Prison stuff. In prison movies.
OK, OK… like the odd filmed play or opera about prison on DVD, this might not strictly fit the definition of a prison movie. But it’s not so different to many movies that are filmed in studios with disjointed plots, shoddy sets and stagy dialogue. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on August 2nd, 2015 at 8:18 pm. Updated on September 19th, 2015 at 10:45 pm.
In the third part of this crass trilogy, writer and director Tom Six sets out again to provoke outrage and disgust. And in that, and pretty much that alone, he succeeds. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on July 25th, 2015 at 1:15 pm. Updated on July 25th, 2015 at 1:19 pm.
You know how sometimes one scene or one line in a movie just loses you, and you can’t find a way back in? Early in Rise nurse Will McIntyre (Nathan Wilson) is falsely accused of spiking the drink of and then raping a girl with whom he has had a one night stand. At his trial, the prosecutor asks the victim to tell the court what happened next. Falteringly, she begins with, “He had my arms pressed under…” and McIntyre’s barrister jumps up and interjects, “Your Honour, this is all hearsay evidence!” Eh? Really? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on July 19th, 2015 at 1:38 pm. Updated on July 19th, 2015 at 1:42 pm.
You look at this film and The Brig (1964) and it’s hard to imagine two more different approaches to managing military miscreants. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on July 9th, 2015 at 9:54 pm. Updated on July 9th, 2015 at 9:54 pm.
Nami Mizushima (Yuka Kosaka) is a determined young woman, intent on revenge. Innocent and framed by her prosecutor boyfriend over his killing of his lover, she is so controlled she remains continent after three days in a completely blackened room with her hands cuffed behind her back. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on July 6th, 2015 at 9:02 pm. Updated on July 6th, 2015 at 9:02 pm.
I remember watching this years ago and struggling to stay awake. On watching it again, it became evident very early that my sleepiness wasn’t the film’s fault. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on June 28th, 2015 at 5:00 pm. Updated on June 29th, 2015 at 8:42 pm.
Shadow: Dead Riot appears to be based on a premise that the same sort of people who watch salacious Women-in-Prison films with shower scenes and predatory lesbian guards will also like zombies and gore and exploding body parts. It’s probably solid thinking from a marketing perspective, but the two elements here have rather clumsily been patched together. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on June 28th, 2015 at 1:34 pm. Updated on June 28th, 2015 at 1:34 pm.
There are a few departures from the 1939 film on which this is based, The Big Guy, chief among them the deletion of the original version’s most interesting character, the insolent trustee, Dippy. But the story of a warden in an ethical dilemma of his own making still stands up. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on June 8th, 2015 at 8:34 pm. Updated on June 8th, 2015 at 8:34 pm.
Corrupt wardens don’t normally come like this one. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on June 6th, 2015 at 3:27 pm. Updated on June 6th, 2015 at 3:27 pm.
Formaldehyde can be “toxic, allergenic and carcinogenic” according to that esteemed scientific journal, Wikipedia. But here at Camp Hoover, a soon-to-close prison (a little reminiscent of the one in Cool Hand Luke), the prisoners manufacture the stuff, inhale it, douse themselves in it, and enslave themselves to its unexpected narcotic properties. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on June 4th, 2015 at 9:44 pm. Updated on June 4th, 2015 at 9:44 pm.