Calibre

"Calibre" (2018, Matt Palmer, Wellington Films, Netflix) is a thriller set in the Scottish Highlands.

Marcus (Martin McCann) takes his friend Vaughn (Jack Lowden) hunting in the highlands to celebrate Vaughn's recent good news. Vaughn has never hunted before and is not exactly keen to kill an animal, but Marcus thinks it will be good for him. When they reach the small village in which they are staying they enjoy a heavy night of drinking and manage to make some impressions on the locals; some good impressions, but not all...

The next day both men are faced with a life changing tragedy. Their attempts to carry on as normal are thwarted and eventually they are forced to face up to the consequences of their actions.

A really superbly made film that is not only atmospheric, but dark, daring and engaging. Our protagonists are well rounded characters with flaws and plans and personality. Our villagers are not just two dimensional characters either, with an almost "American Werewolf in London" meets "The Wickerman" vibe that sets you on edge. Of particular interest is the character of Logan (Tony Curran) who shows the city boys understanding, but is not to be taken lightly.

The film provides some shocking action that will leave you feeling a little empty and haunted afterwards. Much like the other recent genre great, "Hereditary", this film makes you think. With scenes that are expertly crafted with the use of silence being as important as good scripting and skilled use of the highlands setting which can be as ominous as it is breathtaking.

None of the characters are 'the baddies'. Everyone has shades of grey and a very human mix of good and bad intentions. The outcome of the tragedies in this film are neither justice nor injustice and none of the characters give the impression of getting to move on comfortably with their lives.

An excellent piece that is definitely worthy of your time and will question your own morals and sense of selfishness.

Thanks for the recommendation, Stephen King!

[Image: Wellington Films]

Hani 

Winchester

"Winchester" aka "Winchester: The House that Ghosts Build" (2018, The Spierig Brothers, Bullitt Entertainment, Diamond Pictures, Imagination Design Works) tells the curious tale of Sarah Winchester, based-on-real-events.

Sarah Winchester (Dame Helen Mirren) is the heiress to the Winchester repeating firearms company. After the death of her husband and child she became more and more reclusive, believing herself to be haunted by the spirits of people killed by her company's products. She employs construction crews around the clock constantly changing and developing her house into a mysterious manor full of twists and turns and doors which lead to nowhere. A house which was later to be referred to as the Winchester Mystery House.

Eric Price (Jason Clarke) is a doctor whom the management of the Winchester company employ to declare Winchester unfit to own controlling shares in the organisation. While Price is suffering from him own troubles, and a penchant for laudanum, he decides to give Winchester a fair assessment, staying with her for a week and letting her tell her story.

The film delivers one or two effective jump scares, and a bounty of beautiful set designs. It boasts a talented cast, who deliver a perfectly acceptable performance, and it tells the tale of one of the most intriguing buildings in existence. However, it seems that this film has been universally panned. Could it be that primarily American audiences are too immature to appreciate a film that is at its core (and not exactly subtly) anti-gun? Or is it something else? I'd like to believe that there is more to horror viewers than their personal politics, so I'm going to focus on areas where I felt the film was lacking.

Despite the intricate scenery of the film (including some shots of the actual house) and a few well executed jump scares there was very few scary moments after the halfway mark. After the big reveal of the nature of the more deadly of spirits lurking around the house, the film began to be a little too liberal about showing us all. A little more mystery in the Mystery House may have kept viewers more on-side.

Price's backstory added a somewhat unnecessary link into the plot which I felt was more heavily focused on than our main story. Unlike the "Annabelle" side plot of "The Conjuring" which acted as a thrilling sidebar to develop the characters, Price's story becomes more involved than Winchester's. Although I did enjoy his story and his period drug abuse to an extent, it felt almost as if our titular character's story was of lesser concern.

All in all, the film suffered from being both slow and showing too much to the point where all tension was lost.

[Image: Bullitt Entertainment]

Hani

88

"88" (2014, April Mullen, WANGO Films) is not really a horror movie. It's more an action movie reminiscent of the likes of "Pulp Fiction" and others.

Whilst yes, it isn't a horror, I still want to mention it here because it's good, it's gory and it stars one of my favourite modern day scream queens; Katharine Isabelle. I love her. I can't help it. Not only because she is super hot and in some of my favourite films, but also because she is downright hilarious and, as proven in this particular film, extremely adaptive as an actress.

Gwen (Katharine Isabelle) walks into a highway diner with an injured hand, a gun, a backpack and no idea what the hell is going on... From there we're taken on her journey between two timelines where we get to know more about who she really is and what has brought her to this diner. As it happens, she's a pretty dangerous lady on the lookout for whoever killed her lover. And, wouldn't you know it, it was probably someone pretty dangerous who did it!

A fun and very violent film with more than one similarity to Tarantino (timeline styling, violence, gang banter....). The characters are all very colourful, very memorable and very disposable. It's stylish, witty and not scared to make you think a bit. The story manages to avoid too much confusion, despite the fractured timeline style, and everything links up nicely by the end.

So, if you're a fan of Katharine Isabelle..., or you like Tarantino-esque films..., or you like action movies.... or gore.... or if you are anyone at all... I recommend giving this movie your time. It's worth it.

[Image: Wango Films]

 

Hani

INSPIRACION

"INSPIRACION" (2014, Antonio Clemente, Barry's Kidnapping Films) is a Spanish short suspense film about a writer who is struggling for inspiration for his next book.

His... hooker(?) recommends a person to contact who can guarantee that he will find inspiration. But he might not like what he is asked to do to inspire his imagination.

A very quiet, film noir-esque piece which makes good use of light and fills the 16minute time slot well without trying to be too clever with the budget.

The entire piece is filmed in black and white, but it lends itself well to the kind of suspensful story being told. If you don't mind subtitles, and, like me, you're not scared of independent lower budget pieces, it's a fun international short that I hope will make its way to the UK for some film festivals.

[Image: Antonio Clemente]

Hani