March 2009

  • Rec or Quarantine

    By roskopp on 3/24/09 3:04am
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    Rec posterRec was an absolute revelation when I first saw it last year. One of my mates implored me to give it a go. It was a Spanish horror film and I had heard nothing about it so I sat down without expectation and was blown away by the fast-paced tense horror filmed with a handheld camera. Now the film has been remade for US audiences and retitled as Quarantine. Does it match up to the visceral terror of the original?

    The set up is simple, a young female reporter and her cameraman are spending the night with the local fire crew, in the new US version the film is set in Los Angeles. The film draws you in as we see the unedited footage shot by the cameraman and to begin with it is a dull documentary style affair which introduces you to the principle players. Eventually the fire fighters are called to an apartment building and they enter with the reporter in tow. The police are waiting inside and they enter the scene of the disturbance to find an old woman who is visibly freaking out.

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  • Let the Right One In

    By roskopp on 3/23/09 2:53am
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    Let The Right One In posterThis is a fantastic film about a young boy called Oskar who befriends a young girl called Eli. However all is not as it seems. This is artfully directed, full of depth and drama and hugely entertaining. There are bullies and a mysterious killer to contend with and as Oskar falls in love he makes a startling discovery about Eli, she’s a vampire.

    Let The Right One In is a Swedish film and so the action is subtitled but you can’t let that stop you from seeing what is a chilling, inventive and extremely charming film. It is directed by the talented Tomas Alfredson and the action unfolds at a gentle pace. The story is based on a successful book by John Ajvide Lindqvist and there are strong elements of drama and romance as well as some terrific horror.

    Oskar is having a tough time, he gets bullied at school by a cruel kid and his two henchmen, his mother and father seem to have had an acrimonious divorce and no one has time for him.

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  • Friday the 13th Remake

    By roskopp on 3/20/09 3:07am
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    Friday the 13th remake posterThe lack of imagination in Hollywood is astounding sometimes and their crusade to remake everything is getting seriously tiresome. Following in the same mould as the unnecessary and pretty awful Halloween remake here comes Jason Voorhees in a remake of Friday the 13th. Except, wait a minute, it isn’t even a remake of Friday the 13th because Jason doesn’t really appear there at all and there’s no way they can market a film to the kiddies without our favourite hockey mask killer striding around chopping up teens. What we actually get here is a remake of the first three Friday the 13th films condensed into an uninspiring 97 minute movie.

    As it turns out the original film is retold during the opening credits and by the time the action starts properly Mrs. Voorhees is already a headless rotting corpse and Jason is ready for some machete action.

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