film reviews, interviews, features | BRWC

Author: Joel Fisher

  • Road Head: Review

    Road Head: Review

    Stephanie (Elizabeth Grullon), Alex (Damian Joseph Quinn) and Bryan (Clayton Farris) are mutual friends on a road trip to the Mohave Desert. Bryan knows about the whereabouts of a beautiful lake and wants to have a good time there and get away from it all. Unfortunately, by the time they get to the location of the lake, it’s all dried up. So, the trio find themselves in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do and worst of all, they find a couple of severed heads in their path. Not to mention that there’s a man dressed in Medieval chain mail and wielding a sword who is intent on killing them.

    Road Head is a horror comedy directed by David Del Rio and written by Justin Xavier. The premise for Road Head seems like a great idea, three friends head out into the desert and find themselves faced with a serial killer.

    It conjures up the idea that they’re in a dry, isolated and yet wide-open expanse and they have nowhere to hide. However, as with a lot of horror movies Road Head has its flaws due to the characters and the script.

    When the three friends initially find their assailant, they are confused and frightened as anybody else would be. However, through a series of stupid decisions they find their situation getting worse and it seems that there should have been an easy solution.

    Although this kind of thinking is often half the fun of horror movies, Road Head doesn’t even seem to be aware of this, leaving the audience not really caring about them.

    Road Head may have a funny script and there are some great lines from Elizabeth Grullon who is in the majority of the film, but it all feels a bit shallow and only gets stranger as it goes along. By the end of the film there may have been things that happen between the main characters that give them a little more depth, but it all comes a little bit too late.

    The unusual events of the movie feel like they were half thought out and some things like Stephanie’s boyfriend appearing from her subconscious don’t fit with the rest of the movie. Road Head is a silly horror comedy that’s bound to raise a few smiles, but in the end the audience will have to wonder what was the point of it all.

  • Mandabi: Review

    Mandabi: Review

    Ibrahim Dieng’s (Makhouredia Gueye) wives, Mety (Ynousse N’Diaye) and Aram (Isseu Niang) have a money order delivered from Dieng’s nephew in Paris. Very happy, but rather sceptical about the news, they’re concerned about telling their husband who has been out of work for years and treats them like dirt.

    However, once Dieng finds out about the money order, he sees this as a way to turn their lives around and heads to the post office to collect on the money order. The problem is that once he gets there, Dieng finds out that getting the money is not going to be as easy as he thought. Not to mention that there are other people willing to do anything to get the money.

    Mandabi (The Money Order) is a Senegalese film, written and directed by Ousmane Sembene, adapted from his novel, which has been restored for the Criterion collection. A drama with a simple, old fashioned man at its centre, who learns that getting what he’s entitled to is met with many levels of bureaucracy, red tape and corruption.

    After initially setting up the film with Dieng’s wives, the film follows Dieng himself as he struggles to do what could have been the simplest of things.

    Mandabi shows levels of hardship and corruption that are not only relevant to Senegal, but to many places around the world and Dieng experiences things to which we can all relate. A commentary of post-colonial Africa, Mandabi also shows what happens when the subject of money is raised and how those from political figures to even close relatives could be influenced by the lure of cash.

    It also shows the poverty and difficulty that anybody could face in order to get by in life, ensuring that everybody has their place and stays that way.

    Showing Senegal as a modern and yet simply functioning country, it shows what envy can do to people and how it seems that kindness could be a rare commodity. However, although Dieng starts off with the audience judging him for being lazy and ungrateful, in the end they may start to realise how difficult life is at the bottom.

  • Digging To Death: Review

    Digging To Death: Review

    David Vanowen (Ford Austin) has just moved into a new house after his divorce so he can be closer to his daughter, Jessica (Rachel Alig). He works for a company that makes apps and is a good designer, so despite his divorce he’s happy with his life and ready to move on. The house still needs a little fixing though, so being the handy man that he is, David decides to fix the septic tank himself.

    However, while fixing the house he uncovers a hole in his garden that’s holding a corpse and three million dollars. Obviously surprised by what he finds, David realises that he has a dilemma. Although he could keep the money, there’s still a corpse in his back garden and the turmoil over what to do with the money starts to slowly drive him insane.

    Digging to Death is a horror movie written and directed by Michael P. Blevins which may have a little comedy inflected into its plot.

    It’s clear that the movie does want to be taken seriously and deep down it feels like it wants to be a cross between Shallow Grave and Fight Club. However, the actions of its protagonist can’t be taken all that seriously.

    The problem is that David’s actions are progressively heightened throughout the movie to the point where they become ridiculous and so the levels of violence become funny similarly to The Evil Dead. However, at the same time Digging to Death takes itself so seriously that the audience may start wondering whether they’re supposed to be laughing.

    The low budget of the film can be forgiven considering the concept and to an extent Digging to Death does try to be something coherent. It just feels like the story got away from the filmmakers as they were trying to make it into a horror movie.

    Digging to Death is a frustrating movie to watch because the audience is never really sure how they’re supposed to feel about its lead. David seemingly has no motivations for his actions other than greed and by the end it will feel like the entire movie has been a missed opportunity.

  • Caveat: Review

    Caveat: Review

    Isaac (Jonathon French) is a lone drifter suffering from partial memory loss. He has no prospects, no future, no family or friends that he can think of and he has nowhere to go. Then one day he accepts from his old landlord in an abandoned house on an isolated island where his niece, Olga (Leila Sykes) is being kept.

    Olga has seemingly had a psychological break and has gone into a catatonic state and seeing as Isaac has nothing else to his name, he accepts the job without question. Although the rules of his stay are a little unusual.

    Caveat is an Irish horror movie written and directed by Damian McCarthy in his directorial feature debut. Impressively directed for a first feature, McCarthy already seems to know exactly how to direct a horror movie and how to keep the tension throughout.

    Caveat creates a sinister, slightly off kilter atmosphere and doesn’t let go until the very last second. Although his style of slow burn, cautious horror may not be for everyone. Those looking for a violent gore fest with jump scares may want to look elsewhere, but for those who want to see a horror movie that’s a little bit different from all the rest then Caveat may satisfy them.

    There’s just something special about Caveat that sets it apart from the rest and it’s hard to put a finger on exactly what that is. It may be the unique setting and original story, it could be the way that it’s shot and how it pulls in its audience, it may even be the sparing use of the mechanical rabbit with a drum that seems to have a deep connection with Olga.

    Either way, Caveat is the type of horror movie that many have never seen before and it’s all the better for doing something so different.

    All the cast do well and without any scenes that overly explain the plot, a lot of the movie has to do with their actions. Isaac becomes increasingly more afraid of his surroundings and French’s performance portrays that well, right up until the end. Those looking for a neat and tidy ending may be disappointed, but Caveat may stay with them long after it has finished.

  • Psycho Goreman: Review

    Psycho Goreman: Review

    Mimi (Nita-Josee Hanna) and Luke (Owen Myre) are as close as any brother and sister could be and they love spending time together. Then one day they unearth something in their back garden that’s glowing and it could be extra-terrestrial, so naturally Mimi picks it up and puts it in her pocket.

    Little do they know, but they’ve unleashed an evil monster hell bent on destroying the universe. The only problem is that since Mimi has the alien gemstone that the monster needs, he’s now under the control of a little girl who’s looking to cause a little destruction and mayhem herself.

    Psycho Goreman is a horror movie written and directed by Steven Kostanski which is a loving homage to horror and science fiction the likes of which haven’t been seen since the Nineties. Having a background in special makeup effects, Kostanski has handpicked some of the best designs which take people of a certain age (like me) right back to their childhoods.

    Evoking everything from Power Rangers, Wishmaster and many more, the visual style of the creature designs are absolutely perfect and the script is hilarious. Knowingly bringing a more adult theme to the vaguely familiar story, Psycho Goreman subverts all the cliches of the films Generation Y grew up with while also giving its audience exactly what they want.

    The cast are all great, but the scene stealer is clearly Nita-Josee Hanna as a little girl drunk on power and puts in an impressive debut performance with the comedy timing and delivery of somebody three times her age. The relationship between all the family members is particularly funny as well, somewhat reminiscent of Rick and Morty, but with its own spin and laugh out loud one-liners.

    However, being a nostalgic look back at a time where they just don’t make films like this anymore, Pyscho Goreman can feel a little overstuffed at times and although it’s nice to see all the things that Kostanski and his team can do, the final act felt a bit long.

    Saying that though, for those looking for a kind of film they kind of misremembered from when they were kids, then Psycho Goreman may unlock some fond memories.