The Blood Countess review – Isabelle Huppert reigns supreme in a surreal vampire fantasia

-
Vienna turns into a playground of camp, cruelty and aristocratic disdain in a blackly comic take on the Báthory legend – with Huppert gloriously suited to the title role From the dark heart of central Europe comes a midnight-movie romp through the moonlit urban glades of Euro-goth and camp from German director Ulrike Ottinger. As for the star … well, it’s the part she was born to play. Isabelle Huppert is Countess Elizabeth Báthory, 16th-century Hungarian noblewoman and serial killer, legendary for having the blood of hundreds of young girls on her hands and indeed her body, in an attempt to attain eternal youth. The “blood countess” has been variously played in the past by Ingrid Pitt, Delphine Seyrig, Paloma Picasso, Julie Delpy and many more, but surely none were as qualified as Huppert who importantly does not modify her habitual hauteur one iota for the role. Her natural aristocratic mien and cool hint of elegant contempt were never so well matched with a part. She gives us the ...
Post a Comment

The Hand That Rocks the Cradle review – serviceable 90s thriller remake

-

There are some smart updates to the psycho-nanny hit, but without the searing presence of Rebecca De Mornay, this one is unlikely to stick around for quite so long

The yuppie-in-peril thriller, a multiplex mainstay throughout the late 80s and early 90s, tried to expose the vulnerabilities of our day-to-day, suggesting that danger could emerge from anyone and anywhere. It could be a co-worker (The Temp, Disclosure), a spouse (Sleeping With the Enemy, Dream Lover), a lover (Fatal Attraction, Don’t Talk to Strangers), a lodger (Pacific Heights, Single White Female), a parent (Mother’s Boys, Benefit of the Doubt), even a child (The Good Son, The Crush), a subgenre that insisted we maintain militant in spaces we’d assumed were safe.

One of the era’s most creepily effective examples was Curtis Hanson’s The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, because it played on a specifically awful fear for parents – that the person you’d entrusted to protect your child had a nefarious agenda. Rebecca De Mornay’s vengeful nanny became one of the more indelible villains of the 90s, the horror of an attractive, childless, blond woman wreaking havoc in suburbia striking fear into the hearts of settled cinemagoers across the world (it made $140m globally, a number that would be closer to $320m with inflation today). As the industry continues to plunder that decade (with everything from Buffy to Clueless to Urban Legend soon returning), it makes business sense to rock the cradle once again.

Continue reading...

from Film | The Guardian https://ift.tt/zsLHvVD
via IFTTT

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Miracle Club review – Maggie Smith can’t save this rocky road trip to Lourdes

-
Laura Linney is upstaged by older co-stars Smith and Kathy Bates in this sentimental tale about a group of Dublin women who go on a spiritual journey together Who’s up for a golden-hued heartwarmer set in 60s Ireland starring Kathy Bates and Maggie Smith about women with secret fears and dreams going on a church trip to Lourdes and finally finding the real miracle is their new compassion for each other? The answer to this question could well have been … me. I have a liking for a gentle tale and there is nothing necessarily wrong with, just occasionally, showing Ireland and the church of this period with something other than outrage and horror. But The Miracle Club does not at any time, to use a discredited metaphor, throw away its crutches and walk. And it’s painful to note that this is largely because of the way film can’t convincingly use that estimable actor Laura Linney in a central role. She is upstaged by the older, fruitier performances and doesn’t hold her own with a more seri...
Read more

BREAKING: Interstellar back in cinemas due to public demand; Dune: Part Two to also re-release on March 14 in IMAX

-
A lot of Bollywood films have re-released off late but when it comes to Hollywood, a handful of classics have had a re-run in cinemas. Last month, Interstellar re-released and received a rocking response. However, it just had a one-week run. If you missed watching the cult film in cinemas, here’s a reason for you to rejoice. The film will be back on the big screen on March 14, that too in IMAX. Moreover, Warner Bros will also bring back Dune: Part Two on the same day in theatres. A source told Bollywood Hungama, “Interstellar has a huge demand as it’s a film worth watching in theatres, that too IMAX. However, it re-released on February 7 and had to discontinued from February 14 to accommodate the new releases, Chhaava and Captain America: Brand New World. Both these films got a release in IMAX as well.” The source continued, “Many were aware that Interstellar had just a one week run. Hence, it held very well in the weekdays, collecting Rs. 2 crore plus. Yet, there was a section of mo...
Read more

‘I lost a friend of almost 40 years’: Nancy Meyers pays tribute to Diane Keaton

-
Film-maker who directed Keaton in Something’s Gotta Give, and wrote Baby Boom and Father of the Bride, says ‘we have lost a giant’ Film-maker Nancy Meyers has paid tribute to the late Diane Keaton, her “friend of almost 40 years” and collaborator on celebrated comedies Something’s Gotta Give, Baby Boom and Father of the Bride. On Monday, Meyers wrote on Instagram that she’d had a difficult 48 hours since Keaton’s death was announced on Saturday, but “seeing all of your tributes to Diane has been a comfort.” Continue reading... from Film | The Guardian https://ift.tt/TFc820j via IFTTT
Read more