Alpha - BFI London Film Festival

 

We had all been waiting with bated breath to see what Julie Ducournau would create next. Beginning with her cannibalistic Raw and her unhinged Titane, her next film took a slightly different turn. Alpha is, like Ducournau’s previous films, a blend of genres. The body horror elements are truly disturbing, the coming of age and exploration of unbreakable bonds are blended into this relentless drama, as that is what the film is at its core, a drama.

When 13-year-old Alpha returns home after a party with a tattoo on her arm, her mother, a doctor becomes concerned that she may have contracted a blood born virus where its victims gradually turn to marble.

It has already been widely discussed that the virus in Alpha is reminiscent of the AIDS crisis and it is in no way subtle. From the cracked dust laid ground to the disturbing sandstorms that rage in the finale, there are meanings layered into this story. There are three key performances, with each relationship explored, sometimes even just through a devasting emotional scene where two characters embrace and breakdown crying, or through flashbacks which provide greater context and a better insight. There is the bond between brother and sister, one trying to desperately save the other, the strained relationship of a mother and daughter and the confusingly laid out story between uncle and niece. These isolated pairings, are harrowing and filled with pain and yes, to a point love. Each of the three leads are outstanding, packing in the emotional punches. But as a whole, the film crumbles with confusion and lack of understanding what we’re meant to be grasping at.

To call this a film a body horror cheapens the entire film, but to focus on the tragic elements would be the better focus and fairer way to describe it. Those suffering from the virus and seeing those care for loved ones without being able to do anything is as devasting as any other story featuring a horrific incurable disease. But while we watch Maman try to save Uncle Amin over and over, the film starts to slip past into stagnated territory. Thankfully the scenes with Alpha dealing with school, whether it’s the prejudice about her bleeding tattoo or her and her classmate sneaking away to make out in the toilets, the film takes a break from the confusing timeline Ducournau has created.

Though the emotional and devasting moments are the ones that stick with you, as well as the sight of someone’s crumbling back breaking, Alpha is feels like a very tone and overarching subject that Ducournau’s previous. Don’t go in expecting anything her previous films as you may be disappointed.

The Substance

 

There is so much to absolutely love and admire about The Substance, as well get frustrated over and grumble about. The general consensus with the film seems to be that is it gloriously bloody, disgusting for sure yet the narrative is questionable. But the praise for the performances for both Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley is consistent, they are superb. Having won the Best Screenplay at Cannes 2024 and the intriguing teaser making the rounds, there was a buzz around the film and expectation on how this body horror would shape up. 

When Elizabeth Sparkle, award winning actress and decades long host of an aerobics show, is fired on her 50th birthday, she makes a drastic desperate decision. She is offered a black-market drug, the Substance, which produces a younger, more attractive version of herself, thus giving her another shot at holding the spotlight. But after her alternative self takes advantage of the strict rules, resulting in devastating non changeable effects to her original body, things go from bad to monstrous. 

Going by director Coralie Fargeat’s first feature, Revenge, you are right to expect enough blood spilt that the entire set will be painted red. Where Revenge was literally what it said on the poster, The Substance is more up for debate and there are far more questions to be answered throughout the film, as well as not all of them being answered. This strange bizarre satirical body horror (with some science fiction thrown in) boasts a fascinating concept but with a 2-hour 20-minute run time, there is far too much indulgence gore and crotch shots with less focus on the narrative. 

Shooting from disorientating angles, making use of the long corridor at the studio and the choice of close ups to really express the most disgusting moments, made for an intriguing film. All coupled with the concept of the drug and the complicated rules. A stand out scene in the film is most avidly the birthing of Sue, Elizabeth’s younger version. The ripping of skin and extracting of fluids, the film became a visceral treat for the eyes even before any large amounts of blood was spilled. With a large focus on the characters’ bodies, their stark pale skin against the white titled floors was especially pleasing, design wise, to view on screen. As the film progresses though, so does the body gore, particularly the end section. But all this blood and disturbing images hold a purpose, the themes at the heart of the film, image and beauty. Though Elizabeth Sparkle is still beautiful, her image is outdated and considered too old to even be considered for a revamp of the show. Enter Sue, young, beautiful, wears that pink one piece with ease and is able to pelvic thrust throughout the show without batting an eye. Though we get to see, quite obviously its about beauty standards and how women are treated but at the core of the film is Elizabeth and how she views herself. At one point, after the effects of the drug have take its toll on her, she stops referring to Sue as someone else as she has throughout the story. She finally admits out loud that she hates herself, which may explain her finally grotesque form. There could have been a deeper dive into her psyche but there is only a strange acceptance of herself, eventually, but one that is met with a reaction you see coming a mile off. 

Both Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley do give fantastic performances, the former especially during her French cooking phase in the film. Fargeat’s idea is in danger of being better than the execution, but there is more merit the film than there is to be disgusted by.

Love Lies Bleeding

 

Love stories can appear in any genre and love coupled with revenge makes for one passionate bloodbath. Director (and co-writer) Rose Glass’ much anticipated follow up to religious horror Saint Maud (2019) has had audiences all geared up for what set to be a hot, sexually charged, bloody chaotic story. Glass absolutely delivered on the promise all the trailers and posters had set up. 

When small town gym manager Lou meets body builder drifter Jackie, there are immediate sparks. But after one violent incident threatens to tear the two apart, they are set on a path of chaotic revenge, each doing anything they can to protect the other.

Full review over at Filmhounds.

New Life - Fantasia Film Festival

 

With every story about a contagious disease, there’s a survivor and a pursuer. You can expect the story to one of two ways and neither has a pretty end. New Life literally breathes fresh air into this familiar set up. With a solid cast and decent central characters, there is something intriguing and terrifying to be absorbed by. Yet, the film can’t shake off its own confinements. With such a potentially big story, the film feels contained despite there being multiple locations with both main characters on the move. 

A young woman, Jessica, escapes a mysterious facility and goes on the run. Determined to get as far away as possible from those who held her captive, she meets kind strangers who help her along the way. Meanwhile, an agent, dealing with her own issues, is assigned to bring Jessica in at all costs. But as times ticks by, the stakes of the pursuit take several dark turns with devastating consequences.

Full review over at Filmhounds. 

Blackout - Fantasia Film Festival

 

We’re no strangers to the supernatural in film and we have all definitely been exposed to a typical creature feature. Trying to find a fresh new angle on a subject that has been made countless times before is a difficult task but writer, director and producer Larry Fessenden has possibly found a way to do so by way of a character study and dark self-discovery in Blackout.

Full review over at Filmhounds HERE

Infinity Pool

 
While on holiday in the fictional country Li Tolqa, struggling writer James and his wife Em befriend another couple, Gabi and Albin. On an excursion outside the strict designated tourist area, there is an accident involving a local. This sets off a series of questionable actions and events, with James left to cope with his what he has done and witnessed.

Full review over at Filmhounds HERE.

Titane - The F Word

 

Julia Ducournau’s latest film is hybrid of a story, meshed together with blood, sweat and oil. Dragging you into the depths of a truly disturbed mind and making you watch as everything descends into chaos around her. And what an experience it is. Shrouded in mystery before being revealed at Cannes, the entire plot has been a well-kept secret and for good reason. It’s very rare to not know and be able to find out exactly what happens in a film these days so when the opportunity to disguise the actual plot, even in the trailers, that is sign that this film needs to be seen how it was meant to, on the big screen.

Full review over at The F Word HERE.

Titane - BFI London Film Festival

 

One the films that is guaranteed to shock you at more than one moment, this is the film that dares to go the whole nine yards without breaking a sweat. Made up of several parts, horror, thriller even fantasy if you can call sex with a car fantastical, the film and its creator Julia Ducournau knows no bounds. 

 

Full review over at Filmhounds HERE.

Anything For Jackson

With hints of Rosemary’s Baby mixed into this gory tale of grief and obsession, Justin G. Dyck’s Anything For Jackson really does get under your skin and stays there even after the bone chilling end.

 

Mourning the tragic death of their grandson, Satanic couple Audrey and Henry, kidnap a pregnant woman in order to use her baby to bring their grandson back. Using an ancient book and reciting a ritual they don’t quite understand, they invite more than Jackson’s spirit into their home.

 

Having made quite an impression at the latter end of last year, Anything for Jackson is something of an oddity as well as any horror film aficionado’s dream. Packing into the film several terrifying moments, twists and turns, the sweetest Satan worshiping couple you’ll ever see and of the most architectural marvels of a house. As the bare bones of the plot is easy to add on to Dyck is able to add more into scenes and the main characters. Beginning with a calm and distressing hoping, which is given context through a flashback later on in the film, the story unfolds in a peculiar way, creating tension and curiosity. This is thanks mostly to our protagonists, Audrey and Henry. They are in a Satanic cult but are also a friendly doctor and devoted grandmother. They are the least suspecting couple to kidnap and perform dangerous and evil filled rituals on, but grief does take us to dark and desperate places. Despite the heinous acts Audrey and Henry commit, they remain themselves, never over dramatic, never cruel. Treating their captive with as much dignity as they can without letting her get away. The bumbling behaviour of people their age is also brilliantly observed and manages to stay authentic amongst the ghosts and Satanic church gatherings. 

 

Strangely enough, director Justin G. Dyck’s background has been in making cheerful, frothy ‘holiday’ films, but they have prepared him for his transition to the dark depths of horror, keeping the family element alive here. With familiar genre tropes used, the injections of dark comedy seep through the crack and a make a clever relief from the gore and blood we’re inflicted with. The best moments and scenes in the film belong to Shelia McCarthy and Julian Richings as the central couple. Their chemistry and charm are what makes this horror an utter delight to watch which you can’t say for any other film in this genre out there. The surprises thrown out throughout the film, including the bloody end, are ones we’ll hopefully see in more ‘traditional’ horror films, just to keep things fresh.

The Beach House

As with all things, they must evolve, especially in film when a genre becomes predictable and over used with the same old elements appearing in each film. The horror genre, over the last decade has branched out, taking in new material, influences and merging with other genres. Science fiction is the companion to horror, fear of the known and unknown go hand in hand creating numerous opportunities to get creative and that exactly what writer and director Jeffrey A. Brown has done.

 

Young couple Emily and Randal, escape to a beach house, for a romantic weekend but are surprised to find Mitch & Jane, friends of Randal’s father also taking advantage of the picturesque setting. The four guests have dinner together and later decide to partake in some edibles. With effects of the drugs and the strange mist in the air, things take a dark turn. Things are not what they seem in the morning. With the mist returning and the beach house becoming a more hostile environment, a weekend by the sea maybe wasn’t such a great idea.

As far as an ominous presence goes, the ocean looks and feels like an idyllic view but as the film progresses, this shimmering inviting blue mass is a deadly trap. With the mist appearing slowly each time the situation changes for the characters, the impending doom is that much more terrifying. A remote location, beautiful view and intruders unknown all screams; horror story. But the weird blue lights, the strange mist and etherical and dusky colour palette, says, science fiction. A clever and twisting feeling as body horror elements creep into the narrative, involving a knife and foot, you know what you’re going to see next but you’re never fully sure what’s going to appear.

As a slow paced at first thriller, then morphs into the spectacle by the end, there are some horror fans out there who will want the pace to quicken. Leaving too much room for situations to linger, patience is needed for a film like this which doesn’t really get moving until nearly an hour in, which is quite a bit to ask when it’s a 90-minute film. The build-up to the climax of the film can be forgiven for being exposition but when this doesn’t really matter, its shame the story does lose momentum.

 

A welcome addition to a genre just beginning to make traction, ‘The Beach House’ could definitely be the low-key companion to ‘Color Out of Space’, especially with the somewhat Lovecraft-esque setting and bizarre nature of the whole film. They’ll be more stories like this to tell, let’s just hope the elements that make up this genre don’t go stale.

The Beach House is now available on Shudder.

 

Birth of a New Genre

There seems to be a new breed of film out there, or maybe its always been there, we just haven’t tapped into its potential yet, that’s a bridge between grindhouse, dark matter science fiction and old school horror, but somewhere in between it all, there Nicolas Cage.

Adapted from and based loosely on the story by H.P Lovecraft, the colour or color that is from out of space is something that lands on earth in the shape or appearance of a meteorite, landing smack bang in the middle of a forest which also happens to be the front garden of the Gardener family. Not long after this, colour appears, strange things begin to happen, which soon turn to grotesque and as its Cage here, highly amusing. In the midst of all the hell the family are experiencing, a hydrologist is in the local area surveying the land for a reservoir that has been planned by the local politicians. He serves as the narrator, book ending this very odd story and film. Never providing clarity but even more mystery. 

There is no doubt that the audience who saw ‘Mandy’ will be flocking to this offering from Richard Stanley. Especially the two films not only share style and genres, in some ways, but they also share Cage. He isn’t quite the glue that holds the film together, that burden is given to Madeleine Arthur who plays his daughter, Lavinia. But Cage has a presence that not many actors have. He is both fantastic and abysmal at the same time. You can’t help but hang on his every line as they are be weird, profound and incredibly funny. This may be the writing but as it feels like a role made for Cage, its mostly him and his charisma. Cage really does go all the way, complete with several moments of insanity and screaming while hitting things. But the extra special zest in his performance is his random Trump impression that serves in the story as an impression of his character’s father. 

Moving away from Cage, the film itself is gory and disgusting in all the right places. For an alien horror film it serves up the right amount of each genre to keep you entranced, literally as the colours, are beautiful. Having the main antagonist as a colour is difficult in itself but you really do feel the pain, terror an dread and that even before the body horror elements kick in. There is sense of ‘why’ but ultimately it doesn’t matter. The story, as it unfolds, is a slow burn which you appreciate over the films that feel the need to rush to climax. Hopefully we’ll see more of this obscure genre hybrid in other films, and hopefully more Cage too for good measure. 

Sorry to Bother You - London Film Festival

Satirical comedic gem about the oppressed lives of those living in the USA. Trust me on this one, its funny as well as through provoking and disturbing, well at least the last bit is.

 Previously published at Vulturehound HERE.

Ever wondered what would happen if you could change your voice to be more appealing to those on the other end of the phone? That is just one element to Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You, the Sundance hit. A comedy that poses questions about the state of living, what art can be AND what a ‘white voice’ sounds like.

 
Cassius Green lives in his uncle’s garage with his experimental/performance artist girlfriend Detroit. He takes a basic job in telemarketing selling encyclopaedias and struggles to make any commission. He openly questions the meaning of life and how the sun will one day explode but he also really just needs to make money. He’s given a tip by his co-worker, if he wants to make any money at his job, he needs to use his ‘white voice’. He soon becomes a top seller and in the midst of a strike is promoted to be ‘Power Caller’. This opens up a whole new world for him but at the cost of his friendships, girlfriend, morals and dignity. But there is something even more disturbing and shady behind the corrupt company that sells slavery as life long contracts.

 
As part of the ‘LAUGH’ strand at the London Film Festival, it is of course a comedy first and foremost BUT it hangs on the edge of social and body horror. The latter genre may only be those who is adverse to seeing such films. But through it all, Riley is commentating on social issues, ridiculing and some exaggerations, all for comedic purposes. But for every joke, realism creeps through, making parts of the story all too real. There are so many comments on life in America right now and maybe even the future that at times, its difficult to catch up to what we should be paying attention to. Detroit’s gallery of wooden pieces of art representing Africa and her performance where she dons her own ‘white voice’ while she asks audience members to through bullets and blood at her is bizarre. Or the Power Caller offices and set up, to the ridiculous party hosted by manic CEO Steve Lift who literally forces Cassius to watch his ‘evil’ ludicrous plan in animated film form are all hilarious elements of a film that exposes the insane amount of wealth a few people have compared to the artists and activists that are fighting the power through protests and social media clips that go way beyond what they were actually meant for.

The cast are fantastic; each effortlessly fitting into the universe Riley has created. Lakeith Stanfield is perfect as the trouble minded Cassius, playing the character the right side of comedic and vulnerable. Tessa Thompson as the artist/activist also stands out as Detroit, someone who knows how things work and fighting for the right cause. Her earrings also deserve a special mention, as they are truly superb.

In creating a world that isn’t quite the same, as we know, the slight but alternative universe brings further to light issues that are taking place now allowing the satirical story to flow easily through to the rather strange and illuminating end. This is a film where you can most definitely believe the hype.