DELIVERY MAN

Stars: Vince Vaughan, Chris Pratt, Cobie Smulders, Jack Reynor, Bobby Moynihan, Britt Robertson, Simon Delaney, Adam Chanler-Berat and Andrzej Blumenfeld.
Writer: Ken Scott; based on the original screenplay Starbuck by Ken Scott and Martin Petit.
Director: Ken Scott.

Rating: 3.5/5

Affable schlub Vince Vaughan has coasted for too long on the laconic, cool-guy schtick, playing charming if shallow leads in charming, shallow movies. In Ken Scott’s Delivery Man, he seems determined to give his trademark cocky riff a deeper element.

The actor has always been an engaging screen presence, often compelling and immensely likable, but he has found it hard to convince in nuanced roles that rely upon more than his natural charisma (and which kicked off his career so memorably 17 years ago in Doug Liman’s Swingers). Delivery Man represents a second shot in as many years at a more complex comedic persona; Ron Howard’s The Dilemma hinted at a new direction, even if the film was a messy letdown.

Interestingly, there is also a thematic component that recalls the older-skewing comedies of the late 70s and early 80s, such as David Steinberg’s Paternity (1981) or Blake Edwards’ The Man of Loved Women (1983), in which the consequences and responsibilities of a sexual lifestyle choice are explored. Like those films, Delivery Man (pun-iest title of the year, one hopes) doesn’t always nail that difficult comedy/drama balance, but goes pretty close.

Vaughan is David Wozniak, a down-on-his-luck meat truck driver whose lack of forward momentum in life is recognised by all but himself. In a briskly edited introduction that recalls Bill Murray’s ultimate-bad-day opening sequence in Stripes, Wozniak lets down his family (dad Andrzej Blumenfeld; Simon Delaney and SNL regular Bobby Moynihan) and is cast adrift by his pregnant girlfriend, Emma (Cobie Smulders).

Things get worse when it is revealed that a class action case is being initiatedd by many of the 533 young adults that are alive thanks to sperm samples donated by an anonymous figure known as ‘Starbuck’; in actuality, the moniker Wozniak adopted when sperm donations were his primary source of income. When told of this by his scruffy lawyer buddy, Brett (a terrific Chris Pratt, who scores the film’s biggest laughs), Dave secretly sets out to meet and help his offspring. These scenes are erratic; some prove very funny and occasionally moving (David’s discovery one of his sons is profoundly intellectually handicapped), while others are overplayed and unconvincing, particularly a worthless subplot involving annoying vegetarian, Viggo (Adam Chanler-Berat).

Writer/director Ken Scott has adapted his French-language Canadian film Starbuck very precisely, barely straying from the script structure, dialogue or shot selection he employed on that 2011 festival hit. This may prove a double-edged sword for Delivery Man; the integrity of the original is intact, but it does not always play like the feel-good romp mainstream audiences will expect from studio Dreamworks and its leading man. However, it is plainly evident that funny-man Vaughan is focussed on a more mature leading man slot in Hollywood’s top-tier and Delivery Man is his most convincing calling-card effort towards that end.

THE BANSHEE CHAPTER 3D

Stars: Katia Winter, Ted Levine, Michael McMillan, Alex Gianopoulos, Chad Brummett, Jenny Gabrielle, JD Garfield, David Midthunder and Vivian Nesbitt.
Writers: Blair Erickson; based on a story by Daniel J Healy.
Director: Blair Erickson.

Rating: 4/5

Dealing in the same complex, paranoia-based mythology that fuelled The X-Files and little-seen but ambitious low-budgeters like Matthew Avant’s Lunopolis, debutant director Blair Erickson wilfully casts logic aside in favour of chilly, often frightening atmospherics in The Banshee Chapter. Whether catching this at a genre festival screening or, as is more likely, via ancillary channels in your home, you will find yourself occasionally covering your eyes or, on at least two occasions, jumping when you are not quick enough to do so.

Erickson based his loopy script (from a very original treatment by Daniel J Healy) upon the MK-ULTRA trials, a real-life incident in which naive subjects were administered drugs by government-sanctioned doctors and monitored to gauge physiological response. The Banshee Chapter merely conjures, “Ok, what’s the worst that could happen?” then sets about answering that question with a heady mash-up of cross-dimensional channeling, demon manifestations, Area 51 iconography and a cautionary line in letting strangers bring you drinks.

The heroine is web-journo Anna (Katia Winter), who has lost contact with her college friend and agitant-cohort James (Michael McMillan), a young man whose curiosity has led him into contact with a group called ‘The Friends of Colorado’. We learn via a white-knuckle passage that James has been supplied with a covert narcotic called DMT 19 and subsequently disappeared after having imbibed the bright-blue substance.

Anna’s investigations lead her to the eccentric, Hunter S Thompson-like recluse, Thomas Blackburn (Silence of the Lamb’s Ted Levine), who embarks with her upon a quest for the truth regarding the heartless experimentation upon young people four decades ago and the dark denizens of another plane that come forth when DMT 19 allows them to.

Erickson’s plotting plays out a series of scary encounters in closed-in spaces (cabins, basements, industrial estates), all of which are lit like a theme-park horror-ride. Glimpses of mutated forms and their dark shadows cast on high walls in strategic spotlighting ensure The Banshee Chapter follows Low-budget Horror Rule #1 – be scary.

What is a little harder to define is the style the director employs. There are passages of found-footage coverage, shot via camera-phones and CCTV, but there is also hand-held shaky-cam action when no camera is logically present to capture the footage. Admittedly, this doesn’t always register during the narrative, but soured the experience post-screening.

That said, it is ultimately a minor distraction. Winter, a striking beauty and convincing on-screen presence, has a terrific chemistry with Levine, who whoops it up as the off-the-rails anti-establishment underground renegade. The twist ending doesn’t quite impact as it should, but that is mostly because Erickson’s imagery and storytelling has scaled such convincingly offbeat heights up to that point. He is a filmmaker to watch.

(Editor's Note - The Banshee Chapter will screen in 3D at Monster Fest but was reviewed in the 2D format via a DVD screener) 

HERE COMES THE DEVIL

Stars: Francisco Barreiro, Laura Caro, Alan Martinez, Michele Garcia, Giancarlo Ruiz, David Arturo Cabezud, Enrique Saint-Martin and Michele Estrada.
Writer/Director: Adrian Garcia Bogliano.

Rating: 2.5/5

It exudes an effective creepiness and a free-wheeling attitude to both hot and horrible sexuality, but Adrian Garcia Bogliano’s bad-seed opus Here Comes The Devil doesn’t amount to much more than a stylish ode to 70’s giallo-esque excess.

Mashing up elements from staples such as The Hills Have Eyes, Don’t Look Now, Village of the Damned and Carrie without adding anything particularly fresh, Bogliano’s intention seems to be to make everything that is old new again. Via the washed-out palette and overactive zooming lens of DOP Ernesto Herrera and occasionally histrionic emoting from his lead thesps, the well-established and regarded auteur (most recently, a contributor to the cult hit, The ABCs of Death) harkens back to a grindhouse aesthetic that dwells seedily on nudity and cheap shocks.

Bogliano puts you in the mood for an entirely different type of exploitation pic with his pre-credit sequence. A particularly rigorous bout of lady-love that culminates in a speech about guilt and regret soon turns a different type of nasty when a rampaging serial killer knocks at the door and dismembers one of the girls. The other fights back, sending the killer running to the nearby hills.

Post-credits, a family outing turns sour when mum Sol (Laura Caro) and dad Felix (Francisco Barreiro) have to deal first with their daughter Sara’s (Michele Garcia) bloody on-set of womanhood and then the disappearance of her and her brother, Adolfo (Alan Martinez) in the hills where the killer died. Caro and Barreiro are afforded a complexity that is not otherwise apparent in Bogliano’s script; their opening scenes veer from casual familiarity to dirty-minded heavy-petting to bitter mutual hatred.

Despite the hills being familiar to the locals as a place of supernatural goings-on, all are happy when the kids are found safely. Bogliano then splits his narrative between a horrible act of revenge that soon seems unfounded and a dawning awareness about what may be the possession and resurrection of the children’s souls. There is a thematic under-pinning concerning the impending adulthood of late teenagers and its terrifying impact upon the parents who are about to lose their babies to life, but Bogliano handles these elements with a less assured touch than he does the horror-film flourishes.

Slasher film tropes manifest in the form of David Arturo Cabezud’s intellectually  disabled loner Lucio and know-it-all gas station owner Enrique Saint-Martin, neither of whom develop past the usual shallowness found amongst support parts in US B-movies. Bogliano indulges in some psychedelic surrealism to impress upon us his trippy influences, but it amounts to a lot of effort for very little advancing of the story.

Strongest contributions are most evident from below-the-line talents like sound designer Lex Ortega, who crafts a complex audio-scape of screams, creaks and shrieks, and makeup artist Rosario Araque, who makes believable earth-bound ghouls when required. 

CONTRACTED

Stars: Najarra Townsend, Caroline Williams, Alice McDonald, Katie Stegeman, Matt Mercer, Charley Koontz, Ruben Pla and Simon Barrett.
Writer/Director: Eric England.

Rating: 3.5/5

Setting his body-horror shocker Contracted amongst the image-conscious twenty-something party-crowd of modern Los Angeles is one of the many smart aspects of Eric England’s slow-burn creepshow that both engages the mind as well as leaving a thoroughly intentional bad taste.

Not quite the nightmarish gross-out journey that Eric Thalardeau’s similarly themed Thanatomorphose was, England’s third feature is nevertheless a challenge for even the most resilient of horror fans. It will also prove particularly troubling to the sexually irresponsible amongst the target demographic; promiscuity has been punished in horror films from the genre’s inception, but rarely have the consequences been so grotesquely portrayed.

Much about Contracted is reminiscent of the AIDS era horror film, when films like David Cronenberg’s The Fly and Brian Yuzna’s Society reminded us all that pleasures of the flesh often cost a pound of the same. Tellingly, one key component of the narrative immediately recalls the ‘Patient Zero’ hysteria of the AIDS outbreak, when it was discovered much of the disease’s transmission came from a single sick individual. 

England’s protagonist is Samantha (Najarra Townsend), a skittish, occasionally grumpy trainee florist who is struggling with identity issues. In the dumps because she is sensing the end to an emotionally involving flirtation with lesbianism (in the form of Katie Segeman’s brash Brit, Nicki) and finding herself back in an apartment with her mom (horror vet, Caroline Williams), Samantha overindulges at a party thanks to her bff, Alice (Alice McDonald). A shadowy, predatory figure in the form of a stranger name BJ (Simon Barrett) proves an enigmatic distraction and Samantha finds herself steaming up the backseat of a car with him, despite her vocal protestations.

Over the next three days, Sam begins to note physical changes that soon increase in severity. Deterioration of eyes, teeth, skin and nails make for the most uncomfortable of scenes (playing into the films exploration of the nature of personal identity), though a strong thematic line in menstrual-related pain and body fluids in general is always present. Townsend, providing a mostly likable presence while still capable of a troubled chilliness, is called upon to act out some deeply personal horrors in the name of her character and does so with gusto. 

There is a one-note shallowness to most of the support players, though it is entirely understandable (even, perhaps, subtly satirical) that this may be the result of dealing with the generally insipid, self-centred nature of young Los Angelinos. Charley Koontz’s fat, drug-dealing Zain is an unnecessary diversion; Matt Mercer’s Riley, as a suitor so infatuated with Sam he barely registers her deterioration, is frustratingly devoid of substance, though he bravely fronts up to act out the film’s most disturbing moment of intimacy.

England supplies a sly, very cool denouement that suggests his intention was to craft a smart take on the most popular horror sub-genre at present (in scenes that prove reminiscent of recent real-world incidents in several US cities). It is terrifically nihilistic note upon which to conclude Contracted, a dark, disturbing slice of personalised horror that will certainly satisfy genre festival audiences hungry for originality.

CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRY VANILLA

Stars: Glenn Maynard, Kyrie Capri, Michelle Myers, Kristen Condon, Aston Elliott, Louise Bremner and Elise Guy.
Writer: Addison Heath.
Director: Stuart Simpson.

Rating: 4/5

Despite a title that suggests a sugary cinematic high, the latest offbeat work from Melbourne-based director Stuart Simpson is instead a bittersweet, disturbing comic take on loneliness, obsession and madness. Chocolate Strawberry Vanilla further establishes Simpson as one of Australia’s most inventive and assured genre filmmakers, his third feature a bracingly original and thoroughly macabre vision that is hard to shake.

An opening montage recalls the giggly first minutes of Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, but soon the life of our protagonist, ice-cream vendor Warren Thompson (Glenn Maynard), grows decidedly darker after he backs over his cat. This fateful event sets in motion the final few days of Warren’s already-strained sanity; along for the downward-spiralling ride is local street-thug Rocko (Aston Elliott), his coarse lady Ash (Louise Bremner), troubled postal worker Ruby (Michelle Myers) and, most tellingly, the object of Warren’s obsession, soapie starlet Katey George (Kyrie Capri, a standout).

As Warren, the extraordinary Glenn Maynard creates one of the most memorably sympathetic portraits of repressed rage and social disconnection in local cinema history. Interacting with the denizens of inner-city Melbourne from the window of his confectionery truck by day and retreating into the false world of celebrity adoration by night, Maynard takes Warren deeper into a dangerous, psychotic state via an odd, affectatious comedic portrayal that makes the shattering events of the final reel utterly mesmerising.

First-time feature writer Addison Heath gives Warren a strong, individualistic voice that immediately puts him onside with the viewer. His plight and anguished voice is achingly clear, ensuring his ultimate actions are all the more confronting. There is a foreboding menace that envelopes the film, particularly after the denouement is hinted at, albeit briefly, in the opening frames. Simpson reins in the wild showiness of his last film, the equally engaging small-town creature-feature El Monstro Del Mar (aka Monstro!; 2010), yet still crafts a nightmarish world.

Also providing insight into Warren’s diminished state is his adulation for tough guys movie heroes, an infatuation that leads him to buying a video camera to record his thoughts (a device that has undone many films but that Simpson masters). Of course, there are also some very funny moments, such as a sex-line call that turns into an ‘Agony Aunt’ session.

Although Chocolate Strawberry Vanilla is too much an offbeat Ozploitationer to secure multiplex slots, the time will come when Stuart Simpson and the mainstream mindset find a common ground. He is far too talented a filmmaker to be contained by the underground; one day, these early efforts will be looked back upon in much the same way that fans now regard Peter Jackson’s Brain Dead or George Miller’s Mad Max – a work that defies its low-budget status with superbly crafted visuals and expertly-paced storytelling. 

KRRISH 3

Stars: Hrithik Roshan, Kangana Ranaut, Priyanka Chopra and Vivek Oberoi.
Writers: Robin Bhatt, Honey Irani, Irfan Kamal, Akarsh Khurana, Sanjay Masoom and Rakesh Roshan.
Director: Rakesh Roshan.

Rating: 3/5

Exhibiting ten movies worth of good-vs-evil comic-hero conflict and positively drenched in the glorious morality synonymous with India’s Diwali celebration, Rakesh Roshan’s Krrish 3 is the type of big Bollywood blockbuster that can both delight and infuriate western audiences. Domestic crowds, however, will be thrilled by the latest adventures of their own ‘Man of Steel’, whose pure family values and washboard abs are made for the biggest cinema-going week of the Indian year.

The four-quadrant action melodrama has already displaced Shah Rukh Khan’s Chennai Express as the fastest-earner over the first five days of its run, with ₹134.87 crore banked. The Hindi heroics are also playing strongly in Tamil and Telugu dialects, putting Krrish 3 on course for a record-setting season; if it stays on track, analysts suggest it may emerge as the top-grossing Indian film of all time.

Having firmly established the mythology with the first instalment, 2003’s alien-meets-boy hit Koi…Mil Gay, before fully launching star Hrithik Roshan’s titular alter-ego in 2006’s Krrish, the third instalment unleashes the black-leather do-gooder in full super-hero mode. Sharing his secret identity with his doddering scientist father Rohit (also Roshan, thoroughly convincing in old-age make-up) and sweetheart, journalist Priya (Priyanka Chopra, in the Lois Lane role), nice-guy Krishna Mehra smiles through life’s hardships as he tries to hold down a regular job. Having to regularly soar high above Mumbai to save those in peril plays havoc with your attendance record, apparently…

But true evil has surfaced in the form of Kaal (Vivek Oberoi, chewing scenery like termites), a seething whellchair-bound telekinetic who, with his band of mutant henchmen led by shape-shifting stunner Kaya (Kangna Ranaut, a standout), is planning to poison the cities population. As expected, the labyrinthine plot convolutes in on itself, working in father-son angst, jealousy, betrayal and retribution along with the potentially fatal biohazard weapon before a seemingly endless final reel confrontation between Krrish and Kaal lays waste to most of downtown Mumbai.

The Bollywood sector’s penchant for pilfering the most effective elements of their LA counterpart’s biggest hits has been largely dormant of late, but Roshan corrects the balance in one fell swoop with Krrish 3. References to the X-Men films and Christopher Nolan's Inception abound, as do not-so-subtle nods to World War Z, The Avengers, Spider Man, Thor and the aforementioned Superman reboot. That said, the use of the familiar components is done with flair and technical dexterity, ensuring Krrish 3 is every bit (and, occasionally, a whole lot more) enjoyable than the originals.

A tighter third act would have helped, with one too many teary farewells and resurrected bad-guys bulking up the finale. Naturally, such issues won’t bother the under-12s, for whom this old-fashioned, energetic matinee malarkey is clearly aimed; at one point, our hero saves a young ‘un and informs him that Krrish lives in all those who chose to do good.

Musical numbers are generally infectious, with the pick of them being the giddy staging of ‘Raghupati Raghav’. 

FREE CHINA: THE COURAGE TO BELIEVE

Featuring: Jennifer Zeng, Dr Charles Lee, Hon. David Kilgour, Rep. Chris Smith and Ethan Gutmann.
Director: Michael Perlman.

Rating: 4/5

A compelling, deeply moving advocacy piece, director Michael Perlman adds Free China: The Courage to Believe, his account of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China, to an impressive list of expertly crafted, humanistic factual films.

Since his 2003 debut Eyes of the World, in which he chronicled multicultural discourse in The Balkans, Perlman has brought a compassionate, singularly human focus to such broad global issues as society's diminishing regard for the elderly (63 Years Like Yesterday, 2004) and the treatment of Buddhist clergy by Chinese officialdom (Tibet: Beyond Fear, 2008).

Perlman stays on mainland China for his latest, which recounts the tale of two upstanding Chinese nationals who suffered through torture and imprisonment for following the meditative, qigong-like principles of Falun Gong (or Falun Dafa) teachings. The practice is a morality-based, socially-conscious life-choice that stemmed from Taoist and Buddhist elements; it was hugely popular amongst the Chinese people, with close to 10 million followers at the height of its popularity, and fully supported by the Communist regime.

However, in 1999, the notion that Falun Gong was giving strength and unity to the people began to disturb the Communist Party heads and the practice was outlawed, much to the dismay and growing resentment of its followers. The government were brutal in their policing of the new laws and it is thought that hundreds of thousand of Falun Gong believers were victims of horrible human rights violations.

Jennifer Zeng was a 21 year-old Communist party member with a newborn daughter when she was imprisoned for expressing her opinions; Dr Charles Lee had migrated to the US but returned to China to fight for the rights of his people. By chronologically tracking their heartbreaking accounts of abuse, internment, forced labour (Lee recalls long days making Homer Simpson slippers for the American market) and separation from loved ones, Perlman paints a larger, disturbing picture of illegal government actions against their own people and the control mechanisms employed (most notably, internet censorship; most graphically, human organ trafficking) to quell individual thought.

Although Perlman applies journalistic objectivity in the presentation of his well-researched facts and footage, there is never any doubting that Free China: The Courage to Believe is a rousing call-to-arms, a demand that the international community take the same fearless approach that Zeng and Lee did in defiance of Chinese human rights atrocities. The memory of Nazi Germany’s concentration camps and more recent shameful displays of power such as the Tiananmen Square massacre are invoked in Perlman’s imagery and narrative; more impactful, however, is the soaring sense of dignity and willpower his two subjects and his film displays. 

Further information regarding the film, including its Australian screening schedule, can be found at their website.

THOR: THE DARK WORLD

Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Rene Russo, Kat Dennings, Christopher Eccleston, Chris O’Dowd, Stellan Skarsgard, Idris Elba, Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi and Jaimie Alexander.
Writers: Christopher Yost, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.
Director: Alan Taylor

Rating: 3/5

For a franchise so defined by its hulking he-man central figure, there is very little meat on the bone in Thor: The Dark World. Some tepid family drama, a wan romance and cutesy humour are the only vaguely human components director Alan Taylor and his boardroom of writers offer up; in every other respect, Aussie hunk Chris Hemsworth’s third hammer-wielding turn as Asgard’s man-mountain golden boy exists entirely as a spectacular effects showcase.  

In that regard, the latest adventure from the Marvel movie universe is an artful vision of otherworldly kingdoms, gripped by feuding denizens representing both the light and dark of iconic mythology. Taylor (who has only a handful of indie features to his credit, the last being the little-seen 2003 drama, Kill The Poor) may seem an odd choice as helmer of such a statuesque tentpole pic. But his impressive list of top-tier TV work (most tellingly, recent multiple episode arcs on Game of Thrones) reflects the vast, murky landscapes and imperial grandeur that are ever-present here.

Unfortunately, what is missing are the richly-drawn protagonists and compelling plotting that distinguish the best from the rest amongst these studio behemoths. Fans will turn out in droves and lap up the familiarity of their heroes and accompanying visuals (despite some occasionally blurry 3D work), but there is very little by way of fresh characterisations or involving action. In all fairness, nor was their in Kenneth Brannagh’s camp 2011 first go-round for the characters; one senses that the indestructible righteousness of the titular hero sucks the wriggle-room out of any nuanced narrative opportunities. 

Beneath a sculptured mass of make-up artistry is Christopher Eccleston as Malekith, the seething overseer of the demonic Dark Elves. From a noisy prologue we know they seek out a planet-engulfing power source called Aether, a swirling red/black mass that was thought to be buried far beyond reach but which, heaven’s above, has somehow becomed entangled within the molecular/soulful essence of Thor’s earthbound girlfriend, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman, playing far below her skill and industry stature).

With only Jane standing between his brutal domination of the Nine Realms, Malekith launches an assault upon Asgard (one of the film’s highlights), forcing Thor to enlist the aid of the one man in this alternate universe he dare not trust – his adopted brother and bitter rival, Loki (Tom Hiddleston, in fine form). Back in London, Jane’s tart-mouthed 2IC Darcy (Kat Dennings, all pouty and smart-ass) and mentor Dr Selvig (the film’s biggest asset, Stellan Skarsgard) play their part to save our world and Thor’s universe.

So comfortable in his role as to appear entirely natural in otherwise supernatural surroundings, Hemsworth has some well-staged moments with Anthony Hopkins, returning as his father Odin, and the always reliable Rene Russo as his mother Frigga. But it is meagre melodrama that clearly exists to simply move the film to its big-bang finale. Other returning faces (Idris Elba as Heimball; Jaimie Alexander as Sif) and newcomer Chris O’Dowd as Jane’s normal-guy paramour, are lost amidst the mayhem.

As appears to be the duty of any critic providing coverage of a Marvel episode, be advised that two separate ‘teaser’ scenes amongst the closing credits. Which I know many find exciting, but somehow leaves me feeling the selling of the franchise is a never-ending loop. Perhaps Thor: The Dark World would have played better if it didn’t ultimately reveal itself as just another stepping stone toward Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and so on… 

FORESIGHT KILLER INSTINCT

Stars: Martin Cunningham, Duncan Cunningham, Michael Edward Williams,  Trevor Dent, Elizabeth Murphy, Graham Kilsby, Mitchell Havilland, James Harris, Matthew Carnio and Byron J Brochmann.
Writer: Aaron Cassidy.
Director: Duncan Cunningham.

Rating: 3/5

The low-brow, high-camp Ozploitation ethos is alive and well if Duncan Cunningham’s screeching revenge opus Foresight Killer Instinct is any indication. The film equivalent of a garage band formed solely so mates can belt out free-form heavy metal riffs, this occasionally hilarious, gleefully bloody and largely nonsensical vision is a fun, foul-mouthed ode to truly independent cinema that has already proved an internet sensation (the forum perhaps best suited for such personal ‘artistic’ expressions).

The plot, for what it’s worth, involves good-guy husband Glenn Parsons (Martin Cunningham), an average Joe who moonlights as the local psychic, helping the ragtag small-town police force identify the district’s murderers. Things go bad for the clairvoyant when he identifies thuggish corrupt cop Lance Steel (Michael Edward Williams) as a killer; to teach the pesky psych a lesson, Steel rapes and murders his wife and puts a bullet to the head of Parson, who barely survives.

It is all too much for the trans-medium, who is nursed back to health by a kindly priest (Trevor Dent) before unleashing his vengeance upon a local serial killer, some wayward bikies and what’s left of the crooked cops. Subplots involving undercover cops, internal affairs investigations, local drug rackets and hookers (lots and lots of hookers) are entirely perfunctory and drift in and out of proceedings on a whim. Which is not to suggest their staging is not given due respect; on the contrary, every frame of Cunningham’s work is energised and played to hilt by a committed if obviously non-pro cast.

That said, a great deal of Foresight Killer Instinct does not call upon the actors. Clearly the mantra of the production was “Don’t worry, we’ll fix it in post” (or, more in line with the vernacular of the film, “We’ll f***ing fix it in f***ing post”); there are one too many lengthy passages bolstered by jittery camera effects, faded flashback sequences, overlit psychic visions and close-ups of the furrowed, growling visage of the warped anti-hero (who, bald and donning a black hood-and-robe, resembles Paul Bettany’s titular crusader in Scott Stewart’s Priest). Even at 94 minutes, Cunningham’s debut is a bit self-indulgent and would benefit from some further pruning.

Where Duncan Cunningham does succeed with his feature debut is in his understanding of the craft (blocking and framing of key scenes suggests a natural talent has been unearthed) and willingness to deliver for his target audience. There’ll be something to offend everyone (feminists and cat-lovers, in particular, should stay well clear) but, when dealing with a work about as far removed from the mainstream as you can get, one senses that was kind of the point. 

Foresight Killer Instinct will screen as part of Monster Fest 2013 on Saturday, November 23. Visit the website for further details. 
Read the SCREEN-SPACE interview with director Duncan Cunningham here.

SHAHID

Stars: Raj Kumar Yadav, Prabhleen Sandhu, Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, Baljinder Kaur, Vipin Sharma, Shalini Vatsa, Vinod Rawat, Pawan Kumar and Vivek Ghamande.
Writers: Apurva Asrani and Sameer Gautam Singh.
Director: Hansal Mehta.

Stars: 4/5

The complexities of perceived justice versus the value of truth is the thematic core of Hansal Mehta’s tragic biopic Shahid, a compassionate recounting of the brief life and dramatic difference that human rights advocate Shahid Azmi contributed while acting as defence counsel in India’s legal system for close to a decade.

Though it reflects the oft-told tale of the idealistic outsider taking on the might of the jaded legal community, Mehta’s drama establishes strong humanistic qualities and a deeply personal protagonist before launching into the courtroom fireworks. From surviving the 1992 Mumbai social uprising to his fleeing from a terrorist training facility in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir and subsequent wrongful imprisonment, Shahid’s early life is vividly conveyed, a skilful and confident directorial hand fully fleshing-out the central figure and all his motivations.

After serving a seven year jail term in a Delhi prison (on anti-State charges for which he was later acquitted), Shahid emerged with a law degree and set about serving the rights of the accused, many of which were being held for long periods while police and prosecutors stalled their investigations. Writers Apurva Asrani and Sameer Gautam Singh, whose script exhibits a fluent, naturalistic economy with words and avoids all but the slightest hint of traditional Bollywood melodrama, combines several of Shahid’s landmark cases into just two key confrontations. This may irk sticklers for historical accuracy, but it does not undervalue in any way Shahid’s overall contribution to India’s legal landscape (his dissecting of the practices that led to the arrest of several Indian nationals on terrorist charges under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002, led to the Act finally being repealed).

Crucial to the film’s worth is a terrific lead performance by Raj Kumar Yadav, in almost every scene and called upon to grow from a wide-eyed youth into a noble defender of civil liberties. It was this commitment to the letter of the law that put Shahid offside with many of his countrymen; in giving the role such a strong humanity, Yadav risks doing the same. The actor (having a stellar 2012-13, with his role in Anurag Kashyap’s crime epic, The Gangs of Wasseypur) should be applauded for a fearless, multi-layered portrayal. Support cast, notably Prabhleen Sandhu as single-mum love-interest Maryam, are all up to the standard set by every element of the production.

Given the naturalism Mehta employs for the majority of the film, some flourishes surrounding the very sad denouement are unwarranted but, given the overall emotional impact of his production, entirely forgivable. Shahid is a particularly accomplished entrant in the ‘reluctant martyr’ biography genre, sitting comfortably alongside the likes of Mike Nichol’s Silkwood and Spike Lee’s Malcolm X as the best of the best.