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Post by Johnny_Hellzapoppin on Oct 12, 2018 21:47:54 GMT
The sense of dread with this one was up to ninety right from the start, but it slow burned all the same. The horrors to come were hinted at, and the 'holy' villains of the piece quickly established, in all their shitty hypocrisy. As the plot develops, thin and well worn as it is, the dread moves to one hundred and the violence ratchets up to levels I haven't seen in quite some time. It's all very tasteless, in the best possible way. A death in the first forty-five minutes is hugely impressive in its execution and framing. I'd expect nothing less from Gareth Evans though. This man knows how to kill people on screen!
The production design is simple, but very effective in representing the kind of life these people have been convinced to live and the cinematography is grimy, yet alluring, echoing in some ways the work of Lubezki on Sleepy Hollow. Ultimately though, the real star of this film is the score. I fear that like the film itself, it'll prove highly divisive, but for me, it's the best film score since Mad Max: Fury Road, so in other words, an all-time great.
I feel I will likely be alone in my almost outright love for this film, but it feels to me like something I will watch many, many more times in the future. I think by the time 2018 ends, I will be calling it one of the vintage years for horror.
9/10 and my new #2 of the year.
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Post by jakesully on Oct 13, 2018 4:01:44 GMT
Just got done watching this beautifully fucked up film . WOW ! I want Netflix to make more shit like this for sure. It was sooooo right up my alley . Very messed up but handled brilliantly by Gareth Evans and yes the score is just haunting/terrifying as well. I gotta agree with the OP (Johnny) , the sense of dread was off the charts good (even better than I expected) .
I would have easily paid to see this film in theaters for sure . solid 8.5/10 (Dan Stevens & Sheen are such wonderful versatile actors . )
If you have Netflix DEFINITELY watch this . Just not for the faint of heart cause it gets gnarly haha.
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Post by stephen on Oct 13, 2018 5:58:24 GMT
The first half was pretty goddamn interminable if we're being honest, with a whole lot of mood-setting but extremely light on actual plot. Which normally doesn't bother me, but when you've got a movie dealing with one of my favorite subjects (cult horror--in a period setting, no less!), I feel you have to be able to hasten your story along, especially as I feel some characters were superfluous (Sheen's daughter, for instance) and others could've done with more focus. But man, once the attempted assassin turned into a spear pincushion, this film took off like a rocket sled and I was absolutely on board with it.
I don't think Dan Stevens is a particular font of magnetism, but he was fine with what he was given. Honestly, it felt like the entire cast was pretty much understudies to more well-known names. None of them were bad, but I could see the more A-list equivalents to each character play out in my head as I was watching (i.e. Quinn was Peter Mullan/Owen Teale).
The direction was pretty strong for the most part, and the "purification" scene is one of the year's highlights . . . but I think it needed a hell of a lot of tightening in its front half, because it definitely suffered from auteuristic bloat.
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Post by theycallmemrfish on Oct 13, 2018 7:59:46 GMT
I liked it, but I have to agree with Stephen in that it could have done with some trimming. It was gritty, gruesome, and downright painful.
Still, I did really like it. It had elements of Wicker Man, Resident Evil 4, and The Ritual... all of which I'm fond of. A little confused on the ending, but that's probably for the best.
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Post by Johnny_Hellzapoppin on Oct 13, 2018 13:57:01 GMT
The first half was pretty goddamn interminable if we're being honest, with a whole lot of mood-setting but extremely light on actual plot. Which normally doesn't bother me, but when you've got a movie dealing with one of my favorite subjects (cult horror--in a period setting, no less!), I feel you have to be able to hasten your story along, especially as I feel some characters were superfluous (Sheen's daughter, for instance) and others could've done with more focus. But man, once the attempted assassin turned into a spear pincushion, this film took off like a rocket sled and I was absolutely on board with it. I don't think Dan Stevens is a particular font of magnetism, but he was fine with what he was given. Honestly, it felt like the entire cast was pretty much understudies to more well-known names. None of them were bad, but I could see the more A-list equivalents to each character play out in my head as I was watching (i.e. Quinn was Peter Mullan/Owen Teale). The direction was pretty strong for the most part, and the "purification" scene is one of the year's highlights . . . but I think it needed a hell of a lot of tightening in its front half, because it definitely suffered from auteuristic bloat. I loved the first half, but I can totally see where those who don't love it coming from. I'm with you on the acting, which in general was all just fine for the most part. I thought the only real stand out was Mark Lewis Jones, but all the same, I like you was picturing Peter Mullan playing the role the whole time.
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Post by stephen on Oct 13, 2018 15:02:22 GMT
I liked it, but I have to agree with Stephen in that it could have done with some trimming. It was gritty, gruesome, and downright painful. Still, I did really like it. It had elements of Wicker Man, Resident Evil 4, and The Ritual... all of which I'm fond of. A little confused on the ending, but that's probably for the best. Yeah, I thought of all of those things (plus Silent Hill) as well.
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Post by cheesecake on Oct 13, 2018 15:12:08 GMT
I went in blind and thought it was solid over all. Definitely could use some trimming and tightening, but it had some great sequences and atmosphere. That purification scene -- yikes.
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Post by pacinoyes on Oct 13, 2018 22:11:32 GMT
Not getting this one at all - went on way too long, too convoluted, and weirdly botched the setting and production design too because once they get to the island its Wicker Man-lite in the look and feel or maybe it's The Crucible or something. Also it ends like 18 different times. I dunno.......just fell flat for me.
I have a friend that says Wicker Man is basically an ending and a Christopher Lee speech. That's sort of true and its amazing that no can replicate what's actually successful in The Wicker Man because everything that evokes its name is a let down in comparison and shows way, way too much.
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Post by DeepArcher on Oct 15, 2018 4:17:17 GMT
So I loved the premise of this, the trailer looked good ... but the film itself really came up empty to me. Huge mishandling of its potential for the most part. It ultimately just becomes too much of an average thriller (that just happens to be super violent) to be really interesting. There's a hint at something more fantastical and creative, but the film never fully commits to it. For what it's worth, a lot of its violence is pretty creative (in addition to being nicely gruesome), and the set-pieces are pretty great. Almost everything else was rather ineptly done, though, between the total lack of characterization, the lackluster sense of atmosphere, the rather superfluous subplots, etc. But at least it was entertaining enough, and I definitely got a kick out of watching (most of) it.
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