Giallo – Film Review

Posted on September 5, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Dario Argento

Writers: Jim Agnew, Sean Keller, Dario Argento

Starring: Adrien Brody, Emmanuelle Seigner, Elsa Pataky

Rating: ★★★

Dario Argento’s 2009 film Giallo is the only film that he has directed that wasn’t based his own original idea. Instead, the story was written with him in mind, with Argento agreeing to direct. At the time of release, it was more well-known due to the controversy around Adrien Brody’s pay. Brody wasn’t paid correctly, and successfully blocked the DVD release in America until this dispute with the producers was settled in 2011, two years after the film originally premiered. Dario Argento himself refused to do any promotion of the film in Italy to stand with Brody in the matter. Aside from that the film was critically torn apart at the time of release, receiving universally horrendous reviews from critics and audience.

Inspector Enzo Avolfi (Adrien Brody) has been working the case of a serial killer for a while, covering his office with pictures of the victims, but he has no solid leads. After another girl goes missing, the victim’s sister Linda (Emmanuelle Seigner) gives Avolfi a clue that may help him track down the killer and save Linda’s sister at the same time.

One of the first things about this is film that’s noticeable, especially for something from Argento in the Giallo genre, is that most of the violence is off-screen, at least at first. You see the first girl getting kidnapped, you see what he’s going to do, but the camera pans away. When you’re watching someone else helplessly witnessing the killer mutilating a victim, rather than the act itself, it’s more horrific. The camera panning away is more impactful than the close-up violence you get latter in the film, although the late scene where someone’s hands move across shards of glass is eye-wincing.

Adrien Brody does a good job as Inspector Enzo Avolfi, who is dedicating every waking moment to finding the killer and saving Celine. Avolfi has his own past, that’s revealed slowly throughout with flashbacks and he’s an interesting and likable character. His character walks the line between the clichéd rouge cop and a more charismatic person. Brody also appears as the killer, although heavily disguised in make-up, that looks like something out of a sketch show. He’s not a menacing figure, and does come across as a stereotype, rather than a character. Even the fact that Brody plays both the inspector and villain doesn’t really add up to anything, beyond the basic mirroring of the two characters.  

Unlike most of Argento’s giallo films, the killer is revealed quite early on, and the central mystery isn’t figuring it out who he is, it’s more focused on saving Celine. What the film fails to do is create true tension with what the timeframe to do that in is. It’s not clear how much time has passed throughout the story, or how long Celine has left. Is the killer feeding her? It’s not clear how long she’s been kidnapped for. You really should be under the impression that time is running out. The previous victim, who is already being slowly tortured when Celine is first kidnapped, should give a better sense of how long Celine has, but she doesn’t. We just get tiny pieces of information that the cuts are inflicted over a long period of time. The lack of urgency means the tension is never ramped up beyond finding Celine.

Giallo is a fairly standard thriller, with some decent gore and an interesting lead character. The killer is a joke, which is a let-down, and the ending would be a lot more powerful if it ended one scene earlier. It even feels like it’s going to end there, with a long shot of Brody walking towards the camera, but another scene is added to give closure to everything. Argento has stated that he didn’t like the final cut of the film as the producers re-edited it, which would explain the mismatch of the ending. The ingredients are all here for another giallo classic from Argento, but it seems like there was just too many cooks in the kitchen on this one.

Thanks for reading! If you liked my review, please subscribe to never miss a post:

Posted in film reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Small Update

Posted on September 4, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

Writing has been a little slow for the last couple of weeks, but I’m planning on getting back on track starting tomorrow. I’ve still done bits here and there, but not as much as in previous weeks. I’ve started a new short story, that I’m hoping to finish on my next mid-week day off (When I work the weekend I get a random day off in the week). I’ve also written over 25,000 words for Blossoms of the Apocalypse, which is over half the length I expected it to be when I started. I feel like it’s going to be a little longer now, but I’m happy with how it’s going so far.

I’ve been reading a fair bit, having finished Dario Argento’s autobiography recently. I enjoyed reading it quite a bit, and I thought he was quite honest in it. Most of the book is focused on his early life and career, with only a few short chapters on most of his films from the 90s onwards. Maybe there’ll be a part 2 at some point more focused on the recent years. I’ve also started reading Jo Nesbo’s collection of short stories, The Jealousy Man and really enjoying it so far. I’m a little over half way through, and will be reading more of the stories in the near future. I’ve only read one of his novels, which I did enjoy, and will probably be seeking out more of his stuff after finishing the collection.

While in London over the weekend I picked up White Noise by Don DeLillo, which is something I’ve wanted to read for a while. When I was younger I thought it was what the 2005 horror film of the same name was based on after seeing it in a book store, and had it on my list to read since then. I later found out that it had absolutely nothing in common and then even later, while I was at uni I had to read Falling Man by DeLillo, which I did not get on with at all. I don’t even think I finished it, which put me off White Noise. Now that there’s an actual film adaptation on the way, I decided it was now or never. I like to have a book with me when I’m in a hotel, as it’s the best time to read, with literally no distractions. I’m really enjoying it so far, to the point that I’m thinking it’s time to give Falling Man another go, if I still have it. I’m not sure it survived the university book cull when I moved home. I’ll have to find the box at the bottom of a cupboard to double check.

I was in London this weekend for a belated birthday trip, that I put off to co-inside with the Taylor Hawkins tribute show. I thought it was best to save on train fare by doing them both together, especially since I was looking for a hotel for the concert anyway. Foo Fighters are one of my favourite bands, and were one of the first bands I saw live over 10 years ago . I had tickets to see them again this year before Taylor’s passing. Getting tickets, even with the pre-sale, was incredibly difficult, with the site crashing multiple times, but I did it in the end.

We headed down to London on Friday, to walk through Whitechapel (knocking off another location on the Monopoly board, which is something me and my wife are working towards to help us with our aimless wanderings). I also wanted to walk along South Bank from the Tower of London to Westminster, which we did as the sun was setting and the iconic sites were being lit up. A beautiful walk. As I said in a recent post, I love walking around London. Hopefully I’ll be back again next month for London Film Festival and more exploring.

Originally I was going to write a full post about the concert, but I don’t really know what to say. It was a once in a lifetime gig, and not one I’ll ever forget. Alongside the Foo Fighters were a range of fantastic musicians. It was a great night, and a fitting tribute to the great drummer himself. Highlights included Liam Gallagher opening the show with Rock N Roll Star, seeing Them Crooked Vultures (I didn’t even realise all the members were going to be there), the surviving members of Rush (who I never thought I’d get the chance to see. Rush have become one of my favourites of all time and they played 3 of my favourite songs, with YYZ being Taylor Hawkins’s favourite as well), Queen with a range of singers, Justin Hawkins from The Darkness (I don’t really know The Darkness that well, but I am a fan of his YouTube channel and watch that pretty much every day), and Paul McCartney appearing towards the end to play Oh Darling and Helter Skelter. There were plenty of stories about Taylor and tributes from people in attendance as well as videos from those who couldn’t make it. It a sad, uplifting and fitting tribute to him.

Because of going to London I haven’t watched The Rings of Power yet, which I’ve been hesitantly looking forward to since they first announced it. The trailers look great. I’ve read brief reviews and reactions online that vary from it’s the worst thing ever to it makes The House of the Dragon look rubbish, which I take it to mean this could be something special as the first 2 episodes of the GoT prequel have been amazing. I didn’t want to watch it, but had to give it a go, and within half an episode I’d forgotten about how bad Season 8 of GoT was and am completely invested in this new show. Matt Smith is incredible in it, and I can’t wait to watch episode 3 tomorrow, which will sadly put The Rings of Power back until Tuesday, most likely.

From tomorrow I’m back to my day job, working the late shift this week, so will have plenty of time for reading and writing in the morning.

Thanks for reading and until next time,

Ashley

Posted in Updates | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan – Film Review

Posted on September 3, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Rob Hedden

Writer: Rob Hedden

Starring: Jensen Daggett, Scott Reeves, Barbara Bingham, Peter Mark Richman, Martin Cummins, Gordon Currie, Alex Diakun, V.C. Dupree, Saffron Henderson, Kelly Hu, Sharlene Martin, Warren Munson, and Kane Hodder

Rating: ?

Before the film entered production different ideas where being floated around for what the eighth entry to the Friday the 13th series would be. A full-on sequel to Part VII was on the table, with Tina returning to fight Jason once again, but that was thrown away and instead, Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan was given to Rob Hedden who’s main idea was to get Jason away from Crystal Lake, while also harkening back to the original, done through visions of Jason drowning as a child.

Jason is back yet again, brought back to life with electricity like Frankenstein yet again, but this time he’s left Crystal Lake and is in Manhattan. Well for a little bit at the end he is, for the most part Jason is on a boat and it’s as stupid as that sounds. To be honest a cruise ship that a school is taking its graduating students on to travel to New York. We get to spend an hour and three minutes going out of our minds with boredom as Jason kills student after student on the boat, and then they arrive at Manhattan and things start to get a little more interesting, but don’t worry, it’s still mind-numbingly dull. Apart from a couple of scenes on Times Square, this could have been set anywhere. It completely wastes the potential of the location. Writer and director Rob Hedden actually had much bigger and better ideas for Manhattan, but due to budget constraints these didn’t happen, with more time instead, being spent on the boat.

God, that first hour is so dull. There’s literally nothing good about it. The kills are beyond bland, that they’re not even trying. It could be really scary and claustrophobic to see Jason chase and kill a group that has no where to run to, but it doesn’t get close to being tense. The tensest thing about it is wondering if you’ve died and hell is just watching this never-ending trash. When they eventually get off the boat onto a small rowboat heading for Manhattan there’s a brief moment of relief where it feels like the film could be over, and then you realise that Jason hasn’t even reached the holy titled destination. It honestly feels like more than ninety minutes has passed at that point, but we still have forty to go.

It’s not all complete trash though, because the Times Square scene is good, and shows that the film could have been really great if the budget wasn’t so restrictive. There’s another scene on the subway that could have been tense if the film wasn’t so tedious before it. The rooftop scene is probably the highlight, when Julius (V.C. Dupree) is stuck and tries to fight Jason, who just stands there and takes punch after punch, before decapitating Julius in one punch. It’s really drawn out, which makes the kill that much more satisfying. The small snippets of a good film are just hidden under layers of absolute toxic waste. Which segues into Jason dying by melting in waste in the sewer, in possibly the stupidest ending of the series, or slasher history.

Jason just isn’t scary here at all. The kills look rubbish, a lot worse than they did in previous entries, and the bad comedy is insulting. Part VI had some really great funny moments and didn’t take itself seriously, why didn’t it’s two sequels build on that? All we get is stupid things happening with rubbish gore and effects, maybe the idea was that the audience would be too bored to notice. Jason just pops up, even if it breaks the continuity of the previous shot. At several points when he’s chasing someone he just magically appears where they are going next, even though he was behind them moments before. The effects are so disappointing. There’s a moment when Jason slits someone’s throat and it honestly looks worse than the throat slitting in the first one did, from nine years prior.

Another strange thing that is really highlighted in this entry, and I’ll be the first to admit that it’s not important, is when does this take place? New York is presented as the 1980s for sure, there’s even an advert for Tim Burton’s Batman in the background, that was released in 1989 (the same year that this one was released as well). But the film can’t be set in 1989. The first film says it’s set in the modern day, so 1980, it then skips five years for Part II, and then there are multiple other time jumps throughout the series with children turning into adults, so VIII at the very earliest is the late 90s, and more likely the mid-2000s, and yet the characters and setting are very much stuck in 1989. It’s not a big issue at all, but when you’re so bored in the film that you’re trying to figure it out instead of being scared, it’s a sign that that actual film isn’t working as entertainment either.

It may take Jason away from Crystal Lake, but Jason Takes Manhattan isn’t fun to watch. It takes way to long to get going, and by the time Jason gets to Manhattan it’s really not worth the wait. It’s genuinely amazing that this series had so many sequels given that most of them are so bloody awful.

Thanks for reading! If you liked my review, please subscribe to never miss a post:

Posted in film reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Dario Argento’s Dracula – Film Review

Posted on September 2, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Dario Argento

Writers: Dario Argento, Enrique Cerezo, Stefano Piani, Antonio Tentori

Starring: Thomas Kretschmann, Marta Gastini, Asia Argento, Unax Ugalde, Miriam Giovanelli, Rugar Hauer

Rating: ★½

Dario Argento’s Dracula (AKA Dracula 3D) was released in 2012, twenty years after Frances Ford Coppola’s pretty great interpretation of Bram Stoker’s classic novel, eighty-one years after Bella Lugosi gave the definitive performance as The Count, and ninety years after Nosferatu terrified the world with the original adaptation. Argento’s adaptation comes no where close to what came before it. It’s an embarrassment, not only to the Dracula story, but also to Argento himself, whose career started so high in the 70s, only to nosedive hard. This film is atrocious with next to no redeeming qualities.

The usual tropes of the Dracula (played here by Thomas Kretschmann) story are here. Jonathan Harker (Unax Uglalde) travels to Dracula’s castle, except this time he’s a librarian and not there to help Dracula purchase property in England. Harker finds himself in the middle of a gothic mystery and suspects that Dracula might not be human, before being attacked by vampires and left for dead. Van Helsing (Rutgar Hauer) helps Mina Harker (Marta Gastini) put a stop to the vampires, with some twists and turns along the way. There are many bits and pieces of the novel here, butchered and re-arranged to fit the story. Instead of travelling to the UK, Dracula stays within his castle, with the other characters coming to the local village. Gone is Whitby, and instead a shoddy CGI castle that looks like something out of a mid-90s hidden objects PC game that no one really enjoyed.

One of the first things you’ll notice about this film, if you’re ever unfortunate enough to watch it, is that the effects are incredibly bad. Worse than you can imagine for a film from the horror maestro Argento, that was premiered at Cannes Film Festival. They’re laughably bad, with some of the worst CGI to ever exist outside of the discount store’s bargain bin. Almost nothing looks real. At one point Dracula turns into a praying mantis, and it looks like something from a film at least twenty years earlier, at least. Buffy the Vampire Slayer had better effects over a decade before this film.

Maybe you could look beyond the effects, take them as charming, but then you’re left with some of the most horrendous acting imaginable. No one is putting any effort in here. The dialogue is forced and hammy, none of it feels real, and it commits the biggest sin of just being plain old boring. This is really just going through the motions and isn’t even entertaining while it’s doing so. The only standout thing about the film is the score from Argento regular Claudio Simonetti. It’s not his best score, but it’s a lot better than the film it’s accompanying.

It’s hard to imagine that Suspiria is written and directed by the same man. None of the visual flair or greatness is on show here. This is a tired and boring adaptation of a classic book, and should be avoided at all costs. If you’re an Argento die-hard fan then watch this at your own peril, for anyone else go and watch the Lugosi film, it’s closer to the book and holds up a lot better than this does, despite now being ninety-one years old. 

Thanks for reading! If you liked my review, please subscribe to never miss a post:

Posted in film reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I came By – Film Review

Posted on September 1, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Babak Anvari

Writer: Babak Anvari and Namsi Khan

Starring: George Mackay, Percelle Ascott, Kelly Macdonald, and Hugh Bonneville

Rating: ★★★½

I Came By is a thriller from Babak Anvari, the director of the fantastic Under the Shadow. His new film has been released on Netflix, and ruthless story about an untouchable serial killer played by a surprisingly sinister Hugh Bonneville, better known for more charming roles in Downton Abbey and Paddington.

Graffiti artist Toby (George Mackay) breaks into Sir Hector Blake’s (Hugh Bonneville) home to paint the phrase ‘I Came By’ over the wall of the living room and while he’s in the house discovers that the so called ‘St Blake’ has a secret in his basement. Not knowing who to turn too, after the police and his best friend don’t help, Toby takes it upon himself to expose Blake’s secret and save the person he’s got hidden in his basement.

Anavari has created another film that’ll have you holding your breath and sitting on the edge of your seat. Moments like when Toby is breaking into Hector’s house to uncover his secrets are incredibly tense, which is heightened by how mercilessly Blake kills his victims. The growing suspense as nothing seems to be able to expose Blake’s actions builds really well throughout the film. Blake is a dark character, with no redeeming qualities. His justification for what he does is absurd, but Bonneville makes it work. George Mackay is decent as Toby, making him a very likable character, despite being a too old for the part and some of his performance being a little awkward. The characters are all well-written and realistically flawed, making it easy to be absorbed into the film. Toby’s mother is played by Kelly Macdonald, who is absolutely brilliant and brings the emotional weight to the story.

The strongest thing about the film is just how ruthless Babak Anvari is with the characters. Absolutely no one is safe, and it’s absolutely refreshing and shocking to see. Without giving too much away, it really makes Blake a sinister character that there’s next to no chance that someone will be saved and the whole thing feels quite bleak. How he treats his victims is also kept a mystery. You don’t know how long he keeps people alive in the basement, or what exactly he does to them, but you get enough of an idea to know it’s horrific.

While it does have a lot of strengths, there is very much a made for TV feel about this film, and it would fit right in as an ITV drama (not that it’s a bad thing). It’s still very engrossing, like the best TV dramas, and is a step above most of the thrillers that Netflix releases on an almost weekly basis, but a lot of the acting, besides the main cast, is weak, there’s almost no violence, despite the subject matter, and it does feel a little stagey in places. Time also skips forward points which, while nicely revealed through dialogue and character’s actions, it does at the same time make the story feel a little episodic. That feeling is added to by the shifting lead character throughout, separating each act of the film. In all honesty it probably would have worked better as a mini series, as some of the story, especially the ending, does feel a little rushed.

Overall, this film is really good. It is dark, refreshingly brutal, and completely engrossing. The cast is excellent, and it’ll have you hooked right up to the final scene.

Thanks for reading! If you liked my review, please subscribe to never miss a post:

Posted in film reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment