Heartless (2009) Dir: Philip Ridley

Oddball British movie that fuses fantasy, horror, pathos and humour, with mixed results.

The plot:
Jim Sturgess plays Jamie Morgan, a man in his early twenties who is blighted by a large, heart shaped birthmark that covers the left side of his face. Lacking confidence, he sees all around chaos and disorder, and a society falling apart.
Whilst walking to the shops, Jamie encounters what seem to be hooded demons attacking someone on the ground, and flees. Soon after, he is sent cryptic messages that lead him to Papa B, the apparent conductor of the chaos all around.
Jamie is given a choice by Papa B: I'll get rid of the birthmark, but you have to repay me with a small favour.
He agrees, but soon realises that the debt he has burdened himself with is far greater than the deal he thought he was making.....
Mixing fantasy and horror is nothing particularly new, but it is handled deftly, with some effective 'monster' design and a strangely surreal atmosphere infused throughout that is by turns gritty and, at times, almost fairytale in nature.
There's pathos aplenty, too, with the main character's physical disfigurement acting as centrepoint to his sense of alienation and, whilst the thought of pathos usually sends me screaming to the the remote control to TURN IT FUCKING OFF, here it is effective and adds an interesting dimension to proceedings.
The problem really lies with the comedy elements, which are just baffling, and rob the movie of any atmosphere or momentum that was building and causes genuine difficulty with regards 'buying into' the internal logic of the movie.
Still, with a solid cast - Sturgess is excellent in the lead role, in particular - this almost makes it work, and it's always nice to see British movie makers veering away from the tired 'it's grim up North' or 'cheeky-chappy gangster' formulae.
Not without merit, but not a film I'd rush to see again.

3 out of 5

Hush (2009) Dir: Mark Tonderai

What can you make for £1,000,000 these days, eh?
That's barely enough to cover Angelina Jolie's nail varnish requirements in most movies but, in Hush, a taut, nervy British horror-thriller, the budget is used to maximum effect.
See, I don’t watch many British films. I tend to find them deathly dull; Social drama's about how grim life is 'Up North,' or emotional, human interest pieces about alcoholism and domestic abuse.
Not my cup of tea, certainly.
So it was with some caution I hit play on this movie, and was somewhat unprepared for what I was about to watch.
The plot: A couple on the verge of breaking up are in the middle of a long car journey, driving around Britain's motorways so that the man, Zakes Abbot, can perform his job of switching advertisement posters. As two lanes merge into one, they almost hit a lorry in front of them and, as the larger vehicle takes avoiding action, it's rear door swings open, and Zakes is convinced he's seen a naked woman inside, caged up. Caught in a dilemma about what to do, they try to get the police involved. The strain on the already fragile relationship is too much, as Beth thinks he cares more about the posters than about the alleged kidnapped woman, and tells him she is leaving him. Then Beth herself disappears, and Zakes must take extraordinary measures to try to find her.
Punchy, massively tense, this borrows liberally from various US sources; Duel is an obvious reference, but so too is Breakdown. 24 could even be cited for the giddying camera-work and almost real-time nature of the events unfolding. Then throw in a dash of Hostel, and you're nearly ready.
With a small cast, and a small sequence of locations, the director drains every last penny from his million pounds and crafts a highly enjoyable, edge of the seat movie that punches well above it's weight.
Very good indeed.

4 out of 5