Bobby Carroll's Movie Diary

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)

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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

Frank Oz directs Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene and Levi Stubbs in the dark comedy musical about a carnivorous alien plant.

Stagey! A childhood favourite full of bonafide ear worms and cameos from my comedy legends. Steve Martin, John Candy, Jim Belushi (I was young!) AND Bill Murray… in his funniest three minutes ever. Feels like something Danny Devito or Joe Dante directed. Do you know what I mean? And while we are asking questions… Yes, I do know about the bleak 10 minute SFX ending they cut. I think the reshot happier ending works better. But then you can see what would have been (and definitely wouldn’t have worked) on YouTube after. Tough Titty! The modern Disney formula was chalked up on the board here. All hail Ashman and Menken.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)

Gerald Kargl directs Erwin Leder, Robert Hunger-Bühler and Silvia Ryder in this gruesome German art house thriller where a young psychopath is released from prison and invades a home.

A cult Bête Noire. Actually not so dissimilar to In A Violent Nature in that we spend much of the film with the camera non-judgmentally following a killer closely over a day as he darts around. This sadistic freak is really incompetent but he puts the graft in. Sure he tortures and kills but it all unravels chaotically and clumsily. He makes terrible choices. What is he? Insane! Mad?! Work smarter not harder. I totally get what this purposefully cold and disgusting film is achieving but wouldn’t rush to rewatch. A progenitor of Haneke at his most extreme.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Benny’s Video (1992)

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Chris Nash directs Ry Barrett, Andrea Pavlovic and Cameron Love in this indie slasher where a relentless killer is resurrected in a forest and we follow his deadly stalking of a group.

Very purposefully relaxed for a genre exercise. We occupy the killer’s POV with much of the action (/inaction) happening over his shoulder as he ambles through the woods. Which means lots of downtime just hiking through nature. A bigger picture does emerge as to why this is all happening, good solid mythology, but the doomed characters never really come to life. There is one spectacular kill. A genuine all-timer. The filmmakers have dubbed this experiment an “ambient slasher”. I’m not against the concept in theory but in practice I crave something a lil juicier.

5

Perfect Double Bill: When Evil Lurks (2023)

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

Yasujirô Ozu directs Chishû Ryû, Setsuko Hara and Yumeji Tsukioka in this Japanese drama where several people try to talk 27-year-old Noriko into marrying, but all she wants is to keep on caring for her widowed father.

Slow and sweet. A little less drinking than the previous Ozus I watched. A very sympathetic lead performance.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Floating Weeds (1959)

Rob Zombie directs Scout Taylor-Compton, Malcolm McDowell and Danielle Harris in this sequel to the rock’n’roll gore autuer’s remake of the slasher classic.

A PTSD movie hidden in a loudmouth, squeaky voiced nasty fest. This is possibly one of Zombie’s weakest efforts but he delivers stunning classical horror in his own way in the first act. Everything else is indulgent and abrasive. That is the home brand of ketchup this guy slathers on all his French Fries. It might not completely work as a multiplex slasher after those first thirty minutes but it could be seen as Zombie’s love letter to Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me in its themes and most off-the-wall moments.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Halloween (2007)

Herb Freed directs Christopher George, Patch Mackenzie, and E. Danny Murphy in this slasher whodunnit where someone is offing all the members of a track and field team before they finish high school.

First cycle slasher that keeps you guessing. Some solid eerie fast edits, chases and grindhouse strangeness. Very much what you want from this era of horror. Better than any Friday The 13th.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Sweet Sixteen (1983)

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