2015

The Funhouse Massacre

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A newly opening haunted house attraction is taken over by real life lunatics in a classic throwback to the 1980’s horror movie genre. Opening with a scene in an asylum where the warden (Robert Englund) is giving an interview to journalist Ms.Quinn (Candice DeVisser) on Halloween night however the interview takes a turn for the worse when she turns out to be Dollface, the daughter of detainee Mental Manny (Jere Burns), a Jim Jones type cult leader, and she goes on a rampage killing all and sundry in order to free Manny and some other prisoners, Animal the Cannibal (E.E.Bell), Dr.Suave (Sebastian Siegel), the Taxidermist (Clint Howard) and Rocco the Clown (Mars Crain).  In the meantime a group of local youngsters are heading for the opening night of the Macon County Funhouse but little do they, or the other revelers, know that the scenes inside are no longer just for laughs as each of the maniacs has set up stall and is running their own version of a real horror scene. It’s all been done before and the cliches come thick and fast but the good thing about this movie is that it never tries to take itself seriously. It knows that the premise is dumb, it knows that it’s characters are tick boxes right down to the gutsy sheriff and goofy sidekick but it is this stance which gives the movie a great homage feel. Director Andy Palmer and writers Ben Begley and Renee Dorian all show that they are fans of the genre but don’t be fooled as, while some of the comedic moments are slapstick there is enough realistic gore, thanks to effects guru, Robert Kurtzman, to allow the movie hold its own. For a small budget movie it puts many of the recent Hollywood attempts at horror to shame and I can see this one becoming a cult hit in years to come.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 Out Of 10

The Meddler

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Susan Sarandon stars as Marnie Minervini an aging widow who finds herself at a loose end after the death of her husband. She has been left a large sum of money but she finds that she has nothing to do with it. So she decides to follow her daughter Lori (Rose Byrne) to Los Angeles to see if she can find some purpose but unfortunately for Lori her purpose becomes that of a smothering mother as she tries to take over and tell Lori where she is going wrong. Soon Lori, her friends and anybody else who will give an inch become victims of the overbearing Marnie.

Don’t be fooled by the title of the seemingly comedic set up as, while it has plenty of funny moments, The Meddler has much more going on as we learn that Marnie and her overbearing demeanor is just her way of trying to deal with the grief she still feels from her husband’s death and the guilt she has over having all this spare cash and nothing to do with it. She is trying to find some way to be able to pay it back a little and help those less fortunate than her and this is where the smothering comes in as she only knows one way to play it.

Sarandon is absolutely superb, I know it’s a little early to be mentioning awards yet but I think there’s a possible nomination here. She’s brash, compassionate, shy and needy all at once and Sarandon plays each trait perfectly. Ably assisted by Byrne as the frustrated daughter who hates her mother being around at every turn yet finds comfort in the situation as well, J.K.Simmons as ex-co Zipper and Michael McKean as the nerdy Mark who are both showing an interest in the widow, all are very believable in the roles and even the smaller characters in the movie feel right bringing a dynamic feel to the situation.

A surprise movie for me, it was far better than I was expecting. It’s a comedy but it runs a lot deeper and director Lorene Scafaria has brought together an entertaining look at the life of a woman with no purpose who learns that there is a lot more to life when you step back, take a moment to breath and have a closer look at what is going on around you.

DJ Speaks Rating: 6.5 Out Of 10

How To Plan An Orgy In A Small Town

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After an embarrassing incident in her teenage years which made her the laughing stock of the town, writer and professional sex expert Cassie Cranston (Jewel Staite) arrives home following the death of her mother hoping to collect some inheritance money to pay off a publishing house who gave her an advance and are pressing her for a novel based on her experiences. When she arrives back some of the towns repressed thirty-something members feel she is the catalyst that they need to spice up their lives so it seems like a match made in heaven when they decide the best way to do this is to hold an orgy which she can use as subject matter for her book so it’s looks like it’s a win-win situation.

Of course there wouldn’t be much of a movie if all went to plan so we get to watch one disaster after another as the characters who’s small town mentalities and years of living in each other’s pockets put up so many boundaries that it makes it impossible for them to lose their shackles.

The mix of characters are diverse enough to feel genuine, their relationships feel weathered and each of their motivations are believable and there’s no standout character so it feels like a good blend and in that sense director Jeremy Lalonde deserves credit, but the movie suffers from not pushing the boundaries far enough to be fully raunchy yet pushing them too far at times which masks the actual humour so it felt like watching an extended Benny Hill show (The town is called Beaver’s Ridge….see what I mean?) as the content and dialogue is adult but the nudity is partial and obscured so it’s stuck in limbo. It felt more like a small screen drama which was given a raunchy title and twist to try and gain some attention as beneath the content there’s is a good story of relationships in a small town, the narrow mindedness of people and the inability to both let go of the past and embrace change.

The film is better than most for a crowdfunded indie movie with a very small budget but it’s gets lost in not knowing what it actually wants to be so it ends up caught between a rock and a hard place, no pun intended!

DJ Speaks Rating: 5 Out Of 10

Inside Out

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Inside Out is a more mature Pixar effort telling the story of Riley Anderson (Kaitlyn Dias) through the medium of her core emotions Joy (Amy Poehler), Anger (Lewis Black), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Disgust (Mindy Kaling) & Fear (Bill Hader) who we see based in Rileys mind. It is their job to manage Rileys well being through her thought processes and core memories. In general it is relatively easy for Joy to keep things in check and manage Rileys mind from day to day however when Riley has to relocate to San Fransisco because her father needs a job which is on offer she begins to struggle emotionally and thus Joy begins to struggle to remain in control. When Sadness begins to change some of Rileys long term memories Joy steps in to regain control and inadvertently sets the wheels in motion where she ends up being transported along with Sadness to the deepest parts of Riley mind leaving the other, less organised, emotions to hold the fort with disastrous consequences. It is then a race against time for Joy to get back to the fore front of Riley’s mind before it is irreparably damaged.

Taking the above paragraph it hardly sounds like Pixar material but it is done so cleverly by the animators that kids will not even realise the dark subject matter around the effects of depression which is on screen and will love the comedy adventure film which it actually is. The voice acting is brilliant, the tale itself is excellent and although it’s a children’s film it doesn’t feel like one. Riley struggles in her new school, when her parents give out she storms to her room, her mind is filled with moments and objects you recognise from real life and there’s a hilarious take on Riley’s Bieber-esque imaginary boyfriend which ties it all together nicely into a plausible situation which makes the movie. The reactions of the emotions and how they are shown impacting Riley is genius, we’ve all been in those situations and have wondered afterwards why we reacted the way we did and for such a supposedly simple movie it is very complex behind the brightly coloured animations.

DJ Speaks Rating: 6.5 Out Of 10

Goosebumps

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Zach Cooper (Dylan Minette) is forced to move from big city New York to small town Madison, Delaware with his mother Gale (Amy Ryan) who’s new job as vice principal necessitated the move against his wishes. He quickly makes friends with his next door neighbour Hannah (Odeya Rush) but he is warned away by her overprotective and strange father Mr.Shivers (Jack Black) but he’s a teenager and when have they ever listened to their parents, so Zach and Hannah begin meeting in secret. One night Zach hears screaming coming from next door and assumes Hannah is in trouble so he calls the police however Mr.Shivers manages to convince both the police and Zachs mother that he is merely watching TV and there is no problem. Zach is unconvinced and along with his other new friend Champ (Ryan Lee) he breaks into his neighbours home to rescue Hannah. During his break in he notices a shelf full of the Goosebumps series of books which are all locked while looking at one of the books is surprised by the appearance of Hannah and drops the book inadvertently releasing the monster, an abominable type snowman creature, within. Hannah explains the secrets behind the books so the three friends need to chase down the creature in order to trap it in the book. This leads to a showdown in the local ice rink where things look bad for the friends until Mr.Shivers turns up and traps the creature back in the book. It is revealed that he is the author R.L.Stine and that when he realised his creations actually came to life he was forced to lock all his books in order to keep the creatures trapped. When they return home however they find out that another of his invention Slappy, has also escaped, is not happy about being confined within a book and has released many other creatures from the books and the town is under attack so it is up to Stine, Zach and his new found friends to save the day.

Director Rob Letterman has brought all his experience of working on movies such as Monsters Vs Aliens and Shark’s Tale and put together some good CGI which mixes very well with the live action and Jack Black was a great choice in the role of Stine as his over the top acting and comedic timing brought a lot to this film.

Fully aimed at the young adult audience the movie is surprisingly entertaining, and has some cleverly hidden themes of coping with the loss of a parent and being a fish out of water having to find a way through which are captured within an adventure plot which reminded me a little of the classic Goonies movie with more than a leaning towards a comic caper movie at times and with many references to other classic movies within. I was pleasantly surprised as it’s a good movie to watch with your kids, not too scary, not too childish and although the plot does run itself into the ground a little towards the end it’s a fun filled 100 minutes that the whole family can enjoy.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 Out Of 10

The Daughter

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The Daughter is an Australian movie set in a small town where a local timber mill run by Henry Neilson (Geoffrey Rush) is the main source of employment and the life blood of the area so when the announcement is made that the mill is to close the whole town seems doomed. One member of the town effected is Oliver Finch (Ewen Leslie) who seems to have a reasonably happy life with his wife Charlotte (Miranda Otto), daughter Hedwig (Odessa Young) and father Walter (Sam Neill). Walter used to be a good friend of Henrys but they have fallen out over the years as life took them in different directions. Thrown into the mix is the marriage of Henry to his younger housekeeper Anna (Anna Torv) which brings his son Christian (Paul Schneider) back from the USA and in the same way that Henry and Walter are former friends so were Christian and Oliver but Christian is a troubled man who is struggling to keep his relationship together thanks to his ongoing struggle with alcoholism and when his partner decides not to join him in Australia he battles with his desire for heavy drinking sessions returns.

The pivotal point is initially Henry but slowly drifts towards Hedwig as we begin to learn more about the history of the small town. Cristian is struggling to keep to himself together as he deals with the combined breakdown of his relationship coupled with the memories of his mothers suicide which are re-awakened by his return, his unwillingness to accept his fathers new marriage and also the re-ignition of his friendship with Oliver. he then discovers a long hidden secret which will tear their worlds apart if revealed.

With some clever camerawork, particularly the over the shoulder shots which give added realism to the situation and some very clever use of symbolism through the form of a duck which is shot by Henry at the beginning of the movie, while this may sound like a strange statement the movie is an adaptation of a book called The Wild Duck.

It is a slow moving but intriguing film with good acting all around but made all the better by the performance of Young who conveys a superb acting range as the tale drags her in many different directions of emotional turmoil and it’s dark subject matter makes a nice change from the politically correct material that normally appears on our screen, but it’s a very enjoyable experience if you’re looking for something a little less mainstream

DJ Speaks Rating: 7 Out Of 10

Top Cat Begins

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Based on the 1960’s Hanna Barbera cartoon about the money driven scam artist cat from Hoagy Alley. This movie is essentially an origin story where we see how the gang got together in the first place along with their initial run ins with Office Dibble and their attempts to break into the territory of Mr.Big who runs the area with an iron fist and doesn’t take kindly to competition. This leads to a misunderstanding with some priceless jewels where Top Cat finds himself wanted by the police and with a large reward on his head where most of the population of the city are looking to cash in as well.

The voice actors are all experienced in the field, the animation is good, it’s full of references to the original cartoon, other movies, modern cultural moments and fourth wall breaks but despite all this Top Cat still feels exactly like what it is, an extended version of the cartoon show and while there is a good mix of comedy with a moralistic tales about friendship which kids will no doubt lap up the running time is a little long for the younger crowd and there’s not enough in it for adults to enjoy either.

It lacks the quality of either The Jungle Book or Zootopia which are both far superior movies for both kids and adults so save this one for a rainy day afternoon of watching movies with the kids at home.

 

DJ Speaks Rating: 4 Out Of 10

Southpaw

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Jake Gyllenhaal is Billy Hope, an aging, battle hardened boxer who has been at the top of his game for many years after rising from a tough childhood in the child services system and it’s his wife Maureen (Rachel McAdams) who is the real brains behind his career and keeps both his promoter Jordan (Curtis Jackson) and his entourage in check, ensuring that Billy gets the right deals that are best for their future. She is trying to convince Billy to start looking at retirement in order to spend some time with their growing daughter Leila (Oona Laurence) before it is too late.

As inevitably occurs a younger pretender emerges for Billy’s crown and Miguel Escobar (Miguel Gomez) starts to follow Billy around to his public appearances trying to goad him into accepting a title fight that neither Jordan or Maureen want Billy to take at that time as they feel it may be his last fight. During one of these events a scuffle breaks out and Maureen is accidentally shot by one of Escobars posse. Billys world is shattered and he spirals into plains of alcoholism, drug use and suicidal thoughts, when he ends up attacking a referee during a fight he is also banned from boxing and his daughter is taken from his so he is left with a choice to clean up his act, try to get back in the ring and get his daughter back so he approaches a new trainer Tick (Forrest Whitaker) who reluctantly agrees to help him.

I’m a fan of Gyllenhaal and he once again does a good job as the troubled boxer, he manages to portray a great swing between the confident, bloodied, screaming man in the ring and the quiet, almost insecure character outside of the ring who only wants the love of his wife, child and friends and while it’s his not his best performance, the situation called for an underplaying of the role and he hit the nail on the head. There is some excellent camera work during the fight sequences which get across the anger and greatly builds the intensity of the situation and although the scenes outside of the ring lack the same intensity the talents of Whittaker, McAdams and some great work from child actor Laurence make for some good viewing during the quieter moments but the script does suffer from some subplots feeling shoe horned into the story rather than actually being necessary. It’s not the best boxing movie you’re ever going to watch but if you like sports dramas then there’s a good movie here.

DJ Speaks Rating: 6 Out Of 10

Carol

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In a tale of forbidden love in 1950’s America, that was already paranoid enough with the ever increasing rise of the Communism threat, Carol stars Kate Blanchett who is fighting with her husband Harge (Kyle Chandler) over custody of their daughter when she innocently bumps into Therese (Rooney Mara) while Christmas shopping in a New York department store and while Therese has a boyfriend there is something sparked with the initial business like transaction. When Therese realises that Carol has left her gloves behind in the store she makes it her business to ensure they are returned  and as a thank you Carol invites Therese to her home in New Jersey. It’s from there that things start to develop to the inevitable moment when they can no longer carry on their pretense. However this movie is not about the romance itself it’s more about the effect their mutual attraction has on their lives.

With themes of loneliness and longing running through the whole movie as Therese spends much of her time people watching and torments herself as she sees members of more conventional relationships engage in hand holding, a brush of hair from a face or interaction with their children, all of which she realises she will never be able to do in public with Carol which brings a form of tragedy to the relationship even though it makes her happy. While Blanchett plays the role with such poise that even her innocent actions seem calculated so when she does open up it seems even more raw and out of character. Despite the joy both women gain from the relationship they still feel the loss of not being able to openly show their love for each other so the constant cycle of highs and lows strains their relationship just as far as Harges threats to use Carols sexuality against her in their fight for their daughter.

From beautiful outdoor settings to dingy motel rooms and hotel lobbies there is a fantastic feel of 1950 New York about the movie and when coupled with the excellent acting from both leads and the topical subject matter it’s no surprise that it was one of the most critically acclaimed movies of last year and while I wouldn’t rate it as highly as some there is no doubt that the movie deserves most of the praise.

DJ Speaks Rating: 6 Out Of 10

Paranormal Activity:Ghost Dimension

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The sixth movie in the paranormal Activity series sees the Fleege family Ryan (Chris J.Murray), Emily (Brit Shaw) and daughter Leila (Ivy George) move into their new home. It is just before Christmas so they are joined for the festive celebrations by Ryan’s brother Mike (Dan Gill) and Skylar (Olivia Taylor Dudley), a new age hippie type who’s place in the family is never defined (at least not as far as I could ascertain). Mike stumbles across an old video camera and some tapes in the basement. The tapes contain various snippets from the previous movies and when looking through the camera there seems to have a weird effect of seeing shapes which cannot be seen normally while at just about the same time Leila starts speaking with her new friend Toby. Cue the usual speight of strange noises, weird occurrences and shadow appearances which we have seen in the previous movies. Needless to say the situation escalates to the point where the family need to search the history of the house to try and explain what is going on and to save their daughter from being taken by the demon.

It’s about time to put these movies to bed once and for all as this is essentially a cut and paste of pieces of the previous five films with the usual scenes viewed through the point of view of the camera broken up by something zipping across screen, some ridiculously lazy moments in the script where characters suddenly have a way off left of center idea in order to explain a situation and who make ridiculous decisions for people who are in their situation. The one potential redeeming feature this movie is when it is realised that in some of the old video tapes the people on screen are describing the exact scene we are watching in this movie, which is quite an interesting concept and gives some semblance on the linking of the events to the past, is barely touched upon.

This is rumored to be the last movie in the series and on this basis then I hope this is true as it’s time to send this series into another dimension where it can never bother us again.

DJ Speaks Rating: 4.5 Out Of 10