Film Review: Green Room (2015)

Copyright: A24

When Jeremy Saulnier made Blue Ruin he showed that he has the chops to make specific and very driven visions which are both familiar and deeply authentic. In Green Room, Saulnier got a chance to try and catch that AAA production wave and make a horror thriller with a great cast and a very original (yet easily relatable) setup.

Immediately, it�s clear that he successfully resisted all the temptations that mostly boil down to dumbing down of his vision. In the process, he didn�t quite make a perfect masterpiece which Blue Ruin (almost) is but still showed that he�s a force for the future of a type that is sorely needed. Often labeled in other reviews and media in general as punks vs. neo-Nazis, Green Room basically is this � after they book a gig at the wrong club in the woods and there open a wrong door, a DIY punk band ends up being under siege by a gang of murdering white supremacists.

Afraid and confused, the band members try as best as they can to stay alive and find a way out of the hell they�re in. Headed by Anton Yelchin, the acting cast is effective on both sides of the Nazi-punk divide. Aside from the tragically lost Yelchin, Joe Cole of the Peaky Blinders looks and feels good on the big screen, as does Alia Shawkat, while the Nazis have Macon Blair and none other than the legendary Patrick Stewart (which sadly didn't do anything overly interesting with his big poppa Nazi character). As the plot develops into a new version of Assault on Precinct 13, the action becomes gory and ultra-violent in a flash of an eye.

Here, like in Blue Ruin, the director demonstrates the ability to shock in a very casual manner, a thing he shares with Denis Villeneuve, another great director who used this idea recently in Sicario. But, Green Room has the advantages of being less about firearms and more about blunt or sharp instruments. Like the clash of these two very different mindsets, the physical representation of their conflict is very raw and visceral.

Of course, none of this makes the film perfect. At moments, it meanders heavily, especially in the second half, where its killer pacing gets a bit toned down. This is mainly seen in the Nazi side of the story, where there�s a lot of talking and planning and people management, but the end purpose is not overly clear. The same is true for the �mystery� of the initial killing which is completely uninteresting when it is compared to the main plot of the band�s survival. I guess this side plot looked better in the script.

But, regardless of this pacing slowdown, Green Room is a very fresh and engaging film. It works as a novel horror and a psychological thriller equally well, but even more importantly, now that Saulnier got his AAA production experience, who knows what gems we might expect from him in the future.

Gaby's Revenge Full Season Review (2016)

The thing which impressed me the most about the web series Gaby's Revenge is the ease with which it develops emotional connections. Like a neural network where nodes connect to other nodes and create a dense mesh so does this series place its characters in a living, breathing universe, where every action has a reaction.

Inside of it, the things people experience are not plot devices that simply take place and then disappear. Instead, like in the real world, they interact with each other, expanding a single event into a complex and tragic story of violence, family, and loyalty.

The creator of the series, Jonathan Vargas, pushes a clear vision for the episodes. The series consists of five individual episodes and they all differ greatly in tone, length, and exposition of the key plot elements.

The series begins simply by showing Gaby, a haunted contract killer who works, as the series puts it, as a freelancer for both the mob and the government agencies. She is under a huge amount of stress, especially because of a job that went haywire, so she decides to visit her family and try to get some bearing on her chaotic and exceedingly dangerous life. Gaby arrives at her family home, where she is greeted by her mother and her sister Angie.

However, the happy reunion is tainted by the news that her sister is struggling because of a false rumor started about her. Enraged by it, Gaby slowly but surely enters a mental place where only exceedingly bad things can happen and soon enough, they do. When I wrote the review of the pilot episode, I wished for darker things and I sure got them, but also something more important than that.


There are two main drives that power the show through the episodes. First one is the simple need to see how the story ends and how the events will lead back to one another. But, more than this, there is an emotional interconnectedness that I mentioned at the beginning. With it, Vargas manages to provide the viewers with a single character, paint him or her with a single brush, but then, later on, provide a new perspective on the same person. A bully can become a loving brother, a kingpin can turn out to be a rational man, and an assassin�s handler can be a surrogate parent. Like the very specific MagChop art the series features in its pilot, at first, the connections are random and irrelevant, as if they are simply splattered on the canvas. But as you immerse yourself in it, the art form begins to take shape.

All of this takes place in a very subtle manner and it doesn�t devalue the main plot or take anything away from it. It uses the noir setup and the thriller elements to tell a drama about pain, hurt, and suffering dealt out to those who don�t deserve it, but still are left with the gaping wounds, no matter if they�re physical or emotional. In some better reality, they victims would not get to suffer and would just relinquish this life, but in our world, Vargas tells us, people live one, struggling with the person�s they have to become because of those wounds. The whole acting cast, especially Amanda Ortega, carries this difficult setup with a lot of styles and their presence never breaks the pace that the series sets.

On some level, Vargas must have understood this while he made the series, which is why he utilizes the action elements with constraint and precision. From a cinematic perspective, this could have been the spot where some heavy stylization could have been used to make the viewing an even more smooth experience. Action scenes and limited production potential often are a big challenge, even for some big film companies. Here, an approach like the one used in Steven Soderbergh�s The Limey could make the series an even stronger neo-noir piece.

But, this is a minor observation and doesn�t really impact the current show. The main appeals of Gaby�s Revenge lie in the character development and their backstories which slowly fall into place, creating a sad but heartfelt painting of ordinary people in situations where there�s no good choice. The series shows that Vargas can grapple with plots that are both serious and complex; hopefully, he�ll get a shot at something bigger in the same thriller-like genre.

Crowdfunding Push: Lucifer Rising

There are several staples of the horror genre, but one of the most basic one, the idea of the Devil (or some of his many alternative names) was somewhat disregarded over the past couple of years. Now, however, a crowdfunding campaign for a film by P. Vincent DeMartino seems determined to change this and do it with a movie called Lucifer Rising.

Here�s what the official Indiegogo page of the film states about the project and its purpose:

Since the dawn of time man has been locked in an epic battle of good and evil. You do not have to be a Biblical scholar to understand that we may very well be living in End Times. Based on actual events and Biblical Prophecy, Lucifer Rising takes you on a powerful journey into the shadowy practices of Satanism and their evil plans to bring about the rise of Lucifer's New World Order. Presented by Luna Rossa Entertainment, Lucifer Rising is one of the most anticipated Supernatural Horror films in years. Based on actual events and Biblical Prophecy, Lucifer Rising has been likened to The Exorcist and The Omen for its horrifying content. Simply stated, you will never view the world the same once you have experienced, Lucifer Rising. 

Judging by the material that is available at this point, Lucifer Rising is really serious about following in the footsteps of the classic horror films its lists as its role models. The test footage is clean, concise and quickly sets up the eerie atmosphere ideal for this type of a film. With the vintage story of the prince of darkness himself (or itself), the movie has all that it takes to become a solid horror, created as a very welcomed change compared to the current mainstream trends in this genre.

Additionally, the film comes with a really well-thought-out campaign that clearly marks out its goals and provides cool perks for its backers, like branded clothing and planned VIP parties. All of this showcases a serious commitment to the project and a solid chance for a fine film at the end of the road.

The campaign started hours ago and just began to collect its funds. Check it out on its Indiegogo page and see how you can help make Lucifer Rising into a future horror classic.

Coming Soon: The Magnificent Seven

As the release date of September 23rd edges closer, the public interest for The Magnificent Seven only appears to grow. Recently praised for a very diverse cast, the film's director Antoine Fuqua played down this idea, saying that everyone simply worked hard on the movie. His last remake, The Equalizer did not fair that well with me, so I'm hoping that he's back to his sharp self with this one.

Check out the official trailer for The Magnificent Seven below.