The fifth film in the Wrong Turn series changes setting again, moving from a mental hospital in the Bloody Beginnings to a small town in the middle of a music festival. Bloodlines introduces a genuine antagonist –named Maynard – with substantially more intelligence than the gibbering inbred psychopaths rampaging through the earlier films (though they’re…
The best live shows are born of either professionalism (which tends to go hand-in-hand with competent musicianship) or, more often, enthusiasm, a group or artist obviously enjoying themselves on stage. Last night’s performance by Hot Chip had both professionalism and enthusiasm in spades. It also featured the lost art of careful setlist structuring (ie. not…
Bloody Beginnings does its best to bloody up its beginning as quickly as possible; after a scenery-chewing psychiatrist speeds through the necessary exposition – we’re at a West Virginia psychiatric hospital filled with incest-mutated psychopaths who can’t feel pain and, of course, “There’s a button to open all their cells in case of fire,” duh…
This entry in the Wrong Turn series is the weakest so far. It follows a group of escaped prison inmates (plus supporting ‘victims’ – prison guards, police and a civilian). Like Wrong Turn 2, it features really clumsy introductory dialogue establishing these characters’ personalities; unlike Wrong Turn 2, you don’t get the sense that anyone…
This straight-to-video sequel establishes a tonal shift from the relatively serious Wrong Turn in its opening scene. A young starlet spouts hammy dialogue into her mobile, speeding along country roads in a red convertible, before a deformed hillbilly literally splits her in two with a hatchet. The scene is far broader – and more enjoyable…
Wrong Turn begins with a tense, understated mountain climbing scene, competently shot and edited. It’s an encouraging start. The credits are comparatively lazy, using a Se7en-esque sequence to flash a bunch of silly exposition – shots of headlines with “Inbred-induced psychosis” etcetera. Yes, it’s one of those: another hillbilly horror film. Wrong Turn is populated…
Orlando Higginbottom, better known as Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, has an ice-blue sterility on record, detached electro paired with simple yet heartfelt adolescent lyrics. I’d expected a warmer sound live, but instead his live set accentuated the aloofness. He performed in ornamental regalia, bordered by dancing girls who intermittently cavorted to the music. They seemed…
Wreck-It Ralph is the best Pixar film in years, and it’s not even released by Pixar. Its characters aren’t quite as well-realised as Pixar classics like Monsters Inc, Toy Story or Wall-E, but has the other attributes of those films: a creative, original world that feels complete, fully-formed. an impressive attention to detail. Every scene…
The underlying concept of Cabin in the Woods is nothing special. It’s a horror movie that’s also a satire of/commentary on horror movies, but that’s not uncommon after Scream (and April Fools’ Day and Friday the 13th Part Six before then) – in fact, it’s got to the stage that mediocre horror movies can be…
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