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Reviews
Minority Report (2002)
The future according to Spielberg
Yes, the movie looks breathtaking and intriguing, but what else can we expect from Steven Spielberg ? He is one of the most dominant box-office grabbers in the history of American movie-making, so its evident he has the most elaborate special effects-wizards, the most accomplished cinematographers, the best screenplay-writers, the top of box-office winning actors at his disposal... Is he also a genius of movie-making ? Is he the equal of Stanley Kubrick, Orson Welles, Federico Fellini, Luis Bunuel ? Time will tell, i guess... In the meantime, we can enjoy his movies (and sure we do), but I have the feeling while watching his movies (and this is of course a personal feeling) to watch technical brilliance (not at all the sole achievement of Spielberg but the result of his stardom and therefore the willingness of every talent imaginable to contribute) and at the same time something empty, something which claim to have genius but in the end is only making money... Now when THAT is genius, SPIELBERG is the greatest, no doubt about that...
They (2002)
The theme of this movie is one of men's primal fears: darkness... and what may be in the darkness...
An excellent little horror-movie. It probably did not too well at the box office (not even with the "Wes Craven Presents" attachment), but this is worthy to check out. Don't expect stupid, obnoxious teenagers who can't act in the leadroles, don't wait for silly, embarrassing one-liners, don't relay on cheap CGI (not even on expensive CGI, for that matter). What we get is a tense horrorthriller, well acted throughout by a cast of fairly unknowns, which relays on atmosphere, minimal special effects and leaving a lot to the imagination of the audience (which, as most of true horror-fans know, can't be beaten by the most expensive and amazing FX). To my opinion, great horrorfilms are those which are taken seriously, by the creators, the actors, by everyone involved. Take a look at Night of the Living Dead (1968), The Exorcist(1973), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), Dawn of the Dead (1978), Halloween (1979), The Thing (1982) etc. (to name only a few of 60ties, 70ties and 80ties horror classics). What they have in common is seriousness. They might contain some humour, but it never takes over the movies to a degree that the audience is allowed to lean back in their seats and grab a next handful of popcorn in anticipation of the next shocking sequence... What these movies are capable of is to keep the audience at the edge of their seats, to scare the audience into believing and fearing what its sees and not sees but make believe seeing it) and to make the audience go home afterwards with a feeling of unease. That is what THIS movie does very well: make the audience uneasy, because it deals with a primal fear: darkness and what may be IN the darkness. Its a little gem, and i think it will be considered as a "classic" in years to come.
Pin (1988)
A paranoid-schizophrenic young man is taken over by a medical display dummy
This is a masterpiece ! Sadly neglected by the audience (probably because it lacked gore and fx) and by the critics (probably because it came from Canada: critics seems to have a habit of neglecting Canadian movies, unless they are directed by David Cronenberg). It's slow, haunting, unnerving and very well acted by all actors involved (mostly unknowns, except for Terry O'Quinn as the father and for David Hewlett as the son who acted also in Scanners II: The New Order (1991) and Cube (1997). It's directed with skill by Sandor Stern who was also responsible for the screenplay, based on a novel by Andrew Neiderman (who also wrote the novel The Devil's Advocate). The story: a young, lonely fragile-minded boy in need for parental love and guidance get's close-to-none from his too self-consumed parents and projects his needs into a medical display dummy which his father (a doctor) use as "a handyman" to help teaching his children. The only love and care the boy get's come from his kid-sister. The parents die in a horrible car-accident, leaving the children financially independent. They grow up to be teenagers and when the kid-sister starts to date, her brother's obsessive over-protectiveness results into chaos and murder. The final scenes are chilling and leave the audience (who has come to care for the characters) heartbroken.
The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996)
By turning animals into humans, man wants to become God (and fails)...or is searching for his own distinction (and succeeds in finding it)
This is a totally unnecessary movie, with bad storyline, bad dialog, bad special effects. Original director Richard Stanley was fired and replaced by John Frankenheimer (who was, at best, a capable director and at worst, a hack which shows here). Marlon Brando could have been an interesting Dr. Moreau (given he could have remembered his lines) but completely hacks it up. The special effects by Stan Winston are awful. The feel one gets from watching this is to look at a storyboard turned into motion (which goes for a lot of movies nowadays). Instead of watching this, look for "The Island of Dr. Moreau" directed by Don Taylor (1977) with Burt Lancaster (not flawless either, but at least interesting) and especially for "Island of Lost Souls" directed by Erle C. Kenton (1933) with Charles Laughton; his portrayal of Dr. Moreau still remains definitive and the movie has an unsettling atmosphere which is closer to the book. Better still: just read the novel by Herbert George Wells (written more then 100 years ago but still modern) !
The Ghoul (1975)
Great acting, superb atmosphere, deserves to be a cult-classic
I have noticed a lot of rubbish written about this movie: its NOT a Hammer production (it's from Tyburn) although a lot of Hammer-regulars are involved in it; director Freddie Francis is NOT the brother of producer Kevin Francis, but his father; the only similarities between Alfred Hitchock's Psycho and this movie are a female lead-actress (Veronica Carlson of Hammer's Dracula Has Risen from the Grave and Frankenstein Must be Destroyed-fame) who is killed halfway through the movie after we have become to root for her and who's disappearance is investigated by people who knew her, and an atmospheric house which contains a supposedly hideous secret. Peter Cushing gives a great performance, mixing real-life emotions with acting (his sadness about his departed wife of which he show photographs to Veronica Carlson and which are photographs of his real wife who had died in 1971, is really hard to watch if you are familiar with the background-information); John Hurt is also great although his character is nothing more then a red herring; Gwen Watford gives a nice performance of a Hindu-housekeeper which is not sinister in herself but treated as sinister because Hindoes were considered sinister in the time-period the movie is set in. The Ghoul himself will be undoubtedly a let-down for gore-seekers; although he is cannibalistic, he turns out to be more of a sad retard than a monster. The element which makes this film a cult-classic is the sadness which pervades every scene once we have made entrance to the house; not any other movie, to my knowledge, makes the same impact of sadness and doom which are presented here through characterizations, surroundings and even time-period. It's a gem, worthy to seek out, but be warned: only one viewing may not be enough to appreciate it ! You have to take your time for it and watch it several times (with intervals)... It may haunt you...