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Potiche, a review by dfmorgan

Potiche

Year: 2010
DirectorCastOverviewWatched: 22nd. Oct 2011
My Thoughts: A wonderful gentle comedy. All three leads play off each other marvellously with general excellent support from the remaining cast. At times it almost descended into farce territory but managed to pull back from there and stay a lighthearted comedy.

My Rating: A wonderful 4



(From Dave's DVD/Blu-ray Reviews on October 23rd, 2011)

Cabin Fever, a review by Jon

Cabin Fever
2 out of 5

Bunch of teens are staying at a cabin, but come into contact with a hermit who seems to be rather poorly and beyond the help of Aspirin or Germolene.

I'd planned to finish this marathon like Pete with Halloween, but after the marvellous Dead Set finished, this came on. I really like Eli Roth's Hostel films and feel his reputation as a purveyor of torture porn is unwarranted. Sadly this film is pretty pathetic and so my marathon ends with a whimper, not a roar.

It has a bit of Evil Dead, via Texas Chainsaw Massacre (weird neighbours, violently unhelpful locals), but misses the point of both of those films by not having a point! It just languishes in a depressing plot about the kids getting sick and dying in variously gory ways, often with help from said locals. The overall theme is obvious from early on so all you can do is sit through the turgid nonsense. It isn't helped that that the kids are all lying cowards without a shred of decency amongst them, played by a sub-par cast. I think it could have worked if at least some of the locals were vaguely normal, but no way. Instead they are all bat-shit crazy. So there's nothing for the viewer to latch onto. Except maybe the gratuitous tits and slow-motion arse. I'm in no way offended, but can anyone tell me why those shots are there?

But the worst thing is that while it has no point and is just an unfocused mess, it's also completely inert with nothing memorable at all. I can certainly understand Roth's reputation now. If I'd seen Hostel after this debut... what am I saying? I'd never have even given them a chance. Anyway, this suggests he has literally no talent as a director.

It does have it's good points. The shop owner's explanation about a rifle is hilariously explained in a twist at the end and some other late characters redeem it some way. In fact, the film is better once the annoying kids are no longer the sole focus. In the final few minutes, the film comes together completely with a blackly comic ending. As such, the film could be cut at least in half and become an episode in a pulpy horror anthology like Creepshow. It doesn't have the story or more importantly, the talent, to warrant feature length.

This is torture porn. A pointless, nasty little story to showcase various ways people can die. So I must stress, if you have seen this and have avoided the Hostel films because of it, give them a chance. They are nasty and gratuitous, but Roth's black humour that comes so late here is more evident in his next film and its sequel and his direction is more dynamic; his characters better formed. The theme of the stories means they are survival movies like this, but with the vaguest chance of actual survival, so you won't feel quite so cheated!

(From October Marathon: Horror! on November 1st, 2008)

Tom's Random Star Trek Reviews, a review by Tom

DS9 3.19 Through the Looking Glass
Writer: Ira Steven Behr (Writer), Robert Hewitt Wolfe (Writer)
Director: Winrich Kolbe
Cast

(From Tom's Random Star Trek Reviews on September 24th, 2009)