Tormented

The recent run of low budget British horror continues with Tormented, a film being somewhat lazily trumpeted as a horror film for the Skins generation. However, there’s no doubt that that particular demographic will walk away from this fair effort with a smile on their face. Though it really belongs in the comic-horror cannon as, quite simply, this film has very few effective scares. The storyline revolves around a bullied teenager coming back from the dead, and taking his revenge on the classmates that drove him to suicide. The tongue is firmly in cheek though with this one as the filmmakers present the killer (the hilariously named Darren Mullet) as a lumbering toad-green member of the undead, who still has to use his asthma inhaler to “live”. Some major plot holes (one teenager’s corpse lies overnight in school swimming pool, but isn’t discovered until the following day. Guess her parents thought she had all night detention or something) are just about forgotten with some half decent humour papering over the cracks, from crusty teachers oblivious to the carnage developing around them to a cracking gag concerning the contents of a condom. As for the carnage itself, there’s enough claret here for gore fans to be satisfied, but the over the top silliness of some deaths somewhat lessen the impact (there is one death though which gives a knowing wink to a classic classroom urban legend). There is one moment though which is very disturbing. At one point one student says to another “You do the Math”. Truly shocking.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
Definitely more comic than horror, and probably more miss than hit. Laugh a little, squirm a little, enjoy a little. Rating: 5/10.

Fighting

Dito Montiel follows up his autobiographical A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints with Fighting. Taking the lead, in this tale of boy from the streets uses fists to make the Yankee Dollar, is Saints alumni Channing Tatum. After a fairly intriguing opening scene, Tatum is taken under his wing by Terrence Howard and entered in underground bare-knuckle fighting matches for the benefit of, mainly, gamblers and high rollers, while Tatum pockets his fight fee and Howard enjoys his cut as well. That’s pretty much it in terms of story line, and after the cut and thrust of Saints this film is a major let-down. The main problem resides in the acting, or lack of acting to be more accurate. Many scenes clearly seem to be improvised, and not to a decent level. If they’re not improvised, then there has to be some major questions asked of the limp screenplay. Tatum mumbles a lot, and the usually dependable Howard monotones his way through with very little deviation to his character, whether he’s sipping an overpriced soda or having his death warrant signed by a local heavy. The love interest for Tatum is played by Zulay Henao, but the two actors lack any spark whatsoever, and at times their scenes (improvised again?) almost grind the movie to a complete halt. Indeed, the whole film crawls along at a slow pace, hampered by a screenplay and direction that seems to tell the actors to emote as little as possible and leave 3 seconds before cueing their next line after someone else has spoken. This is highlighted in a supposed key scene (which, in itself, makes little sense) where Tatum suddenly reacts with such emotion that even two of the other characters seem unaware what has just happened. There are some bright moments though; The fight scenes are handled very competently by Montiel, (these fights are no Hollywood punch fests, but brutal and quick in a way fights in real life are. Though the lack of them in a film called Fighting may have some people asking for a refund), much needed light relief is briefly provided by Altagracia Guzman in the role of Zulay’s over-protective Grandma and Luis Guzman is, well, Luis Guzman. All in all, it’s a bit of mystery how this turned into a such a dud. The storyline is a Hollywood standard, and Montiel had previously teased good performances from a young cast in his prior film. By cutting some of the stilted dialogue and adding another fight, the film would be improved no end. Sadly, as it is, Fighting is no knock-out.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
Far too early to write off Montiel, but sluggish pacing and bland acting means this is a missed punch. Best check out David Mamets Redbelt instead. Rating: 3/10.

The Mission Statement

The idea of this Blog is review all the films I see and let you know my thoughts. No more, no less and no prejudice. Let me give you some background first. I probably see around 90% of all mainstream cinema releases. The key word here being cinema. Films are designed for the cinema and all reviews will be based on seeing the movie up there where it belongs. Secondly, I'm a pretty harsh reviewer. Thirdly, I will try and steer clear of any spoilers. Finally...well...here we go then. Please feel free to leave comments, but remember that one persons Vertigo is another persons Smokey and The Bandit Part 3. I'd love to start with reviewing some of the great films I've seen over the last few months, but the Blog starts here and thus, so do the reviews. So, starting with what I saw last night....