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Reviews
Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010)
Deserves Higher Rating
This is a big call but, I consider this film to be one of the best sci- fi / horror films I've ever seen.
Stylistically, it owes a lot to Kubrick, Argento and Ridley Scott but still manages to carve a niche of own rather than be bogged down or overwhelmed by these influences.
It looks like it may have been shot on HD but don't let that deter you at all because the cinematography is stunning - there's rarely an "ugly" or bland shot in the entire film and, there's a wonderful texture to some of the images via a really expressive use of light and colour.
The plot itself is sparse much like the sets and the dialogue but this deliberately minimalist approach allows the viewers imagination space to explore possible tangents that could easily have been stifled by excessive detail or explication.
While watching, I had the constant impression that it was an incredibly well planned and considered piece of filmmaking and this feeling mirrors some of the themes explored in the film about manipulation, surveillance and mind control.
The performances from the two lead actors are both on point - the stunning Eva Allan portrays her characters innocence, vulnerability, confusion and determination just beautifully and I'd fully expect to see her in many more lead roles in the future. While Michael Rogers is perfectly cast as the sadistic, troubled and glacial Dr Barry Nyle.
The sound design and music is in thrall to the electronic scores of sci fi/horror films of the late 70's and 80's but there's nary a cheesy synth line to be heard, apart from one brief "Goblin'esque" flourish - it's all tense, brittle and borderline industrial psychedelic noise which only enhances the stifling and hallucinatory mood.
Overall, this is a suspenseful, visceral and thought provoking film, that has some visually awe-inspiring surrealist touches. Through assured pacing the filmmakers have managed to achieve a palpable feeling of eeriness, uncertainty and dread throughout the films duration - lovers of suspenseful, trippy, sci-fi horror will be in raptures.
Fubar (2002)
Dire
There were a couple of drunken character moments early in this film that gave me some good strong belly laughs but the longer the film went on the less I laughed and the more I just winced, sighed and eventually bailed 30 minutes before the end. I very rarely stop watching a film mid-way, it has to be an especially cringeworthy - almost embarrassing experience for me to turn off early - strangely the last film I watched to provoke an early exit was MacGruber - perhaps it's the mullets.
In my opinion, the Fubar producers' choice to inform the audience in the opening credits that the film was a fictional documentary was a bad error on their part and ruined any opportunity they had to successfully dupe the viewer into believing this could possibly be a 'real' documentary. Perhaps there was legal reasons for this admission but even if it had been omitted, the woeful performance of Gordon Skilling as the straight man Farrel would most likely have raised most viewers suspicions as to the truthfulness of what they were watching.
The longer I watched this film, the stupider I began to feel, whether it be through some strange osmotic character/viewer transmission or just for the fact that I was continuing to watch a film that proclaimed itself to be a fictional documentary still painfully attempting to pretend to be a documentary.
Overall, the whole experience felt like being back in late primary school with a bunch of filmmakers who only had three fingers and yet were still trying to give me a decent Chinese burn. All a bit lame.