film reviews, interviews, features | BRWC

Author: Joel Fisher

  • Black Pumpkin: Review

    Black Pumpkin: Review

    Judd (Ryan Poole) and Lawrence “Pork Chop” Chubbs (Grayson Thorne Kilpatrick) are best friends. They’re just like any other kids their age and get up to just as much trouble. With their teenage years looming, certain things are changing and Pork Chop loves to come over to see Judd so that he can stare at his big sister, Laurie (Ellie Patrikios).

    Then one day they find out about an urban legend of a kid nicknamed Bloody Bobby that went on a murderous rampage one Halloween night. Then when they investigate this notorious killer a little further, they unwillingly release Bloody Bobby back into the world and have to fight for their lives.

    Black Pumpkin is a lovingly recreated homage to slashers of the 1980’s with the most obvious influence being Halloween. Set in an ordinary, quiet and peaceful neighbourhood with a cast of mostly wholesome and down to Earth characters, the audience would feel like they were transported back to a simpler time of cinema if it weren’t for the laptops, mobile phones and flatscreen TVs.

    Black Pumpkin does 80’s nostalgia just right and still sets it during the modern day so it doesn’t feel like the enforced rose-tinted glasses that other movies and TV shows have done to emulate Stranger Things.

    Poole and Kilpatrick are well cast and have a good chemistry, they really feel like they may have been friends for a long time and thanks to the script they even get a few funny one liners between them. Also, the addition of Judd’s little sister, Regan (Gemma Brooke Allen) adds another layer of cuteness and her performance really helps with the family dynamic.

    It’s difficult when paying homage to a certain era and genre of cinema to do something different that makes it stand out and is not just a carbon copy of another villain that everybody knows.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFEqF4NcZh8

    Thankfully Bloody Bobby does make for an interesting villain and something altogether original that manages to make a character that’s under 5 feet tall menacing without being too comical.

    Not just an easy cash grab at those who crave nostalgia for an era of cinema that may not be as good as they remember. Black Pumpkin’s story has legs and a sequel would be welcomed.

  • Banging Lanie: Review

    Banging Lanie: Review

    Lanie Burroughs (Allison Powell) is an introverted and somewhat abrasive teenage girl. She thinks that her studies are the only thing that’s important so that she can have a good future, and while that’s commendable, it also means that she doesn’t really have any friends.

    Lanie also has no interest in sex, she sees it as an unnecessary distraction from what matters to her and doesn’t see the appeal – until she meets Jordan (Damien Alonso). From that moment on she feels that she has to have the full teenage experience. Meaning she wants to have sex with Jordan, but the only person that she can talk to is Steven (George Whitaker) who pays her to teach him maths. However, an insider’s view on what teenage boys like may be just what she needs.

    Banging Lanie is a teenage romantic comedy written, directed by and starring Allison Powell. With comparisons in its premise to movies such as Easy A and Booksmart, Banging Lanie similarly shows a teenage romance from the perspective of an outcast teenager. Although it can be a little uneven when talking to its audience.

    Powell manages to deliver a performance that’s likeable, funny and like many movies that have come before, may strike a chord with many of its intended audience. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be much of a plot that would open up the movie to a wider audience beyond a teenage girl exploring her sexuality for the first time.

    There are many moments that audiences come to expect from a movie such as Banging Lanie and while it mostly delivers, there are times that it feels little forced.

    With moments where the movie feels a bit too self-aware with dialogue that seems to directly speak to the audience and a final act that adds a little enforced drama, it may not work for everyone.

    However, Banging Lanie may be the type of movie that’s good for teenage girls to watch as they get to an age where they feel like they want more. Also, despite its tendency to oversell its message at times, Banging Lanie may still be a strong enough experience for its target audience.

  • Castle Freak: Review

    Castle Freak: Review

    Rebecca (Emily Sweet) and her boyfriend, John (Jake Horowitz) are in a loving relationship until they’re involved in a car accident that causes Rebecca to lose her sight. Some time later and they’re still together, but the signs are starting to show that John is growing tired of how the trauma of the accident has changed his girlfriend.

    Then one day Rebecca is told that she has inherited a castle in Albania and so seeing it as a chance for a fresh start and a way to gather with old friends, Rebecca and John head to the castle. Unaware of the castle’s history, John is soon told of the woman who lived there and her horrific death, but keeps it from Rebecca.

    However, when they go to sleep that night Rebecca starts dreaming of that horrible death and she starts to feel a closer connection to her estranged family. Although little do the couple know but within the walls hides a hideous monster that could lash out at any moment.

    Castle Freak is a remake of the straight-to-video 1995 cult classic original and produced by Fangoria. Changed a little to make it feel fresher, Castle Freak sees a couple on the verge of breaking up and a group of waster friends who are ripe for the picking by the monster living in the castle. However, Castle Freak is more of a slow burn horror that gradually increases the kills until the over the top, bloody end.

    Paying homage to the creative kills and gratuitous nudity of the original, the remake may make fans feel nostalgic for the days when they first were exposed to the insanity of Castle Freak’s Lovecraftian horror.

    The problem is that those who are unfamiliar with it may not see the charm of the story no matter how much it plays upon other horror cliches so much.

    In fact, the remake’s insistence on retaining the feel of the original may be its downfall as it feels dated. For horror fans there are plenty of nods to the tropes of other movies such as blind psychic characters and there’s even a mention of a well-known tome used in horror. However, it feels like it’s all been done before and may only appeal to hardcore fans.

  • Anything For Jackson: Review

    Anything For Jackson: Review

    Audrey (Sheila McCarthy) and Henry Walsh (Julian Richings) are a sweet couple nearing their retirement years. Henry works as an obstetrician, loved by his community and his patients and Audrey looks after their house while he’s at work. However, when their grandson, Jackson dies they see no other option than to kidnap a pregnant woman and use satanic incantations to put the spirit of their dead grandson into her child.

    Henry finds the perfect candidate in Becker (Konstantina Mantelos) a single expectant mother and so using his position at the hospital, Henry and Audrey tie Becker to a bed they’ve prepared for the occasion and start looking into how to do the ritual correctly. The trouble is that when they attempt their first attempt unleashes a lot more than they intended.

    Anything for Jackson is a satanic horror coming exclusively to Shudder. With a mixture of ghostly scares and everything cinema knows about Satanists thrown at the screen, Anything for Jackson delivers on its promises.

    Although a slow burn horror, audiences will come to realise that the movie has only lulled them into a false sense of confidence before giving them a scare just when they least expect it.

    The imagery of those apparitions come from a great imagination and a little bit of influence from some other creepily moving horror icons, but each seem unique and equally scary as they close in on Audrey, Henry and even Becker herself.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqgGOQ-7V4g

    The chemistry between McCarthy and Richings really helps the audience believe that they’re a loving couple that have been together for a long time. The script also helps, bringing up some deadpan moments of comedy as the pair discuss what they’re going to do with Becker in much the same way that they’d discuss what they’re having for dinner. Although there are times when perhaps the script could have leant into this a little more often as these times were the most fun.

    Unfortunately, Anything for Jackson may be an inventive horror that relies on the cliches that have gone before it, but it doesn’t really know how to end which may leave its audience with more questions than answers.

  • Sunny Side-Up: Review

    Sunny Side-Up: Review

    Gregory Samuel (Hunter Davis) is a funeral director and has to deal with people every day – dead or alive. Greg does seem to prefer the company of his client’s dearly departed though as he has social anxiety that makes him question every little thing he says and does.

    Then one day after a mishap at work, Greg’s boss suggests that he takes some time off from work to gather his thoughts and get himself sorted out. The trouble is that Greg lives alone and with only his thoughts to keep him company, that sounds like a fate worse than death.

    Greg tries his best to stay busy, but boredom starts to settle in and that constant voice of self-doubt just won’t stop. Then he meets Emma (Samantha Marie Creed) and by her pure force of will, she eventually gets to know Greg and soon he starts to realise that perhaps some risks are worth taking.

    Sunny Side-Up is a feel-good comedy drama about a lonely man who can’t cope with that nagging voice in his head that tells him everything is wrong. Effectively replicating the feeling of what it feels like to live with uncontrollable anxiety, the voiceover by Davis as well as moments of physical manifestation of Greg’s anxiety do get a little annoying, although that may entirely be the point.

    With the majority of the movie being told from inside Greg’s head this may also give a perspective on social anxiety, but it may also make the audience feel sympathy for him or feel annoyed. However, Davis makes Greg a likeable person, so those with a heart will want to try and understand him better.

    The only issue with the movie is Emma, Emma feels like the archetypal dream girl that only exists to make Greg feel good. She’s inextricably drawn to Greg and likes everything he likes and likes spending time with him. She’s everything that Greg’s dreamed of in a woman, but she also doesn’t feel real. Saying that though, Sunny Side-Up feels like a realistic portrayal of social anxiety that doesn’t have any easy quick-fix solutions, but instead shows that there can be a light at the end of the dark, lonely tunnel.