Surveillance - Featurette - A Terrible Terrible Crime

Director Jennifer Lynch talks about her latest film. Check out the review.

Director: Jennifer Chambers Lynch

Cast: Julia Ormond, Bill Pullman, Pell James

Release: 26th June 2009

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Hisss - Trailer for Jenny Lynch's snake woman horror film is out

Hisss is directed by Jennifer Lynch (Surveillance) and is due to debut at the Cannes Film Festival. I posted some photos a while back for this, but now a trailer has hit the web.

It stars Bollywood star Mallika Sherawat as the Snake Lady and Jeff Doucette. The FX is by Robert Kurtzman (FROM DUSK TIL DAWN, ARMY OF DARKNESS).

HISSS is a modern day retelling of the ancient tale of the ichhadahari nagin (snake woman) and follows a ruthless American, fascinated by the ancient folklore of the mythical creature, who travels to the jungles of India to discover the truth. He finds and captures the nagin’s mate for the magical powers of its nagmani, a mythical gem embedded in its hood. The nagin then transforms into a gorgeous femme fatale and follows him back into the modern world to track down her lover and wreak revenge on his captors and all who stand in the way of their reunion.

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Philly Film Fest News - What's on? Moon, Able, I Sell the Dead and many more. Lots of trailers.

TLA Releasing have just sent out a press release containing just a few of the genre films playing at the Philly Film Fest which has over 250 films this year. Thanks to Quiet Earth for pointing this out.

DANGER AFTER DARK PROGRAM 09

I SELL THE DEAD (USA, 2008) Directed by Glenn McQuaid.
Starring Dominic Monahan, Larry Fessenden, Ron Perlman, Angus Scrimm. Vampires, ghouls and vicious rivalries are just part of the fantastical adventures this devilishly mischievous horror film that slayed audiences at Slamdance 09 and Toronto After Dark Film Festival. East Coast Premiere

ABLE (USA/Germany, 2008) Directed by Marc Robert.
As an aggressive virus ravages the city, a group of Berliners resort to their basic animal instinct for survival, resulting in disturbing and murderous consequences. North American Premiere

Check out my interview with the ABLE filmmakers.

ART OF THE DEVIL 3 (Thailand, 2008) Directed by the Ronin Team.
Revenge is served hot, quick and drenched in more bloody ooze imaginable in this scream-inducing, spectacularly creative, and violent prequel that makes the popular Saw franchise seem like child’s play. Philadelphia Premiere

4BIA (Thailand, 2008) Directed by Banjong Pisanthanakun, Paween Purikitpanya, Youngyooth Thongkonthun, Parkpoom Wongpoom.
In this aggressively scary terror ride, Thailand’s best directors take no prisoners, delivering four tales of horror guaranteed to shake, rattle and roll your nerves. Philadelphia Premiere

HANGER (Canada, 2009) Directed by Ryan Nicholson.
Full frontal nudity, female masturbation and vaginal mutilation are just the tip of the iceberg in the latest, gross-out and repulsively satisfying revenge shocker from the director of Gutterballs and Live Feed. Ryan Nicholson and actors in attendance!! World Premiere

LEFT BANK (Belgium, 2008) Directed by Pieter Van Hees.
Surmounting doubt, dread and helplessness fuels an attractive woman’s state of mind as she begins to unlock a mystery, that will put her face to face with an ancient, unknowable evil. Philadelphia Premiere

NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD (Australia, 2008) Directed by Mark Hartley.
Forget about Peter Weir art films or Nicole Kidman musicals. “Ozploitation” was the gleefully dirty sibling of the Australian film industry by celebrating full frontal nudity (we’ve got bush), unrelenting gore and over-the-top explosive mayhem in the 70s and 80s. East Coast Premiere

PLAGUE TOWN (USA, 2008) Directed by David Gregory.
Brutally sadistic, mutant children begin a cat and mouse game with an American family on a stomach churning quest to add more victims to their world. Philadelphia Premiere

STRAIGHT FOR THE KILL: Shorts Program Enter a dark lair of twisted films as you take small bites of terror, horror and animated fantasy, served quick and fast. From killer trees to serial killers to children in jeopardy, it’s a smorgasbord of gruesomeness, fun and dark humor featuring some of the best in genre short films including popular selections from multiple Fantastic Festivals around the world. Films featured: The Fairy Princess, A Little Mouth to Feed, Rite, Side Effect, White Radishes, I Don’t Sleep I Dream, The Horribly Slow Murderer with the Extremely Inefficient Weapon, The Painter of the Skies and Treevenge.

ADDITIONAL GENRE FILMS IN THE PHILADELPHIA – CINEFEST 09 PROGRAM

MOON (Britain, 2009) Directed by Duncan Jones.
Starring Sam Rockwell, Voice of Kevin Spacey.In this independent science-fiction thriller, Sam Rockwell’s brilliant performance and Duncan Jones’ (David Bowie’s son) expert direction made this one of the must-see films at Sundance 09. East Coast Premiere

SITA SINGS THE BLUES (USA, 2008) Directed by Nina Paley.
A rousing mash-up of shadow puppetry and full on Technicolor Bollywood splendor, director Nina Paley’s autobiographical, animated concoction explodes of the screen. Philadelphia Premiere

SURVEILLANCE (USA, Germany, 2008) Directed by Jennifer Lynch. Starring Julia Ormond, Bill Pullman, Michael Ironside. When a series of shocking and grotesque murder disrupts the normally tranquil open plains of America’s heartland, the FBI is called in to piece together the three survivors’ very different stories. Philadelphia Premiere

MORTADELLO AND FILEMON: MISSION – SAVE THE PLANET (Mortadelo y Filemón. Misión salvar la Tierra) (Spain, 2008) Directed by Miguel Bardem. Inept super spies Mortadello and Filemon are reunited to save the world from drought in this visually outlandish and wildly cartoonish caper spoof. North American Premiere

BEFORE THE FALL (Spain, 2007) Directed by F. Javier Gutiérrez.
A meteor is approaching the earth and all life will be extinguished in three days, but one family has a more pressing fear – a deranged and vengeful killer just released from prison is headed their way in this original apocalyptic thriller. East Coast Premiere

GOD’S FORGOTTEN TOWN (Spain, 2008) Directed by Juan Carlos Claver. When a film crew begins to unlock the dark secrets of an abandoned town, the battle between good and evil begins in this Spanish mystery thriller. U.S. Premiere

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Surveillance - International Trailer

I posted a review for Jennifer Lynch's film, Surveillance, a while back. Now we have another trailer for it and it's looking very good. It's out in June.

Two FBI agents, Elizabeth Anderson (Julia Ormond) and Sam Hallaway (Bill Pullman), arrive at a local police station in the Santa Fe desert to investigate a series of murders. They interrogate three Witness|eyewitnesses: Police officer Jack Bennet, the meth-addict Bobby, and Stephanie, an eight-year-old girl, whose family was murdered by two figures dressed in jumpsuits and latex masks.

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Surveillance - New Photo

Two federal officers have a string of murders to solve and three sets of stories to decipher. With Bill Pullman and Julia Ormond. Directed by Jennifer Lynch.

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Surveillance, 2008 - Review and Trailer for film by Jennifer Lynch (That's David Lynch's daughter don't you know)

Director: Jennifer Lynch
Starring: Julia Ormond, Bill Pullman, Michael Ironside, Pell James, Ryan Simpkins
Running Time: 98 minutes
Score: 7 / 10

This review by Bob Doto over on Quiet Earth. I'm a big fan of all things Lynchian so here is a bit more on his daughter's latest.

Two FBI agents come to town to investigate a handful of gruesome murders by some eerily masked villains, and interview three recent witnesses to their most recent blood fest. Each person has a vastly different version of the story to tell.

Every five minutes while watching Surveillance, my appreciation of the film shifted. My first thought after having seen roughly 15-20 super low-budget shorts over the course of a weekend, was “Oh. This is a ‘real movie’ with a budget.” Then I thought “But, it’s kind of got a low-budget feel to it. I like that.” Then I’m thinking to myself “Why is Bill Pullman acting like he’s got to go to the bathroom all the time?” Then I was like, “This movie is soooooo dramatic.” After which I thought, “Why are they making it so obvious that I’m not supposed to see certain key clues in the story? That’s annoying.” Then of course, “God. Did you have to show me all that violence in such detail?” And finally as the ending started to unfold, “Ooooooh. Now I get it. You got me. Now I like it.” What a frickin’ rollercoaster.

What’s amazing about writer/director Jennifer Chambers Lynch (Boxing Helena, daughter of David and Peggy Lynch) and writer Kent Harper is not that they convinced me to loath every single character in their film (including that practically mute and supposed to be likable pig-tailed wunderkind), but that I actually stayed around to see what became of their fates. Frankly, when you’ve seen as many films as I have at this year’s NYHFF, you just don’t get off that easy. If your story revolves around the lives of absolutely despicable and heinous beat cops, a heartless lying junky and her equally stellar boyfriend, and a family of oblivious yuppies you’ve got to give me something besides beautiful Southwestern desert to keep me from bailing.

How did they do it?

Well, A. I’m a sucker for the way this film is shot: nice and wide, naturalistic, scenically understated. B. The characters were so awful to one another that I almost couldn’t leave without seeing if what I was in fact seeing was true. C. Bill Pullman’s twitchy mouth. Weird! And D. I just wasn’t sure if what I was watching was an example of dramatic genius or totally ignorant as to what makes character relations believable. I THINK it leans closer to dramatic genius, but it is held back by its overt occultation of information.

And what, may you ask, is “overt occultation of information?” That is the annoyance of a movie that doesn’t show you what the little girl in the interrogation room drew with crayons when everyone else in the film sees it and practically craps their pants. It’s also when the same little girl whispers into someone’s ear something really profound, but you don’t get to hear it because we’re obeying the laws of third-person semi-omniscience (but only when it’s convenient). It’s a ten-cent trick suitable only for the worst of television drama.

So, what’s to think about this film? I can’t give it more than seven, because it exemplifies the worst of manipulative dramatic cinema, but I can give it a solid seven because the film is rather stunning to watch and the story will definitely catch you off guard.

How do you like the sound of that? Will you see it when it eventually gets released?

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