I consider this a little seen masterpiece and one of those films that has the ability to challenge how you experience the art form. It is both revealing and exhausting: exploring the blast radius of a dissolving marriage as the shrapnel begins to fly. Sam Neill has never been better, but it is Isabelle Adjani who gives a performance that has to be experienced to be believed. Whether you love or hate 'Possession,' her portrayal here one of the most fearless ever committed to film. I cannot possibly recommend this film more highly, with the caveat that Andrzej Zulawski's extremely personal vision may not be for everyone. 10/10.
Reviews
9 Reviews
The Pale Blue Eye
(2022)
The Pale Blue Eye (2022)
11 January 2023
Imagine you have a house, it's a pretty average house really. Structure is fine, not too many surprises there. Now imagine that Stefania Cella stopped by to decorate the house to look like it existed in the Hudson Valley of New York during the 1830's. Masanobu Takayanagi also shows up and puts a heavy layer of fog and dramatic lighting about the place. Howard Shore provides lush, tense and sophisticated music to underscore the arrival of the guests: Christian Bale, Harry Melling and Toby Jones. Charlotte Gainsbourg and Robert Duvall wander around for a bit with very little to do, eating cocktail weenies to pass the time..
And so it is with 'The Pale Blue Eye,' the new film by Scott Cooper which presents a pretty straight forward murder mystery but with a twist: Edgar Allan Poe is involved in the investigation. The other main character is Augustus Landor (Christain Bale) who is featured in one of Poe's final works but who is expanded upon by Louis Bayard in his book on which this movie is based. There has been a bizarre murder at the West Point Military Academy and Landor is brought in to solve the case, being a renowned solver of bizarre murders that he is.
The reputation of the academy is at risk and Landor is sworn to secrecy as he begins to uncover various links and untold stories involving the dead student. He also meets a young cadet by the name of Edgar Allan Poe who offers some learned insights into the various motivations at work amongst all the recruits. This portion takes up much of the runtime of the film: who knows who, who saw who do a thing, etc. We learn more about the lead characters - Landor has mysterious flashbacks to his lost daughter, Poe still talks to his dead mother twenty years on. We meet the family of the local doctor (Toby Jones) and his high strung wife (Gillian Anderson), including their son (Harry Lawtey) and daughter Lea (Lucy Boynton) for whom young Poe develops an affection for. There is also a second grisly murder, but with some strange differences suggesting that someone else may have been involved..
And so the viewer is ushered through various machinations as 'The Pale Blue Eye' slowly starts to reveal its secrets. There isn't much guessing involved, as the story kind of walks you through many of the solutions. There is a twist at the end, which isn't that easy to figure out, but the fact that there will be a twist is - based on some unresolved information eluded to earlier. The story is very average and feels like a solid 'Black Mirror' episode stretched out to feature length; a cop / buddy comedy but sad and tragic. Like Jack Clayton's 'The Innocents' but too relaxed to really capture that stiffled repressed tension.
Christain Bale uses many of his established skills in his portrayal of Landor, but doesn't roll out many new ones. The real find here is Harry Melling, who brings quite a bit to the role of Edgar Allan Poe. There is a real vulnerability in his slightly crossed eyes and the physical resemblance to the actual Poe is uncanny. I wish the film spent more time with him instead of wandering around the dark woods looking for answers to questions that weren't that interesting to begin with. 'The Pale Blue Eye' does do quite a few things right on a technical level but really fails to engage the viewer intellectually, which is a shame considering the fascinating characters they had to work with. 6/10.
And so it is with 'The Pale Blue Eye,' the new film by Scott Cooper which presents a pretty straight forward murder mystery but with a twist: Edgar Allan Poe is involved in the investigation. The other main character is Augustus Landor (Christain Bale) who is featured in one of Poe's final works but who is expanded upon by Louis Bayard in his book on which this movie is based. There has been a bizarre murder at the West Point Military Academy and Landor is brought in to solve the case, being a renowned solver of bizarre murders that he is.
The reputation of the academy is at risk and Landor is sworn to secrecy as he begins to uncover various links and untold stories involving the dead student. He also meets a young cadet by the name of Edgar Allan Poe who offers some learned insights into the various motivations at work amongst all the recruits. This portion takes up much of the runtime of the film: who knows who, who saw who do a thing, etc. We learn more about the lead characters - Landor has mysterious flashbacks to his lost daughter, Poe still talks to his dead mother twenty years on. We meet the family of the local doctor (Toby Jones) and his high strung wife (Gillian Anderson), including their son (Harry Lawtey) and daughter Lea (Lucy Boynton) for whom young Poe develops an affection for. There is also a second grisly murder, but with some strange differences suggesting that someone else may have been involved..
And so the viewer is ushered through various machinations as 'The Pale Blue Eye' slowly starts to reveal its secrets. There isn't much guessing involved, as the story kind of walks you through many of the solutions. There is a twist at the end, which isn't that easy to figure out, but the fact that there will be a twist is - based on some unresolved information eluded to earlier. The story is very average and feels like a solid 'Black Mirror' episode stretched out to feature length; a cop / buddy comedy but sad and tragic. Like Jack Clayton's 'The Innocents' but too relaxed to really capture that stiffled repressed tension.
Christain Bale uses many of his established skills in his portrayal of Landor, but doesn't roll out many new ones. The real find here is Harry Melling, who brings quite a bit to the role of Edgar Allan Poe. There is a real vulnerability in his slightly crossed eyes and the physical resemblance to the actual Poe is uncanny. I wish the film spent more time with him instead of wandering around the dark woods looking for answers to questions that weren't that interesting to begin with. 'The Pale Blue Eye' does do quite a few things right on a technical level but really fails to engage the viewer intellectually, which is a shame considering the fascinating characters they had to work with. 6/10.
Prey
(I) (2022)
Prey (2022)
29 December 2022
Just watched the new movie in the Predator franchise 'Prey' and it was.. okay. Not as bad as Shane Black's 'The Predator' but hardly a watershed moment. The first hour is more of a coming of age story but really picks up during the third act - including some nice action set pieces.
It's very evident that this outing had a very moderate budget resulting in some uneven special effects and production value. The Predator itself gets a mild redesign that I did not like very much but the story does get back to the basic premise of an alien hunter out on safari. It's entertaining in spots but hard to wholeheartedly recommend. 6/10.
It's very evident that this outing had a very moderate budget resulting in some uneven special effects and production value. The Predator itself gets a mild redesign that I did not like very much but the story does get back to the basic premise of an alien hunter out on safari. It's entertaining in spots but hard to wholeheartedly recommend. 6/10.
Hellraiser
(2022)
Hellraiser (2022)
27 December 2022
In 1987 novelist and artist Clive Barker wanted to bring one of his own stories to the big screen making his directorial debut in the process. 'Hellraiser' was born in a sticky combination of sex, violence, incest, religion & practical effects with a gritty grindhouse vibe and tied together by one of Christopher Young's best musical scores. It also introduced the world to the Cenobites, emissaries from of a type of purgatory dimension where pleasure and pain are indistinguishable. Their leader, Pinhead, became an instant horror icon and the film was a box office hit relative to the budget.
Jump to the present, where everybody is out of ideas so they have decided to reboot the franchise. This new one is not a remake, having a completely different story, but also not a sequel? I don't know. I'll start off by saying that the new 'Hellraiser' is not terrible, but needlessly complicated and fussy about useless details. It follows a forgettable group of characters around as they continually find ways to stab each other with little knives that extend out of the puzzle box which is the key to summoning the Cenobites. Once these gruesome messengers take form in our world, thirsty for the flesh of their prey.. everybody just kind of stands around for awhile.
Everything could have been solved by putting the box down and not screwing around with it anymore. The plot is fueled by coincidence and bad decisions as it slowly drives to the next unremarkable scene. This includes a plot twist late in the film which creates more plot holes than it resolves but by that point, I didn't really care. Overall this new version is kind of boring, with very few surprises. It looks and sounds like any other horror movie that is being made these days.
The Cenobites costumes are practical, which is something I guess. The redesigns are weird though, choosing a white / soft red color scheme as opposed the distinct black leather of the originals. This not only makes these creatures less imposing but actually harder to make out on film. A perfect example of this, which also sums up the film as a whole, is the Pinhead makeup. The original concept used nails in the facial prosthetics, giving it a harsher edge. This new design uses long push pins which softens the character, making her less threatening - and yes Pinhead is played by a woman, but you can't really tell and also, who cares?
'Hellraiser' 22' seems to be a step up from some of the more recent sequels both in money spent and overall concept but doesn't really add anything fresh or interesting. It meanders for two hours where as the original film shot what they could afford, making every scene carry some weight and kept the pacing pretty brisk. Limited resources can inspire creativity but now, there are very few mistakes you can't fix while making a larger budgeted film. Sometimes the mistakes are the best part though. 4/10.
Jump to the present, where everybody is out of ideas so they have decided to reboot the franchise. This new one is not a remake, having a completely different story, but also not a sequel? I don't know. I'll start off by saying that the new 'Hellraiser' is not terrible, but needlessly complicated and fussy about useless details. It follows a forgettable group of characters around as they continually find ways to stab each other with little knives that extend out of the puzzle box which is the key to summoning the Cenobites. Once these gruesome messengers take form in our world, thirsty for the flesh of their prey.. everybody just kind of stands around for awhile.
Everything could have been solved by putting the box down and not screwing around with it anymore. The plot is fueled by coincidence and bad decisions as it slowly drives to the next unremarkable scene. This includes a plot twist late in the film which creates more plot holes than it resolves but by that point, I didn't really care. Overall this new version is kind of boring, with very few surprises. It looks and sounds like any other horror movie that is being made these days.
The Cenobites costumes are practical, which is something I guess. The redesigns are weird though, choosing a white / soft red color scheme as opposed the distinct black leather of the originals. This not only makes these creatures less imposing but actually harder to make out on film. A perfect example of this, which also sums up the film as a whole, is the Pinhead makeup. The original concept used nails in the facial prosthetics, giving it a harsher edge. This new design uses long push pins which softens the character, making her less threatening - and yes Pinhead is played by a woman, but you can't really tell and also, who cares?
'Hellraiser' 22' seems to be a step up from some of the more recent sequels both in money spent and overall concept but doesn't really add anything fresh or interesting. It meanders for two hours where as the original film shot what they could afford, making every scene carry some weight and kept the pacing pretty brisk. Limited resources can inspire creativity but now, there are very few mistakes you can't fix while making a larger budgeted film. Sometimes the mistakes are the best part though. 4/10.
Hellraiser
(1987)
Hellraiser (1987)
27 December 2022
In 1987 novelist and artist Clive Barker wanted to bring one of his own stories to the big screen making his directorial debut in the process. 'Hellraiser' was born in a sticky combination of sex, violence, incest, religion & practical effects with a gritty grindhouse vibe and tied together by one of Christopher Young's best musical scores. It also introduced the world to the Cenobites, emissaries from of a type of purgatory dimension where pleasure and pain are indistinguishable. Their leader, Pinhead, became an instant horror icon and the film was a box office hit relative to the budget.
Naturally, sequels followed.. so many sequels. Like nine of them, maybe more. I've seen the original trilogy which includes 'Hellbound: Hellraiser II,' which I hated, and followed by the forgettable 'Hellraiser III.' Clive Barker had a dark and unique vision for the original, which is something all subsequent entries have failed to capture. It's rough around the edges, the production clearly running out of money towards the end but still full of ideas. Having revisited the first one after thirty years, I can say it holds up pretty well. Even in certain areas where it does not succeed, it's still interesting and fun to watch. 7.5/10.
Naturally, sequels followed.. so many sequels. Like nine of them, maybe more. I've seen the original trilogy which includes 'Hellbound: Hellraiser II,' which I hated, and followed by the forgettable 'Hellraiser III.' Clive Barker had a dark and unique vision for the original, which is something all subsequent entries have failed to capture. It's rough around the edges, the production clearly running out of money towards the end but still full of ideas. Having revisited the first one after thirty years, I can say it holds up pretty well. Even in certain areas where it does not succeed, it's still interesting and fun to watch. 7.5/10.
Prophecy
(1979)
Prophecy (1979)
27 December 2022
Kind of an under-rated creature feature that is mostly forgotten and was poorly reviewed at the time of release. Coming after 'Jaws' and in the midst of the "pollution causes monsters" subgenre. In this one a doctor (Robert Foxworth) takes his wife (Talia Shire) to the Maine wilderness to collect samples to settle a dispute between a paper mill and the local Indian tribe. They stumble onto a series of mutated creatures and a web of deception designed to hide the true horror that stalks the woods.
This is a big budget B-movie that is expertly made. Director John Frankenheimer, always a professional, handles the material perfectly. The actors act their asses off and Leonard Rosenman's score is so intense that it is instrumental in creating much of the tension. There is some really smart writing and great scenes: a sequence where a family is killed in the forest is unexpected and shocking; an exposition scene involving a tape recorder is clever in its efficiency; some nice setups involving the wife being pregnant that are paid off nicely. Just watch all the cinematic tricks on display as a group of characters are hiding underground after a brutal attack. Not something you would get in a lesser film.
A main source of criticism seems to be the monster itself. Created by The Burman's Studio who did the effects for such classics as 'Planet of the Apes' and 'Star Kid.' The monster is a bit goofy but is mostly shot to hide that fact and is pretty effective. The parts where it's clearly a guy in a suit are silly to be fair, even though the creature is played by Kevin Peter Hall who would go on to be a different Predator a few years later. The monster in 'Prophecy' is fun and certainly not the worst ever committed to film. Another problem is the casting of non-Native American actors to play members of the Indian tribe. I mean Armand Assante, really?
So as Halloween approaches, I'll try to throw out some largely unseen horror films to add to the scares. 'Prophecy' is a good example of a slick monster movie, very well done by talented people in front of and behind the camera. It's not great but is more entertaining than it has any right to be. 7/10.
This is a big budget B-movie that is expertly made. Director John Frankenheimer, always a professional, handles the material perfectly. The actors act their asses off and Leonard Rosenman's score is so intense that it is instrumental in creating much of the tension. There is some really smart writing and great scenes: a sequence where a family is killed in the forest is unexpected and shocking; an exposition scene involving a tape recorder is clever in its efficiency; some nice setups involving the wife being pregnant that are paid off nicely. Just watch all the cinematic tricks on display as a group of characters are hiding underground after a brutal attack. Not something you would get in a lesser film.
A main source of criticism seems to be the monster itself. Created by The Burman's Studio who did the effects for such classics as 'Planet of the Apes' and 'Star Kid.' The monster is a bit goofy but is mostly shot to hide that fact and is pretty effective. The parts where it's clearly a guy in a suit are silly to be fair, even though the creature is played by Kevin Peter Hall who would go on to be a different Predator a few years later. The monster in 'Prophecy' is fun and certainly not the worst ever committed to film. Another problem is the casting of non-Native American actors to play members of the Indian tribe. I mean Armand Assante, really?
So as Halloween approaches, I'll try to throw out some largely unseen horror films to add to the scares. 'Prophecy' is a good example of a slick monster movie, very well done by talented people in front of and behind the camera. It's not great but is more entertaining than it has any right to be. 7/10.
Dark Glasses
(2022)
Dark Glasses (2022)
27 December 2022
'Dark Glasses' is the latest project from legendary filmmaker Dario Argento that showed up as a Shudder original with little to no fanfare. The 82 year old director is best known for the films he made from 1970 into the late 80's and for helping to popularize the Italian genre of the "giallo" thriller. His fame mostly comes from his extremely inventive choices and daring camera work. Very much an artist who valued style over substance, he made some great movies ('Suspiria,' Deep Red'), some bad ('Inferno,' 'Mother of Tears') and a few truely bizarre ones ('Phenomena'). After 1987's 'Opera' many argue that his career went downhill fast. It's true that going into the 90's the quality of his output greatly decreases. There are a couple of projects that aren't terrible ('The Stendhal Syndrome,' 'Trauma') but that's about it.
'Dark Glasses,' his first movie in ten years, does mean that his last film won't end up being 'Dracula' - which was pathetic and embarrassing on every single level. That's the good news, however his latest is hardly a spectacular comeback. The story is very "giallo-esque" in nature featuring a mysterious killer who targets prostitutes. Our main character Diana (Ilenia Pastorelli), a lady of the night, crosses paths with said killer resulting in a car accident that takes her eyesight. It also results in an unlikely friendship with a young boy named Chin (Andrea Zhang). She is also helped during her recovery process by a professional blind person therapist (?) played by Asia Argento. So the scene is set for a 'Wait Until Dark' type thriller as the maniac remembers that he wants to kill her and then kind of tries to do that sometimes..
The film isn't really concerned with the mystery aspect of the story, it only gives you one red herring so it's pretty easy to figure out who the killer is. Much of the run time is dedicated to Diana's relationship with Chin, creating a certain amount of heart that's usually absent in this type of film. It's kind of touching in spots although mostly forgotten as everybody starts running away from the murderer because they don't want to get murdered. Once the movie settles into the thriller aspects it loses steam, becoming pretty routine. There are some trademark lapses in logic as well, like why the killer doesn't try try to finish the job during Diana's weeks (or months, possibly years?) of rehabilitation where she's vulnerable and alone much of the time, only striking when there's lots of police officers hanging around.
Some of the positives: The performances are pretty good, they use practical effects instead of CGI for most of gags and the musical score captures past Goblin vibes fairly well. The main problem with 'Dark Glasses' is that it's so average. There are some Argento touches like the tracking shot along a wall lit by primary colors panning down to actors running down an ally, or a brief shot from a dog's point of view but there's nothing much here to remind us of the great talent behind the camera. It's good to see him back with this, as well as his recent lead performance in Gasper Noe's 'Vortex.' Hopefully we're experiencing a late career renaissance for Argento, I also hope his next picture is a true return to form. 5/10.
'Dark Glasses,' his first movie in ten years, does mean that his last film won't end up being 'Dracula' - which was pathetic and embarrassing on every single level. That's the good news, however his latest is hardly a spectacular comeback. The story is very "giallo-esque" in nature featuring a mysterious killer who targets prostitutes. Our main character Diana (Ilenia Pastorelli), a lady of the night, crosses paths with said killer resulting in a car accident that takes her eyesight. It also results in an unlikely friendship with a young boy named Chin (Andrea Zhang). She is also helped during her recovery process by a professional blind person therapist (?) played by Asia Argento. So the scene is set for a 'Wait Until Dark' type thriller as the maniac remembers that he wants to kill her and then kind of tries to do that sometimes..
The film isn't really concerned with the mystery aspect of the story, it only gives you one red herring so it's pretty easy to figure out who the killer is. Much of the run time is dedicated to Diana's relationship with Chin, creating a certain amount of heart that's usually absent in this type of film. It's kind of touching in spots although mostly forgotten as everybody starts running away from the murderer because they don't want to get murdered. Once the movie settles into the thriller aspects it loses steam, becoming pretty routine. There are some trademark lapses in logic as well, like why the killer doesn't try try to finish the job during Diana's weeks (or months, possibly years?) of rehabilitation where she's vulnerable and alone much of the time, only striking when there's lots of police officers hanging around.
Some of the positives: The performances are pretty good, they use practical effects instead of CGI for most of gags and the musical score captures past Goblin vibes fairly well. The main problem with 'Dark Glasses' is that it's so average. There are some Argento touches like the tracking shot along a wall lit by primary colors panning down to actors running down an ally, or a brief shot from a dog's point of view but there's nothing much here to remind us of the great talent behind the camera. It's good to see him back with this, as well as his recent lead performance in Gasper Noe's 'Vortex.' Hopefully we're experiencing a late career renaissance for Argento, I also hope his next picture is a true return to form. 5/10.
Barbarian
(2022)
Barbarian (2022)
26 December 2022
I'm going to guess that one day the most unpredictable thing that a movie could do would be to do the predictable thing that everyone was expecting? Which brings me to the newest "horror sensation," this year's 'Barbarian.' Although most of those claims seem to be from social media posts posted by the studio that released the film. 'Barbarian' doesn't even have that many twists and turns really. There's some pretty clever misdirection early on but sudden changes in the narration seem to be what people are singling out.
The whole story focuses around a single house in an area of Detroit so decimated that it resembles a war zone. How this house would ever get rented in the age of internet reviews is truely the greatest mystery in 'Barbarian.' But get rented it does as Tess (Georgina Campbell) knocks on the door of said house that she has reserved only to be greeted by Keith, played by Bill Skarsgard. He invites her in so they can sort out the mix-up. It's this first part of the story that is the most interesting and well acted, setting the stage for a solid thriller until everybody goes to the creepy basement and the story settles into a standard horror movie formula.
But, before that happens, we get the perspective change to a television director (Justin Long) who has been credibly accused of sexual assualt and has lost his job. He owns the house in the war zone and goes there for reasons? There is no record of anyone renting the property, so while snooping around stumbles into the same terrifying secret. It's at this point where the movie descends into jump scares in dark hallways. It's also the least interesting of the "vignettes" on display. Justin Long is supposed to playing an an unpleasant character but he is so unlikable that I would guess that some of that is from who he is as a person.
Then we get a flashback to the person who created the terrifying secret to begin with. 'Barbarian' jumps around, shifting characters and time periods before the story ends up back in the basement to set up the conclusion. It's here that the movie somewhat gives up on building tension and goes into full schlock territory. Unlike 'The Neon Demon,' 'Audition' or 'Malignant' which head into gloriously shocking territory during the third act, 'Barbarian' gets pretty silly. This includes characters climbing to the top of a tall building and other various story cliches that deflate some of the creepy elements the movie had going for it.
That's the thing about 'Barbarian,' it's doesn't really push any boundaries and delivers few memorable moments. The filmmakers do rely on more than jump scares and there are some nice practical effects but it fails to really impact the viewer or leave much of an impression. It's a well made, entertaining entry into the horror genre and I would say to check it out if you're into those middle of the road scares. Just don't expect any nightmares. 6.5/10.
The whole story focuses around a single house in an area of Detroit so decimated that it resembles a war zone. How this house would ever get rented in the age of internet reviews is truely the greatest mystery in 'Barbarian.' But get rented it does as Tess (Georgina Campbell) knocks on the door of said house that she has reserved only to be greeted by Keith, played by Bill Skarsgard. He invites her in so they can sort out the mix-up. It's this first part of the story that is the most interesting and well acted, setting the stage for a solid thriller until everybody goes to the creepy basement and the story settles into a standard horror movie formula.
But, before that happens, we get the perspective change to a television director (Justin Long) who has been credibly accused of sexual assualt and has lost his job. He owns the house in the war zone and goes there for reasons? There is no record of anyone renting the property, so while snooping around stumbles into the same terrifying secret. It's at this point where the movie descends into jump scares in dark hallways. It's also the least interesting of the "vignettes" on display. Justin Long is supposed to playing an an unpleasant character but he is so unlikable that I would guess that some of that is from who he is as a person.
Then we get a flashback to the person who created the terrifying secret to begin with. 'Barbarian' jumps around, shifting characters and time periods before the story ends up back in the basement to set up the conclusion. It's here that the movie somewhat gives up on building tension and goes into full schlock territory. Unlike 'The Neon Demon,' 'Audition' or 'Malignant' which head into gloriously shocking territory during the third act, 'Barbarian' gets pretty silly. This includes characters climbing to the top of a tall building and other various story cliches that deflate some of the creepy elements the movie had going for it.
That's the thing about 'Barbarian,' it's doesn't really push any boundaries and delivers few memorable moments. The filmmakers do rely on more than jump scares and there are some nice practical effects but it fails to really impact the viewer or leave much of an impression. It's a well made, entertaining entry into the horror genre and I would say to check it out if you're into those middle of the road scares. Just don't expect any nightmares. 6.5/10.
Crimes of the Future
(2022)
Crimes of the Future (2022)
20 December 2022
Of all the films I've seen this year, it's the one that kind of fell through the cracks that has been on my mind. 'Crimes of the Future' is the latest from David Cronenberg which I didn't really connect with when I first saw it in the theater. As time goes on, it has been the film I've been ruminating on the most.
There is something about the way Cronenberg explores, in this case, the way technology is currently and in the future will continue to change the way we function as human beings that is inherently fascinating. Our genetic and organic physical structure modified in nightmarish ways; what we consume; how we fornicate and how we die. With 'Crimes of the Future' he combines this with the transformative disease motif that he has utilized before (most notably in 'The Fly') along with his concepts of the beautiful mutations that occur within the human body ('Dead Ringers'). Add some ritualistic physiological modification through violence ('Crash') and the adaptive sexual fetishism that is present in all his work, to complete the mixture.
In many ways 'Crimes of the Future' is the spiritual cousin to 'Existenz,' both films share many of the same bold concepts of sentient machinery joining human flesh to birth some kind of new evolutionary creation. They also share many of the same flaws but David Cronenberg is such a craftsman that it is easy to take him for granted. 'Crimes of the Future' may falter in the world building and the story is unfocused. There is a whole murder mystery plot that I'm not sure is even resolved and the ending is abrupt. That said, it is hard to argue that his influence has not been felt, with recent films like 'Titane' directed by Julia Ducournau and his own son Brandon's 'Possessor' excellent examples of entries into the "body horror" genre.
I wouldn't say 'Crimes of the Future' is the best movie of the year and it's doubtful that it will receive much awards love. To be fair, the story functions best if you've never seen a Cronenberg film before, so steeped in his themes as it is. However, the film remains deeply thought provoking and will hopefully prompt a new generation of younger viewers to a discover the rich body of work by a distinctive and important cinematic voice. 7/10.
There is something about the way Cronenberg explores, in this case, the way technology is currently and in the future will continue to change the way we function as human beings that is inherently fascinating. Our genetic and organic physical structure modified in nightmarish ways; what we consume; how we fornicate and how we die. With 'Crimes of the Future' he combines this with the transformative disease motif that he has utilized before (most notably in 'The Fly') along with his concepts of the beautiful mutations that occur within the human body ('Dead Ringers'). Add some ritualistic physiological modification through violence ('Crash') and the adaptive sexual fetishism that is present in all his work, to complete the mixture.
In many ways 'Crimes of the Future' is the spiritual cousin to 'Existenz,' both films share many of the same bold concepts of sentient machinery joining human flesh to birth some kind of new evolutionary creation. They also share many of the same flaws but David Cronenberg is such a craftsman that it is easy to take him for granted. 'Crimes of the Future' may falter in the world building and the story is unfocused. There is a whole murder mystery plot that I'm not sure is even resolved and the ending is abrupt. That said, it is hard to argue that his influence has not been felt, with recent films like 'Titane' directed by Julia Ducournau and his own son Brandon's 'Possessor' excellent examples of entries into the "body horror" genre.
I wouldn't say 'Crimes of the Future' is the best movie of the year and it's doubtful that it will receive much awards love. To be fair, the story functions best if you've never seen a Cronenberg film before, so steeped in his themes as it is. However, the film remains deeply thought provoking and will hopefully prompt a new generation of younger viewers to a discover the rich body of work by a distinctive and important cinematic voice. 7/10.
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