shakercoola

A British supernatural horror; A story about an anthropologist with an interest in psychic phenomena who takes a cynical heir and two specially selected women to a reportedly haunted mansion. This is a film of style over substance, which turns on strange sounds and events for the make believe that a house is 'alive'. The slow, wordy first act exposition gives way to the gothic splendour of the house as a central character, made attractive by sumptuous staging and props, and clever photography, visual effects and camerawork. The extrusion of all this make some genuine chilling moments. It bolts on a long action sequence that has some suspense for the plot but prolongs the overall mystery. Overall, it satisfies as an atmospheric film with memorable scenes, but it throws up a confusing array of questions while failing to provide answers.

A British drama; A story about how people might live if they were presented with the opportunity to live in a utopia, an "ideal" city, exploring their hopes and reasons for doing so. This is an eloquent, stagy allegory based on a play of the same title by J. B. Priestley. The direction, acting, and photography are all good, apart from occasional fits of overcooked melodrama within its bounds. It is an intelligent screenplay, but the tale within it lacks cinematic dimension with long, static sequences of dialogue; the audience is robbed of the pictorial element of what is hinted at about the mysterious settlement. Tied to this is a quite heavy political slant in the script, which is left for the viewer to accept as a task rather than for them to explore by diversion; the audience is locked out. Though the theme of universal friendship is explored well.

An American thriller mystery; A story about a college freshman who joins her university's rowing team and undertakes an obsessive physical and psychological journey to make the top boat team. This character study holds some good tension about someone with self-destructive drive who internalizes a fixed set of rules incompatible with the world. It is not an original story but it covers a lot of ground about anxiety in college achievement and the dark side of sport. Initially magnetizing, the director loses control of this coming-of-age tale midway when the main character becomes a cypher, a martyr to her own drive; it becomes less meaningful for the viewer as the narrative flushes out in repetitive scenes with dialogue that is often delivered rapidly and in a mannered way and difficult to hear too. It is graphically visceral, daring the audience to recoil, with the effect that is laboured in that second act. The film picks up in the final third when it presses home the theme - it is sharper with dialogue, not repetitive, better paced, and the lead performance is stirring. All in all, the film captures the truth about the enormous effort required to reach a modicum of success. The film's tense score adds to the intrigue too, with some good vintage song choices.