Kidnapped

Wow, Kidnapped... I just got done watching it and I'm not sure what I think of it... Definitely a movie that'll stick with you... Its a Spanish language home invasion movie - sort of a mashup of "Funny Games" and "The Strangers" with a hint of "Panic Room" thrown in.

I've noticed that a lot of recent Spanish genre films feature extremely long takes, something that Guillermo Del Toro and filmmakers behind [REC] both use very well. Of course, a long, slow burn has been a horror staple since the days of Universal and Hammer, but a lack of rapid fire edits feel particularly dissonant to an increasing ADD Michael Bayized generation. Strangely, the trend towards unflinching takes has largely ignored the horror potential of actual reality, something that director Miguel Angel Vivas seems well aware in this movie.

I wasn’t counting, but I’d be surprised to learn if there were more than 15 cuts in this 80 minute endurance test of a movie. “Kidnapped” (or as the subtitles reveal its original title “Hostages”) doesn’t stray far from the formula one has come to expect of such films, save for a jarring opening sequence that shows the aftermath for the previous victim. There are three thieves, dressed in black, and a family of three, whose only conflict appears to be that their daughter Isa wants to go out with her boyfriend. She is halfway out the door when the burglars burst through a glass window on the side of the house and proceed to tie up the women and dispatch one man to take the father, Jaime out to collect money from various ATMs.

Whereas most filmmakers would derive their tension from the unknown, Vivas often divides the screen into two as Jaime drives around the city to empty out his bank accounts and Isa and her mother Marta are tortured by the other two thieves. One can see the fear and desperation in Jaime’s eyes as he suspects the worst and Vivas simultaneously shows the audiences in real time what is actually happening to Jaime’s wife and daughter. The split-screen is really the only concession Vivas seems willing to make to break the reality he’s constructed, there's no humor or throwaway moments for an audience member to breathe. Sometimes the camera is trained on the floor or a shelf as conversations go on in the background, but for the most part in “Kidnapped,” the tension keeps rising to higher and higher levels.

Ironically, you don’t notice what “Kidnapped” is missing until well after it’s over – the characters, bad and good, all radiate intelligence and don't make any typical "why are they doing that?" blunders that lesser films are guilty of (I'm talking to you, Strangers). This masks the fact that the characters are fairly stock and people we’ve seen many times before. Also, the film is based in real time, but doesn’t work against a ticking clock, and up until the climax, the violence is inflicted psychologically rather than physically.

Although I was disappointed in the film’s ending and I'm not sure why. For one, it definitely doesn't betray the spirit and themes of what came before. “Kidnapped” is such a display of intense, downright muscular filmmaking that its shortcomings in the stock character department completely cede to its impressiveness as a lean, mean, thrill machine.

P.S. This one is unrated for a reason. I'm a pretty stoic watcher of film, but there's a particular scene that really made me go eeesh!

Dark Scandanavian Fantasies... and by that I mean Rare Exports and Trollhunter

Alrightey,

Instead of a post describing the terribleness that was Smurfs, the movie... I thought I'd write about two Scandanavian movies both featuring some dark takes on some fantasy characters. So I'm talking about the 2010 Norwegian found footage film Trollhunter and the 2010 dark Christmas tale Rare Exports.

Trollhunter got initial acclaim when it was played at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Despite the positive reviews, it wasn't released in the states the summer and got a super limited theatrical release (21 screens), only making a shade over $250,000 domestic. Of course, because heaven forbid we expect people to read subtitles, a remake has already been announced (tentatively for 2014).

In general, I don't really care for the recent trend of "found footage" films such as the amazingly popular (and profitable) Paranormal Activity series. Heck, I hated Blair Witch Project back in the day. However, Trollhunter steps a little further and is less irritating then some of those other films. The setup, that the students are documenting bear poachers, means they are mindful of potentially dangerous subject material. There weren't many moments when I was screaming "put down the camera and run."

The acting by the students is credible, but Otto Jeperson as the titular Trollhunter steals the movie completely. He plays the fairly ludicrous concept completely straight (I can see Kris Kristofferson playing this part in an English language version) and as such keep the trolls as a believable threat. I also liked the various government officials in charge of "troll cleanup" duties. The whole movie keeps the fantastical elements grounded and never gets campy or "wink wink." There are some obvious nods (and less obvious) to the troll mythos. Finally, although modestly budgeted, the visual FX work is fairly top notch and many of the troll scenes are shot at night which helps with covering up CGI.

What didn't I like? For a movie trying so hard for realism, a lot of it doesn't make much sense. I find it hard to believe that creatures as immense as some of the trolls shown here could escape prying eyes (the cover of the DVD spoils the end). Also, the filmmakers are fairly generic, I realize the movie focuses on the trolls and the trollhunter, but I would have liked more developed leads. One last note, they try to go a good job for having the filmmakers stick with the troll hunter when they find his actual job, but I think they reacted a little too well to the fact that mythical trolls exist (the exchange is like... "you don't hunt bears?" "no" "then, what do you hunt?" "trolls" "we'll film that instead).

Overall though, I enjoyed Trollhunter for what it was - I think the problems with the movie come from that its a found footage flick about hunting mythical trolls in a realistic way in modern day Norway. The filmmakers made the absolute best movie possible given that premise.

Rare Exports, a Christmas Tale was marketed as an "evil Santa" movie and I went into it thinking it would be the Finnish equivalent to "Silent Night, Deadly Night" or "All Through the House" (2 American 80s killer santa flicks). Its actually a pretty serious, grim look into the mythology of an evil Santa told through the eyes of a young boy (played very earnestly by Onni Tommila) who would be a great lead for a Finnish remake of "A Christmas Story".

On paper, the movie seems very silly... An evil businessman tries to free a demonic "Santa" whos trapped in a block of ice in the middle of a mountain while Santa's depraved immortal elves close in to try and free their master. But theres a grit to the movie (in part due to the Finnish landscape, in part its because the movie never slips into parody. I actually felt parallels to a combination of Pan's Labryinth (with the super dark fantasy elements) and John Carpenter's The Thing (unearthing unknown evil from ice, the bleak setting) but its own unique film.

The reveal of "Santa" from the previews... brr... The actor Peeter Jakobi plays the part as a savage, scrawny beast of a man with a beard. Now, he eventually does end up wearing a Santa suit, but strictly for warmth. The first hour of this move in fact is a slow burning buildup with a lot of dread and suspense.

My biggest problem with the film is the ending. I don't want to spoil it at all, but I found that the adults suddenly following the boy's every order as well as "Santas" eventual fate both rang false. There's also a lot of action when I think the slower scenes play a lot better and truer. Finally, the movie is weirdly short... its less then 80 minutes before credits and I feel like with the established buildup, the climax would be more satisfying. Now I am aware that the director, Jamari Helander, expanded on two short films to make Rare Exports, but I wish that they had better direction for the ending.

Overall though, this is the best Christmas themed suspense movie since the original Black Christmas. The combination of music, mood, tradition (love how they use gingerbread), and acting makes Rare Exports one to check out and an early contender for my 2011 Let the Right In award (best foreign movie released in the US a year after its actual release date).