Gangleri – filmreviews

Directing veteran Assayas made a film of which the box suggests that it is an erotic thriller, the genre that was popular for a short while. In fact the “pervers sex games” refer to a former relation of the two main characters which are only hinted at and which in the present results in but one scene. With the raised expectation the story takes an unsuspected turn, but also as a thriller, “Boarding Gate” is not particularly good. “Nothing too special” is the only thing I can make of this film.

Jennifer Chambers Lynch is indeed the daughter of David Lynch who not only produced this film, but whose music can also be heard in the opening and closing titles. It is not really fair to compare the debut of Lynch junior to her fathers work, but I suppose it might take a few films before that stops, just as with Sophia Coppola. In any case, stylistically Jennifer leans a bit towards her father. Sharp images, an eye for details and a dark soundtrack form the similarities, but for the rest Jennifer associates with the modern Hollywood films: violent and with a story with a changing plot. The first part of the film is really good. Two FBI agents (that is the second time in one weekend that I see Bill Pullman as a policeman) travel to a remote village to investigate a series of brutal murders. Instead of a serial killer manhunt, Lynch focusses on the process of unraveling the story through witness hearings which worked out very well. Then the plot turns 180 degrees, the story loses credibility and the film turns into bloody, but not too functional mayhem supposedly making a surprise blowout. That is too bad, since in the first part of the film Lynch proves herself a descent director able to set a good atmosphere with minimal resources. Too bad she wanted to give the story a surprising twist…

A Dutch film of 1988 I must have seen it some time. Indeed some scenes seem familiar. It seems that “Spoorloos” has become a bit of a cult-film, but after (re)watching it, I wonder if that ’status’ goes for the original or the 1993 remake “The Vanishing”. Strangely enough “Spoorloos” already has that English title in the opening titles. In any case, “Spoorloos” is good for a Dutch film, especially of that time, but it is not exactly a cult classic. It is simply too normal for that (in my opinion). The story is good, based on a book by Tim Krabbé. A young couple goes on holidays to France where the girl disappears. Three years later the man has the same dream as the girl the night before she disappeared and he sets out to find her. A nice story develops, but nowadays this would probably have been filmed a bit ‘darker’, “Spoorloos” remains a quite typical 80′ies film, but the ending is indeed one that will stick with you. Not bad, but I expected something different. I guess I will watch “The Vanishing” too some time.

A young, female writer plans to spend a week in an enormous and remote villa to finish a script of which the deadline has passed. What a tedious basis for a horror/thriller! Fortunately the result is not that predictable. The film has a good, pressing atmosphere at times, but the soundtrack is quite overdone (industrial sounds in an old, creaking house?) and overal does not pass the level of a standard Hollywoord thriller. The story has some weird edges too. Not completely boring, but I do not recommend “Deadline”.

The box that we rented had no indication whatsoever that this is a third part of a ’series’, while all the posters that I found on the www do. The ’series’ are not by on director it seems and not a continuing story either, but just sequels to a popular film probably. The basis of the film is not too original: a man can travel back in time. The film places stress on the consequences of this and that concept could have made an interesting story. Strangely enough even the third attempt gives but another of these popular psychic crime fighters tv-series while a better thought-through script could also have resulted in another “Memento“. This third part does not really invite to watch the previous two films to see if they are any better, but like I said: all the ingredients to make a good story are present. Grossman failed to make something good of it and the filming itself is way too popular too. I guess the intended audience was that of films like “Final Destination”, not that of “Memento”. There are some bloody scenes and a quite over-the-top sex-scene, but I suppose that all still aims for the large audience that got used to “Hostel”-massacres.

This Japanese fantasy thriller is based on a comic. The story is quite original, but the result a bit ‘teen power’. The story is quickly given away, so I will just refer to the English title “Death Note” and leave it with that. In between genres such as crime-investigating police, a little bit of thriller and fantasy, “Desu Nôto” comes out just average. It is not bad, but certainly not great either.

My girlfriend bought this all-American thriller/horror about two young couples who enjoy holidays in Mexico but on their last day they decide sniff some culture and visit a Maya temple that is not in the tourists books. They soon discover why and the film gets a nice dense atmosphere and some gruesome scenes. “The Ruins” is a big-audience horror in my eyes, but the story is not all that bad and it appears that it is based on a book, so I guess that explains it. Too bad that the creators could not come up with an ending, but maybe that is just because they might want to make a sequel?
Not bad, nothing too special though.

“Loft” is a Flemish film about five friends who buy a “loft” (luxery appartment) where they can cheat on their wives. One day a dead body lays in bed. It takes a bit before the film starts to get rolling. The acting is not too convincing, but this gets better. The middle part of the film has a good story and a nice atmosphere, but at the end there are two shifts in the plot that makes all that came before no longer credible. Too bad, because with a few successfull police series, the Belgians have shown that they can write interesting stories and create a series that appeals to a large audience. “Loft” could have come in that tradition, but besides the good middle part, this is not really a good film.

It had been a while since I saw a Jap-horror. This older film of the praised director of “Ju-On” and “The Grudge” is not really in the popular style of “Ju-On” or “Ringu”, but obviously a Jap-horror. A man wants to know what death-fear is and investigating his subject sinks away in the depths of his own mind. “Marebito” has a thick layer of fantasy, but of a very dark kind. The film has some quite bloody scenes which explains the 16+ rating, but it has another kind of atmosphere than the popular films, more of a mysterious fantasy kind of atmosphere. The film is not a masterpiece, but a nice watch nonetheless.

A young girl is haunted by a demon and to find a sollution, her boyfriend buys a camera to register what happens. He starts to film themselves day and night.
“Paranormal Activity” has more than one thing incommon with “The Blair Witch Project“. Both films are very low budget, but made big bucks after hitting the cinemas (I even read it was released in Europe earlier than planned because of the success in the US, so why is it of 2007?). Both films are formed by the video footage that the subjects recorded themselves. Both films are creepy thriller / horror films in which nothing much is to be seen, but the suggestion and the fact that it looks authentic does the trick. Both films have a lot of out-of-hand filming that makes my stomach ache. “The Blair Witch Project” was hyped more, with fake newsflashes on the internet about lost students and the idea that the film was merely what was on the videotape of the recorder that was found. “Paranormal Activity” has obviously been edited more, but in several cases this really adds to the atmosphere. Most (of course) happens at night, but the periods that nothing happens are shown in fast-foward. There are also two fast-foward scenes in which something does happen, greatly enlarging the ‘creepyness’ of those scenes. Just as in “The Blair Witch Project” it takes a while before things start roling, but after that the film quickly runs to a climax. I personally did not find the film all that scary, not as much as “The Blair Witch Project” for sure. Maybe that is because the novelty is gone. The film still has a magnificent atmosphere though. Taking the reactions from the audience, many people did get the creeps though (such as the three girls next to us discussing if they still dared to leave the room ). I have seldom seen a film with so many outloud reactions from the viewers, screams and yells, “oh my god”s, they were all there. There is nothing much to say about the story of the film, other than that what I started with. Be sure that it is the more frightening kind of film like the one I mentioned several times before. If you liked “The Blair Witch Project”, you want to see “Paranormal Activity”. On the big screen of course.