Welcome to Reviews from the Horror Chamber. I am your chamber keeper, Anthony Thurber. I have some news regarding this column. Next week, there will not be a new edition of Reviews From the Horror Chamber. The reason for this is that next week I have a lot of films that are waiting to be reviewed for this site. So I’m going to catch up on that. But I can tell you that I will have an interview with one or two actresses regarding “Crimson,” which is released this week from Passion River. The first one should be up on the site either after this posting or sometime late tomorrow. Also, I sent out another interview, which I won’t jinx but it’s a director from one of the best horror films of this year. I’ll also be back sometime next weekend with a review of Hellboy 2: The Golden Army. So you horror fans will still have your fix horror here on FilmArcade.net this week. Now on to the reviews.
Funny Games
Year: 2008
Director: Michael Haneke
Stars: Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt
MPAA Rating: R
Studio: Warner Independent Pictures
Running Time: 111 Mins
Review Rating: Zero Stars
Funny Game is yet another remake to come out this annoying foreign horror remake craze. The film was first done by Michael Haneke (who directs this one also) in 1997. The film is about a family (Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Devon Gearhart) who goes to their vacation home for nice, relaxed vacation. Soon a couple of rich kids decide to insert themselves into the family’s vacation by taking them hostage in their own home. The family is then forced to play the rich kids' sadistic games. Soon, they must try to find a away to stay alive and defeat those rich kids before they decide that games are over for good.
I never thought that I would find a film with so much hatred after seeing One Missed Call, but Funny Games is on that same level. This film was horrible, I thought about shutting it off midway through the film, but the film critic in me made me continue to watch this horrible mess. Director Michael Haneke’s direction was unenergetic. I say that because the pacing of the film was slow and the story was predictable mostly because he breaks the forth dimension. I’ll go more into this when I’m whining about the screenplay. The acting in this felt like I was watching paint dry, as they either shows no signs of life or the fact that the performances were annoying. Maybe, it was the screenplay, but still I didn’t buy any of the performances here.
The screenplay, which Haneke wrote, made no sense and wasn’t a least bit scary. This film falls flat on it’s face because nothing was believable or could plausibly happen. First, the villains were the type that you could easily punch in the face because they weren’t intimidating. The reason I say that is because they were a bunch of preppy rich kids that you could easily beat up if you saw them on the street. Second, why didn’t the hostages fight back? Hello, these villains were preppies, the kind of people that you kick their ass in gym class. And finally, the breaking of the forth dimension. Sorry, that doesn’t work in this genre. He allows the villains in the screenplay to talk to the audience, smile at the camera and changing a pivotal scene that makes the movie even more unrealistic and plausible. It’s fucking ridiculous. Also, Haneke spends little time developing any of the film’s characters, as the screenplay focuses on spending way too much time torturing the family and making these villains as heroes because it comes out that way in the final product.
Funny Games is not a horror film but a piece of glorified violence that is so senseless, it goes way too far.
Drainiac
Year: 2000
Director: Brett Piper
Stars: Georgia Hatzis, Alexandra Boylan, Ethan Krasnoo
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Shock-O-Rama Cinema
Running Time: 76 Mins
Review Rating: 4 Stars
Drainiac is a film that was previously released back in 2000, but the folks at Shock-O-Rama have just released this remastered version of one of Brett Piper’s earlier films. The director has directed “Bacterium,” “Shock-O-Rama,” “Bite Me,” and “Screaming Dead” for the company before this remastered version. The film is about a young woman and her friends who go to the countryside to clean up an old house for a planned restoration. Instead of cleaning up the place, they begin to discover that a strange and gruesome presence haunts the house, as the water turns into ooze. As the strange presence begins to take shape, the teenagers are to come face to face with this hideous monster, who wants to tear their souls and flush it down the drain.
Drainiac is very creepy and entertaining demonic sprits film. This film is a good starting point for people to view some of Brett Piper’s works. He does a very job with the overall presentation of the film. It’s amazing how little money Piper always has to work with but he manages to get the job done. The effects in this film were very good. Granted, I haven’t seen the film in it’s original version. The dream sequences were creepy and frightening. Another thing that Piper always seems to get down is the actors’ performances, as they were good here, like the previous films of his that I’ve seen. He does a great job getting a solid lead performance from Georgia Hatzis. She does a very good job making her character troubled, but does a good job selling her character, in which you know about her.
Piper’s screenplay for the most was good, as this was light years better that movie I just talked about and will go nameless, so we don’t have another rant. One of the things that his screenplay does well was the development of the characters. I liked how Piper spends time in the beginning to develop the main character’s troubled home life and the relationship with her and her friends. I like to see that when I see female characters in these types of horror films, because it helps bring an added interest to the story of the film and builds tension to the film when these female characters are in trouble and you care about them. If there was one thing that the screenplay could has used more off, was scares. There were a few scares during the dream sequence, but the film could have used more, even though it didn’t affect my interest that much, as I was sold with the story and it’s development.
Draniac is very good start, if you want to track the progress of underground director Brett Piper, as I would mention this film with the likes of Screaming Dead and Shock-O-Rama. Drainiac gives new meaning to a haunted house.
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In two weeks, I will be back with an all-new edition of Reviews From the Horror Chamber, where I’ll be reviewing The Ruins and going to school with Women’s Studies. Until then, have a frightening day.
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"Funny Games" - The First Polarizing Movie of 2008
There is no in between with a movie like this. You will either love or hate this movie with equal passion. I was fascinated by this movie from the trailer, and I was eager to see it as soon as it came out. Reviews for this movie have gone all over the place from praise to vicious hatred. Some will look at this as a completely immoral piece of work that revels in what it despises. Others will look at as very strong suspense film that does not hide from the ugly reality of violence. After seeing this movie, I can’t help but think that this is what director Michael Haneke wanted. Alfred Hitchcock was once quoted as saying:
“I love playing the audience like a piano.”
So does Haneke. Truth be told, he must be reveling in getting us in such an emotional state over this movie like he did back in 1997. “Funny Games” is a shot-for-shot remake of his original suspense thriller from ten years ago. I have not seen that version, so this will not be a comparison to the remake. In fact, I didn’t realize that this movie is a remake until just recently. But since this is a virtual duplication of another film, I’m not sure how necessary it will be to see the original at this point. It’s not the first time a director has remade one of his own films. Hitchcock did it with “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” and George Sluizer redid his brilliant thriller “The Vanishing” in America and unforgivably butchered it in the process with a completely unbelievable ending. In terms of shot-for-shot remakes, the one that comes to mind is Gus Van Sant’s version of “Psycho,” and I still can’t figure out why he did it.
Michael Haneke wanted to remake “Funny Games” for an American audience because he felt that it was in essence an American story in that he sees Americans being giddily in love with violence onscreen and in the media. While there is something rather condescending about him thinking that, he does have a point to a certain extent. Every once in awhile, we will need a movie that reminds of the brutality of violence and that although we may fiend for gun battles on the big screen, violence in real life is scary and we should be eager to avoid it. “Funny Games” is both the first ironically titled and first truly polarizing movie of 2008. This movie is anything but entertaining, and in the end, it is not meant to be. Some movies made to be experienced and not simply to be enjoyed. This is one of those movies that gets under your skin, unnerves you completely, and whether or not you stay for the whole thing just might say something about you as a person.
For me, I found “Funny Games” to be at times a brilliantly made movie that shows Haneke to be a current master of suspense. This movie has no real film score to speak of, and it doesn’t need it to generate tension. Like “The China Syndrome” from so many years ago, the movie is an intense enough experience without it. The only music we hear are some opera pieces the happy middle class family play in their car as they head off for a relaxing weekend in a home by the river. This music is then viciously interrupted by some really hard heavy metal music that immediately unsettles the viewer and gives you an idea of what to expect. But even then, your expectations may not be met with a movie like this.
The movie revolves around a married couple (Naomi Watts and Tim Roth) driving down the highway with their son (Devon Gearhart) and their sailboat in tow. When they finally arrive at their destination and start to get settled, they are met by two young men (William Pitt and Brady Corbet) who look like well-bred preppies with very nice manners. Brady’s character comes to borrow eggs to give to the neighbors which Naomi gives him kindly. But on the way out, he “accidentally” drops them, and then he won’t leave until he gets some more eggs which he knows the family has. Soon, both husband and wife are trying to throw these two guys out, and then the two show their true colors when they take a golf club and seriously smash the crap out of one of Tim Roth’s kneecaps.
With the family held hostage, they finally reveal their heinous plan; they bet that in 12 hours, the whole family will be dead. The movie becomes a game of survival for the family as the games the boys get more and more dangerous. One of the major criticisms I have heard leveled at this movie is that the killers have no motive. Sometimes not knowing why people do the things they do makes a movie or a story a lot scarier. When “Silence Of The Lambs” was first released in theaters, we never did know why Hannibal Lecter was a cannibal. But here, these two evil schmucks do have a motive that is more senseless as well as viciously cold: they are torturing this family for the thrill of it and for the “importance of entertainment.” The director has given us two psychos whose motives, as he puts it are not “easily explained by societal factors.” They look to enjoy the power they have over the helpless family. While that may frustrate those hoping to see a more psychological thriller that gets at the roots of evil, their motives (while utterly repellant and coldly vicious) are not entirely unbelievable given what I have seen recently.
This phenomenon of people getting a high off of violence and torture feels like it is growing at a horrifying rate. There have been movies like “Henry – Portrait Of A Serial Killer” and “Menace 2 Society” that have moments where the characters commit violent acts which have intentionally or unintentionally been videotaped. We later see the same characters watching their hideous acts over and over on their VCR’s. There was an episode of “Homicide: Life On The Street” which featured a scene with one cousin filming the other as he goes over to a nearby bus stop and shoots an old lady to death. No reason is given, other than the fact that they find it so incredibly entertaining.
Like all those examples, the two young men in this movie are utterly repellent people. This may be where a lot of hatred has been leveled at this movie. But the thing is, you should be repelled at what these guys are doing. They are without morals, and the rules of society are nonexistent to them which makes them all the more dangerous. The comfortable conventions of the normal suspense thriller are not in existence here. If they are, then they are only there to be overturned when the audience least expects them to be. Unlike other Hollywood thrillers, the violence here feels much more real than you would usually expect it to be. Director Michael Haneke is out to make you uncomfortable as possible, and he succeeds in different ways with this movie.
One of the other interesting things with this movie is that although it technically an ultra violent movie, there is actually not a lot of violence shown on the screen here. Most of the truly violent moments here are shown off screen, making them all the more terrifying. There’s another moment where Naomi Watt’s character is forced to disrobe completely, but you never see her from below the neck. It’s a moment where Haneke dares you to wonder why the camera isn’t showing us more here. You may end up hating him for that, but you can’t deny (I can’t anyway) that my mind did go there even if I wouldn’t have admitted it right away.
Haneke, like in his other movies like “Cache,” likes to film shots in long takes. This succeeds in trapping the viewer in with this family as we wait to see how they can escape their fate. One sequence that is done in one shot lasts a good five minutes or so as Naomi Watts’ character desperately tries to break free of the tape that binds her hands behind her back. There are a lot of static shots here that are free of overly clever camera moves, and they suck us in to the action of the movie while generating some strong suspense. There are points where we are not sure when these two psychos threaten to strike next. Like the family, we are trapped with them in their horrifying ordeal.
The director goes even further by having one of the characters break the fourth wall between the characters and the audience watching the movie. Many found this device to be annoying which is understandable, but I wasn’t bothered much by it because it made the movie seem even creepier to me (this was especially the case in the very last shot of the film). It probably would have been an unnecessary device had it been overused as I expected it to be. But I felt it was used rather sparingly and was not overdone. Had it been overdone, it definitely would have a major negative effect on the movie for me.
There is also a moment where there is a rewind employed in the film. I won’t say where this occurs, but if you are gutsy enough to sit through this experience, then you will know when it occurs. It is as brilliant a move as it is frustrating to the viewer as it completely eschews the formula of movies like these that we have come to expect. The director doesn’t hesitate to subvert our expectations and trap us into a reaction we cannot hide.
Many call Haneke a hypocrite in the way he portrays the violence in the film while professing to be against violence. I can’t say that he escapes the curse of hypocrisy here, as making a movie that has violence while trying to have an anti-violence agenda is difficult enough, but believe me when I say there are worse examples that have already been released this year. A month or two ago, we had “Untraceable” with Diane Lane thrown out at us. While being a formulaic action movie, it also sought to attack those who glorify violence on the internet. But in the process, the movie did the exact same thing by giving us graphic murder scenes that didn’t skimp on the details! Now that is a truly hypocritical movie for you. “Funny Games” however doesn’t dwell on the graphic violence we see in movies as it does on the reality and the aftermath of it which makes the movie all the more shocking.
Whatever you think of the movie, there is no denying the superb work by all the actors here. Tim Roth does strong work, and I can’t remember the last actor who made me feel the pain of broken bones on the big screen. I also don’t want to forget Devon Gearhart who plays his son Georgie Jr. Devon has a very unenviable role as a child caught up in the worst of situations. He is asked to do things that we would rather not see a child actor do, and he makes his sheer terror seem all the more horrifyingly real.
Michael Pitt plays the lead psycho of the film, and he succeeds in creating such a cleverly cold character that some have compared to Malcolm McDowell’s character of Alex in “A Clockwork Orange.” This is a young actor who has made himself a strong presence in many independent movies like “The Dreamers” and “Bully” among others. He excels in roles like this that play on his charm to an incredibly unsympathetic effect. Brady Corbett plays the seemingly wimpy one of the two, and he also has made a strong impression in independent movies like “Thirteen” and the brilliant “Mysterious Skin.” Together, these two actors create a lethal pair that you despise in no time at all.
But in the end, the movie really belongs to Naomi Watts (who also executive produced the film), as she continues to prove that she is one of the bravest actresses working in film today. In movies like “Mulholland Drive” and “21 Grams” among others, she has portrayed characters that are so naked in their vulnerabilities onscreen that it makes you wonder how she gets through these roles without having a nervous breakdown. Her performance in “Funny Games” is no exception to that. She puts herself in situations that have to be so difficult to make seem real, but she succeeds here in making us believe just how terrifying her ordeal really is.
“Funny Games” is one of those movies where you cannot help but read into everyone’s reactions to it. Like I said before, this is without a doubt a very polarizing movie that people will either love or hate. In a way, if many did not have such a negative reaction to the movie, then Michael Haneke would have failed in his mission to get under our skin and unnerve us completely. No it is not an enjoyable movie, but it is an experience that cannot easily be ignored as you walk out of the movie theater. It is a thought provoking movie that in no way allows for a neutral opinion. For my money, it is a very strong exercise in suspense that never lets up throughout its 2 hour running time (you heard it right).
It is not the most disturbing movie that I have ever seen in a movie theater (“Requiem For A Dream” takes the cake there), but it sure comes close. The violence in the movie is of a real kind that does not offer the typical feeling of an escapist movie, and that may be why some people hate it so much. The best advice I can give you is if you don’t want to subject to a very disturbing and unnerving experience, then don’t see “Funny Games.” You have been warned, so take the R rating seriously.
***1/2 out of ****
"Never Back Down" is the story of Jake Tyler, a tough kid who leads with his fists, and, often, with his heart. Jake Tyler is the new kid in town with a troubled past. He has recently moved to Orlando, Florida with his family who has relocated to support his younger brother's shot at a professional tennis career. Jake was a star athlete on the football team at home, but in this new city he is an outsider with a reputation for being a quick tempered brawler. Making an attempt to fit in, at the invitation of a flirtatious classmate, Baja, Jake goes to a party where he is unwittingly pulled into a fight with a bully named Ryan McCarthy. While he is defeated and humiliated in the fight, a classmate introduces himself to Jake and tells him about the sport known as Mixed Martial Arts. He sees a star in Jake and asks that he meet with his mentor, Jean Roqua. It is immediately apparent to Jake that MMA is not street fighting, but rather an art form he wants to master. Roqua will take Jake under his wing, but it is up to Jake to find the patience, discipline, willingness and reason within him to succeed. For Jake, there is much more at stake than mere victory. His decision will not just settle a score; it will define who he is.
In the action-packed new thriller from writer/director Neil Marshall ("The Descent"), authorities brutally quarantine a country as it succumbs to fear and chaos when a virus strikes. The literal walling-off works for three decades – until the dreaded Reaper virus violently resurfaces in a major city. An elite group of specialists, captained by Eden Sinclair (Rhona Mitra), is urgently dispatched into the still-quarantined country to retrieve a cure by any means necessary. Shut off from the rest of the world, the unit must battle through a landscape that has become a waking nightmare.
In this provocative and brutal thriller from director Michael Haneke, a vacationing family gets an unexpected visit from two deeply disturbed young men. Their idyllic holiday turns nightmarish as they are subjected to unimaginable terrors and struggle to stay alive.
