No trailer post this week as Monday was a lot more hectic than I originally thought it would be, so to make up for it here is a super-sized review post.
As I was selecting films to put together for this micro-reveiw post I was aware that I could make a single post dedicated to a single genre. I am aware that a high percentage of the films I've reviewed on here so far have been either a part of, or closely related to the horror genre, but I felt that it would possibly benefit you readers if these posts were a little more organised into themes or genres than they have been so far. I can't promise that every post will contain films that are completely related or compatible but I will try my best to make them a little more cohesive in the future.
I also just happen to have watched a pretty high number of horror films recently, so there's that too!
I realised as I was putting together my Pinterest Collage for this week that my last two posts have been quite overcrowded, with upwards of 16 pictures in each of them. Whether as some form of self enforced restraint or just because I haven't actually been pinning that much this week I've found myself back at the target number of pins I originally set for each week, 12. We'll see how long I manage to keep it at this number over the coming weeks.
I've spent a lot of this week trying to stay calm amongst a flood of panic regarding my dissertation. In just under an hour I will be attending my last seminar before I break up for three weeks and have to actually get my head in the books, and keep it there. On Tuesday a big group of us went, once again, to our local cocktail bar Lime Tyger, for a meal and some amazing drinks. The best part about the bar is that you can essentially name a list of ingredients or flavours you'd like and they'll come up with something for you, which we took particular advantage of. Then on Wednesday myself and Rosie enjoyed a lazy day film marathon where we watched The Devil Wears Prada, The September Issue, Grey Gardens, Vengeance is Mine and [REC]3 Genesis, which was a lot of fun and helped me catch up with my film diary which has been at an all time low this month.
I'm really hopeful for the next three weeks, and will be desperately slaving away over all of my assignments. It's extremely scary to think how close we are to finishing Uni for good, and as much as I usually try not to think about it, entering the Easter break means that it's really not that long at all. Here's to an eventful and productive holiday!
I had a trailer post for today planned out and ready to write up when, about an hour ago, one of my housemates asked me if I had seen the trailer for a new film called The Conjuring. As soon as I began loading it I realised that I'd heard of it before, as the follow up film from the makers of Insidious.
The Conjuring
The film focuses on a family of seven who, after suspecting they are not alone in their home, call in renowned ghost hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) to seek out and destroy the evil that is terrorising them. Unlike both of the trailers that I have posted about so far this one is entirely focused on narrative, to the point that it plays out almost as a stand-alone sequence taken from the film. With Insidious and his earlier film Dead Silence, director James Wan displayed a great prowess within the horror genre and, in particular, an adeptness at crafting clever and suspenseful scares, and that is brought in full force within this trailer.
The premise of the trailer focuses on two sequences which feature the mother of the family (Lili Taylor) playing hide and seek with her children and investigating a noise from the basement. Both feature slow pacing and a reliance on extremely creepy jump scares that, rather than being predictable, build up and surprise. The trailer also features two brilliant uses of contrapuntal music, the first being the jovial song that opens the trailer and evokes a more family-friendly film, and the second being the old familiar eery music box tune that has become a stable of the genre.
I find it interesting that the trailer has avoided divulging any of the ghost hunter storyline and also fails to acknowledge it's two biggest stars in Wilson and Farmiga. I'm sure that this trailer is being used to preview the style of the film and to set a tone for what is to come in the finished product. I think that its extremely effective and it has definitely gained my immediate interest in this film. The Conjuring is released on July 19th.
I got to meet my cousins baby today! He was absolutely adorable and seeing him has made my week. I also got paid today so I'll definitely be off getting him some goodies next week.
Besides that I've spent most of the week taking some time to relax after handing in my last essay for a little while. Now I can work on my upcoming assignments at a less frantic pace and make the most of my last few weeks of University life. This break also means I've been dedicating more time to watching films and working on film posts for this blog which will hopefully be up very soon.
Yesterday was rather hectic with an assignment due, a lack of sleep and a Tomb Raider marathon to complete the story mode. So this weeks trailer post got delayed till today. I know it's not a great start to what will hopefully become a recurring post, but it did result in a nice bit of alliteration for the posts title.
EVIL DEAD *Warning: Red Band Trailer contains extreme gore and violence*
The reason I chose the newest Red Band trailer for Evil Dead for this week is simply that it got me so insanely hyped up for this film that I felt I needed to acknowledge and praise it in some manner. I saw the original in several parts when I was younger, and had what I later realised was a re-watch of the sequel quite recently. Neither of them gave me as much satisfaction as the immense fan-base these films have seems to suggest they should have, but I can see exactly what is so appealing about Sam Raimi's films. My first exposure to this reboot//remake//re-imagining//re-whatever was through the first poster to be released (pictured above, left), which I absolutely loved. Trailers soon followed and the more footage I see from this film the more interest it generates within me.
Firstly I think the fact that this film is clearly benefitting from high production values helps, especially as I'm sure the badly aged effects of the originals factored into my lack enamour with them. I'm also extremely impressed that the film is made up completely of practical effects, something that is extremely encouraging as we live in an age where the overuse of CGI seems integral to most horror films (Mama, I'm looking at you). Most surprisingly, although the cast is nothing too spectacular, what I've seen in these trailers from Jane Levy has really impressed me. This gore-heavy sub-genre of the horror film isn't exactly known for standout performances but she really does seem to be giving her all in this role and I'm excited to see how she carries the full film.
My favourite aspect of the trailer by far is the fact that rather than using any form of music, the soundtrack is entirely made up of sound effects. The way this is used is brilliant and I love the rhythm that they've created using these effects in conjunction with sounds from the film, like screaming, chainsaw buzzing and Levy's extremely creepy 'Cut" sound bite. Like last week's trailer, Stoker, this one doesn't really divulge a lot of plot and instead focuses on the striking and terrifying visuals, the extreme gore and Levy's central performance. That it seems this trailer is being used to display the gore of the film shows that the studio knows who it's targeting and that this film will draw people in just by promising to be the most f*cked up thing you'll see all year.
It seems that if theres any kind of body horror that gets under your skin this film is going to feature it. Mine would be the sequence in which someone seems to be pulling something from out of their eyelid, but this trailer is clearly being used to display the vast range of sickening scenarios they've manage to pack into the film. Perhaps the most exciting aspect of this trailer is that it is showing just how well made this film seems to be. This kind of horror film rarely features any form of impressive cinematic techniques, while the Saw and Hostel franchises toyed with interesting cinematography as soon as the gore became the focus the scenes got too messy for anything truly creative. However just within this trailer there seems to be an abundance of incredibly well composed shots which makes me hopeful that there will be some visual substance to the film outside of it's impressive effects.
I'm really hopeful for this film and cannot wait to see if it'll meet my expectations. It's the directorial feature debut of Fede Alvarez and opens in the UK on April 19th, and I'll be sure to review it on here as soon as I've seen it.
Are you looking forward to Evil Dead? Let me know your opinions on the trailer and if you have any suggestions for others I could look at.
