Sublime

Let me start off by saying I'm an avid Horror fan. I enjoy horror movies ranging from the classics such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Henry Portrait of a Killer, and Susperia to lesser known B horror such as Deranged, to esoteric masterful ghost films such as Ugetsu. With having been such a fan of these types of films, I have to say the previous reviewer was totally off base with his harsh criticisms of Sublime. Sublime is an allegorical graphic horror film that takes it's inspiration from many sources. The previous reviewer mentions a parallel between this film and Jacob's Ladder, while this may be true, I feel that there's nothing wrong with this since many modern films do this to pay homage to classic films. There have been numerous times where I've watched a Quentin Tarantino film and have been amazed that they've copied a scene from Sonny Chiba movies, or from great films such as the Lady Snowblood series, almost verbatim. Yet he is praised for being an innovator (and I think he in in many regards, if not slightly overrated). Sublime is a discordant yet captivating whirlpool of many different inspirations and a truly great graphic horror film. If you're a fan of horror, political allegory, and cult cinema then you should find no faults in Sublime.

I'm not going to rate this as a bad film, and I can't see why people would. Don't expect a horror when watching this, it clearly reflects psychological thriller. The story will keep you wondering until the end on what exactly is happening in this film, and when the end does come the concept is acceptable but the events that took place during the ending seemed a little odd.

Let's also bear in mind that this is Tony Krantz first film as Director, and if you ask me he pulled it off well, the direction and shots where well laid out, the editing had some creative transitions between flashbacks, and the story was quite original in a day of cheesy slasher flicks. All in all the film was entertaining and filled out a night pleasantly

If your into Psychological thrillers *** Dave Recommends ***

• A Clockwork Orange ~ Stanley Kubrick

This movie is very watchable,yet provocative and also slightly irritating-all at the same time. The latter because the way it is presented is somewhat obscure and must be highly confusing for some people. Rather like a painter on canvas the work which is created may be obvious to the artist, but others can see it differently or simply not see the same as the artist or indeed not see it at all. Nevertheless I found this film generally good and interesting.

A middle age successful man is shortly to go into hospital for a routine procedure but is troubled by a recurring dream. After he awakes from the procedure he is subjected to a series of horrendous events in the hospital. Are these events really happening or as I interpret it: is he simply going through a nightmare and experiencing his fears etc?

All the performers are excellent, the design of the film is first rate and the music is often brilliant. I myself consider this movie more like a black comedy/horror and overall I conclude it deserves: 7/10.

It definitely kept my attention throughout. However, I was inspired to write this comment because of the cover art as opposed to the movie itself. Had I based my seeing the movie strictly off of the DVD artwork, I would've never watched it. Hell, I wouldn't have even picked it up to read the back of the box. (My initial reaction was that it was another in the "torture porn" realm.) The imagery is extremely misleading. It's nothing of the sort.

My advice is to watch the trailer to get a better idea of the feel for this film. It's much more a slowly-paced reality-turned-on-its-ear type of film, if there is such a genre.

Did I like it? Yep.

Back around 1980, when cable TV started its proliferation, it still had that anything goes feel that happens with something new. HBO was one of the first premium channels and along with the usual movies that filled out its limited on-air hours (it was not on 24 hours back then) the network often programmed what could be described as filler content especially on the weekends when it was on the air for somewhat longer stretches. Most of these films were forgettable movies like Ashanti" (boring and lifeless) and "Voyage of Tanai" (truly a WTF movie if there ever was one). But into this mix would sometimes appear movies that did spark interest and sometimes became hits because of their airing on cable. Two films that come to mind are "Over the Edge" (which made a big impact on the girls in my 8th grade class due to Matt Dillon) and "Homebodies", a truly oddball movie about senior citizens becoming homicidal when confronted with the prospect of being evicted from their homes. Both of these films were true finds and could have found life playing commercial stations as well but their presence on cable made their impacts more pronounced because of the lack of commercials and no editing. "Sublime" falls into this category. Apparently a straight-to-video release, it stars what could only be described as second tier TV actors (Tom Cavanagh, George Newbern) and directed by Tony Krantz who had no directorial credits to his name. Surprisingly, the movie plays extraordinarily well. It's suitably eerie, confusing (intentionally so) and most importantly, it makes you care about the main characters especially Cavanagh's George and Kathleen York's as George's wife, Jenny. I will admit that I did not "get" a lot of what is allegedly the films symbolism and frankly the point of the movie really didn't hit me (I kept rewinding it right before the end to hear what Jenny and George were talking about because it seemed to be related to what he does) but to me, it didn't really matter. "Sublime" is not a film that someone just threw together. It has a great atmosphere, is intelligent and thoughtful and is certainly not your run-in-the-mill enterprise.