Anyway, you can read more about the film over on that post because what I wanted to highlight here was the YouTube competition that was organised around its release.

The concept was simple but it was pretty cool. They wanted to find the UK’s spookiest ghost story. They invited people from all over the UK to sumbit videos of their original ghost stories to The Woman in Black YouTube channel. Stories had to be under 2 minutes but the videos could be as simple as someone just making a recording from their phone’s camera. It was open to all ages but as far as I can see there was a rather youthful bent to the entrants.

Just before the Christmas the 10 finalists were announced, chosen on the basis of their story’s creativity, originality and writing style. Those 10 went to a public vote… The prize? The winner of the competition would get a trip to the world premiere in London but better yet their story would be read out by Daniel Radcliffe himself for inclusion on the DVD release of the film. Not bad hey?

Well, the competition was quite the success and it was great example of a company doing something a bit more original with social media to promote a film. I don’t know how many entries they got in total but there are 175 on their playlist on the official YouTube channel – youtube.com/thewomaninblackmovie. You can see all the competition entries over there but I’ve got the top 10 here for your viewing pleasure.

The winner in the end was Nicola Torch, a 16 year old from Lancashire, with her story entitled “Fear of Hue”, which you can see below. Congrats Nicola, hope you enjoyed the premiere and looking forward to seeing your ghost story on the DVD!

RELEASE DETAILS

release date: 10 Feb 2012
director: James Watkins
writers: Susan Hill (novel), Jane Goldman (screenplay)
cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Ciarán Hinds, Janet McTeer
genre: thriller, ghost story
running time: 113 minutes

Official website: www.thewomaninblack-movie.co.uk
Official facebook page: facebook.com/TheWomanInBlackUK
Official Twitter feed: @WomanInBlackUK

The Woman in Black YouTube ghost story competition finalists

Candy Bones by Paul Bristow
The Woman of the Graveyard by Lukas DiSparrow
The Treehouse by Holly Knowles
The Fall by littlemonkeygun
HACK by mothergoose8619
Cassie’s Ghost by Cinzialix
The Calming Mist by Alice
A Ghost Story by Natiekins
The Dead House by Jasmine Thorburn
Fear of Hue by Nicola Torch (winning entry)

See the rest of the competition entries over here.

Candy Bones by Paul Bristow

Actually, I didn’t know she had gone, I checked out of this franchise after the first film. Not that I’d hated it or anything. As far as I recall. I think it was just that I saw it around the same time as that disaster of a film, Van Helsing, and so I ended up staying away from vampire films for a while.

All I remember of the first Underworld was that Kate Beckinsale looked damn fine in the outfit and I wished I looked that good in skin-tight pants. So, as far as I can tell, little has changed in the intervening 9 years. She’s pushing 40 and still looking well. But that’s not being fair to the film at all, it has a lot more to offer than Beckinsale… There’s Michael Ealy and Theo James for the ladies as well. Ah no, I jest, there is more than that, I swear.

This is the first of the series to be directed by Swedish duo, Måns Magnus Mårlind (what a name!) and Björn Stein. The only other English language film the pair have directed was Shelter, starring Julianne Moore. I haven’t seen it, but with a whopping 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, I’m not exactly planning on picking it up.

With Shelter’s score in mind, I couldn’t help but wonder why Underworld: Awakening wasn’t screened for critics here. As we all know, this is rarely a good sign. Hence, I approached it with trepidation – and a 2 minute recap of the two films I’d missed from my cinema going partner. That trepidation was tempered by the fact that it’s an 18 cert film in Ireland and the UK. The Underworld franchise is hardly known for sex and nudity, so an 18 cert was bound to mean violence.

As it happened, I didn’t really need the recap. I remembered more of the first film than I thought and in any case there’s a short revisiting of the first three films at the start. With 3 years between films each time, I guess they’re used to having to bring the audience back up to speed quickly. The main thing you need to know is that in the last film, normal humans discovered the existence of the Lycans and Vampires. They were not happy about it.

So sets the stage for a “cleansing” of epic proportions.

I actually really enjoyed Underworld: Awakening. There’s always a lot to be said for having no expectations going into a film. I didn’t even know this film was out this week, that’s how in the dark I was. I wouldn’t go around saying it had the most amazing plot or performances… But, having already seen 4 out of the other 5 films out this week, I can say it’s probably the most entertaining of the week. Mind you, that’s still not saying much. I’ve only done the reviews of J. Edgar and Haywire so far, but you can take it from me that it’s a pretty poor week, Underworld 4 aside.

What’s most enjoyable about Underworld: Awakening is the action. With an 18 cert there’s no holding back. Selene kicks ass, and gets her ass kicked, from here to next Sunday with barely any let up. What let up there is is used to explain a perfectly serviceable plot. A rarity in a film like this these days. Recently action films seem to be struggling terribly hard with plots; unnecessary convolution is the order of the day. I can only assume they’re over-compensating out of a fear of being criticised for being too action oriented. I don’t know why they bother. People go to action films to see action. Right?

Anyway, with all the action on offer here, the target demographic should be satisfied. It’s worth mention as well that the 3D is pretty good. Ok, there are large parts of the film where you don’t need to wear your glasses, but it’s worth it for the parts where you do. Plus, it’s shot bright enough that you don’t have to worry about the type of murkiness that plagued The Darkest Hour. Of course… that’s not all that plagued The Darkest Hour, but that’s for a different review. You do still see that strange green hue you get with Real-D 3D glasses, but it actually suits the comic book stylings of the film so… it all works out really.

Some other reviews I’ve seen have criticised it as being a step away from the other 2 mythology-heavy sequels. Having never seen them, I have no idea if that’s true. Considering all 3 of the other Underworld films having come in for some fairly scathing reviews, I’m surprised they’ve decided to pick apart any changes.

As far as I’m concerned, if you’re looking for a glossy, 88 minute distraction with some good looking people being beaten every which way but loose… you could do much, much worse than Underworld: Awakening. This film is a bruised and bloodied hoot ‘n a half.

7/10

I never thought I’d like this film. For some reason I’ve just never liked Darren Aronofsky’s films. I’ve seen all of his features, probably the only director I can say that about, and they’ve always left me cold and indifferent. I actually went on-air on Phantom 105.2 once to specifically argue that Requiem for a Dream was an over-rated and incredibly simplistic piece of crap.

The truth is, I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I was never going to like this (for some reason unknown to me) much celebrated director. Yet still, I went along to Black Swan with a modicum of hope. Mainly because I liked the arty posters… What can I say? I like to try and see something positive in everything.

And I’m glad I did. I loved Black Swan. The story of a person struggling in the pursuit of perfection is one that I, and I think a lot of people can relate to. Darren Aronofsky finally managed to create something that he always lacked, a character which people could empathise with. I, for one, have always seen his films as more an eye on a world that I wasn’t a part of, rather a look at a world I lived in, he never gave me a reason to become in any way involved in his characters or stories.

But perhaps that was just me. I know that a lot of people were moved by The Wrestler and Requiem for a Dream… but I’ve always felt that his characters were too simply drawn. He has, in some films more obviously than others, always dealt with the idea of addiction but in my opinion he’s never brought us the reality. Addiction isn’t simple, people aren’t simple.

Not that Aronofsky’s films are simple, they’ve always been ambitious in terms of the emotions he’s tried to convey but at the centre he’s always had, what I would consider as, characters with a single purpose. To bring the narrative to its inevitable tragic conclusion. You don’t know why exactly they’re on this road or why they don’t choose to take a turn off, all you get to see is that they just keep driving.

In Black Swan, Natalie Portman is a woman who ached for success and Aronofsky created a world and a struggle that was… realistic. Every day people feel the pressure live up to what’s expected of them, be it by their parents or co-workers, partners, friends or just society. Who among us has never thought, maybe I’m just not good enough? This is the question that Portman’s Nina fights with and Aronofsky makes her subtle and complex enough to guide us through her torturous path of trying to answer it.

However, to be less abstract. Yes, there is a strong central theme but it’s nothing if you don’t have solid building blocks around it. Portman excels as Nina, her breakdown into paranoia is etched on her body as is her desire and yearning to push past it and reach that pinnacle of perfection. Her Oscar was richly deserved. The supporting characters in Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel were no less impressive, but it was Portman that was the star.

Broader again, I loved how Aronofsky wove the horror elements into the film. Undoubtedly this is part of the reason I enjoyed Black Swan as much as I did, and far more than any of his previous endeavours. That said, I don’t think he relied on or overused too many of the tropes of horror. There were one or two that were a little blindingly obvious but the way he used them was such that it complemented the drama he was creating. Black Swan is not a horror film, despite what some people have said. It’s a psychological thriller through and through.

As I mentioned earlier, Aronofsky’s films have always been complex in the emotions they’ve grasped at and Black Swan is no exception. The crescendo of the film, in a way, terrified me, it certainly unsettled me and the film stayed with me long after I left the theatre. It was refreshing in that sense. There are so many films out there that aren’t ambitious, that are just throw away entertainment. Black Swan, while perhaps not an important film… is a lasting one. This deserves to be a classic simply because it’s a genre film that’s so well realised.

I kind of see Black Swan as a perfect storm in terms of film-making. Aronofsky’s cold stylings suited the story on offer here. I’ve always felt a detachment off the characters in his films. It’s the biggest problem I had with The Wrestler, I never felt or believed the relationships between Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood. Darren Aronofsky directing a story in which our main character is slowly becoming more detached, from those around her and from reality, makes perfect sense.

Because of that though, I wonder if I’ll ever enjoy another Aronofsky film. Perhaps he’s made the film he was always meant to make and that’ll be it now. I’ll end up sitting through another 10 features from the guy, hoping that he’ll reach that height again and I’ll always be disappointed… Hmm…

That’s probably enough for now. What did you think yourself? What was your top film of 2011?

9/10

As big a horror fan I am, last year was actually the first time I went along to it. Pretty poor showing from me considering this is its 14th year. For the 2010 festival I did a little post on what I was looking forward and it seemed to go down well so I thought I’d do it again.

Whoops, first I should say, if you haven’t heard of Horrorthon before, it’s a 4.5 day festival in the Irish Film Institute. It starts on this Thursday, 27th October, with the Irish premiere of the much anticipated ghost story The Awakening and closes on Monday 31st with a special screening of a 70mm print of James Cameron’s classic, Aliens, with star Michael Biehn in attendance for a Q+A.

The full programme is up on the IFI website now and it is now open for booking. Pricewise, it’s not particularly cheap to see just the one film – tickets for most individual films are €9. That said, they do a great deal on the festival passes which cover 1, 2, 3, 4 or the full 5 days for a very reasonable price considering what you’re getting. Check out the home page for details. I think you might have to call to book them though, rather than booking through the site.

Anyway, if you’re not sure what you might like to see, here are my picks for each day of the festival.



The Awakening (2011)

When I started looking up this film I found something interesting on IMDb… “The Awakening” is an incredibly popular name for a movie. It’s ridiculous. Last year alone there were 6 films called “The Awakening” that made it on to IMDb. Jaysus people, come up with a more original name.

Ok, interesting might have been stretching it there… In any case, at the moment this particular “Awakening” has a 7.8 on IMDb. Now of course, IMDb rating are all over the place, but generally if a horror film has more than a 6, it’s probably reasonably decent. 7 is almost unheard of. That alone, in my book, is a reason to want to see this film.

Beyond that, it looks like it’s a standard issue ghost story. Which is very hard to sell really. I mean, you’ll know if you like ghost stories or not…

This particular one is set in England after the First World War. Rebecca Hall (who’s apparently the step-sister in law of someone called Issy) stars as a hoax exposer who is visiting a boarding house to disprove a haunting by a child ghost and it also features Dominic West (used to be a cattle herder) and Imelda Staunton (who will no doubt be great).

The Awakening opens the festival on Thursday 27th October at 7pm.
You can book tickets for The Awakening here.



The Exterminator (1980) / Maniac Cop (1988) – double bill

Couple of ’80s exploitation classic for ya. You like that kind of thing right?

First up is The Exterminator.

Robert Ginty stars as John Eastland, a Vietnam veteran who, after an attack on his best friend by a group of thugs, turns into a violent vigilante seeking justice (don’t they all?). Armed with a flame-thrower, hungry rats and a meat grinder, Eastland is out to clean up the streets of New York…

… Or make them extremely messy. I’m not sure which. I haven’t seen it, but I like the sound of it.

As if that wasn’t enough though, it’s followed by Maniac Cop!

You Have The Right To Remain Silent… Forever.

What a tag line! How could you not want to see a film with a line like that?

In Maniac Cop, a dangerous serial killer (is there any other kind?) is loose on the streets of (you guessed it) New York, dressed as a police officer. As the bodies stack up, Jack Forrest, a young cop (and more importantly, Bruce Campbell) somehow becomes the chief suspect. Now it’s up to him (and his girlfriend apparently) to catch the real killer and clear his name.

The Exterminator and Maniac Cop double bill starts at 11.10pm on Friday night, 28th October.
You can book tickets for this double bill here.



Troll 2 (1990)

This might just be the Best Worst Movie you ever see.

I hear there aren’t actually any trolls in this. Instantly, I love it – a “sequel” to Troll, called Troll 2, with no trolls. Genius. In fact, what it has is murderous vegetarian goblins. What?! I know!

If the idea of murderous vegetarian goblins wasn’t enough, I can also tell you that the script was written in English by the director and his wife. Who apparently didn’t actually speak English at the time. It was also filmed in Utah, with American actors, by an all Italian crew. Who didn’t speak English either. Sounds like the recipe for success to me.

I have to admit, I love the idea of watching really bad movies. Particularly films that appear on the IMDb Bottom 100. Troll 2 is on there at #74, just below Mitchell, which I can assure you is an extremely bad film. Someday, I will work my way through that list. Even if I only manage to see the bottom 10, it’s going to happen.

The fact is, if there’s ever an appropriate environment to watch films of this calibre, then late night at the IFI Horrorthon is it. I saw Birdemic: Shock and Terror in the same slot last year and it was pretty much the most hilarious movie experience I’ve ever had.

Troll 2 is on Saturday night, 29th October at 11.30pm.
You can book tickets for Troll 2 here.



The Dark Crystal (1982)

There’s only one film I care about on the Sunday. The absolute childhood classic The Dark Crystal.

I love this movie. It was one of two films* we used to watch over and over again when I was a young girl growing up in Singapore, partly because our neighbour had it on VHS, but mainly because it was brilliant. I can’t wait to see it on the big screen and I hope to see you all there at 11am on Sunday. I don’t care if you have some fancy dress party or whatever the night before. That’s no excuse. You gotta wake up and come and see The Dark Crystal.

If you’ve never seen it, The Dark Crystal is a mystical, magical fantasy adventure. With puppets. It was directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz and at the time the animatronics were considered ground-breaking. I know I was stunned when I first saw them and I hope, if this is the first time you get to see it, you will be too. Considering it was made in the early ’80s of course.

The Dark Crystal is screening on Sunday morning, 30th October at 11am.
You can book tickets for The Dark Crystal here.



Saint (2010)

I could recommend that on Monday, you go see the 70mm print of Aliens at 8.30pm. It’s the closing film, it’ll have Michael Biehn doing a Q+A at it and it is probably, objectively, the best film at the festival.

But… it’s already sold out.

So instead, just to get you into the Christmas spirit. I’m recommending Saint.

Not that I’ve seen it or anything, so don’t blame me if it’s crap. I just like the ol’ Christmas horror flicks, you know, like Silent Night, Deadly Night… everyone knows the whole, “He sees you when you’re sleeping” thing, Christmas and horror, they just go together.

This particular Christmas horror is a Dutch film from last year and is set on Sinterklaas, or St. Nicholas’s Eve – that’s 5th December to me and you. Guess what though, this jolly ol’ St. Nick ain’t that interested in whether you’ve been naughty or nice. He’s a crazy bishop and he’s into kidnapping and murder.

Ho, ho, ho.

Saint is showing on Monday evening, 31st October at 6.45pm.
You can book tickets for Saint here.


So those are my picks for IFI Horrorthon 2011. Hope there’s one there that might tickle your fancy and maybe I’ll see you there!

I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting to like Red State. I liked the trailer but I’m not particularly a fan of Kevin Smith; I can still smell Cop Out from here… then again, I did really like Zack and Miri Make a Porno and I thought Chasing Amy was kind of interesting. So maybe I shouldn’t have been so apprehensive.

I guess the big issue was that, a lot has happened since Zack and Miri and I just wondered, is he really up to making a good movie? I mean, it looked like a cool horror film and I liked horror but… I am so often disappointed by horror as well that there just seemed no point to being properly excited.

As a result… and likely as a direct result, I really quite enjoyed Red State. It’s not the finest piece of drama I’ve ever seen, nor is it the funniest comedy, but there’s was just something about it. It had an idea behind it. Now, it was a pretty simple and obvious idea – to make extremist Christians and federal goverment organisations look stupid – but it was relatively well thought out and that’s more than I can say for some horror films. Ok ok, that’s not fair, I’m simplifying, but the point is it tried from something a bit more than a slasher film.

In case you haven’t seen the trailer – and I won’t go beyond what you see in the trailer – Red State starts off with 3 high schoolers boy being lured with the promise of sex, to the compound of an extremist Christian group. Next thing you know, the ATF show up and all hell breaks loose – Waco style. You can see the various trailers in my clips and trailer: Red State post if you fancy a look.

The big thing that surprised me about the film, especially after the trailer, is that Red State isn’t a horror film at all. It’s… hmm…. I can’t really put it in a genre. That’s what’s interesting about it. Kevin Smith really does seem to try and do something new here. Unfortunately for him, he just can’t quite seem to get it right. There’s a lot wrong with this film. A lot wrong. That’s not say that you shouldn’t see it. But be warned…

First issue is… the dialogue between the teens, ably played by Kyle Gallner, Michael Angarano and Nicholas Braun, is some of the worst I’ve ever heard. Now, I never really notice swearing, honestly I don’t, and it doesn’t particularly offend me, but you couldn’t help but notice it here. These kids talked for twice as long as they should have with all the swearing. Seriously. A bit is fine. Some is fine. This was excessive. This was just stupid. Nobody talks like that.

Secondly the film is very inconsistant. It seems as though it’s trying to appeal to a teen audience at some points, a gore crowd at others, the arthouse audience along the way and just a broad cinema audience at times. It skips all over the place, never quite managing to focus or develop properly in any direction. It’s frustrating.

There are some other specific weak points that will test the audience. There’s a monologue from Parks which went on about 5 minutes too long and there’s one girl who’s just terrible. The sooner she was off the screen the better. It can’t be escaped though that the main problems are in the script and direction. Small niggling points like those can be ignored if the film hung together better.

To be honest, it’s just a shame, because I think there are flashes of greatness. Michael Parks and Melissa Leo put in some great performances and, as I mentioned, the teens (?) are relatively decent – shame about the dialogue. It’s also quite a fearless film in many ways, possibly borne of the… situations… Kevin Smith has found himself in recently. I just wish that… I think that… it just needed someone else to step in and reign him in.

Anyway, I do think Red State is worth a look. I wouldn’t call it some kind of return to form, or say that it shows Kevin Smith as the brilliant film-maker we know he can be. Hell, I never thought he was much of a film-maker anyway. But do go along and see it, or pick it up on DVD when it comes out. It’s not going to be a massive waste of your life. It can’t be really, it’s quite short.

6.5/10

I dunno why really, they aren’t my favourite films. It’s not the most consistent of genres and, oftentimes, it’s not the most taxing on the brain… but I guess I just feel like, you know what you’re going to get with a horror…

… If it’s a slasher flick, there’ll be loads of kilings and blood. If it’s ghost story, there’ll be lots of stuff jumping out at you. If it’s thriller, there’s a 99% chance there’s gonna be a “twist“. Vampire film? No-one’s gonna believe there’s a vampire. Zombie film? Zombies. You get the idea. I dunno. I just think they’re good solid entertainment. Even the really bad ones are so spectacularly bad that they’re entertaining *

All that said, I don’t really know which particular sub-genre of horror Kevin Smith’s latest offering falls into. But I think it looks good. I’m not mad about Kevin Smith. I, like many people with eyes, hated Cop Out. But I really enjoyed Zack and Miri Make a Porno and, casting the net further into the past, Dogma. Even though he’s said some strange stuff lately, I’m still willing to give him a chance.

Besides… Red State looks pretty good.

Have a look at a few of the trailers below…

RELEASE DETAILS

release date: 30th September 2011
director: Kevin Smith
writer: Kevin Smith
cast: Michael Parks, Melissa Leo, John Goodman, Michael Angarano
genre: horror, thriller
running time: 97 mins

Video clips available
Teaser trailer (with Kevin Smith introduction)
Theatrical trailer (green band)
Theatrical trailer (red band)

Teaser trailer