mark-252 Reviews

Night & Day (2001–2003)

A refreshing, intriguing, off-beat British soap.

[27 November 2001]

The use of atmospheric popular music, cinematic camerawork and special effects distinguish this "soap", (actually soap belittles NIGHT AND DAY, perhaps serial drama is a better description). Having bored of repetitive plotlines and characters, I'd given up on British soaps, until this one arrived. Off-beat characters, regular and genuine cliff-hanger endings to episodes, even adult content in the omnibus repeats, all add up to a unique approach to a formerly hackneyed genre. The opening intrigue of the series alludes to TWIN PEAKS in that the femme fatale of the neighbourhood is a blonde schoolgirl who touches many lives before shuffling off...

All of which is good enough to keep this viewer hooked.

Sakuya: yôkaiden (2000)

Japan's answer to Buffy!

[8/10 · 23 June 2001]

This marvellous gem shows how computer graphic FX can be used to make convincing shots that are exciting and artistic too! The opening shots of Mount Fuji erupting are totally spectacular and lead us into the story by way of an entrance to hell being opened. Demons are emerging from the pit and only Sakuya, teenage Slayer of Demons can stop them with her magic sword! It is set in the distant past when all you can fight monsters with is swords and gunpowder. Each of the demons that Sakuya fights takes a different form! As usual the character is based on a popular manga title. It's more exciting than creepy, but the plot certainly keeps up the surprises and demons keep on getting bigger and bigger! The film looks like a Hong Kong action movie but was shot in Japan, which may explain why the wirework in the fight scenes isn't very sophisticated. The FX team for this film have also worked on the fantastic nineties trilogy of GAMERA films (the third of which has to be seen to be believed).

Blue Submarine No. 6 (1998–2000)

Stunning exciting 3-D animation set in the waterlogged future

[8/10 · 23 June 2001]

Usually known as BLUE SUBMARINE 6, this Japanese animation has both action and brains! It's set in the near future when the world is being held to ransom by a rogue scientist, Zorndyke. He is melting the icecaps and has genetically created an underwater race to conquer Earth. Humanity's last hope is the Blue Submarine fleet and their brave crews taking on Zorndyke's living whale/submarines. The story progresses obliquely with many flashbacks filling the viewer in on the motives of both the crew and their quarry, Zorndyke. All the characters are rendered in the traditional 2-dimensional anime style but all the hardware (the submarines, the surface crab/tanks) are all 3-D animation, bringing a gritty realism to the action scenes. The subs, the explosions, the sea are all beautifully realised. The craft and creature designs are imaginative but still based on reality. I'd recommend this to someone who wants to see something unique and unusual, exciting and demanding.

The Great Yokai War (1968)

H.R. Pufnstuf meets Hammer's Dracula!

[7/10 · 23 June 2001]

A Japanese horror movie that mixes bloody neck biting and comedy-relief ghosts represented by acrobats and little people - reminiscent of the inhabitants of the sixties TV series H.R. PUFNSTUF. I believe this is a sequel to HUNDRED GHOST STORIES as it features many of the same ghosts (e.g. the snake-necked woman and the umbrella ghost). A marvellous vulture-like vampire arrives in ancient Japan and hides in the body of an important land-owner and starts to put the bite on his subjects. The local ghosts are the only ones who know what is truly going on and try to oust the demon. Their efforts lead to a spectacular climax as the demon grows to giant proportions... While the ghosts costumes are unconvincing, one gets used to them, especially when you know they are based on old Japanese legends. The scenes featuring the bad-guy are both fierce and atmospheric - the lighting effects are quite remarkable - and the blood-letting is far too explicit to be aimed at a juvenile audience. But it's well made, fast-moving and a fascinating trip into the mythologies of a different culture than the usual western ghosts and vampires.

I, Monster (1971)

Cushing and Lee in 3-D!

[6/10 · 23 June 2001]

This odd adaption of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was originally shot in a rare form of 3-D which depends on a complicated camera move, much to the annoyance of star Christopher Lee. But it was all worth it, Mr. Lee, because it stands now as your only 3-D movie for us to enjoy today! The 3-D only works when the camera is moving left to right or right to left and you need special glasses (with the right lens slightly darkened) to enjoy it. But in 3-D, the creeping camera moves and slow editing all make sense because the scenes spring to life with deep focussed 3-dimensional action. Now you know why Christopher Lee is always walking up and down his laboratory behind all the chemical glassware!

Horror House (1969)

EARLY TEENAGE SLASHER FLICK THAT'S WORTH A LOOK

[7/10 · 23 June 2001]

Filmed under the much more appropriate title "THE DARK" this movie quite often airs on television in a darkened print. Darkened so that the blood can't be seen so clearly! In a couple of shock sequences, still shocking today, there's an awful lot of it! It has been said that David Bowie was originally cast in this film! Also Peter Cushing was supposed to play the George Sewell part originally. The film opens on location around the definitely in-place of the sixties - Carnaby Street. Despite the slightly silly Scooby Doo "teenage" characters that are introduced early in the film at a swinging sixties house party, the acting gets realistically serious as we enter the haunted house of the title. I've always been intrigued by this early example of teenage serial killer horror film, especially since it subverts the slasher genre quite drastically. Despite all the screaming, it's the men who are the victims - no more pointedly than in the film's finale...

The acting is very good, the plot keeps you guessing and you could cut the atmosphere with a knife!

The Day of the Triffids (1963)

WELL-MADE, COLOURFUL DISASTER/CREATURE FEATURE

[8/10 · 23 June 2001]

The film opens with a marvellously atmospheric sequence of a night security guard being stalked by an aggressive man-size killer plant in a huge greenhouse. Illuminated by a night sky full of falling comets, the use of darkness with splashes of technicolor makes this visually very rich and introduces the triffid as a terrifying menace. For a British-made sci-fi story, this is an ambitious attempt to follow action across three countries, show society in ruins and portray (not quite as successfully) a rampaging army of killer plants! The grim early scenes of blinded populous are quite upsetting, a plane falls out of the sky because the pilot cannot see but he knows he is running out of fuel, a train crashes into a terminus and its blinded passengers can't help themselves amongst the wreckage... The film follows an American sailor, who has not been blinded by the comets, as he tries to reach safety. This story is intercut with a couple stranded in a lighthouse surrounded by Triffids - these scenes were all added by the (uncredited) director Freddie Francis after the original cut of the movie came in way under its correct running time. The woman in the lighthouse scenes is played by Janette Scott, who has been immortalised in the lyrics of the title song of "THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW". If possible watch a widescreen version of this movie - it makes a lot more sense.