STACK NZ Nov #57

DVD&BD

REVIEWS

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Don’t let him in THE BABADOOK

Mirror, mirror on the wall... OCULUS

Format:

Release Date: 05/11/14

Format:

Release Date: 26/11/14

Format: HORROR THRILLER

Australian writer-director Jennifer Kent’s debut feature created some serious buzz when it screened at Sundance, and you’ll understand why when you watch this incredibly creepy, psychological horror film. Single mother Amelia (a terrific Essie Davis) has never gotten over the accident that killed her husband the night her now seven-year-old son Samuel (Noah Wiseman) was born. The boy already suffers from behavioural problems, which grow increasingly worse when he claims that a shadowy boogeyman, The

Oculus might be about a haunted mirror, but it’s not as hokey as it sounds. For starters, it boasts a strong central performance from former Doctor Who companion Karen Gillan, who is determined to prove that the diabolical antique was responsible for a family tragedy that saw her younger brother (rising Australian star Brenton Thwaites, Maleficent ) accused of murder and institutionalised. Genre fans will also appreciate the casting of Battlestar Galactica veteran Katee Sackhoff, who delivers a

Babadook, has taken up residence in their home. Constructed as a dark domestic drama with the supernatural lurking on the fringes, The Babadook delivers a descent into madness in the tradition of Polanski’s Repulsion . A disturbing and downbeat experience, and highly recommended.

truly disturbing turn as the siblings’ possessed mother. Alternating between the past and present and conjuring some surreal jolts of the Nightmare on Elm Street variety, director Mike Flanagan serves up a refreshing new slant on an old idea and emerges triumphant. Recommended viewing.

Texas killing fields COLD IN JULY

A prayer for the dying THE CALLING

Release Date: 19/11/14

Format:

Release Date: 05/11/14

Texan writer Joe R. Lansdale is surprisingly unrepresented on screen – Bubba Ho-Tep is the only one that springs to mind – but this darkly comic adaptation of his novel of the same name by director Jim Mickle ( Stakeland , We Are What We Are ) might change that. Set in the mullet-quiffed ‘80s, it starts out like a familiar revenge thriller: a quiet family man ( Dexter ’s Michael C. Hall) kills a burglar who has broken into his home, only to be later stalked by his victim’s father (Sam Shepard). However, things take an unexpected turn when both

Susan Sarandon plays a small town policewoman (with a drinking problem) who discovers a serial killer has ventured into her jurisdiction, dispatching his victims according to an ancient Christian resurrection prayer. In the pantheon of biblically- motivated madmen, he has a unique M.O. – one that scores major points for creativity and which confounds Sarandon, her partner (Gil Bellows) and newly transferred rookie Topher Grace. This police procedural weaves elements of Fargo and Se7en

men realise they have been misled by the police, prompting them to from an uneasy alliance. Mickle’s sinewy direction piles on the southern gothic dread and he is rewarded with terrific performances, particularly Don Johnson as a flamboyant private eye. Highly recommended.

together and boasts a terrific cast (with Ellen Burstyn and Donald Sutherland in supporting roles), but the end result is strangely inert for a serial killer thriller, although the final twist does help to redeem its shortcomings.

NOVEMBER 2014 JB Hi-Fi www.jbhifi.co.nz

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