Film review- The Pebble And The Boy

The Pebble And The Boy

Starring Patrick McNamee, Sacha Parkinson, Max Boast

Directed by Chris Green 

Certificate 15

By @RogerCrow

There’s a rule of thumb with cinema: no film that starts with grainy home movie footage turns out to be a laugh-a-minute farce. 

Such is the cast with this harmless Brit flick. It’s a study of grief, a love letter to Mod culture, and a road trip in one. Now any movie which features loads of Paul Weller tracks is all right by me, but there needed to be more to it than there is. 

TPATB centres on John, a grieving 19 year old who embarks on a journey from Manchester to Brighton, the spiritual home of the Mods, to scatter his late father’s ashes.

The movie starts off on a sombre note, and for the most part features John coping with his loss, grieving, travelling, coming to terms with the scooter, and eventually making it to Brighton. It’s well shot and edited, and the mostly young cast do an okay job with the script, but there’s something missing.

Losing a parent is one of the most devastating events in your life, but it’s not necessarily a great subject for a road movie, even if there is a good soundtrack. See the film Elizabethtown for further proof, which may feature an A-list cast and a superb last 10 minutes, but for the most part is a melancholy misfire. 

At times it’s also reminiscent of Silver Dream Racer, a far darker study of grief and motorbikes, which was far bolder in its execution. 

Patrick McNamee is an okay lead, and Corrie veteran Sacha Parkinson is a natural screen presence. There’s also good support from Patsy Kensit and other familiar faces, while Max Boast is fun in support, even if his reaction to his mate sleeping in a boat is far too OTT. 

If you too are a grieving Mod it will touch a major chord, obviously, but some movies need to be Harleys rather than Lambrettas if they’re going to take an audience on a journey for 100 minutes. Yes, both vehicles will get you to the finish line, but for some parental grief is a full throttle, gas-guzzling shock to the system rather than a puttering ride. 

I wanted this to be as emotionally epic as Jim Steinman’s Bat Out of Hell, even with the appropriate form of transport for the subject matter, but it was not to be. 

This is a half-hour drama at best that needed to be far more than just a love letter to Paul Weller and a lost loved one. Good effort from all though, and I have a feeling Chris Green’s future work will be more on the money. 

Cast 7

Script 7

Editing 8

Cinematography 8

Score 8

Film review- When The Screaming Starts

Starring Ed Hartland, Jared Rogers, Octavia Gilmore

Directed by Conor Boru

By @RogerCrow

A wannabe serial killer, a warped filmmaker, and a murderous cult on a blood-soaked rampage. That’s the premise for this jet-black comedy horror which is tantalisingly close to brilliant. 

It centres on Norman Graysmith who is invited into the home of an aspiring serial killer, Aidan Mendle. Norman (think Louis Theroux) believes he has found the subject for the documentary that will transform his failing career. 

Initially the production goes well with Aidan freely opening up about his desire to kill, but when his early attempt at committing murder falls apart, things begin to unravel.

The problem is a comedy about a serial killer is such a tricky thing to get right. And when said wannabe killer aspires to be as twisted as a notorious psychopath and his brainwashed nutcases, it’s hard to empathise. Which is not to say the movie doesn’t work. For the most part it’s well scripted, lit, acted and the cast of relative newcomers are all on top form. 

Ed Hartland, looking like Tim Key but with the odd David Brent-style mannerism, does a fine job as the key anti hero, while the supporting cast generate the odd laugh-out-loud moment. 

Octavia Gilmore steals the show as Amy, the alpha psycho killer whose cool demeanour inevitably threatens Aidan’s position. 

Listen out for a subtle nod to An American Werewolf in London, and don’t miss that terrific rock video, which gives you a glimpse of how great this could have been if that level of wit had been maintained for the entire running time.

It becomes a tad muddled in the third act, straying too far into the dark side rather than the What We Do In the Shadows-style lightness. However, like other pending Brit chiller comedy The Parapod, for the most part this is a lot of ‘fun’, even if the subject matter leaves a very uneasy feeling. 

Cast 8 

Script 8

Cinematography 8

Editing 8

Score 8

Film review – Censor

Starring Niamh Algar, Michael Smiley, Vincent Franklin 

Directed by Prano Bailey-Bond

Certificate 15

By @RogerCrow

This is one of those films made by people who love horror movies, and the first act looks like a pretty straight drama about one woman’s fight to do the right thing. 

Enid Baines is a film censor essentially policing an era of video nasties, that time in the early 1980s when films like Sam Raimi’s schlock horror money-spinner Evil Dead was deemed so toxic, it was capable of corrupting a generation of viewers. 

This was the era of three million unemployed in the UK, so it was easy to lay the blame for crime at the door of folks who watched horror films.

As we follow Enid in her quest to find her missing sister, she’s drawn towards creepy film producer Doug Smart (the ever brilliant Michael Smiley), and the mysterious director who is planning a movie with an actress who may or may not be her sibling. 

While Censor uses the tropes of the stalk-and-slash genre, there’s one good jump scare, and a third act which sadly goes off the rails. 

The tightly knitted structure of that first act turns into an ‘anything goes horror’ after the heroine visits Smart’s home. It’s the end of this scene when the movie turns into either a dream or a nightmare, but despite an ending reminiscent of Terry Gilliam’s Brazil, for the most part it’s a great watch. The fact I was hooked for the duration speaks volumes, so I’m not surprised it’s been attracting acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival and the Berlin Film Festival.

If you liked Peter Strickland’s Berberian Sound Studio, a similar period love letter to Euro horror cinema, this is another one of those movies which should wind up on Film4 in a year or less, having garnered plenty of gongs at assorted back-slapping bashes. 

Niamh Algar, aka Enid, does a terrific job of carrying the entire project on her slight shoulders, so little wonder she’s bound to appear in every other major UK film production of the next few years. Prano Bailey-Bond also does a good job on scripting and directing duties, while it’s not  a  shock to see veteran critic, author and film expert Kim Newman as one of the executive producers. 

And a special nod to cinematographer Annika Summerson, who lit Yorkshire-made cult classic Await Further Instructions a few years ago. She also does a splendid job here. 

For the most part Censor is a success, but that woolly finale is such an easy cop out, sacrificing all the great work that went before it, that I was left yearning for something more formidable and less of a cop out. 

Cast 8

Cinematography 8

Script 7

Editing 8

Direction 8

Film review-Climate of the Hunter (2019)

Starring Ginger Gilmartin, Mary Buss, Ben Hall.

Directed by Mickey Reece

By Roger Crow

It’s very easy to make a generic horror film. Get a few beautiful twentysomethings, a killer in a mask, some flickering neon tubes, a smoke machine and then knock up a script in about 30 minutes. The result is usually generic and forgettable, but occasionally a horror film comes along that subverts the genre. 

This one is described as a cross between Euro-horror classic Daughters of Darkness (one of my favourite genre entries) and George Romero’s vampire tale Martin 

It’s helmed by the highly prolific Oklahoma-based film-maker Mickey Reece, whose style is reminiscent of Peter Strickland, Jared Hess and late seventies era Brian De Palma. 

Strikingly filmed in saturated 70s-style colours, COTH is like nothing else you’ll see this year. 

It centres on sisters Alma and Elizabeth, along with a dog who’s described as a “philosopher,”. They have come to Alma’s remote house to reconnect with Wesley after 20 years. 

Alma is recently divorced, Elizabeth is a workaholic in Washington, DC while Wesley lives in Paris dealing with a wife recently struck with a fatal disease. When the three come together for dinner, it has all the makings of an adult melodrama about loneliness. However, there’s naturally a twist: Wesley could be a vampire.

Unlike some films where a poor script, bad direction or lacklustre actors let the side down, this succeeds on all levels. The cast is great, the script is on point and it’s well directed. I doubt it will make a huge amount of cash at the box office, but like all cult films it will develop a firm fan base in the months and years to come. 

If you liked Twin Peaks, Evil Dead, and countless other weird and wonderful offbeat offerings, then Climate of the Hunter is bound to become a firm favourite. 

Cast 8

Script 8

Direction 8

Cinematography 8

Score 7

Film review – The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970)

Starring Tony Musante, Suzy Kendall, Eva Renzi

Directed by Dario Argento

Certificate 15

By @RogerCrow

A little over 50 years ago, this fascinating offering redefined the ‘giallo’ genre of murder-mystery thrillers and catapulted writer/director Dario Argento to international stardom. 

It also established the key traits that would define Argento’s filmography, including lavish visuals and a flare for wildly inventive, brutal scenes of violence. See his offering Tenebrae reviewed elsewhere if you want further proof. 

The plot: Sam Dalmas (Tony Musante) is an American writer living in Rome. He inadvertently witnesses a brutal attack on a woman (Eva Renzi) in a modern art gallery. Powerless to help, he grows obsessed with the incident. Convinced that something he saw holds the key to identifying the maniac terrorising Rome, he launches his own investigation parallel to that of the police, regardless of the danger to both himself and his girlfriend Giulia (Suzy Kendall). 

There are times when some of the scenes are maddeningly frustrating, such as the inevitable attack on Giulia. The killer scratching away at a wooden door to gain access may be seen by some as a way of prolonging the suspense, but Kendall’s character is a useless heroine, even in an age when scream queens did little else except fall over a lot and look helpless. 

(Suzy was far better in Assault, which was released a year after TBWTCP). 

A scene with an eccentric artist might leave some cat lovers reaching for the off button. But while the movie may be littered with problems, its positives far outweigh the negatives. And one of the best things about it is I was still guessing who the killer was in the final few minutes. 

The cinematography by maestro Vittorio Storaro is terrific. He memorably lit The Conformist in the same year, and set the bar absurdly high for all Directors of Photography. 

The wondrous score by Ennio Morricone only adds to one of the most acclaimed genre offerings of 1970. 

It looks terrific in its HD glory, and thanks to a twist in the final minutes, you may get the urge to watch the whole thing again from a different perspective. 

Watch it as a double bill with Tenebrae and you’re in for a thrilling night. 

Cinematography 8

Score 9

Cast 7

Direction 8Editing 7

Game review – Night Book

Starring Julie Dray, Mark Wingett and Colin Salmon

Directed by Alex Lightman

By @RogerCrow

Assorted lockdowns and working from home has turned many of us into virtual participants in online meetings, workshops and general catch ups as we try and find our way through the pandemic. 

So little wonder interactive video games have reflected this strange new world. The latest is a curious affair which is like one of those Euro bilingual thrillers seen on BBC Four – it tries to be all things to all people, but winds up being a mess. 

The plot centres on Loralyn, who works the night shift remotely from her home, live interpreting video calls from English to French and back again. Currently pregnant, with a husband working far away and caring for her mentally ill father, she is desperately trying to keep her family together and safe – but who is she prepared to sacrifice to survive? The fiancé, the baby, her father or herself?

Lost in translation – Night Book has some good ideas, but is more annoying and depressing than it needed to be.

So it’s a great idea, and the cursed book thing is always a good plot device for films such as Evil Dead. But unless you speak fluent French, the translation aspect gets on the nerves quite fast. 

There are plenty of creepy moments. The interactive element is pretty fast, which is crucial for a game like this, but it so desperately needed a few laughs here and there to lighten the mood. 

The book of the film. Probably a lot more fun, even if it does summon demons.

There are times it’s genuinely creepy as the old parent (The Bill veteran Mark Wingett) locked in his bedroom is possessed by demonic forces. Either that or he’s drunk too much industrial strength lager. 

Of course interactive games like this have been around for decades, and while some boast huge budgets and star names, others with smaller production costs need to be more daring, original and quirky to survive. Here the protagonists, including Julie Dray and Colin Salmon, are fine, the game play is just all right, and while the mood is aptly sinister, I did lose interest after the first half an hour. Of course the beauty of the interactive game is you can play the whole thing again with different results and get an alternate experience. 

Strangely I had a similar expression by the time I finished one version of Night Book

Unlike 2020’s interactive offering The Complex, starring Kate Dickie, which I happily played several times over, and enjoyed every minute, but probably not as much as Mrs C who loved it even more, this one is a bit of a chore. A shame as there’s a lot of potential here. 

Could this game HAVE any more intentional glitches?

The creatives needed to dial down the mixed screen formats by 50%, and the glitchy video screen interference by 99%, because that was more annoying than watching a damaged Blu-ray disc while listening to static. 

Some horror thrillers are fun and scary but this is just annoying and depressing. I’ve only played it once with a certain outcome, and sadly I’ve no desire to try it all again. I might just cover a DVD of Evil Dead II with scratches and watch that instead. Should be a lot more fun. 

Cast 6

Script 5

Direction 6

Creepy factor 8

Annoying factor 9