Painless (Insensibles) Come to DVD 1st september!

Finally the great Painless (Insensibles) is getting a DVD release on 1st September, I saw this last year at Nottingham's MAYHEM horror festival and have to say that for me personally it was one of the highlights of the festival. Set during the Spanish civil war and modern day it tells the tale of young children in a Spanish village who are systematically rounded up and taken in to care because the are believed to be children of the devil. The locations and acting is all top notch and very reminiscent of Del Toro at his best and when it features one of the most incredible car crashes i have ever seen!

All details below,

Watch this space for a review coming very soon!

Enjoy,

Jonny T.

SNOWPIERCER - Reviewed

From  Korean Director Joon-Ho-Bong (The Host, Mother) Comes Snowpiercer, His joint Korean/American venture with such stars as Captain America himself Chris Evans, John Hurt, Tilda Swinton. All pretty big names in Hollywood to say the least. The basic storyline is that Earth is on the brink of global warming meltdown and scientist devise a plan to spray the atmosphere to prevent this but they fail miserably resulting in the world freezing over, We take up the story 30 years later aboard a train, Not just your normal Thomas the tank engine but a super train created by Wilford industries.

The train is designed with an engine that will never stop. Wilford industries many years before devised a track that spans the entire globe so it never has to stop, thus never freezing like the rest of doomed Earth. The train is segregated by 3 sections, the back of the train where all the low life’s and poor live that also includes a prison, the middle of the train is the highly valued  water section kept full by snow filtered from the front of the train, The front part of the train is a forbidden zone only for the rich and chosen few.

Every day the soldiers get all the poor folk to line up and the sit down systematically row by row so they can keep  a record of the numbers, Occasionally someone from the front of the train comes and takes the children of their choosing, for reasons the poor are unaware of but very angry about. The poor are fed only with wobbly looking protein bars, you get to see what they are made from later in the film and it’s not particularly pleasant to say the least! One guy has his child taken from him and goes berserk and throws a shoe at the young lady taking the children and cuts her head, Then we meet Mason (Tilda Swinton)  as a mark of punishment she gets the poor guy and inserts him arm in a device that is put out of  a window for exactly 7 minutes whilst she does a speech and when the 7 minutes are up pulls his arm back in, Completely frozen it’s duly smashed to pieces by one of the guards in front of all to see as a severe warning against any form of rebellion. 

Curtis (Evans), Gilliam (Hurt) and Edgar (Jamie Bell) decide enough is enough and devise a plot to free a prisoner Namgoong Minsoo (Kang-ho Song) from the back of the train,  Namgoong had worked on the train in the past and constructed all the security systems for the doors on the train so his help will essential, They hatch a plot to spring him out and start the revolution, They find where he is and it's in a kind of suspended animation but he is quickly brought round by the drug Kronol of which he was addicted to and Curtis offers him all the Kronol he needs as long as he helps them, He agrees but on the condition that they also release his girlfriend Yona (Ah-Sung Ko). They agree and the revolution starts.

So from here on in the quest is to make it to the front of the train to confront Wilford and take back some kind of dignity and equality, There are some great set pieces especially the scene where they come up against a carriage full of axe wielding guards and as the enter a tunnel the guards quite coolly put on their night vision goggles and a bloodbath ensues! I felt that the film both hit and missed the spot in equal measures, I couldn't help thinking throughout how much better it would have been if it were a straight Asian film as the characters seemed way to over the top sometimes especially Tilda Swinton's character "Mason" who had big goofy teeth, thick glasses and the most ridiculous Yorkshire accent you have ever heard.Also a scene where you're wondering before hand how did the train get made etc. they then enter a carriage where there is a school class being taken, The kids and teacher in there are straight out of Willy Wonka and all is explained in a Flashback/cartoon form, odd but quite funny!We get an occasional glimpse of the outside world and it looks stunning, The level of detail is brilliantly done.Now I'm not saying it's a bad film but to be honest it's not that great either maybe my love of Asian cinema has probably made my view a little bias I just felt like something was missing. You get your action scenes then Curtis do a big emotional speech to Namgoong, Pretty much run of the mill stuff really. Although saying that the ending was not what I expected and was quite a twist.The film picked up a lot and was helped  by the inclusion of the always brilliant Kang-Ho Song and Director Joon-Ho-Bong has some brilliant set pieces as always I just hope that he will continue to make films in Korea and not go down the John Woo Hollywood route.In summing up, Don't expect too much and you may be pleasantly surprised, A good Saturday night film, Turn your brain off, Sit back and Enjoy.

7/10

Jonny T.

'THE KILLING' SERIES ONE TO THREE COMES TO DVD AND BLU-RAY1 SEPTEMBER

Coming to DVD and Blu-Ray 1st September is the U.S. Remake of The Killing, Now i'm noy usually a fan of remakes of TV shows but i do have to so this one is damn good!The Original Nordic TV show of The Killing was a world wide smash hit and opened the doors for many more great Nordic Noir TV and film to a worldwide audience, So I would say even if you are a fan of the original series this is still 100% worth a look,

All details below,

Jonny T.

  'THE KILLING' SERIES ONE TO THREE COMES TO DVD AND BLU-RAY1 SEPTEMBER

Based on the Danish The Killing (aka Forbrydelsen), one of the original 'Nordic Noir' hits that put this brand new genre on the map, with its renowned jumper-wearing detective Sarah Lund, comes the hugely popular US remake The Killing series one to three on DVD and Blu-ray.

To coincide with the release of The Killing season four on Netflix, Mediumrare brings the Emmy nominated The Killing seasons one to three to DVD and Blu-ray for the first time as one complete collection and also as single disc releases, with season two and three making their UK home entertainment debut on 1 September 2014.

Soaked in atmosphere, the slow burning, crime thriller stars Mireille Enos (Big Love) as Sarah Linden, the lead homicide detective who is assigned to the murder case of 17-year-old Rosie Larsen.

Written and produced by Veena Sud (Cold Case), the addictive whodunit follows Linden and her partner Stephen Holder (Joel Kinnaman - Robocop) in their investigation, as Politician Darren Richmond (Billy Campbell - Helix) prepares for his Seattle mayoral campaign and Rosie's family try to continue a life without her. As evidence slowly surfaces, the stories start to interlock and Linden drifts further and further from her plan to retire to California with her fiance.

Who killed Rosie Larsen? Now it's your time to find out with the stunning collection of this thrilling, atmospheric drama.

'Deliciously intelligent TV... Marvellously executed'

The Telegraph

KILLERS - from the producers of The Raid - in cinemas 18th July and DVD & Blu-ray 1st September

A brand new psychological thriller from the producers of THE RAID

Killers

In cinemas from Friday 18th July 2014. Also on DVD & Blu-Ray from Monday 1st Sept. 2014.

KILLERS is a stylish thriller from The Raid producer/ Director Gareth Evans and directed by the hugely talented ‘Mo Brothers’ (Macabre). The film sees the explosive meeting of two serial killers with contrasting, and sadistic, styles of murder.

KILLERS will be in cinemas from 18th July before coming to DVD & Blu-ray 1st September.

Directors

Timo Tjahjanto and Kimo Stamboel (Macabre)

Producer

Gareth Evans (The Raid/ The Raid 2)

Stars

Oka Antara (VHS 2/ The Raid 2)

Kazuki Kitamura (Kill Bill: Vol,1/ The Raid 3)

Synopsis:

Nomura is a good looking and stylish man in his early thirties who lives a successful life in Tokyo, Japan. Girls are drawn to him, something he uses to his advantage as none of them realise the sinister truth behind the clean-cut façade.

Nomura has been leaving a legacy of violent murders that he immortalises through video clips posted on a public video website. He thrives off of the fact that millions are witnessing his work through the virally spread videos.

Thousands of miles away from him, in a whole different world, lives Bayu, a disgraced investigative journalist living in a violent and unstable Jakarta, Indonesia. As Bayu’s life is hit by the nadir of failures, Nomura’s videos trigger his dark side as he starts to record his own brand of “justified” killings. Nomura’s seemingly confident and controlled charm starts to peel when his ego is wounded by the fact that Bayu’s videos have reached a significant numbers of followers that could rival his own.

Complicating matters further is Nomura’s bizarre attraction towards a traumatised young florist Hisae. Bayu himself starts to sink deeper into a spiral of violence; obsessed with bringing down one of the country’s biggest and most corrupt politicians, but during his bloody rampage he doesn’t realise the repercussions towards his young daughter, Elly.

When the rivalry between Nomura and Bayu becomes an uncontrollable psychosis, the two of them must face each other in one of the most exhilarating film finales in years.

KILLERS takes the style and quality production of The Raid and creates a psychological thriller head and shoulders above any film of its genre. With characters and events that leave a lasting effect long after the credits, this is a film for all fans of quality cinema.

The Last Showing - Robert Englund gets back to horror!

"A couple trapped in a cinema are manipulated into becoming unwilling actors in a film being captured by CCTV cameras."

Robert Englund returns to horror in The Last Showing, Sounds from the synopsis above to be pretty good, Now I know we'd all love to see him don his Freddy outfit again but from early reactions and showing the response has been positive so far, I've put the trailer below and as soon as I find out more details I'll post them right here!

Enjoy,

Jonny T.

The Possession Of Michael King - Trailer

Michael King (Shane Johnson), who doesn't believe in God or the Devil. Following the sudden death of his wife, Michael decides to make his next film about the search for the existence of the supernatural, making himself the center of the experiment - allowing demonologists, necromancers, and various practitioners of the occult to try the deepest and darkest spells and rituals they can find on him - in the hopes that when they fail, he'll once and for all have proof that religion, spiritualism, and the paranormal are nothing more than myth. But something does happen. An evil and horrifying force has taken over Michael King. And it will not let him go. o Summary provided - Michael King (Shane Johnson) doesn't believe in God or The Devil. Following the sudden death of his wife, the documentary filmmaker decides to make his next film about the search for the existence of the supernatural. Michael decides to make himself the center of the experiment - allowing demonologists, necromancers, and various practitioners of the occult to try the deepest and darkest spells and rituals they can find on him - in the hopes that when they fail, he'll once and for all have proof that religion, spiritualism, and the paranormal are nothing more than myth. But something does happen. An evil and horrifying force has taken over Michael King. And it will not let him go.

Coming this August is The Possession of Michael King, Seems to be part found footage part exorcist kind of movie, with lots of the usual quiet parts then lots of RAAAAR!! You know the score, But it has been getting pretty good reviews so far so only time will tell, 

Trailer Below,

Enjoy,

Jonny T.

Takashi Miike returns to horror with "Over your dead body"

Great news that Takashi Miike legendary Japanese director has returned to horror with Over Your Dead Body, Coming this August to Asia and hopefully not too long to the west the trailer although soley in Japanese at present show him to be back on top splatter form as was the case with his classic Itchi the killer.Maybe a little too late to get any UK festival showings but let's hope that it does get a showing at a cinema near you soon!

Jonny T.

An actor named Kosuke plays the role of Iemon in a stage version of Yotsuya Kaiden and his new lover Miyuki plays Oiwa. However, as they delve deeper into their respective performances, the line between fantasy and reality becomes obscured until the murderous, vengeful themes of the play bleed into their own relationship.