Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

"I think I need a root canal. 

I definitely need a long, slow root canal."

Gotta love the 80’s…

A geeky florist gets his shot at romance with the help of a giant, alien, man-eating plant who demands blood.

Not being a fan of musicals, I wasn’t expecting to like ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ but I was pleasantly surprised. The music was catchy, the humour was good and the cast were excellent.

There are so many pop culture references to the film that I never even knew about until I saw the film, I’ll not be able to watch a lot of 'Family Guy' the same way again...

I can understand why it's so loved by so many generations.

Rick Moranis was perfect for the role of Seymour Krelborn and his chemistry with the evil plant, Audrey II, is better than with Audrey herself who is played by the forgettable Ellen Greene. I revelled in the fact that everything you see in the film is practical effects. The plant was designed and operated by veterans of the Jim Henson Company, the same company who did shows like ‘The Muppets’ and one of the operators was Brian Henson, Jim Henson’s son. With a team like that behind the puppeteering it's always going to be something special. 

How Audrey II develops is fascinating, it slowly grows and develops from scene to scene, depending on how much it is being fed... 

It's given so much personality that you forget that it’s a puppet. The finale is, of course, the pies de resistance of the puppeteering. There’s so much going on in each shot, from the singing plant to it’s little offspring and it all culminates into a spectacle that you just couldn’t capture with CGI. Levi Stubbs also adds another dimension to the character with his sizzling vocals and soulful voice. 

The way the film is designed is interesting because it actually feels like you’re watching a stage play. All the sets look like sets and the characters are all breaking the fourth wall with the audience. It is fun and light hearted and you get the feeling that the cast are all genuinely enjoying themselves. 

The songs were hit and miss for me.

Maybe it's because I'm not a big fan of musicals but the songs were my least favourite part of the film. The 50’s vibe that the soundtrack gives off is fun with songs like ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ and ‘Da-Doo’ which stand out to me. Levi Stubbs singing 'Mean Green Mother From Outer Space' is so soulful, badass and very... very 80's. 

Other than a few other memorable tracks, the rest of the soundtrack was forgettable to me but that may be because I didn't see it in my childhood so the nostalgia factor isn't there for me.

Steve Martin steals the show as Orin Scrivello - D.D.S. He’s a comedy legend and I’d never seen or heard of him in this role before. He’s so dark and on the verge of pantomime but he gives a very intelligent and comedic performance as the psychotic dentist.

Bill Murray making an appearance as the twisted and kinky dentist patient, Arthur Denton, also made my day. 

There are so many great cameos in the film from extremely well known actors that it's a fun surprise when another well known face pops up in a scene out of nowhere.

After doing a little research into the film, I discovered that there was an original ending that was 100% better than the theatrical ending that is in the final film. I feel relatively free to talk about the ending because I think I’m one of the few people on the planet from my generation that hadn’t actually seen ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ until now. The alternate ending starts with Audrey II eating Seymour which leads to the plant getting worldwide distribution. Absolute carnage breaks out with hundreds of plants attacking New York and killing everyone and everything in sight. Audrey II scales the Statue of Liberty and it ends with an ominous “THE END!?!?”. This alternate ending feels more like a 50’s monster flick, reminiscent of films like 'The Blob’ or ‘Attack of the 50 foot Woman’ which is a lot more in tone with the style of the rest of the film. Disappointing that it never made the cut. 

There’s a lot to like about ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ and I’d definitely like to see the stage production after seeing the film.

It’s a nostalgic feeling film that has a lot of fun with some big musical numbers and a lot of phenomenal practical effects.

If you haven’t seen it then you must have been living under a rock like me…

Clown (2014)

"You don't understand... 

I physically cannot get it off"

If you currently have a fear of clowns or did when you were young, then I definitely don't recommend 'Clown'...

When a loving father finds an old clown costume to wear for his sons birthday party, he soon realises that the costume conceals an evil curse that turns the wearer into a killer.

Despite being branded as an Eli Roth film (director of Hostel and cabin fever) it is actually directed by first time director Jon Watts and produced by Eli Roth.

Admittedly, I wasn't expecting a lot from this film. At most I was hoping for a cheesy horror film with lots of gore and fun. However, what was actually delivered by 'Clown' was a well thought out and well paced horror film that has a lot of fun with some creepy horror. It delivers exactly what it promises in the premise.

We are thrown into the plot with no time wasted, Kent has the clown costume on within the first ten minutes of the film and we get right down to the horror immediately. A refreshing pace for a horror film that knows exactly what it is and what we are waiting for. 

When he gets the news that the clown that was hired for his sons birthday party can't make it, Kent puts on an old clown costume that he finds in the attic of one of the houses that he's trying to sell. An intriguing opening to say the least. We have an abandoned and chained up clown costume that looks as evil as you'd expect and someone who desperately needs to put it on. Kent then can't take it off and we have our horror movie. 

Andy Powers plays Kent and does a relatively decent job. I haven’t seen him in anything else but he delivers a strong performance as he tries to hold on to his sanity and his humanity as the suit takes control. We don’t really get much information about his relationship with his son but you can gather that he’s a good dad just from the information that you have. I would have liked to have seen more of that so that when it all goes down then there’s more at stake between them but it serves its purpose in the film.

You get the sense that it is physically hurting Kent having the suit on and it really adds to the horror of it. The claustrophobic feeling you get when he's trying to get it off is unbearable and something that we haven't really seen before.

What I especially enjoyed about 'Clown' was the transformation that Kent has to deal with when the suit starts to change him. We slowly get more pieces of the puzzle and Kent deteriorates as his "desires" start to take shape in a horrifying way... 

It's almost like a vampire that has to feed, we begin to realise just how evil this suit is and what is at stake for anyone who may cross his path. 
'Clown' isn't a "jumpy" horror but it packs a lot of horror into what is a relatively simple plot. The ideas and imagery explored seem familiar in a good way, clowns are inherently scary and the film knows it.

It capitalises on a fear that hasn't really had a good horror movie in years. We have Stephen King's 'It' but it has dated since the 90's and since then there have been a wave of cheap slasher flicks that have tried to do the same. 

What 'Clown' does to set itself apart from the rest is that it gives us exactly what we are scared of. We aren't scared of some madman wearing a clown suit stabbing teenagers, we are scared of the clown itself. It gives us some interesting lore and history behind it and basically realises our worst fears about clowns. 

The makeup effects are great on the clown as it transforms Kent. They start out as subtle changes but develop as the suit slowly consumes him. These effects are so important to the film and without that level of attention paid to them I doubt it would have been as convincing.

There are some pretty shocking scenes in the film. We don't necessarily see much gore in these scenes but it's the scene content that might be too dark for some people. I think that you have to take it as a bit of tongue-in-cheek and enjoy it for what it is. 

There are some really clever details that will make you smile and some well executed scenes that feel almost like they are straight out of the 80's in their delivery. One scene in particular in a busy Chuck E. Cheese restaurant is a terrifying prospect for any parent, child or audience member. It'll have you laughing and throwing up. 

Overall, it’s a twisted, yet simple, little horror film that delivers what it promises. 

It’s not a horror masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination but it’s a fun horror that is different to the huge budget horror franchises that Hollywood have been churning out recently.

I had a lot of fun with 'Clown' and it's a good flick to watch near Halloween or on a late night with a full moon. 

Except if you have coulrophobia because it’ll definitely give you nightmares... 

That's the last time I'll ever go into a creepy abandoned house, put on an ancient cursed clown costume and go to a kids birthday party...

Still Alice (2015)

"I find myself learning the art of losing every day. 

Losing my bearings, losing objects, losing sleep, but mostly losing memories…"

If you’re considering suicide, ’Still Alice’ might just give you the push you’ve been waiting for.

When world renowned linguistics professor Alice Howland is diagnosed with Early-onset Alzheimer’s Disease, she attempts to deal with the condition while desperately trying to hold on to who she is.

This is not an easy film to watch. The subject matter is tough to deal with and it doesn’t really let up the whole way through. The film shows us the early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease and everything that goes with it. Losing memories, family and, ultimately, who you are. It manages to showcase a realistic portrayal of the disease and shows us how bad it can really get. It deals with the rapid decline of the condition and how everyday life becomes a struggle.

It was never going to be a joy ride of a film and coming in at a little under two hours long, it feels like you’re in the cinema for about a week... You’re forced to take an emotional journey with the characters and it’s not a particularly enjoyable one. 

Probably best having the tissues at the ready.

Julianne Moore won the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for her performance as Alice Howland and I definitely think she deserved it. Her portrayal of Alice and how she deals with the disease is heart-breaking and realistic. She humanises the disease and makes you empathise with her and her situation. You really get a sense of how people deal with the disease day to day. She tackles the bigger issue which is trying to stay a human being by holding on to your personality and memories. You really feel that she's struggling through and fighting for every memory and every word. It was so engaging to watch her deal with the disease taking away what she has studied for her entire life - language. She has to battle to remember words and the ability to communicate because it's who she is.

Her transformation from the beginning to the end is so believable that you genuinely forget 
that she's acting, much like Eddie Redmayne did for 'The Theory of Everything' or Bradley Cooper for 'American Sniper', Julianne Moore becomes the character inside and out. She's living it and breathing it.

An inspiring performance from a talented actress.

'Still Alice' honestly and realistically conveys the every day struggles that the disease causes. From something simple as not remembering a word or a sentence to not being able to remember who your children or even who you are. It brings to light so many issues and problems that I never even knew about the disease and puts you into Alice's mindset.

This being said, one of the biggest issues I had with the film was that it feels more like an infomercial or a dramatisation for a documentary rather than a cinematic experience. It’s a hard subject to tackle but it’s a little stale in terms of delivery and story-telling. It’s shot with a lot of realism to bring the issue home but it felt a little like it was simply raising awareness for the disease. Not that raising awareness isn’t extremely important for the condition but it didn’t feel as cinematic as it could have been, I have to look at it as a film as well as it dealing with the very specific subject matter.

For instance, the title is ‘Still Alice’ so it’s obviously about Alice trying to hold on to her life and who she is. However, we jump into the story as the disease is just starting to take hold and we don’t really get an idea of who she really is before the disease. We know who she is in terms of work, life and family but I didn't feel that we got enough of her personality beforehand. That does develop as the film goes on but I’d have liked a little more of her character before jumping into the plot. Julianne Moore manages to pull it back but it's mostly due to her fantastic performance that the film stays together and doesn't fall apart. 

This leads me to my other issue which is that the characters in the film are relatively shallow and two-dimensional. Other than Alec Baldwin, the rest of the cast are actually quite bland and unbelievable. 

Alec Baldwin plays Alice’s husband John Howland and we really empathise and sympathise with him as a character. He delivers a mature, honest and believable performance as we watch him try and care for the woman he loves while trying to lead a normal life with her. You can fully grasp and understand his situation and his frustration, which is a hard thing for an actor to portray without the character coming across as selfish or unloving. It’s really stimulating to watch the chemistry between Baldwin and Moore, it’s so natural and realistic that you genuinely believe their love for one another. It shows up the younger and less experienced members of the cast.

Kristen Stewart is still incapable of emotion since the ‘Twilight’ franchise sucked out whatever life she had in her and her performance as Alice’s daughter Lydia is stilted and wooden compared to the maturer members of the cast. You just don’t believe her as a character or as the actress that she's meant to be playing in the film. She is definitely the weaker link in the cast, despite being a relatively key part of Alice's life. 

The other siblings, Hunter Parish and Kate Bosworth, are totally under-developed and forgettable which is a real shame and a missed opportunity in my opinion. I’d have loved to have seen more of the family environment and how they deal with their mother losing who she is but it’s sort of glazed over in the midst of Alice's situation. 

The marriage of the cinematography and the editing is interesting in ‘Still Alice’ and is utilised well to emphasise the effects of the disease. It’s used to disorientate the audience to get us into Alice’s head. Straight and deliberate cuts through time are used to highlight the passage of time and give us the impression of losing our bearings, which is what Alice is going through. It manages to help us get into the mindset and gives us a better understanding of how the disease works.

Focus is also an important part of that idea. The focus is used to draw our attention inwards, often focusing on Alice's head rather than the outside world, much like the way Alice can't seem to focus on what's going on around her so she becomes lost in her own head. It really gives us the feeling of disorientation that is such an apparent consequence of the disease.

For me, 'Still Alice' raises some hard hitting issues and ideas regarding euthanasia and suicide that are extremely touchy subjects to deal with. It's not really spoiling anything when I say that suicide does crop up in the film and, with a subject matter like this, it's no surprise when it does. The audience seemed split as to whether or not she should go through with it, like they were rooting for the "good guy" to win, whether that "good guy" is life or death it's up to each audience member to decide for themselves but it genuinely makes you think about it. 

Overall, ‘Still Alice’ isn’t an enjoyable experience and I can’t say that I’ll ever watch it again but I'm glad I've seen it. 

It features extremely strong performances from Julianne Moore and Alec Baldwin that are, unfortunately, supported by a less than perfect supporting cast. It raises awareness for a terrible disease that deserves more attention but doesn’t quite deliver in terms of great cinema. 

Let's just say I wouldn’t watch it with alcohol, drugs, old people or when you’re feeling depressed…

Focus (2015)

"It's about distraction. It's about focus. 

The brain is slow and it can't multitask. 

Tap him here, take from there."

For a film titled ‘Focus’, it’s ironic how little focus it actually had...

Veteran con artist Nicky’s latest scam is put in jeopardy when a woman from his past shows up and throws his plans for a loop.

I love a good hustle. Films like 'Oceans 11', ‘Rounders’ or ‘The Italian Job’ always keep me entertained and thrilled at the intelligence of the con. It’s all about the misdirection with a dash of wit and a whole lot of style.

The first half of ‘Focus’ is all of what I love about these films. 
It’s smart, funny and oh so cool.

Margot Robbie plays Jess, an amateur con woman who meets master of the con - Nicky, played by Will Smith. Nicky decides to take Jess under his wing and train her in his art. Maybe his motives are lead by his ability to spot raw talent in Jess but I think it’s more likely that he's being lead by a stronger force than his brain…

It’s interesting to watch him teach Jess the basics with his charming wit and quick sleight of hand. There's gambling, wallet lifts and heaps of mis-direction. I always enjoy this aspect of the heist/con movie when you actually get an inside look into the workings of the criminal organisation. It’s all about the job and making as much money as possible while following as few laws as possible. 

At this point in ‘Focus’ I was very optimistic as to where the film was heading. I was expecting clever twists and turns, big money on the line and bucketloads of style. Unfortunately when the film is just about to pick up, it stops dead… It grinds to an absolute halt.

It’s like a film of two very distinct halves. After act one finishes, we are left with a slow, dull and pretty unconvincing story. What started out as a smart and interesting con movie turns into a yawn-fest about Will Smith and Margot Robbie's love story. It slows the pace of the film right down and makes it feel like a four hour movie. It just becomes a tedious love story that is so drawn out and, at the end of the day, not very convincing.

Will Smith was relatively credible as Nicky. He’s believable with his charm and prowess but his character seems to be confused. Nicky is a master con man but, when it’s convenient, turns into a weak, soppy dunce who (excuse the phrase) "can’t keep his shit together”. He excels in the humour and the charm of Nicky’s character but struggles through some of the awkward romantic lines. He plays Will Smith and relies on his own personality to get through some of the more clunky dialogue, which is fine but it does take you out slightly.

Margot Robbie as Jess just plays her character Naomi Lapaglia from ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’. She’s functional as Jess but I just don’t believe her for the most part. She’s attractive but that shouldn’t be as deep as we go with her. It’s nice watching her and Will Smith together because, let’s face it, they’re both model material but I definitely want more. A wasted opportunity for what could have been a really interesting and troubled character.

This being said, they have a lot of chemistry together. You can just feel the sexual tension between the two and it gets pretty steamy, pretty quickly. That's where it ends for me though, it definitely feels like they want each other but I don't for one second believe their love story. Whether there is a real spark there or not I'll never know but there's definitely something there between them... My blog just turned into a gossip mag.

After we trudge through the repetitive love story, the plot winds up being extremely silly and totally unbelievable in the end. There are so many coincidences and convenient plot points that it gets harder and harder to genuinely stay with it. I can suspend belief up to a point but when it becomes laughable then it’s time to check out. 

The climax is convoluted and over complicated with “twists” that are so unbelievable and crowbarred in when you actually break them down, they don’t make any sense. It tries to be smarter than the audience, which is fine because I love being fooled by an intelligent ruse in a plot but it has to respect us enough at the same time. Trying to rub it in the audience’s face that they’ve been deceived by a twist that isn’t even believable (or foreshadowed) is just a dangerous move. There were laughs in the cinema at the twists that just kept coming and got more and more ridiculous... 

Therein lies the problem. ‘Focus’ was all over the place, it lacked focus.

It didn’t know whether or not it was a con movie or a romantic drama. We get a lot of Will Smith showing off his pecks and Margot Robbie biting her lip but when we’re promised an exciting film about the art of the con then you’d better deliver. When you have such a strong opening (promising a certain type of film) and then you completely change the genre then you’d better make sure it works. It can work, a film such as ‘From Dusk Till Dawn’ does it well enough. A crime thriller that completely flips to become a vampire/action/horror film. Unfortunately, 'Focus' doesn’t get it right.

The best part of this film is definitely Adrian Martinez as Farhad. He plays Nicky's best friend and fellow criminal who is totally rude, crude and hilarious. He manages to steal every scene he's in and even takes the spotlight away from Will Smith for the most part. Would love to have seen more of him rather than the dull love story between Jess and Nicky.

‘Focus’ is a film that had a serious amount of potential but ultimately doesn’t deliver. It feels more like a vehicle for Will Smith rather than a smart, sexy movie about a con artist couple. I was even expecting to hear a Will Smith song in there somewhere...

If you’re looking for something intelligent, entertaining and sexy then you’ve got to check out the BBC TV show ‘Hustle’. It has class, smart moves and some extremely gripping writing. You’ll be fooled by it over and over again but you’ll always come back for more. 

Despite all of this... We still love you Will. 

It Follows (2015)

“Wherever you are, it’s somewhere walking straight for you.”

The film that tells us - Don’t have sex... or you’ll die.

After nineteen year old Jay has sex with an elusive and secretive boy she likes, she and her friends have to escape a mysterious creature that is stalking her everywhere she goes.

I think it’s only fair that I start off with a positive for this film. It’s nice to see an original horror film that’s not a rip off of every film since paranormal activity, there needs to be more original material released to rejuvenate a genre of film that is close to my heart.

Okay, that being said, hear are my thoughts.

'It Follows’ started off with a relatively intriguing opening but, unfortunately, never goes anywhere worthwhile.

Despite being branded as “one of the most striking American horror films in years”, not one person in the audience on Saturday night of opening weekend was scared…

Not one scream or gasp was heard and there was quiet, steady chatter throughout. Not exactly what you’d expect from “A horror to haunt your waking hours”. If that wasn't enough, I was with a friend who is scared of Smaug from ‘The Hobbit’ and even he didn’t flinch...

We are given a bland cast that are dull and lifeless in the beginning and stay dull and lifeless until the end. 

Maika Monroe plays Jay, a young nineteen year old (who apparently has the inability to wear anything but short shorts) who is being stalked after having a sexual encounter with another dull and lifeless character - Hugh. 

Hugh tells her, after having quiet and reserved sex in the back of his car, that he’s passed on a curse and the only way to pass on the evil stalker curse is to have sex with someone else. The stalker will relentlessly follow you and won't give up until it catches you.

Okay, I could get on board at this point. The rules are simple and are set out clearly and we have a creepy antagonist that will never stop until you're dead. 
Let's strap in for our horror film.

I waited patiently for the horror to start and the chills to run up my spine. 

Before I know it an hour has passed… Where is the horror?

The film drags it’s derrière along the run time like a dog with an itch. Just when you think it’s going to pick up… It doesn’t. I love slow burn horror films but it has to build up to something, like a bomb just waiting to go off but ‘It Follows’ just fizzled out and the credits rolled.

The concept of the film was more stimulating than the execution. The idea that something will follow you relentlessly and mercilessly is a scary concept, just look at films like ‘Cape Fear’ or ‘Halloween’, but watching it in ‘It Follows’ just becomes slightly mundane and quite repetitive. It starts to feel like you're just watching the same scenes over and over again.

To it’s credit, ‘It Follows’ doesn’t rely on jump scares but to be honest it doesn’t really rely on any scares… There is one scene in the film that had the potential to be a hair raising moment and I was so pleased to see a glimmer of hope but it was never capitalised on. This is more frustrating than if it didn't have any scares at all. The possibility of it being a good horror film and then falling way short of the mark.

Despite being a pretty face, Maika Monroe is a bland and pretty unintelligent character. She’s not particularly likeable and surrounds herself with equally forgettable and bland friends who you’ll forget are there most of the time. Honestly, I couldn't even remember their characters names without looking it up.

Keir Gilchrist plays Paul who is the most “friend-zoned” character in a horror film that I’ve ever seen. This guy is so desperate to be with Jay that he’s willing to have sex with her even though he knows that having sex with her will give him an evil curse that will hunt you down to kill you. He tries to pass it off as wanting to help her out as a friend but the film should definitely have been called "Paul: The Quest to Escape the Friend-zone”.

The film is obviously a throwback to the classic 80’s horror period and tries to capture that magic with the pretty teenage cast and atmospheric 80’s synth music. The soundtrack was the best part of this movie and really tugs on the nostalgia strings. It is really reminiscent of John Carpenter’s scores for 'Halloween' and 'The Thing' or films like ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’. It manipulates you to feel nostalgic for the horror films of your youth but, unfortunately, if you were to take the score out of the film then it becomes even more stale than it was already. 

It tries so hard to put a modern twist and slant on this 80's homage but ends up falling prey to all of the pit falls that tripped up most of the classic 80’s movies in the first place. The difference being that you forgive the 80's films because they're so good...

The plot leaves hints and unanswered questions but, at the end of the day, I’m not that interested in finding out the answers. It gives us pieces of information that could be interesting but then never returns to them, as if trying to leave an ambiguous ending but ends up just being frustrating. What's the point in all the mystery if we're not even slightly interested in solving it?

The creature in this film takes the form of so many various people for the stalking and part of the mystery is that you didn’t really know what it is or why it's doing what it's doing. However, I would have liked to have seen at least a little glimpse into it’s true form. I don’t want a scene where the cliché professor tells us that “It’s an evil demon because it says so in this ancient book that I just happen to have" but a flash of something or a piece of information as to what it actually is would have been nice. You end up feeling underwhelmed by it all and honestly a little bemused at the absolutely glowing reviews. 

The “climax” of this film (pay heed to those inverted commas) is somewhat illogical. I won’t go into any detail incase of spoilers but it’s very silly. There is a flimsy plan devised by the group of spiritless teens that would even make a bad cliché cringe. You'll realise it was the climax after the film finishes as it doesn't feel like one when it's actually going down.

To wrap up, if you’re looking for a horror masterpiece then I don’t think you'll find it here. If you enjoy clunky dialogue, horrors with no horror and a repetitive plot then you’re in for a thrill ride with ‘It Follows’.

The moral of the film is, basically, don’t have sex with anyone because you will die. End of story. A healthy message to send out to the mass young horror audience that will no doubt see this film. 

I don’t want to spoil anything for those of you who will see this film but I’d like to give a small round of applause to Paul, who does eventually escape the friend-zone.

Good for you Paul.