Starting this week with my film of the month for September. Strange Darling is grisly and twisty as hell The best review I've seen comes from rapper Kid Cudi, who wrote: "Movies like this come every so often. As a fan of horror, I've never been this thrown by a horror movie before. I went in thinking one thing, and left knowing another". The difficulty in reviewing this movie is that it's definitely best enjoyed without spoilers. It's gory, tense, and nerve shredding.
Made on a modest budget of four million dollars, and shot on location in Oregon, it's now picking up some critical buzz in the UK. The story is set across six chapters, not told in numerical order, adding to the sense of a jigsaw being pieced together. It does contain uncompromising violence and misogyny (don't say I didn't warn you),, but you'd have to be bananas not to watch this if you're a horror fan. I also loved the fact it was shot on 35mm film, giving it the look of a film that could have been made decades ago. A movie masterpiece.
Straight after watching this one, I saw Never Let Go, the new Halle Berry film. Unfortunately, it's a bit of a mess of ideas,and the latest in a long line of horrors set in creepy woods. According to the plot, you can never let go of the rope, otherwise the malevolent spirits which only Berry's character can see will strike. She has to protect her two sons from the evil forces, whilst trying to find enough supplies to survive. Anyone for a tree bark and deep-fried toad special? And does mother always know best? Is there really no-one else out there?
The issue I had was that the film went rather flat around an hour in, following a genuinely tense scene involving the family dog, and it felt a bit like the filmmakers weren't sure where to go next. There are a few half decent jump scares, and Percy Daggs IV and Anthony B Jenkins were both excellent as Halle Berry's sons. It's not without chilling moments, but is a fairly hard slog at times. A bit like the tree bark they end up having to eat.
Lee will surely earn Kate Winslet more awards. It absolutely deserves to. I was really moved by her portrayal of Lee Miller, a Vogue magazine model turned war correspondent, who captured some of the most disturbing and historically important images depicting the monstrous acts committed by the Nazis in Germany. A well told story of a brave, empathetic, complicated woman who fought to get her images published in Vogue (she failed in the UK, but succeeded in the States). WInslet is so good, I'll forgive the fact the film itself wasn't without its narrative flaws. A bath scene you'll remember for a long time, too.
Next week, the new Demi Moore film The Substance. I might learn how to create a younger, better looking version of myself!
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