Goldbeater

A cheap asexual erotic horror flick, the plot of which (if only the tiny bundle of insanities that seems to have been made up along with the filming can be called a plot) could fit into a ten-minute short. Now, since Jesús Franco needed a standard duration for his film, he stuffed it with all sorts of long shots depicting the sea, palm trees, houses, a turntable and bovine faces, the whole thing being incredibly badly colour-filtered, to the point I can only see it as a completely naive video art creation attempt. What kind of audience did Franco make this for? Looks like an insolvable puzzle. It’s intrinsically dull, bad, pointless and unwatchable. [Sitges 2018]

This flick really can’t be taken seriously. It’s like Sam Levinson followed two directions. In the first half, it’s a mild socially critical drama gone wild, and in the second part, it turns into a shallow teenage grindhouse massacre, kicked off by a beautifully filmed scene of a house assault, but then drowns in illogical motivations of the characters and an incapacity to conclude the whole thing in a bold, uncompromising and most of all meaningful way. Instead, we are left with an ending that is safe, shallow and dumb. In this regard, the film structure slightly fails. Moreover, the piece is undermined by an uneven attempt at social satire on the one hand, while at the same time trying to appeal to the viewer with straightforward brutality. Still, thanks to some bravely spoken ideas in the first half that fit our current times, and given the fact I was well entertained even though it was late and I was tired from having watched other festival films, I will give this one a rating of over 50%. [Sitges 2018]

That manipulated psychopath with a deadly expression in the eyes seriously freaked me out. I’m not talking about the title killer character Uncle Sam, though, but rather about this little boy we’re supposed to love and who, with his unprofessional acting, weakens the film incredibly. Christopher Ogden was really a casting mistake. In all other aspects, Uncle Sam is an unimpressive silly B flick which doesn’t hurt, but could do with a lot more humour (for example, in the sack race scene) and, above all, with another kid actor for the main role! [Sitges 2018]

In a style reminiscent of Raimi’s A Simple Plan, Keepers is a psychological thriller about three lighthouse keepers who become somewhat overwhelmed by mental strain caused by loneliness, leaking mercury and a wooden chest with a treasure. Kristoffer Nyholm (one of the directors of the recent Taboo) doesn’t have to be ashamed of his feature-length debut. It is a nicely shot tormenting sailor story. My only complaint would be the slightly slack ending – a more vigorous and drastic conclusion would be quite welcome. However, the film is dominated by accurate casting, especially in the case of Gerard Butler and his role. Keepers is definitely worth watching. [Sitges 2018]

This short documentary film retraces the career of acclaimed artist Douglas Trumbull, director of the science fiction films Silent Running and Brainstorm as well as the creator of admirable special effects in such unforgettable pieces as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and many more. It also reports on Trumbull’s current efforts to develop new camera technologies, some revolutionary concepts for cinemas and his comeback plans as a film director, which he ended 35 years ago with his unfortunate experience while shooting Brainstorn. Gaspar Noé and Denis Villeneuve appear in the film among other interviewed creators. This was, for me, a useful and interesting excursion into the work of a true pioneer filmmaker, whom I’ve been lucky enough to meet in person. [Sitges 2018]

Robert D. Krzykowski was physically present before the screening and warned us not to expect any B-type exploitation flick as the title might suggest. He said his film is more in the style of Hal Ashby and Robert Altman. And he was right – having too high expectations for this piece would be a mistake. The title is actually not subversive at all – both Hitler and Bigfoot are killed in the film, but the piece concerns something completely different in practice. What I would call subversive is the entire concept – if there even is one – and its (non-)understandability. Aside from that, it is a strangely narrated, sensitive drama about ageing, the value of undertaken deeds and related legends concerning a man who was in no way special, yetwas exceptional.[Sitges 2018]

A short with a simple plot and tasteless filming about a drug dealer whose business harmfully impacts his innocent young sister. As an intellectually conscious student film, it’s totally ordinary and unremarkable, making me wonder why it was even screened at a genre film festival. [Sitges 2018]

While horror anthologies usually disappoint because of the uneven quality of their parts, Nightmare Cinema doesn’t perform any better, in this case because its parts invariably revolve around the average. One thing that is dragging the film down is its frame story The Projectionist (Mick Garris): A dreadful projectionist (Mickey Rourke) decoys (non-) random passers-by into his cinema. This theme only serves a necessary unifying purpose and consolidates otherwise unrelated stories; it doesn’t offer any other idea and ends up feeling disappointing to the viewer. 30%. And here are the individual parts: The Things in the Woods (Alejandro Brugués): A deliberately over-elaborate and light-hearted ‘camp/country house’ slasher parody which feels somewhat unfocused and which would benefit from a bigger dose of humour. Still watchable fun, though. 55%. Mirari (Joe Dante): A simple tale with a clear message – ‘plastic surgery is evil’. With the charismatic Richard Chamberlain shining in the role of a surgeon with demon-like kindness and Dante’s apt direction, this part is probably the most decent of all. 60%. Mashit (Ryûhei Kitamura): A demonic rampage in a Catholic school and a massacre of possessed children. A shallow gory stupidity with relatively badly performing child actors. 40%. This Way to Egress (David Slade): The most interesting part visually speaking. Affected by some kind of disorder, the main heroine perceives her surroundings in a terribly distorted manner. If this black-and-white part was just a bit more sophisticated, it would definitely end up as the highlight of the film. 60%. Dead (Mick Garris): Within minutes of being clinically dead, a boy who has been shot starts to see dead people inside the hospital – which turns out to be fairly irrelevant to the story since the lad will have to fight against the killer who came to finish him off. It’s a bit of a mix between The Sixth Sense and Flatliners without any added value whatsoever. 40%. Overall, Nightmare Cinema is too heavy and lacks humour; some parts take themselves way too seriously. On similar themes, I enjoyed Trapped Ashes slightly better. [Sitges 2018]

Dream Demon (Director’s cut) is a visually interesting horror flick with a ton of quality gore effects and a generous dose of hypnotic atmosphere and dreamlike settings (during the screening, Hellraiser came to mind several times). As indicated by the title, the main motif here is dreaminess, which bursts out of every scene and is felt as highly disturbing. Unfortunately, that aspect also slightly undermines the film and further slows down its already sparse plotline. A faster pace wouldn’t hurt, but I still view Dream Demon in a positive way. [Sitges 2018]

High Life is some repulsive artsy rubbish that lacks any obvious concept or meaning, showcasing a series of random flashbacks pertaining to the protagonist. Those flashbacks feature characters who are a) completely unrelated to the plot; b) unnecessarily confusing; c) incredibly annoying. Inappropriate narration means are used and even clash with the structure of some of the Earth-located scenes. Visually speaking, this flick is weak and unexciting. Right from the beginning, rigid Robert Pattinson and his interaction with the bawling sprog made it clear that I wouldn’t have this flick in my heart, but I really didn’t expect such a painful, boring and unintelligible piece of… ehm, ‘art’! [Sitges 2018]