DVD: Mother of Tears

Horror fans are going to love Mother Of Tears, the latest film from horror master Dario Argento. It is a very strange film, but then all of Argento’s other work has been equally strange. It is also a very nasty film with bucketloads of gore and excessive graphic violence, but again, when has Argento made a film that was tame? Mother Of Tears is actually the third part of Argento’s Three Mothers Trilogy, following Suspiria in 1977 and Inferno in 1980. It has been a long wait for the final act, but it’s well worth it!

The story follows Sarah, played perfectly by Asia Argento (Dario’s daughter) as she accidentally opens an ancient urn and releases the spirit of the third and final evil witch known as the Mother of Tears. The evil power proceeds to cause all sorts of havoc in the form of suicides, brutal murders and bizarre rituals. As Sarah begins to figure out what is going on, so does she realise her supernatural powers, and a visit or two from the ghost of her mother helps her become strong enough to fight the evil which has plagued Italy and is causing chaos, before it is too late. Incidentally Asia’s real life mother Daria Nicolodi, who also had a major role in Argento’s earlier film Tenebrae, plays Sarah’s mother in this film.

A particularly spooky soundtrack by Claudio Simonetti helps to create an extremely morbid atmosphere, something very different from the two other films in the series, especially Suspiria with its 70s-style electronic feel created by Argento favourites The Goblins, of which Simonetti was a member. The music is more similar to Argento’s two episodes from the recent Masters of Horror series.

Some of the acting skills in the film are questionable, but it doesn’t detract too much from the narrative. Asia leads the way though and does a very good job in her role as a frightened girl on the run. Genre favourite Udo Kier also pops up for a brief scene, much like he did in the original Suspiria. No one else really stands out in the film, but the viewer will most likely be able to forgive this as most characters meet more and more inventive and gruesome ends.

Anyone familiar with Dario Argento’s work will notice the old style creeping back in with long sweeping camera shots following the action. In the earlier work from the 70s and 80s we were treated to an almost psychedelic and dreamlike film making style with gore galore. Now this style has been updated with slicker camera work and sicker blood and guts. Its very extreme and very entertaining and there should be something in there for every horror fan out there, even if it is just to see Asia Argento in the shower.     Russell Gomm

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We have three copies of the film to give away. To enter, answer this question:

Where is Dario Argento from?

Send your answers to competitions@the-void.co.uk with DARIO as the subject header.

CINEMA: Persepolis

This highly stylised black and white/colour animation is based on the graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi and is basically the story of her life. As a young girl growing up in Iran during the reign of the Shah, Marjane flourishes in a home atmosphere of cultivated liberalism encouraged by her highly educated parents and outspoken grandmother. But after the Islamic revolution her free spirited personality is in danger of being broken by the religious crackdown. With personal liberties at stake, Marjane is sent to study in Austria, but this move is not a success and so she returns to Iran to live under the veil.

Although historically and socially the film is very informative about Iran, overall Marjane’s story is not as affecting as it should be. This is mainly because she is given opportunities and freedoms by her loving family many young women growing up in Iran at the same time would have jumped at, and yet she doesn’t seem to appreciate how lucky she is and proceeds to waste them. Watching how the Iranian people learn to outwit the modesty or liquor police will make you applaud their ingenuity and also make you realise how many of our everyday liberties we take for granted. Dee Pilgrim

CINEMA: Three And Out

The concept of a comedy based on the sorry tale of a tube driver who has had two members of the public die under his train may not strike you as a good idea. And guess what, it isn’t, because Three And Out is singularly unfunny.

Paul (MacKenzie Crook) is the hapless driver in question, traumatized by his experience. But when he hears it is company policy to release with ten years’ pay any driver who happens to kill three people, he sees light at the end of the tunnel. Only problem is, he needs to find victim number three. Enter Tommy (Colm Meaney), a man who has decided to end it all, but first he needs to visit his daughter (Gemma Arterton) in the Lake District.

So far, so chuckle-free. Although the film has fine production values (and a lovely performance from Imelda Staunton as Tommy’s wife) the story is all over the place and the gallows humour is never delivered with enough conviction. None of it rings true and you find yourself sympathising with the spirited Tommy far more than the really rather wet Paul.

If you’ve ever had your journey on the tube disrupted due to a ‘person under a train’ this will prove very unfunny indeed. Dee Pilgrim

CINEMA: Forgetting Sarah Marshall

A little Russell Brand goes a long, long way and unfortunately there’s quite a lot of Brand in this romcom taken from the bloke’s perspective. When his girlfriend Sarah (Kristen Bell) splits up with him, struggling musician Peter (Jason Segel) is distraught and falls into a depressed state of not washing, working or cleaning his flat. He decides a vacation in Hawaii at a luxury resort could restore his sanity – only to discover Sarah is also staying at the same hotel. But Sarah is not alone, she’s with her new boyfriend, notorious Brit rocker and womaniser Aldous (Brand). Not wanting to appear pathetic Peter decides to brave it out and finds support in the lovely figure of hotel employee Rachel (Mila Kunis) who could just be the answer to his prayers.

To all intents and purposes this is a boy version of Bridget Jones, and so the humour is predictably far coarser and lewder. Brand plays a parody of himself and although initially entertaining he soon becomes very annoying indeed. Much better is Paul Rudd as stoned surfer Brandon and it’s a shame there is so much less of him than Brand because he’s far better value for money. Meanwhile, Segel is chubbily loveable as Peter and finally comes into his own in the funniest sequence of the film when Rachel asks him to perform some of his music in public – his rock opera about Dracula (complete with cod Eastern European accent) understandably fails to bring the house down, but will definitely crease you up. Dee Pilgrim

CINEMA: Stop-Loss

Coming at the end of a whole string of releases about the Iraq conflict probably means that Stop-Loss’s audience ratings will suffer because of sympathy fatigue – people are, to a certain extent, all Iraq’d out. However, this is a movie that is far better acted, scripted and shot than either Redacted or Rendition and deserves a bigger audience than it will probably get.

After one last tour of duty, three soldier buddies return to the States. Their leader, Brandon (Ryan Phillippe) is relieved because he’s about to get out of the army and can see the fragile mental state his friends Steve (Channing Tatum) and Tommy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) are in. He wonders whether he could take another tour, so when he discovers he has been stop-lossed (refused permission to leave the army because his country still needs him) and receives orders to report back for duty he loses control and punches out his commander (Timothy Olyphant). Brandon decides to go on the run with the help of Steve’s estranged fiancé Michelle (a stunning performance from Abbie Cornish), but finds his ties to an army he now despises are almost as strong as the ties of loyalty to his friends and family.

There’s an inevitability to the final outcome and you will find yourself getting really angry about just how their own country could treat these young men so appallingly. It’s a mark of just how good the acting is that you warm to these flawed characters and sympathise with them in their no-win situation. This is no gung-ho examination of war, but more an accusatory finger pointing at a government that sees only a ‘bigger picture’ and refuses to acknowledge the damage done to individuals by its policies. Dee Pilgrim

COMPETITION: BloodRayne DVD

The action-packed horror BloodRayne is being released on DVD on May 12, and we have three copies to give away.

With an all-star cast that includes Kristanna Loken (Terminator 3), Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs), Ben Kingsley (Schindler’s List,) Billy Zane (The Mummy) and Michelle Rodriguez (The Fast and the Furious) the film is a must-see for all sci-fi and horror fans.

Spawned from the popular computer game, BloodRayne is directed by game to film maestro Uwe Boll and tells the story of half-human, half-vampire Rayne (Loken) and her quest for vengeance against her
father.

To win a copy, just answer this question:

Ben Kingsley won an Oscar for his performance in which film:

A. Sexy Beast

B. Gandhi

C. Thunderbirds

Send your answers to competitions@the-void.uk before the end of May. Good luck!

CINEMA: Fool’s Gold

Why is it in films people always go hunting for lost treasure in the most exotic locations? Fool’s Gold is no different as we are whisked off to the Caribbean in search of a sunken Spanish galleon loaded with gold. Treasure-seeking diver Ben (Matthew McConaughey) and his sidekick (Ewen Bremner) think they’ve found the sunken boat, the only problem being they’ve managed to sink their own salvage boat, so can’t get to it. This is where Ben’s ex-wife Tess (Kate Hudson) comes in. She’s working on the luxury yacht of English billionaire Nigel (Donald Sutherland) and Ben reckons they can hitch a ride with him and get to the booty before his arch rival Moe (Ray Winstone) muscles in on the act.

Never has so much glistening, golden flesh and so many beautiful locations been wasted on a storyline as puerile as this. It’s all surface gloss with no backbone or substance. Why they couldn’t have hired a Brit actor to play the part of Nigel and an American actor to play Moe is a mystery, as Sutherland and Winstone are woefully miscast. Even worse is Alexis Dziena playing Nigel’s airhead daughter Gemma – a majority of airheads would throw her overboard for being that dim.

So, it’s great if you need an excuse to see a shirtless McConaughey showing his abs off, or Hudson in a bikini, otherwise just wait a while for the next instalment of Indiana Jones – a proper treasure hunt franchise with exotic locations and excitement.       Dee Pilgrim

CINEMA: Botched

Botched starts out as seemingly just one more heist movie, but soon turns into the mother of all botched jobs as we get mad Russian murderers, severed heads, demented religious fanatics and a bunch of actors who spend their time either rushing frenziedly down the corridors of an apartment block, or huddled in corners having pointless conversations.

Thief Richie (Stephen Dorff) is sent by his boss (Sean Pertwee) to steal a priceless golden cross from a Russian oligarch’s penthouse flat. Fleeing via the lift, he and his mad Russian henchman (Jamie Foreman) are stopped by a ragtag group of civilians and find themselves getting off on a floor where all the exits are blocked. With the lift now out of action the bodycount starts to bloodily rise as the group are picked off one by one by an unseen assassin. Things rapidly go from farce to worse as everyone overacts, the cod Russian accents get thicker and thicker, and body parts get liberally littered across the set. The ensuing gorefest schlocker makes no sense, isn’t scary and doesn’t even have the grace to be funny enough to redeem itself.

This doesn’t even deserve to make it into the B-movie category and should stay firmly in the file marked ‘botched’.       Dee Pilgrim

CINEMA: Happy-Go-Lucky

There are people are born optimists and others are born pessimists… and then there’s Poppy (Sally Hawkins), a woman who is so bright, cheery and defiantly sunny she’s a walking, talking advert for every happy drug on the planet. Except she isn’t on drugs, she’s actually like this naturally, which soon becomes very scary indeed.

Poppy’s a teacher in North London who loves her life, her sister and her friends and doesn’t ever have an off day. Her constant good humour however, fails to rub off on her racist driving instructor (Eddie Marsan), who is a total misanthrope. Mind you, I think if I had to sit next to Poppy chirruping incessantly in my ear, I might feel like being stroppy too. Because this is the big problem with Happy-Go-Lucky, one of director Mike Leigh’s lighter numbers, but starring a heroine who you will either love to bits or find annoying as hell.

The acting throughout is tremendous (Marsan in particular absolutely inhabits his role and a cameo by Karina Fernandez as a heart-broken flamenco teacher is ace) and Leigh uses his locations round London to maximum effect, but by the climax of the movie I could have easily slipped Poppy a slipping pill and felt no shred of remorse whatever.       Dee Pilgrim

CINEMA: Flashbacks of a Fool

Daniel Craig is asking for trouble. After moaning that all anyone talks about is that Speedos scene in Casino Royale, you’d have thought that the last thing he’d have done was strip naked and engage in a raunchy sex scene within the first two minutes of his new film, Flashbacks of a Fool.

But, believe it or not, this is actually the perfect set-up to introduce the character of Joe Scot, a drug addict and alcoholic with a movie career on its last legs. The scene, to the strains of Scott Walker’s Sons Of, sets the tone for the movie – which is essentially in three parts. It is partly a satirical look at the superficiality of Hollywood, but a personal tragedy compels Joe to reflect on how he ended up where he is and seek redemption before he completely fails, not only in his career, but as a human being.

What makes this film successful is the acting talent assembled to bring Joe’s story to life. Harry Eden is mesmerising as the young Joe and Jodhi May is fantastic as Evelyn, the older woman who seduces Joe.

Major British talent, like Emilia Fox, Keeley Hawes and Mark Strong have lined up for small roles that add so much to Joe’s story and every supporting actor makes their mark. Daniel Craig is utterly convincing as the adult Joe, washed-up and self-obsessed until his rude awakening.

But the film is not without its flaws. The dialogue drags in places and the return to the present, from Joe’s flashback, seems a little twee, in comparison to the black humour of the beginning. But the film has plenty of moments – both hilarious and tragic – that lift it away from mediocrity and, again, the strength of the cast and how well they work together is at the core of Flashbacks’ brilliance.

Overall, this is a great film that pulls no punches, with a fantastic soundtrack that strongly brings Joe’s memories to life in a really visceral way, and reminds us that there is much more to Daniel Craig than swimwear and a tux. Well worth seeing.       Louise Steggals

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Read our interview with Daniel Craig and director Baillie Walsh here.