Film: Big Bad Wolves

A meek schoolteacher emerges as the main suspect in a series of grisly child murders in this black comedy from Israel.

Following a run-in with local police the schoolteacher is freed and the cop on the case finds himself suspended. Convinced he has the right man the cop decides to kidnap the suspect but soon has to co-operate with the Father of a murdered girl who is out for revenge.

The duo take the suspect to a remote house for interrogation but things don’t go as planned when the grieving Father becomes the subject of his own elderly parents’ attention.

This film features the harrowing subject of child abduction and murder but amazingly manages to be hilarious at the same time, without detracting from the serious nature of the issue. The introduction of the Grandad adds much to the comedy element, bringing real-life family dynamics into a potentially lethal situation.

Funny and disturbing in equal measures, it’s easy to see why Big Bad Wolves was called the film of 2013 by none other than Quinten Tarantino and a US remake is no doubt inevitable.

Do yourself a favour and see the original before that happens.

Big Bad Wolves is available on DVD in the UK from 28^th April 2014.

Ric’s Rating: Essential.    

Film: Riddick

Vin Diesel returns as Richard B Riddick, the anti-hero from Pitch Black, in the third instalment of this sci-fi action series.

This time around we join Riddick on an unknown planet populated by various types of lethal creatures that see him as their prey. As the daily struggle for survival continues two rival sets of mercenaries turn up looking to claim the bounty for the notorious criminal, and it’s doubled if he’d dead.

Pitch Black was a fantastic film, a low budget but effects laden sci-fi adventure that gave Diesel the opportunity to be at his snarling best. The sequel, The Chronicles Of Riddick, was largely forgettable.

Unfortunately that is also the case here as Riddick sets about dispatching the mercenaries one by one without any great action scenes or real moments of tension. I also have little doubt that the budget for this film was substantially larger than that of the original but it manages to look much worse. The scenes involving the motorcycle/hovercrafts are reminiscent of old time films with actors sitting in cars while the same background is repeated again and again.

Riddick is available on DVD now but only die hard fans of the character will enjoy.

Ric’s Rating: Dodgy.