Hon Mention #3 – Berkshire County (2014)
Directed by Audrey Cummings
Written by Chris Gamble
Starring: Alysa King, Madison Ferguson, Cristophe Gallander, Samora Smallwood & Aaron Chartrand
This film was originally in the top ten because of how obscure it is. It has a whopping 1,630 reviews on IMDB and 98 user ratings on RT, which isn’t surprising since this is a low budget Canadian flick. But due to its lesser quality I decided to remove it from the list. A few years back my local theatre did a highlight series on Canadian films where they showed a different film every few weeks, only a couple of showings. I checked it out. I was surprised with how decent this film is. It’s by no means a great film. It’s a derivative modern day slasher flick, kind of Halloween meets The Strangers. But it does have some interesting aspects to it.
The pig masks the killers wear are pretty well done and one of killers is a brick shithouse of a man, very intimidating. The house it takes place in is interesting with all these great dimensions and visuals that make the cat and mouse game pretty fun. There is a nice character background for the young protagonist as a victim of bullying because someone recorded her giving a guy a blowjob and it got shared with everyone at school, which was probably inspired by Amanda Todd in British Columbia, a pretty big news story in Canada at the time. But what I appreciated most about Berkshire County is that she isn’t a stupid girl. In fact, she’s quite crafty in how she maneuvers herself and the kids she’s babysitting around the house to evade the intruders, and the movie gets some serviceable tension with these scenes.
Ultimately, it’s a pretty average film that can’t rise above the genre trappings it means to work around, but it was an admirable effort in doing something different within a genre with little room to experiment. The tacked on coda is kind of stupid, but whatever. I just want to give a Canadian flick some love.
10. The Monster (2016)
Written and Directed by Bryan Bertino
Starring: Zoe Kazan, Ella Ballentine & Aaron Douglas
The Monster is a great example of how to make an effective horror film with a miniscule budget. The cast is basically only two people and they spend a good chunk of the runtime in a car. The performance of Zoe Kazan who plays a pretty horrible mother and person is the highlight of the film as she isn't afraid to dig into the vileness of her character. Ella Ballentine, who plays her daughter in the film, matches her step-by-step. The photography at times in this movie is stunning, with clever blocking and camera angles. Considering much of the film takes place at night on a forest road, it’s impressive how much depth and detail is given to the location considering the scarce light. The blacks are crisp, solid in appearance, lending to isolation.
You can tell director Bryan Bertino is a horror film fan. The plot pays homage to several horror films, from the premise that harkens back to Cujo, the great shot above paying clear homage to Alien, and the infamous goat scene in Jurassic Park. Yet it isn't cheap or derivative so much as a sign of respect for obvious influences. The story itself is pretty solid and the monster itself is fairly interesting in its design, almost a mixture between a Giger creation, a gorilla, and a bear. What this film really gets right, however, is the tension. The Monster really takes its time in finally pulling the trigger. It's similar to the original Halloween when you know Michael Myers is out there, watching, waiting.
9. Wuthering Heights (2011)
Directed by Andrea Arnold
Written by Andrea Arnold & Olivia Hetreed
Starring: James Howson, Kaya Scodelario, Steve Erats, Paul Hilton, Amy Wren & Oliver Milburn
Much like the 2011 adaption of Jane Eyre (penned by fellow Bronte sister Charlotte) this is a less whimsical, more accurate depiction of the source material. I haven’t seen the 1939 version of Wuthering Heights, considered to be one of the greatest films of all time, but it must be the polar opposite of this one. The cloud-covered moors: large, unoccupied and seemingly inhospitable spaces really make the characters feel trapped with each other and themselves. It’s the first adaptation to portray Heathcliffe as Afro-Caribbean which is strongly implied in the novel yet never outright said due to the times. We see the uncivilized life on the moors as a brutal life, complete with routine animal cruelty; deep-seated rage and envy nests in people’s hearts for decades. Though Wuthering Heights is a gothic romance at its heart with a stirring story of taboo love, much of the film is a brooding and dour tale of bitter men seeking vengeance. It’s well acted, beautifully filmed, and a faithful adaptation of a great novel.
The film plays like a silent film for long stretches of its runtime so that may be a major roadblock for some people. A lot of the story is told through images and expressions showing what people are thinking and often not saying. In many ways it’s the cinematic equivalent to watching a kettle boil and hearing that soft sputtering of percolation inside yet the whistling seems a long way off. Still, it’s an engaging wait if you’re into this type of atmospheric and soft-spoken cinema.
8. Tomboy (2011)
Written and Directed by Celine Sciamma
Starring: Zoe Heran, Malonn Levana & Jeanne Disson
This is the sort of coming of age story that works because it feels authentic. The kids behave and speak like kids, doing things that kids do and not being little shits for easy drama. The parents behave and speak like parents, who are often trapped between supporting their children and protecting them, two things which often conflict with each other. The social dynamic that blossom between kids of this age feels very in touch with how such kids interact with each other and spend time together. As a story about a young girl who pretends to be a boy, it’s very soft-spoken and lacking the sort of schmaltz you’d find in a Hollywood production covering similar content. I’m not sure if this is a story about a transgender kid or Laure is merely a kid experimenting with their identity and going through a phase or a kid who is struggling with knowing where or how to belong, but either way it’s told well and with heart without being preachy and pointed or saccharine.
I’m a sucker for a good coming of age story (as this list no doubt indicates) because no matter what or who they are about, they’re universal stories. We all go through periods of self-discovery in youth and adolescents, and such periods continue through middle age and old age. Life is self-examination as the world around us constantly takes on new depths and we undergo constant internal and external transformation. Everyone remembers being a kid. We all experiece the need to fit in, which often requires pretending to be something you’re not, something you won’t be for a long time, or can never be, because we're not quite comfortable with ourselves – Tomboy a fantastic film in capturing that.
7. The Miseducation of Cameron Post (2018)
Directed by Desiree Akhaven
Written by Desiree Akhaven & Cecilia Frugiuele
What is admirable about Cameron Post, which is about a young girl caught with another girl being sent to a Christian gay conversion camp in the 90’s (tear-away pants!), is how earnestly it is portrayed. It would be incredibly easy for a film with this subject matter to portray religion as evil and the people running conversion therapy to be evil as well. Cameron Post is in the grey area where it criticizes the programs without vilifying them, which allows the experience to be authentic and objective. The two counselors at the camp approach their task from a place of good, where they believe they are helping these kids, the brother of the two more so than his sister; she has a stereotypical, Christian authoritative edge yet is restrained enough she isn’t a caricature. The struggle of the kids too is handled without much melodramatic sentimentality as well, save for one big scene in the final third that is able to be effective because of the restraint of the rest of the film. The young cast is quite good and all the kids have their own defined personalities, even the ones that only get a scene or two to establish themselves. Long story short: this film isn’t sanctimonious and I appreciate that considering the subject matter.
Chloe Grace Mortetz was a young actress that had a lot of talent and potential. Yet over the past five years she hasn’t done the best work or chosen the best films to work on. She still does a lot of independent film and I respect that, but all her best work was in the first half of her career. She’s not only good in Cameron Post, but the film is excellent in its own right. It’s allowed to me remain hopeful she can have a long career and not end up like most successful child actors who can’t successfully transition into adulthood.
6. The Clovehitch Killer (2018)
Directed by Duncan Skiles
Written by Christopher Ford
Starring: Dylan McDermitt, Charlie Plummer, Madisen Beaty & Samantha Mathis
I watched this one because Jay and Mike of RedLetterMedia talked about it. Then I saw it on demand recently and decided to watch it. I actually had to adjust this list because how much I enjoyed it, which explains the honourable mention above. This is an excellent, slow burn suspense film with terrific acting and a great atmosphere. Dylan McDermitt is outstanding. There are some incredibly unsettling scenes with him that I don’t even want to allude to…some of it is understated (there is a 4thwall break where he stares at the camera which is creepy as hell) and some of it fucking bizarre. It’s deliberately written and filmed and doles out information in ways quite unlike most mystery films. It’s a weird duality as the film unfolds very slowly yet major plot points seem to come out way too early, which is refreshing.
The central premise is a teenage boy beginning to wonder if his father might be an infamous serial killer. A lot of this film is clearly inspired by David Fincher, as Mike and Jay mention, but I also got a very strong vibe of The Trinity Killer, Arthur Mitchell in Dexter, who too is an unassuming family man who helps out his community yet is a vicious killer at his core. There is a darkness lurking beneath the Burnside Family in The Clovehitch Killer, but unlike Arthur Mitchell's family, Burnsides seems totally ignorant of that darkness. The power and influence of family and community and faith is strong theme in this film and that really comes through in the ending, of which I don’t want to spoil. There is a nice coming of age angle too, where every child inevitable begins to perceive their parents beyond their familial roles, resulting in realizations which are not always pleasant. The Boy Scouts aspect takes on a more chilling aspect for me personally considering the darkness of a Boy Scout Leader I knew – children being molded by such darkness shaped as a paternal figure is terrifying because it can easily be reality.
A big strength of this film is that for a serial killer film, there is a stark lack of violence or exploitation. It’s grounded in character and how they rationalize and manage disturbing revelations and how they cope with devastating truths. I am thinking I want to do a character study on this film in the near future.
PT.6
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