I gotta head out for a bit. I’ll review this when I get back. I just had to log it now because this goddamn movie is SO forgettable, I’d likely forget to log/review it if I didn’t set myself a note and log it.
source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/santas-castle/
And finishing off volume 1 of the BFI’s ‘Short, Sharp Shocks’ set is ‘The Errand’ a film that very strongly reminded me of the work of Norman J. Warren for some reason…only, without the sensationalist streak that made me appreciate Warren as a film maker.
The plots pretty standard. It’s another ‘runaround’ Short featuring a soldier sent by his officer to retrieve a note from a discreet location, on arriving he’s met by a sheepish woman who nervously hands him the letter, but on leaving the location both the woman and a man wearing goggles and black face jump him and leave him for dead.
What follows is 10-15 minutes then of our soldier slowly dying and the tension is in whether he can still deliver the letter AND figure out what’s going on.
And…its fine…a little dull honestly…but fine. I liked the direction, cine and tone of the piece. But the script and performances really let this one down in a big way. With an ending that’s both predictable and uninspiring…one I may revisit in future as it does have some compelling direction. But far from an essential watch.
As for Short Sharp Shocks volume 1? It’s a difficult one honestly, a lot of these films don’t deserve to rot away in an archive somewhere. Some really DO deserve to be seen! But I feel like this set is a bit misleading as a lot of these films barely have any sharp Shocks…most of them arnt even really that Short either…but then, I think a boxset called long, conveluted, sleeping aids wouldn’t have sold as well…hopefully volume 2 picks up the pace and meets the brief.
A slightly grubby offering from the short sharp Shocks boxset, ‘The Sex Victims’ is a fine enough way to kill 37 minutes…but it’s not only one of those movies where, if you think about the ending for more than a minute, the whole film falls apart. And it REEKS of toxic masculinity.
The plot follows a 70s truck driver, looking to get his end away who, while on a new route, gets accosted by a gorgeous naked woman riding a horse.
Our driver thinks nothing of it, until the next time he runs the route it happens again. And this time the woman seems to know his name and act a little inviting.
Our driver (who can also ride horses) decides to find the nearest stables to the route and, if you couldn’t have guessed the owner of the stables is non other than our beautiful naked woman…now fully dressed and in ‘professional’ mode.
And what follows is a near enough 10 minute ‘prey being stalked by big macho man’ runaround in the woods, as our lady turns up in lingerie and our man becomes ever hornier. With a twist you’ll probably get almost immediately honestly…
Kind of predictable and a little icky by 2024 standards, I don’t really have any flaws perse for this one…its just kind of average for the 70s…though, it did give me a great idea for a horror movie called ’70s man’ in which a stereotypical chauvinistic sexist 70s man is transported to the modern day and chases women for ‘nookie’…a genuinely haunting concept.
source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/the-sex-victims/
Another entry for the ‘Short Sharp Shocks’ collection. And this one’s probably been the strongest entry so far (or, if nothing else, the one that actually fits the remit of the short sharp Shocks set)
The plot follows a young couple fresh out of university, who’ve bought a house in their childhood village, with the aim of renovating it and turning it into a family home.
However, while they were at university, the previous owner went mad, murdered his wife, children and all the livestock on the land, and then vanished.
While celebrating with a picnic in a nearby field, the couple begin to realise things may not be as serine as hoped…
I won’t say this one is anything remarkable, for 70s contemporary horror it’s pretty standard fare. But it does manage to create a real sense of ominous foreboding and while I think your milage may vary. The resolution is just unsettling enough to leave a lasting impression. I enjoyed this one…I could see it playing ahead of something like ‘Don’t Look now’ or maybe the original ‘Evil Dead’ as a kind of palette cleanser.
source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/the-lake-1978/
Disc 2 of the first volume of the ‘Short, Sharp Shocks’ set opens strong with ‘Twenty Nine’ a VERY 60s psychological thriller of sorts, following one Graham Baird, a 29 year old chap who wakes up in an unfamiliar apartment, with no memory as to how he got there. Slowly, as he explores the apartment he finds mementos that help him piece together his night, eventually leading him to his worst fears.
This was really well put together in my opinion, a very stylish production, that, while maybe not the best written in the world from a dialogue standpoint, was fantastic at leading the audience through its plot lines in a way that keeps you guessing right up to the end. The twist itself is satisfying and while I wouldn’t exactly say this was a ‘sharp shock’ its a slow burn piece that pays off satisfactorily.
The direction and cine are superb, the soundtrack is poppy with football chanting littered throughout giving a white noise effect.
Colour me impressed! It was an enjoyable half hour or so, and I look forward to rewatching it in future and seeing all the more subtle moments I missed that give the game away ahead of the formal reveal.
The Short,Sharp, Shocks keep on coming as we reach the end of disc 1 and ‘Death was a passanger’ a short film that opens in the 50s before flashing back to wartime occupied France as a secret agent tries to escape the gestapo.
I…didn’t much care for this one. It was really more of a thriller…and a pretty mild one at that. The twists and turns wernt exactly revelations and I was left feeling like my time almost certainly could have been spent better elsewhere.
That being said, it’s inoffensive, it looks nice, the story it is trying to tell works about as well as any…I have no grief with it…I just wish it was a bit more interesting.
source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/death-was-a-passenger/
Another one from ‘Short, Sharp Shocks’ this one, if anything more a humorous tale with a (somewhat) shocking, but kind of unpredictable twist.
We essentially have the same issue here as we did with ‘Lock your door’…there’s only so much ‘atmosphere’ can do for your production if the speaker just doesn’t seem interested in the tale he’s telling…this is even better lit than the last one, which kills even the chance of a bit of moodiness…I wasn’t a fan.
source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/the-reformation-of-st-jules/
Another entry from the ‘Short, Sharp, Shocks’ series and this one is essentially an episode of ‘The Twilight Zone’ in which an English painter butt’s heads with a Spanish bull fighter culminating in him insulting the fighter by painting a striking portrait of him.
He swears vengeance, but how will he do it, from beyond the grave?!?
This one was fun, a little farfetched on the wrap up, but it was decently paced, had a fun story and seemed a bit more alive and with it than other shorts on the set so far.
I’d recommend checking this one out if you can find it, it’s pretty well made and leaves an impression!
source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/portrait-of-a-matador/
I’m slowly working my way through the ‘Short Sharp Shocks’ set and up next was a telling of the Edgar Allen poe classic.
Quite atmospheric with a decent emotional range. I thought the lighting was perfect for this piece, even if the performance did border on campy a little bit. I liked this one! While I wouldn’t say it delivered a ‘short, sharp, shock’ it most certainly did make a tense atmosphere. Which I for one really appreciated.
source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/the-tell-tale-heart-1953/
Essentially a quite dry 15 minute monologue describing the curious tale of a young lady who, as habit always locks the doors of rooms she’s staying in, and the terrifying night that she forgot.
Is this atmospheric? Absolutely. Will this terrify modern audiences? I’ve had more scary bathroom visits.
I struggle to imagine this scaring people even at the time, especially considering this came out in 1949. Maybe 10 years earlier it would have more effect. But as it stands, it’s a story told quite well. In an atmospheric tone…but that’s about it. I was hoping the resolution was a little more unsettling…but it plays more as a cautionary tale than a short, sharp shock.
source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/lock-your-door/
TYTD Reviews 