Double Bill Mini Musings: Neo-Giallo Curiosity and Wacky Belly Laughs Galore...

The Strange Colour of Your Body's Tears:
What's it about?
A curious mystery-cum-horror in which man returns from a business trip to discover that his wife is missing and their apartment is locked from the inside.
Who would I recognise in it?
Erm...
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
From Bruno Forzani and Helene Cattet, who previously gave us the giallo-tinged Amer, this is a dream-like experience, much like Dario Argento's Inferno, where the hallucinatory and fragmented presentation seeks to disorientate viewers as much as entice them. The directors ramp up their sensory approach to eleven, crafting a film which boasts astonishingly exquisite visuals and haunting aural soundscapes. The architecture of the apartment building is put to grand use, particularly in a kaleidoscopic introduction that suggests darkness and danger lie in wait, and sequences akin to the photographic approach of La Jetee stun the viewer. Many of the visual and thematic touchstones of gialli are present - the black leather gloves, the razor, the mix of sexuality and violence, the gorgeous soundtrack (cherry-picked Tarantino-style from a selection of 1970s Italian scores) - so fans of the genre will be in heaven. This all said, the narrative is hard to follow, fractured as it is by diversionary vignettes and sparse plotting. It would be fair to say that, similar to Amer, there isn't quite enough content to fill the running time, but this also feels like a film that will benefit from multiple viewings. Populated by curious characters - such as a detective with a deeply dark voyeuristic past - it's certainly not for everyone. Some have decried it, and it's predecessor Amer, as pretentious art-house guff, but this is too dismissive. It's niche market, absolutely, but it's one of the most richly textured cinematic experiences in a long, long time. There has been somewhat of a resurgence in the long lost giallo genre in recent years, and The Strange Colour of Your Body's Tears is a grandiose highlight in the Neo-Giallo movement. Good.

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"The Making of George A. Romero's Day of the Dead" by Lee Karr - book review...

"George A. Romero's name is synonymous with many things, but above all else it is synonymous with "zombies". Building on voodoo legends and the allusions of literary work such as Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, Romero birthed the flesh-eating ghoul – the zombie – which has, particularly in recent years, become a cultural icon. Zombies were once a niche subject matter, appealing only to horror nerds and gore hounds, now it's as if everyone and their grandmother is getting in on the act. However, even with the proliferation of walking (sometimes, curiously, running) corpses, Romero's place in cinematic history – and his importance to the zombie movement – is secured. It is with the help of the fans that milestones in the story of the undead do not end up forgotten and, on the specific subject of Day of the Dead (1985), Romero's third zombie film, it is Lee Karr who has penned what will surely stand as the definitive word..."

You can read the rest of my review by visiting Homepage of the Dead - click HERE to continue.

"Sleb" is into the quarter finals!

Good news on this Sunday morning - the screenplay version of "Sleb" has reached the Quarter Finals of the Screenwriting Goldmine Awards Competition 2014! Click HERE to see the list of Quarter Finalists.

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Flavours of the Month: August 2014...

Dark conspiracies, comedic priests, talking dogs, sardonic comedians, hard-boiled cops, and underground zombies ... just a few of the things that have been flavouring my August 2014 ... read on to see what else.

Click "READ MORE" below for the looks, sounds, vibes & flavours of the past four weeks...

Triple Bill Mini Musings: Fisticuffs, Thunder, and Grue...

The Raid 2:
What's it about?
Grandiose sequel to the smash-hit Indonesian action film in which Rama is convinced to go undercover and infiltrate a criminal gang to help bring down the underworld that they control.
Who would I recognise in it?
Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Gareth Evans ups the ante in every single regard with his astonishing follow-up. The action is bigger, bolder, more complex, and on a far larger scale - here the chaos and the beautifully choreographed violence spreads across an entire city. The one criticism of the first movie was that the plot wasn't exactly deep, and Evans makes up for it this time around. It's not earth-shattering, but it's played out with strong conviction and motivation, with Uwais afforded the opportunity to pull the audience in via his character's inner turmoil as well as his flying fists. Visually and aurally the film is stunning, and it even boasts a memorable supporting cast (e.g. Hammer Girl and Baseball Bat Man, who are screaming out for their own spin-off movie). From the outside the two-and-a-half-hour run time seems excessive, but as the film develops - becoming evermore breathless and tense with each passing minute - its final trick is illustrating just how you make an epic that keeps the audience hooked. Great.

Click "READ MORE" below for gods and viruses...