Gilly
09-25-2008, 09:03 AM
Switchblade Romance
France has done it, and by done it, I don’t mean won a war, not waved their precious little white flag around, had a wash or become good in bed. For years now no horror flick has been so spectacularly brutal, atmospheric and genuinely scary until 2003 where Alexandre Aja has come out of nowhere and unleashed his debut movie that just happens to be his take on the modern slasher flick.
Ok, time to learn a little about the plot. You basically follow two characters throughout the film, Marie and Alexa. They’re on vacation at Alexa’s parents’ country house and like the classic slasher flick; a maniac turns up for no apparent reason and slaughters the family. Sound familiar? It should do, it’s the classic formula for a generic slasher movie. Impressed yet? Didn’t think so.
Like the original slasher, there isn’t much to it. Crazed maniac turns up, slashes his was through disliked characters in gruesome ways and repeat. With the added black comedy and frequent TnA. Slasher movies have become a favourite sub-genre by many dedicated fans. And a lack of the said clichés may upset the odd “fan”, and if that’s the case, Switchblade Romance may not be for you. Switchblade Romance may not offer the frequent romps, the TnA and humour but to many others this may be a good thing, and to me, the lack of clichés has helped Aja demonstrate that it’s ok to turn away from the standard formula. The movie offers so much more than the average flick, it’s got atmosphere, a general feeling of uneasiness and on top of that, graphic, brutal violence that will keep even the hardened gore fans happy.
Now I’m not saying this movie is perfect, it’s far from it; there isn’t much of a body count which tops the charts at 6 (if you count the family mutt) and I can’t help but wonder how this movie would have gone down with the public if it had kept what has made the slasher genre so popular. It may have taken away the ferocity of the movie; it may have made it more enjoyable. It may have just been average, which is what my first impression would be. The movie does fail on a few occasions though. The character development is just average, I like to get to know the characters before they get hacked to pieces, getting to know two characters out of the whole film isn’t enough. You meet Alexa’s father after ten minutes, he get’s five minute screen time then all of a sudden... gone. The same pretty much goes for her mother. But in the way in which they are “offed” is quite nice, so all is forgiven.
For the most part of the movie there isn’t a lot of dialogue, which for me isn’t a problem, and for those that don’t like subtitled movies may be happy to know there isn’t a lot of dialogue, but does this mean the acting is bad? Not at all. There is a genuine look of fear on the faces of the main characters during the movie, it’s never an easy trait to replicate and it’s done well, the body language in general is solid as is the dialogue when it’s used. So overall, the acting gets a thumbs up.
Now the most impressive thing about this movie is the atmosphere, it’s fantastic, it’s better than fantastic, it’s epic. The lighting, the direction and soundtrack and gritty look to the movie really add to this and it does create a nice, ominous atmosphere which will make fans, especially newbies to the genre feel uneasy and gripped to the edge of their seat.
The only serious gripe I could possibly have with this movie is the ending, while for 85 minutes I was utterly captivated by this; I didn’t think it was possible for something to good to go downhill so fast. It left me wondering what Aja was thinking by including such an impractical climax to a very solid movie. It brings back an old cliché that we will have seen many times before, is it plagiarism? Certainly not. Is it laziness on Aja’s behalf? Probably. But did it ruin the movie overall? Hell no, the pro’s almost certainly outweigh the cons and for this reason this movie cannot be recommended any higher especially if you’re wanting to watch something more independent and less Hollywood based, or even wanting to watch something other than the tripe that Hollywood seem to be remaking these days. Alexandra Aja is a breath of fresh air to the horror genre and if his newer movies are even as half as good as Switchblade Romance then you’re in for a gruesome, atmospheric, creepy delicacy that will keep you hooked from start to finish.
“Hearts will bleed,” and they did. 8/10
France has done it, and by done it, I don’t mean won a war, not waved their precious little white flag around, had a wash or become good in bed. For years now no horror flick has been so spectacularly brutal, atmospheric and genuinely scary until 2003 where Alexandre Aja has come out of nowhere and unleashed his debut movie that just happens to be his take on the modern slasher flick.
Ok, time to learn a little about the plot. You basically follow two characters throughout the film, Marie and Alexa. They’re on vacation at Alexa’s parents’ country house and like the classic slasher flick; a maniac turns up for no apparent reason and slaughters the family. Sound familiar? It should do, it’s the classic formula for a generic slasher movie. Impressed yet? Didn’t think so.
Like the original slasher, there isn’t much to it. Crazed maniac turns up, slashes his was through disliked characters in gruesome ways and repeat. With the added black comedy and frequent TnA. Slasher movies have become a favourite sub-genre by many dedicated fans. And a lack of the said clichés may upset the odd “fan”, and if that’s the case, Switchblade Romance may not be for you. Switchblade Romance may not offer the frequent romps, the TnA and humour but to many others this may be a good thing, and to me, the lack of clichés has helped Aja demonstrate that it’s ok to turn away from the standard formula. The movie offers so much more than the average flick, it’s got atmosphere, a general feeling of uneasiness and on top of that, graphic, brutal violence that will keep even the hardened gore fans happy.
Now I’m not saying this movie is perfect, it’s far from it; there isn’t much of a body count which tops the charts at 6 (if you count the family mutt) and I can’t help but wonder how this movie would have gone down with the public if it had kept what has made the slasher genre so popular. It may have taken away the ferocity of the movie; it may have made it more enjoyable. It may have just been average, which is what my first impression would be. The movie does fail on a few occasions though. The character development is just average, I like to get to know the characters before they get hacked to pieces, getting to know two characters out of the whole film isn’t enough. You meet Alexa’s father after ten minutes, he get’s five minute screen time then all of a sudden... gone. The same pretty much goes for her mother. But in the way in which they are “offed” is quite nice, so all is forgiven.
For the most part of the movie there isn’t a lot of dialogue, which for me isn’t a problem, and for those that don’t like subtitled movies may be happy to know there isn’t a lot of dialogue, but does this mean the acting is bad? Not at all. There is a genuine look of fear on the faces of the main characters during the movie, it’s never an easy trait to replicate and it’s done well, the body language in general is solid as is the dialogue when it’s used. So overall, the acting gets a thumbs up.
Now the most impressive thing about this movie is the atmosphere, it’s fantastic, it’s better than fantastic, it’s epic. The lighting, the direction and soundtrack and gritty look to the movie really add to this and it does create a nice, ominous atmosphere which will make fans, especially newbies to the genre feel uneasy and gripped to the edge of their seat.
The only serious gripe I could possibly have with this movie is the ending, while for 85 minutes I was utterly captivated by this; I didn’t think it was possible for something to good to go downhill so fast. It left me wondering what Aja was thinking by including such an impractical climax to a very solid movie. It brings back an old cliché that we will have seen many times before, is it plagiarism? Certainly not. Is it laziness on Aja’s behalf? Probably. But did it ruin the movie overall? Hell no, the pro’s almost certainly outweigh the cons and for this reason this movie cannot be recommended any higher especially if you’re wanting to watch something more independent and less Hollywood based, or even wanting to watch something other than the tripe that Hollywood seem to be remaking these days. Alexandra Aja is a breath of fresh air to the horror genre and if his newer movies are even as half as good as Switchblade Romance then you’re in for a gruesome, atmospheric, creepy delicacy that will keep you hooked from start to finish.
“Hearts will bleed,” and they did. 8/10