Review Roundup - Ecstacy of Gold

SISU (2022)

Years ago, almost nine at the time of writing, there was a film called Big Game. Perhaps under-rated and probably under-seen, it was a mixture of director Jalmaris Helander's European sensibilities and a lot of Hollywood action movie tropes. It was a change of direction for a film-maker that had previous made holiday horror Rare Exports. But his fondness for the genre was evident in a story where a Finnish youth and an American politician had to join forces. It's this kind of mash-up which returns here in an English language war film set in 1940s Finland, which focuses more on outrageous spectacle than period detail. It's a grim backdrop with a lot of gruesome moments, but it's a story told with a firmly dark sense of humour.

Monster Bites - The Duel

GAMERA VS BARUGON (1966)

While the Gamera films are generally considered fare made for children it's interesting to look back and see exactly when that transition came around. The original film mixed up the typical kind of city-wide death and destruction with some elements of this, but overall it's a pretty straightforward monster movie. The next two sequels on the other hand? Well it's interesting that the first entry I'm looking at here doesn't include a child actor at all. In fact it's more in line with the kind of stories that spawned from King Kong, in which creatures are brought back to the modern world from the unknown parts of the map. The next instalment on the other hand... well I will get to that in good time.

Scorecard

AUGUST

FILM OF THE MONTH: The Taking of Pelham One Two Three ☆☆☆☆