Category: REVIEWS

As a family accepts the eldest son’s wife into their home, their lives are upended as this beautiful, loving woman affects each member of the household in different ways.

Essentially an homage to Yasujirō Ozu’s family dramas, Abnormal Family takes numerous elements (from dialogue to framing, movement and visuals) to subvert the viewers expectations. Drawing from Ozu’s style and using it as a framework, while director Masayuki Suo builds his pinku story within. This is something that prolific genre filmmaker, Takashi Miike would further warp and distort seventeen years later with his blacker than black comedy, Visitor Q. 

In Abnormal Family, Suo gives us snapshots of family life but these are fractured. In many instances a family discussion will be occurring in tandem with erotic scenes. The elder brother is sexually unsatisfied with his new bride, who is coveted by the younger brother, while the daughter has given up on the idea of an office job and is working in a bathhouse. All the while, their meek, dazed, widower father mourns the loss of his wife, seeing her face in the significant women in his life.

If it wasn’t for all of the soft-core sex, Abnormal Family would be an achingly tragic family drama, but perhaps that’s the point (and perhaps still is, in spite of this). The stilted dialogue is often flat and otherworldly, acting as a barrier between the viewer and the characters. It is only when the talking stops and the eroticisms start that the audience has any opportunity to immerse themselves in what is unfolding onscreen.

Unlike earlier examples of Japanese “pink” movies, Abnormal Family doesn’t require a plot-worthy excuse to exhibit nudity and scenes of a sexual nature. This isn’t a pseudo-political film or a noir mystery thriller. This family drama features male arousal, shades of BDSM, oral sex and in-law affairs because at its heart, this film is about replacing the matriarch with a new model, and what affects this has.

On a surface level, Abnormal Family is a sixty-minute skin flick with a more engrossing plot, richer characters and greater technical proficiency than one would expect. Beneath that, there are some fascinating parallels with some of Yasujirō Ozu’s classic Japanese dramas, like Tokyo Story. But you know… with more shagging.

Abnormal Family: Older Brother’s Bride is available now via Third Window Films.

A journalist attempts to find his missing fiancee and uncovers the truth behind a sinister folklore that leads him down a dark and dangerous road.

Right from the opening scene of Blood Myth, I got a really weird and gross feeling in my stomach. A feeling that told me that I shouldn’t be watching this movie. Not because it’s a horror movie that’s so scary that, if I continue to watch, it will scar me for life. No. It was a gross feeling that told me that I still had over an hour left.

Despite the fact that this is billed as a straight-up horror flick, virtually nothing about it will give you any sort of thrill or will make you feel freaked out. It’s an extremely low-budget film that oftentimes feels more like a soap opera akin to Coronation Street rather than a “scary” movie. Right down to the cinematography, the dialogue, the acting, this just screams lazy filmmaking and it was painfully frustrating to watch.

It’s one of those movies where you can’t help but notice where certain scenes could have easily been so much better had the filmmaker stopped for a moment to think about things. It’s just riddled with too many problems scene after scene. I knew I was in for trouble when I noticed one of the actresses’ eyes darting back and forth as she was reading off of a teleprompter or a script.

All of the acting is incredibly weak and feels extremely wooden at all times. To be fair, I’m not sure whether or not the script is wholly to blame, or if the actors themselves just aren’t good actors. But I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

But all of the poor acting and dialogue aside, it’s simply boring and bland. It takes about half an hour for the film’s concept to even start to kick in. We never see our lead protagonist actually go on this journey of finding his missing fiancee until halfway through the film. The character development is basically non-existent here.

It feels like we meet our protagonist, and then, a scene or two later, he is off on his mission and for some reason, we are supposed to care about him and his plight. I understand that if your fiancee was missing, it would be a terrifying and stressful situation, but that’s kind of obvious. We should be given some other reason to care about his plight.

A large portion as to why we don’t care is because of the running time and the script. With a total length of eighty-one minutes, there isn’t any room for a slow-burning build. There’s no room for this story to bloom and to show what it really could have been. Instead, what we get is a drastically unscary, sometimes unintentionally hilarious horror film that misses the mark completely.

Blood Myth feels more so like an edgy soap opera rather than the terrifying horror film it wants to be, thanks to its weak acting and its familiar and underdeveloped story.

By Alex Purnell. The story of Bill begins with a widow drinking a mysterious concoction in front of an image of her deceased husband, with the hope that this form of black magic her loved one will come back to her. 

Filmed in a single day and self-funded by directorial duo Dan Gitsham & Sophie Mair, the fresh idea is made even more compelling with the films simplicity, and its tight-time of just 3 minutes means there’s no reason not to watch Bill. 

The use of sound works wonders for Bill, and is the most noteworthy component of the short. Nothing is quite as eerie as hearing a rickety door open slowly when nobody is home or the deafly quiet, albeit obvious sound of heavy breathing. To top this off, the music used helps create an ominous environment with its slightly off-kilter guitar playing and sinister drone. 

The atmosphere is chilling, creating great tension, although Bill is dragged down by a number of components which really could have been improved. The film stars Roxanna Vilk, playing the main role of the widow, and although the performance isn’t inherently bad, Vilk seems to overact, her reactions seem unnatural and don’t appear to sync up with what’s happening on screen. This makes me believe this was more of an editorial or directorial blunder, and not so much the fault of the talent involved.

Alas, for myself the biggest pit-fall of Bill is the excess use of CGI. As a great believer of less is more in horror flicks (unless you are going for a John Carpenter-esque practical horror), I found it less scary and more frustrating, especially as I thought the intention of the film attempts to inflict more of a psychological effect on the viewer.

Unfortunately, the use of a CGI’d blue dead man does little but make me groan, so much potential desolated by showing far too much.

Bill is an enjoyable watch, and its length allows you to view it multiple times to really breath in its DIY beauty. Despite this, it is somewhat plagued by its issues but is admirable in its honest attempt to be different. 

By Alex Purnell. London chicken shops are a representation of your neighbourhood, acting as a community hub for minority groups in the capital. They act as a cheap alternative from other fast-food shops scattered around London and have garnered a level of respect from the locals and because of this, chicken shops such as Morley’s and Chicken Palace are considered a far better representation of London culture than Buckingham Palace or The Tower of London will ever be. 

No more Wings, the directorial debut of Abraham Adeyemi, is a short story about two young black men at a pivotal moment in their lives. The two meet at their local Morley’s chicken shop to have a catch-up, with one clad in a stylish suit and a gilded new watch, whilst the other sports a tracksuit, weed and a grinder. Quickly you can see the stark contrast between the two, as they dig into their 6 piece with chips.

The suited Isaac (Ivanno Jeremiah) lets his old friend know that he is leaving their local district of Woolwich, and has recently brought a house in East London. The other, Jude (Parys Jordan), lightheartedly argues against his friend, suggesting that he should stay for the glow up, as well as protesting that the up-market chicken shops nearby will be gentrified and overpriced.

The film cuts to the two as schoolboys, entering the same Morleys years earlier, whilst this time they are both wearing a standard school uniform. Despite this, you can instantly tell who is who, and not just by their haircuts but instead through the conversation the two engage in.

The duo chat about their district of Woolwich, and whether or not they are going to leave, echoing their future actions. A young Jude strives to be a grime star, representing Woolwich, whilst the young grounded Isaac reminds him of his GCSE’s and states that there’s much more to the world than South East London. 

The simplicity of No more Wings is both it’s most resilient and weakest point. Dialogue is the most integral component of the film and is consistently carried by natural conversation, creating a fluid, realistic narrative which is most definitely the defining feature of the flick. 

Despite this, No more Wings does leave the audience feeling empty by the end, the lack of substance does create a rather dull viewing experience. The dialogue is engaging, but the delivery leaves much to be desired, with the two older versions seeming to not want to be present.

Although maybe intentional with the inclination that the two are drifting apart, it leaves you feeling unfulfilled, as the lack of climax or any real development of character leaves you emotionless.

Earl Cave and Monica Dolan co-star in “Days of the Bagnold Summer” that follows a heavy metal loving teenager, Daniel, and his polar opposite librarian mother Sue.

After his father fails to take him in for summer vacation in Florida, Daniel must learn to live and get along with his mother in a sleepy British suburb.“Days of the Bagnold Summer” would certainly be classified as a coming-of-age film, it reminded of films from the 90’s and 00’s, but without the goal for Daniel being losing his virginity or obtaining a girlfriend.

School was also not a running theme in this movie, it was actually quite the contrary. Daniel only really seemed to be discovering himself and learning to live with how different he was from his mother and the few other suburban British teenagers he encountered, with only his friend Ky (Elliot Speller-Gillott) having anything in common with him.

The aspect that truly separated this piece from other genre examples was the intersecting story line of Daniel’s mother Sue, and how the film was not about Daniel’s relationship with his peers, but rather with his mother. As an audience member I empathized with Sue, she was gentle and unsure of herself, and even in Daniel’s fits of rage she found a way to be kind and not take any of it personally.

Sue even went through struggles in her love life when Daniel’s history teacher Ian (Rob Brydon) asked her out on a date. Initially thought to be genuine and a nice man, it turned out Ian was a player who treated every date as pedestrian and only used Sue as a conquest.

My heart broke a little for her when prince charming turned out to be not so much. I could relate to that feeling of disappointment, and was touched by some tender moments where Daniel tried to protect his mom.As an overall though, I didn’t really get a firm on the films’ message. I saw a relationship between a mother and a son and how their experiences shaped them, but I did not see either go through any sort of significant change where I could grab onto it and identify it as the meaning behind the film.

All of the scenes did not really come together to create one strong whole, the plot sort of just plodded along without clear direction and the pieces of the puzzle never connected. I found myself waiting for an a-ha! moment that was never realized. Taking a risk by focusing the plot almost wholly on the teen’s relationship with his mother was appreciated, but I suppose there are reasons why coming-of-age films tend to show school and friends, it gives them more of a fun element that this was sorely missing, and it felt like everything was in slow motion.

My best guess as to why this happened is that the film is based on a 2012 novel by Joff Winterhart, but for some reason the adaptation of the text did not translate so much to screen as other strong examples in the genre, i.e. “The Fault in Our Stars” (2014.) Sometimes certain stories are better read than viewed, and I think that’s what happened here.