Monday 31 October 2011

Review: Bad Meat

Directed By: Lulu Jarmen
Written by: Paul Gerstenbeger
Starring: Jessica Parker Kennedy, Elisabeth Harnios and Dave Franco



The premise of Bad Meat is a simple one and sometimes, where horror is concerned, simple is better.  A group of wayward teens are packed off to a boot camp, run by Hitler wannabe Doug (Mark Pelligrino - Lost).  They soon realise that this is not going to be an easy ride as Doug and his helpers are more depraved than the youngsters.

Fed up of the abuse that the fascist camp workers deliver to both himself and the inmates, the cook decides to serve up one last meal that they'll never forget with illegal, diseased meat that, instead of just making them severely ill,  turns all who it eat into vicious, flesh craving cannibals.  

Bad Meat is a fun, gory and odd film, filled with all manner of bodily fluids.  If you try to look into it too seriously you will find flaws all over the place but this film isn't one that takes itself seriously (at least I hope it was't).  The writer described it as "a horror romp" when introducing it for its world premier at London's Fright Fest Halloween all nighter.

So don't go into this with any misgivings of a high brow, intelligent horror film and you shouldn't be disappointed.  Some of the acting is a little shaky but for the most part it was surprisingly decent. There are still areas, even within it's predication of not being anything more than it says on the tin, where it needed some work.  The characters get fleeting moments of background but remain unexplored and therefore largely irrelevant.   Although you could say this serves to aid the film with the "anyone can get it" factor. 

However nothing spoils this gloriously gory horror than the horrific ending.  And I don't mean horrific in a blood lust way.  The film clearly ran out of money and/or time and sadly was unable to end it properly.  It went quickly from a decent set piece to an unconnected scene with one of the characters getting bits ripped off which, as a guy, made you cross your legs and then haphazardly to a final scene which made very little sense at all. 

However, if you feel like something that will serve up a deliciously gross meal and can forgo a fully complimentus ending then this will satisfy your hunger a treat.

If the ending had worked I'd be giving this a three star review but unfortunately it does serve to detract from what went before and therefore I can only give it

2/5

Saturday 29 October 2011

Review: Hit Girls

Starring: Rosie Fellner, Gillian MacGregor and Joey Ansah
Written by: Gillian MacGregor
Directed by:Adrian Vitoria



The premise of Hit Girls is two femme fatales that share an apartment together and seem to have issues with keeping their other halves alive.  A potentially jealous, trained killer is not always easy to live with.

The short opens with a truly sumptuous view of London and one of our heroines, Rosie Fellner, stretching on the balcony to her beautifully lit back drop.  This is intercut with short, sharp bursts of a couple in grainy black and white in the beginning stages of a hot and passionate night. 

Gillian MacGregor is our other beautiful assassin, bringing home her night's catch with Rosie watching on through the building's intercom.  Both our leading ladies drip sex appeal right off the screen making it easy to believe they could get most anyone they wanted, which for the way they work is essential. You can sense Rosie's already not happy about the way this night is turning out.  Although her emotions towards this might run deeper than her housemate simply getting luckier than her. 

A darkly comic tale about how friendship can rise above anything, even killing your friend's new boyfriend.  The two women of the piece bounce off each other well building up the long term friendship and history between them in a short space of time.  It was important they managed this for the ending to work.  The director has made the most of using limited locations and minimal budget, bringing a look that could rival most British cinema.  I think we have a small array of future talent emerging all round here.  Don't be surprised if everyone involved moves onto bigger and better things.

They have created some superb set pieces, including a intelligently choreographed fight scene (far from your usual cat fights that women on screen have), even to Gillian hilariously masturbating the corpse of her newly dead beau.  

I recommend sparing a few minutes to watch this as it's a fine example of home grown talent and what you can do with the desire to get something made.  I look forward to seeing these guys lighting up the big screens soon.