Loosely based on true events, this South American horror promises “real fear in real time”, with its action purportedly playing out in a single, uncut take. Delivering for the majority of its running time, the film is let down most by its conclusion; a sigh that undermines the shocks. Yet for genre fans, The Silent House remains a curio that deserves to be watched – especially before the American remake arrives.
A typical hunting trip in the woods goes awry when a few argumentative men become the victims, or ‘prey’, of a group of infected and bloodthirsty beasts. Devoid of any filmmaking conviction, Prey feels like Dog Soldiers meets Jurassic Park meets Animal Farm. Failing to scare or even entertain, this rural horror is so tame that for all its narrative coherence it should simply be called ‘Attack of the Toothy Pigs’.
Directed by the late David Hemmings, whose acting credits include Gladiator and Gangs Of New York, The Survivor is a tense, psychological horror, but one that raises more questions than it answers. Sometimes tense, sometimes scary, sometimes making no sense whatsoever, The Survivor is a captivating watch. Though I guarantee you’ll spend most of it baffled at how much Robert Powell and Jenny Agutter look alike.
Derek Luke (Antwone Fisher) stars in a confused and meandering war story from Spike ‘however do I manage to balance such a big chip on one little shoulder?’ Lee. Bogged down by technical problems and frantic attempts to shoehorn a message into the madness, this is anything but a miraculous film.
First released fourteen whole years ago, Australian country music drama Doing Time for Patsy Cline is an aspirational story which, in all probability, won’t make you aspire to very much except maybe possessing a thorough knowledge of quantum physics so you can build a time machine and make sure it stays in 1997. That.
A lo-fi gross-out horror without charm, wit or scares, Eaters: Rise Of The Dead does at least achieve one accolade: making partaking in a Nazi-zombie invasion seem preferable to watching a lo-fi gross out horror without charm, wit or scares.
Much more exciting than The Princess of Montpensier but somewhat less digestible than The Tudors, Henry of Navarre is another one of those films where men charge around on horseback/wave swords/wave swords from horseback and women take their clothes off more than is strictly necessary. If that’s your bag, it’s pretty darn fine.
What do you get if you cross a short story from the 17th century, that girl from Babylon AD, and every camera-friendly horse in France? The correct answer could either be ‘The Princess of Montpensier‘, ‘139 minutes you’ll never get back’ or, if you’re actually quite into horses, ‘the best thing ever’. We’re not that into horses, tbh.
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