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kathhead
Reviews
The War Zone (1999)
The more I watched the angrier I got
A difficult watch. This film is grim throughout and doesn't lighten up. But that's intentional however and works well with the content. It's a good film, well directed, perfectly casted with strong acting. Bare in mind that there is nothing joyful about this film. Incest, rape, abuse...it is what it is and every element is executed well. It's sad to say that these issues are disturbingly realistic. I'm sure it hit a lot of viewers on some emotional level who have been unfortunate enough to experience such traumatic things. What angered me (and I'm sure this comes as no surprise) was the dad. I don't think I have to explain why. But what angered me more was the brother. I'm not sure what Roth's intentions were with this character. In my eyes he's an awful human being, yet he was portrayed as some kind of hero which I really couldn't understand (unless I've missed the point entirely?) He knew everything that was happening to his sister, yet he ignored it and even blamed his sister for everything, like it was her fault that she was getting horribly abused. I wasn't sure how to take this. By the end it was like we were supposed to commend his actions and sympathise with him. I get it, he's young and doesn't understand right from wrong yet, but I just didn't buy it and couldn't get on board with his heartless actions. I don't know who I was more angry at, him or the dad. But then again, are we supposed to hate Tom's character? Was that Roth's intention? I'm not sure what to think to be honest, I just know that I hated them both with a passion and felt so awful for Jessie. I feel the main focus should have been on her, not Tom. I also wasn't sure what the purpose of Nick's character was. He makes one appearance and is never seen again. I don't feel he added anything to he story. Overall, good film but tainted with some serious flaws, otherwise I would have rated it higher. For a film that's almost 30 years old though it holds up well.
Martyrs (2008)
"Makes SAW look like Sesame Street" - They weren't wrong
What can I say. I was disturbed, sickened, mortified, everything you want from a horror movie, this has got it and then some. The violence is on another level to anything I've seen before, and trust me, I've seen it all. A Serbian Film, Trauma, you name it. Martryrs is something else entirely. Not so much a gore fest per say, more like realistic torture thats so real you feel like you're actually there experiencing it. Brilliant directing, excellent acting, makeup, story, pacing, everything is near perfect in my opinion. I can't put into words the resounding effect this left on me, but I will say that I didn't sleep a wink that night, which is very rare for me. I don't think there's any way I could watch this again, even though it's a brilliant film. I don't recommend watching it if you can't stomach this sort of thing. I have a very strong stomach and I struggled to sit through it. But it's a great film regardless. Hats off to everyone involved.
Trauma (2017)
If you're looking for the next A Serbian Film, this isn't it
Apologies in advance for the ASF comparisons, but they're within good reason. I was told this was better (or worse, however you want to look at it) than A Serbian Film. Like many others, I jumped on the hype train expecting this movie to leave a resounding impact on me. It didn't. A Serbian Film left me traumatised and sickened for weeks after. I watched Trauma last night and have forgotten most of it already. It's not a bad movie per say, it does have some strong points, but it's riddled with flaws, plot holes and bad writing. Pointless side stories that hold no relevance nor drive the story. A lot of gore and distressing imagery feeling forced rather than naturally formulated. Not quite the next "most disturbing movie ever made" as many fans of this genre claim it to be. ASF still takes the top spot in my opinion.
We open with a delightfully messed up scene involving our main antagonist as a minor forced to penetrate his mum while his dad shoots her in the head. Here's the problem. Yes, it's horrible and outrageously disturbing, but only 5 minutes in and the movie has already peaked. The thing about ASF was that it gently eased us into these psychologically damaging controversies. They gradually built up at a continuing adequate pace, each one getting worse and worse as the movie went on. Trauma just dives you straight in with no warning or build up. That's fine, but if we've already reached peak level then why should I carry on watching? How are you expecting to keep my interest after this?
At midpoint we get a 10 minute rape scene that I will admit was hard to watch. However, everything that followed just angered me. Instead of running away and seeking help, the girls team up with the village idiot and decide to hunt down Mister Insenst Sadist Maniac themselves. Genius. Bet you can't guess how it turns out?! I'm tired of seeing the same thing over and over again in these movies. Stupid people being stupid. Indestructible villains that can deflect bullets from 4 armed gunman. Derogative portrayals of female characters with poor decision making who lack basic initiative. I can't see how full frontal lesbian nudity or weird pointless strip teases adds anything of value or importance other than something for the pervy-eyed viewers to gawk at.
The story itself does have a lot of strong points. We get valuable insight into why he is the way he is, which is effectively shadowed by his horrific upbringing. I don't know anything about Chilean history or culture, but I did read up and apparently all the insest and rape and tuture was very accurate within these types of corrupt unions, so fair enough, it made sense, and It made sense why she'd want to shoot that inbred baby, so as not to carry on this devilish cycle. All surrounding aspects however didn't quite live up to the same standard.
Megan Is Missing (2011)
Might as well skip the first 2 thirds
I went in with low expectations and sadly they were met. For a found footage horror it's certainly not one of the stronger ones, not exactly up there with Blair Witch or Chronicle. The majority of the film is practically a wash out. Poor script, weak acting, lengthy pointless dialogue, too much build up for not enough payout. The whole film is a mash up of stereotyped depictions and overused story telling techniques. Yes, this stuff happens, yes it's horrific, and I did read that this was inspired by a true story. But the content and characters are so vaguely fleshed out it could be based on any one of these type cases. It seems like the creater only used the "inspred by" as an audience hook device more than anything else.
This is a very basic kidnap story and doesn't deliver anything but. No twists or turns, just straight up serial killer. Boy meets girl. Boy kidnaps girl. Girls friend suspects boy. Boy kidnaps friend. You might as well skip to the last 22 minutes as the rest is just stretched out exposition and not very entertaining. As for the grand climax, it's exactly how you expect. Serial killer has the friend locked up in Skeletors dungeon of doom bound by some Scooby Doo type chains. He feeds her like a dog, rapes her, shoves her in a barrel with dead Megan, then burys her alive. Okay, yes, this was quite entertaining and probably was worth the wait, but the whole execution was very predictable and quite cartoonish, like a 12 year old writing a horror story.
It's not the worst thing I've seen, but certainly no masterpiece. It has its moments, but doesn't deliver enough positives to weigh out the negatives, and left me questioning a lot of things:
Why did Josh leave the camera in a public trash can for anyone to find? Why didn't the police investigate him further if he was clearly a prime suspect? Wouldn't they have held him in custody, ransacked his house and found a truck load of evidence leading to the fetish website? How on earth would he have hidden all the evidence? How did he get access to that medieval style torture chamber? Where on earth do places like that exist? Why were Megans friends so angry with Amy? Why did they blame her for Megan's disappearence? Why did no one stick up for Amy when that guy slapped her at that party? I know they didn't like her, but they seemed like the kind of girls that wouldn't stand for that sort of thing no matter who so why not stick up for her? What relevence did Megans backstory have to the main story other than shock factor? Why did we need a ten minute story about Megan getting obviously raped when she was 10 other than shock factor? Why was Amy so relaxed about all this? Why was she so relaxed about Josh? Wouldn't it have made more sense if Megans other friends forced her to meet Josh and Amy was trying to stop her?
I'm sure there's more. Watch it if you want, but be prepared for disappointment.