Film Reviews

~ Angels and Demons ~

As conclave meet in order to select a new pope a string of murdered cardinals, seemingly committed by the illusive illuminati, forces Rome to call upon the services of Robert Langdon. The symbologist must follow a series of clues to track an ancient path through Rome stopping an anti-matter bomb that has the power to destroy the Vatican!

Although I was a fan of Dan Brown's first book The Da Vinci Code I was surprised to see how much the film version ended up taking at the box office, like most people I was hugely disappointed with it. It seems that money is still what makes the world go around though so a sequel was never going to be far behind.

Writers David Koepp and Akiva Goldsman adhere fairly closely to the source material with embellishments only being made to the one man killer, no longer an Arabian rapist and the CERN organization which here only gets a brief mention. After a slow start the story races along which when compared to the overly talky Da Vinci code certainly makes it the more entertaining of the two.

It feels like every supporting character is there only to keep the plot moving forward with obvious explanations and theories which keep the story moving and provide us with the usual string of suspects in full suspicion. Fingers are mostly pointed at Ewan McGregor's Irish deputy pope and Stellan Skarsgard as head of the Swiss Guard but ultimately there aren't many surprises here. Instead the only shocks come in the form of Tom Hanks in Speedos and a must see to be believed stunt involving a priest and a helicopter, saying any more would just ruin the surprise!

At the end of the day credit must go to Ron Howard for his careful and balanced direction. For every gunfight or explosion you have the usual fill of expository dialogue scenes this time framed within some of Rome’s most beautiful locations (or what appear to be after filming was prohibited in and around Rome itself, the crew forced to film guerilla style for some scenes). It's only because of its momentum and cracking soundtrack that you can almost forget the story it utter nonscence!

***

~ Drag Me to Hell ~

Working as a loans officer and desperate for a promotion, Christine (Alison Lohman) refuses a old woman an extension on her mortgage payments only to be subjected to an ancient gypsy curse that will see her soul dragged to hell my the darkest of all demons, the Lamia.

I've waited a long time for Sam Raimi to return to his horror roots after the more commercial successes of the Spiderman franchise which no doubt ended up subverting his indulgences into the gross out comedy-horror's that made his name. As you would expect Raimi brings plenty of inventive ideas to the table, from badly maintained nails and dental hygiene, eyeballs popping (ala Evil Dead II), blood guts and even a cat sacrifice are here to excite the fans of such films as The Evil Dead trilogy which have given license to a whole host of amateur filmmakers to let there imaginations run wild.

Raimi joins Brother Ivan to script this cautionary tale of greed and vengeance providing scares with amazingly choreographed scenes that manage a perfect blend of jumpy shocks and relieved tension. From the initial curse to a wonderfully atmospheric fight scene in an underground car park involving all the usual tricks you would expect from Raimi's darkly comic and impish sense of humor I had a smile on my face from start to finish. Of course there are moments of utter madness, this time in the form of a ghostly handkerchief which turns out to be genuinely haunting and more than a little creepy!

The Lamia demon is said to torment the victim of the curse for 3 days before finally dragging their soul to the fiery depths and boy does Lohman suffer. Reminders of The Exorcist as she gets slammed from one wall to another or blood gushes from her nose in what seems like a tribute to the well known vomiting scene. Lohman is joined by boyfriend (Justin Long) who seems too young to be playing a doctor but manages to provide another recognizable face. Most of the screen time is taken up by Lohman though and justifiably so, this is very much her story and a welcome return to form which will no doubt put her name back into people's minds. And although brilliant as she is it's now hard to imagine first choice Ellen Page bringing quite the same quality to the role.

I'm sure some people will have problems with the film, those unfamiliar with what to expect from Raimi maybe expecting a more serious supernatural thriller but those loyal fans who know what their getting into will be hugely rewarded. Fans will also be please to see the famous Oldsmobile Delta 88 making more than just a background appearance. This is a brilliantly made, at times hilarious horror film that reminds me of not only Sam's original work but also has elements that can be found with someone like Peter Jackson who as well as Raimi started off in this genre. Growing up these are exactly the sort of films that inspired me to want to make my own and this has given me fresh enthusiasm to grab that camcorder and whip up a fresh batch of syrup blood!

****