Dark Was the Night (2014)

What you can't see will hurt you

By: JWBM

Instead of being your typical, tongue-in-cheek creature-feature like you'd see on, say, the Syfy channel, the tone of the film comes across as a more serious "The X-Files" episode. Likewise, it does more analyzing of the situation, and also keeps its mysterious villain in the shadows instead of prancing it around town. The story centers around a small time Sheriff clouded by his emotions over the loss of one of his sons and the recent split from his wife. Meanwhile, the Sheriff is set to the task to investigate some odd occurrences around town that are slowly starting to escalate. There are whispers of a local Native American legend, leaving the tight-knit community a little uneasy to say the least.

The story keeps itself mostly restrained than going full throttle. It leans more on the drama side than the horror or action side like you'd typically see with a creature on the loose type of story. Its momentum and scares rely on a share of tight camera angles and sound effects. The what-you-can't-see-will-hurt-you kind of tricks. It seems better suited than its monster being fully in the spotlight. The effects, cinematography, script, and direction are kept to a basic minimum. It does have this unusual monochrome look to it that doesn't necessarily enhance or hinder the experience.

Little pops out here from the usual that's going to last with you after the first viewing—even its drama side is somewhat formulaic. Essentially: man feels he couldn't protect his family, but now has to overcome his fears and do the impossible to save the town. Then again, it also didn't over-extended its bounds to attempt to give you something and not back it up. It's a simple tale that delivers on its own terms and at its own pacing. Some might be bored by that if looking for a more intense experience such as "The Descent," while others might be delighted by the down-to-earth approach here over a slapstick one—e.g.: "Sharknado."

This gives room for the actors to shine and make themselves seem a little more believable than cardboard cut-outs for the writer to set up as just an excuse to obliterate when the time comes for some killings from its monster. Kevin Durand, as the Sheriff, plays a guy who's more action than words. He does what needs to be done, except there's a part of himself that fights back emotions until it gets the best of him. His portrayal is not going to win any awards any time soon, however it still brings a certain amount of effort and quality to the table by making his character more relatable than some over-the-top hero who the average guy couldn't step into his shoes. He's 6' 6" and Canadian to boot. Though looks six feet on camera and sounds like a Yankee. Sticking to original point.

"Dark Was the Night" is a movie for a quick distraction. It's not complex by any stretch, but it's also not trying to be.

Rating: 6/10

Director: Jack Heller ("Enter Nowhere")
Actors: Kevin Durand, Lukas Haas, Bianca Kajlich
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: Youtube link

It Follows (2014)

A persistent, unshakable strangeness afoot

By: JWBM

Dreams have been written about since man first learned to jot down his first words. We try to interpret them, and even attempt to use them as motivation or inspiration. Some bring about good feelings, while others bring about bad when they warp our day-to-day reality. We always have that option to reset and wake up. What happens, though, when something in your life feels so strange it resembles a dream even when you open your eyes? You lay your head down, you wake up, and that odd sensation persists to the point of actually losing sleep. Or is it never actually waking up?

This film is incredibly ambiguous and also incredibly simple by design. It's not outright said, but it essentially feels like a rough outline of a nightmare of sorts. Though not as vague in premise as "Eraserhead," but also not as complex as "Nightmare Detective" concerning dreams. It shares characteristics of "The Broken" with its sense of paranoia and uncanniness. In a nutshell, a pretty, young woman is lured into having a curse overshadow her like a dark rain cloud that never goes away. It only drifts closer and closer—like a slow, inevitable shuffle—and eventually unleashes its fury with little to no warning or coverage in sight.

"It Follows" is chock full of atmosphere—and then some. Where it lacks the kind of enriching
dialogue and layer upon layer of story of other films, it makes up for in ambiance of the actual cool but creepy kind. You'll get treated with an abundance of these gorgeous wide-angle shots, to this feeling-the-moment style of soundtrack that uses anything from jarring sounds, to soothing electronic rhythms. The sets have a share of things purposely laid about from bygone years over anything outright from 2014. The way the villains are introduced—with some can't-shake-that-horrific-image-from-memory visuals—not only evokes terror for the character, but it seems to resonate to the viewer, too. With everything combined, the tone is effective enough to get under your skin and possibly end up in a dream or three of your own.

This isn't a thinking man's movie, but rather a tale that breathes more icy breath than it does enlightening words. It's subtle in how it plays on your senses in the moment-to-moment. It has a narrow vision, but a steadfast purpose; it slowly hooks you in to the point of everything else beginning to seem too far away to see or grasp onto. The tick-tock of the wall clock goes away, outside traffic ceases, and you're left with this growing, unexplainable presence all around you that keeps sucking you in to its strangeness. The experience is like having your senses kidnapped, then returned in a more horrible state than they were left in.

'I knew I had a few screws loose before, but my brain was a little less warped than that.'

There's violence at times, but "It Follows" isn't a blood filled movie. It's horror that plays on your nerves with a dash of paranoia thrown in for good measure. What's great about this setup, is normal, everyday things can't always protect you or make you feel safe. Such as sex, daylight, the police, being surrounded by friends, or even in the comfort of your own living room watching the tube on the ol' couch. The film takes relatable features, then inverts them into a weird, out-of-body experience. I've got to tip my hat to the filmmakers for their patience at setting their pacing up just right--or, oh so wrong, oh so wrong.

This didn't exactly re-invent the wheel. There's bits and pieces of past horror influences all over the place here. Though the mechanics of it are pieced together so well that it deserves a watch or two over some original pieces that tried and didn't live up to their own formula. It's tried and true and delivers the goods that the horror genre demands. Actually, some of the details are kept to a more hazy and round-about way, which I think works best here. It keeps the surface at a consistent atmospheric level, than having to hold the audience's hand for every minute detail, or even jeopardizing the flow with too many twists and turns. Next time you hear the scrape of feet too close, or see someone familiar that doesn't look all together there, you can thank "It Follows." That's their plainly wrapped, inconspicuous gift to you that may have a surprise waiting...

Rating: 8/10

Director: David Robert Mitchell
Actors: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Lili Sepe
Info: IMDB
Trailer: Youtube

Nightcrawler (2014)

Where there's human misery, there's a camera rolling

Every morning someone is reported as to being shot on the local news. After seeing enough bleak accounts day after day, I start to wonder what kind of affect it has to know of random, one-off incidents that barely scratch the surface. Your filter can only include or exclude so many stories of what feels like your city crumbling around you. Eventually it can get backed up with an unwashable fear that may turn irrational in the way it obscures what was once a clear view. Only to come full circle when one unconsciously watches and waits for a shred of resolve or understanding that they'll never get in the format it's long been in. This film is going to take on some of those messages, though push the tone further than the general movie-watcher may be accustomed or comfortable with. Saddle up, make sure the red light is on and get ready for what could be someone's--or your--last ride.

"Nightcrawler" is a pitch black character study and satire--rightfully exaggerated--about a man's introduction to the caught-in-action videography side of local crime news in L.A. As one well-paid stringer, as they call 'em, says, "If it bleeds, it leads." Depending on how you look at it it can be both refreshing or asphyxiating--eye-opening or eye-clenching--or sometimes both. There's an irony to it--like with "American Psycho"--in how society inadvertently excels a sociopath to greatness. It steers away from the tried-and-true tale of a hero's rise to righting wrongs that you could walk out feeling good about. I mean, some can be aspiring and challenging depending on the give and take of the direction; others can feel like a kind of grasping fantasy in a real world that is as harsh as picking yourself back up off its hardened, weather-worn concrete paved paths.

Instead of centering around a martyr like, say, a "Serpico" that unflinchingly does the right thing despite those around him, you get to watch the actions of its doppelganger Louis Bloom. His brazen confidence and quench for power is something not to take your eyes and ears off of despite his "charming" personality. Well, at least he thinks so. Jake Gyllenhaal transforms himself to be almost unrecognizable in features and mannerisms with the character. With the overall look and pacing being like that of a cramped, overlooked broom closest that reveals an even narrower, darker and darker pathway, it only cements it as he can progressively weigh into you.

For a directorial debut by a seasoned script writer with family connections--Dan Gilroy; also married to the lead actress Rene Russo who plays, Nina, a desperate, green-and-red-in-the-eyes news director who finds something in Louis--this is surprisingly well done by bringing about consistent performances, a sense of tension and mostly developing the plot naturally. There are points that feel single sided to line up to the extreme spectrum of a what-if scenario, though the movie digs its hooks in deep enough to the moment by moment that it can be overlooked. It's not a film that is just going for a "it's good." It's not a neat little package with cute bow and delightful surprise. The difference being that even after the credits rolled it was effective enough to stick with me for getting down and dirty and breaking a share of the usual cinematic rules about an everyday subject that's ingrained and normalized in a portion of us. It can make one wonder what all that chaotic noise of information might actually mean. Is it something we want or need to see, or something we're told we want or need to see? Maybe an ambiguous pull and tug of both.

Rating: 8.5/10

Director: Dan Gilroy (writer of "Reel Steel" and "The Bourne Legacy")
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Bill Paxton, Riz Ahmed.
Site: IMDB
Trailer: Youtube link