Kill Bill Vol. 2 Review (2004)

The return of the Bride

As I stated in my Volume 1 review, I wanted to review the two volumes separately due to the fact that I feel the films are completely different to each other. Volume 1 to me feels like an all out action martial arts film, filled with lots of blood, gore and a non-linear narrative. Whilst Volume 2 has a lot of that, it feels more like a Sergio Leon style Spaghetti Western, there is a lot of dialogue, more of a regular structured narrative than its predecessor and there isn't much of a climactic battle, but for some unknown reason, I prefer it.

Tarantino intended for Kill Bill to originally be a singular film, but argued that the film would have a run time of something close to 4 hours so eventually split the movie in two, so its strange and hilarious that they feel so different. James Rolfe of Cinemassacre.com described it best in saying that all of the action fits into Volume 1 whilst Volume 2 has all the dialogue and I couldn't say it any better myself. Something else of note in the differences between the two films is that Volume 1 has an obsession with swords, and is all about the traditional samurai way, and Volume 2 has the same obsession but with firearms, displaying pistols, shotguns and even machine guns as the primary mode of killing this time, again showing the difference between the Martial Arts and Western genre's in the two films.

Michael Madsen as Budd

This film opens with a flashback to the Bride's wedding, where it is revealed that Bill is played by David Carradine and he was romantically involved with the Bride until she became pregnant and tried to leave her life as "The Black Mamba" behind and this is the reason she was "murdered" in the first place. We then move onto Bill seeking out his brother Budd played by Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs another Tarantino flick saw Madsen rise to fame) warning him of the imminent arrival of the Bride. This is the first area of the film that I feel like the style is dramatically different to the first. Where is in Volume 1 we would have probably seen a huge action sequence in which multiple people lost limbs or where stabbed with blood spraying everywhere. Instead there is a quiet confrontation between the Bride and Budd in which she opens a door... only to get shot full of rock salt and buried alive.

Pai Mae cruel to be kind

The film again goes to a flashback in which the Bride is trained by Pai Mae, a Japanese martial artist who is well honed in his skills, teaching the young woman to become the well trained fighter that she is. As the mud and dirt falls on top of the coffin, she delves deep into the past to remember something she was taught long ago. This again pays tribute to the great Bruce Lee with the one inch punch, although not specifically named, its plain to all martial arts lovers what the director is trying to put across. We move through the training, seeing the harrowing and awful ways in which the Bride is trained. Simultaneously this reflects the Bride in the coffin underground, trying to break her way out of her wooden tomb, the music is something to note here, again bringing that true Western feel to it and as you might of guessed it feels like motivation for the Bride to get free.

Ah Daryl Hannah, her character aptly named Elle Driver (she drives around a whole lot in both volumes) is one of my favourites and its her time to shine in volume 2. Meeting with Budd to pick up the Brides Hanzo sword, she instead murders him with the deadly Black Mamba snake in order to keep the sword and the money that Budd requested in exchange for the sword  but is unable to escape the wrath of the bride herself who instead uses an inventive way to get rid of Elle's only remaining working eye.

Having all remaining names crossed off her deathlist, and with her name finally revealed as Beatrix Kiddo (why was this such a huge mystery? I have seen these films so many times and I still don't see why her name was kept such a huge secret.) she finally moves onto the final name on her list. Bill.

The final confrontation with Bill

As revealed at the end of Volume 1, Kiddo still has a child, a young daughter who is also the daughter of Bill, finally sealing the link between the two characters. I'm not going to spoil how this film ends because it really is amazing, there's no huge sword fight and its hardly climactic, but all the suspense and tension from the two films has built towards this point and in my opinion it really does not disappoint.

My final thoughts on these two films is that they are some of the best martial arts films out there. Tarantino shows his adoration for the genre for the genre adding so many Easter Eggs and love into these films and it really shows through. Quentin is a master of his craft, he is able to tell the story of the Bride so well that it is truly captivating. Following Beatrix as she crosses more and more names off her list is great, we root for her, some of the things that she does are despicable (Poor Elle's eye) and she has killed many many people by the end of the saga but that doesn't stop her from becoming one of the most compelling characters in cinema history.
I love these films, as I love much of the work of this truly awesome director, and his fourth and fifth films are simply some of the best movies I have seen in a long time. Check them out.

Kill Bill Vol. 1 Review (2003)

The disappointing third film "Jackie Brown"

Quentin Tarantino could have retired from directing after Pulp Fiction, he was already a master of his craft and by his second film had hit his peak. When Jackie Brown was released in 1997 it was met with mixed reactions, people were unsure on how to take it.
Jackie Brown had a lot of big name actors, Robert De Niro, Samuel L Jackson and Pam Grier to name just a few, but for me, the story wasn't right, it wasn't a Tarantino story, he had based it on a novel and it just wasn't a decent enough follow up to Pulp Fiction.

Enter Kill Bill Volume 1. Titled as the fourth film by Mr Tarantino it is undoubtedly one of the best films he has to offer. A splice between a murder mystery, a globe trotting adventure and a classic martial arts film, there is not a lot that this film doesn't have to offer.

Uma Thurmn as "The Bride"

Following Tarantino's non-linear narrative, it details the journey of "The Bride" played by the always beautiful Uma Thurman, and her attempts to seek revenge on the titular "Bill" and the other five assassins that attempted to murder her on her wedding day. Due to the storyline being non-linear, the storyline progresses rather strangely, opening with the supposed murder and death of the bride, before progressing onto the battle between the Bride and number 2 on her list Venita Green. The story then goes back to the Bride waking up from her coma and reflecting on the life story of the number 1 on her list, Oren Ishi.

Those gory anime scenes

Tarantino uses an anime style to tell the back story of Oren, which fits perfectly with the martial arts feel of the rest of the film. The excessive amounts of blood and gore in this seen match the anime style well, as we learn that Ishi's family were murdered by members of the Yakuza which drove Oren to turn to a life of crime and become a woman for hire. Lucy Liu works wonderfully against the character of the Bride, being her exact opposite. Whilst the Bride is calm and calculated, methodical in the way that she exacts her revenge Oren Ishi has outbursts of violence so severe that she beheads one of her own council members because he disagree's with a half American female running the Yakuza. She then proceeds to threaten the rest of her council who admittedly never even mentioned her heritage.

The always awesome Sonny Chiba!

Sonny Chiba a famous Japanese martial arts actor makes a great cameo appearance as Hitari Hanzo (a character he actually played many times in the 70's) who helps the bride to make her samurai sword, and this scene also features some of the best dialogue in the whole film, with hilarious encounters between Hanzo and his assistant disagreeing over who should cut fish and who should fetch sake, Tarantino's writing is at its best in moments like these. Other actors from timeless martial arts films are paid homage to here also, with the Bride wearing a yellow jumpsuit not unlike the one that Bruce Lee wore in the film "Game of Death."

The Bride finally makes her way to Tokyo to confront Oren Ishi and cross the number 1 off her list. I won't spoil what happens next but it is notable to mention that the fight scene with the Crazy 88 is fantastically choreographed, it feels like I am actually watching a fight rather than a fight scene, and in fact it had to be shown in black and white because the amount of blood and violence was considered to be too much for an audience to handle and the film would have received and X rating. However this is undoubtedly the best scene of the entire film and I'm not sure I can think of another fight scene that lasts as long as this one.

Crazy 88 fight scene

Something else of notable mention is the music and score used in this film. A mix between some outstanding songs performed by the 5,6,7,8's to the amazing "Lonely Shepherd" by Gheorge  Zamfir, this film really does have some of the best music that I can think of.


It does have to be said that this is not a movie for everyone. Some of the action gets to be a bit too much at times with arms being chopped off and even a scalping at one point of the film. My mother used to hate when I watched this film as she found the violence far too gratuitous, whilst my dad and myself used to lap up the violence, perhaps its because we are both major gore hounds or maybe we both believed it was very fitting of the movie itself.

Either way this is one of Tarantino's best movies and along with Kill Bill Vol. 2 is one of the best martial arts saga's of all time. I will be reviewing Vol.2 but I chose to review the films separately for reasons I will go into with that review.

My Frightarama Experience

The god-awful Wicker Man remake

So I'm a newcomer to the whole movie marathon thing, and this was my first experience with one, which was put on by the Phoenix Cinema in Leicester.
The Marathon comprised of five films, ranging from 70's classics such as "The Wicker Man" to recent favourites such as "Shaun of the Dead."
In this article I aim to give brief reviews of each of the five films, and give my honest opinions on the experience as a whole, so lets not waste any time and get right on down to it.

My bottomless coffee

So the night didn't kick off spectacularly for me, I arrived at the Phoenix at 8:30pm which was two hours too early for the actual programming. I then learnt that one of my favourite films on the scheduled listings which was BrainDead (Dead Alive to some people) had been removed due to some problems with copyrighting. However to my gleeful surprise it was replaced with Re-Animator staring Jeffrey Combs, one of my favourite 80's horror movies. Once 10:30pm rolled around, I sat down with my £2 bottomless coffee and adjusted myself for a film I had never seen before, The Wicker Man.

Christopher Lee as a woman!

The Wicker Man- So much to the shame and disapproval of many a horror fan, I had never seen this 1973 classic. Of course I had heard of and seen the Nicolas Cage remake which is god awful, and perhaps that had some part to play in why I had never sat down to see the original. Whilst I can't really call this a horror movie (perhaps it was scarier back in the 70's) but it was very creepy, chilling and intense. The story revolves around a police officer called to Sumerilse just off the coast of Scotland in search of a missing girl. Upon arriving there, nobody seems to know of the missing child, and the Paganism roots of the island soon show through, exploding in some weird sex scenes including a young woman gyrating against a wall and Christopher Lee dressing as a woman and doing some awesome sacrificial dance moves. I honestly think that Christopher Lee is the main reason as to why I enjoyed the film so much. From the 50's and the rise of the Hammer Horror Films, Lee was the greatest actor in Horror, and I honestly think this is one of his best performances. Whilst not being remotely scary, it was a very fun murder mystery film and a great way to ease us into the night.

A true horror classic

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre- This.. was a real treat. I am a huge fan of the original TTCM, so watching it in the original 35mm format was amazing. The crackling and the lines across the screen, the pops and crackles coming from the projector at the back of the screening room was almost too much to handle. It certainly adds to that "dirty" feel of the movie, and at several points, I actually felt like the heat was getting to me. Was I in Texas? No of course not, but the way in which Tobe Hooper made this film gets you so engrossed and involved and when characters are running scarred, so are you. The hook scene where a girl is pinned up is always a high point for me, it really got me involved this time, making me feel as though I was there watching it all happen. The storyline to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is rather simplistic, a group of teenagers go on a cross country road trip in search of there fathers old house, and whilst on their way, they are attacked by a family of cannibalistic killers, including Leatherface and the almost dead and decaying Grandpa. Still as creepy and fantastic as ever, this film again was great.

Lamberto Bava's gorefest

Demons- This was another film I had not seen before and whilst being a fan of Dario Argento's cut of the 1978 Romero classic Dawn of the Dead, I hadn't seen any other films that he was involved with. I had also read a few reviews on this film and whilst most cited the film as being fun, I wasn't particularly looking forward to it. However this was definitely the type of film that was needed at this time of the morning. A really cheesy B-Movie-esque style that was full of great laughs throughout. The plot is wafer thin, comprising of little more than teenagers go to a movie theatre, and the movie theatre becomes overrun with the titular Demons. The plot isn't what matters here, what does matter are those old great practical effects, lots of gore and an interesting cast of characters, especially that unnamed pimp who with every single line had the whole audience gasping for air because he was that funny. However I think it has to be said that this film is not really for everyone, some people even left because this film was on, but its worth a shot if you like those really gory stupidly funny 80's horror films.

Shaun of the Dead- Who hasn't seen this film by now? Edgar Wrights comedic take on the zombie genre has now earned the adoration of almost anyone. People that don't even like the zombie genre cite this film as one of the funniest films they've seen. George Romero even added cameo's for Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright in his return to the zombie genre, Land of the Dead (2005) because the film impressed him that much, despite being almost a spoof of the genre that he created. The plot involves Shaun and his best friend Ed being caught in the middle of the zombie outbreak in Britain, and there attempts at winning back Shaun's girlfriend and holding out in their favourite pub, the Winchester. Whilst the plot in its conception is very simplistic there are a lot of events that happen in between the initial outbreak and the flame engulfed finale. The laughs come thick and fast in this self proclaimed  Zom-Rom-Com. A modern classic, I can't not recommend this film, so its really one that people need to see if they haven't already.

The zombie walk

At the beginning of Shaun of the Dead, the staff offered out cornetto ice creams to all of us, lovingly sticking true to Edgar Wrights Cornetto trilogy. After the film had finished they announced that it was breakfast time, and the staff lovingly dished out servings of bacon, sausage and vegetarian butty's. Then it was time to refill on that bottomless coffee one final time and enter into the final movie, Stuart Gordon's Re-Animator.

Who doesn't love Jeffrey Combs?

Re-Animator- I hadn't seen this film until recently, and it is already one of my favourite 80's horror films. Released in 1985 it had a lot of strong competition in the zombie genre at the time, with the third part in Romero's "Dead" trilogy, Day of the Dead being released around the same time and Dan O'Bannon's hilarious Return of the Living Dead being released in the same year. The story taken from one of H.P Lovecraft's many short novels, it follows the character of Herbert West, a young neurologist armed with a strong "Re-agent" which allows the brain to come back to life but with rather strange side effects. Trying to gain the help of his flatmate and make money from this Re-agent, Herbert is discovered by his jealous college professor who puts the product for his own demented means. I'm trying to find a word to express the amount of adoration I have for this film. I can't find one. Although not my favourite film of the three zombie romps of 1985, it most certainly is the strangest, and for that it deserves a lot of merit. I have heard this film described as a contemporary "Frankenstein" which I think is quite a befitting way of describing the film I feel. A true gem of the horror genre, that not a lot of people know about I don't feel. Definitely worthy of Frightarama.

Final Thoughts

Please show the Slashers some love!

Frightarama was really a great experience. I had been awake for 26 hours and was running on 9 cups of black coffee by the time I saw the crack of dawn. The films were awesome, the staff were amazing and treated is really well, dishing out sweets and badges and clapping as we left the cinema after the final screening. Whilst they were taking the picture to confirm that we had in fact survived the marathon, I looked around at the people I had just sat through 5 films with and everyone had the same expression that I did which was one of happiness and excitement. Maybe it was the coffee in us, or maybe it was the fact that most of us were dying to sleep but we continued to whoop and cheer even as we left the Phoenix to carry our weary bodies to our beds.

If I have any criticisms of the event, it would be to have at least one slasher film in the roster. Everyone loves a good slasher, ranging from the classic Halloween, to Wes Craven's Nightmare on Elm Street, these are films plainly for fun and I am sure one of them would have been greatly appreciated.

The Conjuring (2013) Review

Ah The Conjuring.. This is a film that I seem to have more issues with than most other people that have spoke with me about this film. Cited as being one of the best horror films of all time and thus far being claimed the best horror film of 2013 (what about the Evil Dead remake!?) but to me it just felt more like a good film that whilst not wholly original it did provide a good scare or two.

The plot consists of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, who are wonderfully played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga who are called to the Harrisville farmhouse to investigate increasingly creepy circumstances that are putting the Perron family that live there on edge. Without giving too much away, the plot progresses like you might expect it to with apparitions and demons appearing throughout, tormenting both the Warrens and the family living in the house before it all culminates in an exorcism.

To the films credit it is very atmospheric and builds tension throughout. The problem is that once we actually see what it is that is haunting the character or causing a disturbance it just isn't scary. Oh no, a scary face. Wow look at that maid walking around, how terrifying. I just don't find this film all that scary. I am struggling to think of a single instance in which I was genuinely scared. I was definitely creeped out though, but that was usually due to the incredible sound design, consisting of those eerie claps that the Perron family keep hearing and even the sinister laughter and footsteps that can sometimes be heard during the night. So this film actually scared me more by what I didn't see. Strange isn't it? Something I can't see leaves things to my imagination and allows me to imagine and envisage this demon or witch in whatever way I want to. That's what made the first Paranormal Activity scary for me, I couldn't see the demon wreaking all this havoc and that made the film scary to me. 

In actual fact the scariest part of this whole film to me was the introduction to the characters of  Ed and Lorraine, who retell the story of a possessed doll named Annabel who in fact is a "conduit" for a really powerful demon. The storytelling in this introduction is awesome, this part of the film is actually scary, and the eerie fact that Ed warns people of this doll when they enter his home is almost as terrifying as the idea of a sequel to this film.

James Wan and myself have a strange relationship. Whilst I really enjoyed the original Saw and thought that the film and twist ending were original ideas and well thought out, I couldn't stomach his next so called horror which was Insidious, why was Darth Maul in that movie? He wasn't scary and the storyline was paper thin. Whilst I think that Wan is a director with a lot of potential, I don't think he is best suited to these kinds of films, and I look forward to seeing what he can do with the Fast and Furious franchise.

Whilst The Conjuring was mostly enjoyable, with notably good acting from Patrick Wilson, I do not think a sequel is necessary. Why can no horror movie be a stand alone anymore? Again going back to Paranormal Activity, the film was great on its own, but now with a whole franchise behind it, it feels kind of silly now, they aren't scary any more, and none of the sequels are that good (except for part three, I thought that was pretty cool.) A sequel to this film is just going to feel tacked on, and it can't seriously expect us to believe that it is another true story can it?

Well that's my rant over. Not a perfect film and certainly not original, it is a decent haunted house movie and certainly builds a creepy atmosphere although not always able to deliver on the scares. Now if only Hollywood would leave well enough alone.

Night of the Living Dead (1968) Review

I am going to preface this review by saying that I was not a person that grew up with Night of the Living Dead. It wasn't a film that my family owned, I never saw it as a child and it was not a film that my Dad introduced me to like he did with so many others.
However I did see it in my adolescent years, when I was perhaps at the age of 12 I watched it on my own, in the dark, with the surround sound turned all the way up and I.. hated it, I thought it was awful and until recently I never wanted to see it again.

Then I did watch it again. I must have been ill the first time I saw this masterpiece because it is so well crafted and has a story that's so exciting and tense I don't understand how it can be viewed as anything else other than a masterpiece.

The plot centres around a viral outbreak that allows the recently deceased to come back to life and seek the flesh of the living. There is little to no explanation about how the outbreak starts and I feel it adds suspense and mystery to the plot. We focus on the characters Barbara and Johnny going to pay tribute to there father when a zombie happens upon them fighting and killing Johnny whilst Barbara escapes into a nearby country house. From there she meets Ben, a lone black man trying to survive who assists Barbara and the many other people that are lurking in the house.

Often being noted for the birth of the modern day zombie, Night of the Living Dead really is a treat. Being released in 1968 on the extremely low budget of $114,000 its remarkable to see how well this film stands the test of time, sure some of the acting by Duane Jones (Ben) and Judith O'Dea (Barbara) is a little over the top, and the zombies themselves don't quite look as dead as one might hope there are still some points of merit. For the film credited with starting the modern day zombie genre is surprisingly scary and tense. From the opening zombie chase, in which Barbara is chased through the countryside by an unrelenting undead assailant, to the harrowing howls and moans of the ghouls bunching up outside. The radio reports that are constantly aired throughout the film add a realistic tone to the outlandish feel of the rest of the film and help to ground it in reality.

The director of his low budget independent film is George A Romero, a relatively unknown director at the time of this films release, he chose to shoot this film in black and white even though colour was available and he was pressured by many studios to change the ending of his film and add a love story sub-plot, and the fact  that he was unwilling to do so and decided to produce the film without studio backing so that he could get it to be exactly the way that he wanted proved that Romero was dedicated to his craft.

The eerie tone of this film, coupled with the great storytelling and the great special effects and interesting characters make for an outstanding cinematic experience. This is a grisly film for 1968, and allowing a black man to take centre stage and become the hero was quite controversial for the time, and it is to the films credit that it is able to handle these types of social issues so well. With social commentary fixating on the Vietnam war and the recent threats of nuclear war, the way in which these issues are handled is expertly done.

Night of the Living Dead is a timeless horror movie, and one which I think shows the true end of the classical horror period, being one of the last black and white horror movies and bridging the gap between the old universal monster movies of the 40's and 50's and paving the way for more gory and bloodthirsty horror movies such as the Exorcist in 1973 and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in 1974, its a true gem of cinema history and one I think that all should see.