Goldbeater

Freaks slightly fools the viewer – in the first half, it lets them wonder what exactly is happening in the film, overwhelming them with a bunch of confusing motifs and weird characters (basically every single character feels disturbing and puzzling). In the second half, however, the film introduces a surprising outcome that gives the previous plot meaning and plays nicely with the viewer’s emotions. Bruce Dern as a cynical crude-ish ice-cream man is incredibly cool and his interaction with Emil Hirsch fills the film with witty lines and lots of fun, especially towards the end. And I believe we will be hearing a lot more about little Lexy Kolker. [Sitges 2018]

A bloody action flick from Indonesia with shooting, stabbing, cutting, chopping, breaking and beating aplenty – all happening as a truly sublime and jaw-dropping choreography of rough fights. The pacey direction is full of little gems and entertains from start to finish. I don’t know what else to say. In short, it’s a must see – an absolute must for The Raid 1 and 2 fans. [Sitges 2018]

Galveston is a very dull and tiring drama about an outlaw who receives a fatal diagnosis and decides to spend his few remaining weeks protecting a prostitute, both being in the local mafia boss’s sight (a true waste of Beau Bridges’ potential). The synopsis sounds interesting, but all that follows is just slow and never-ending rambling about life in damnation without any deeper digging into the topic nor – God forbid! – any answers. Ben Foster gives a solid performance, though I found Elle Fanning was not fit for her role – the two lack any chemistry between them. And the ending was maybe targeting the viewer’s emotions, but it left me totally cold. [Sitges 2018]

A conventional slow survival story where Mads Mikkelsen finds himself alive past the Arctic Circle after a plane crash and does all he can to come back to civilisation. It’s almost dialogue-free and everything relies on Mikkelsen’s acting and facial expressions – which is quite impressive. As for the plot, it doesn’t innovate much compared to other films of that kind. With time, I can therefore imagine how Arctic will be remembered as the one where Mads is dragging a sleigh. After the screening, I felt as exhausted as the main hero. [Sitges 2018]

There’s just one problem with this film – the fact that its style and plot premise are very reminiscent of four-year-older I Origins. Like, insanely close! It’s as if a different theme and different characters had been slipped into the same storyline template. Apart from that, Clara is basically a pleasant and easy-going introspective flick which appeals to the eye and is technically flawless. I guess it will quickly find an enthusiastic target audience. [Sitges 2018]

If you’re mentally unstable and you wake up one morning with the urge to kill a random prostitute, you’d better first make sure she’s not even more unstable than you! The theme developed by Rjú Murakami will greatly remind his older piece, Audition, which has a lot in common with this film. Piercing, however, is really slow paced and the only thing that happens is what you suspect from the very beginning, which is that the prostitute murder will end up being trickier than initially planned. The plot has no start or finish, and the promising theme is therefore totally buried in the screenwriter’s inability to breathe life into the story. And when you finally have the impression that the film is taking off, it ends. Too bad the title sequence style is deceiving us with its grindhouse butchery style, which is definitely not what Piercing is. [Sitges 2018]

An interesting comedy experiment within the film narrative. Initially, the creators test the audience to see how far they can endure a boring and crappy amateur zombie flick. Then, as a reward, they gradually uncover the background that explains why the beginning was so excessively – and voluntarily – bad. Finally, in the last third, there’s a crazy and hilarious sequence of events that makes all the previous plotline completely relevant. One Cut of the Dead is no film jewel, but as a low-budget comedy with an interesting formal concept, it must be valued and appreciated. And I really enjoyed it. [Sitges 2018]

In its principle, it’s a space version of the classic flick The Defiant Ones, where two completely different people are forced to work together in order to survive in a hostile environment. Prospect, however, has enchanting visuals. The outdoor settings for the cosmic virgin ancient forest are fabulous, the interiors of the spaceship look like they were frozen from the seventies, which reinforces the feeling that something could go wrong very easily. Sophie Thatcher and Pedro Pascal satisfyingly drive the film forward and, despite a somewhat slack pace, there’s no time to get bored. I wish the experience was a bit more intense, but I’ll add one star to my ranking for the oppressive atmosphere, original design and musical motif. [Sitges 2018]

Together with the debuting screenwriter Jay Zaretsky, routine-minded director Michael Caton-Jones brings an ordinary (love) story about a solitary tired hitman who expects a better end-of-life than yet another murder order. Asher doesn’t innovate much more than other films, but Ron Perlman’s cool performance and some funny dialogues here and there push it above average level. A crime drama that doesn’t impress nor hurt. [Sitges 2018]

Gareth Evans partly returns to the theme that made him shine with his part in the horror anthology V/H/S/2. Funnily overplaying, Dan Stevens arrives on an island ruled by a sect of dangerous fanatics whose leader is the eccentric Michael Sheen. The hero’s goal there is to find his kidnapped sister. However, things are considerably worse than what he had expected and most of the islanders are facing a catastrophic fate. Although Apostle is more than two hours long, it gets into a brisk pace right from the first minutes, then, without fiddling around, throws us into a thrilling life ’n’ death game. Unfortunately, it doesn’t spare us from some cliché towards the end, where the main villain has to explain all the motives that led him to his crimes. Nevertheless, the flick nicely entertains and its fiery finale is totally worth seeing. What’s more, Apostle boasts an incredible stage set and all outdoor scenes look truly magnificent. Gareth Evans achieved great heights, and I’m definitely not going to miss his next piece of filmmaking. [Sitges 2018]