Cradle of Fear

The directors cut version, which was the one I saw, was very long for this type of movie. Almost two hours is way too long. If you have the choice, definitely go for the non-directors cut.

The main plot is almost not taken up at all, the movie consists to the main part of several murder scenes, which are connected but the feeling is that they're only shown in order to fill the movie with splatterish violence. The connection is not revealed until the latter part and the lack of context bored me out long before I was there.

As a horror movie it doesn't work. You never get the required feel for the characters due to mediocre acting and the general disposition (character is presented, 15 minutes later character is dead). This pictures strong side lies in the splatter part.

Having been a fan of the band Cradle of Filth for many years, I was inclined to watch this movie. Alex Chandon had previously done a video for the band (From the Cradle to Enslave) which is one of the most visually original music videos of all time. With this background information out of the way, here is a checklist to see if you will like this movie. 1. Can you tolerate bad special effects? The effects in this movie are about one step above crappy because it had a limited budget. It does take some work to get past the poor effects and get into the story, but it can be done. 2. Do you have ADD? One thing I did enjoy about the movie was that it weaves together 4 story lines which really helps to keep your focus during the movie. It's far from stagnant. 3. Are you offended by anything? Anything at all? If so, you will hate this movie and possibly feed the need to speak to a pastor after viewing it. The effects, as previously stated are poor, but the material the movie deals with is very intense and often satanic with references to Crowley. If you answered yes to 1 and 2 and no to number 3, you will probably enjoy this movie. In my opinion, it's worth at least one watch if you enjoy horror movies. One last time though, the special effects are weak and this movie is not for the faint of heart.

I didn't have very high-hopes going into CRADLE OF FEAR. The first scene shows some "scary" goth-kid killing some guys in an alley, with pretty poor gore FX and an insanely obvious SOV feel to it. Number one - people who dress up like vampires at an S&M party are about the most un-scary things humanly possible - and two - I typically don't care for extremely obvious SOV productions...so you can see as how from the first five minutes I didn't think I would be feelin' this one. I have to admit though, that as it went along, CRADLE OF FEAR ended up being quite entertaining, despite (and in some cases because of...) it's numerous flaws...

The film is made up of four vignettes that center around a mental patient who was a hypnotist and child rapist/murderer. In each vignette, one or more people die in different splattery ways, that are related to people that had to do with the hypnotist's incarceration. The stories themselves are all relatively entertaining: the first dealing with the same goth kid from the beginning (who is apparently mind-controlled by the hypnotist) who bones a semi-hot goth whore and some crazy baby/spider-thing busts out of her stomach. The next has two friends who rob an old man and the robbery goes seriously wrong. The next is about a one-legged guy who goes to seek a "donor" for his missing leg, and the last (and in my opinion, most interesting) story deals with a kid who becomes obsessed with a snuff web-site. The four stories are all semi-amusing excuses to show some tits and gore, and still stay within the context of the film...

CRADLE OF FEAR is a very disjointed film. The way it's shot makes it look like a bad UK soap-opera. There are some decent performances from some of the cast - others are atrocious. There are a few sets of decent goth-chick tits in this one, and that's never a bad thing. Some of the gore FX are convincing or at least decent - others suck completely. There are a few CGI special FX that are so bad they're absolutely hilarious (car-chase/crash, anyone???) - but somehow this mess of a film still works. It is a little long, clocking in at a solid two hours, and could probably use a little bit of a trim, but even so - it manages to stay pretty quick-paced and entertaining throughout. Not a great film by any stretch - but it's quirky and worth a look to splatter fans...8/10

Here's the whine. :)

I knew before viewing that this would be an over the top film. Between Danni Filth from Cradle Of Filth and the Hammeresque setting I expected a schlocky gory horror film. I was wrong, very, very, very, very wrong!!! To sum it up the film is terrible and a let down in many ways.

First and foremost have to be the splatter effects. You don't need a huge budget or powerful CGI systems to create convincing effects. Look at several low budget productions like Lucio Fulchi's 'The Beyond', Dario Argento's 'Suspiria', or George A. Romero's 'Dawn Of The Dead'. All three of those films were low budget productions staring either low rent or no name actors. Yet all three manage to set up a tense atmosphere, gross us out with exploding heads, ripped out intestines, and a multitude of grisly slashed throats, and allow us to suspend our disbelief for 90-120 minutes.

Now lets look at Cradle Of Fear (Or low budget wanna-be music video as I call it). Danni Filth can't act to save his life. I knew within the first 5 minutes of watching the film that it was going to be bad. This mans acting is brutally stiff and devoid of any emotion or believability. Id actually rate Tor's acting in Plan 9 From Outerspace above Danni Filth (and that's frightning). Unfortunately Danni's not the only hack in the film. I don't recall a single believable line of dialogue at any point during the movie. Characters deliver the lines like they're reading from a teleprompter. Worse yet the inspectors acting makes William Shatner's acting seem lucid and elegant.

What this film reminds me of the most are not the Hammer classics I grew up with. This tragedy reminds me of the films Troma puts out. Only I enjoy Troma films because they're supposed to be cheap and outrageously funny. Cradle Of Fear is supposed to be a dark and frightning film. Unfortunately it's not scary but laughable. Worst of all the film is far too long for its own good. At over 2 hours it's about 30-45 minutes too long for a movie with no major plot or story behind it.

Summary----

The film is low budget (not a crime as I like quite a few low budget flicks) and it shows.

The acting is stiff, unbelievable, and many times almost monotone.

The dialouge itself creates some of the poor acting. I could not imaging using the work Fu (you get the idea) as many times in one week as the inspector does in 15 minutes. As pointed out previously by another reviewer Tarintino this guy ain't. Hell Lloyd Kaufman of Troma films looks like a master compared to Chandon.

The effects are just plain bad. Prosthetics that look like they were bought at a nickel and dime store. Blood that appears black (are we killing humans or embalmed corpses), and over use of blood (the human body does not contain 50 gallons of blood, and unlike Shogun Assassin this effect is not used in an artistic manner). CGI that's reminiscent of The Last Starfighter (which looked great in it's day, but pales in comparrison to many PC games these days), and is used out of place in many instances.

Poor video quality. For a movie shot mostly at night and in the dark, it's important to use good film stock and a good low lite camera. I guess Chandon forgot that seeing the movie helps alot.

Too serious for it's own good. If I wanted to laugh I would have popped in Braindead (aka Dead Alive) or Toxic Avenger.

Rating 4/10 (and I'm being kind)

Suggestion, if you want a gore soaked movie laced with atmospheric elements of horror go out and buy the unrated edition of Lucio Fulchi's 'The Beyond'. While it's not heavy on plot, it's not the joke that Cradle Of Fear is. Should you want a more twisting gothic, yet bloody work check out some of Dario Argento's work. Suspiria, Tenebre, and Opera come to mind as some of Argentos better films, although I've yet to see one I did not like.

I just saw the DVD of this and I belive it to be the biggest waste of aluminium and polycarbonate issued in years. Now, let me get this straight: I love low-budget films. I love really gory, gross-out films. I love horror anthologies. I also used to be a goth for several years. Sadly, this film does a grave disservice to all of the above (no pun intended). The film was produced on DV and therefore looks home-made. The fact that the budget didn't extend to getting it transferred to film says a lot. Sure, there's nothing that says films can't be low-budget and many people have made some excellent pieces using little more than a home DV camera. The difference is that most people don't usually try and pass them off as feature films.

The plot attempts to tie four small stories into some kind of cohesive whole, but the fact is that most of these segments don't really make much sense. Only the "sick room" plot holds your attention and looks as if it might be going somewhere interesting, but then it spectacularly drops the ball with the sub-Twilight Zone predictability of its denouement.

The dialogue is a low point amongst a sea of low points. Expletives are clumsily dropped into scenes, giving the impression of the writer somehow trying to prove how grown-up the film is.

Acting throughout is mostly appalling. I mean, really bad. The usual-suspect rent-a-goths Emily Booth and Eileen Daly give the type of performances that will see them typecast in this kind of tripe until they no longer look good semi-naked. As for Dani Filth, his virtually-silent role merely gives him the opportunity to carry over his stage persona and- if possible- look an even bigger berk than usual.

As for the effects- well, if indeed Creature FX really were involved, then I can't see that they got paid more than twenty quid for their contribution. There is shocking gore, yes, but only shockingly bad. It almost made me laugh, but I was so depressed by the rest of the experience I couldn't raise a smile. Oh, and the CGI is truly, deeply, totally unspeakable. This is not one of those films that's so bad it's good, so don't get taken in by that line of reasoning.

In my experience, the music and imagery of Cradle Of Filth appeals mainly to young, oh-so-rebellious just-turned-teenagers and goth/metal fans who take themselves far too seriously. If this describes you, you'll probably love this film. If it doesn't, then don't insult your own intelligence and just walk away...