THE RANGER Review
The Ranger has a ton of fun with ’80s slasher traditions but never turns them into a joke, marrying a punk-rock exuberance with some nasty bloodshed.
The Ranger has a ton of fun with ’80s slasher traditions but never turns them into a joke, marrying a punk-rock exuberance with some nasty bloodshed.
Utterly enthralling from minute one, The Captain is a wild ride with an incredibly bonkers end-credit sequence and, though a difficult watch at times, is well worth a look.
Chicago’s Cinepocalypse is coming to a close and today the award winners for this year’s festival have been announced. Robert Schwentke‘s The Captain won Best Film, Matt Leslie and Stephen Smith won Best Screenplay for Summer of ’84, and Joko
Stuck somewhere between a gothic Hammer-horror throwback and trashy revenge-sploitation, The Russian Bride has trouble fully committing to a style or a story.
The Copy Baby is the type of movie that has the potential to lean heavily toward either a sardonic cult hit or a tepid waste of an opportunity, and unfortunately it falls into the latter category. No doubt some will have fun with its PG-13 take on what is typically designed as a family film, but with its eye-rolling conclusion.
Our world is in desperate need of more empathy, but the commoditized version presented in the thought-provoking Empathy, Inc. probably isn’t the way go, even if it were possible.
The boxy aspect ratio with rounded corners, 16mm sheen that makes each frame look like a historic photograph, and believable issues with sound – like occasionally muffled dialogue – also act as pleasing counterbalances to the typical found-footage tricks.
Like its influences, Satan’s Slaves uses strong characters, an emphasis on mood and a few alarming jolts of violence to earn an uneasiness that lingers.
The Domestics creates an interesting, totally whacked-out environment that recalls many doomsday movies (including Doomsday), but the realized universe and setting of agrarian Wisconsin are original enough, with the marriage drama and political subtext peppering in some flavor along the way.
The full lineup has been announced for Chicago’s Cinepocalypse Film Festival, boasting an impressive slate for its sophomore year. Mike P. Nelson‘s The Domestics will be the opening night film, with other highlights including the RKSS film Summer of ’84, and Sonny