Australia's worst serial killer, John Bunting, and the accomplices who fell under his spell are profiled in "Snowtown." An extremely bleak psychological horror-thriller with arty trimmings, the movie compels for a couple of reels before muddled plotting sets in and audiences are left with no one to connect with when the central character transforms from innocent bystander to participant in Bunting's crimes. Debut helmer Justin Kurzel guides a predominantly non-professional cast with distinction, but this descent into unremittingly depressing territory will require careful marketing and positive critical notices to attract viewers. (Variety)
INSIDIOUS
From the co-creators of ‘Saw’ (James Wan and Leigh Whannell, here director and writer) and the director of ‘Paranormal Activity’ (Oren Peli, producing) comes a project featuring nothing that was original, distinctive or scary about either earlier film. It starts like a haunted-house movie: spooked by something nasty in the loft of his parents’ new house, Dalton (Ty Simpkins) lapses into a coma. His mother, Renai (Rose Byrne), hires loopy medium Elise (Lin Shaye), who declares: ‘Your son is not in a coma. It’s not the house that’s haunted, it’s him.’ Renai’s sceptical husband (Patrick Wilson) is equally unimpressed when Elise calls in a pair of bickering, nerdy ghostbusters (Angus Sampson and Whannell), who arrive with tons of Heath Robinson gear. Suddenly, we swerve into a preposterous supernatural mystery – seemingly grabbed from the waste baskets of M Night Shyamalan and Sam Raimi – as Dalton is besieged by evil spirits and the medium spouts half-baked guff about astral planes. Not so much insidious as inexcusable. (Time Out Film)
HESHER
Loud music. Pornography. Burning shit to the ground. These are a few of Hesher’s favorite things. And they are what Hesher brings into the lives of TJ and his father, Paul when he takes up residence in their garage uninvited. Grief-stricken by the loss of TJ’s mother in a car accident, Paul
