Just a little up the road, on the right...

We all have guilty pleasures. Maybe it’s a penchant for Taylor Swift, a love for Party of Five or even an unhealthy obsession with A.C Slater. Lying under the surface of every good movie fan is a much watched D.V.D that they would rather you didn’t know about.  Me, I’ve got too many to count. Growing up on a diet of a dime a dozen trashy teen slashers, I sure as hell love a good horror/thriller.  Oh and when I mean a “good” horror/thriller, I mean a BAD one.  Case in point, The House at the End of the Street.

 

 

 Jennifer Lawrence stars in this tawdry horror ( could you even call it a horror, when I’ve gotten more scared looking in the mirror in the mornings? ) about her next door neighbours mysterious house, where, lets just say a lot of bad things happened. Sounds familiar? Well it probably is. The plot reads like the back of every Point Horror book you read growing up.

I’m not going to sit here and tell you it’s a good movie because it isn’t. There are more movie cliché’s in say ten minutes of it’s running time than you could shake a stick at. Jennifer Lawrence is much better than this fodder, the acting is woeful and the dialogue even worse.  Not to mention the “twists” that are telegraphed worse than smoke signals. But I just can’t help but love it. Its tacky, trashy and thoroughly entertaining.  You have be warned though. Its bad, REAL bad.

Can be found labelled “Guilty Pleasure”, filed beside Dawson’s Creek boxset and Channing Tatum back catalogue.

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Moonshine madness

 

Prohibition is a hot topic in Hollywood these days. Unless you have been living in a cave for the last few years you will have undoubtedly heard about the smash HBO show Boardwalk Empire, set in Atlantic City in the early years of prohibition. Running with the popularity of the show, Matt Bondurant’s 2008 novel The Wettest County in the World has been adapted by musician Nick Cave for the big screen. Lawless, as it’s called, stars Shia La Boeuf, Tom Hardy and Guy Pearce to name but a few. Set mostly in 1931 it tells the tale of three country brothers who run a moonshine business. 

And well, that about sums it up.  The casting is strong and the main performers make this film an enjoyable watch but somewhere along the way you can’t help but feel it could have been something more. Guy Pearce has an excellent turn as an old fashioned baddie and Tom Hardy (cardigan and all) puts in another great performance to add to the list but Shia La Boeuf gets lost in a muddle of mumbling lines and unlikability.

 Fans of the HBO show will have an altogether too familiar feeling watching Lawless, we have been there and seen it all before. Not that that’s a bad thing but it lacks the bright lights big city feeling that Boardwalk Empire is so good at capturing. Lawless is perfectly good entertainment, well shot and beautifully made but it’s a bit on the throwaway side of things. Nothing new is brought to the table and certain facets of the story aren’t as well explored as they should be. But if it’s a good old-fashioned story you’re after then Lawless is your man. 

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