DAMIEN RILEY, world musician and performer

Author: Damien Riley

  • Martyrs (2008)

    Extreme body horror with a good story.

    Gore and blood are the hallmark of horror films. In this case, they are definitely present. In fact, this film fits nicely into the category of films that has been emerging in past decades called “body horror.” In truth, it’s one of the best. A movie that visits pain or disfigurement on its characters and makes you think, “I hope that never happens to me,” qualifies as body horror. You can feel, in a sense, what is happening to the protagonist as if it were happening to you.

    Yes, we definitely can categorize this as body horror. Through a good part of the beginning in fact, I began to think it was just that but I was so mistaken. There are “people vs. the establishment” themes going on here. There is an empathetic look at suffering, especially of women. There is a supernatural aspect that for me was never really “fleshed out” but certainly got me thinking. I have a word to the wise if you haven’t yet seen this film and plan to: Go in knowing there is a story but let all your expectations fall away. This film attacks victimization and vengeance in an all new way I can guarantee exists nowhere else in horror.

    Something should be said about this original film: it’s following remake is nothing like it and should only be seen after the original. Read only non spoiler reviews and the IMDb summary before seeing it. Body horror fans and standard horror fans must see this film, it is glorious.

  • The Neon Demon

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    The Neon Demon
    Cast

    Elle Fanning, Christina Hendricks, Keanu Reeves

    Directed by

    Nicolas Winding Refn

    Written by

    Nicolas Winding Refn

    Other Info

    Horror, Thriller
    Rated R
    118min

    L.A. looks like a cut-throat place for the fashion profession in this film. Elle Fanning plays a 16-year-old girl trying to break in by any means necessary. She’s willing to lie on documents about her age and hang out with dangerous people if it means a chance as a famous model. There’s some fake blood here and a startling wildcat that jumps by the window in the dark but neither of those things constitutes horror. You may be shocked by the ending but I doubt many would consider that a “scare” either. It’s more disgusting than scary. I’ll acknowledge right here that there may be intended metaphors and alternative interpretation going on here. I’ve chosen to not look into that. Mostly for the reason that the film made no attempt to explain it to me.

    Keanu Reeves plays the landlord who appears to exploit kids. I thought he did a great job with his voice and movement. It was like he was a different person. That’s a sign of a studied actor. I think Keanu plays the same character again and again but in this one he is unique. So, if you’re a big Keanu fan, this might be worth your time. The celebrity photographer “Jack” is played by Desmond Harrington and he does a pretty decent job looking resolute and creatively twisted. Unfortunately for me, I binge-watched Dexter years ago and I got used to his character there night after night. I kept expecting him to call Jesse “Deb.” Amazon produced this film. I wonder if we’ll see much more of this from them. This film was a basic let down and bombed at the box office proving that hand over fist. The reviews have been polarized, mine unfortunately is closer to the South.

    While this film may not be correctly labeled as horror, it is a neon art-film treat for the rods and cones. I was drawn in early on by the visual artistry of the film. Just when you think you’ve seen the best it has, it brings more. The colors are reminiscent of Tron. I think it’s meant to draw us in that way. The director is a visionary influenced by Kubrick, David Lynch and others who have done similar things with color and space. Unfortunately this story gets caught up in a fashion world and doesn’t explore what’s going on in the head of the protagonist. Beside that, the characters are underdeveloped. Having said that, it’s a pretty simple reason to be ascertained why they do what they do in the end.

    It’s nice to see a film with a message against underage modeling and what it can do to women. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough horror here to justify being in the genre. I wonder if I speak for anyone else when I say I don’t care to go into a psychedelic reality of modeling, unless it’s Zoolander (I).

    If you have patience and you are really interested in how women can exploit other beautiful women out of jealousy, this may be for you. Or, for those interested in an amazing visual experience (strobes and neons) you too may like it. For everyone else I don’t recommend this one, I was rarely entertained as I watched it and the end was quite disappointing.

  • Tracks

    Title: Tracks
    Genre: Adventure, Biography, Drama
    MPAA Rating: PG-13
    Year: 2015
    Director: John Curran, known for “The Painted Veil.”
    Top Billed Cast: Mia Wasikowska, known for “Alice in Wonderland,” Adam Driver, known for “Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens.”
    Brief Synopsis:This is a true story of Robyn Davidson, a woman who went on a 1,700 mile walk with camels across the Australian desert. The movie is based on her book.
    My Word to the Wise: This is an adventure but not in a Hollywood sense. Some time and patience is required to get the gold nuggets this film indeed has.

    The rest of this review may contain spoilers.

    Robyn’s journey made very little sense to me at first. She goes through years of preparation just to show that “ordinary people can do extraordinary things.” There is no inner dialog, no traces of why she is doing this. I think that would hae made it a better film but it is flawless besides that.

    Girl power! In the 1970’s, the women’s movement was trying to show that women can do everything men can. By the late 1990’s this waxed and waned. Women had already proven it and they had the equal heart attacks and psychiatrist bills to show for it. Many women have now opted to be “SAHM”‘s. It’s important to remember this was less a choice and more a life sentence in the 1950’s and 60’s.

    Robyn’s journey is her own and her experiences are encouraging to anyone with a dream of doing the extraordinary. Oh yeah, and the guy from Star Wars, Han Solo’s son, is the Nat Geo photographer but he really adds nothing to this amazing film.

  • 31

    A strength of 31 is its gritty kill settings, a weakness is its unrealistic plot. While an enjoyable horror movie as it is, it borrows from several plots like those of Saw, The Hunger Games, and The Purge. I found this distracting and it’s not good to be distracted when you’re trying to take in a horror film. Notwithstanding, this film is a fun, wild, and gory ride. I watched it on VOD and loved it.

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    31
    Cast

    Malcolm McDowell, Richard Brake, Jeff Daniel Phillips

    Directed by

    Rob Zombie

    Written by

    Rob Zombie

    Other Info

    Horror, Thriller
    Rated R
    1h 42min

    One thing I really enjoy about Rob Zombie is his ability to recreate an era. He is especially good at creating a flavor of the 1970’s. That’s why I was excited to see this film took place in 1976. People had vans like the one in the film. They did all sorts of things in those vans like smoke pot, have sex, and sometimes, they camped out or took road trips in vans. I think “the van” 1970’s style is a thing of the past now. Yuppies use them to stow their kids on trips but they don’t carry the same connotation. Those chracters alluded to by 1970’s vans are the characters in 31, part and parcel. It feels like we are being taken on a journey. It takes a little while before we start to realize where that journey will take us, and that’s when things get scary. As in so much modern media and literature, we are shown the rift between the rich and poor .

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    The idea of rich people making bets about what poor people will do under duress is not new. I recall Dan Akroyd and Eddie Murphy being bet on in the 1980’s film Trading Places. That’s a comedy but the core idea is the same as the more recent Hunger Games. Every camera is on Katniss as she fights and kills. There is an element of that here. Malcolm McDowell is a rich oddball among others and he thrives on the same sort of “game.” All modern horror fans know the premise of Saw so I won’t bother getting into it.

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    The characters are threatened and it seems they may be picked off and killed one by one but these stoner victims have a few tricks up their sleeves. It’s a fatalistic film in many ways and you’ll have to see if you agree with that in the last 3rd of the film, up to the final credit. This was a bummer. I’m not saying that horror movies are meant to motivate us, far from it. I am saying that a good horror movie operates under some sort over overreaching vision or sense. I really don’t know why these killings occur. It’s never explained. Could it be that these films have already set a precedent for a “death challenge game.” Perhaps it is common background knowledge that certain rich people out there would play murder games with our lives if we were guilty of nothing else than making a wrong turn.

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    I guess I wanted more explanation of the game in the plot. Rob Zombie’s film expects too much from the audience. We need a little psychology of why certain people laugh as they watch murder. I can accept it is because they are crazy but the lessens the impact of the movie. The homicidal manias are being paid but what about the bosses? Why are they orchestrating such a game? I wish I knew what Rob Zombie’s answer to that is.

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    To close this up, I’m a fan of Rob Zombie and I fully enjoyed watching this film. It is gore-filled, which is one of Zombie’s main colors he paints with. It tries to be cerebral but I think the owing to so many other film’s plots takes away from that thoughtfulness. It doesn’t feel entirely original at any point. It would have been 5/5 with me if it didn’t have the obvious plot pieces of other films. Having said that, it’s a fun film to see with your friends and family who like gore and the other works of Rob Zombie.

  • Your Name

    I am not an anime fan in general but I am a love story fan. 


    I was a little averse to the subtitles at first but once I started, it was easy to watch and really get into it. There are features in this film as deep as some of the most deep ones in American love stories and sci-fi. The concept draws you in immediately and if you pay attention, it starts to flow and flow and what a fun ride it is.

    It uses some elements we have seen in a new way and the anime really helps to that end. I have to tell you that after about 5 minutes in, I forgot the characters were animation, they seemed real to me.

    I found the two main characters charming. Again, I am not much of an anime fan. I have seen many of them but they aren’t my first choice. This would not only appeal to young lovers, like maybe those in love for the first time, but it will also rekindle those adolescent/young adult feelings in anyone who gives it a chance.

    If you examine my history at IMDb or my own sites you’ll see I am not new at recommending films. Take it from me, this is an instant classic. The artwork is also way above the usually anime bar. Some of the special effects had to be done by paintbrush, or by hand however they did it. It was a feast for the eyes and the story did not suffer.

    Having said all that, if you can’t give it your attention or you really have no interest to sit and watch subtitles, this probably isn’t for you.

    Give this film your full attention as a love story with some sci fi elements and you will not regret it.

  • Funny Games

    The key to enjoying this film is understanding its own specialized genre. In America, we have heroes like Bruce Willis and Superman who come in with a big gun and leave us feeling empowered over evil.
    While I have no real idea what the director was going for here, I will say it’s different from what we’re used to in a thriller/horror like this. This is streaming on Netflix at the time I am writing this review.

    People all must have a place where they connect shouldn’t they? Actually, not all people. Sociopaths kill with no empathy. Some of the biggest thriller blockbusters have had killers like these: ie; Hannibal Lecter, Ed Gein, Se7en, and such. These show us killers with no remorse and certainly no regard for human life. Why do we love these films so much? That’s another post.

    I didn’t just squirm in my seat watching this film, I writhed. Naomi Watts is always an amazing actress in her films and her name appears in the credits as an executive producer. That means she was really invested in getting this American version made. I would caution viewers against looking for deeper meaning. I think that will end up in a dead end. Still, it is one of those films that leaves you so UNsatisfied according to modern conventions that you almost want to communicate your thoughts with another human after seeing it. My wife and I were yelling at the screen several times. Some stuff we just could not believe we’d seen.

    Is it always the job of American films to satisfy us? That is an interesting question I think. I say no. We should have films occasionally that make us feel uncomfortable. We should question our comfort in a media driven culture. Once again, I have no idea what the director meant by this film but I think I am getting warm with this thought. Fans of torture horror and thrillers go see it!

    8/10