Log: week 30 / 2022

Charlie Kohler once was a famous pianist, after his wife committed suicide Charlie couldn't continue his public life and his fame quickly faded. Things get worse when he gets a visit from his little brother. He has two criminals on his tail, Charlie gets involved in their business when he inadvertently lies to them.

While there are some clear crime elements present, the direction is a lot lighter and less constrained than you'd get from an actual noir. Aznavour isn't great though and Truffaut isn't quite as frivolous as some of his contemporaries. The film has its moments, but not enough to put it up there with the best Nouvelle Vague films.

A former TV show host plans to commit suicide on New Year's Eve. When he arrives at his hand-picked spot, it turns out he's not the only one with the idea to kill himself. After an awkward conversation, the four decide to make a pact, promising each other not to kill themselves until Valentine's day.

Though the theme is quite heavy, the presentation is pretty light. Brosnan is solid, Poots is cheeky, and even Collette doesn't overdo it. The structure of the film is a bit messy and neither the drama nor the comedy is too captivating, but it's a pretty pleasant watch throughout. Decent filler.

Action Park was a summer park for young people who liked thrills. The rides in the park didn't just look dangerous, they actually were, resulting in many injuries (and court cases, even some deaths). The doc paints a picture of what it was like to visit the park, of its owners, and the things that went on behind closed curtains.

In this current day and age it's difficult to believe a place like that existed, at the same time I don't necessarily dislike the idea of having these less-controlled environments around. The conclusion of the doc seems to be pointing in the same direction, I'm just not sure if the footage of a mother visiting the grave of the son she lost there fitted in with that sentiment. An amusing doc, but nothing too memorable.

Five students examine a local campus legend, not much later all of them have died under mysterious circumstances. Four years later, a reporter returns to the haunted place, hoping to find out what exactly happened to the kids. The deeper she digs into the story, the more cover-ups she finds.

The performances aren't that great, the urban legend is basic and the scares aren't all that original. The execution of the horror elements is pretty decent though, and the pacing is slick. The Bridge Curse is simple horror fodder done well, which is more than enough when looking for proper horror filler.

Dosuemon travels back from the future to help out Kasuta. He is in danger of dying from a genital disease, Dosuemon comes to hang with him and help him with his daily troubles, so he grows up into a more responsible boy. It quickly transpires that Dosuemon isn't the ideal guide for the young Kasuta, as he has no qualms murdering people who get in his way.

The performances are grossly overstated, the comedy is quite vulgar, and it's no surprise this film looks dirt cheap. At the same time, there's a dedication to the material that does result in a couple of chuckles along the way. Not enough to call it a successful comedy, but with a little refinement this director might just make it.

A poor herdsman falls in love with the chief's daughter. Age-old traditions forbid their marriage, but it's clear that's not going to stop the two from seeking out each other's company. So the village elders come up with a plan. They give the herdsman an impossible challenge and promise him the village daughter when he succeeds.

The cinematography is dire, the soundtrack horrible, the performances forced. The plot is pretty predictable and even though the film is pretty short, it ended up feeling almost twice as long. There were a few tepid attempts to elevate the film, which was at least something, but not what I call riveting cinema.

A young girl applies for a night shift job in a local gas station. She's just been released from prison and is mentally unstable, with only one friend and a boarish parole officer to help her out she needs all the help she can get. Her first night doesn't really go as planned, as she keeps seeing her ex-boyfriend, an infamous serial killer.

The paranoia elements are pretty poor, the plot is incredibly simple and the background drama is overdone. The gore is decent though, the setting is moody and there are some brutal scenes, though none so extreme to make this stand out from the crowd. It's a decent enough horror film, just not all that remarkable.

This seventh part doesn't feature the usual anthology setup, instead, we get a more consistent plot. A TV crew from Hong Kong travels to a more rural seaside village to shoot a music video. The locals aren't too happy about the arrival of the city folk, certainly not when they start spreading rumors about the place being haunted.

Troublesome Night is never scary, the effects are minimal, and the narrative trumps the atmosphere. The performances are pretty weak (even though there are some very familiar faces - Louis Koo is still around) and the finale leans more toward drama than actual horror. These films are short and simple, but they lack the proper genre qualities to make them work.

To honor Cath, Nic's deceased sister, she and her former diving friends plan a journey that used to be Cath's big dream. They're peddling to a remote island, but halfway there they run into a shark. The animal seems hellbent on following the women around, and it isn't afraid to attack when they least expect it.

The setting is lovely, and the shark scares are effective, if nothing you haven't seen before. There's a bit too much bland drama scattered throughout the film and the ending comes off a little simple, but The Reef: Stalked is decent enough genre fun. As long as you know what you're getting yourself into.

The concept of this film series is simple. A TV crew gets sent a video by one of their fans, after which they decide to investigate. This time around we're looking at a young couple who bump into a kappa when they're going fishing. The TV crew is intrigued and together with the couple they decide to explore the place of the sighting.

Fuzzy images, jaggy camera work and some of the more gruesome folklore surrounding the kappa (apparently they rip your balls out through your rectum) are supposed to make you shiver, it just didn't quite work for me. It's still pretty decent genre fun and the short runtime is a blessing, I just liked the others better so far.

When an ancient corpse is dug up in a bog near Drenthe, a group of scientists comes over to investigate. Betriek lives in a house nearby, where she grew up hearing the many stories related to the bogs. Her family has a pretty dark history, and she begins to suspect something dark is lurking in the shadows.

The setting is perfect for a horror film and the build-up is pretty solid. The background story is eerie too, the effects and designs could've been better though, and the finale is a bit too by the numbers. Still, if you're looking for a fun and accomplished Dutch horror film, look no further.