STACK #157 Nov 2017

CINEMA REVIEWS

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HAPPY DEATH DAY

RELEASED: Oct 12 DIRECTOR: Christopher Landon CAST: Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Ruby Modine RATING: M Groundhog Day just keeps on giving. Having been appropriated for sci-fi ( Edge of Tomorrow ) and teen drama ( Before I Fall ), now it’s the slasher movie’s turn to get stuck on repeat. But slasher films are already repetitious you may well cry, and the latest offering from the Blumhouse of horror is acutely aware of that fact. Consequently, Happy Death Day has a lot of fun with the premise of a victim who relives the day of her murder over and over, and must stop the killer in order to escape the loop. Sorority girl Tree (Jessica Rothe) – presumably short for Theresa? – wakes up in a boy’s college dorm after a wild night. It’s her birthday, and she’s not keen on the fact, nor that there’s a ‘surprise’ party planned that evening. She never makes it, however, after running into a knife-wielding maniac in a sinister baby mask. At the moment of death, she wakes up back in the dorm to the same annoying ringtone and thus continues the live-die-repeat scenario, with the manner of her murder changing each time. Although essentially a horror film, the tone is comedic and playful rather than vicious, with an absence of jump scares and gore, and a truly ludicrous final twist. Happy Death Day is a throwback to post- Scream slashers like Urban Legend , and plays like an extended episode of Scream Queens . It won’t reset the current state of the horror genre, but it is a welcome change from the spate of supernatural shenanigans. Scott Hocking THE MOUNTAIN BETWEEN US RELEASED: Oct 12 DIRECTOR: Hany Abu-Assad CAST: Idris Elba, Kate Winslet, Beau Bridges, Dermot Mulroney RATING: M The day before her wedding, Alex (Kate Winslet) is trapped at an airport and struggling to get home in spite of a heavy storm outside. Ben (Idris Elba) is in the same boat – he’s a neurosurgeon set to perform an operation the next morning, with no way of getting to the hospital in time. Alex has the idea to charter a local plane to get them to where they need to be. But, as it inevitably must, everything goes horribly wrong and the two strangers find themselves stranded and injured on the peak of a snowy mountain range. The pair must battle against the odds – and the clock – as they attempt to find help, or civilisation. With very little food and only the company of a stranger to get them through, will they survive? Based on the novel of the same name by Charles Martin, this is one of those stories that should perhaps have remained in print. If you’ve seen the trailer, it’s not hard to guess how events will unfold. It’s quite serendipitous that one member of the travelling band should be a doctor – things may have turned out quite differently otherwise. That just leaves the big question – why was Alex travelling the world the day before her wedding? The Mountain Between Us is evidence that, if nothing else, Idris Elba has the ability to carry whichever film he happens to appear in – especially when playing opposite Winslet’s unconvincing tears. Alesha Kolbe

RELEASED: Oct 26 DIRECTOR: Taika Waititi CAST: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett RATING: M

THOR: RAGNAROK

Get ready to 'rok.

I t seems as though the Marvel Cinematic Universe and director Taika Waititi are a match made in Valhalla, with  Thor: Ragnarok  instantly cementing itself as one of Marvel's must-see films. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) returns to Asgard only to find it under the control of his adopted brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), with his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) nowhere to be found. However, that's the least of his problems. A prophecy predicts that Ragnarok – the end of Asgard – is nigh, as heralded by the arrival of the Goddess of Death, Hela (Cate Blanchett). The God of Thunder finds himself hurled onto a battle planet ruled by the Grandmaster (a fantastic Jeff

and most entertaining films of the year. Of course, being a Marvel film, expect cameos galore (of more than one kind) and keep an eye out, too, for a bunch of Australian and New Zealand references thrown in by the director. Pay close attention to the Kiwi actors in particular, who serve to enhance Ragnarok 's brand of humour. The soundtrack, too, is killer, though for a movie about the God of Thunder that was filmed Down Under, there's a conspicuous lack of AC/DC. Thor: Ragnarok 's plot has repercussions that will undoubtedly resonate throughout the rest of the MCU, and will leave a lump in your throat for more reasons than one. It's the Thor movie we puny humans have been waiting for. Alesha Kolbe

RATING KEY: Wow! Good Not bad Meh Woof!

Goldblum), where he runs into a friend from work, and must rally to fight against the impending doomsday threat, lest all be lost forever. Ragnarok  is the best, and most colourful, of the Thor films to date. It's also got something up its robes that you might not expect from an MCU film – it's a comedy. To some it may appear as though Waititi had no script, and instead opted to let Hemsworth and co.

improvise their own interpretation of a Thor film. Consequently, it's one of the wildest

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