Lullaby (2018)

Well well well....I found a little nugget of gold called LULLABY.

I don't want to say too much about it. I have to pick my words wisely here.

We have a postpartum drama here with some fantastic acting, beautiful cinematography, and disturbing visuals as our fantastic lead, 19 year old Chloe van Heerden (Reine Swart) and her mother Ruby(Thandi Puren) battle through depression and paranoia after the birth of Chloe's son.

Now, the film isn't on a mainstream horror budget here, but the intensity of the subject matter and the fantastic acting really take it to a special level. I had put it on figuring I'd watch while doing other tasks, but by the 20 minute mark I had to stop it, make some lunch, and just sit and watch it through - focused and eager to find out what was going to happen next!

And, as a parent who's gone through the madness of bringing a being into the world, into the house, and into playing a major part of sleep and rest and the lack of both, I totally felt Chloe's pain! And the way things play out creates a fantastic sense of dread and totally had me wondering if what I was seeing was real or just in the poor things head.

LULLABY is a fantastic watch that Director Darrell Roodt and writer Tarryn-Tanille Prinsloo should be very, very proud of. Seek it out!  Theater and VOD in March! 

CAST/CREW INFO
Director: Darrell Roodt
Cast : Brandon Auret (Dr. Timothy Reed), Reine Swart (Chloe van Heerden), Thandi Puren (Ruby van Heerden)
Screenplay: Tarryn-Tanille Prinsloo
Music composed by: Alun Richards
Producers: Andre Frauenstein Snr, Samuel Frauenstein
 
THEATERS 3/2/2018 :
Phoenix - Valley Art
Los Angeles - Laemmle Music Hall
Philadelphia - PFS Roxy Theater
Chicago - Facets Cinematheque
Atlanta - Plaza Theater
Dallas - Texas Theater
Cleveland - Cedar Lee Cinemas
San Francisco - Roxie Theater
Miami - Cinema Paradiso
Denver - SIE Film Center
 
VOD 3/2/2018: 
All Platforms

The Visitor (1979)

What the HELL did I just watch?1 heheheh 

Mel Ferrer...Glenn Ford...Lance Henriksen...and the super adorable Joanne Nail...all in this weird little science fiction film that looks like the lovechild of THE FURY and THE BAD SEED.  This super creepy film (creepy because of all the inappropriate and strange child scenes) tells the tale of a bad space eight year old who's inherently evil. Luckily, Mel Ferrer is on the case, making sure the creepy eight year old and the evil folks on her side don't get poor Joanne Nail pregnant with a little brother for her.

The movie just keeps bringing on the bonkers.

Surprise gun gift madness. 




SHELLY fucking WINTERS cast as the "magical negro housekeeper" (it's a thing, look it up) role and inept bodyguard - providing wisdom during the...maybe one day she was on set shooting.  hehehehe 





Ice skating battles. 

A pigtailed 8ish year old kid delivering lines like, "Do you want to know where it is? UP YOUR ASS!"

The most bald people assembled for a film since THX1138. 

High aspiration green screen shots that are...magical. 

Secret Evil Businessmen around a large table...making evil plans.

A score fit for....maybe the 1972 Olympic Games opening ceremony throughout. 

Funhouse mirrors?

A LOT of bird attacks.

AND....Franco Nero as Jesus Christ. Yes...Jesus. 

Just...strange. Good old Italian strange. And long feeling. At an hour forty-eight minutes, it feels more like 2.5 hours or so.

However, I was all in on the film. It has enough in it to make it interesting. And they manage to make some things happen in the film that look kinda cool. Like this silver mirror effect on ole creepy kid's eyes when she's....alien-ing out.

This is a must see for fans of strange, Italian films. It's all in there and packs enough entertaining oddness in to keep you going. If you're a pot smoker, you might want to plan on being REALLY high when you watch this. I'm a whiskey man, myself, but I don't know if any amount of whiskey could get me spinning enough for this film to make sense. hehehehe

Check it!

Coherence

Super quick review for the wondrous film Coherence.

I thought I had put up a review already, but I guess I had missed it.

Short and sweet - Coherence is fabulous!

A dinner party goes VERY sideways when the lights go out and a comet goes overhead. And that's all I'm going to say about that for fear of messing things up.

The style is grand and the tension levels run super high as the film unfolds with Hitchcock-like mastery. Ok...that was a little flowery, but it's true. The film had me hooked from the opening and I was glued as I watched things play out.

Just watch it! It's a fun, tight, thinker of a film!


Trailer? Yeah...if you must....but it's better if you don't!