Cannibal Holocaust, A Review by Damien Sage

Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

A Film By Ruggero Deodato

A Review By Damien Sage

I am a self-professed gore hound. I’ve sat with demented glee through City of the Living Dead, Tenebre, Mountain of the Cannibal God, Dead-Alive, The Thing (and countless others), sometimes JUST because I knew the movie was chock full of blood and guts (here's looking at you Blood Moon.) At this point, like many other horror fans, violence on film does little to disturb me. Once in a blue moon (particularly if it’s an isolated scene, in an otherwise gore less film, such as the ending of The Brood) I can be made to flinch or even get a little queasy, but that reaction is few and far between for me these days.

What To Expect: Ghostbusters 3

Ghostbusters is a franchise that is very dear to me. When I was young, it was hard to understand how a film could be a comedy and horror at the same time. There was even some impressive sci-fi to it as well. It had everything a kid like me could enjoy. Bill Murray, and Dan Aykroyd were both well known to me as even early on I would watch reruns of Saturday Night Live. Harold Ramis was a bit of a nobody to me, though he seemed perfect for Egon. In fact, I was under the impression that he was pretty much exactly like Egon in real life. As some years passed and I became more of a movie geek, I discovered his other films. Egon became a favorite character and I became a fan of Harold Ramis.

Tobe Hooper: What the Hell? By Damien Sage

Tobe Hooper: What the Hell?

By Damien Sage

*In the early 1970’s young, fresh faced, Tobe Hooper was out shopping one evening for Christmas gifts at a hardware store. The crowd was thick, loud and unruly, as is often the case at that time of the year, and Hooper became agitated. In that moment (in what im sure occurred mentally as several Brian DePalma-like slowly zooming close ups) a fit of desperation and anguish overtook him. Hooper’s mind began to race. His eyes darted about the increasingly annoying room… Then he spotted a nearby chainsaw… It is then that Hooper imagined himself wielding the mighty metallic weapon. Firing it up, it’s engine purring like a beast from hell, and carving his way through the endless lines of holiday shoppers, just so he could escape the Holiday fueled, claustrophobic nightmare and pay for his stocking stuffer Caulk Guns sooner…

A Conversation With Sir Alton Earl Williams & Doctor Professor Damien Sage Esq. Obgyn

A Conversation Between Alton Earl Williams, proprietor of “Battle Royale With Cheese” and Damien Sage, Filmmaker/Occasional Writer for said internet blogsite.

By Damien Sage "and" Alton Earl Williams*

Im back! Not that anyone here was missing me of course (cept that cheeky monkey Alton.) If any of you wish to know, I have been on an extended sabbatical with Dr. Uwe Boll in the treacherous jungle wiles of Africa treating locals for cinematic poisoning; heady, time consuming stuff. But, no longer... This means more reviews, silliness and such from yours truly. Speaking of silliness and yours truly, below is the 100% totally real conversation** between Sir Alton Earl Williams and myself, which lead me to return to where I belong… Here at Battle Royale With Cheese.

The Man From Nowhere

The Man From Nowhere tells the story of pawnshop owner Cha Tae-sik and his blossoming friendship with So-mi, the little girl who lives next door. Cha Tae-sik is a mysterious and haunted character forced to face up to his past issues when So-mi and her heroine-addicted mother are kidnapped by an organ-harvesting gang. Think a bloodied, South Korean version of Liam Neeson’s Taken. Cha Tae-sik turns out, of course, to be an ex-Korean government agent and is as such entirely capable of taking on the waring-gangs and confused policemen that stand between him and So-mi.

Green With Envy

WOW

Heartbeats: Review

Any film littered with casual references to pine-nuts and theatre automatically gets my approval. If such allusions are delivered in French by characters gazing longingly at each other while wistfully smoking, then all the better.

Film Review with Robert Mann - Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides 3D ***
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides 2D ***


When it was originally greenlit way back in 2001, the first Pirates of the Caribbean film was considered to be something of a wildcard in terms of its likely box office performance. Previously, pirate movies had never exactly been ones to really set the box office alight, as evidenced by the colossal box office failure of 1995’s Cutthroat Island, and the idea of a blockbuster movie being based off a ride at Disneyland hardly seemed liked the makings of a multi-billion dollar movie franchise. Yet, by the time Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was released in cinemas, it had become one of summer 2003’s most eagerly anticipated blockbusters and went on to be a huge commercial and critical success, not one but two sequels being swiftly greenlit, and, with the huge success of the first film, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski being given free rein to do pretty much whatever they wanted on the back to back follows ups Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.

Film Review with Robert Mann - Blitz

Blitz **½

Unless you are a reader of the novels of author Ken Bruen, whose book of the same name provides the basis for Blitz, it is very likely that you may be completely unaware of the existence of this film, such is the near complete absence of promotion of any kind for it – even I have only seen two trailers for it at my local cinema – and even if you are there’s a good chance that you may still be none the wiser. If you have seen the trailer you will probably have attained a pretty good impression of what to expect though. The latest action thriller starring Jason Statham, bringing to the table everything that that implies, Blitz is also a firmly British movie for once, harking back to earlier Statham roles like those in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, the film’s that made his name.

DVD Review - Sweatshop

Sweatshop (18)

Dir: Stacy Davidson

Scr: Stacy Davidson and Ted Geoghegan

Starring: Ashley Kay, Peyton Wetzel, Brent Himes, Melanie Donihoo

80 mins, 2009

Distributor: High Fliers

In a supposedly deserted factory, rave organizer Charlie and her band of techies and crew have one hour to prepare for the night’s shindig. Sex abounds and booze flows as the group come closer together or in some cases come to fisticuffs. All the while though they are being hunted by a disgruntled behemoth wielding a ginormous hammer. Striking at random the monster, with his disciples, work their way through the group of ravers.

Rubber: Review

There's something decidedly Beckettian about this darkly comic piece which gently mocks the horror genre and medium of film in general.

Film Review with Robert Mann - Attack the Block

Attack the Block ***½

Quietly hyped up for several months now, horror comedy Attack the Block marks the cinematic directorial debut of comedian Joe Cornish, who many Brits may remember as one half of the comedy duo Adam and Joe whose TV sketch series, the unimaginatively titled The Adam and Joe Show, ran for four seasons from 1996 to 2001, and who has since entered the world of screenplay writing, not just writing the script for this film but also co-writing this year’s The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn and upcoming superhero movie Ant-Man, both alongside Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz writer/director Edgar Wright, who is also an executive producer on Attack the Block – and whose frequent Wright collaborator Nira Park, whose production company Big Talk Pictures is behind this film, also gets a producing credit.

Unlawful Killing EDIT - 2nd Trailer Up

Here is the trailer.  Don't hate me...

Priest Is Every Film Genre!

Have you seen this infographic?   


It highlights the 12 genres encompassed in Priest... namely; sci-fi, horror, fantasy, action, comic-book, vampire, western, steam-punk, film-noir, revenge, martial arts, movie set in a post-apocalyptic alternate-reality! 

The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists

Hugh Grant will voice the lead role alongside an all-star cast in The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists, the new stop-motion, 3D, animated film produced by Aardman Animations for Sony Pictures Animation. The film, which will be distributed by Columbia Pictures, will be released March 30, 2012 in the UK.

Conan Trailers!

You lucky sods!


The fantastic new, full trailers for Liongate’s Robert E. Howard based CONAN THE BARBARIAN, now out in the UK on the new date of Weds 24^th August 2011.

Film Review with Robert Mann - Water for Elephants

Water for Elephants ***½

“Life is the most spectacular show on Earth’ reads the tagline for Water for Elephants, the latest romance movie starring Twilight star Robert Pattinson – thus ensuring that an army of swooning teenage girls will be marching upon multiplexes to see it in addition to the more mature moviegoers to whom this film is perhaps more likely to appeal. Of course many who actually live life might not quite agree with such a statement but it is undeniable that life itself has provided the inspiration and basis for many a great film and the story at the heart of this one is certainly one with great potential for cinematic enchantment and wonder. Based on the 2006 historical novel of the same name by Canadian author Sara Gruen, which was originally written as part of National Novel Writing Month, an annual internet-based creative writing project which challenges participants to write 50,000 words of a new novel in one month, and since been published has spent 12 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and continues to be a huge paperback bestseller, Water for Elephants has thus far failed to provide much spectacle in terms of the reception of its cinema release, the response from critics being a very mixed one while at the box office it has proven to be at best a moderate success, but, just like the book, it has still amassed a significant legion of fans, whether they be more discerning moviegoers attracted to the film by the classy and sophisticated marketing campaign and the promise of an old fashioned style extravagant romance or younger cinemagoers simply out to swoon over star Robert Pattinson.

Transformers 3: The Dark Film Of The Series

Everyone remembers it. So early into the movie, and the descent into awful dialogue, humor, and film making was very clear. Transformers 2: Revenge Of The Fallen wasn't a good film. I don't know what other people's expectations were, but I didn't even care much for the trailers. Everything about the film seemed forgettable. I won't get into it in too much depth, but Revenge of The Fallen just a bad movie. So when I heard about the sequel, I stayed mildly alert. Now that some news and trailers has been released, here's what I think.

Film Review with Robert Mann - Hanna

Hanna ****

If you were to think of director Joe Wright the films that would most likely come to mind would probably be British period dramas like Pride and Prejudice and Atonement or American biographical music drama The Soloist. It’s highly unlikely that you would think of a teen assassin thriller such as Hanna, a film that seems about as far removed from his previous works as one could possibly get. Yet this most unlikely of directors has taken on this most uncharacteristic of film projects and all the indications ahead of the film’s release are that, despite him seeming like a rather odd choice, he is also a very right one. The reason for his hiring as director is simple. According to Wright, he was specifically requested by star Saoirse Ronan, who had previously played one of the leading roles in Wright’s Atonement. It’s certainly quite a prestigious directorial job for him as before he came on board, the project – which has been in development since writer Seth Lochhead wrote the original story and script on spec while in the writing programme at Vancouver Film School back in 2006 and has been listed on the Black List, an annual list of the best unproduced screenplays of the year, in both 2006 and 2009 – having had such directors as Danny Boyle and Alfonso Cuarón attached to direct at some point in its development. 

Film Review with Robert Mann - Something Borrowed

Something Borrowed **½

With the summer moviegoing season now in swing and the first action blockbuster of the period now on release, it’s time for the customary counterprogramming provided in the form of a Hollywood romantic comedy, this year that film being Something Borrowed, the first of several wedding themed comedies to be released this year, others being Bridesmaids and Jumping the Broom (the latter actually opening on the exact same weekend as this film in the states). Unlike a lot of Hollywood romantic comedies that are written directly for the screen, Something Borrowed finds its inspiration in the pages of a best-selling novel – something that it shares in common with He’s Just Not That Into You, another film that boasts Something Borrowed star Ginnifer Goodwin as part of its cast – that novel being the 2005 chic lit novel Something Borrowed by author Emily Giffin, a book which was placed on the New York Times Best Seller List and that spawned a sequel entitled Something Blue – which, if this film performs well at the box office, will presumably also be adapted as a film. The presence of Hilary Swank as a producer – this being the first film that she is not starring in that she has produced in five years – certainly seems to give this film a slightly higher level of prestige than other romantic comedies but the other behind the camera credits are pretty much romcom business as usual.

Film Review with Robert Mann - Priest

Priest 3D ***
Priest 2D ***

Coming to cinemas just one week after Thor, the second of this summer’s comic book based movies is not preceded by the same positive anticipation and fanboy excitement that came ahead of that film’s release. Rather Priest is a film that deviates so much from its alleged source material that it has lead to widespread outrage from its fans and one with such a low level of anticipation that many had pegged it to be one of 2011’s probable box office flops long ago. All this despite Sony Pictures scheduling the film in between big hitting blockbusters Thor and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, something which is either a big show of confidence in the film on the part of the distributor or a huge display of stupidity – and Sony, who but for three films late last year, have experienced a virtually uninterrupted series of box office hits in the states since way back at the start of 2010, have not really shown themselves to be stupid when it comes to scheduling their movies as of late – and giving it a marketing campaign that is quite impressive for a film produced by Screen Gems, the studio who are best known for the Resident Evil movies and whose features are normally rather low key in both the scale of their production and their promotion, as well as releasing a trailer that, in this critic’s opinion at least, actually looks rather good and shows definite promise for the film.

DVD Review: Blooded

A film about pro/anti hunting is always going to get tongues wagging. However BLOODED adds a nice, if not a touch cliched, spin on things. Based on actual events (in a fictional world) Four friends, one of whom is a spokesman for hunting, go to a very remote part of Scotland to lay low from animal rights activists. Then, wait for it, they become the hunted. That's it, that is exactly what this film is, a hunter becoming the hunted. 


We've been here before, this story line will keep churning out sub par films time immemorial, however BLOODED adds a touch of the moral heebie-jeebies and this becomes one of BLOODEDs saving grace. The film is interspersed the interviews of the 'survivors' adding a documentary feel to the crime watch like reenactments, this cleverly adds emotion and depth to a pretty shallow story and helps keep things belting along at a fair old pace. At points you find yourself rooting for the wrong team, and I flip flopped between the two. 

DVD Review - Red Canyon

Red Canyon

Dir: Giovanni Rodriguez

Scr: Giovanni Rodriguez and Laura Pratt

Starring: Christine Lakin, Tim Draxl, Norman Reedus, Justin Hartley

90 mins, 2008

Distributor: Chelsea Films

Red Canyon was made in 2008 and is receiving it's UK home release on May 23. That pretty much sums up the quality of the film. Sorry to give the ending away so quickly. Often it's easy to pre-judge films that have sat awaiting distribution deals but a lot of the time there's also a good reason as to why that is.