Snowtown

This bleak, depressing, violent and disturbing Australian Independent film is based upon a series of real life murders. Snowtown is raw and chilling in equal measures and took this reviewer quite by surprise. Not since the frankly downright repulsive A Serbian Film have I been left so shocked by a movie, to the point where a drink was the only cure.

An abused, downtrodden and dejected Jamie seeks an escape from every day life, and father-figure John appears to offer just what he needs. John, a vigilante with a taste for cruelty soon shows Jamie that smearing ice-cream on the windows of the local paedophile's house is the tamest of his actions and things rapidly spiral out of control, leaving Jamie's world more shattered than he could ever have imagined.

As a viewer, you do not, and cannot, enjoy Snowtown, you experience it, you are repulsed by it, but you are mesmerised by what unfolds before you. This expertly crafted film will tear at your senses and stun you into submission with its bleak portrayal of life and death. A must watch.

Soska Twins Review Dead Hooker Post!

So, I was thrilled today to find that the amazing Soska Twins, directors and writers of Dead Hooker in a Trunk, the film reviewed below, were not only pleased with my review, but they also re-tweeted it, Facebooked it and have written this truly awesome piece for their website: http://twistedtwinsproductions.blogspot.ca/2012/06/dead-hooker-hits-carl-sykes-alternative.html - please pop along, have a read and see just how proud they've made me of my little blog! :)

Dead Hooker in a Trunk

From the incredibly visioned Soska Twins, this twisted sister of a movie follows a group of friends who end on a slippery slope after finding the eponymous 'Dead Hooker in a Trunk'. They try their best to dispose of the pesky body before they find themselves facing up to the same fate. This grindhouse joyride makes the most of an obviously low budget by utilizing a well written script and some fine acting, especially on the part of the film's writers and directors, Jen and Sylvia Soska.

The film is a breath of fresh air in its originality; it sheds all genre clichés to offer an unpredictable, and for the most part entertaining ride. It's original ideas like this that sadly often get overlooked by film fans in place of the run-of-the-mill movies pumped out by the studio system, but if you take a chance on a little independent flick once in a while, you'll find a polished jewel amongst the dog turds.

I see big things in the future for this up and coming pair and, if their follow up film American Mary is anything to go by (based upon teaser trailers recently released), then their future, and the future of independent cinema, looks very bright indeed.