TV Review - Dead Set 9*

This is by the way of being a double review, as well as watching the excellent Channel 4 mini-series Dead Set I viewed it via a free month's introductory subscription to Netflix.  I don't watch much television, and I hardly ever get to the cinema, largely due to being at work when anything worth watching is on.  The Netflix advantage of being able to watch programmes on my laptop without being tied to recordings on the Sky box at home seems like a good idea.

So far I have seen a selection of films; The Devil Came On Horseback - a harrowing documentary about the Janjaweed in the Sudan, The Woodsman - Kevin Bacon stars as a convicted paedophile struggling to adjust on his release from prison, Black Sheep - horror and laughs as flesh eating mutant sheep run riot in New Zealand, Ghost World - a nicely quirky and offbeat drama where Thora Birch's high school drop out becomes increasingly infatuated with oddball Steve Buscemi, and Dead Set.  Netflix is currently priced at £6 a month, rather less than a single visit to the cinema and pretty good value.

Jaime Winston as Kelly in Dead Set

Charlie Brooker wrote the script for Dead Set and set the tone for the rather extreme gore fest when he said "There's no point making a 15-certificate zombie flick. Money shots, that's what you want. And that's what you'll get. I sincerely hope some of you vomit."  Dead Set is violent and gory, incredibly so, from smashing a zombie skull in with a fire extinguisher to seeing Davina McCall getting her throat ripped out, it's a full on bloodbath all the way.

There are two sorts of accepted zombies now, the stumbling and slow Dawn Of The Deaders, and the much more terrifying running, screaming, tireless 28 Days Later monsters, Brooker has opted for the latter. The relentless zombie horde, which appear with no explanation, are truly scary in their unstoppable quest for fresh flesh.

Although the scripting for Dead Set is mostly very high quality, there are one or two moments that let the series down a little.  The incident with the armed policemen felt like a pointless and arbitrary caricature of the police, Kathleen MacDermott's endlessly stupid character Pippa became a bit wearing, and Andy Nyman's portrayal of Big Brother director Patrick was a little over the top in places.  On the positive side though, Jaime Winston as Kelly was great throughout and Liz May Brice, Riz Ahmed and Warren Brown provided very believable supporting roles.

The action comes thick, fast and gore drenched, Brooker inverts the whole ethos of Big Brother from having (to the contestant's minds) the whole world looking in they become an island amidst the horror, looking out for salvation. Brooker has his characters muse on the fickle nature of talent free fame, sometimes in darkly comic style and as the zombie horde closes in on the Big Brother house we are reminded that even with the world reversed in the throes of a zombie holocaust the Big Brother contestants are in demand not because they offer anything special, singular, intellectually stimulating or creatively exciting, but just because they are alive.  Fresh flesh for zombies or fresh faces for the easily amused watching public, Dead Set neatly underlines the nature of these forgettable and fleeting celebrities.

Thale (2012) - Official Trailer [HD]

JUAN OF THE DEAD (2011) - Official Trailer

100 Greatest Horror Movie Quotes of All Time

The Countdown Thing

FAVORITE HORROR, HORROR/THRILLER, OR HORROR-TINGED FILMS I SAW IN 2011

This list is inspired by Wiwat Lertwiwatwongsa.
http://filmsick.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/856/

Many films in this list are not horror films, but they are films with just a tinge of horror or nightmare in it.

1.HUSK (2011, Brett Simmons)

2.INSIDIOUS (2010, James Wan)

3.PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 (2011, Henry Joost + Ariel Schulman)

4.ONIBABA (1964, Kaneto Shindo)

5.IMAGINATION (จิน ต) (2010, Somsak Tepmalai)

6.LADDALAND (2011, Sophon Sakdaphisit, Thailand)

7.LIGHTS OUT (2010, Fabrice Gobert)

8.WHEN FEAR STRIKES (QUAND VIENT LA PEUR) ( 2010, Élisabeth Rappeneau, miniseries)

9.SCREAM 4 (2011, Wes Craven)

10.THE WOMB IN AQUARIUM (มดลูกในตู้ปลา) (2010, Napat Treepalawisetkun)

11.MIZU (2010, Teerath Wangwisarn)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdRpc3VrnGU

12.WHAT!!! (สิ่งประหลาดในสวนหลังบ้าน) (2011, Prempapan Plittapolkranpim)

13.DANGEROUS SUMMER (ฤดูร้อนที่อันตราย) (2010, Thattapol Rachnok)

14.THAT NIGHT (2011, Krit Kittikornrat)

15.VANISHING ON 7TH STREET (2010, Brad Anderson)

16.BIRD NEEDS BB (เบิร์ดอยากได้บีบี) (2011, Meathus Sirinawin)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QREhHlOk9iI

17.DEPARTURE (2011, Wuttikorn Skulsaknimit, video installation)

18.BLOOD FOR DRACULA (1974, Paul Morrissey)

19.THE CHILLING HOURS AND THE MURDERER IN THE NUMBING SILENCE (โมงยามอันยะเยือกและผู้ร้ายฆ่าคนในความเงียบนิ่งงัน) (2010, Tani Thitiprawat)

20.SPIRIT DE NOIR (2011, Pichet Smerchua)

21.RED LOTUS POND (NONG BUA DANG) (1973, Sor Asanajinda, Thailand)

22.ONE NIGHT IN GAY MOVIE PRODUCTION CLUB (ซอมบี้ขยี้ตุ๊ด) (2010, Somsak Sonphaeng)

23.DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (2010, Troy Nixey)

24.KARMA (กามา) (2010, Pachara Yang)

25.THE WARD (2010, John Carpenter)

26.DOUBLE ENQUÊTE (2010, Pierre Boutron, miniseries)

27.SHARK NIGHT 3D (2011, David R. Ellis)

28.LES OUBLIÉES (FORGOTTEN GIRLS) (2007, Hervé Hadmar, miniseries)

29.THE DARKNESS (2011, Arisara Poolvoralaks, Thailand, 15 min)

30.V (2010, Thee Boonkreangkai)

My list of 31 favorite horror films
http://celinejulie.blogspot.com/2007/10/31-horror-films.html


My list of 30 favorite Thai short films with ghosts
http://celinejulie.blogspot.com/2010/09/favorite-thai-short-films-with-ghosts.html

Spooky Julie's Snuff Tape by Release The Bats

N


NSFW in all sorts of ways.

JSDREAM.8 (2011, Feyyaz, Germany, A++++++++++)

http://vimeo.com/34096103

Two Minute Zombie Movie

Too Late from Side Films

Baaa

First it's a lamb, then apparently John Carpenter gets hold of it. Who can sleep soundly after seeing this ?

World of the Dead: Zombie Diaries 2 trailer

THE CINDERELLA (2011, Saravuth Intaraprom, A)

I like the article written by Anusorn Tipayanon in Bioscope Magazine Issue 114 (May 2011) very much. This article is about the horror film THE CINDERELLA (หนังผี) (2011, Saravuth Intaraprom, A). I think I even like this article more than the film.

What I like in THE CINDERELLA includes:

1.It really looks like a grade-B film.

2.The performance of Anchalee Saisoontorn (WONDERFUL TOWN, PANATIPATA)

3.The scene in which Anchalee tries to "perform" to deceive the serial killer.

4.The opening sequence.

5.How the film exploits male actors.

6. If I remember it correctly, there is a poster of MIMIC (1997, Guillermo Del Toro, A-) in this film. I think the inclusion of this poster is very apt.


Saravuth has also directed BOYFRIEND THE MOVIE (2007, B+), CROC (2008, A+), BORING LOVE (2009, A-), and THE SNOW WHITE (2010, A+/A). BOYFRIEND and BORING LOVE are gay films. THE SNOW WHITE and THE CINDERELLA are horror films. CROC is a gay horror film. I think I prefer his horror films to his gay films because his films lack "the human elements". I mean his characters don't really look like "human beings" to me. There is something crude in how he treats his characters. This weak point is a very important thing in gay films, but it is not an important thing in a horror film.

This photo shows Siwawat Suppinyo and Haris Nopparit, two supporting actors in THE CINDERELLA.

More photos from THE CINDERELLA can be viewed from the link below:
http://www.magazinedee.com/webboard/webboardpreview.php?id=38279

SCREAM 4 (2011, Wes Craven, A+)

I think the film is extremely entertaining for me. My most favorite scene is the opening scene. The structure of this opening scene is very interesting.

Wes Craven is still an expert in creating tense situations in an ordinary house. The characters in SCREAM 4 run for their lives in an ordinary house, like in many of his films, including MY SOUL TO TAKE (2010, A+/A). I have seen scenes like this for a hundred times, but I'm still excited by them. I should have been bored by this kind of cliche, but I'm not. I have to thank Wes Craven for it.

However, in the end I think Wes Craven still can't transcend himself or the standard horror/thriller genre. The ending is too neat. Everything is explained. The killer has time to explain everything, including the motivation, before the film ends. I'm a little bit bored by this kind of "ending", but I'm not sure whose fault it is. Is it the fault of Wes Craven, the screenwriter, or the producer? Who "ordered" that this film must end like this?

Watching SCREAM 4 somehow reminds me of many films adapted from Agatha Christie's novels, because these films are also extremely entertaining and extremely exciting, but all the excitement seems to evaporate when we know who the killer is, when we know his/her motivation, when everything is explained.

My problem with SCREAM 4 and Agatha Christie's films may result from the fact that they seem to pay the most attention to the question "Who did it? And why?" And after we know the answers to these questions, there are too few things left on our minds.

As entertaining and exciting as it is, SCREAM 4 lacks one thing I like in many films—the "disturbing" quality.

Agatha Christie's films also lack the disturbing quality, too. This is in contrast to films adapted from novels by Ruth Rendell or Patricia Highsmith. Mary Higgins Clark, Christie, Rendell, Highsmith, and Georges Simenon all wrote about crimes. But most films adapted from the novels of Clark and Christie do not disturb me, because they pay attention to the question "Who did it?" Some films made from the novels of Rendell, Highsmith, and Simenon disturb me, for example, LA CÉRÉMONIE (1995, Claude Chabrol), THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY (1999, Anthony Minghella), JUSQU' À L'ENFER (2009, Denis Malleval), because they don't pay attention to the question "Who did it?", though they are also about crimes. I think Rendell, Highsmith and Simenon can dig deeply into the dark side of human beings, and that makes their films more interesting, more disturbing, more unforgettable.

I think SCREAM 4 suffers from the same problems found in Agatha Christie's films. SCREAM 4 is as good as it can be as a standard horror/thriller film, but as for "films about serial killers", I may prefer such films as BAISE-MOI (2000, Virginie Despentes + Coralie Trinh Thi), FUNNY GAMES (1997, Michael Haneke), HORSEMEN (2009, Jonas Åkerlund), PEEPING TOM (1960, Michael Powell), SOMBRE (1998, Philippe Grandrieux), THE STRANGERS (2008, Bryan Bertino),TENDERNESS (2009, John Polson), THE WITCH (2009, Alwa Ritsila), and WOLF CREEK (2005, Greg Mclean), because they are more disturbing.

THE WITCH (2009, Alwa Ritsila)

http://vimeo.com/14085858

The problem about "neat ending" or the ending "when every problem is solved" can be found in some Thai films, too.

I like LADY MINA: VAMPIRE HUNTER (2011, Ninart Boonpothong, stage play, A), THE MICROCHIP (2011, Krissanapong Ratchatha, A+/A), and HAZART (2011, Pornchai Hongrattanaporn, A+/A) very much, because I think they talk about the current political problems of Thailand.

Since the political problems of Thailand are not solved yet, I like it very much that LADY MINA: VAMPIRE HUNTER and THE MICROCHIP do not end by having every problem solved.

Unfortunately, HAZART seems to end by having every problem solved, so I'm not sure if its ending is appropriate or not, if you choose to view this film from a political angle.

FILM WISH LIST: FADE TO BLACK (1980, Vernon Zimmerman)

I like SCREAM TRIOGY very much, so I want to see FADE TO BLACK, because it is also about a serial killer and has many references to old films, such as DRACULA (1931, Tod Browning), THE MUMMY (1932, Karl Freund), KISS OF DEATH (1947, Henry Hathaway), WHITE HEAT (1949, Raoul Walsh), HOPALONG CASSIDY (1952-1954, TV series) and PSYCHO (1960, Alfred Hitchcock).

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080711/movieconnections

Vernon Zimmerman seems to be very interesting. I also want to see LEMON HEARTS (1961) by Zimmerman very much.

Here is what Jonas Mekas wrote about LEMON HEARTS (1961, Vernon Zimmerman) in 1962:

"RON RICE. VERNON ZIMMERMAN. THE POETRY OF THE ABSURD.

THE FLOWER THIEF (1960) by Ron Rice, and LEMON HEARTS (1961) by Vernon Zimmerman, are two of the latest and most successful examples of post-PULL MY DAISY cinema. Both are made with the utmost creative freedom, with the utmost disrespect for the "professional" camera, plot, character conventions. They merge and combine the spontaneous cinema of PULL MY DAISY, the freedom of the image of Brakhage, the "uncleanliness" of action painting, the theater of Happenings (Kaprow) and the sense of humor of Zen. Their imagination, coming from deeply "deranged" and liberated senses, is boundless. Nothing is forced in these films. They rediscover the poetry and wisdom of the irrational, of nonsense, of the absurd—the poetry that comes from regions that are beyond all intelligence, the regions of ZÉRO DE CONDUITE, of FIREWORKS, of DESISTFILM.

Nevertheless, the materials with which they create are embedded in reality. Didn't Rimbaud write his ILLUMINATIONS out of the burning, intensified reality of his own life? Such are the lives of the modern film poets. With their own lives, they create a "cinema reality" that is tense to the point of explosion. In a sense, they don't have to "invent"'; they just have to turn the camera upon themselves, or upon their close friends, and it explodes into the pyrotechnics upon which no imagination could improve."

The quote above comes from the book FILM CULTURE READER (edited by P. Adams Sitney).

Ed Halter wrote about THE FLOWER THIEF here:

http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-03-08/film/central-asian-indie-wastes-post-apocalyptic-landscape/

ZERO FOR CONDUCT (1933, Jean Vigo)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTS9yoX_2_g&playnext=1&list=PL540C9807689CBA8B

FIREWORKS (1947, Kenneth Anger)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XPm9iULJTE

DESISTFILM (1954, Stan Brakhage)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIRw7Kxz5rY

PULL MY DAISY (1959, Robert Frank + Alfred Leslie)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8jz8fgN-QM