Screamfestindo 2007: Pathology (2008)

Okay, the "surprise movie" for the festival is .. drum rolls please, ... Pathology. A world premiere he said (true enough, because the film would be released at the US on February 8th, 2008). When the film was announced (of course, in 'cryptic' clues, clues that involved Peter Petrelli being mentioned), i was not excited nor disappointed. Because really, i hadn't expect anything, and with the previous films i had seen during the festival, i wasn't too hyped about the surprise thingy anymore. But it turns out that Pathology is an okay experience.

What if a bunch of medical students on a some kind of internships at forensics dept, whose expertise was used to determine the cause of death of suspected murder in a daily basis decides to do a little game where one of them killed anyone in random and the other tried to determine what method did the killer used to do the killing in order to search for the mythical purrfect murder.

Dr. Grey (Milo Ventimiglia) is the name of our hero. He just arrived in town and on a dawn of his first day at the job. He was a bright young doctor and quickly nudge head with the group who were not unlike that of high-school bullies. This group was clearly having fun in their job, they enjoyed opening people's body, removing organs from their respective places, and ultimately, they were enjoying in their little game.

Dr. Grey drawn to this group, and even later participated in their so-called game with justified sense of justice even if it sounds ..well.. justified and forced. However, before long, he was spared from the madness that evident to this group through his fiancee (Alyssa Milano) and her family family. But of course, the leader of the group, Dr. Jake (magnificent Michael Weston) was reluctant to let him go, and so the tension ensues.

Milo Ventimiglia, altough he never really gets out of that walk ever since his role at Gilmore Girls, gave a memorable performance. The couple of twenty-something years old girls beside me even squirming in small controlled histeria (which eliminates the probability of the girls being teenagers) when he first appears on screen. There's even a respectful moment i've felt inside me toward his character just about the end of the film when he's doing an autopsy by himself. The scene was probably a single most beautiful scene in the film.

However, i felt the film was a little bit dragging at the middle. I was very much distracted with several sex scenes, and hardly approve with it (i'm still a man, but a moviegoers as well, and i say, the sex scenes were too much. Way too much). I felt that it was more of an obligatory from the film-maker and merely deluded the entire taste of the film which otherwise would be a more pleasant experience than a simple okay.

The film was rated R, obviously, with such vivid display of autopsy processes to made gore-fans happy (including disembowelment, cutting internal body organs, and so forth), murder, drug uses, and sex. But it was fun, and i could appreciate the overall film in general. If only they reduced the amount of sex scenes which i feel a bit too much than it should be.

Screamfestindo 2007: Vexille (2007)

Vexille. Film review. I hate noisy films. Films that were literally infested with soundtracks. Not any soundtracks per se, but more of a soundtrack that mostly consists of techno, trance, or any electronic loops kind of thing. You know, those night-club musics thingy where you'd go to get drunk and get laid? Those kind of things. Sounds vauge, but i'm sure you get my point. For all it's worth, Vexille was infested with these kind of soundtracks, and at 110 minutes, it went from awe - the overall animations were cool and catchy to look at - to boredom rather quickly.

At 2067, Japan was proved as the world dominance in robot technology. They built magnificent robots either for domestic or war-machines purpose unparalleled by any other countries. This prompt the UN to propose a restriction regulation regarding robot industry (not unlike those regulations with nuclear power). Japan was naturally declined, and even went as far as pulling itself from the UN. And when the tension reached its height, Japan isolates itself from the world. This means roughly, that no signal, electronic or otherwise, were able to in and out of Japan territory without scrambled. The satellite surveliences were rendered useless, foreigners deported, and shortly afterwards, the world have no idea whatsoever what happened inside of Japan.

Vexille is the name of one of the seven agent sent by - who else? - the U.S to infiltrate Japan in order to unveiled the mystery that was going on inside Japan.

I found it rather contradictory. The world feared Japan for its advancement in technology. Yet, everybody in this film speaks fluent Japanese. Be it Americans, Africans, even physically portrayed sheiks. But, that was a side note anyway. I found myself quickly losing interests nevertheless.

Otherwise, the film was 'safe'. The heroes and heroines were typical of Japanese manga and anime. They're cool, calm, and confident. If you've read many mangas or seen many animes, you know exactly the types. But like it or not, there's always such thing called 'too many' in just about anything. And if it comes to 'too many', it rarely meant a good thing. I simply had passed beyond the point of 'too many'.

And, what the? Vexille had a relationship with Leon - yet, another typical Japanese 'cool' hero name -, the leader of the team. It was soo unprofessional. And more than once you'd see Vexille looking in awe and affection to Leon. I rolled my eyes upward everytime she did that. I mean, it was a common rule that no marriage or relationships were allowed between workers in a same division. Come on. It was sooo unprofessional. Quite probably, I had decided to hate the film right away, when it displays the affection between Vexille and Leon. This implies that of 110 minutes of running time, i had to suffer for roughly 105 minutes. Give or take.

Screamfestindo 2007: El Orfanato / The Orphanage (2007)

El Orfanato. Film Review. There's a visible difference about a film that was produced by and a film that was directed by. Even if the producer and the director were the same guy, the results would never be the same.

El Orfanato was produced by one of my favorite film-maker, Guillermo Del Toro, and i had expected that the film would at least be in a par with his other works. Oh, the film was great, and even better than some of Del Toro's works, but there's something undeniable that i didn't get what i had expected. It's like you went into your favorite restaurant in order to eat the food prepared by your favorite chef, only to taste something similar cooked by some other chef. The food was still good, but it's not the same, and probably the restaurant manager won't admit that it wasn't prepared by your favorite chef. But somehow you knew. It won't stop you to coming back to the restaurant another day, though. But you knew, that on that particular night, you were being cheated at.

Okay, with that being said, Indonesian film-makers, this is how you should make a horror-film. Learn from it.

Laura grows on an orphanage. She was adopted when she was just a child, but years later when she had married and had a child, she went back, bought the orphanage, and intended to use the house as a good cause. Just like the orphanage but more to an orphanage for a mentally-special children. But before she did her noble cause, Simon, her son, her adopted son, anyway, had started to made new 'friends' and shortly afterwards, after the emotional dispute between the two, Simon is missing and Laura had to wind back into her past, into her time when she grew up in the house in order to find Simon.

Unlike most horror-films, the film doesn't relies on sudden movements, flashing shadows, nor a shaking camera to make you squirm in your seat. The camera was slow, and steady in movement, and never deliberately shakes which i'm grateful. Oh, there's some 'boo' moments that intended to made you jump from your seat. In fact, one of the 'jump' scene caught me off-guard and made me really jump out of my seat. There's one particular scary moment on the film, but not one that could give you nightmares, it's rather a kind of moment that similar to the feeling when you ride a rollercoaster and prepares for the first dive. It works terrifically well. And the film ends in a great note, an ending that both sad and happy, an ending that feels right, logically and emotionally. This review may not sound hopeful. But really, i had kept the amount to minimum merely because i don't want to spoil the fun of watching it. Believe me, it is.

The film wasn't free of faults though, I found that the film rather jumpy between scenes during the first hour, with too many black-shift-editing to my liking. But, just like a rollercoaster ride i mentioned earlier, the amount of tension was slowly but steadily rising, and when Laura decides to stay alone in the house, that's when the fun really starts to roll. And there's nothing, not even the heart-breaking ending could stop it.

This might be one of my best film in 2007 so far. Probably at a third spot, tied with Knocked Up, below Lust, Caution and The Bourne Ultimatum. But of course, with Persepolis, Into the Wild, There Will Be Blood, No Country for Old Men and I'm Not There, still waiting, i had a reasonable doubt that the film won't last long in the third spot.

Screamfestindo 2007: Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door (2007)

Quick report on this film. Shock factor? Nil. Gore and blood? Ignorable. Scream? Nada. Oh, wait, there's one scream that i had. It said, "give me back my money!!!"

I am not an expert in film techinques, but at least i've got an opinion and i'm intended to voice the opinion by stating that i believe, there's at least two techniques in making a horror-film. Character driven, and plot driven. And since i've been said often, up to a point where i'm regurgitating, that i had a certain inclination toward drama, it's easy to see which kind of horror suits me.

Again, i'm not an expert nor i'm claiming to be one. But, Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door is the one that i would put in a character-driven horror film. Okay, i was wrong and being generous in both account. This film had no character at all, and to call this film a horror, a thriller, or even a comedy, would be an insult. Oh, yeah, it is that bad.

First thing first, i had put this film into a character-driven stuff because even before you sit in the theater, you already knew what fate is going to fell on poor Meg (Blythe Auffarth. Therefore, i had wanted this film to at the very least let us glance deeper into Meg. But the film doesn't allow me to at least able to pretend that i'd care about Meg. Heck, i've got more feeling toward poor Itchy (or was it Scratchy?) in the Simpson's infamous cat-and-mouse cartoon than to Meg. I was so disinterested that when they begin to torture the poor girl, i yawned. No feeling at all.

Based on a true story of Sylvia Likens, the film depicted the torture and subsequent killing of Meg a young girl who just moved in to an unnamed urban city with her aunt through the eye of Danny, the girl's aunt Ruth's neighbor boy. But the torture didn't even begun before long. I had glanced frequently to my watch, shifting uncomfortably (from boredom not from excitement), and fighting the urge to sleep. Worse, i feel like watching It - the film, not the novel - in a way that these child actors were sooo terrible it's painful to look at. Meg had a crippled sister, Susan (Madeline Taylor). But her emotions were flat. Even when she saw the torture of her 'beloved' sister. Watching her it's like watching a static on a TV. Boring and hurtful to your eyes. The other child actors were much the same. Even worse. The dialogs were also too smart to my liking, rather unbelievable that some kid just in their teens had uttered them. It gave an undeniable impression that these kids memorize the dialog. And it's a bad, bad, impression.

When the film unceremonously arrived to its final conclusion, i didn't waste my time to get off of my seat. And that's when i heard the scream within me. "Give me back my money!!!!".

I had wondered wether the cencorship had extended their long hands and cut the film extensively. Because really, i had expected some graphic and ultra-violent torture but i've got nothing. Ah, probably i was asleep all the time.

Screamfestindo 2007: Ver Weg (2004)

Just before the screening of Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door, the event organizer had a 'surprise' short-film to be screened to us. It was titled Ver Weg, and it was about a couple of astronaut on a mission to space (probably at Mars) and having this kind of virtual reality glasses attached to them so that they could pretend that they were home, with their wives and kids, instead of on a bland red planet. It was terrible. Luckily, it runs only six minutes. However, the terrible-ness of the film was overshadowed and probably forgiven because the director of the film, a Dutch by the name of Jan Doense, attended the screening and had a few welcoming words. Even he claims that the film was intended to be meaningless. But there's a meaningless thing that was actually good, and other that merely unwatchable. Ver Weg was in a later category. The event organizer had said that this guy was the one who held the similar fantastic film festival in Netherlands. For twenty-one years. But still, the film (short as it is), was terrible.

Screamfestindo 2007 - Tickets

Yup. Bought the membership for Screamfestindo 2007. After mulling about for about half an hour with the schedule, i had decided to bought five tickets instead of my initially planned ten. Four of the tickets were for films screened on Saturday, December the 1st which require me to be at the theater from noon until shy of midnight. The other ticket is for Sunday, actually more of an obligatory ticket because i had to choose five tickets for the price i had paid.

I bought the tickets for the following movies:

The Girl Next Door. Based on a book which in turns based on a true event about a young girl who went into her aunt after she had lost her parents. There, she was treated unkindly, and what i had meant with unkindly was to the point that the film garnered a negative reviews because of its vivid portrayal of a child abuse (its official MPAA Rating: "Rated R for sadistic torture and sexual abuse, nudity, language and strong sexual dialogue - all involving children."). However, one of my favorite horror film reviewer said that it was horrifying because you know that it was based on a true event, hence you know that it had actually happened. And that was disqueting, and what had made the film horrifying. He said, by the way. I still need to see it.

The Orphanage. Actually, the only reason i was excited about the fest. Official entry for this year's Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film from Spain? produced by Guillermo Del Toro (one of the magnificent trio - along with Pedro Almodovar and Alejandro Gonzales Innaritu - whose movies, either produced and especially directed, were certainly not going to be disappoint)? Oh, i'm so there. I don't even need to see the synopsis of the film. And its poster was a kick ass. Could this film be 2007's Pan's Labyrinth? I surely hope so.

Vexille. Remember The Matrix? It had an undeniable influence from Japan regarding the theme of machine-infested future. Don't believe me? Check the Animatrix. In my opinion, this anime is a must-see. Sets in Japan 2077, where there's a possibility that machines had their claws tight in our society, and a female agent, Vexille, was sent to investigate. Where The Matrix is the post-appocalypse world, i had guessed - and i really hoped that i had guessed correctly - Vexille is the pre-appocalypse world. The trailer of the film let us see a sneak peek of the quality of the animation and it's beautiful.

Surprise Movie. The event organizer was all shhh-shhh about this 'surprise' film. Some of my friend said that since Beyond Re-Animator was screened earlier, there's a great possibility that this 'surprise' film was going to be the original Re-Animator. However, since Re-Animator was scheduled to screened at the time-slot after this film (which is Saturday, midnight), that would eliminate the possibility. All i have is (probably false) assurance from the ticket-booth girl that i wouldn't be disappointed. I had marked her face and her name that should the film disappoint i would have a good start to hunt her down. Kidding.

The Ordeal. An obligatory one actually. I might not attend the screening because it screened on a Sunday 7 pm. I had picked the film because another one of my friend who claimed to dig horror films (not merely crap-topia Indonesian horrors which he detested earnestly) had recommend this film. I'd see then if our taste in horror films were aligned. And since French horror films that had managed to gain popularity rarely disappoint, this film maybe won't disappoint as well.

Screamfestindo 2007

Not for the faint hearted. Ah, finally, another film festival option in Jakarta. The Jakarta International Film Festival, December was already a certain film festival i'm going to attend to, now this, designed to please the horror and disturbing film fans, will be held somewhere in November (28 Nov - 2 Des) 2007. Screamfestindo.

Several movies that definitely on my list, The Orphanage, produced by Guillermo del Toro, it had been said that the film had all the gothic-ness and creepiness no stranger to him, Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door which had been protested since it features a vivid child abuse, and probably Vexille, a Japan anime which said had a thought-provoking story (just like Akira, perhaps). Aside from that, since i planned to bought a 10-film pass ticket, i would probably gone to foreign films (Norwegian and Thailand), and classic horror screenings (The Dentist - if i really have a guts to actually seen it on a big screen. Oh, i would probably skip it anyway -, and Re-Animator - i've never seen it, so it would probably a treat, although of course, like The Dentist, the film was more inline with the word 'disturbing' rather than 'terrifying'. Ah, we'll see about that).

Again, not for the faint hearted.