I’ll admit I went in to Mark Pavia’s “Fender Bender” expecting almost nothing and was shocked at how effective it was in the end. It’s a solid stalk and chase slasher film mixing “Death Proof” and “The Hitcher” and director Pavia delivers a strong genre entry suitable for a lazy Friday night and some beers. “Fender Bender” centers on young Hilary, a girl living in New Mexico with her parents who just got her license. After a terrible break up with her cheating boyfriend, she accidentally runs in to another driver causing a minor fender bender. The stranger in question is a very forward and charming man who is very generous and friendly to Hilary after exchanging information.
Category Archives: Movie Reviews
Bad, Bad, Gang! (1972) (DVD)
Back then hippies must have seemed like dirty go nowhere weirdos prone to smoking pot and having a lot of wild sex; because, well, they kind of were. But they were also prone to being the predators and sometimes prey for much of the seventies and early eighties horror and exploitation cinema. “Bad, Bad, Gang!” is a pretty solid porn film right out of the summer of love where bikers and goofy hippies clash to engage in a free for all of sex and rape.
Evil Bong High-5 (2016)
Do you see what happens when you let interns make a movie with petty cash on the weekends? You come up with “Evil Bong High-5.” It’s a stoner movie that’s so bad even stoners will eventually shut it off because it’s destroying their high. At only seventy minutes long, this is a movie that literally stops dead in its tracks in order to advertise the company’s brand of painfully unfunny ethnic stereotype dolls. One of the many sequels apparently breaking even enough for another installment, Eebee the Evil Bong is back and she’s just as mean as ever. Now that she’s trapped a small group of people in The Bong World, alongside the Gingerdead Man, they have to figure out a way home.
Cellblock Sisters: Banished Behind Bars (1995)
Henri Charr’s “Cellblock Sisters: Banished Behind Bars” (aka “Banished Behind Bars”) is one of the most nineties straight to video movies ever released. It’s a rip off of “Bad Boys” that pits nothing but gorgeous blond women against one another in a women’s prison and forces them to fight it out for control and petty grudges. Henri Charr’s crime thriller is surprisingly convoluted, but one that also gets a free pass for being one of the last of its kind before the early aughts indie resurgence of women in prison films.
Ils (Them) (2007)
Directors Moreau and Palud’s “Ils (Them),” is an unnerving and spooky horror entry almost in the vein of “The Strangers,” and “Last House on the Left,” that sets down on the countryside where hooded beings are terrorizing the locals and tourists. Clementine and Lucas go away for the weekend to their country home for holiday, and after a night of dinner and love making learn that they’re being terrorized by an endless group of hooded individuals who engage in a rather horrific game of cat and mouse.
Cutting Class (1989)
Director Rospo Pallenberg’s “Cutting Class” is a slasher film I’ve grown to enjoy over the years, and maybe that’s because there’s rarely a slasher that doesn’t win my heart. I first caught it during a late night screening on cable, and since then it’s grown on me immensely. It’s a late eighties last gasp at the slasher sub-genre that relies on the comedic styling of Martin Mull who attempts to survive an arrow attack in a conspicuously detached sub-plot from the central premise of a slasher stalking a high school.
Reversion (2015)
The makers of Oubli, a device that allows its wearer to relive moments from their past, prepare for a huge launch which could make or break the company. Sophie Cle, daughter to Oubli’s creator Jack Cle, is the biggest proponent of the device. That is until she gets kidnapped and shown a different truth which makes her question everything she knows.
Reversion was directed and co-written by Jose Nestor Marquez with writer Elissa Matsueda. Previously, Marquez worked on a film called Isa about a conspiracy through the government to control thoughts/minds.
This film is connected to Reversion on more than a thematic level as one of the supporting characters in Reversion is named Isa and played by the same actress. The story here revolves around a device called Oubli which means something akin to “forgotten” or “not remembered” in French, a device made to help people remember and relive specific memories. The cost of this is not simply monetary as more is at risk. The story here explores the ethics and repercussions of technological advancements. The main character is Sophie Clé whose last name means “key” in French, another name that is not accidental.
The characters and situations build a mystery wrapped up in technological advancements which keep the viewers’ attention throughout. Sophie Clé is interpreted by Aja Naomi King who turns in a solid performance of a character with hidden information within herself which is not an easy part. Supporting her are Gary Dourdan as her driver, Colm Feore as her father, Jeannette Samano as her kidnapper, and Amanda Plummer as the mysterious woman with a lot of information. All turn in good performance, Feore and Samano giving the best ones of the support group with layers being peeled back as the story evolves.
The film is shot in two different styles, one for the main story and one just slightly different for the memories brought back by the Oubli device, adding to the mystery of whether or not these memories are real or not and as to if they have been tinkered with to make their owner happy. To support these styles, the score is created in part within the movie for the Oubli sequences which have a dream like feeling in great part due to the sounds and music making their ambiance felt by the viewers, immersing them into the character’s experience. This effect adds a lot to the movie and its atmosphere as a whole.
Reversion is an interesting watch that will make the viewer think about how far technology has come, how far it could go, and if it should be allowed to go that far. The film keeps the mystery and intrigue going throughout its runtime while not giving everything away, making it a movie with a rewatchability factor.