Anthony Waller directs Marina Zudina, Fay Ripley and Oleg Yankovsky in this meta thriller where a mute make-up artist gets trapped inside a Russian move studio overnight where two psychos are making a snuff movie.

A videoshop rental favourite from back in the day. Zudina is a fantastic lead – cute, vulnerable and resourceful in equal measures. Whatever happened to her? Waller directs his heart out for the opening 45 minutes. It is an absolutely gruelling game of cat and mouse that recalls Hitchcock and De Palma. Nail biting stuff that should have given the neophyte director a blank check to make whatever he wanted for the next twenty years. Sadly he followed this up with An American Werewolf In Paris. And I think I was the only person to see that at the cinema… The second half of Mute Witness has a couple equally strong if smaller set pieces but the espionage subplot is too silly and too loose after the show stopping calling card of that bravura movie studio extended chase sequence. It ain’t bad but so convoluted. It seemingly exists so Waller can splice in footage of Alec Guinness that he shot one lucky night eight years earlier. Waller may not have had a Tarantino’s or a Danny Boyle’s career but you have to admire the grift.

7

Perfect Double Bill: No One Will Save You (2023)

Sam Weisman directs Emilio Estevez, Kathryn Erbe and Michael Tucker in this sequel to Champions.

I really like Emilio Estevez and I love my wife. There are like a billion characters in the competent kids movie. Joshua Jackson and Keenan are floating around in the mix.

5

Perfect Double Bill: Champions (1993)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/ and my own Substack https://substack.com/@edinburghlaughterbulletin

Damian McCarthy directs Carolyn Bracken, Gwilym Lee and Carolyn Bracken in this Irish horror where a grieving blind sister brings a disturbing gift to her suspicious brother-in-law.

Chilling, dark and purposefully confusing puzzle of a movie. As all the pieces click coldly into place there are some proper good shocks. Carolyn Bracken is memorably strong in dual roles. Very promising, especially the cranking opening set piece. I wouldn’t open that door.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Caveat (2020)

Nick Cassavetes directs Denzel Washington, Kimberly Elise and James Woods in this thriller where a desperate Dad takes a hospital hostage until his son gets the heart transplant his insurance will not cover.

Mawkish and blunt. Lacking a couple of set pieces. Denzel is underserved by the script.

5

Perfect Double Bill: Breaking (2022)

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Luke Boyce directs Caito Aase, Shaina Schrooten and Bishop Ali Stevens in this claustrophobic horror where a stripper and a born again Christian find themselves fending of hellspawn while trapped in a peep show booth during The Rapture.

This actually a really strong concept but a story of two halves. The first hour is genuinely very likeable. Strong lead characters, well cast with unknowns who know the assignment. The sleazy neon and sexy puce look of the set is very effective visually. But the second half sees our mismatched protagonists wandering up and down the same fake looking corridor, battling the same cheap special FX to diminishing returns. They mainly say rather than show in terms of character development too. Cut 15 minutes out of the last 40 and they may have had a new throwback favourite. Shame as a I can see Tim Seeley was involved and I like his comics. I’d also make of point of checking in with Caito Aase again if she was cast in more horror stuff. A near miss and that is frustrating.

5

Perfect Double Bill: The Retaliators (2021)

Stephen Cognetti directs Gore Abrams, Alice Bahlke and Danny Bellini in this found footage horror where a group of entrepreneurs organise a scare event in a genuinely demonic hotel.

They use the shaky camera to hide the lurking evil not cheap or uninspired filmmaking here. Quite a decent mockumentary horror with a complex lore, effective jump scares and one stand out creepy sequence involving a demon crawling under the covers at you. The nondescript characters are very annoying and if there is one sub genre of horror I have little patience for it is the found footage cul-de-sac.

5

Perfect Double Bill: Lake Mungo (2008)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/ and my own Substack https://substack.com/@edinburghlaughterbulletin

Bart Layton directs Frédéric Bourdin, Carey Gibson and Beverly Dollarhide in this documentary centered on a young man in Spain who claims to a grieving Texas family that he is their 16-year-old son who has been missing for 3 years.

Utterly compelling true crime documentary that benefits from pretty much everyone involved allowing themselves to be interviewed. Are they all being candid? Who knows… There are so many shocking twists in this strange tale that it literally takes your breath away at times. Frédéric Bourdin is a fascinating subject. One of the finest documentaries I have seen from the golden age of the art form. Peak WTF!

10

Perfect Double Bill: The Hijacker Who Vanished: The Mystery of DB Cooper (2020)

Dan Trachtenberg directs Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi,Elle Fanning and Ravi Narayan in the sci-fi survival flick were an outcast runt hunts big game to prove himself on a lethal planet.

Just imagine if they cast Dakota as Tessa…

7

Perfect Double Bill: Predators (2010)

You can follow me on Letterboxd here https://letterboxd.com/ValVerdeNights/

Lynne Ramsay directs Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Pattinson and Sissy Spacek in this art house drama about a new mother losing her mind out in the wilderness.

Abrasive, incoherent but absolutely feral. Everyone involved has built up a huge amount of credit with me over the years. This might be a wilder swing for the beautiful collective but I was absorbed by the spectacular splintery chaos of it all. Challenging but full of memorable moments. Yes – the nudity. Yes – the crawling. And…Yes! The dancing. I let it all consume me. Only the Lakeith Stanfield subplot felt superfluous. A challenging, messy watch that I would revisit in a heartbeat. J-Law for president!

7

Perfect Double Bill: mother! (2017

Ole Bornedal directs Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Sofie Gråbøl and Kim Bodnia in this Danish thriller where the new night watchman of the morgue begins to notice strange going ons.

Men Behaving Badly around a morgue. With a serial killer. Loutish black comedy for the first two acts but well made enough that you trust it is headed somewhere. The final set pieces are quite strong but after a lot of distraction there aren’t any true surprises. Noteworthy for seeing hot future telly stars in early lead roles and being a sort of Danish Shallow Grave. I remember the Hollywood remake being a bit more consistently unnerving.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Junk Mail (1997)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/ and my own Substack https://substack.com/@edinburghlaughterbulletin