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Reviews
Witchfinder General (1968)
inaccurate but still particularly unpleasent
I came across this film mostly by accident, at the age of 12 I was looking up some historical information about long melford when out of the blue I came across a simple nondescript YouTube video entitled "witchfinder general locations then and now". With the benefit of hindsight it's probably just as well that I didn't know anything about it but after finally watching it a couple of years later I can totally see why my grandmother had told me that it was just plain "nasty", although the plot is mostly realistic there are a couple of things that don't seem to make any sense, in real life john Stearne was just one of many associates used by Hopkins whereas in the film he is given unofficial status as his right hand man. Hopkins himself was also 25 at the time of his muderous activities and unlike the gory death he receives in the film's climax he died of TB after retiring to his farm in essex, on top of this john Lowes never had a niece and to the best of my knowledge it wasn't customary for stake victims to be tied to ladders (god only knows where michael reeves got that idea from!). Aside from these little inaccuracies the film is quite well written and one can really feel horrified and angered by the way in which hopkins and stearne treat their victims, the ending where sara is brutally tortured is particularly distressing and unlike many contemporary films there seems to be a good deal of screaming (even from stearne when he tries to remove a bullet) which is enough to make even the most bravest filmgoer quake in their boots. Vincent price is suburb as hopkins and without question this has to be one of his finest performances (although he later commented that he hated working on the film thanks to his poor relationship with reeves), ian oglivy isn't too bad as the revengeful Richard Marshall but Hillary Dwyer who plays Sara seems to suffer from a poorly written role it is little wonder that she gave acting a couple of years later. The visuals are particularly memorable and as the film was shot in Suffolk and Norfolk this gives it a little bit of context (although lavenham has never had a castle!) it's also interesting to see rushford church and college which are both victorian restorations ! All in all the film is particularly well made although do be warned it is pretty unpleasant (especially at the beginning and end!)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
a gory bloodbath
Although I can't say i'm a great fan of sondheim's "penny dreadful " based musical I do like the music and when you get into it the story isn't too bad either, however for a very long time I had an almost irrational aversion to the show and in hindsight it was probably caused by me watching this gruesome film when I was only 12!. In the musical we never actually see todd murder his victims (it is simply hinted and all the audience can see is a red stage light and a piercing whistle!) where as in this version nothing is left to the imagination every murder, fight and maiming is depicted in blood thirsty detail!, indeed I still can't bring myself to watch the scene at the end where todd pushes Helena Bonham carter into her own pie oven!. Aside from all the blood and gore the rest of the film is pretty unremarkable, Helena Bonham carter can't sing for toffee and whilst Johnny Depp is excellent as Todd. He seems to lack the depth and soul that the character had in the original show (it also doesn't help that his costume looks too flamboyant for someone who had only just returned from transportation!). As with everything else in the film the visuals are thoroughly moody and at times it seems like everything has been filmed during the space of a winter afternoon, the only time any natural sunlight features is during the "miracle elixir " song (which is probably one of the few things that the film did better then the show). All In all it's an accurate adaptation of a Sondheim classic but unless you enjoy "slasher " style horror films I really wouldn't recommend it, instead you're better off seeing the show properly whenever it happens to be on it's more wholesome and also there's no gory death scenes!
Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977)
the 2nd best in the series after the love bug
As a child I always had a fascination with the Herbie series and whilst this may not have the same production standards of the love bug it is miles better compared to the disastrous Herbie rides again and the equally terrible Herbie goes bananas (which was also coincidentally directed by the man who made this film Vincent mc eveety), the plot mostly revolves around the fictional "trans France race" as well as a stolen diamond and a lancia monte carlo ( driven by the sometimes miserable Diane Darcy) who later becomes Herbie's love interest. Compared to many other films of the era the writing seems to hold up well although at times it does feel like a cliched "pink panther" style detective film. (especially given that. Jacques marin not only looks like clouseau but also seems to share some of his mannerisms), dean jones is excellent as ever in reprising his role as jim douglas and the two thieves (played by Roy Kinnear and Bernard fox) are equally brilliant. The same however cannot be said for the dimwitted.willie Applegate (played by the somewhat sexist don Knotts) and. Julie Sommars who plays Diane, she spends a good portion of the film either shouting at dean jones or throwing hotel china at him and whilst it's good that Disney introduced a strong wiled female character her acting seems a little over the top even for modern audiences. The visuals however make up for this and the opening sequence is probably one of the most memorable in any film showing off the scenery of France at it's best although for some reason (probably logistical reasons) the mountain scenes where filmed in California, all in all the film is not quite as good as the love bug but compared to it's immediate predecessor and successors it seems to hold it's own reasonably well it's just a shame that it wasn't the last in the series.
Onward (2020)
not one of pixar's best entries
I'm not quite sure exactly what has happened to pixar in recent years but this film certainly seems to sum up everything that it is wrong with the Current spate of development, although there where some particularly emotional moments in the older films (such as ellie's death in up and jessie's abandonment in toy story 2) these where always offset by some comedic moments to help balance out the story and more importantly to keep people interested. Unfortunately this film doesn't really seem to have any of this energy at all the writing is pretty mediocre and at times it feels like a cheap parody of harry potter ( even down to the jokes on levitation spells), on top of this story the story seems too serious for a family orientated film and part of it was supposedly inspired by the director's own experiences (having lost his father at a young age in a car crash). All in all this is not one of pixar's greatest films and quite frankly it makes a mockery of the whole franchise.
Holes (2003)
boring and nonsensical
For reasons known only to my teacher at the time my English class had to read louis schar's novel and It therefore seemed inevitable that we would eventually get round to watching this particularly odd film, ten years on I seem to recall not liking the book and with the benefit of hindsight the film didn't really seem to live to expectation either. It is basically a complete adaptation of the novel but in an attempt to try and tone down it's already depressing plot Stanley yelnuts is changed from being an overweight teenager to someone who evidently suffers from a complete lack of confidence, the same is also true with the flashback western scenes and having studied the civil rights movement at GCSE level there seems to be a significant lack of context and it seems pretty obvious that there is more to Sam's murder then just the simple "kiss " that he shares with Patricia arquette. Seeing that schar was also responsible for the film's writing the script is effectively a transition of the novel's dialogue which results in it being slow moving, uninspiring and downright boring not helped by the peppering of childish jokes and slang, despite this Sigourney weaver is excellent as the female "warden" but Jon Vought just seems like another " boss hog" type character who clearly milked the stereotypical "texan " image for all it's worth. The visuals are somewhat dusty but the western scenes are especially good despite the fact that there is no proper date for when these are supposed to be set (1870s-1890s I would guess?), significantly there also seems to be no explanation for why the town of green lake declined but I would hazard a guess that it was something to do with the end of the "wild west " in the late 1880s. All in all the film is nothing short of dull but if anyone has enjoyed reading the novel (or at least sitting through it!) this might be what you are after but don't go expecting anything remarkable.
Victor Frankenstein (2015)
a poor man's sherlock holmes
I had the misfortune of watching this monstrosity in a school English lesson some seven years ago and even now it still ranks as one of the worst films I have ever seen, the plot itself is a Victorian reimagining of Mary Shelley's novel but perhaps rather concerningly it seems to have stolen some element's from guy Ritchie's acclaimed sherlock Holmes series (right down to the use of deduction type animation!). The script is pretty mediocre and this is not helped by Andrew Scott's dry, monotone delivery I actually spent most of my time trying to work out if he was actually bored or just couldn't be bothered to put any effort into. His poorly written role, despite this both James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe are pretty good but even they can't save this film from being nothing short of a "car crash". Seeing that I saw this via a dodgy YouTube clip (thankfully long since taken down!) I can't really comment on the film's visual aspects but from memory it looked like someone had dulled the picture in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid copyright fraud, what I did see did actually look pretty half decent compared to the the film's other failings. All in all this makes a complete mockery of both guy Ritchie and the true adaptations that have been made in the past,such a pity that someone even had the audacity to even consider making it!.
The Yellow Teddy Bears (1963)
a good portrait of it's time
Due to the fact that I live in the same town where the swimming pool scenes where shot I decided to watch this having read about it in several local histories, due to it's controversial subject matter the film was given an X rating which resulted in many of the local extras (some no older then the main characters ) being unable to see it until the local council helpfully acquired a video copy in the mid 1990s. Although the film itself is somewhat dated in terms of it's moral ethics it is never the less a great period piece and shows just how much things have changed in only 60 years!, it is also very good at creating hateable villains and this is especially true of victor brook's straight-laced "George Donohue" ( I actually spent the whole film wondering what his comeuppance would be for disowning his daughter and being downright horrible!).the writing is typical of the period but unlike many other "kitchen sink" dramas it still seems to have held up well despite the fact that the girls sound too posh to be from a new town grammar school!.
Father Brown: The Hammer of God (1974)
far superior to the mark Williams series
Having watched several episodes of the poorly scripted BBC adaptation It's really good to find a version that it is actually set during the period in which GK Chesterton wrote the stories ( rather then then a unrealistic 1950s village!), this alone makes me think that the current writers evidently cut corners whilst making their series!. Kenneth more is excellent as brown and it's also interesting to see a young Alun Armstrong playing the role of the local " village idiot" I didn't actually recognise him until I read the cast list!, this might not have the same production standards of the BBC version but from both a scriptwriting and accuracy point of view it certainly holds up better thanks to the dedication of the writers, all in all this knocks the current series into a cocked hat and I look forward to watching more in the near future.