Thursday 7 July 2016

Thursday Movie Picks: Single Location Movies


There are more films with stand alone locations than I realised. Most are adapted from plays but there are a few like Reservoir Dogs, that are original. I didn't pick the Tarantino classic, not this time, that is saved for another theme.

Don't forget to check out what Wandering Through the Shelves picked, the blog that started Thursday Movie Picks.


Exam
I'm not sure where this movie went outside the UK but I remember way back when I saw a trailer and footage for it at Movie-Con at the BFI (amazing event by the way). It seemed like it was going to be huge but turned into a dark indie that had a short release. Set in an alternative present where half the population is infected with a desease, 8 candidates are placed in a room under the impression this part of a job interview process for a company that has found a cure. But it turns into a psychological test and it's really good. The poster was misleading as was the trailer but the actual shows you can do so much with very little.

Lifeboat
One of my favourite Hitchcock films and also happens to be one a few films by the Master of Suspense that is set in one location. Several British and American civilians, service members and merchant Mariners are left stranded in a lifeboat after their ship and a U-boat sink each other in combat. The group pull a German survivor from the water and they have decide what to do. There are power shifts, suspenseful moments and murder all on one lifeboat in the ocean. The cast are brilliant and keep you involved the whole way through.

The Hole
Looking at this film now, it seems like a really random cast thrown together and literally thrown in a hole. But back in 2001, it wouldn't seem odd to see Thora Birch along side Keira Knightly and Lawrence Fox. But Desmond Harrington is an odd pick anyway. This is another physiological thriller with conflicting stories. Teenagers (not believable) at a boarding school decide to have fun by skipping a school field trip and spending time in a bunker in the woods BUT when they are locked in no one is having fun. Pretty good for its time but now it's maybe not so.