Thirst: Film #145 of Film 365

Monday 27th February 2012

Director: Chan-wook Park
Year: 2009
Stars: Kang-ho Song, Ok-bin Kim, Hae-suk Kim, Ha-Kyun Shin

Well, this is different. It was part of a vampire triple-bill on Channel 4 one evening- coming after Twilight and Near Dark (both enjoyable vampire movies in my opinion). This is a Korean movie, and the oddest of the three. And, perhaps in some ways, also the most traditional. It features a pretty large amount of death and sex. Anybody who knows their vampire movies (or even vampire novels) will know that this means it's a proper vampire movie.

All this doesn't mean that you will have seen anything like Thirst before. I'm not sure how much of this is down to the fact that the movie is Korean, and I'm not used to their style of film making, and how much is down to the movie being truly unique. But I certainly enjoyed it, and might well seek out other Korean recommended movies on the strength of it.

Thirst begins by telling the story of Priest Sang-hyeon (Song), a man who volunteers for a vaccine development project. He does this to try and help others infected by a specific disease. But, unlike all the other patients who die, a blood transfusion turns him into a vampire. It takes him some time to acknowledge this, and Thirst does a great job of portraying the emotions he goes through in order to get to this point. This is no 2-minute Hollywood plot device at the beginning of a movie to get you to the good vampire stuff. It takes a good 30-40 minutes to get to this point; but you won't feel bored getting there. The movie descends into more of a Hollywood Natural Born Killers style movie when Priest Sang-hyeon meets Tae-ju (Kim) - but even this relationship takes some time to getting going; and watching it become established is all part of the joy.

If you love horror, and specifically vampire movies (like me), but are looking for something a bit different to your standard Hollywood fare, I highly recommend seeking Thirst out.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past: Film #144 of Film 365

Sunday 26th February 2012

Director: Mark Waters
Year: 2009
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Michael Douglas

I was looking for a fluffy, easy-to-watch romantic comedy, and this fit the bill perfectly. There is nothing new or insightful here- but it does make for an easy watch on a Sunday afternoon. At first I feared it was going to be the movie with the male equivalent of Jennifer Aniston's character in Rumor Has It (McConaughey's character, Connor Mead, starts off being truly hateful), but this is the point. Instead of trying to give him some redeeming features, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past acknowledges that Connor just needs, well, fixing. Of course, only in Hollywood can people be this outwardly horrible and get away with it for so long. In my experience, in real life, truly horrible people are generally a lot more cunning.

If it hadn't been for the fact that this uses A Christmas Carol as its premise, I would dismiss it as your standard romantic comedy. However, I love A Christmas Carol and many of its adaptations. I don't even mind (normally) if it's adapted to fit a certain purpose, even one a long way away from the original story. But this is taking it a step too far. It feels as if the writers were just too lazy to think of their own plot device. It's not even set at Christmas, and that's a fundamental point of A Christmas Carol. There's a clue in the title. It would have scored a very average 2.5out of 5, but it loses half a point for annoying me.

Rating: 2 out of 5

Irina Palm: Film #143 of Film 365

Saturday 25th February 2012

Director: Sam Garbarski
Year: 2007
Stars: Marianne Faithfull, Miki Manojlovic, Kevin Bishop, Siobhan Hewlett, Dorka Gryllus

I'd been putting off watching this for a little while because I wasn't 100% sure about the content. The film got good reviews when it was released, which is why I had recorded it in the first place. But every time I went to select a movie I wanted to watch, somehow this was never it.

Marianne Faithfull plays Maggie, a woman whose grandson is terminally ill. Going to Australia to be treated is the only option he has left. Unfortunately, the family is already massively in debt (due to the boys previous treatments), and are struggling to come up with the money. In order to help, Maggie gets a job in a sex club in London (it's not quite as bad as you're imagining, but this is a sex club). And she turns out to be very good at it. It all sounds very titillating (which is what initially put me off), but it's really not.

Irina Palm (Maggie's "stage" name) manages to avoid all the cliches and pitfalls a movie like this could fall into. More than anything, it's a character study of people just doing what they can for their families. Nothing feels unrealistic, from Maggie's decision to work at the club (which takes some time), to her son's reaction when he (thinks) he finds out what's going on. Don't let the bizarre subject matter put you off- this is a really interesting, different movie.

Rating: 4 out of 5

The Woman in Black: Film #142 of Film 365

Thursday 23rd February 2012

Director: James Watkins
Year: 2012
Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Ciaran Hinds, Janet McTeer, Liz White

When we were going to the cinema, we couldn't decide whether to watch this or The Muppets. I half wish we'd chosen The Muppets, although I knew I wanted to see this more. And that's not because The Woman in Black is a bad film - in the words of some girls leaving the cinema, it's truly terrifying. It's just because I don't know if I'm going to be able to sleep tonight.

If you've read the Susan Hill novel this is based on, or seen the play in London's West End (I've done both and can't recommend either highly enough), you'll know what the basic premise of this story is. The story has been changed from the original - which, for the most part, I didn't mind. It's only the ending I have some issues with- and that's partly because I love the original ending so much.

If you love ghost stories, you will love this. It's definitely a slow burner - the scares don't come thick and fast, but when they do come you'll be very, very scared. There aren't a lot of jumps, but when they come, they'll get you. And you won't once think of Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter. He embodies Arthur Kipps perfectly. I can now recommend the movie (almost) as highly as the book and the play- as long as you don't mind a massive scare or two.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning: Film #141 of Film 365

Wednesday 22nd February 2012

Director: Grant Harvey
Year: 2004
Stars: Katharine Isabelle, Elizabeth Perkins, Nathaniel Arcand, JR Bourne, Hugh Dillon, Adrien Dorval

I'd been putting off watching this for a while, as it felt like just another horror movie. I knew that might be unfair, because I really enjoyed the original Ginger Snaps, and Ginger Snaps: Unleashed wasn't bad either. Anyway, I was reaching the end of my November movies to watch (slightly long story, but I'm watching movies month by month in an attempt to get them watched- and not have too much choice!), so the choice was between this and Thirst- a Korean vampire movie. Which I'm also intrigued by, but keep getting put off because I don't want to have to read subtitles when eating my dinner (which is when I seem to end up watching movies at the moment).

It turns out that Ginger Snaps Back is actually a pretty enjoyable horror movie. It's short, concise and to the point. It's not a jump-out-your-seat scary horror movie (see The Woman in Black for that), but it does do what it aims to rather effectively. The basic story is that two sisters end up in the middle of nowhere of Canada, in a fort looked after by a group of men who are acting, to put it mildly, rather oddly. It doesn't take long to realise that this all has something to do with werewolves.

There perhaps aren't many surprises here - most of them are actually spelt out for you and explained before they happen. But it's still a far more intelligent movie than many, many horror movies out there.

Rating: 4 out of 5