le canard Reviews

Malefique (2002)

French horror films are rarely successful. So don't miss this one!

[9/10 · 11 April 2003]

Eric Valette is obviously a talented film-maker, and so are the two guys who wrote the script. Therefore Maléfique is a great flick, made with just a few bucks but also tons of imagination. Well, I'm a bit exaggerating, but nevertheless I'm sincere. So, if you like dark, gory movies, go and see this one. It's really worth it.

Dead End (I) (2003)

Cruel and inventive! I loved it!

[8/10 · 10 February 2003]

I really loved watching this film. I found it both cruel and inventive, and directors Andrea and Canepa gave me the impression of being big horror fans. They obviously took a great deal of time writing the script and therefore managed to make the most of a pitch which is quite simple. Actually, when I think about it, this movie kind of reminds me of The Twilight Zone series, for the structure of the whole thing depends on an initial idea - one day, Mr X decides to break his routine and takes a short cut that will lead him into... the Twilight Zone! - which allows the two writers to imagine all sorts of scary incidents. Well, of course, the film rapidly becomes far more violent and rotten than any Twilght Zone episode! Dead End's worth a nice 8 out of 10.

The Night Flier (1997)

Serious, gory stuff!

[9/10 · 10 May 2002]

Richard Dees is a reporter and he is a vampire because he works for a tabloid and earns his living by writing lurid stories and taking sordid pictures. He's got a despicable job and he is getting sick of it. Dwight Renfield is the Night Flier and he is a vampire too, but he is a "real" one – an evil and supernatural creature feeding itself on humans. He flies from one airfield to another across the U.S. on a black, private aeroplane. Of course he always leaves bloodless corpses behind him and Dees ends up chasing him with his tape recorder and camera. When they eventually meet, the vampire doesn't really feel like killing one of his kind, and he is ready to let him go. Yet Dees proves his curiosity will always make him chase people like the Night Flier and he will bitterly regret it. At the end of the film, everybody will see and remember Richard Dees as what he really was, that is to say a nasty character living on people's suffering. Well, this film is a great B-movie. The story is exciting, Miguel Ferrer is excellent and the film has no Hollywood-like happy ending. I strongly recommend it to anyone looking for a nice thrill and a few gallons of blood.

Angel of the Night (1998)

Is this flick supposed to be funny?

[2/10 · 4 May 2002]

I assumed a Danish vampire movie could be an original and exotic thing. I now believe I'll have to keep my eyes open and wait for the next one to come. Director Shaky Gonzales apparently just wanted to copy a bunch of successful American films such as From Dusk Till Dawn, Desperado and even The Lost Boys! Needless to say that the result is quite scrappy and insignificant. Besides, every bloodsucker in this film looks totally ridiculous! Come on, this was shot just a few years ago! How is it still possible to make vampires look (and act!) like this!? Well, I don't know, maybe the Gonzales family is in the fancy dressing business. Or maybe Gonzales just wanted to be funny... Oh! This is a scary thought, isn't it?

Frailty (2001)

Is this a fascist movie?

[5/10 · 30 April 2002]

Is Bill Paxton reactionary? That's the question I asked my girlfriend after we saw Frailty. The film is quite interesting - and even exciting - but how are we supposed to understand the ending? I won't tell anything about the last scenes by respect for those who haven't seen the film yet, but I'd like to read some other viewers' opinions about them. Did Paxton want to be ironical? Or is he actually a religious redneck fanatic? The end of the movie is far too ambiguous to allow me to answer these questions. Hey, Bill! If you happen to read this, could you please give me a clue and tell me what's on your mind?

Spirited Away (2001)

One of the greatest film ever made. No kidding!

[10/10 · 30 April 2002]

This film is simply perfect. I know this may sound hollow and assertive but I just want everyone to know that Chihiro is one of the most beautiful and original and funny and poetic and exciting and brilliant film I have ever seen. I recently read an article which said that director Hayao Miyazaki wanted his films to be seen just once for he preferred viewers to just remember them and mentally reconstruct them using the power of their imagination. Well, that is an original point of view but I think Chihiro is exactly the kind of movie I'll always enjoy seeing over and over. Sorry, Hayao, but your poetry is far too addictive!

The Return of the Living Dead (1985)

Scary, funny AND successful!

[10/10 · 30 April 2002]

I remember seeing this film when it was released in 1985. I was just twelve and didn't have the right to see it for viewers under thirteen were not allowed in. By chance the people who ran the movie theater didn't really care and I have to admit that I got really scared watching this awesome bunch of walking, rotting greasy corpses! From then on I watched this masterpiece so many times I can't even count them!

Why do I like this film so much? Well, Return of The Living Dead is a 90-minute roller-coaster (no kidding!) driving fast through a rainy night. What I mean is that the rhythm never falls off and that the flick is both scary AND funny. Some scenes are really disturbing (e.g. the self-cremation scene or the zombie awakening in the cold room) and some other elements are nothing but pure laughing matter (you've got to like black humor, that's right, but I presume you do - otherwise you wouldn't be reading this!). Last but not least, the ending is both ironical and pessimistic. This is a so great quality for an horror film!

They Nest (2000 TV Movie)

If you're more than 5 years old, keep away from this!

[26 February 2002]

This film is just a harmless litlle flick made for TV. The characters look like any other dull characters in any other boring TV show. This thing might keep you awake if you're still a kid and if you've never seen any horror movie with naughty bugs.

Scream 3 (2000)

A perfect example of Hollywood's vacuity

[1/10 · 21 February 2002]

Scream 3 is a perfect example of Hollywood's vacuity. This film is like the first sequel to Scream and was obviously made for money only. There is no passion, no invention, and all the cast members play awfully. Films like this one aren't really "films" to me. They're just boring "products" and I always feel like I'm being taken for a fool when I find myself watching such crap.

Re-Animator (1985)

One of the best gore movies ever!

[10/10 · 14 February 2002]

I last saw Re-Animator several years ago but I must have watched this film at least half a dozen times. So my memory should be correct enough to allow me to write something reliable about it. This movie may be the best gore picture ever – along with Lucio Fulci's The Beyond and the first two Hellraiser movies. The script is very effective and the relationship between the two leading characters – Herbert West and Dan Caine – makes it even stronger. At first West and Caine are antagonistic characters, but Caine easily gets dragged into his flatmate's madness despite the fact he's disgusted by West's experiments. Therefore the two guys rapidly become complementary and once the duo is formed, the film progressively gets wild and all the characters eventually have to dive into an ocean of guts and blood. What I especially like about this film is also the fact that it was meant to really frighten and shock the audience, and that is why it is such a good film. There is no parasitic humour but only very black humour from time to time. The numerous gore effects are quite realistic and impressive. Lastly, the ending is totally paroxystic, extravagant and NOT happy at all. So go and fetch the cassette or DVD if you haven't seen this masterpiece yet – and if you don't mind spending some time with blood-spitting walking corpses, tortured cats and decapitated mad scientists!

The Green Mile (1999)

I hate this film.

[2/10 · 1 February 2002]

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** I really don't understand how anyone with a critical sense can like such a film. I mean, I'm not a cynical person, but I truly can't stand 100%-righteous characters such as Coffey, Hedgecomb and all the other nice death row wardens. I'm not a 5-year-old kid and I can't watch The Green Mile without being sarcastic. How can any spectator accept the way this tall black guy is playing? And what did Frank Darabont expect spectators to react watching his so unfair and unhappy fate? Did he want us to burst into tears? Come on! The Shawshank Redemption was shot a few years ago by the same director. It was a prison movie like this one but it was a good one for it avoided too many melodramatic effects and because the characters played by Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman were above all human characters. Those played by Tom Hanks and every other cast member aren't humans. They are nothing but all-American icons and I hate that. Besides the death penalty issue is the heart of the film. Does Darabont seriously tackle it? Never! In The Green Mile, being legally executed appears to be something which has to be taken for granted by every citizen, no matter if people die in some awful way (i.e. Eugène Delacroix, the guy with the lovely mouse), and no matter if an innocent guy sometimes gets toasted. At the end of the film, old Hedgecomb confesses that he couldn't stand executions anymore after Coffey died. So what did he decide to do? Did he organize public protests and demonstrations against this punishment? No! He just left the penitentiary and found another job. What a hero! What an activist! Sorry, everyone, but all this really sucks.

Dagon (2001)

What a great film!

[8/10 · 22 January 2002]

Waow! Stuart Gordon is definitely one of my favourite horror-movie makers. This one's not as good as his masterpiece Re-Animator, yet the pitch is great (thank you Lovecraft, wherever you are now!) and the rythm never falls off. The special effects are quite good (great make-up SPFX) even though they'd have been better with some extra money. I'm really glad such films still exist! I hope this new Spanish film company (Fantastic Factory) will go on producing B-movies like this one.