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Reviews
Chang-gwol (2018)
A mess of poor writing
I hope that you, poor reader, and anyone else you know who might be thinking of this film allows it to die the death it should.
I strongly suspect that a massive number of reviews on this film we're by people involved in the film or those who were more in love with the idea of the film than the film itself.
Rampant tries to sell itself as a great Joseon period film about turmoil and zombies and heroism. It squeezes in some decent action sequences and good makeup with known actors; but just like how a production without any of those things can still end up with a great film, Rampant takes all of those blessings and squanders them by haphazardly jamming all of the nuts and bolts of a decent film into a mess totally different from what the trailers promise.
The backbone of the film is not a horror in and of itself, but a jingoistic period piece based on soggy appeals to nationalism and ham fisted attempts at court intrigue. The shift in tone and pacing from the opening to the introduction of the main cast is jarring and uneven, and the rules of the world and actual resolution of struggles is frustratingly vague.
It would not surprise me if half the people who wrote the film couldn't agree on how zombies even work. Death by heart or head? But people can just slash at them and they fall? They're slow and jerky but also run and scream? Why can some think and even encourage or threaten people but others are totally animalistic and mindless? They burn in the sun but can walk in light shadow or on cloudy days? Are they even zombies or are they, as the film calls them, a dually demons?
The people who worked on this should be ashamed of Rampant, as characters are horrible. As an action film, the level of skill people show ranges from crouching tiger to basic floundering. There's a few chunks of attempted characterization, but most of the characters are flat and could easily have a number of their roles reversed without any real effect on the story. Too much time is spent on panning close-ups of emotional reactions and signalling rather than actual meaningful interactions. Occasionally it feels as if the cast we're unsure if they were pausing for dramatic music as if it were a series or if they should have been delivering lines. This weakness gets worse as the film goes on as they don't seem to get closer or have more faith in each other at all. It wouldn't surprise me if it later came out that the actors all hated each other or that significant portions of the film's were rewritten to either include people the studio decided to shoehorn in or cover people dropping from the production.
The subplots are half baked and poorly explored or explained. Many of the actions taken by characters to either save themselves or stop the zombies is utterly bewildering and nonsensical to the point where even the suspension of disbelief for the zombies feels like a stretch to cover the supposedly understood motivations of the cast. The plans are simplistic and the numbers and ideas thrown about don't seem to hold water as ideas constantly shift as if the director were allowing the actors to adlib something close to a third of the film.
Save your time. Don't watch this film. No matter how much the trailer promised, it's nowhere near half as good as the trailer.
La chiesa (1989)
For fans of VVitch
For fans of The Witch, this will be another fantastic piece. While there are slight issues with continuity and motivation of some parts of the plot, this film offers mystery, action gore (even if a bit outdated), and wonderful composition, all while developing a narrative that pulls you in and invests in the well earned climax.
The artistry is absolutely the best when it comes to the beauty of the shots and the musical score which lends heavily to the mood.
The subplots seem to be disjointed and I can't honestly say they all finally join in a way that'll satisfy everyone, but they definitely add up in an overall world building/background developing kind of way, especially with some of the more subversive undertones for those who appreciate the slightly deeper meaning to some of the parts.
A few of the characters are one note, and you kind of wonder if you'd be better than them in the same situation, but it doesn't hamper the film and they work together relatively well.
Bottom line? Not a scary film, but somewhat creepy and blossoming with macabre beauty.
You're Next (2011)
Makes a lot out of a little, strong recommendation.
The film initially starts slow and a bit weak in terms of believable acting or obvious motives, and some of the details throw people off the trail at first, but it gets much better roughly 20min-half an hour deep.
That being said, this is one of my favorite recent action films. The actions of the protagonist are pretty satisfying to watch in an old timey flawless victory sort of way in the sense that everything seems fluid, natural, and wonderfully executed. The action is strong, and the suspense that builds is good if not somewhat inconsistent throughout the narrative.
The part that really turned me on the most was the use of purposeful dialogue and actions once the set up portion of the film is done. It's very much a Chekov's gun sort of situation in which the economy of film means each clue and detail is important in at least some minor way later on, if not at the least good indicators of the rules and guidelines of the universe the movie's set up for us.This can range from snares and weapons, to how sturdy some of the characters are. All very fun to watch and sensible.
I recommend this film strongly, though I suggest you avoid reading too many reviews and just take it as is.
Huang he da xia (1988)
Superb film
This is a superb film. Considering it came out at a horribly time (historically speaking for China) I would say this is a really fantastic piece. It's pre-wire-fu so it's all acrobatics and quick footwork for wow factor (with maybe a hidden trampoline or two) and has a lot of good details that make it stand out a LOT from other films of its time including a lot of the ones made even today. Here's a few to consider:
-Setting is great in that it really looks desolate, back drops are epic, everything's gritty and dirty rather than overly bright like a lot of this film's contemporary opera based counterparts. -Fighting styles are unique and consistent across different characters. -Weapons techniques aren't all fancy dodges (though obviously there's a lot of that), but include a lot of kill blows where weapons obviously smash pretty hard against things in the background (ice, wood, stones, etc). -Fights are all exciting because they're contextual, with the heroes winning by the skin of their teeth or whole handedly according to the situation. It's not like a lot of films where it's always massively one sided. -You know how usually most films have a lot of extras blindly and uselessly flailing weapons at each other like dumb mooks as the main characters actually fight? EACH AND EVERY FIGHT features EVERYONE fighting at LEAST one other person and looking like they're actually trying. It's obvious the PRC pulled out all the stops and got great people for even the background guys.
Film wise there are a lot of pluses too:
-Lots of background for even the side characters is implied and a whole martial arts community is alluded to when random background characters show up multiple times. -Story is compelling, and good insight to all the characters' thought processes (even if their stories are a bit bare) is always present. The development is decent too. -Story is complex in terms of emotional build up, traumas, mysteries, plot twists, etc. -Thematically it's also pretty well layered with bits of Machiavelli, realistic feudalism, the hardships of common people, and the viciousness of power struggles.
Bonus, the actor who played the main character died recently, but apparently he was actually pretty bad assed as a swordsman up until he was pretty decrepit. Check out his moves!
The Last Halloween (2014)
Fantastic
It's essentially a retelling of Halloween origin stories (minus the deep pagan bits) in such a way that hits a lot closer to home than you'd expect.Even after most of the world has ended, the spirit of Halloween lives on as long as there are people around. If anything, it's as if removing large chunks of the population intensified the narrative in a lot of ways because it makes it all the more unsettling... like sawing away all the rotten wood on an old fence so it's nothing but twisted planks and nails. Really good idea pretty much to get the most out of not too much money and make sure the story takes center stage, Story is clever, effects are good, execution is top notch with a few cameos from recognizable faces, and pay off is definitely worth it if not predictable.
Frankenstein's Army (2013)
Nice Costumes and Sets, Poor Acting
I would highly recommend never watching this film as a film, but rather simply leaving it on in the background as you're doing something else. The sets, costumes, and monsters are fantastic. Save for a few odd ones, the quality is consistently high and set dressing and effects are executed by someone with an eye for detail.
On the other hand, the acting is atrocious- accents are inconsistent, the comedy isn't quite funny enough and the horror is ruined by the use of unbelievable leaps of emotion that scream artificial.
The way the film was produced isn't that great either. The use of found footage hurts the film more than helps it in terms of story telling, the mixing of psychopathic characters and basic "scared kids" and heroic tropes leads to inconsistent mood, and most of the shots are distracting rather than focusing. A lot of scenes don't focus enough on the horror aspect but stick too long on the action and dwell too long on basic things like tripping in the mud or stomping through the forest in a way that doesn't advance the story at all.
Reasons to still have the film playing at all? Monsters are great, design is creative, atmosphere and level of grit are appropriate, basic premise is entertaining.