Film: Frozen Silence

An army detective hunts for a serial killer who easily hides during the carnage of World War II.

This Spanish film is set within a team of soldiers who are sent to help Germany fight against the Russian army.

It opens with a beautifully shot scene showing a frozen wasteland littered with the remains of both humans and horses. It is among these bodies that the first victim is found.

This wisely doesn’t get too bogged down in the politics of its setting and I wouldn’t consider this a war film as such. It is a detective drama set amongst war.

Unfortunately the initial promise isn’t built on and the investigation becomes somewhat stale. Maybe a few more war type battle scenes would have livened things up!

Frozen Silence looks fantastic but the story doesn’t match up to the cinematography. It’s available on DVD in the UK now.

Ric's Rating: Dodgy

TV DVD: Broadchurch

Taking its cue from Scandinavian dramas The Killing and The Bridge (see review elsewhere here) this superior British drama had the whole nation talking during its TV run. Such was the furore that bookmakers were taking bets and national newspapers ran extensive features.

It follows the investigation into the murder of a young boy found dead on the beach of the picturesque town of the title.

Local policewoman Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman) expects to be put in charge of the investigation but her superiors decide to bring in an outsider. Enter David Tennant (Dr Who, Fright Night) as the baggage-laden Detective Inspector Alec Hardy.

Hardy and Miller follow the evidence through a town filled with eclectic and multi-layered characters. Everyone seems to have at least one skeleton lurking in their cupboard and the murder enquiry uncovers them all.

There are secret affairs, previous offences and unlikely friendships which soon emerge and help or hinder the hunt for the culprit.

The entire cast are fantastic with Colman and Tennant quite simply stunning in their portrayal of two completely different police officers working towards the same goal. I did manage to guess the killer quite early on but that didn’t detract from the totally compelling story as it unfolds.

This 3 disc set contains all 8 episodes of this captivating police procedural drama which hopefully heralds a new era in British television.

Broadchurch is available on DVD in the UK from 20^th May 2013.

Ric’s Rating: Essential.         

TV DVD: Bret "Hitman" Hart: The Dungeon Collection

Throughout the 1990s Bret "Hitman" Hart was one of the biggest names in professional wrestling. This 3 disc set charts his career and highlights a clutch of lesser known matches hand-picked by the man himself.

We kick off with a brief introduction from Hart and quickly settle into a series of matches featuring a veritable who's who of professional wrestling, all thoughtfully described by The Hitman.

Matches in this collection include Bret Vs....Mr Perfect, Bam Bam Bigelow, "Stone Cold " Steve Austin and his brother Owen Hart.

This set serves as a fine tribute to one of the biggest stars of the golden era of wrestling but the glaring omission of Hart's acrimonious departure from WWE and the in-ring death of Owen Hart mean that it isn't the frank exploration of his career it could have been.

Bret "Hitman" Hart : The Dungeon Collection is available on DVD in the UK from 13th May 2013.

Ric's Rating : Good 

Film: The Facility

In a remote medical facility in the English countryside a group of volunteers agree to try out the latest innovative drug, the mysterious Pro 9.

One by one they are administered the drug but soon afterwards some of their number experience intense pain which then manifests itself in increasingly bizarre and violent behaviour.

Featuring a largely little known cast, this UK horror/thriller has some wonderfully intense moments but doesn't quite manage to maintain the tense atmosphere throughout.

One big plus is that this isn't a zombie film in disguise, the affected patients retain their humanity while becoming increasingly dangerous and the audience is kept guessing as to who is going to be affected and who has taken a placebo.

The facility is available on DVD in the UK now.

Ric’s Rating: Good. 

Film: Under Cover

A cop masquerades as a high school student in order to find those responsible for the death of his friend in this 1987 thriller.

David Neidorf (Platoon, Best Shot aka Hoosiers) is Detective Sheffield Hauser who along with female cop Laroux (Jennifer Jason Leigh) infiltrate the high school drug scene.

Things take a surprising turn when evidence points to a baseball team member that Hauser has befriended. Is he responsible for the other cop’s death?

Following an excellent showing in Best Shot (UK title for Hoosiers) and a brief but noteworthy appearance in Platoon, Neidorf takes the lead in this Golan-Globus production. What he lacks in charisma he makes up for in charm as he easily falls into the role of awkward teenager despite his appearance.

“How many high school students do you know that are bearded and balding?” yells his LT at the initial suggestion of the assignment.

Jennifer Jason Leigh (Single White Female) also puts in a competent turn as Hauser’s undercover partner.

After a string of TV shows and movies Neidorf quit acting altogether in 1995 making this a one-off. I had fond memories of it from back in the day and it still works reasonably well today. Neidorf is very watchable and the dependable Barry Corbin (No Country For Old Men) also turns up as the local Sheriff.

Under Cover is showing on TCM in the UK now.

Ric’s Rating: Good.  

Film: Come Out And Play

A newlywed American couple visit a remote Mexican island but soon realise that something isn’t quite right.

There seems to be hardly any people on the island and almost all of the ones they see are children. It turns out that the island’s children have succumb to some sort of madness which makes them attack adults, with deadly results.

Our couple are soon fleeing for their lives from the nasty and violent gang.

What’s worse than a scary kid film? A film with a whole bunch of scary kids.

At times this is really unintentionally funny as the little boys and girls attempt to look menacing. There are some shocking scenes of violence but that’s mostly when the hero decides to fight back, overall this is just silly.

Come Out And Play is available on DVD in the UK from 6^th May 2013.

Ric’s Rating: Dodgy.  

Film: Iron Man 3

Robert Downey Jr returns as Tony Stark for the latest superhero adventure from Marvel.

We last saw Stark’s Iron Man in the brilliant Avengers (I’ll ignore the silly UK title) and at the beginning of this film he is still suffering mentally from those events. Iron Man was briefly sucked through a wormhole to a galaxy far far away!

This time he is without his superhero friends as he battles a vindictive terrorist known as The Mandarin (Ben Kingsly).

Meanwhile we have the shifty scientist Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) attempting to convince Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) to fund his DNA altering research via Stark’s corporation.

The previous Iron Man films were a bit run-of-the-mill but the character (and Downey Jr) had a brilliant outing in the Avengers. That screen presence continues here and the other heroes are not missed. Robert Downey Jr is magnetic as Stark, both in and out of the Iron Man suit, and the rest of the cast look like they are having the time of their lives. Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda) is excellent as Col. Rhodes aka War Machine and special mention has to go to Ben Kingsly for his brilliant and surprising portrayal of The Mandarin (steer clear of any spoilers regarding this character).

Iron Man 3 builds on the success of The Avengers and with new Thor and Captain America films coming soon Marvel’s current crop of hits looks set to continue.

Iron Man 3 is in cinemas now.

Ric’s Rating: Highly Recommended.       

TV DVD: Journeyman

Kevin McKidd (Trainspotting) stars in this 13 part time travelling tv drama from 2007.

McKidd is Dan Vassar, a journalist who suddenly finds himself transported to different periods of time. His purpose for being there soon reveals itself and he faces a series of problems to solve ranging from preventing a murder to re-uniting estranged family members.

Along with these situations Dan also runs into his dead ex-girlfriend. She too has the ability to time travel and things get complicated when he encounters earlier events from his own life.

This show fell victim to the cut-throat world of US tv ratings but it’s great fun and Scottish actor McKidd even manages a pretty convincing American accent.

Fans of Quantum Leap and Back To The Future will love it.

Journeyman: The Complete Series is available as a 4 disc DVD box set in the UK now.

Ric’s Rating: Good.    

Short Film: Unarmed Robbery

First up from IndieFlix is a short film which presents the scenario of a one-armed man robbing a late-night store.

At only six minutes long this is basically a comedy sketch and it would work well in a suitable tv show.

The clerk and robber are both excellent as the former can’t take his eyes off the latter’s stump. This distracts the robber from his purpose and he then proceeds to show how he can commit a robbery just as well as any two-armed bandit.

Unarmed Robbery is very funny and it may have helped open my eyes to the whole short-film genre.

Find it at www.indieflix.com

Ric’s Rating: Highly Recommended.

   

Reviews News: IndieFlix

The good folks at IndieFlix have been in touch and kindly allowed me access to their cool website for the next three months.

Here is a bit about them:

For far too long, filmmakers have been forced to either sell out or starve. Thousands of brilliant, creative minds submit their works to festivals, hoping to find meaningful distribution yet fewer than 1% actually do. We’re here to level the playing field. Founded by filmmakers, IndieFlix is part champion, part curator; our mission is to democratize distribution and provide significant revenue for filmmakers.

IndieFlix is a community of independent filmmakers and fans. Through its membership-based streaming service, IndieFlix helps filmmakers translate artistic vision into commercial success, and gives film lovers access to high quality independent films not otherwise available. IndieFlix’s mission is to champion filmmakers, rethink traditional approaches to distribution, and celebrate the artistry and impact of independent film.

Please visit IndieFlix at www.indieflix.com

This means I'll be posting reviews of some cool independent films so please check back soon and follow me on Twitter @Ricsreviews for updates. There may even be some free subscriptions on offer!

Book: Murder By Prophecy by Gary Kassay

Detective Inspector Duke Becker and the Special Investigations Unit (Homicide) of New York City return in this sequel to the brilliant Murder In Silence, from cop-turned-author Gary Kassay.

This time Becker and the team are in pursuit of a serial-killer known as The Prophet, a killer who sends taunting letters to the Chief Of Police, who may know more than he is admitting to.

This novel is no whodunit, we are immediately introduced to Samuel Maxwell, a man hell-bent on avenging the brutal murder of his family by becoming The Prophet and eliminating those he holds responsible.

All the winning elements from the first book are back. Duke and the gang are on fine form and the reader again finds themselves able to relate to the character that would traditionally be presented as the bad guy.

Before picking this up I’d advise reading Murder In Silence as there are lots of recurring characters, even some peripheral characters are back. Wheelchair-bound Fred Haynes and reporter Marielle Wilson both return and it’s a nice touch, as all too often authors quickly ditch good characters for no apparent reason.

Maxwell’s meticulous planning leaves the cops struggling to keep up but will he succeed in his mission or will the lure of a possible new life knock him off course?

Exciting, fast-paced and loads of fun Murder By Prophecy is a cool follow-up to a fantastic series opener and I can’t wait to see what Becker and the team encounter next.

Click the Gary Kassay label for my review of Murder In Silence and more.

Ric’s Rating: Highly Recommended. 

Film: The Lords of Salem

Musician turned director Rob Zombie casts his wife, Sheri Moon Zombie, as a late night radio host who unwittingly summons a coven of witches in this shocker.

A parcel arrives at the radio station containing a vinyl record by a band called The Lords. This strange recording has a weird effect on the host and many female members of the audience resulting in countless acts of violence and murder.

The heavy metal soundtrack and the grating resonance of the strange record immediately made me reach for the volume control, I get that this was meant to be unsettling but the feeling created was just one of annoyance.

There is also a constant stream of devil-worshipping type images that includes goats, big hairy monsters, silly guys with masks and naked old ladies. This is often unintentionally hilarious and miserably fails to provoke the intended reaction.

A brilliant straight-to-video cast is largely wasted here. Bruce Davison (V, The X Men), Dee Wallace (E.T), Meg Foster (They Live) and Ken Foree (Dawn Of The Dead) all appear, as does Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes) but unfortunately he is hidden behind a mask.

With The Lords Of Salem Rob Zombie has attempted to move (albeit sideways) away from his previous efforts which include the Halloween remake and the brilliant The Devil’s Rejects. Unfortunately it just doesn’t work.

The Lords Of Salem is available on DVD in the UK now.

Ric’s Rating: Poor.