Ipswich Community TV

Amy Bell reviews – the recent Women in Black and the John Wayne classic The Desert Trail.

The beginning of the film is innocent, focusing on three little girls, playing in their bedroom. The Woman in Black appears in the room. The little girls take one look at her and stop their activities, slowly walk towards the window and jump. The scream of a woman can be heard.

The Woman in Black is a drama/thriller/horror capturing the terrifying story of a ghostly woman who is trying to find her dead son. Her curse laces the remote village of Cryphin Gifford. Each time she appears, a child dies causing unimaginable distress to the people of the village.

Arthur Kipps who is played by Daniel Radcliffe is a lawyer who is sent to Eel Marsh House to sort through the late Mrs. Drablow’s documents. Unbeknown to Kipps, Mrs. Drablow is the sister of the Woman in Black. He discovers that Mrs Drablow took her son away from her and now she wants revenge. The Woman in Black haunts Eel Marsh House, putting Kipps in an extremely horrifying situation.

The people of the nearby village of Cryphin Gifford refuse to tell Kipps the truth and try to persuade him to leave, but Kipps is adamant to stay and finish his job.

Kipps’ son is on his way to see him. Completely oblivious to what might happen, Kipps believes that after helping reunite the Woman in Black with her son, she will leave him and his son alone. However, It is not in the Woman in Black’s nature to let a child survive. She makes the little boy walk onto a train track, right in the path of a train. Kipps spots him and jumps onto the train track resulting in instant death to both of them.

It could be argued that the ending is unhappy, however Kipps and his son are reunited with his dead wife. They walk hand in hand together along the ghostly train track.

The Woman in Black is a spine chilling ghost story, originally a novel by Susan Hill. It is frightening audiences all over the country. I remember an audience member saying: ‘that was the scariest film I have ever seen!’ The music and creepy effects make this movie into one of the most popular and terrifying horror movies of all time.

The Desert Trail is a Western starring one of the most famous Western actors of the Classical Hollywood era, John Wayne. Marion Mitchell Morrison was born in 1907, later known as John Wayne. He is an Academy-Award winning actor and had an extremely successful career. He appeared in nearly 250 movies, some of which include, The Three Musketeers (1933), The Lucky Texan (1934), Stagecoach (1939), Fort Apache (1948) and True Grit (1969). Wayne is very masculine and has true charm, which means that he is popular with the ladies.

The Desert Trail is a fifty-seven minute long film about two men named John Scott (John Wayne) and Kansas Charlie (Eddy Chandler). The men are minding their own business and having some good old banter about women, when they are accused of a murder that they did not commit. A cowboy named Pete and his unwilling underling Jim demand money from the Paymaster of Rattlesnake Gulch Rodeo. When the Paymaster does not cooperate, Pete shoots him. The locals and the Sheriff hear a gunshot and rush to see what has happened. Trying to cover himself, Pete accuses John Scott and Kansas Charlie of killing the Paymaster. Scott and Charlie are now trying to escape from a crime they didn’t even commit.

Scott and Charlie head to Poker City, trying to hunt down Pete and clear their names. In order to do this they change their names. Scott becomes John Jones and Charlie becomes Rev. Harry Smith. Meanwhile, Jim is a good man and is trying to get away from Pete, but when Pete blackmails him, he is forced to rob a stagecoach.

Scott becomes smitten with Jim’s sister Anne and tries to woo her into falling for him. Scott and Charlie’s plan fails and they are accused of the murder and find themselves locked up in Jail. Lucky for them, Jim helps them escape. They then set out to find Pete, who is on the run. Pete tries to persade Jim to Rob a bank, but when Jim refuses, he shoots him. On his deathbed, Jim reveals the truth. The film concludes with a happy ending when Pete is arrested and Scott unofficially gets married to Anne, sharing a passionate kiss.

What makes this film so exciting is the long equestrian chases, it makes the audience wonder what is going to happen next and if or when they are going to catch the villain. The acting and dialogue is very clever, with catchy one liners, such as: “You say good morning and they think you want to get hitched.” (Kansas Charlie). This film is very male orientated, as the men are trying to portray themselves as strong and masculine to win the heart of a good woman. The women are innocent and independent, making the men really work for their hand in marriage.

The punching scenes are very unrealistic, but in the Classical Hollywood era, filmmakers did not have the use of the astonishing effects that are used in film today.

What is so interesting about Classical Hollywood films are that the credits are most often at the beginning of the film, rather than the end. There was nowhere near as many people involved with films in the early film era than there is today, so they could put all the credits at the beginning of the film, so that the audience would know who was involved with the film right away. This was changed in the late 1970s when George Lucas directed Star Wars (1977). He refused to put the credits at the beginning. He wanted them at the end, so that it was less distracting and the audience then had the option to either watch the credits or leave before they started.

This film is in black and white with very little effects. What it really shows is that you do not need to include any fancy effects to make a very good film.

Amy Pond reports having surviving three new horror films

Chernobyl Diaries

Chernobyl Diaries

New horror film Chernobyl Diaries see six tourists hire an extreme tour guide who takes them to the abandoned city Pripyat, the former home to the workers of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor but during their exploration, they soon discover they are not alone.

Drawing from real-life events it had the potential to be truly frightening but unfortunately it does not live up the hype created by the trailer, although the film is rather jumpy in places the story was pretty much nonexistent, the characters were shallow and unbelievable, and the only one who had any substance was one of the first to die, leaving the rest to make frustratingly stupid decisions.

The camera work of the movie is chaotic; many of the shots are just too dark to be able to see around the characters leading to confusion as to what exactly is going on. However the location is one of the only bright spots of the movie; it provides a creepy atmosphere and helps build tension, the dark, narrow tunnels, the dust and the old abandoned equipment, are one of the only things that saves an otherwise predictable disappointment.

The Pact

The Pact

A brilliant horror that sees Annie come back to her childhood home when her sister disappears after organising their mother’s funeral, which she was determined not to attend due to years of childhood abuse but soon strange, supernatural things begin to happen to her.

This is a very clever plot which takes you on a journey, uncovering things as Annie does. The acting was very believable and unlike some horrors followed what the true behaviour of normal people, running to the cops instead of going it alone. Despite many thinking she’s crazy, one cop (who is rather good looking) decides to help her, and they start investigating the history of her family and the house that hides a more terrifying secret then anyone could imagine, all revolving around the cupboard Annie and her sister were locked in as children.

The soundtrack, or lack of it, created a very eerie, real and intense atmosphere which keeps you on the edge of your seat; the characters individually weren’t particularly out of the ordinary, except Stevie, a blind pshysic from Annie’s teenage years, who gives her the help she needs to discover the shocking truth of her families past. The twist is scream-inducing leads to an ending you could never see coming.

This film is an intelligent, well written and acted, proves that the things that go bump in the night are not always in your imagination. Definitely a must see, just maybe not alone.

The Five Year Engagement

The Five-Year Engagement

A fantastic romantic comedy that everyone can enjoy. Tom is a long-time chef in San-Francisco, he believes he is destined to spend the rest of his life with his girlfriend, Violet, a British psychology post graduate student, so after only a year since they met, in what were hilarious circumstances, Tom proposes.

The chemistry between Segel and Blunt is magnificent, portraying a completely believable relationship,  they are supported by a great cast including Tom’s best friend and former cook buddy Alex who is very funny with his constant irritating, childish behaviour! To make matters worse for Tom and Violet, Alex marries Violet’s sister, Suzie after getting her pregnant during a one night stand at their engagement party, causing jealously as Tom and Violets wedding keeps getting delayed, much to their families disappointment.

The trouble really starts when Violet receives an invitation into what is a once in a life time job opportunity in snowy Michigan, leaving Tom searching for a new job. Unfortunately he ends up working in a fast food sandwich shop and slowly we see Tom begin to lose his touch with reality out in the Michigan wilderness with his eccentric crew of new friends, while Violet becomes increasingly close to her boss, the charming Professor Winton Childs, leaving them to wonder if their destinies are really interlinked.

This is a great film and shows that relationships don’t always run smoothly as plenty of other films would have you believe, it is relatable and has moments of pure comic genius, if the Elmo-Cookie Monster scene doesn’t have you laughing there is something wrong! Although the film does drag in some places, it could’ve been easily done in 90 minutes; it is well worth a watch and will have you believing that love can conquer all.

Rebecca Jackaman review

The last time this superhero thwipped his way onto our screens, it didn’t go so well. Spiderman 3 had too many villains (and then there was that haircut) and was met with a lot of critical disappointment, and furthermore, plans for a fourth sequel were scrapped. Which was a shame really, because the first two films were actually quite good.

But with the film industry still chugging healthily along with plenty of other blockbuster sequels and reboots to keep us amused (Nolan’s Batman franchise immediately swoops into mind), it was only a matter of time before Spiderman got another chance at success.

Hey presto.

The Amazing Spiderman finally gives us an insight into why Peter Parker lives with his Aunt and Uncle. His parents were scientists who mysteriously disappeared when he was very young, and when Peter discovers a briefcase in his uncle’s basement, it leads him to Oscorp laboratories. Here, he meets Dr Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), who happened to be his father’s partner before he vanished. Connors studies reptiles, and hopes to use their cells to rebuild himself a new arm, after losing it in a war…with terrifying consequences.

Andrew Garfield slips on the infamous mask, and this time, that cheeky alter-ego really shines through.

“You’ve found my weakness,” he whimpers, while an armed car-thief steps menacingly towards him, before blasting him against a wall with his web-slinger. “It’s small knives!”

The other difference with Garfield’s Peter Parker is that he can cry without looking pathetic. I know that sounds a bit harsh, and though I liked Maguire’s interpretation, Garfield brings him well out of just being a total geeky wet blanket. He designs his weapons himself, as well as a switch-powered lock on his bedroom door, yet his awkwardness around girls shows he is just like any other kid in school, complete with (yes!) a skateboard – and he certainly knows how to use it. He’s also a nice kid who works hard in school, and has to put up with the bullies; I think that’s why we like him so much, because he’s just an ordinary guy, trying to get through life…just with some extra abilities! Unfortunately, we are subjected to seeing his beloved Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) being shot (again), though the back story behind it is quite different to the other one (good).

Marc Webber has clearly done his homework with this film, though. There are many scenes that seemed to have come straight out of the comics. One example is in the sewers: Parker is sat on a web, strung up to each of the walls when suddenly, something plucks at one of the strings, then another, then another…and he realises there are lizards crawling towards him.

Emma Stone (The Help, Easy A) plays his love-interest, Gwen Stacey (not Mary-Jane!). Garfield and Stone are actually a couple in real-life, which may explain why their banter was so natural, albeit while being incredibly, adorably awkward at times.

Watching Spiderman swing through the streets of New York blew my eight year old mind in 2002, but watching it now, you can blatantly see the use of CGI (and don’t get me started on the part where he climbs a wall for the first time). The same can not be said for The Amazing Spiderman. It looks real, in fact, most of it is real, from what I have seen from a special feature about it on Channel 4, and the clever use of light and shadow make for a very authentic wall-climbing scene, though it is rather brief, because Peter is too busy fighting some thugs to stick around (hee hee) for long.

This film is a new (almost) fresh look to the Spiderman story, with a villain who is not all bad and gets most of the CGI, which is a relief.

Bring on the sequel!

Rating: 4/5