Quarantine

"Quarantine" (2008, John Erick Dowdle, Screen Gems, Vertigo Entertainment, Andale Pictures) is the American remake of 2007's found footage film, "REC".


Duplicating the story, we follow Angela (Jennifer Carpenter) and her crew who are filming a documentary about the lives of a Fire Crew for their news station. When they get a call out, Angela and her camera man tag along, excited to get some action on film. They are called to an apartment building which has been locked down with everyone inside, due to the unusual behaviour of one of the tenants which is suspected to be some kind of virus. The Fire Crew and Camera Crew enter, along with some police but soon find themselves also locked in the building as it is quarantined to contain whatever the hell is going on in there. Soon they are all fighting for survival amongst a horde of infected friends and neighbours... while being sniped down from the outside, barring any hope of escape...


An unnecessary remake that didn't do much other than recreate the original concept scene for scene but in English. The film does have some great effects (that ankle scene) and Carpenter gives an amicable performance as our some-parts terrified, some-parts sassy protagonist.


All in all, the film is well made and enjoyable, but I'd be more inclined to watch Rec above it if given the choice.

[Image: Screen Gems]

Hani

Midsommar

"Midsommar" (2019, Ari Aster, Square Peg, B-Reel Films) is a folk horror set in a cult in Sweden.


I really liked "Hereditary" so I was keen to see "Midsommar".


We meet the very tragic character of Dani (Florence Pugh) who is not having a great time at the moment. Despite their relationship coming to the verge of ending, she agrees to join her boyfriend, Christian (Jack Reynor), and his Cultural Anthropology student pals; Josh (William Jackson Harper) and Mark (Will Poullter); on a summer trip to Sweden to visit the Hårga Commune where their friend Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren) grew up and to experience the huge cultural Midsommar festival there.


When they arrive everything seems idyllic and otherworldly, but little do they know that all the flower petals in the world couldn't hide the grim undercurrent of the Commune's plans.


Working in a similar vein to 1973's "The Wicker Man", "Midsommar" delivers an upsetting vibe and some extremely effective and gruesome special effects. The group of Americans act as our eyes to the strange world of the Commune. The film does a great job of visualising the psychedelic effects of the drugs the students take and also of their building terror as they start to understand the situation.


For me, the plot felt distractingly slow and I did not particularly like any of the characters, which isn't always necessary, but would have possibly helped keep my interest more. The sound design is meant to be disturbing, but after a while the droning wails and group sobbing kind of ground me down a bit.



The special effects and grim details are really amazing and this alone kept me on board until the end, but I wouldn't necessarily be in a huge hurry to revisit. It also didn't deliver the same level of hollow, savage punch that "Hereditary" had upon initial viewing.


Definitely worth checking, however, as it's certainly a cinematic experience.

[Image: Square Peg, B-Reel Films, et al]

Hani

Blood Monkey

"Blood Monkey" (2007, Robert Young, Thai Occidental Production, RHI Entertainment, Genius Entertainment) is a nature-bites-back adventure horror set in Thailand.

A group of student anthropologists travel to the jungle to assist Professor Conrad Hamilton (F. Murray Abraham) in his quest to capture a creature he believes to be the missing link in human evolution. Only, when the students arrive they discover that the initial research team are no longer there and the Professor and his somewhat sadistic assistant, Chenne (Prapimporn Karnchanda), are less than professional. Can they escape the jungle before the massive, bloodthirsty trophy specimen can brutally murder them all?

I will admit I watched this film for two reasons:

1. It is a B-movie with a pun title
2. I have a crush on Matt Ryan

I stayed for two reasons:

1. Matt Ryan
2. Matt Ryan using his own accent

Ok, a third reason: F. Murray Abraham hamming it up big style! If the scenery hadn't been potentially poisonous, he would have been chomping on it. 

This is a straight-to-DVD syfy movie so it plays out in a very by-the-numbers style: too much dialogue, not enough 'monster'. But it does have some entertaining effects when we finally do see some of our 'monkeys' and there was an abseiling scene which must have been sketchy to film...

It doesn't outstay its welcome at 90 minutes and delivers the anticipated levels of cheese, but it could have been doing with a little bit more monkey for our money. It's definitely a cautionary tale about outlandish uni trips with maniacal professors.

[Image: RHI Entertainment]

Hani

The Invisible Man (2020)

"The Invisible Man" (2020, Leigh Whannell, Blumhouse Productions, Nervous Tick, Goalpost Pictures, Universal Pictures) is a modern retelling of the classic H.G. Wells story, and a poignant story about control and abusive relationships.

Cecilia Kass (Elizabeth Moss) flees in the night from her rich boyfriend, Adrian (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) with the help of her sister, Emily (Harriet Dyer). The two women make their hasty escape, and Cecilia begins living temporarily with her cop friend, James (Aldis Hodge) and his teen daughter, Sydney (Storm Reid).

Cecilia is naturally affected by her ordeal and we learn that Adrian emotionally controlled her during their relationship and she lives in constant fear that he will find her and punish her for leaving. She also reveals that he'd boasted that she would 'never see him coming'.

James is supportive, but as Cecilia's behaviour becomes more erratic he, Emily and Sydney begin to distance themselves from her leaving her to the mercy of her unseen, controlling stalker, who is hellbent on ruining her life...

A film which is very uncomfortable in places and which does a great job of showcasing how a gaslit relationship can look from various angles (the friends', the sister's, the victim's). The action and horror scenes are excellently achieved and there's several parts where I found myself on the edge of my seat. There are a few holes that took me out of the film a bit - time seems to be an elastic concept at points with characters managing to achieve quite a lot in an extremely short space of time (i.e. the fastest and most efficient washing off of paint I've ever seen) and it seems that our titular invisible man is able to hold his bladder for quite an impressive amount of time. On the other hand, however, the modernising of the plot to be more technology based was extremely effective. My trypophobia was going off the charts in some places, though *shudder*.

Moss gives an excellent performance as Cecilia. We feel for her but we're also with her in her fight to prove her innocence. She's not a quitter, but she's also not a textbook heroine, either. She's normal, relate-able and fallible.

Jackson-Cohen also gives a great, if small (visibly) performance as our main antagonist. We never see the abuse first hand but his mastery is in his supposed reasonable demeanour.

Definitely a film worth checking out. It's currently available to rent online from various sources. As scary as a violent, malicious and invisible stalker is, the real horror comes from the helplessness our protagonist feels and they way that her control can be so easily taken away. That, and that whole trypophobia thing...

[Image: Blumhouse Productions]

Hani

Deliver Us From Evil

"Deliver Us From Evil" (2014, Scott Derrickson, Screen Gems, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, LStar Capital) is a possession/crime movie.


Based on the book by Ralph Sarchie himself, the film follows NYC cop, Ralph Sarchie (Eric Bana), as he joins forces with a young, troubled priest (Edgar Ramirez) on a quest to exorcise a group of ex-marines inflicted with a violent demonic entity.


While not quite matching up in quality or content to the likes of "Se7en", the film delivers a familiar crime plot with some nicely achieved horror elements. Sarchie and his partner, Butler (Joel McHale), come across as violent and flawed characters (what with their apparent thirst for a fight, even if they do only want to fight abusers and murderers). Sarchie is also portrayed as a disinterested family man and a man doubting his faith. So when he is called upon to battle the supernatural threat he seizes his opportunity to jump back onto the faith train and save the day.


The horror aspects are okay. We've got possessed people chucking babies into ravines, bricking people up into walls and doing a bit of parkour, all with an obsession with The Doors. Not to mention some fun scenes in the zoo where our protagonist finds himself a little too close for comfort with some of the residents and, of course, his daughter's haunted-ass owl toy. It sounds silly, and it is, but it's also incidentally humorous which I didn't hate. And the makeup/effects are good.


The film's message is a little sledgehammer-y, sloppy and ineffective. But I'm not a religious person so maybe it's just me. There's also some muddiness on whether Sarchie is the good guy or not. Bana's accent isn't stellar either, but if you can look past the film's flaws it is overall entertaining enough to spend a bit of time on. Even if it's mostly for this sodding owl...

[Image: Screen Gems, et al]

Hani