The Perfection

I seemed to be in the mood for watching films about cellists this weekend as I checked out "The Perfection" on the back of watching 2009's "The Soloist". I can confirm that this was completely incidental and both film's could not be further from one another in plot and genre. But it did make for good viewing. Since this is a more horror/thrilller aimed blog, however, I guess we should focus on "The Perfection"...

"The Perfection" (2019, Richard Shepard, Miramax, Capstone Film Group, Netflix) is a horror about the dangers of aiming for perfection at all costs based around a prestigious music school.

Charlotte (Allison Williams) is a talented cellist who was forced to give up on her dreams of becoming the protege of her teacher and head of the Bachoff music school, Anton (Steven Weber), when her mother became terminally ill and she was needed to care for her. Upon the death of her mother some years later, Charlotte reaches back out to Anton and is invited to be a guest judge on a panel judging some promising young cellists in China hoping to win entry to the Academy along with Anton's current protege, and Charlotte's replacement, Lizzie (Logan Browning). Although reluctant at first, Charlotte and Lizzie strike up a friendship (and then some) and decide to spend a couple of weeks together off the beaten path in China. Things do not go to plan... or do they?

An engaging film that kept my attention throughout the full run time due not only to good story telling and excellent acting, but also some nicely spaced out and visually pleasing gore.

I was not sure what I was in for in this film and went in essentially blind, having only heard that it was "up my street". I can confirm that I found it to be an extremely entertaining 90 minutes with a few plot twists that kept the pacing lively and some really gruesome effects. The first twist caught me completely off-guard and really grabbed my attention.

I enjoyed the way the film managed to get me to flip-flop between loving and loathing different characters as each piece of the puzzle was unveiled and both Williams and Browning give great performances throughout.

Fairly gripping and delivering more than I went in expecting, this one is certainly worth your time.

[Image: Netflix et al]

Hani

Suspiria (2018)

"Suspiria" (2018, Luca Guadagnino K Period Media, Frenesy Film Company, Videa Mythology Entertainment, Memo Films, Vega Baby) is the arthouse re-imagining of the 1977 Dario Argento film of the same name.

Susie Bannion (Dakota Johnson) leaves Ohio and enrols in a dance academy in West Berlin. She becomes the favourite of the instructor, Madame Blanc (Tilda Swinton), but begins to suspect that something very strange is going on at the school as she and her friend Sara (Mia Goth) begin investigating. At the same time, a psychologist (also Swinton in impressive prosthetics making this, minus some minor roles, an all-female cast) is investigating the school after the disappearance of  his patient, Patricia (Chloë Grace Moretz), who had left journals stating that she believed the matrons of the school to be witches.

Cards on the table I did not love this film. I found the length excessive with long winded shots and scenes that seemed artsy for the sake of it, rather than a statement or style. The film's pacing was tedious and I found the plot to be somewhat incoherent (and that's saying something from me, a fan of some of the most incoherent B-movies ever made). The whole side-plot with the Doctor seemed unnecessary and the grim styling, which I'll get to below, coupled with the pacing made the film seem even slower. Unlike the original, the remake also didn't have a strong memorable score. In honesty, I can't imagine how this could be achieved without infringing on the original, but I felt that I barely noticed the score at all.

That's not to say that I didn't find things I liked about the film. The styling and colouration of the original could not be matched or recreated without seeming like a pointless copy, so I admire the direction of Guadagnino to go his own way. The style seems consistent with West Berlin in the 70s. The scenery is also reminiscent of the original but much more drab, grey and gritty. I also appreciated that the film was immersed completely in its German setting. As a German language learner I was thrilled to pick up most of the German dialogue without the need of subtitles. However, for non-speakers of the language it perhaps made a long film feel even longer.

The body-horror elements were really good; lots of bone breaking, gut spilling and pants pissing, and a very chaotic and Giallo-homage ridden scene filled to the brim with nude dancers and grizzled old witches. However, the journey to reach the payoffs was long and, although the gore and effects were stunning, even these scenes seemed overly long and lingered too much which, for me, robbed them of some of their effect.

While I didn't hate the film, I am unlikely to watch it again and view it as an experience as a genre fan, rather than a piece of entertainment. Clearly it just isn't for me.

[Image: K Period Media, et al]

Hani

Cooties

"Cooties" (2015, Cary Murnion, SpectreVision, Glacier Films, Liongate Premiere) is a zombie kid horror comedy set in an elementary school.

The school is located in an area called F.t. Chicken, Illinois, where a young girl is seen to eat a tainted chicken nugget (which we were lucky enough to see the entire process of in the first scene). This girl then goes on to infect other children in the school.

Clint Hadson (Elijah Wood) is a struggling writer who is subbing as an elementary teacher to pay the  bills. He has the lucky task of dealing with a bunch of badly behaved 4th graders, made only better by the outbreak of the maddening, bloodthirsty disease.

This film is a little weird. All of the teachers are ridiculously quirky and odd and the disease only appears to infect children, meaning that the film unfolds into an entertaining, zombified Children of the Corn scenario. The characters are possibly too caricature-ish to care too much about, but on the whole the film is gross, silly and entertaining. There were also very self-aware jabs at Elijah Wood (who owns SpectreVision, coincidentally) throughout.

Whilst it's a bit of a one-trick pony, "Cooties" delivers some light-hearted, gory fun.

[Image: SpectreVision]

Hani