Polish screenwriter/ Director Bartosz M. Kowalski and co screenwriter Mirella Zaradkiewicz are probably best known for their wry and quirky takes on the slasher movie with Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight, and its decidedly arch follow up.
Hellhole, however, is a very different kettle of fish. Avoiding spoilers, Piotr Zurawski plays a detective who is sent undercover to a secluded monastery to investigate a series of mysterious disappearance, All is not what it seems, of course. Hellhole is a tightly told tale with less flab than Kate Moss in her heyday. Visually, it is beautifully dark and atmospheric, and the creepy soundtrack adds to and develops the dark, gothic feel. As in most Polish films, the acting is of a uniformly high standard, and I’ve got to give a special shout out to Sebastian Stankiewicz, who is one of the best character actors working in Poland today. All in all, Hellhole is a highly recommenced slice of horror noir.
Buba, a spin off from the fantastic German TV series How To Sell Drugs Online (Fast), is a cracking, quirky comedy about a lowlife criminal and the oddballs he encounters. It really has everything I need in a film - humour, pathos, violence and great, great characters.
In the American film THE HUNT, a cabal of vile, smug and snooty rich people decide to capture and hunt a group of working-class people who they consider to be their social inferiors. THE HUNT is a high-octane action movie mixed with with social satire and has some very fine performances - particularly from the splendid Betty Gilpin. Cracking stuff indeed!’
David Galán Galindo’s Unknown Origins is a smart and decidedly arch Spanish spin on serial killer tropes wherein the murderer takes out his victims by recreating various superheroes’ origin stories. Unknown Origins is a very well-acted and well-told yarn full of action, humour and pathos. A corker!
THE STRANGER is bloody intense and brilliantly acted Australian crime fiction drama, based on true events. It’s very highly recommended, but not for those of a sensitive disposition.
In THE STRAYS, an unhappily married woman leaves her family home and starts a kind of Stepford life in a bland and twee English suburb. To say any more would probably lead to plot spoilers. However, I will say that THE STRAYS is one of the most intelligent and off-kilter horror/ thriller/ dramas that I’ve seen in ages. It’s gripping, odd, engrossing, chilling, sad, unnerving, thoughtful, and very bloody discombobulating. The acting is first class and the film’s pacing is spot on. I loved it. Highly recommended.
German writer/ director Peter Thorwarth is probably best known for his brilliant, action-packed vampire film Blood Red Sky (2021). With BLOOD AND GOLD, he gives us a fast moving and brutal WW2 set heist/ Spaghetti Western mash-up which packs an emotional clout as well as being very, very violent. Great stuff!.
IN FOR A MURDER is a lighthearted, small-town murder-mystery directed by Piotr Mularuk and writen by Mularuk and crime fiction novelist Katarzyna Stachowicz-Gacek. Anna Smołowik plays a bored housewife/ busybody who can’t stop sticking her nose in police business, and digs up the town’s dirty secrets. IN FOR A MURDER is a classic cozy crime caper. Frothy and fun with an engaging cast of characters, it could easily spin-off into a popular TV series.
An arrogant rich bloke suspects his wife of having an affair and hires a thug to kidnap her lover … and all sorts of brutal carryings on ensue. Well tasty. FOUR is a fantastic Brit Grit indie film which uses its limited cast and location very well indeed. Of course there’s a nod to QT along the way but FOUR rings more like a rough and ready spin on Mamet or Pinter. It’s certainly a lot less pretentious than the former. and much more entertaining than the latter. I really liked it a hell of a hell of a lot. As tight as a nun’s nasty with cracking dialogue and acting. Not for everyone, it seems, but FOUR was very much for me.
Felix Binder’s Freaks is a real gem. The basic premise of the film is that a group of ordinary people discover that they have super powers and - along with many more people - are part of a government conspiracy to neuter those powers. This may well be a familiar trope- the X-Men being the best-known example - but what sets Freaks apart is its natural warmth and humanity. Cornelia Gröschel is particularly impressive as Wendy, a married fast-food worker who is trying to keep her former life together whilst coming to terms with her strange now world. A corker!
Excellent write up Paul. I've seen two of those, The Stranger and Hunt. You're right about both of them. I intend to search out the others that you recommended here. Just off the cuff and my opinion only, but I have noticed a general upsurge in the quality of Australian films and entertainment over the last few years. Actors, Producers, everything. Did you ever watch the Mr. Inbetween series?
Quite the list, mate, and funny thing is I've seen several of the movies you mention and share most of your take. Both of the Polish movies, and the sequel to Nobody Sleeps in the Woods, and The Hunt, a droll and dark satire. I share your opinion of Betty Gilpin's kickass performance. Strays however failed to hold my attention more than fifteen minutes. The others you write up I'll try to catch. Cheers!