STACK January 2016 Issue 135

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Joel Edgerton's first film as director lays the foundations for
a traditional psycho-thriller, then expertly dismantles them.
The Gift features a nice married couple (Jason Bateman
and Rebecca Hall), a mysterious stranger (Edgerton) who
insinuates himself into their lives, and a pet dog. You'll do
the math but won't get the solution you're expecting. The
stranger, nicknamed Gordo, explains that he went to the same
school as Bateman, who struggles to remember the guy some
25 years later. Gordo begins to leave gifts on their doorstep
and repeatedly shows up while Hall is home alone. She
thinks he's harmless but her husband is not so sure. To say more would ruin
the surprises that follow; the best thrillers are those that play to expectations
then make an abrupt u-turn, and Edgerton has crafted a smart and suspenseful
exercise in viewer manipulation and misdirection. • See page 30
Not every gift is welcome.
THE GIFT
Release Date: Out Now Format:
After arriving with a bang in 1999 with The Sixth
Sense, M. Night Shyamalan rapidly ran out of viewer
goodwill with subsequent films featuring ridiculous
plots and tiresome twist endings. But we can finally cut
him some slack because The Visit is actually a pretty
enjoyable little thriller – yes, with a twist – that makes
good use of the found-footage device. Teenage siblings
Olivia DeJonge and Ed Oxenbould are sent to spend a
week with grandparents they've never met, and soon
discover that the old folks go berserk after dark. Shot as
a documentary/confessional by budding filmmaker DeJonge, The Visit
resembles a dark fairy tale that's played more for laughs than scares.
And while it doesn't quite make amends for M. Night's prior crimes
against cinema, it can certainly be considered a semi return to form.
No one loves you like your grandparents.
THE VISIT
Release Date: 21/01/16 Format:
Producer Luc Besson continues to get mileage out of
the Transporter franchise. Joining three features and
a spin-off TV series is this reboot (or refueling), with
Ed Skrein (Game of Thrones ) taking over from Jason
Statham as courier Frank Martin. Although he lacks the
physical presence and charisma of the Stath, Skrein's
sleeker model proves adept at nimble martial arts moves,
and the action accelerates at a relentless pace so as to
distract from the recasting. This time it's Frank who's
being taken for a ride when he's coerced into helping
a femme fatale (Loan Chabanol) who's seeking revenge on a Russian
crime lord. As usual with these films, the plot plays second fiddle to
the slickly shot and gravity-defying set-pieces, which require the same
suspension of disbelief as the Fast & Furious films. Dumb but fun.
Recast and rebooted.
THE TRANSPORTER Refueled
Release Date: 27/01/16 Format:
Horror-westerns are something of a rarity, and good
ones even more so. But this impressive debut feature
from writer-director S. Craig Zahler is an example
of how to successfully blend the genres. When the
wife of a landowner (Patrick Wilson) is abducted
by a tribe of inbred feral savages, whom even the
Native Americans shun, the local sheriff (Kurt Russell)
leads a rescue party on a five-day ride into the
ominously named Valley of the Starving Man, where
unimaginable horrors await them. It's The Searchers
meets The Hills Have Eyes , with a stomach-churning dose of Cannibal
Holocaust thrown in to colour the mix blood-red. A graphically violent
climax more than compensates for the film's slow pacing, and
guarantees a seal of approval from fans of hardcore horror.
A grim prairie tale.
BONE TOMAHAWK
Release Date: 21/01/16 Format:
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