Throwing as many old-school monsters together as you can in one big battle royale sounds like a good idea for a daft but fun movie, but Van Helsing proves this wrong. Way overblown beyond imagination, the film is just too crammed with set-pieces, there's no space given for any tension, plot, character development or at least some light relief from the battering of special effects you're subjected to. The film starts off quite well with a decent Frankenstein homage (shot in black and white) and follows that with an enjoyable fight between Van Helsing and Dr. Jekyl/Mr. Hyde. The film gradually deteriorates though as you grow tired of the special effects and action sequences. Many of the performances are abysmal, especially the lead villain, Dracula, which doesn't help much either. The dialogue, what little there is, is dire too. The set design and general look of the film was very good I have to say, and most of the special effects are fairly impressive - it looks a bit fake and computery at times, but in a movie as daft as this its not a problem. Overall this is could have been a lot of fun if more attention was paid to the script and not the number of effects shots they could throw at the screen. Instead it just gives you a big headache. 3/10
M Night Shyamalan is back with another slowly unfolding yarn that like his last two films seems to have divided audiences. Shyamalan has developed quite a distinctive style that I must admit to liking, where nothing is hurried and plot details are left hidden to the audience until later on in the film. In my opinion there is nothing wrong with developing a particular style, but one thing I think the director should start to phase out of his films is his insistence on contrived final 'twists'. This worked in The Sixth Sense, and I actually thought the twist in The Village was fairly effective, but knowing a twist is coming in a film due to its director can often spoil the way you watch it, and feels too gimicky at this stage in his career. Anyway, twists aside, The Village is a fairly engrossing period-set horror film with a finely crafted plot and some nailbiting set-pieces. I enjoyed it, but comparing it to Shamalan's other films it never quite reaches the heights of The Sixth Sense or Unbreakable, but settles on a similar level to the slightly dissapointing Signs. Unfortunately, your whole enjoyment of the film hinges on your acceptance of the final twist, so its hard to definately recommend. I thought it worked, but its quite contrived, so it all depends on whether or not you can accept it. 7/10
I don't really know what to say about this film. Its a morbid tale of how five sisters all eventually commit suicide (I'm not really giving anything away, as it tells you this at the beginning). The trouble is it doesn't really tell you why. The sisters are shown to have very protective parents (James Woods and Kathleen Turner), which can be seen as a reason, but it doesn't feel like the only reason, and the main characters suggest this. This mystery makes the film quite unsettling, much like Peter Weir's fantastic Picnic at Hanging Rock, which this film mirrors in many ways especially in the lazy, beautiful pace and look of the film. However, this film doesn't quite reach the horrifying heights of Hanging Rock. If you compare this to other teen movies though, it is far superior to most of them, and there are some very good performances (Woods, Turner and the stunning Kirsten Dunst). Overall its an odd, beautiful, but slightly empty film with an excellent soundtrack. 7/10
