stigdu99-52-293555 Reviews

Inside No. 9: Wuthering Heist (2021) Season 6, Episode 1

Genius

[9/10 · 11 May 2021]

Pathos? Check. Knob gags? Check. Bloody violence? Check. Slapstick comedy, innuendoes and silly one liners? Check, check and check.

Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith once again prove the genius they possess with this brilliant introductory episode to Series 6 of Inside No. 9. It's like a 'best of' with all of the above, plus the kitchen sink thrown in, and you know what? It works. Performances are absolutely spot on (with Shearsmith stealing the show as Scaramouche for me), lines delivered with pinpoint dead-on timing ("Trinidad & Tobago" had me in stitches") and of course, a twist which, with the exception of 'Love's Great Adventure', we all expect to come, and either shocks, surprises or amazes us.

Sure, the fourth wall gets broken more often than a load of crockery in a china shop when there's a bull in there, and sure, some of the one liners are blatantly landing in 'dad joke' territory, but it's all just done with such panache and invention, that I for one can't wait to see what Simon Says next week.

9/10.

The Green Inferno (2013)

Decent hark back to the 80s cannibal gut-munchers

[6/10 · 18 October 2015]

I wouldn't say I'm a huge fan of Eli Roth, but I'm not one of his detractors either. Cabin Fever didn't do too much for me, and after reading the previews of it and how Roth was the new name to watch in horror, I came away a little disappointed.

To this end, I wasn't expecting much of his next feature, Hostel, but was blown away by it. Tense, graphic, shocking, well-acted and with a group of guys you actually grew to care about and root for when the going got pretty extreme. After Hostel, I definitely considered Roth a name to watch.

Then came Hostel 2, and it felt more like a re-tread of Hostel (with a few additional behind-the-scenes embellishments of why and how the crazy Eastern Europeans were doing what they were doing) with young women as the protagonists rather than young men. It felt a little more mean-spirited, and a little more 'shock for shock's sake' than the original.

*POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD* The Green Inferno is Roth making his 'love letter' to Ruggero Deodato, director of the infamous 'video nasty' Cannibal Holocaust. While he's modernised it by having the protesters film everything on their mobile phones, everything else seems pretty faithful to CH and follows in its footsteps whilst treading its own splattery path.

I disagree with some of the reviewers on here who have said that the comedy took away from the tension, and that it is poorly, or rather, cheaply, made. There wasn't actually all that much comedy in the film, and we're not talking 'slapping the thigh' or rib-tickling guffaws either, merely a small handful of moments of dry humour to alleviate the tension.

*SPOILERS AHEAD* For 5 million dollars, it looks pretty good to my eyes, bar the slightly ropey-looking plane crash. The lush greens of the jungle, the red and yellow painted skin of the tribe, and the red blood which flows freely all looked great, and really pop out of the screen.

The gorehounds among you won't be disappointed either, with Nicotero and Berger's doing some excellent FX work.

One character meets a particularly graphic and grisly death. I would have felt quite sick, were it not for the ridiculousness of it all in this scene, in that he survives having both his eyes gouged out, his tongue cut out, and all 4 limbs hacked off (I think the decapitation finally did him in, though).

*END OF SPOILERS* My wife watched it with me, and she hates horror films. Even she thought it was pretty good and was glued to the screen throughout.

If you don't like Roth, then I don't think this film is going to make you change your opinion of him. But if you give him a chance, I think you'll come out of this one pleasantly surprised.

ABCs of Death 2 (2014)

More consistent and horrifying than the first

[7/10 · 16 January 2015]

I liked the original ABCs of Death. I loved the idea, and have seen quite a few of the directors' work. Unfortunately, it seems some of the directors approached didn't get the memo, and gave very little effort in their submissions. G for Gravity and M for Miscarriage spring to mind. Then you have your wild/crazy efforts like F,J,W and Z which I wasted minutes of my life watching.

The good news is that the ABCs of Death 2 is far more consistent in the quality. It starts strong with 'A' by E.L.Katz, an amusing tale of a hit-gone-wrong (or has it?) and carried on with great gusto and a well-paced mix of both fun ('B') and dread ('C' and 'D'). In fact, by the time you get to 'Q' during the second half of the film, the quality is almost totally improved and maintains a high level until the film ends.

And what an ending.

'Z' is not just (in my humble opinion) the best short film of the bunch, but also one of the best short films I've ever seen. I wouldn't eat during this one if I were you, and I'd turn all the lights out as well. Be prepared to be thoroughly shocked. It's not quite as disgusting as 'L for Libido' from the first film (my favourite short of that bunch), but is a quite unique take on motherhood and features some quite remarkable, and disgusting, special effects, all of which I think I believe were done by the director in his own living room!

I'll summarise the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, so to speak:

The Great: AZ The very Good: BCFJKRSV The OK: DEGHIMNOQTUWXY The downright ugly: LP

So for your money, you get 2 excellent shorts, 2 awful ones, and the rest are all decent. That's a pretty good run for an anthology-style film like this, I think. :)