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Reviews
B.T.K. Killer (2005)
Stretching the limits of "based loosely"
I am kind of amazed by how completely non-factual this movie is. It's like claiming your movie is "loosely based" on The Wizard of Oz because there's a scarecrow in it. I mean, after a certain point you just have to admit you made the whole thing up, right? For those of you interested in the BTK case, go elsewhere. This film follows the story of a man named Dennis Rader, who hides his career as a serial killer from those closest to him, but it is wrong in almost every detail--from the number of murders to the victims to the methodology to how he was eventually captured. Most insultingly, it also implies that his wife and daughters knew (or at least strongly suspected) that Dennis was a killer and said nothing until the police confronted them. I hope the real Rader family sued for libel.
The film does not even stand on its own as entertainment. It's a poorly made, poorly scripted abomination, through which a handful of fairly decent actors are forced to slough. It is boring, implausible, and ridiculous. I might have forgiven it for being a bad movie if it was accurate, and I might have forgiven it for its lack of accuracy if it was entertaining, but it failed on all counts.
Veneno para las hadas (1986)
A soft-spoken shocker
At first, Poison for the Fairies may remind American viewers of the classic "Wonderful World of Disney" feature films, leading some people to believe they have been tricked into watching a children's movie. However, it is not for children. It is instead an atmospheric, absorbing fairy tale about two little girls and their intense, unsettling friendship--if one can rightly call a relationship based on psychological dominance as "friendly." The plot is deceptively simple: Lonely, aristocratic Flavia comes to a new school, where she instantly grabs the attention of Veronica, a girl from a lower-class family, who pretends to be a witch in order to comfort herself for a lack of power in the real world. All the other girls have long since learned to ignore Veronica, but Flavia is just innocent enough to believe that Veronica truly is a witch, her beliefs helped along once several macabre coincidences seem to reinforce Veronica's claims that she possesses black magic. Gradually the line between childhood friendship and a master and slave is blurred, and Veronica's games of make-believe witchcraft have filled Flavia with a fear and despair that are far too real.
People who expect a traditional horror film will definitely be disappointed in Poison for the Fairies. The pace of the film, along with the lack of violence or even blood, may be too slow for some viewers to tolerate. Visually, the film looks dated, and certain stylistic techniques (particularly the lengths to which the camera goes in avoiding the faces of adults) seem a little hackneyed. But all in all, this is a film of culminating, creepy horror building to a shocking but inevitable denouement, and well worth a watch.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
Love Them Both, for Different Reasons!
This latest adaptation of the children's classic CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY may suffer in the shadow of the 1971 original film starring Gene Wilder, but the new version of CHARLIE is full of its own brand of chocolaty goodness. Fans of the Roald Dahl novel will be pleased to learn that the larger portions of the film follow the book more closely than the Gene Wilder version, with occasional modern-day updates (such as TV addict Mike Teevee's portrayal as a video-game junkie).
The child-cast play their bratty characters to the hilt, coupled with wonderful reactions from their equally loathsome parents, while Charlie and his poor-but-loving family are unfailingly heartwarming and honest. Johnny Depp plays a slightly squicky, hands-offish Wonka (think germ phobia, but for children) that is miles away from Wilder's devilish candy-maker. While Depp's Wonka may be off-putting in his first few scenes, by the end of the film he is not only enjoyable, but almost lovable. Add to this scene-stealing performances by Deep Roy (who plays a whole factory of Oompa-Loompas voiced by composer Danny Elfman) and Christopher Lee, and you have a wickedly wonderful film--and this from someone who went into the theatre ready to defend to the death the 1971 version!
If you loved the Gene Wilder original, find a place in your heart for the very different charms of CHARLIE.
Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966)
Words Fail
There is nothing I can say about this film that has not already been expressed far more eloquently in the 20+ pages of comments below. Most bad horror movies have a redemptive campiness that makes them fun; MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE is literally painful to watch. It is a dual suffering brought on by the agonising tedium of actually watching the film, in addition to a feeling of acute embarrassment for the people involved in making it. When a film is so bad that you begin to feel genuine sympathy for the actors as human beings . . . brother, that's bad. The over-all effect is stunning--stunning in the sense that for several minutes after finishing the film, you will flounder for words to adequately describe your mixture of rage, disgust, and humour.
Do not watch this film at all, not even for its curiosity value.