[REC]³ Genesis (2012)
★ ★ ½
Major fan of [REC], not so hot on [REC] 2, but I’ve come around on both filmmakers thanks to solid solo work, including Veronica this month from Paco Plaza, who also flies solo here. I don’t mind Plaza ditching the found footage conceit, he’s a good enough filmmaker to remove those training wheels. More of an issue is the whimsical tone and bright lighting. Not Zombieland farce, but it goes against the shocks and terror of the first two films, feeling like the pilot episode of a proposed weekly series.
Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich (2017)
★ ★ ½
How does this film exist? Nearly 20 years into a series of over 10 films – details are vague – this one is written by S. Craig Zahler (Bone Tomahawk) and stars comedians Thomas Lennon (Reno 911) and Nelson Franklin (Veep). The puppets make for lame villains because they’re as big as Chucky’s leg, but Zahler’s creative graphic violence gets a pulpy workout and the satirical tone of Jewish people fighting Nazi puppets is shockingly amusing when it could’ve easily be offensive.
The Tall Man (2012)
★ ★ ½
After a 2nd viewing of Martyrs I had to know what’s stalled filmmaker Pascal Laugier’s career. This is such an unusual story because there are big twists that change everything, but they come at the cost of completely frustrating the viewer. There’s an exciting bit of action involving Jessica Biel chasing after the Tall Man that delivers the dangerous horror I wanted from Laugier, but after that the film isn’t really about the Tall Man. It’s not even really a horror movie. Still well-made with perhaps Biel’s best performance, but what did I just watch? And why did I watch it? The message (and my horror movie) got lost along the journey. That said, this only confirms Laugier as a filmmaker to watch.