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Reviews
Infected: The Darkest Day (2021)
An enjoyable zombie action homage to 28 Days Later
Having read up on the production of this film, I must say I'm VERY impressed with what the filmmakers have achieved on such a tiny budget.
Helicopters, zombies, destroyed cities, soldiers all look like they are part of a Hollywood film. Whilst the acting and the plot aren't 100% (although i read that the whole film was improvised by the cast and shot at weekends over several years so that can be forgiven) it's an enjoyable unpretentious zombie action film.
The film is very similar in style to 28 Days Later in terms of visuals and tone, had some funny moments, a few jump scares and plenty of zombie carnage. Well worth a watch if you're a fan of the 2002 Danny Boyle film.
The Scandalous Four (2011)
An unconventional (but a bit cheap feeling) period comedic drama.
*Spoilers within*
There are a number of extreme reviews for this film, either really harsh or overtly positive that seemed to have been written by friends of the filmmakers.
I wanted to give a fair and balanced review, to give a more in-depth look at the pros and cons so I researched the production and learnt a little more about the cast and crew.
Plot and script:
Lady Penelope (not from Thunderbirds!) is in an arranged marriage to Mr Jonathan Alexander. They move to the country where Penelope is left isolated while Jonathan has a gay affair with George the butler. After the gardener is accidentally crushed to death, he is replaced by Richard Reynolds, the love of Penelope. Both couples become aware of the affairs and team up to hide them from outside parties and therefore become The Scandalous Four
!
The script was improvised by a lot of the cast, using a rough treatment from the director. This is evident in some of the dialogue, which is often meandering and some of the expositional dialogue is pretty cack-handed. The plot is also a bit all over the place. It takes a while for the story to get going and then a whole bunch of sub plots come out of nowhere. It's 40 minutes into the film before Richard (the love of Penelope) comes back into the film after his introduction in the opening 10 minutes. I'd almost forgotten he was still in the film by that point!
In the final third, Penelope falls into a random plot coma and suddenly George the butler is announced as an expert shaman (!?!?!?) and proceeds to get Richard and Mr Alexander to help him perform some kind of pagan séance to bring her back from her coma. Where did that all come from??
There is also a superfluous voice over from Penelope explaining what is blatantly obvious on screen. "I was feeling isolated and sad" she states over shots of her looking isolated and sad. Really? Come on, give your audience a bit more credit!!
That said, the overall story is (sort of
) there. Two separate couples teaming up to hide their affairs from the prejudiced outside world (their country house being something of an isolated safe haven of tolerance and acceptance) and become a unconventional family together gives it some narrative thread. But this plot line is often lost and muddled.
The Actors:
Samantha Hills as Penelope has the difficult task of carrying the film. I thought she did a decent job as our protagonist into the story, but there were a lot of factors that had a detriment to her performance. She had a likable presence and, even with the pointless and dull voice over, I was engaged in her story.
Alistair Lock plays George with a humanity and subtle wit and shares good chemistry with Meredith Colechester as the conflicted Mr Alexander. The gay relationship developing and potentially tearing them apart works well for the story.
Jez Hughes as Richard is definitely a weak link in the acting. He has no chemistry/passion with Penelope and his delivery is flat and unengaging.
There's also some decent cameos from the fun maids, Penelope's flirty friend Reginalda and Cuthbert an oafish Canadian bring some nice comedic touches. Chris Butler and Gayle Dudley bring some much needed tension as a sinister priest and Penelope's shrewish Mother.
Directing:
Director Christianne Van Wijk has taken on an ambitious project for her first feature. There is a definite style/tone at play here, with a nice dry comedy, such as an amusing montage of terrible potential husbands for Penelope or scenes of drama/tension that are well handled (such as Penelope confronting Mr Alexander when he challenges her on her affair) Overall the balance of wry comedy and romantic drama is pitched well.
The themes of tolerance, love and acceptance give the film a positive message, and making a period drama with elements of comedy with an uplifting happy ending was a welcome change to similar types of drama. But a lot of those themes were buried/lost with random or pointless scenes. The spiritual based third act seems like a different film, is pretty cringey and veers into unintentional comedy.
Editing and cinematography:
It's fair to say the editing is definitely one of the weaker elements. It all felt very sluggish and made the film seem very cheap. The film is far too long which deflates any potential intrigue or drama (especially with the pointless voice over). It also doesn't do any of the actors any favours. They are clearly amateur and some of the badly edited scenes highlights their inability at times rather than emphasising their performances. The cinematography is also not flattering to them and the lighting/colour grading makes the whole thing seem a bit cheap and awkward.
Conclusion:
This genre has a high pedigree of production value, like Downton Abbey and big budget movies based on Jane Austen novels etc. As Scandalous 4 will be compared to that standard I think the director and producers should have done a lot more to make their film comparable to those productions. I appreciate the film was a no budget production, however the director also edited the film but needed to do a lot more. When you don't have big named actors/slick production values, you need to do everything else in your power to make your story engaging and stand up as an enjoyable viewing experience to the audience. And the story and themes would have been interesting enough to carry the drama, but the execution let it down. That said, if you fancy trying out something unconventional with an offbeat feel and can look past the amateurness of the production, you may find some fun elements.
Swung (2015)
A watchable indie dramedy.
The two leads were likable and i believed their relationship and chemistry. The film started well, with some nice humour and warmth about erectile dysfunction and keeping a sex life alive, but did start to lose its way towards the final act as things got a little more serious and there were some strange choices for the dramatic finale (the black room was at least original, but a little... weird) But the film was short so never dragged and was well shot with a decent soundtrack. Worth a watch as it's good to support independent films and also it's at least trying something a bit different. I saw a few reviews who seemed to think it was supposed to be making a bit statement about the swinger scene or erectile dysfunction (!) but i never felt that was part of it, it was just a backdrop for the characters to explore their problems. The film was well made for a low budget and passed the time without being boring.