The Lords of Salem, The Gatekeepers and Bait Reviews

Recently for Filmoria I've been watching and reviewing a very odd selection of films; Rob Zombie's latest horror The Lords of Salem, documentary The Gatekeepers and Aussie horror Bait featuring a shark in flooded supermarket. Yes you heard that right.

The Lords of Salem Review

The Gatekeepers Review

Bait Review

I just want to take this opportunity to have a quick bitch about something that is really starting to piss me off in critic screenings. It might just be my own sense of inadequacy but I still want to say something about it.

Have you ever been in a screening of a film that is probably not the greatest film ever and people start laughing uproariously at the plot points and bits of dialogue they find silly?

I don't mind people laughing if they think a film is silly but I get a sense sometimes that these people are laughing extra loud because they want everyone to know just how silly they find the film.

It happened to me twice recently in The Lords of Salem and A Good Day to Die Hard. I know neither of these are brilliant films and both have plenty of silly, laughable moments. I wouldn't mind but the laughing seems to be infectious and one person starts laughing loudly at the silly moments and then it seems to spread to others until by the end of the film, the whole screening room is full of people cracking up every time something silly happens.

I don't know if it's just me but I'm unlikely to laugh out loud at how preposterous a film gets. I might snigger and smirk a bit but I don't feel the need to make a scene. Even though I may not be enjoying the film, I still don't want people laughing all through it. It feels like they are trying to affect my view on the film and even if I was trying to take it seriously I wouldn't be able to because they are laughing all through it.

I was quite enjoying Die Hard 5 but was quickly getting annoyed with what seemed like critics trying to out-do each other at how hard they could laugh at the silly lines and plot points. I usually think a film deserves a full watch before I decide on what to think about it. I try to keep my judgement till the end and certainly no affect other people's enjoyment by dismissing it during the screening. Am I being unfair?

Anyway rant over. Please check out my reviews of the above films, some of which people didn't laugh all the way through.

Weekend Screenings: The Lords of Salem, Trance, The Liability

I've got three wonderful screenings lined up this weekend; two for Filmoria and one just for me (though I may end up reviewing it for Filmoria too). Rob Zombie's new horror The Lords of Salem stars his good old wife Sheri Moon Zombie again and looks far more interesting than his other films so far, particularly those last two Halloween remakes. From the trailer below, it looks very atmospheric and almost like it is going for a slightly more mature style than his earlier films. Less all out gore and brutality and more of a focus on a single female character who may or may not be going crazy perhaps? Perhaps it's even fair to say The Lords of Salem looks like Rob Zombie has been studying the likes of Dario Argento and Roman Polanski. Perhaps.



Trance is Danny Boyle's first film since 127 Hours. Danny Boyle is one of my favourite directors for three reasons: Trainspotting, 28 Days Later and 127 Hours. He may have been busy with a theatre version of Frankenstein and the small matter of the London Olympics Opening Ceremony (which I have still yet to see as I was on honeymoon in Costa Rica), but he is back with a great cast, a very interesting and trippy, twisty sounding premise and one of my favourite actors Vincent Cassell. I literally cannot wait to see this film. Though Boyle has had the odd misfire, I think this looks like a good one. My Danny Boyle Retrospective is going up on Filmoria tomorrow so please check it out. I've been going through his entire back catalogue which has mostly been a pleasure.



I'm not sure what to think about this next one. The Liability is a British hit man thriller. It's got a great cast with Tim Roth, Peter Mullan and Jack O'Connell and despite the silly macho voice over in this trailer, looks like quite a bit of fun potentially. I'll watch Tim Roth in anything and Jack O'Connell is bound to be a very big star eventually. He was great in Tower Block and is already set for bigger things with the upcoming 300 prequel.



Any of these films take your fancy?