Hachet - Bringing Back Good ol' Slasher Films

 
What I miss are good ol' fashioned slasher films which were so over the top that you can't help but laugh at it.
Recently, horror films have been too serious with no signs of comic relief - with the exception of Insidious and Insidious 2. Even the new Evil Dead has lost it's stupid allure by dropping Ash's character (I mean, come on! Bruce Campbell is hilarious!) and replacing him with a terrifying, nightmare-inducing character called Mia. These films have just been taking themselves far too seriously and it was about time a movie went against the norm and broke out of the horror movie cliches - by using old horror cliches! Queue cheesy effects, lighting and best of all - the terrible acting. It all adds up to create one great horror film that's not only fun to watch; it's not actually cringe-worthy like films such as Hostel. 
With a tagline of "It's not a remake. It's not a sequel. And it's not based on a Japanese one.", Hatchet is the slasher film I've been looking for. Directed by Adam Green - this gore fest is so over the top that it's funny.
Victor Crowley (portrayed by Friday the 13th legend, Kane Hodder) haunts a swamp marsh and kills anyone in his wake. The elaborate death scenes have buckets of blood spurting out in every direction.
Familiar faces fill the screen such as Freddy Kruger himself, Robert Englund and Dodgeball and Avatar star Joel David Moore.
Despite being called Hatchet however, only one person in the film is killed with a hatchet. This makes me think of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre because only one person is murdered with a chainsaw and only one person is seen with their flesh being cut on screen - Leatherface himself.
The ending of the film works really well as it just cuts to black as Crowley is screaming at the girl he is holding. It works as an ending that not only makes you laugh but makes you feel slightly uneasy as you feel like no-one survived the whole ordeal (until the sequels were released).

Personally, I have not seen the sequels and I'm not entirely interested in watching them either. The second one maybe okay to watch as it's directed by Adam Green again. However, the third has a different director and he has applied a scarier look to Crowley which is not how the film should be.  
Reviewing the comments online for this movie, I feel people have completely missed the point. This. Film. Is. Not. Meant. To. Be Scary. It is a complete piss-take - it's not serious at all! 
If you want to watch a funny horror film that feel a lot like 70s and 80s horror then watch this movie. It's perfect for all your stupid horror needs. Here's the trailer... If you think it's serious - watch the whole film and see for yourself.

 

Synopsis For Short Film

A girl’s mother has passed away and she is packing up her stuff to leave and start a new life.  She looks through old photos and smiles tearfully at the memories and the nostalgia she feels. As she is packing up the stuff she comes across a doll which looks broken and at the end of its life – she throws it away and then remembers another box of stuff upstairs. When she gets downstairs she finds the doll on the sofa – slightly confused but thinking she only imagined that she threw it away, she puts it in the bin again. This time when she walks out the room the doll is on the floor – she checks the bin to see if she’s hallucinating or something but she is not. She then gets a nose bleed from looking at the doll. She decides to smash up the doll but after doing so she finds it back in her mum’s stuff. The girl gets a sudden throbbing pain in her head – she becomes scared and runs outside only to be hit by a car.

Farewell Charlie Power - Short Film Response

Farewell Charlie Power is a short drama film made by postgraduate students.
It depicts a learning disabled adult who still lives with his elderly parents. He accidentally kills his dad and his mother struggles to live with him.
I liked the short but I didn't like it as much as the others. It was well acted and quite heartbreaking when it came to the father's death. It made me feel uncomfortable when he dug up his father, bathed him and stuck him back in his bedroom to surprise his mother.
I liked the ending - a happy ending is always a good ending. It was an enjoyable short film and I would like to see more from the students who made it as it was beautifully shot; it actually felt like a real film or TV show.

Indecision - Short Film Response

Indecision is a short comical film by postgraduate students.
The film depicts a man who is deciding to break up with his girlfriend which is being narrated by a man. As he walks off it portrays how indecisive the male character is and then proceeds to do this interesting 360 degree camera movement. It then ends with the man's legs in one scene and his head in another - symbolising his indecision. And then the tide decides to come in even though he hasn't decided whether to come or go.
I found this film extremely funny because I wasn't expecting his legs to just be poking out of the ground as the camera was spinning between the two scenes. I thought it was a nice touch that as he was stuck between the two scenes the woman had left symbolising the fact that she had moved on.
I think this short film is very interesting and fun.

The Forgotten Hit - Short Film Response

The Forgotten Hit is a short mystery film by undergraduate students.
The film depicts a man waking up in the middle of the forest with amnesia. He finds a gun and soon after a man who has been shot and killed. Upon finding his wallet he soon discovers that this man is in fact the target of a hitman who he was sent to kill. He finds a car and works out where to find this persons wife who wanted the hit called off. He shoots and kills her only to find out that she is in fact his wife. He actually managed to disarm and kill his assailant who took his wallet. He panicked and hit his head on a rock which caused his amnesia.
I quite liked this film as it had a well thought out non-linear narrative. It reminds me of this other film I've seen called Wrecked which stars Adrien Brody. It used music very well and the closed narrative helped to keep the audience hooked and keep watching.
The only problem I had was that a hitman would be wearing gloves when he goes into a target's house and kill them.

Se7en - Narrative Theory

Se7en is 1991 psychological horror movie which stars Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. It was directed by David Fincher.
 
This is as a closed narrative movie. This is because we do not know who the killer is and why he is performing such awful crimes. We know as much as the detectives do at any moment which adds to the suspense of the film. This is because we don't know if they've missed something and when they notice that they have, the surprise is also given to us. If this film was open narrative I don't think it would of had the same effect because we would know why John Doe (Kevin Spacey) was killing these people and also we'd know the victims. Knowing who the victims are would ruin the twist and shock ending and would make the film quite mediocre in my opinion.
The first murder was revealed to the audience as a simple killing; it's only a few scenes later when we find out this crime had a motive and there should be 6 more murders to follow (according to the Seven Deadly Sins).
The sins are given to us in the order of gluttony, greed, sloth, lust and pride before they actually manage to detain Doe. What is confusing to the audience is how he gives himself up very easily in the lobby of a busy building. He's covered in blood and is not hiding himself when before he was. This then makes it obvious that this is part of his master plan to kill of the sins.
However, before the 4th murder - lust - Detective David Mills (Brad Pitt) and Detective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) manage to track down John Doe and get to his apartment. A fight then ensues causing Mills to become angry and sloppy with his chase - giving Doe the upper hand. Doe has a chance to kill Mills but only pistol whips him instead. In a weird way, this could be a foreshadowing to the ending because to Doe all this isn't over yet - even when he is in prison.
As it was a sort of murder mystery movie - it followed a lot of conventions which are present in the crime genre. For example, the crime scenes which were explicitly graphic and quite horrific. They included such conventions as evidence, blood and police. This makes it obvious to the audience that something horrible has happened and what the genre actually is.
In conclusion, the narrative for Se7en is quite clever as if everything was known the film would not have the same effect as it does because it is a closed narrative.

New interest - Maleficent

A while ago - maybe even last year - I heard about a new live-action Disney film being released called Maleficent. The announcement came with this teaser poster which gave people a feel of how the movie would look:-
 
  At first, I was quite apprehensive at the thought of Angelina Jolie playing such an iconic Disney villain as I don't think that she's as great as everyone makes her out to be (and seeing as she ruined one of my favourite game characters - Lara Croft).
However, recently, the film's trailer has been released - showing us not only Maleficent but our original heroine Princess Aurora (played by the brilliant Elle Fanning). The art, set and costume design seems beautifully thought out and quite extravagant for a live-action movie and I hope it all falls into place because after seeing the trailer I am really interested in giving this film a watch.
 
Being a fan of the original Sleeping Beauty, a re-imagining is quite an exciting idea and if pulled off well this movie will be another Disney classic. I reckon that Maleficent will end up being either at least a PG as it is coming from the antagonist's point of view and not our protagonist (which again is an interesting spin on such a family movie).
This is the recent trailer that has been released:-

I think this shows enough for the audience to get a feel of how Jolie will portray the character. I think she has the monotone voice down and her demeanor seems very sinister and this has made me feel better about the casting choice.
My only criticism is how much Disney is milking the fact that they have such a big star like Angelina Jolie for their movie. It's rather irritating to see after a while.

Se7en - Film Response

Se7en is a 1991 psychological thriller directed by David Fincher. It stars Morgan Freeman as Detective William Somerset and Brad Pitt as Detective David Mills. It has an 18 certificate rating.
 
This is the second time I've seen this movie and I enjoyed watching it this time round because I could pick out things that I had never noticed before. For example, when they catch John Doe (Kevin Spacey), they say that they find 3 traces of blood - one which is unidentified. This obviously is a foreshadowing of the shocking ending which went down in cinematic history.
I find that the movie is very dark and it is successfully portrayed through Fincher's brilliant direction.
Personally, I think the most horrible crimes in the movie are the sloth and lust murders. Sloth because it actually turns out that the person is still alive but in a horrible condition. And the lust murder because - well, that would be any girl's worst nightmare.
The story is intricately thought out and succeeds in intriguing the audience effectively.
Morgan Freeman plays a great role in being a nearly retired detective. He's believable and you can see his struggle along with Mills and his attitude. Brad Pitt is good at portraying the angry detective Mills. He plays it so well in my opinion that you don't actually see the ending coming until maybe minutes before.
Kevin Spacey is very menacing as the terrifying John Doe and I think he is perfect for the villain type role.
All in all a good movie that I would rate 4.5/5 stars.

How do props create meaning and understanding in Watchmen?

Watchmen (2009) is a dark superhero film directed by Zack Snyder. It stars Jackie Earle Haley and Patrick Wilson.

This film has a number of props which are significant to the narrative and to the characters but one prop trumps the rest. The smiley face badge that The Comedian wears is arguably the most important prop in the whole movie.

This contextual prop is The Comedian’s possession and trademark as he is known to be a joker but this also can be viewed as ironic because the character is very dark and hid it behind jokes.

We see blood drip onto the badge indicating how The Comedian died while still lying that everything is “just a joke.” The blood stain implies how darkness can corrupt even the best of people and it obviously got to The Comedian in the end.

The small and seemingly insignificant badge is found on the pavement by Rorschach an acquaintance of Edward Blake (AKA the Comedian). This reflects the fact that his death may have been small and insignificant to the world but the Watchmen and all the people close to him this all pinpoints how awful and wrong his death was. All his colleagues focus on making him and this badge very important to the narrative of the film.

The badge is also seen as a variation of a belt during a scene which involves sexual assault. This can also reflect back to the point of irony within the image of the smiley face.

How does costume and make-up create meaning and understanding in Young Frankenstein?

Young Frankenstein is a 1974 dark comedy movie starring Gene Wilder and Marty Feldman. It was directed by Mel Brooks.

The costume within the film plays an important part as it conducts what we perceive about Frederick Frankenstein.

The film starts off with Victor Frankenstein’s grandson, Frederick, teaching a biology class in what seems to be a medical school or some sort of university. He is seen wearing a 3-piece suit in dark colours with a bright white lab coat which could indicate the darkness within him that he’s trying to conceal. The suit and lab coat could also imply how he is well educated and how he is an educated man. He’s also well groomed which implies that he is rather wealthy and is quite well off.

It is quite a contrast when later on (during the re-animation of the creature scene) he has a light amount of eye liner on which makes his eyes look crazy and uncivilised. His hair becomes scruffy indicating his decent into madness and insanity. He again has his lab coat to show that he’s good at his field of expertise in biology but (again) he has the black underneath to show the darkness of his activities. (He is re-animating dead body parts!)

The costume, overall, subtly indicates to the audience the mental state of Wilder’s character. When he is calm and sane – he is well groomed. When he’s going slightly mad – he’s messy with his appearance. His clothes also reflect his educated background. 

How is the setting used to create meaning and understanding in Close Encounters of the Third Kind?

Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a Steven Spielberg movie made in 1977 starring Richard Dreyfuss.

In the film, the Devils Tower is an extremely important setting as the aliens imprint the image of this place within certain people’s minds. The Devils Tower is situated in the plains of Wyoming which means that it’s quite an isolated landmark. This can loosely relate to Area 51 as that is in an isolated place and is supposedly known for dealing with extra-terrestrials.

By the Devils Tower is a landing runway for the aliens to land on. This means that it had been there a long time or the aliens knew it was going to happen as the image of the Tower had been put into those whom the aliens reached out to. This runway is surrounded by many people and high tech equipment which implies that it’s government/professional procedure.

When the alien ship opens out, there is nothing but bright whiteness that comes out of it. This can be interpreted in many ways such as they are the bringers of hope and light as they are not from our world. Another way it can be interpreted is how mysterious the unknown species is. The audience cannot see into the UFO which makes the beings seem a little bit more intimidating and sinister.

In conclusion, the setting in Close Encounters brings a sense of mystery and confusion much like what the characters on screen are feeling at the sight of the UFO.

Misery - Detail how the main characters (Annie Wilkes and Paul Sheldon) are established through the mise-en-scene in the film Misery (1990)

Rob Reiner's Misery (based on the Stephen King novel of the same name) is a psychological-thriller film made in 1990. The film features the two main characters - Paul Sheldon (James Caan), an intelligent and successful writer who is bored of writing his famous book series and Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), a former nurse who has a crazy obsession with Sheldon's work.

Using mise-en-scene, we soon discover that Wilkes is the antagonist in this movie, although, at first our views are distorted about her as we think she is there solely to help Sheldon recover from his car accident. However, when she discovers Sheldon, we do not see her face only her body which is completely dressed in black. Black has connotations of death, darkness and despair. The contrast between that and the snow is quite striking but is also subtle enough to fool the audience. It then becomes an enigma as to why this random stranger has decided to risk their own life and save this man.
The binary opposition of Wilkes, the protagonist, Sheldon, is dressed in white hospital patients clothing, this indicates his vulnerability throughout the movie and his different personality to Annie. Wilkes is generally dressed in dark coloured cardigans with neatly combed hair. This implies that she has everything under control; only when Sheldon begins to get better does she let her hair become messy. She knows he's going to leave and she can't handle it - Wilkes is no longer in control. Again, her hair becomes neater when she breaks Paul's feet. Also, Sheldon has cuts and scars on his face which is obviously from his car accident.
In flashbacks, Paul wears smart-casual clothing to show his status within the book industry. He's important but he's not actually part of the publishing company and this is reflected through his choice of clothing.

The film begins with Sheldon in a hotel, finishing his book; which has rather low-key lighting much like in Annie's house. It's only in the flashbacks when high-key lighting becomes present to show the contrast between present and past.
Wilkes takes Sheldon to a farm house in the middle of nowhere. At first, this seems safe as he's being cared for but then it becomes apparent that it is in complete isolation and he cannot escape. This also reflects Sheldon's isolation in the movie as he has no way of contacting the outside world.

There isn't many other places that involve the main characters but there is a police station looking for the missing Paul Sheldon. 

There are many important props that are important to Sheldon's character which include champagne, cigarette and a match. He uses these to celebrate completing the first draft of the books he is writing. The match becomes important later on in the film because Wilkes makes him burn his draft of his most recent book. Then ultimately he burns the new book he writes for Wilkes instigating the final fight for survival. 

The figure expression from both characters is rather interesting whether it be Sheldon's sarcastic nature or Wilkes' crazed facial expressions. At first, Annie is motherly, kind and caring but as the film progresses we see that she's just psychotically happy and fake. She's infatuated with Paul and his writing. Paul has a mixture of relief and fear which is stereotypical for those who have been abducted. Although he's frightened he's relieved that she has not killed him yet. We empathise with Sheldon because we have all been in a state of vulnerability and have had to trust others to help care for us. 

In conclusion, Misery has a dark narrative in which the protagonist is subjected to horrible situations. The contrast between the characters are shown through lighting, clothing and figure expression.

How is the character of Pinkie established with the use of mise-en-scene?

Mise-en-scene is everything that is placed in front of the camera which is there to set emotions and themes for the audience. This includes setting; lighting; costume and make up; figure expression and props.

Mise-en-scene is used to establish the character of Pinkie in Brighton Rock by the use of costume. He generally wears a suit and a trench coat. The coat has a popped collar which hides his face. This indicates that he is a mysterious character who is hiding himself from people as in reality he is part of the "mob". He has a slicked back hair style which can mean that he is all about the business.

Also, the use of lighting can reflect on the character. Most of the time, Pinkie is hidden in the shadows and if he's not - he's hiding behind his popped collar. This shows that he is not open to people and doesn't want to interact with others much. When he murders a man, the lighting goes from bright to dark which is known as a pathetic fallacy. This means that something bad has happened/is going to happen in the future.

Pinkie is also shown to be dangerous because of the things he carries around with him. He's seen wielding a switchblade which symbolises who he is. He's obviously part of the underground and dangerous groups in Brighton but he has to keep this hidden from day to day people - a lot like the knife. It looks okay until the blade pops out.

The setting is ironic. Brighton is considered a happy and bright place but this film has very dark themes and ideas. There is a scene in which Pinkie is murdering a man underneath the Brighton Pier while everyone goes about their average lives.
In conclusion, Pinkie is a very dark character who is a bit of a maverick. He's erratic and doesn't think about his actions but he is very dangerous and can and will hurt a person if he needs too.

What is your favourite film?

Personally, I can't decide on just one film, so some of my favourite films include Fight Club; Watchmen; Psycho; Airplane; American History X; Jaws; The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and Young Frankenstein.

Who is your favourite actor?

Again, I find it difficult to pick just one as these actors have amazing skill and talent. These people are Gene Wilder; Leslie Nielsen; Edward Norton; Jennifer Lawrence and Cary Grant.

Who is your favourite director?

My favourite director is David Fincher.

What is your favourite British film?

My favourite British film is Monty Python and The Holy Grail.

Why did you choose film studies?

I chose film studies because I love watching movies and learning about the process of filming. I enjoy expanding my knowledge on actors, writers and directors.