Film Review of the Week

Action

Ballerina (15)

Review: Ana de Armas puts her body through the wringer in an action-packed spin-off from the John Wick films, directed by Len Wiseman. Unfolding during the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Ballerina follows Eve Macarro at the beginning of her training in the assassin traditions of the Ruska Roma under the withering eye of The Director (Anjelica Huston). Nogi (Sharon Duncan-Brewster) becomes her mentor as she combines combat and weapon training with ballet to improve her strength, agility and endurance to pain.

Only the most ruthless, cold-hearted killers earn tell-tale tattoos and, sadly, Eve’s best friend Tatiana (Juliet Doherty) doesn’t make the cut. For her first mission, Eve is hired to watch and protect Katla Park (Choi Soo-young) from an anticipated kidnap attempt. The assignment culminates in bloodshed and Eve seeks sanctuary at the Continental Hotel under the protection of owner Winston Scott (Ian McShane). To avenge her father’s death, Eve is compelled to defy The Director’s orders and single-handedly take down a cult controlled by The Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne). Trained killer Daniel Pine (Norman Reedus) and his young daughter Ella (Ava McCarthy) are caught in the crossfire.

Reviews of Ballerina are embargoed until Wednesday night. Check back later in the week for our full review.

Horror

Clown In A Cornfield (15)

Review: Coulrophobes traumatised by the Terrifier film franchise and the two-part big screen adaptation of Stephen King’s It take heed. Director Eli Craig’s slasher horror, adapted from Adam Cesare’s novel by the filmmaker and co-writer Carter Blanchard, introduces another demonic killer with bright face make-up, squeaky oversized shows and a rictus grin to give comical circus performers a bad name. Clown In A Cornfield overdelivers on the promise of one deranged killer harvesting human organs among the crop fields in a community proudly rooted in tradition, hard work and small-town values.

Unfortunately, Craig’s picture fails to deliver on the promise of devilish irreverence in the midst of carnage and some of the gallows humour is uncomfortably mistimed and misjudged. One character’s impassioned and timely speech about America’s bright future resting in the hands of an ecologically conscious, compassionate and tolerant new generation would resonate if tonal gear changes between slaughter and laughter had been successfully established in the opening hour.

The script strives for Scream-like self-mockery and occasionally comes close. “Is he dead?” asks one wary survivor, staring at the body of a lifeless clown, which horror film convention dictates could spring back to life for an obligatory jump scare. “I don’t think he’s meditating,” deadpans a gal pal. Regular bloodletting with sharp blades and a chainsaw ensures audiences won’t be napping, nor will they care about a faltering big reveal at the end of 96 minutes of gleeful dismemberment.

Following her mother’s death by overdose, 17-year-old Quinn Maybrook (Katie Douglas) relocates to the economically ravaged Missouri community of Kettle Springs with her father Glenn (Aaron Abrams), the new town doctor. The Baypen Corn Syrup factory, which provides jobs to locals, has recently burned down and Quinn and Glenn arrive as Mayor Arthur Hill (Kevin Durand), his son Cole (Carson MacCormac) and residents prepare to mark a century since the creation of the town’s sticky sweet lifeblood.

Cole and his authority-flouting entourage, Janet (Cassandra Potenza), Matt (Alexandre Martin Deakin), Ronnie (Verity Marks) and Tucker (Ayo Solanke), befriend Quinn and enrol her in their film-making club, which posts homemade horror videos online featuring Baypen’s clown mascot Frendo as a frenzied killer. A psychopath dressed as Frendo goes on the rampage and the new girl is marked for a grisly demise. Socially awkward teenage loner Rust (Vincent Muller), who loves to hunt wildlife, is the obvious prime suspect.

Clown In A Cornfield pokes fun at genre tropes but ultimately embraces them, delivering pedestrian thrills and spills we have seen countless times before. Douglas’s grief-stricken heroine works hard to earn our affection and sympathy as the local mortuary overflows with eviscerated neighbours. The wonky wheels come off in the final 30 minutes. Send back the clowns.

Thriller

Dangerous Animals (15)

Review: On land, humans like to believe they are apex predators, sitting atop the food chain without any natural rivals. In the water, however, the tide turns in favour of killer whales, sharks and crocodiles among other species that ruthlessly punish intruders to their fresh- and saltwater realms. Apex predators in both habitats become unlikely accomplices in a twisted Australian horror thriller directed by Sean Byrne, which can be crudely summed up as The Silence Of The Lambs meets Jaws.

Screenwriter Nick Lepard pares down a simple yet ingenious premise to the bone, introducing us to a serial killer played with snarling menace by Jai Courtney, who gets his kicks by feeding young women to ravenous sharks off the back of his boat. He stores VHS cassettes of each kill with a lock of the victim’s hair and believes his “true calling” is to revere the carnivorous fish using live human bait.

He meets his match in Hassie Harrison’s spunky, nomadic surfer, who refuses to accept her grim fate and fights back against her sadistic captor. The bruising battle of wits doesn’t outstay its welcome with a trim running time of 98 minutes but director Byrne struggles to maintain a steady rate of knots with an antagonist who refuses to stray from his modus operandi. By the time a third victim is dangling over open water with a hungry shark swimming a few feet below, ghoulish repetition takes the wind out of the film’s sails.

Zephyr (Harrison) seeks the best waves in the Australian community of Surfers Paradise where she meets sweet-natured real estate agent, Moses (Josh Heuston). He persuades her to momentarily let down her emotional blockade and reconsider her mantra to answer the solitary calling of the sea. Spooked by the possibility of something meaningful with Moses, Zephyr flees his homemade breakfast and unknowingly crosses paths with Tucker (Courtney) at the beach.

The stranger injects Zephyr with a sedative and when she regains consciousness, she is handcuffed to a metal bed in the belly of Tucker’s boat alongside British tourist Heather (Ella Newton). The captives are pitted against a seasoned murderer, who records his kills on a handheld camera. “Tell me that isn’t the greatest show on Earth!” gushes Tucker as he stares through the camera’s viewfinder and witnesses razor-sharp shark teeth tearing through sun-kissed human flesh.

Dangerous Animals paddles confidently towards a preordained resolution, powered by combative screen chemistry between Courtney and Harrison. The romantic subplot overloads sweetness to the point of risibility. Screenwriter Lepard has a sharper ear for compelling intimidation than flirtation. Satisfying jolts of strong, bloody violence and gore serve the lean plot. It’s definitely not safe to go back into the water.