Less than a month was given time to recover from the Hiff load until it’s already time for the next film festival, this time something shorter, something that turns movie watching into an extreme sport; Night Visions: Maximum Halloween 3008. Night Visions is a one weekend film festival celebrating mainly horror, fantasy and cult cinema (plus a few mainstream advance screenings as a filler). The festival is held twice a year; the main event Maximum Halloween in October, and Back to Basics in May/April. Following the tradition the event was held in Maxim; the oldest movie theatre still operating in Helsinki. It’s located only a few hundred metre from the famous Helsinki Cathedral.
The structure of the fest is simple; friday is the warm up night (films staring at 21:00 and 23:00), and saturday the actual festival night (films playing from 21:00 to approximately 11:00). There’s always two films playing at the same time so you can choose which one to see. Although two is not so much to choose from it’s not a big problem as the program is trictly customized and the target audience rather narrow. The festival is mainly targeted at hard core film geeks willing to fight the exhaustion and sit through the whole night. If you High School Musical 3 is on top if you “to see” list, you’ve come to the wrong theatre.
Friday: Warm Up
The festival kicks off with one of its most interesting new titles; Ryuhei Kitamura’s Hollywood debut The Midnight Meat Train (2008 ). Kitamura & Hollywood doesn’t sound like a promising combination, but the feedback has been highly positive, and for a reason. Using a Clive Barker novel as a base, Kitamura delivers a strong horror film that borrows its atmosphere mostly from the late 80’s / early 90’s American horror cinema. The director has left out his usual trickery for the most part and remains loyal to the source material; this is far more Barker than Kitamura. Bradley Cooper plays the lead role, but it’s Vinnie Jones as a giant butcher that takes his work to the midnight train once the day closes that really stands out. The only notable negative is the use cgi gore effects, although they don’t come even close to sinking the film. Humour is used very sparsely, and it works. Also bonus from sticking to the simple but effective base idea, instead of trying to spread it out too much to please bigger audiences.
More horror follows when Quarantine (2008 ), the American incarnation of last year’s over-rated Spanish horror hit [Rec], finds its way into my schedule. Rationally thinking, it would’ve been a better choice to go see Tokyo Gore Police instead, but since I wanted to save Eihi Shiina’s mini-skirt to saturday night, I ended up into a half empty theater, hoping the film wouldn’t be as bad as it had every reason to be. And thankfully it isn’t. It is a direct copy of [Rec] as far as screenplay goes – meaning the whole story of a group of people who get stuck in an apartment building when the government, without telling the reasons, isolates the building and allows no one to leave is seen through a reporter’s handhelf camera -, only this time shot in English and with a new cast. Technically, however, it’s an effective movie and better than the original.
[Rec] suffered from realism; the panicking and yelling characters became more irritating than likable during the film’s course. The American cast handles this aspect a tad better, perhaps making the pic less convincing to some, but overall more enjoyable. Another nice improvement is the cameraman who is given slightly more characteristics than his counterpart in [Rec] that never grew into something more than a walking camera. Admittedly the character development is not deep, and having an African-American man in the role, often consoling his nervous white female colleague, feels quite obvious Hollywood calculation, made even more obvious by making things even by casting another African-American as the bad tempered policeman. Such strong anti-racism is almost racism in itself.
The dark atmosphere continues outside the theater; it’s raing, and dark, and 1 am. I run to the train station where my buss leaves, it’s only about one kilometer from the movie theatre. When I arrive, I see several policemen in front of the station. I don’t know what’s going on, but there’s a bunch of bald men standing in rain and arguing with the police. Some bystander mentions racism, but I’m not sure if it was related to the incident. Either way, once again it’s a moment when I’m not proud of my home country. When the buss leaves, I count five police cars plus one that I think belonged to the law enforcement but was a civil model.
Saturday: The Festival Night
Bangkok Dangerous remake, or Into the Mirror remake? Obviously the mean spirited festival ministry did this on purpose, making the audience choose between two Hollywood remakes of Asian movies. The logically thinking side of my brains tells me to go see Mirrors (2008 ). Director Alexande Aja’s career has gone downhill ever since his brutally effective debut Haute Tension, but assumably he’s still capable of keeping the tech side under control. Also, the festival is playing the uncut version – the US cut was edited for R-rating.
The first thing the fans and non-fans of the original notice is that Nic talks. The main character, now an American killer for hire, Joe, is no more a deaf-mute. It’s a shame, really, as the thought of Cage as deaf-mute assassin lost in the streets of Bangkok sounded quite delicious. But the good thing is that the Pang bros have created an entirely new screenplay that only throws a few familiar elements into the mix. One of them is the female lead Charlie Young who – here it comes – is a deaf-mute. Her role is not very extensive, though. Cage and his enjoyable art of acting from the fourth dimension dominates the pic.
Up next is the first of the three UK horrors shown on the fest, two of which I would see before the night has turned into a day. Eden Lake (2008 ) is a debut film by James Watkins. A couple’s holiday to nature turns into a nightmare in a way that references the problems of the real world in many ways. Technically a superb film, with a very good cast and beautiful locations, but unfortunately the screenplay takes continuous turns to the wrong direction. It fails to surprise the viewer, and lowers the audience dedication by too often doing the exact thing you were hoping for not to happen. It’s a shame as Eden Lake is a strongly involving film that could’ve been really great if it was better written.
I’m always dubious about modern Japanese exploitation, but Tokyo Gore Police (2008 ) was a title wouldn’t want to miss on a midnight film festival. That’s the way it’s meant to be seen – on big screen and with people as strange or stranger than yourself. Well, that’s what I thought before entering the screening at least. Very soon it became obvious that special effects man Yoshihiro Nishimura is not one of the most talented directors working in the exploitation market. The cinematography for example lacks almost all imaginable merits, with the camera just pointing approximately to the direction of action. And who was it that said fast motion could compensate for poor show? The person deserves a chainsaw into his forehead. The same could be said about the one who thought the combination of frenzy editing and maniacal characters would result into something more than terribly pretentious coolness.
What TGP has, however, is energy. It’s pure trash – not just the content but the execution also. Seeing something like every once in a while this can be a very refreshing experience. Some of the special effects are quite brilliant, and you can’t deny the ingeniousness of many scenes (such as the ”handgun” battle at the end of the film). The Paul Verhoeven esque commercials seen during the film are also terrific, with the ”Suicide is Kawaii!!!” spot being the most memorable of them. Also, as expected, the blood comes in world record amounts. A disturbing film TGP is not, though. The film-makers are in such a hurry to get into splatter that it leaves no room whatsoever for any kind of emotional impact. The violence doesn’t hurt the audience. In fact, there isn’t really that much in-depth gore, its mostly just surface.
There is a story, too, sort of. Eihi Shiina plays a future cop whose job is to hunt down engineers, mutants that have an ability to replace any damaged limb with a deadly weapon. An engineer can only be killed by destroying or separating a key organ that could be located anywhere in the body. In other words, the only sure way to achieve a kill is to dislocate all limbs, and a bit more. Some ordinary people also get their share of the ”cure” when the over-anxious police fore decides to play sure. Overall, quite passable digi-video garbage when enjoyed in the right mood of mind, but a far cry from the stylish Gore Blade Runner I was hoping for.
Back to traditional celluloid film. A few years ago when Paul Andrew Williams made his debut with a hard hitting but slightly pretentious London to Brighton he advised new film-makers to avoid shooting in digital as it always looks worse than film. Obviously he had little idea what he was talking about, but having personally just sat through a painful reminder of how poor digital formats can look like when used incompetently, Williams’s preference for traditional film came very much welcomed indeed. In The Cottage (2008 ) Andy ’Gollum’ Serkis and Reece Shearsmith play two men with an intention to make money with a kidnapping plan. Things go worse than possible. Instead of a thriller or pure horror, The Cottage is a comedic no hold barred ride that will surprise more than once. It the first half doesn’t work entirely, though, and the music choices are less cleaver than the one responsible for them probably thinks.
Before the next film there was a bit a of extra program, with four volunteers picked from the audience to act in a post apocalypse short play. The first player got a big advantage as he was given a cardboard bazooka – the only prop there was. The rest had to rely on their improvised ”Give me fuel, bastards” -lines. The winner got something, but I can’t remember what it was. Perhaps it was the Speed Racer promotional item that was for share (yet another sign of the festival ministry’s twisted sense of humour). Later in the morning competitors had to get into mood for a horror film to come by building WALL·E models. It’s hard to say who were more confused; the players, or the audience.
Battletruck: Warlords of the 21st Century (1982). In the recent uprise of Ozploitation (thanks to the documentary pic Not Quite Hollywood) this New Zealand post apocalypse pride could also find a new audience… perhaps its first major one. The basic elements are all there; armored trucks, lonely hero, and deadly battles for gasoline. What’s extra are the fine landscapes of New Zealand, effectively used in a couple of ’helicopter tracking shots’ but otherwise playing little role in the story. The title truck is driven by a villainous bunch that oppresses the ordinary poor people. Michael Beck has to stand up for them. The middle third features some dead moments but the action is rather good and the armored truck itself leaves no room for complaints.
Where’s that energy drink I brought with me? I fell asleep for 5 seconds during Battletruck (basically I was just having heavy thoughts… and then I noticed my eyes were closed…) sometime around 6 am. Energiajuoma, it states in Finnish in capital letters. The small printing says ”don’t drink before going to sleep”. Ah, exactly what need. Hope it’s good… uhg, no such luck. It tastes awful. But that’s not such a bad thing actually. It has an instant effect; every time I take a gulp I have to twist my face like Jim Carrey in a mid 90’s comedy and that alone keep me awake for 15 minutes at one go. Also, I better take this chance and eat those two buns I stole from school (one day they’re gonna catch me for that) on Friday.
A famous video nasty title with a creepy cover art that burned into my memory at young age, I Drink Your Blood (1970) turns out a hippie movie instead of the monster splatter I was expecting. But it’s not about free love and flower girls. No, these hippies are dangerous! I Drink Your Blood is a nice piece of unintentionally funny American exploitation cinema that works best when seen with people who have at least some understanding for the genre. The screenplay is wonderfully illogical; you’ll find yourself confused more often than not. Apparently the pic was originally rated X by MPAA, which sounds pretty far out considering the content. Perhaps 38 years ago someone did take the film with some seriousness.
If my memory serves me right, this is when the last remaining Saw 5 raincoats were given away. They really had hard time getting rid of those! Other, real prizes were also handed out to the lucky ones, although I believe the main prize went to the festival ministry after the came to the conclusion there no good competitions left and it would be easier if they just kept the items themself. The audience got smaller stuff, like posters and other items they had to discard but were too large to fit the trash bin…
The grande finale for the night, Robotrix (1991), a classic Category III title combining sci-fi, sex and kung fu. Amy Yip – delivering her usual Yiptease (the art of jumping around naked without ever really exposing anything) – and Chikako Aoyama – with a bit less restraints in front of the camera – star as female cyborgs after a mechanical villain (Billy Chow). A bunch horny male cops give ”support”. The outrageous film would’ve been great fun even normally, but as the last film of the marathon, watched at 8:45 am, after 6 other cult and horror films, it was a riot. The applauses during (especially when Chow disposes the dead prostitute) and after the film were all well deserved. No better way to end the festival.
Epilogue
Another great Night Visions experience. Big thanks to the organizers. The program was good, and so were all the films (keep in mind I’m using very harsh rating scale, with ”positive toned” ratings beginning from 1.5, and 2.5 equaling to a solid film). Looking forward to Back to Basics in Spring 2009. Films saw at Maximum Halloween 3008 in the order of viewing:
The Midnight Meat Train – 3,5/5
Quarantine – 2,5/5
Bangkok Dangerous – 2,5/5
Eden Lake – 2,5/5
Tokyo Gore Police – 2,5/5
The Cottage – 2,5/5
Battletruck – 2,5/5
I Drink Your Blood – 3/5
Robotrix – 4/5
I always thought Kiyoshi Kurosawa might be able to pull out a great movie if he left the ghost out. That’s exactly what he does in Tokyo Sonata (2008 ). Kurosawa crafts a slightly satiric downfall drama that becomes increasingly humoristic, even absurd. It all begins when a white collar father loses his job, and is too embarrassed to tell the truth to his family. Some of the plot turns don’t even attempt to be believable, but Kurosawa evens the affair with restrained visual style and relatively slow pace. The soundtrack works quite well. After halfway, during Koji Yakusho’s comedic appearance, there’s a long continous take where Kurosawa’s skill really shows.
Soviet Union. 1984. Not a very good time and place, according to Aleksei Balabanov’s film Cargo 200 (2007), which, for some reason, I thought was about illeagal army operations. This turned out false assumption, for the most part. Rather than telling an important story it’s a fraction of hell, a few randomly chosen dark days in the countryside, later clashing with bleak industrial views. Balabanov steers the pic with great originality; it is impossible to foresee the upcoming events. Even more impressive is the terrific soundtrack. Characters and actors are good enough, although the female lead doesn’t always convince. Dark humour is constantly present.
More Cannes glory. Do-yeon Jeon scored the best actress award for her role as a suffering single parent in Secret Sunshine (2007). She gets to display some drastic changes in her character, but the performance is a bit hard to enjoy when every turn only aims at cheap melodrama. It’s a shame, as there are some good elements, like the first, humoristic 50 minutes, and Kang-ho Song, who is very good as a likable loser who falls in love with the lead character. Unfortunately, the majority of the film is so incredibly shabby that it buries all the positives. 2½ hour running time doesn’t make it any easier to endure.
A good film is now needed more than ever, but the ticket spells Sky Crawlers (2008 ), a potential crowd pleasing effort by Mamoru Oshii. This is fortunately not the case. Sky Crawers doesn’t go overboard with philosophing (like the director’s previous film; Innocense), but it’s pure Oshii from themes of identity and soul to lack of comprehensive answers. It’s not Oshii at his most effective, and suffers from some over-length, but it’s a fascinating piece set in unidentified time and place in the future. The numerous air battles are well done, and the final touch is given by Kenji Kawai’s terrific score. Big names Rinko Kikuichi and Chiaki Kuriama voice the most important supporting characters.
Time clashes rarely do good to cinema. Wong Kar Wai’s masterful wuxia drama Ashes of Time opened in 1994, after a long and problematic production. The stylish, emotional and a tiny bit insane film became a fan favourite, but never received a home video treatment it deserved. The available dvds all failed to do justice to the film. Part blame was to the available source prints, which were all in poor condition. Some of the problems could never be solved, as the film was shot using various film materials, not always very successfully. Instead of simply remastering the best sources available Wong decided to rework the whole film and release it theatrically as Ashes of Time: Redux (2008 ).
Perhaps even worse is the ”improvements” made to the soundtrack. New surround effects in some of the fight scenes are only needless, but disrespecting Frankie Chan’s pitch perfect score is unforgivable. Much of the original music is gone while some has been remixed into inferior versions. Most of the time the images are accompanied by Yo Yo Ma’s new, dull desert drama music. Editing wise Redux omits several scenes from the original film, such as Leslie Cheung’s fight in the beginning, and footage from the ending. A couple of additional flowers have added to the film, for some reason.
More respect for original works can be found in Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2008 ). Mark Hartley’s doc introduces the audiences to Australian exploitation films from nudie features to nature splatter and carsploitation. A large number of films are referenced, with a huge amount of fun clips that make you want to add some Aussie trash to your dvd shopping list, but the approach could be more indepth. Interviews consist mostly of 10 second speeches from the filmmakers, and Quentin Tarantino, who shares is enthusiasm in his usual motormouth fashion. Perhaps most memorable stories are shared by Dennis Hopper and his co-workers. We also learn that Wang Yu was an asshole with big ego.
As mentioned before, Hiff has good relations to Studio Ghibli, and this time it really paid of. The festival got a special permission to hold a digibeta screening of their 1993 film Ocean Waves. Being a TV production no true cinema prints exist. The audience nevertheless thanked for the opportunity and filled every seat in the cinema. The endlessly fun and cute, but still somewhat realistic (compared to Ghibli’s better known fantasy films) school drama is about two high school students who fall for a Tokyo girl. Perhaps the most enjoyable film in the festival.
