STACK #129 Jul 2016

DVD & BD

EXTRAS

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IT FOLLOWS DISC of the month: Have-sex-and-die was a staple of '80s teen slasher films, and this theme is given a frightening new twist in writer- director David Robert Mitchell's terrific indie horror movie. There's a wealth

MATTHIAS Schoenaerts

This handsome Belgian actor with a body built for action films and the face of a romantic leading man can currently be seen in cinemas starring opposite Carey Mulligan in a new adaptation of the Thomas Hardy classic Far from the Madding Crowd . But don't expect to see him

of subtext here, particularly for fans of Cronenberg's early work, but It Follows more closely resembles an arthouse version of the original A Nightmare on Elm Street , sans gore and flashy visual effects. It also evokes John Carpenter's classic Halloween ; autumnal suburban streets are captured with wide angles and long tracking shots, and evil can be lurking anywhere within the widescreen frame. And the pumping synth score is pure '80s/Carpenter. The emphasis here is on mood and atmosphere; the ordinary and everyday oozes malevolence – a device that fans of Ramsey Campbell's horror fiction will immediately recognise. Moreover, a weirdly anachronistic setting – where black and white TVs and e-readers co-exist – in a Detroit landscape of derelict buildings and urban decay adds further to the inherently creepy vibe. What's also impressive, and refreshing, is that the protagonists are real teenagers with real hopes and fears about growing up, instead of the gorgeous- looking, vacuous social media addicts who populate a majority of today's horror films. It's a crime that movies like It Follows struggle to make it onto cinema screens, and if they do, they're granted a very limited release, whereas Paranormal Activity: Part Whatever can dominate the multiplexes for an extended run. Thank goodness for DVD, where quality films like this can reach the wide audience they deserve. • See review on page 52

Bullhead (2011)

in the next Fast & Furious film. Schoenaerts made his film debut aged 15 alongside his actor father, Julien, in the Oscar- nominated Daens (1992) and worked in short films and TV prior to landing a supporting role in Paul Verhoeven's WWII drama Black Book (2006). His intense performance in Belgian film Bullhead (2011), playing a tormented cattle farmer involved in steroid trafficking for the mafia, brought him to the attention of critics and arthouse audiences as a European star to watch. He followed this up with an equally terrific turn in Rust and Bone (2012), as a drifter and single dad who becomes romantically involved with Marion Cotillard's double-amputee. Having seriously impressed Cotillard, she recommended him to French director Guillaume Canet for a bad guy part in the crime thriller Blood Ties (2013), which he followed with a similar role in The Drop (2014) – in the company of Tom Hardy, James Gandolfini and his Bullhead director, Michaël R. Roskam. "I'm attracted to people with flaws," Schoenaerts says. "I like to play underdogs and anti-heroes. I don't like to play classical heroes." He also appears in the 2014 ensemble thriller The Loft (out on DVD July 1), reprising the same character he played in the Belgian version of the film in 2008, and has just signed on to play explorer William Clark in the upcoming HBO mini-series Lewis and Clark (2016). Schoenaerts' brooding good looks were also the face of Louis Vuitton's 2014 Spring/Summer Menswear campaign, and it's only a matter of time before we see him in a major Hollywood production; just don't call him a heartthrob. "I hate it when people try to make you look like a pretty boy, I really don't like that," he says. "I always try to make myself look like shit when I do a role."

Rust and Bone (2012)

Blood Ties (2013)

The Drop (2014)

Far from the Madding Crowd (2015)

COMING SOON Hitting the JB shelves in August Insurgent The Divergent Series pumps up the action and Get Hard Will Ferrell boldly goes where Rob Schneider went in Bad Stan – to The Woman in Black 2 No Daniel Radcliffe

Fast & Furious 7

You'll believe a car can fly, and Dwayne Johnson is indestructible, in the craziest F&F film to date! (Aug 27)

expands its mythology in this thrilling second installment. Move over Katniss Everdeen. (Aug 12)

this time, but the titular ghost is certain to raise the hackles of viewers once again. (Aug 12)

prison via a crash course in survival techniques. (July 29)

JULY 2015 JB Hi-Fi www.jbhifi.com.au

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