Review : The Devil Inside (2012)

Time can literally stand still...

Suffering through 'found-footage' fuck-up fest, THE DEVIL INSIDE is like vacationing in the abyss. Its an unending, mindbogglingly shit plummet into Satan's toilet bowl. Fit for consumption by none.

It takes a lot to get my rankle up when it comes to found footage films. It really does. I'm one of the few, ostracized souls in the horror field who actually sees great merit in the movies, (when done right, of course). Hell, the last movie I reviewed was a shaky-cam shocker, THE TROLL HUNTER, and it was deliriously engaging and entertaining. While I sometimes feel like I'll have to rename this place 'THE FUCKING FOUND FOOTAGE HOTEL', I still get a kick from these films. I'm at half mast just thinking about REC 3, I enjoyed the hell out of CLOVERFIELD and I can't bring myself to get on the vitriol wagon for the PARANORMAL ACTIVITY series, either. Its an immersive filming technique when done with panache.

THE DEVIL INSIDE is not done with panache. Nope. Not at all.

Review : Blooded (2011)

Director:

Edward Boase

Writer:

James Walker

Stars:

Nick Ashdon, Neil McDermott and Oliver Boot

A group of hunters, led by a prominent Pro-Hunting lobbyist, Lucas Bell, are abducted in the remote Highlands of Scotland by animal rights activists, and given a taste of what its like to be hunted themselves.

This is a film site, so I'll discuss the movie on its merits before commenting on what I see as a very upsetting agenda within this film. Feel free to read and enjoy only the critique on the technical aspects of the film, and I'll let you know when it'll move on from that....

If your working on a low budget, and you happen to be based in the UK, there are worse things you can do than film your movie in my home land of Scotland. You need a sense of total isolation? You got it. You need a landscape so untouched by civilisation that it commands respect even when viewed through the lens of a camera? Well, you got that too.  You need a sense of majesty in your cinematography? An epic sweep that can make your humble little indie film look like a million bucks? Yep, got it.

Review : The Tunnel (2011)

Director:

Carlo Ledesma

Writers:

Enzo Tedeschi, Julian Harvey

Stars:

Bel Deliá, Andy Rodoreda and Steve Davis

Determined to find the truth behind a government cover up, a news team descends into a network of abandoned underground train tunnels looking for the facts of the story. What they find there in the endless darkness is something unimaginable. Something that is hunting them, one by one. And they're running out of light...

First of all, lets get the history of this films inception out of the way. It seems that THE TUNNEL's actual merit as a work of film, has been overshadowed by its rather excellent back story. The movie was funded independently, by the filmmakers selling frames of the film online in order to finance it. It was then releases simultaneously on a variety of platforms, including DVD, pay per view, and for FREE as a torrent download. I posted an article going into a little more detail about it here. Of course, I'm all for this method of film production. Its original, its risky and its somewhat symbolic of the independent spirit that is the horror genres birthright. And, lest we all forget, it worked. The film has been well received and word of mouth is quickly bringing it to the attention of many. The real problem here is that for a film with such an original conception, the work itself does come across as very derivative.