A few scares, some interesting characters dot Netflix's new set-in-Wales series, REQUIEM

The best thing to be said for REQUIEM -- a new supernatural series from the BBC now available via Netflix streaming -- is that it's short: only six not-quite-hour-long episodes before it's over.

So, even if you get past the final one feeling, as TrustMovies did, that you probably will not continue for another season, at least you'll have only wasted around six hours, rather than the ten, thirteen or even sixteen you can mange via certain other current series.

"Wasted" is not quite the proper word, either. Requiem did at least hold my attention well enough that I continued for the six episodes. (Lately, I give a series two full installments before I sign off -- as I did with The Crown, which I'm told got a whole lot better as it moved along.)

Requiem is the product of creator/writer Kris Mrksa (shown at left) with all six episodes directed by Mahalia Belo (shown below). Though I'm a fan of the supernatural so far as entertainment goes, I have not seen much of it that works all that well of late.

In this series, the supernatural seems both

all-important and somehow not nearly as important as the missing-child cold case at the heart of the series. There were times throughout that I found myself asking, "Why did they bother making this supernatural-related at all?" But then, by the finale, the supernatural takes over completely. So go figure.

Better to not give away much about the plot to let you discover the ins and outs on your own (such as they are). For me, it was the excellent characterizations and performances by the supporting cast that made the series worth watching.

While the leading role, taken by Lydia Wilson (above, right, and below, left) proves finally more tiresome than anything else (she's a world-renowned cellist who, mid-season, smashes her cello into bits and with it most of the minor good will she's managed to accumulate with us), the role of her best friend, Hal (played by Joel Fry, above left), proves a good deal more productive.

Hal becomes involves with the daughter of the local pub owner (Sian Reese-Williams, above), who takes her place as the most interesting and sympathetic of all the characters on view. The especially convoluted plot finally churns up those supernatural goings-on, but along with this comes some sub-plots, one of which involves pot-growing and seems more than a little ridiculous, given all else that's happening around it.

The past -- and the guilt that goes with it -- is constantly dredged up, too, and for awhile this works. Until it begins to seems more like the writer is simply vamping to fill out the six-episode time-frame. For eye candy we do get to see Aussie actor James Frecheville (above, of Animal Kingdom) looking older but ever-hotter as he ages.

As I say, this one may be "iffy," but you'll probably know within an episode or two if you want to stick with it. And six episodes is hardly a life-enduring sentence. Streaming digitally via Netflix, Requiem (a little too "standard" a title, if you ask me), Season One, is available now. 

America's Native American problem, circa 1814, in Ted Geoghegan's MOHAWK

The War of 1812 is not used as a backdrop for all that many movies -- America's Revolutionary War gets much more screen and cable-TV time -- so it's rather nice to see this nearly three-year war lend its muted history to MOHAWK, the new film from Ted Geoghegan, who both directed it and co-wrote it (with Grady Hendrix).

Mr Geoghegan's (the movie-maker is shown below) first film foray, We Are Still Here, was a genre piece (haunted-house horror) and so is his new one -- except in this case, his movie is a genre-jumper/masher.

Part western, part military vs the Indians, part guilt trip regarding America's horrendous treatment of Native Americans back in the day (it's little better now: we've wiped most of them out and stripped the rest of their lands, so we need only make their current lives as miserable as possible), and part (sort-of) supernatural goings-on, the movie manages to blend all these with a little history, too, and Geoghagen dishes this out with just enough flair to pass muster.

The director handles some of his action scenes quite well, but his forays into suspense and expectation drag too much and may have you muttering, "Get on with it!"  Still, as Native American guilt-trips go, this one is infinitely better than the recent molasses-slow, way-too-long and uber-pretentious Hostiles.

Geoghegan has cast his film well, too, with its three leads giving impressive performances and supporting players generally good, as well. Those leads would include Ezra Buzzington (above, left) and Kaniehtiio Horn (below, right) as, respectively, military and Indian adversaries, while Eamon Farren makes a handsome, sexy almost-hero, as the Britisher trying to engage the Indians into fighting the Americans.

The film takes place mostly in yet another naughty forest which seems to have maybe supernatural powers -- we've just seen two more of these in The Ritual and They Remain -- but the director mines the place for some beauty as well as for blood, gore and creepiness. (That's Jon Huber, wrestler-turned-actor, shown below.)

My biggest question about the film, however, lies in why this story needed any supernatural element attached to it at all? It could have worked quite nicely as just an action/western. yet the other worldliness begins early on and then is left at the starting gate and only seems to reappear very late in the game. Ms Horn does turn into something of a wonder woman, I guess, which is utterly unbelievable unless you grant her that supernatural overlay.

As with all these current super-hero movies, magical powers seem to be the only way we have of righting the world's many wrongs. Too bad. My other caveat has to do with the costume that our heroine wears throughout. While it may have been researched and found to be authentic, it still looks so "modern" (not only in the design but in the choice of fabrics) as to be faintly ridiculous.

From Dark Sky Films and running a little too long even at only 92 minutes, Mohawk opens today, Friday, March 2, in seven cities -- before unfurling in other parts of the country in the weeks to come. Click here and scroll down to see all currently scheduled playdates, cities and theaters. And if you're not near these particular cities, the film is also playing simultaneously via VOD and HD digital.

Sexual harassment squared in Sharad Kant Patel's genre jumper, SOMEBODY'S DARLING

A very interesting, often impressive blend of frat house misbehavior, feminist leanings, male prerogative, sexual harassment and the supernatural, SOMEBODY'S DARLING, the first full-length narrative film from Sharad Kant Patel, proves a surprisingly artful concoction -- a movie that hits several of today's hot-button issues head on, even as it successfully morphs into something quite creepy and otherworldly.

Mr. Patel, shown below, is mashing at least two major genres here, and doing this in such a way that be gives both their due, while withholding from us as long as possible the specifics that will eventually enfold one genre, the obsessive love story, into the other -- which is something else indeed.

Before TrustMovies does any over-praising, he must admit that the movie, though only 80 minutes, is still a bit too repetitive for its own good. Yet within those 80 minutes, Patel does such an interesting job of leading and misleading us, dropping hints and clues with skill and panache, that despite the film's refusal to give up its secrets much prior to the finale, he keeps us hanging on. In addition to the screenwriting and direction, our filmmaker is also responsible for the editing, visual effects, some of the music and sound design, and even the color grading and the inventive title sequence. Pretty much top to bottom, this is Patel's baby.

His story of a particular frat house at Williamsburg University (sounds real enough but isn't) and what these bad boys get up to with the girls on campus is typically nasty and unpleasant. But one of the guys, Christian, the frat house President, seems both better and worse than the others. When he becomes smitten with a young lady named Sarah, who prefers to keep her distance from the likes of these frat boys, all the usual bets are off.

As played by Paul Galvan (above, left) and Jessa Settle (above, right) these two characters easily hold the screen, thanks to their talent, looks and charisma, and to Mr. Patel's having given them plenty to do and say that keeps us glued. This is a love story of sorts, and exactly how and why these two feel the way they do is unveiled to us slowly and artfully.

How the filmmaker handles everything from simple (or not so) storytelling to sex, love and past lives is done with enough style and subtlety to impress without appearing pretentious. This is a feat of sorts. And he has also cast his smaller roles well, with an eye to making his young women pretty and slightly vapid and his young men -- for instance, Matt Tramel, below -- pretty and slightly bizarre. It works.

His finale is a shocker that makes exquisite sense. It also makes us think back to what we've seen earlier and how we've misread certain events that now look so different, appalling instead of frat-boy appealing, with the stakes so much higher than we had first imagined.

And yet, ah, what might have been! Somebody's Darling is indeed a love story, but as with almost all obsessive ones, it proves very, very dark.

After a successful festival run, the movie hit VOD -- via iTunes, Amazon and elsewhere -- on December 1, for rental and purchase. It's worth a watch.

THE WAILING: Na Hong-jin's new everything-but-the-kitchen-sink thriller opens in theaters

What the hell has happened to that very good South Korean movie-maker, Na Hong-jin, between the time of his earlier films -- The Chaser (from 2008, a mostly first-class, if very dark and ugly thrill ride about kidnapping and murder) and The Yellow Sea (from 2010, an even darker but much quieter and more subtle exploration of the entwining of love, need and evil) -- and his latest effort, THE WAILING (Goksung)? I ask because Na's new film is the biggest embarrassment to South Korean cinema I've encountered since I first caught wind of that country's enormous moviemaking prowess around the turn of this past century. Since then, TrustMovies has watched most everything Korean he could find and had time for (including even the recent itty-bitty cable series, DramaWorld).

Even this film's title seems faintly ridiculous, as that wailing can only refer to what will most likely be the audience reaction: "When will this (spectacularly filmed) piece of shit finally end?!" Conflating -- just about as stupidly as possible -- everything from demons and ghosts to a stranger in town, serial murder, a daughter in danger, Christian parable, and so-help-me-god zombies, Mr. Na (shown at left), as both writer and director, seems suddenly taken with the toss-in-everything-including-the-kitchen-sink school of horror filmmaking. Yet there's not an original moment in the entire film.

Perhaps the supernatural thriller is not the proper genre for Na to tackle, as the result is very nearly the polar opposite to what his countryman, Bong Joon-ho, achieved with his own first-class try at a sci-fi thriller, 2014's Snowpiercer.

The biggest difference between the two films is that, in Bong's, we learn enough about almost all the characters to come to care about them; with Na's we learn so little that we can't begin to give a shit what happens to anyone (except maybe one little girl. Barely). The tale Na tells goes on for over two-and-one-half hours, and involves a small country town in which entire families are being murdered -- and by one of their own. What's going on?

The hero is played by that portly Korean "everyman" Kwak Do-won, above, right, and below, who proves as good as he's able to be as the not-terribly-bright policeman whose little daughter (below) comes under the spell of the principal bad guy. Of course, our burly cop is determined to get to the bottom of things -- which will take endless time for him (and endless patience on the part of us viewers).

The most time is spent with a local exorcist, Korean variety (below), who is soon dancing up a storm (the choreography is pretty good here!) trying to get rid of that naughty evil spirit. Toward the finale, he (and we) discover he's been barking up the wrong tree. Or maybe not. Reversals, then further reversals, do not in any way help the film's ridiculous plotting.

A big black dog (below) gets a good scene or two, and the movie is very well photographed (when have you seen a Korean film that was not?). But the South Korean penchant for length, coupled unfortunately to the obvious and repetitive, at last utterly sinks this barrage of blood, guts and heavy-duty disarray.

I can only hope that Mr. Na gets quickly back to what he's good at and leaves this kind of supernatural nonsense to those who know better how to handle it.

From Well Go USA Entertainment and running an unconscionable 156 minutes (yes!), The Wailing opens this Friday, June 3, in cities all across the country. In New York City, it is said to be playing the FSLC, the IFC Center and the AMC Empire 25; in Los Angeles, look for it at Laemmle's Monica Film Center and Playhouse 7 and at the AMC Atlantic Time Square. Here in South Florida? Nowhere at all. (Guess we don't have a large enough Korean population). Elsewhere in the USA? Absolutely. Click here and scroll down to see all currently scheduled playdates with cities and theaters.

Taylor Ri'chard/Zach Davis' THE FINAL PROJECT: the latest found-footage fumble

God damn -- they just keep on a comin', these nothing-new-under-the-sun, hand-held, found-footage exercises that began 17 years ago with The Blair Witch Project. With the exception of the terrific, engaging, funny, creepy and surprising Afflicted, there has barely been a movie in this new genre worth its salt, including that original boring and pretty awful marketing success, Blair Witch. Now arrives a film that marks the biggest waste of time TrustMovies has spent viewing both this year and last (maybe longer, too): THE FINAL PROJECT, the title of which comes via the video project a group of supposed college kids (they look a lot older) must deliver to their professor in order to get a passing grade. (The best thing about the film is its smart poster art, shown above.)

As directed, co-produced and co-written by newcomer Taylor Ri'chard (shown at left) and co-written/co-produced by Zach Davis (also a newcomer), the film begins with some barely understandable babblings (due to perhaps deliberately crummy sound) from a shadowy figure wondering why these kids would deliberately go into a known-to-be-haunted house. As Austin Powers might say, "Oh, come on!"

All too soon we realize that the sound is not the only thing sub-standard here. The visuals are even worse.  And both remain so throughout. I still do not quite understand why the filmmakers who dabble in this fairly new genre insist on providing some of the worst dialog currently going -- crammed with unsubtle exposition and attempting "realism" before art or entertainment.

These found footage "epics" desperately need characters with a trace of intelligence and wit, so that they can mouth some dialog that's fun and clever for a change, rather than the supposedly "realistic" but uber-tiresome stuff that comes out of the mouths of these cretins. The difference between the characters (their concerns and their dialog) in a joy like Paper Towns or the formerly mentioned Afflicted and the kids seen and heard here gives us the difference between a real movie and a big, fat waste of time.

Worse yet: So little happens for such a long while that audiences are likely to tune out well before the first scare (a comic one) arrives at the 49-minute point.  There's another scary scare at the 69-minute point, if you're still around. The entire film lasts only 79 minutes, with an extra full minute or more devoted to a supposedly frightening scratching sound on the soundtrack while the screen is black -- then appears a visual of a final newspaper article about disappeared students. All this extra nonsense allows the movie to reach its requisite 80-odd-minute running time.

Not a scene in the film has any originality; it's all been-there/done-that -- from playing the game of "Never-have-I-ever" and the inevitable sound of things that go bump in the night to dialog like "Mama, don't worry. Nuthin's gonna happen" and "We're gonna get outta here! It's gonna be all right!" If we are told -- and you can bet we are -- about an apparition in a white dress, you can be sure we'll see her eventually (as in the window above). Some of the other things we hear about, we don't see -- Civil War soldiers, for instance -- but as the budget here is miniscule, we are not surprised.

For awhile, the movie appears as though it might be more a simple murder mystery than anything to do with occult.  But so poorly made is the film that you can't be certain this was an intentional red herring on the filmmakers' part or the result of sheer laziness and lack of talent. The acting, from all concerned, is only as good as the dialog and characteri-zations make possible. The most interesting performance comes from Arin Jones (shown center, below, and three photos above), as the movie's most mysterious presence.

The surprising thing about The Final Project, however, is that it comes from the distributor, CAVU Pictures. CAVU releases a diverse slate -- from art films (Sunset Edge) to documentaries (The Real Dirt on Farmer John) to genre movie (Lucky Bastard). What unites these is their quality and originality. So I don't know quite what to make of this company's latest, well..., "surprise."

In any case, the movie opens this Friday, February 12, in Houston and Atlanta, and the following Friday, February 19, in Broussard, Louisiana, and on March 4 in New York and Los Angeles, and then expands nationwide. You can view all currently scheduled playdates, cities and theaters by clicking here. 

Streaming tip: Caldera, Garrido & Valor's goofy delight, GHOST GRADUATION, is finally available

Another in the seemingly endless array of wonderful films from Spain, GHOST GRADUATION (Promoción fantasma), which I covered when it made its New York premiere during the FSLC's late-and-much-lamented annual series, Spanish Cinema Now, is finally streamable via Netflix and elsewhere. This goofy little comic/supernatural gem tracks an adult teacher from his school days onwards, as he comes to grips with an ability to see ghosts when no one else can. When he befriends an ill-fated group of these -- high school students killed in a fire a couple of decades back -- and they him, an increasingly funny, surprising and finally sweetly moving story comes to life (and also, well, to death).

As written with charm and smarts by Cristóbal Garrido and Adolfo Valor and directed with style and barely a misstep by Antonio Ruiz Caldera, the movie -- from its wonderful opening scene at a school dance to its final "dab away those tears" finale, the film combines a fine story with characterizations richer than this genre usually offers, excellent performances and a just-about-perfect use of special effects, as needed.

There's a delightful subplot involving our hero (the usual great job by Raúl Arévalo, at left, two photos above, shown with Alexandra Jiménez) and his shrink and the shrink's dead father -- Luis Varela (above, left) and Joaquin Reyes (above, right).

Most of all, however, it's that group of students, shown at right -- all deceased, except for the young lady, bottom right -- who manage to make this movie so much fun and so full of small surprises and charms. Look for that crack Spanish comic actor Carlos Areces (from The Last Circus) in a plum role, too.

So whenever you're in the mood for something feel-good that's actually "earned" (or as earned as any tale of the supernatural can be), start streaming -- and have a lovely time. (I suspect that fans of that fine Spanish TV series Grand Hotel will enjoy this film, too.)

Stream a horror hoot w/ rapist villain: the Lucky McKee/Chris Siverston ALL CHEERLEADERS DIE

Back in 2011, anyone fortunate (and strong) enough to sit through Lucky McKee & writer Jack Ketchum's one-of-a-kind horror tale, The Woman, found themselves watching a film that -- due to its theme (the male prerogative gone bananas) and execution (sterling) -- immediately entered the pantheon of horror classics. Mr McKee is back this year with lighter fare -- ALL CHEERLEADERS DIE -- on which he collaborated with Chris Siverston. The theme is again the nasty rise of masculine entitlement, specifically that of the very timely situation of sports stars who abuse and rape women, but the handling here is satirical, funny and loosey-goosey as anything you're likely to see.

While the filmmakers' story (that's McKee above, right, with Siverston) is handled with wit, humor and bite (metaphorical and literal), the villain remains the male abuser -- a figure of appealing sexiness who slowly morphs into an uber-creep sprouting manifold entitlement and zero remorse -- played nastily and well by Tom Williamson, shown below and at bottom. Mr. McKee, I warrant, is a feminist filmmaker.

The movie begins as a kind of mockumentary in which a student journalist follows around a head cheerleader, who explains in an hilariously loony fashion how her school/cheerleading/love life works. This segment ends rather abruptly with a dark and funny shock, and we're off to the races.

What initially begins as a comedy satire becomes a story of man/woman revenge, and then -- thanks to the school Wiccan (a creepy/pretty Sianoa Smit-McPhee, below) doing some casting of stones -- morphs into a supernatural tale in which our group of suddenly dead cheerleaders comes back to life to wreak some real revenge. Except it ain't that easy because our football star/villain proves a little too smart/nasty to be put down.

There is a rather high silliness quotient here, but McKee and Siverston manage to keep things moving so fast and furiously that we can pretty much accept it all and go with the rapid flow. Visually, the film is fun -- colorful (lots of red blood, as you might expect, but many other pretty colors, too) with some nice lighting effects.

The acting is unusually good for this sort of film, with each of the cheerleaders effectively standing out in her own way. Brook Butler (above, with Michael Bowen) is terrifically funny, subtle and sexy as blond bimbo Tracy, while the quite beautiful Caitlin Stasey (below) makes a properly confused and conniving heroine bent on somehow doing the right thing.

Older/younger sisters (played by Amanda Grace Cooper, below, and Reanin Johannink) complete the quartet of dead-alives, each with her own pretty-colored, body-embedded crystal.

All Cheerleaders Die is simply too all-over-the-place to have ever been a mainstream horror hit. But for those who have a taste for this sort of flashy, funny, fun and gore that offers a nicely propulsive forward thrust, you should not be disappointed.

The movie can be seen now via Netflix streaming and other digital venues, as well as on DVD.