernatural’ problems that can come with a new house, and in amongst thinking about all those film that enjoy a ‘new’ house as a core of its plot, the is film, 1976’s Burnt Offerings, kept coming to mind.
Now I’ll just clarify I wasn’t scared of moving to the new house, I was just reminded of it by the situation, and a yearning to watch it came to mind, especially after my more recent foray into ‘new home’ horror with Night Swim came about.
Burnt Offerings was directed by Dark Shadows creator, Dan Curtis, and it was co-written by him with William F. Nolan, the co-creator of Logan’s Run, and based on the book of the same name, published in 1973 by Robert Marasco.
The cover to Marasco’s 1973 novel
Burnt Offerings tells of the Rolf family, Ben (Oliver Reed), his wife Marian (Karen Black) and their 12 year old son David (Lee Montgomery), who, along with their Aunt Elizabeth (Bette Davis) have rented a summer house in the country off the Allardyce family for an almost incomprehensible low price for the entire summer.
Oliver Reed and Karen Black: Cinema Legends
The Allardyces, Roy (Eileen Heckart) and her brother Arnold (Burgess Meredith) have only one stipulation for the stay: The Rolfs must feed their mother, a recluse who has no desire to leave with the siblings on their respite, three times a day and maintain the property whilst they stay.
Another legend: Burgess Meredith
Soon, though, Ben starts to lose control and become violent and thuggish, as Marian becomes more and more obsessed with the house, but what is causing these behaviour changes, and what do they have to do with the horrible visions of the Chauffeur (Anthony James) that Ben is having… and does the house seeing to be repairing itself..?
There’s no doubt that Burnt Offerings is a classic film and that Dan Curtis’ style drips from every single frame.
… and another: Bette Davis
The cast are suitable amazing when you consider the legends that are within it. Heckart and Meredith are totally bizarre as the brother sister combination, and Davis plays the ostentatious Aunt as only SHE can. Black and Reed are a fantastic choice as the leads and even though they, on paper, probably shouldn’t work together; if I am honest, they feel like a couple who would have a bizarre sex dungeon, or buy waterproof fake fur to make chaps.
Or maybe I am projecting.
The story is fascinating and a slow burn horror, certainly of its time, that probably couldn’t be made today as there is not the amount of WHIZ and BANG to keep a modern audience interested for too long. If I am completely honest, I do feel the almost two hour run time could have a bit of a trim as even I found my mind wandering through some of the longer breaks from the mysteries of the house.
One interesting note is that when Curtis first read the book, he liked it but pitied any director who took on the job of directing any film that may have been made of it as he didn’t like the way the novel finished. Upon taking the job of directing on, he promptly changed the ending.
It is a gem of a film though and it absolutely is marked with Curtis’s style, from the soundtrack to the way the scenes are laid out. I’ve watched it several times and even though it isnt a favourite of mine, I must admit to a regular revisit, probably just due to the providence of the director and actors, but more likely because I, like many, have an obsession with Karen Black.
The Menu screen from the DVD
Disc: This DVD from the Cinema Cult isn’t the greatest as far as quality of image goes. I cannot say that I have seen a better image on a different release, but what I can say is that this is misty and slightly out of focus. This collection has two extras.
There is an audio commentary by Curtis, Black and Nolan which is lovely and conversation and fully discusses the film, with Nolan acting like a moderator more than someone who worked on the film at times.
There is also a theatrical trailer, which I have to say, is an absolute corker of a trailer!
I’ve never played a Five Nights at Freddy’s game… EVER. Honestly, I’ve never even SEEN the game but I am aware of what a pop culture phenomenon it is.
From 2016 to 2024, I managed a pop culture retail shop, and when we first opened, we had an entire section dedicated to the franchise, and sold everything from plush to Funko pops, actions figures and all kinds of other stuff, and it was super popular but like a lot of pop culture stuff, the shine left it and the section in the store diminished to nothing.
Then randomly in 2022 a film was announced and for some reason no toys or product was available to us so we missed a boat that could have been huge. Even Funko didn’t release much stuff for the films release so maybe there was a doubt that the film would be any good.
Maybe they saw the name ‘Blumhouse’ attached to it.
Anyway, I’m not sure if not having any knowledge about the ‘lore’ associated with the game makes me more or less qualified to review it, but I CAN tell you that I had friends who were fans of the game who went from loving its original take to hating it for detracting from the core of the ideas in the game.
This film was directed by Emma Tammi, who co-wrote the script with Seth Cuddeback, Tyler McIntyre and Chris Lee Hill, based on the script of the original game by Scott Cawthon, with the animatronics characters created by the Jim Henson Workshop.
Josh Hutcherson as Mike
Five Nights at Freddy’s tells of Mike (Hutcherson) who has been fired from his job in mall security after beating up a man who he thought was abducting a child, which rings to his past as his younger brother was kidnapped whilst under his care, an event he constantly dreams of and attempts to get more details of.
His parents, now both deceased, have left him in charge of his younger sister, Abby (Piper Rubio) so he has have to put his life on hold to make sure she is ok, so losing this job is catastrophic, especially considering his Aunt Jane (Mary Stuart Masterson) is desperate to take Abby under her care.
Matthew Lillard as Steve, amongst others…
At a job centre, Mike meets Steve (Matthew Lillard) who offers him a security position at the abandoned Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria, a children’s restaurant from the 80s with a dark history but the owner insists on protecting it even though its not been open for years.
Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria
Mike feels that there is something odd about the job, but his fears are waylaid by the introduction of Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), a friendly cop who has stopped by to check on the new security guard. He continues to do the job, but as his life falls apart, things at work get weirder and weirder…
Visually, it’s not entirely that it’s a bad film, but I think it just came too late, as Willy’s Wonderland and Banana Splits managed to get out first and also don’t have the weight of the history behind the game weighing it down. From my understanding, the animatronic characters look true to form, and according to one of the extras, the YouTuber fans of the game franchise were impressed by the set also.
Unfortunately the praise stops there. The main characters… all of them… are drastically unlikable that I found myself continuing to pray that they would come to their ends. Hutcherson, as the hero of the piece, is so dramatically unlikable that its hard to feel anything about his personal plight, and Rubio as the obnoxious sister bring ‘obnoxicity’ to a new level. Lillard, lets face it, isn’t the greatest of actor in the world unless pantomime is your thing, so his overacting nonsense you’d feel would be perfect for a project like this but stands out horribly… there is a scene where he notices something and the pause is so long that both him and the director should have just held up ‘this is a plot device’ sign. Masterson as the Aunt is suitable malodorous which she is supposed to be, and Lail is pleasant as the cute female love interest but isn’t really given much to do, which is a shame.
The basic plot was nothing new, but I’m a horror fan who also likes Star Wars and superhero films so ‘new’ is hardly a concept that I should criticise and I suppose it’s my error for thinking that a movie based on a video game would really bring anything new to the table, especially one marketed at kids. Weirdly also, for something that is obviously aimed at a younger audience, considering it’s YouTube history and ‘M’ rating. The sub-plot that is introduced as Mike’s trauma is so telegraphed from the absolute beginning that even my wife who, whilst sitting next to me for one viewing but NOT actually watching it, picked it immediately.
I’m sure that fans of this game franchise enjoyed this film but as someone who has zero association with it, that is I don’t know if it’s good or not, i did not. Its a generic attempt at a film franchise that came too late as Willy’s Wonderland and Banana Splits beat them to the punch.
The menu screen from the 4K release of FNAF
Disc: Only three extras on the disc:
Five Nights at Freddy’s: From Game to Big Screen looks at how the filmmakers went from adapting the video game phenomenon to a big budget horror film. There is interviews with cast and crew, and also some YouTubers who came onto the set after years of be FNAF content producers.
Killer Animatronics sees how the actors interacted with these ‘real’ fictional characters, and the puppeteers from Jim Henson who created them.
Five Nights in Three Dimensions look at the reaction of the Pizzeria that the characters exist within. It’s a pretty detail set so this extra was quite fascinating.
The ‘horrifying’ children’s characters
This film was reviewed with the Australian 4K release purchased from JB Hifi.
Digital Retribution 