Film Review: GREEN ROOM (2015)

No one has ever said that writer/director Jeremy Saulnier is conventional.  In fact, the indie director has made a name for himself by defying audience expectations with each new film and the same can be said for his latest film Green Room (2015).  Pat (Anton Yelchin) and his fellow punk band members are down on their luck and out of money and take a last minute gig in an out of the way bar.  It’s not long before they realize that most of their audience is made up of Neo-Nazi’s. 

When Pat witnesses a murder in a back room of the bar he and the rest of the band members are not allowed to leave the bar nor call the police until the manager of the bar Gabe (Macon Blair) has a word with the owner Darcy (Patrick Stewart), who has secrets that he doesn’t wish to get out.  When Darcy finally arrives after the bar has been emptied, only he and his men stand between Pat & the band members and their freedom, but Darcy isn’t going to make is so easy as he can’t have witnesses to a crime bringing back police to his establishment.  Now it’s a siege between who can hold out the longest as Pat and the band members hold up in the green room of the bar unable to leave and unwilling to give into Darcy’s demands.

Saulnier has crafted another claustrophobic thriller That zigs and zags at every turn and keeps you on the edge of your seat.  Even though he’s working with a more seasoned cast of actors with Yelchin, Stewart and Imogen Poots, he still has room for his biggest collaborator Blair who has been in all three of his features – including Murder Party (2007) and Blue Ruin (2013).  Saulnier’s unique blend of horror, crime, humor, and realism has made his films some of the most interesting in recent years.  Saulnier is a director with a unique vision and style of story to tell that no one else is telling which makes each of his films more interesting than the last and he (in addition to this film) are worth checking out if for no other reason than to see Stewart give one of his best performances in a long time.

Film Review: KILLER MERMAID (2014)

Monsters come in all shapes and sizes but it’s a rare treat when it comes in the form of a mermaid or better known as a Nymph (2014) also known by its US title of Killer Mermaid (original title Mamula).  Kelly and Lucy (Kristina Klebe and Natalie Burn, respectfully) are two Americans on a Mediterranean vacation catching up with old friends when a trip to an abandoned military base turns deadly when they discover that someone is feeding a creature trapped in a well deep in the bowels of the structure. 

The closer they come to discovering the dark secrets that have been left hidden the more danger they find themselves in as Kelly and Lucy and her friends are picked off one by one not just by a deranged killer but also a creature that can lure men to their deaths while playing on their wildest fantasies.

Despite having a very predictable story structure there is great millage that comes from the exotic local and the actual location itself is rich with atmosphere and production value.  What could have easily been a derivative killer monster movie is something a bit more especially when adding in local legends and background in Nazi Germany (they always make for good villains).

Mina Sablic is the Creature otherwise known as a mermaid and she is represented in a very traditional way especially as a siren to call men to their dooms and to change into a deadly creature that devours them as well.  The only problem is that the CGI for the film is sub-par and laughable in many parts.  The first two-thirds do a good job of building up the film which is then rendered laughable by the CGI effects.  This aspect of the film will ruin it for most as most horror fans have grown tired of the bad CGI in films and therefore this film will be easily forgotten as well.

Film Review: ELVES (1989)

A young woman finds herself part of a long dead Nazi experience when she unwillingly releases a mystical elf into the world in Elves (1989).  Dan Haggerty is Mike McGavin, a down on his luck man who takes the job of being a department store Santa Claus after the previous one is mysteriously killed.  It’s not long before Mike is helping a co-worker trying to solve the mystery of why so many people are suddenly dying and who is the Nazi cult that keeps hanging around.  

 

It seems that the Nazi’s are waiting for a Superior race to be born from the mating of an elf and a human and this is just the start.  Mike finds himself in the middle of this ageless battle which would be epic only there is only the single elf and he doesn’t do much other than hide.  The film itself is very uneventful and unfortunately the make-up effects are pretty bad.  Not dated but bad even for a film from the ‘80s.  There is also not as much blood and gore on display as befitting a ‘80s film so it has dated badly.

The film is written by Jeffrey Mandel, Mike Griffin, and Bruce A. Taylor and directed by Mandel.  Not a particularly exciting film but then again neither were most of the horror films from the ‘80s.