Mandrake – Film Review – FrightFest

Posted on March 14, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Lynne Davison

Writer: Matt Harvey

Starring: Deidre Mullins, Derbhle Crotty, Paul Kennedy, Seamus O’Hara, Nigel O’Neill, Ian Beattie, Jude Hill, Paul Mallon

Rating: ★★★★

Mandrake, which is directed by Lynne Davison and written by Matt Harvey, is a new folklore horror. A small community is rocked as ‘Bloody’ Mary (Derbhle Crotty) is released from prison, and shortly afterwards two children go missing. Mary was sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering her husband. The hole community is searching for the children, but eyes quickly turn to Mary.

The film is a mix between recent folklore horror films, such as In The Earth, as well as classic British Dramas. The film follows Mary’s probation officer Cathy (Deidre Mullins), who’s dealing with a parolee who has feelings for her, her ex-husband having a new child with his partner, as well as trying to look after her ill son, Luke (who is played by Belfast’s Jude Hill).

We get to spend a lot of the early part of the film getting to know Cathy and getting invested in her life, which makes the horror work so much better. There’s a great mix of drama and horror in the film and it works on both levels.

When the horror starts, it’s really unsettling and gets under your skin. It’s not the most graphic or gruesome of films, but you really feel it. It’s absolutely chilling to watch. It’s stomach churning. It only works so well because you care about Cathy as a character. You want her to survive, which is a testament to Deidre Mullins’s strong performance.

Debrhle Crotty is also excellent as Mary, making the witch character feel more interesting to watch. When we first meet her, she’s isolated from society, reduced to a story people tell children to scare them. There’s a distrust to everyone she comes across. There’s also a more sinister side as she seems to read people’s minds. It’s only small pieces of information she gives people, but it perfectly creates a suspenseful atmosphere as the film builds up in the first half.

Overall Mandrake works really well as a character driven horror. It’s a slow-burn chiller, that will leave you feeling unsettled long after the film is over.

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Turning Red – Film Review

Posted on March 13, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Domee Shi

Writers: Julia Cho and Domee Shi

Starring: Rosalie Chiang, Sandra Oh, Ava Morse, Hyein Park, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Orion Lee, Wai Ching Ho, Tristan Allerick Chen, James Hong

Rating: ★★★★

Pixar have done it again; created another family classic with Turning Red. Directed by Domee Shi, who also co-wrote the film with Julia Cho, the latest Pixar outing is all about growing up and the responsibilities parents put on their children and how teenagers break free to find themselves.

Mei (Rosalie Chiang) awakes one morning to find out that she’s turned into a red panda, which is something that’s passed down each generation in her family. Mei turns into a red panda whenever she’s at a high emotional state, but thinking of her friends keeps her calm enough to stay human.

Turning Red is a story about growing up, with Mei’s transformation coinciding with puberty starting and an interest in boys. Her parents have high expectations of her to help around the temple that they run as well as achieve high grades at school. Mei is more interested in going to see the boy band 4*Town, who have just announced a concert in Mei’s home town Toronto. Mei and her friends discover that she can use her power to raise money to buy tickets, but they just need to keep it a secret from Mei’s parents.

The story is relatable, regardless of your background and clicks straight away. Wanting to pursue your own interests and become your own person is something that everyone goes through as part of growing up. Rebelling from what your parents expect from you. It’s also told in a completely original and fun way, that only Pixar can achieve.

 As you’d expect the animation is absolutely brilliant, with the usual style that Pixar has perfected. It’s a joy to watch and completely absorbs you in. The red panda Mei looks amazing. There’s also a lot of laugh out loud moments that will work for audiences of all ages. It’s a typical fun time for everyone from Pixar.  

Turning Red is a story of self-discovery, coming of age, and friendship. It’s a completely relatable story to anyone who watches it and is destined to become another Pixar classic as well as a treat to watch on Disney Plus.

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The Adam Project – Film Review

Posted on March 12, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Shawn Levy

Writers: Jonathan Tropper, T.S. Nowlin, Jennifer Flackett, and Mark Levin

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Garner, Walker Scobell, Catherine Keener, Zoe Saldña

Rating: ★★★

Director Shawn Levy reunites with Ryan Reynolds for The Adam Project on Netflix. The pair previously worked on Free Guy and Levy is soon to direct Deadpool 3. The Adam Project started life almost a decade ago with Tom Cruise attached to star, which fell apart in the years since. Now the film has found a home at Netflix.

Adam Reed (Ryan Reynolds) travels back in time from 2050 to investigate the death of his wife (Zoe Saldña), who died mysteriously while in 2018. Reed travels to the wrong time and ends up in 2022 with his younger self (Walker Scobell), and they must work together to get back to 2018 to stop time travel from ever being invented.

The Adam Project is pretty much exactly what you’d expect from a Ryan Reynolds film, fast paced, quick humour and a general good time. Reynolds is doing what he does best, with plenty of quips throughout the time travelling adventure. There’s a lot of laugh out loud moments between Reynolds and Walker Scobell, with them working really well together on screen. Scobell is a convincing younger Reynolds.

Story-wise, it’s nothing revolutionary. Once you strip away the good effects and decent action it’s pretty simple and straight forward. It tries to come across as more complicated, but it’s essentially just Reed going back in time to stop time travel from being invented to save his wife. There is an emotional centre to the film with Reed going back in time to meet his former self and telling him things he wishes he knew at the time, there’s also Reed meeting his father, played by Mark Ruffalo, who died when he as a kid. While it doesn’t ever hit you like an emotional gut punch it does add another layer to the film that makes it more than just a formulaic film.

Villains acting like complete idiots is where this film is really let down. There are so many moments where they could stop Reed and co, but just don’t because then the film would be over. Moments where they have him surrounded with guns pointed at him, but they just wait for someone to save him. That happens more than once. There’s also some dodgy dialogue splattered throughout that’s unintentionally funny. It’s easy to overlook it though, but this is mindless fun.

Levy and Reynolds have created another entertaining film, proving that Free Guy wasn’t a one-off. While it’s not as good as the previous film there’s still a lot to like and it leaves high hopes for Deadpool 3.

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Homebound – Film Review – Glasgow FrightFest

Posted on March 11, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Sebastian Godwin

Writer: Sebastian Godwin

Starring: Aisling Loftus, Tom Goodman-Hill, Hattie Gotobed, Raffiella Chapman, Lukas Rolfe

Rating: ★★★½

Screening at Glasgow Frightfest before a wider release in April, Homebound is a small and intense horror film that’s filled with a creepy atmosphere and a sense of isolation. Written and directed by Sebastian Godwin, the film follows Richard (Tom Goodman-Hill) and Holly (Aisling Loftus) who travel out to the countryside to spend time with Richard’s three children. Richard is estranged from his children and is hoping to reconnect and introduce them to his new wife, their step-mum. Richard’s ex-wife Nina is no where to be found when they reach the house, with only a text to say that Richard can stay as long as he wants, and the kids will be okay by themselves until she returns.

The story starts out natural enough, with the authentic tension of meeting new family for the first time. You can really feel the anxiety Holly is feeling as she arrives at the house and first meets her new stepchildren. The high-pitched ‘hello’, says everything you need to know. It doesn’t take long for the film to start to reveal its secrets and get a bit sinister.

It’s clear straight away that the two elder children, Lucia (Hattie Gotobed) and Ralph (Lukas Rolfe), don’t like Holly. There’s also the resentment to their father who they feel abandoned them. The tension build further as the story unfolds, showing that this isn’t the typical family meeting, especially as the children seem to enjoy catching and killing a goose for lunch.

It does take a relatively long time for things to really get going, considering this film is just over an hour-long minus credits. It’s all needed though to set the scene and put the pieces in place so when the horror really kicks into gear it all works. The final act is excellent, and it only works because the film puts so much effort into setting an unsettling and chilling atmosphere.

Homebound is an unsettling film that perfectly builds up an eerie atmosphere in what could be just a normal visit to meet family. It perfectly walks the line where you’re not sure it’s just the anxiety of the situation or that something is very wrong, and it’ll have you figuring it out all the way up to the stunning final moments.

Blue Finch Film Releasing presents Homebound in cinemas 1 April and on digital 4 April 

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Dog – Film Review

Posted on March 10, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Channing Tatum and Reid Carolin

Writer: Reid Carolin

Starring: Channing Tatum, Jane Adams, Kevin Nash, Q’orianka Kilcher, Ethan Suplee, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Nicole LaLiberte

Rating: ★★★

Channing Tatum co-directs and stars in Dog, a comedy/road trip film about Army Ranger Jackson Riggs travelling cross-country with a military dog, Lulu. Jackson is taking Lulu to her handler’s funeral, and along the way they get caught up in various situations that delay their journey.

The film is set up as a series of escapades that Jackson and Lulu get into, ranging from trying to stay in a hotel by pretending to be blind, to getting captured and tired up by a farmer. They feel like mini self-contained episodes that build up the main film. By presenting it like this the pace is always very quick and if there’s ever a section that you don’t click with, and there are some questionable ones that aren’t as funny as other, it’ll be over soon and on to the next one. There’s something in here for everyone’s sense of humour and more than enough laughs throughout.

While at face value this seems like a family friendly comedy, there are a few moments where it may become a little too adult, with drug and sex references that may not be suitable for all ages. The films rated, at least in the UK, as a 12a. The film also moves into some dark themes at points with depression, suicide, PTSD and racism making plot points. There are moments where it becomes more emotional than you’d expect, and that’s where the film really works.

Channing Tatum does a great job both behind and in front of the camera. There are long stretches where it’s just Tatum talking and acting with Lulu, and it’s always authentic and feels real. There’s a real connection and that’s probably from Tatum naming Lulu after his real-life dog. As the bond between Jackson and Lulu grows throughout the film, it clicks more and becomes funnier as it goes on.

Not all of Dog works, but when it does it’s funny, charming, and surprisingly emotional. It’s a film that doesn’t shy away from some dark themes and does eventually win you over.  

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