Director and co-writer Gabriel Carrer’s vigilante thriller film “The Demolisher” is one of the highlights of my coverage of Fantasia Fest back in 2015. While the plot points here and there are sloppily constructed, “The Demolisher” is an overall very good and strong tale about grief, sadness, and delusion that can stem from ones own guilt, in the end. While Gabriel Carrer’s film struggles to find its pacing and momentum in the first half hour, “The Demolisher” does inevitably pick up steam to build in to one hell of an interesting revenge thriller.
Tag Archives: Drama
Leslie (2016)
It’s really striking how well director Alejandro Montoya Marin understands the experience of being an artist, most of all a starving artist. You feel something of a fire in your belly to express yourself and show the world how much you can give to them in the way of art, and sometimes it’s so difficult to get by. Alejandro Montoya Marin’s is a pretty remarkable short drama that focuses on the life of a singer and songwriter named Holly, who is struggling to get a solid gig at local clubs to perform for audiences. She’s barely scraping by and is now experiencing the end of a very intense relationship with the love of her life.
Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)
One thing you can always count on with aliens, that no matter how advanced or sentient they are, their primary form of security is always two huge closing doors that slide together and seal as gradually as possible. You assume in their world they’d have laser doors that seal up in a matter of milliseconds, but no. It’s always very slow closing doors that never quite close fast to stop our heroes. But of course they always murder the alien pilots because–they’re obviously not trained to zip through the doors I assume. “Independence Day: Resurgence” is a sequel with such an obvious mission to launch an “ID4” cinematic universe that it’s almost not really worth watching “Resurgence” at all, when you get down to it.
The Sublet (2015) [Blood in the Snow 2016]
A young couple with a baby move into a sublet with a mysterious locked room and a few secrets. As he works more and more toward getting his acting career on track, the more she spends time alone in the sublet with their son. As time goes by, odd happenings add up and she begins to seemingly lose her mind. Written by John Ainslie and Alyson Richards with Ainslie directing, The Sublet build tension as the characters drift apart due to life and due to whatever force is working on the new mother, Joanna. As her mind seems to unravel, the potentially supernatural happenings multiply and so does the tension.
The Eyes of My Mother (2016)
A young woman is thought to handle dead bodies and see them as normal as well as operating on them. After her mother is killed in their house, she slowly unravels and assumes things to be normal as she learns to live her new life. Written and directed by Nicolas Pesce, the entirety of the film revolves around one young woman and her descent into possible madness as she adapts to her surroundings from childhood and handles death in a particular manner into adulthood and life changes. The lead character Pesce builds here is a disturbed young woman who does not know any better. The way she goes through life, constantly referring to her death mother and trying to make her proud while doing things that most would consider twisted or wrong.
Capture Kill Release (2016) [Blood in the Snow 2016]
A couple plans their next activity together: To kill a random stranger. As they plan, prep, and discuss the possible murder, they start to disagree on things and it becomes clear that one of them is very into the idea of murder while the other is not so much. Written by Nick McAnulty who co-directed with Brian Allan Stewart, this found footage film does a few things right such as casting two leads that are rather unfamiliar, a move reminiscent of Paranormal Activity, and it shoots in a clear manner, meaning that is happening and said can be clearly seen and heard which is something many film of the sub-genre do not pay enough attention to. This film shows what is happening and the emotions very clearly and it works in its favor as it brings the viewer in and let them get invested in the story.
Don’t Breathe (2016) [Blu-Ray/Digital]
Director Fede Alvarez’s thriller is a pitch black take on “Wait Until Dark” with a hint of “People Under the Stairs” taking a blind man who turns the tables on perpetrators. This time around though, the blind victim is a very prepared war veteran who skulks around like a predator even in his own home. When he begins challenging the thieves that infiltrate his oddly armed home filled with various pitfalls, he stalks them with confidence, even without eye sight. Stephen Lang’s Blind Man is an oddly horrific and intimidating new horror character who works on his own moral code. Whether or not he’s a villain may depend on the interpretation by the audience, and what they consider pure evil or just pure justification. Fede Alvarez teams two groups of victims against one another in a world that’s taken away all of their futures and ideas of hope.