DAMIEN RILEY, world musician and performer

Author: Damien Riley

  • The Purge: Election Year

    It’s easier to believe the Purge when the masks are on. That’s when the magic of the film happens. It’s violence and fun and … yes, election year!

    purge-poster

    The Purge: Election Year
    Cast

    Frank Grillo, Elizabeth Mitchell, Mykelti Williamson

    Directed by

    James DeMonaco

    Written by

    James DeMonaco

    Other Info

    1h 45min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
    Rated R

    I rate a movie based on what genre it says it is. This makes horror movies tough because the genre is not cut-and-dry like the others. If horror is scares that produce a negative reaction such as fear, shock, sadness, etc. then The Purge: Election Year is more thriller than horror. Because it advertises as horror and produces few scares, it lost a star with me. Having said that though, it’s a pretty good thriller. Frank Grilli is back as Leo Barnes from the second film of the franchise. His son was killed in the Purge and now he has become the special security for a congresswoman running for President, Senator Charlie Roan played by Elizabeth Mitchell. The senator witnessed the brutal execution of her entire family in a Purge and as a result is running for President to use an executive order to end the Purge.

    On the inner city front, Mykelti Williamson plays shop owner Joe Dixon who has just lost his Purge insurance along with millions in the city. The companies pulled out at the last minute offering continued coverage but only for impossible sums. The result is that many low to middle income people are vulnerable to the Purge. We saw this in the first two movies as a theme of the wealthy vs middle class. purge2The plot continues to a full on battle to keep the Senator safe. She is the hope of the middle and lower class to end the Purge. I started watching this franchise thinking what it could mean, because it’s not a movie to be taken at face value. Now, after the third installment I find the purpose and message of the film more muddied.As with the first film, I think an important message is to love your neighbor and not shoot his brains out with a shotgun, There are subtle things to take out of it too but few thrillers focus on morality and even less horror films do. It’s action packed and there is some vengeance play that’s fun to watch. This is a well made movie but the masks were under utilized. Finally, it comes up short on scares for a horror movie.

  • Eden Lake

    This will make you never want to go camping again. A horror tale of a happy couple minding their own business and being attacked by hoodlum teens.

    Eden Lake (2008)
    R | 1h 31min | Horror, Thriller | 12 September 2008 (UK)

    Director: James Watkins
    Writer: James Watkins
    Stars: Kelly Reilly, Michael Fassbender, Tara Ellis

    We have a lot of gore and violence here. I recall more than one scene I probably would want my teenage kids to see. Writer/Director James Watkins really bloodies the blade in this suspenseful thriller.

    A couple seeks to have a calm and romantic getaway at a camp spot. That is threstened by hoodlum kids who try proactively to ruin their time.

    It’s the age-old debate of “kids will be kids.” Is Fassenbender’s character an asshole for trying to get them to leave him alone and shut up? That’s up for a discussion until a given point I think. After that point, all bets are off and it turns to an all out kill or be killed war for turf. These are not innocent kids.

    Some of these scenes will forever remain in my visual memory. It is a highly violent and graphic film. Not for the weak of heart or those seeking a sing-song film with a la la ending. I won’t give it away but suffice it to say this film is brutal. I felt it was too much at times although the film is still entertaining. I would have liked to have seen how the gang came to obey the leader to the death. Tat was never really fleshed out (no pun intended).

    6/10

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  • Afflicted

    This is a fun handheld camera horror film. It’s a horror and actually a vampire themed one at that. The title and posters misled me. I thought it was a body horror/gore film. While there are elements of that, the vampire concept emerges soon and envelops the film throughout. It is a different way of looking at vampirism for sure.

    There are times in this films when it resembles a game screen. It’s a low budget film and the directors make the most of the location they are shooting in. I applaud the stuf they found to film. The bedrooms look like set pieces from architectural digest. They’ve performed quite a feat here and it works well.

  • 1922

    This was a nice hour and a half story in the cornfields with a chauvanist and murderous father and his highly impressionable teenage son. It has the signature Americana and horror of Stephen King in the way we are more or less used to.


    1922 (2017) on IMDb

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    The film starts with a beleaguered looking father/farmer sitting at an antique century desk writing a “letter of confession.” That’s a great intro because we know right away something bad probably went down. We don’t know how bad or minor it was and you get that as the film progresses. Thomas Jane plays the farmer and I think he did an excellent job in this role. I joked with my wife a couple times about how he looked so much like Tom Hardy. That’s a compliment because he’s a great actor. He brings a lot of presence to the role and it’s enjoyable to watch as he descends into his own brand of madness.

    His son is in love. The farmer uses this get him to do the unimaginable. The mother is played by an amazing actress, Molly Parker from Deadwood and The Road with Viggo Mortenson. Her part in this is well played even though it is indeed tragic.

    I almost fully recommend this film. Netflix does it again! My only criticism would be they save the horror until the very end. I would have like to have seen it woven more throughout. It could have served a dual purpose in explaining to us the plot more as well.

    8.5/10

  • Creep 2

    This film came out earlier than I was expecting. I saw Mark Duplass’ tweet on my phone and rushed on home to see it.

    I really enjoyed it. You can hear my visceral reaction on my podcast The DRP. For here, I’ll just say that Duplass did it again. The foreboding sense of creepiness in the original is carried on in this one. There is a woman in this one, a video “artist” who has a Youtube show where she answers want ads. Anyone see the connection?

    Duplass is chilled out a lot more in this one which makes it even more scary. He offers the woman a videographer job to film his “documentary” as he discusses his life as a serial killer. This really raises the tension. You’ll have to see what happens as I am not here to spoil it for you. We see “peach fuzz” again which is highly cool in my opinion. That was one of the elements of the first one that really shocked.

    This film could have just sucked but it doesn’t. It makes the most of “found footage” as a genre and Duplass’ character is highly creepy, more than ever while maintaining the similar horror vibe of the original. I can’t think of how to make it better for what it aims to be.

    10/10

  • Winter’s Bone

    I know people living in poverty. Their income status never prevents them from doing things like picking up a banjo or making sweet tea with family. Human charms like these transcend socio-economic levels as the independent film “Winter’s Bone” reminds us. It also reminds us that rural poverty is such a sad sad thing. “Winter’s Bone” is set in the backlands of the Ozarks. It centers around 17-year-old Ree Dolly, played by then newcomer Jennifer Lawrence. She is a pretty, determined girl whose journey threatens thorny characters driven only by self-preservation. As is true of most independent films, most the actors are no-namers (though Lawrence has of course become famous in her own right since this movie). “Winter’s Bone” was directed by Debra Granik.

    Ree’s mother is mentally challenged and incapacitated. This was likely brought on by a lifestyle of methamphetamine abuse. In other words, it is important to the story that we see Ree has not raised herself alone. There were at one point “greener pastures.” At one point, one of the most powerful scenes in the movies, Ree begs her mother in tears to “just this once” tell her what to do. Sadly, mother can not.

    Ree has to take care of her mother along with her two siblings who seem to live in ignorance of their blight. They play and smile and jump on their trampoline with the images of abject poverty all around. Their house is a shack, but a profanely beautiful one. In the early scenes, Ree has to make do just to feed the dog with rotten leftovers in Tupperware containers. At one point, they shoot and skin squirrel. The children are priceless characters and they give the impending dark plot a sense of light relief throughout. The scenes where they play and talk with Ree are heartwarming and remind us of our humanity. Whenever Ree has to leave them, you feel tension.

    Ree’s father has jumped bail. He had a long history of “cooking” meth and after a somewhat fuzzy telling of his involvement in a larger ring, we find out he is sought by the bondsman. Ree is told by him she’ll lose the house unless she produces her father, dead or alive. “I’ll find him,” is Ree’s resolute response which sets her on a mythic journey through the Ozark backlands and through her shady and fascinating relatives. She’s seeking her father to save their house.

    “Winter’s Bone” is a wonderful piece of “film as literature.” It uses clever camera angles and cinematography akin to Thomas Kinkade paintings or Ansel Adams photos. It makes you feel like you are part of a family reunion and that makes you feel warm inside. Of course, at family reunions, you sometimes get an earful of shady stuff you’d rather not know. You get some of that in “Winter’s Bone”. I took it all in, the beauty along with the profane scenes.

    For an excellent script, convincing characters that move you, and cinematography that will take your breath away, I recommend this movie. In fact, I agree with Roger Ebert that this is one of the best movies of 2010.