Author: Crossfire

Universal Pictures
www.thelasthouseontheleft.com

If anyone has seen the original Wes Craven, cult slasher they will probably accept that as great as the original is, a remake isn’t the worst idea. ‘The Last House on The Left‘ is an up-dated Hollywood version, all modern, glossy and ready to push a whole different selection of buttons than it’s seventies counterpart. However, what with all the beautification that comes with remaking something “cult” (‘Wicker Man’ for example), you feel all you’re left with is a well shot, well scored, but disappointing skeleton. All the character and quirkiness polished into uneasy tension and unclear moral obligations.

The close-knit family; Mum, Dad and beloved daughter (without recently deceased son) are off to their holiday cabin in the woods for a break. After an hour or so the teenage daughter obviously loses interest in her surroundings and wants to meet up with her chatty, confident friend, who works in the local town. Their curiosity and boredom leads them unwittingly in to the hands of a family of sadists.

While the original film was tainted with a post-Manson paranoia, the remake has been up-dated to convey a more modern concern – trust. Actually, it’s probably not about trust, but everyone’s super paranoid about “who’s who” these days, that it sort of works.

‘Last House’ is much slicker and easier to watch, not because the scenes where the young girls get hacked to pieces aren’t horrific and heavy, but because we’re made to feel that it’s acceptable to watch the family turn on the baddies mutilating them with the garbage disposals, and making their brains pop with a microwave. It’s taking family values to the next level. And it seems like the thing that pushes them over the edge is the fact the daughter is raped (a major point in both films). The scene is far too long and intense, we get it, it’s rape and it’s bad, we don’t need to watch 5 minutes of it to make us feel uncomfortable and troubled.

‘Last House on The Left’ is a reasonable modern horror film, it makes us feel uncomfortable and uneasy instead of disgusting us with blood and guts, like the old slashers did. The plot is a fairly predictable revenge thriller, with a couple of tense moments, however it doesn’t hold a candle to the original’s eerie psychedelia or paranoia which would have been so much more refreshing.. Ah well, maybe next time.

Emily Paget

Warner Bros
www.benjaminbutton.com

With a screenplay based on the 1921 short story of the same name, the fantasy tale of Benjamin Button is one of the most intriguing, attention grabbing and curious films I have seen in a while. Even before I had watched the film I had heard about the premise and become very inquisitive over how exactly a man could be born with the physical attributes of an 85-year-old and grow up to a newborn baby. Not only how would this work in a story, but also how make up could create such a thing and be believable.

As the story goes, a baby is born with the physical maladies of an elderly man, abandoned by his father at a nursing home (his mother died in childbirth), taken in, raised by Queenie (Taraji P. Henson) and named Benjamin (Brad Pitt). While biologically growing younger, while appearing to be an old man, Benjamin meets a young girl named Daisy (Elle Fanning). He spends his years working on a tugboat, exploring brothels and bars, sending her postcards from his travels. It isn’t until his appearance develops to the age where both are comfortable with each other, things begin to develop and the real significance of the story unravels. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is depicted from his journal read by Daisy’s daughter in 2005.

If you have ever read a book that you couldn’t put down, read it until your eyes went blurry, so desperate to find out what happens without resorting to skipping to the end as you would miss the incredible middle, then you have my exact feelings when watching The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The screenplay is written with such detail, creativity and interest. The way it is told from a journal seemed so fitting as you are given a little glimpse at a time into Benjamin’s life with its effect on Daisy in the present day. The point of the clock going back in time rather than forward symbolising Benjamin’s life was an excellent and very ingenious idea.

The way in which certain scenes are filmed is remarkable and really given detail to make them plausible. Usually in a film that depicts a story over many years, the actors are made to look older; here the complete reverse is given to Pitt. It is incredible how he can be a young boy, in height and mentality while looking to have many more years behind him. He is given wrinkles by the bucket full in his early years, then as he gets older, begins to walk and become more physical they’re gradually removed, like a man with a fantastic night and day wrinkle cream.

The most heart wrenching part of the film is not the beginning about an abandoned baby or his struggles growing up and getting younger as you may expect. How much would you do for the person you love, would you look after them in their old age, or in this case, as they get younger by the day. The end is the stories true tender moment.

I was mesmerised by how well this curious tale unravelled…it was absolutely brilliant!

Michelle Moore

Paramount Pictures
www.transformersmovie.com

From the minute that this second instalment of TRANSFOMERS begins you are thrown in at the deep end, head first into a huge and exciting pool of mayhem, mystery and mind boggling machines.

Growing up and to this day I am still interested in Sci-Fi programmes such as Star Trek and the X-Files as well as films such as Alien, but the Transformers never hit my radar until the 2007 movie hit the big screens. With such a talented cast and narrative string the movie literally grasped your attention and pulled you in. Because of this I was very eager to see what the second film had in store for the future of the Autobots. This instalment starts when Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf), wanting as much of a normal life as possible heads to university. He barely makes it through his first day as he discovers something about the origins of the Transformers and their history on Earth. Revenge of the Fallen goes deeper into this premise, with one battle of an ending with Autobots and humans fighting on one side and the Decepticons on the other for the fate of the Planet.

The first half of the film is shot through various US states, but it the location of the final battle, Egypt, which makes for such an outstanding sight. Aeroplanes and helicopters soaring through the air, firepower blasting from guns as well as machines, things getting blown to pieces and pyramids getting quite a make over.

The designs of the robots in this film are so much more interesting than in the first. Many of the original characters remain such as Optimus Prime, the Autobot leader and Bumblebee, the Autobot who befriended Sam, with the odd new ones for good measure. My favourite has to be the Twins, Mudflap and Skids. They first appear as two ends of a pink and white ice cream van but are quickly upgraded into something a little shinier. These two comic characters as well as Wheelie, a blue radio-controlled toy monster truck can be best imagined as little robotic versions of gremlins. Revenge of the Fallen has a very TV friendly cast including Shia LaBeouf (Even Stevens), Megan Fox (Hope and Faith), Matthew Marsden (Coronation Street) and Isabel Lucas (Home and Away). These are all talented actors, but it was the vocal contribution of Tony Todd as The Fallen that made such an impact. With such a distinctive voice and the fact he has lent it to such memorable characters such as The Candyman, just hearing Todd’s sinister voice sends shivers down your spine.

The Revenge of the Fallen has an incredibly suspenseful, gripping and very fast moving plot line. You may enter the story a couple of years after the original, humans and autobots working alongside each other to protect the secret of the robots, but you are literally grabbed by the toes and thrown into the next battle. There is very little time wasting about moving into university and attending classes before all hell breaks lose. There are a lot of explosions and firepower, but nevertheless a memorable film for the entire family.

Michelle Moore