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Reviews
Murder Party (2007)
Astonishingly Witty little Black Comedy that reveals talent & intelligence
Having just read a review that describes this as a "Jerseyites view of the NY art scene", that is both astonishingly patronising (the whole point of the movie,idiot!)and unbelievably "jejeune" (wink), I have to say how much I love this film.
"Indie" cinema has been relegated to either a kickstart for the career of a middling celebrity, or a vacuum for self referentialism or schlock."Murder Party" is neither: it is witty,genuinely left field, and kind of touching. It is black-as-black comedy rarely performed well nowadays.
A hapless,lonely but genuinely nice,traffic warden on Halloween gets captured by a group of desparado wannabe celeb artists, after responding to a "murder party" advert. They desperately want to impress a local art impresario,Alexander, by performing a murder on camera as art. I will not ruin this for you but I will tempt: the rest involves sex,drugs, a dog called hellhammer "who is part dingo", unrequited love, a Belarussian drug dealer, a fry cook, sodium pentathol and "truth and dare", and of all things, vinegar. Not tempting enough?;a brilliant reference to "The Warriors" and a Horror mask that becomes reality...note "electric chainsaw".It stabs pretension and Genre expectation with equal abandon. Closest thing to John Waters I've seen for years.
This really needs to be seen. Well acted and incredibly well made. Oh yeah, its also incredibly funny. Low budget with few locations or tricks, and shot on DV so most DVD companies passed, and it was released in the UK by a company famous for SOV tackathons. Not fair, it's brilliant and better than anything Kevin Smith has done for a decade. If You see it on the shelf, Make it a cult.
L'ultimo treno della notte (1975)
Decent Italian take on "Last House..."...Good flick!
This movie is well worth at least one look:yes,it is a variation (rip-off)of Last house,but it does have a few surprises and arguably,a stronger theme than Last House;there is a definite anti fascist ,left leaning sensibility to this film,underlying its more European take on the "Us and them "idea behind Last house.
Firstly,its really well made.If you've seen Lado's Gialli ,you'll know hes no hack,but he sets scenes really well.The scenes on the train have a insular,outward looking feel,as though you are really trapped inside looking at the world flowing by the windows.
Thematically,the two films are VERY similar;two ultra middle class girls (more worldly than their square parents know)get involved with two scumbags,Blackie and er...his junkie friend (cant remember his name).Sorry,THREE scumbags,as Macha Merill,middle class but a deviant,joins in as the two girls are trapped on an overnight train,en route to a family Christmas.Rape,torment,and retribution follow,as you damn well expect.
Anyway,its not as brutal as last house.The rape and revenge stuff is strong (enough for it to be banned here,anyway)but its quite a dark film nonetheless:its very influenced by Pasolini.Hence,the middle class are twisted deviants who exploit the working class to get their fun.Its Macha Merill who is the real villain here,not Blackie,enjoying the twisted stuff to fulfill her libertinism,as the ending (no spoilers)reveals.Shes good in this film,too.
The bad?the theme song is awful.Seriously.I played this on my laptop and at first I thought the speakers had melted,the singer warbles so much.Awful.I hope Morricone had nothing to do with it.The actings so-so,I liked Blackie anyway.Cute Irene Miracle is one of the girls.The parent figures are really dull...and the Dads a doctor!How blatant is that!
I dug the humour of the film too:in one scene in the train a young priest notices that the rummy old Cardinal is slyly winking at him;he turns to another priest who says "Oh its just a nervous tic".But in the best scene,Blackie discovers a carriage full of old ex-Nazis singing a fascist marching song(the film is set in Germany and Italy).He sneaks in and shouts "Heil Hitler" to which all the old chaps jump up and shout "Heil" in response.I liked it anyway.i think it reveals a lot about the films idea that perversion is always under the surface,in the most respectable of places.
This is one of the few nasties I never tracked down on copied VHS,so its great to see it so pristine and clear.It could easily get released now in the UK;but they would probably cut the scene where Merill gets raped and enjoys it,totally taboo for the BBFC,especially in a non art-house flick (total hypocrisy of course)as they did with House on the edge of the Park.The scene with the knife would get axed as well,if you see the film you'll understand.All readers in Countries where people can make up their own mind,check it out now!
N.B has now been released with an uncut 18 certificate by shameless in the UK. What a dunce I sound like now...