Short film review: LEGITIMATE (2013, directed by Izzy Lee)

Izzy Lee's debut short Legitimate opens with a quote from a former US Representative, Todd Akin:

"If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to shut that whole thing down"

Now, it doesn't take the most sensitive thinker to realise how much is wrong in that statement. And Lee's understandable knee-jerk reaction to that was this sucker-punch to that whole stupid way of thinking; if the tables were turned, how legitimate would it be?

The setting is a nightclub/lap dancing bar where the house Madame (Katrina Galore) leads a senator (Michael Thurber) to his seat, sipping smugly from his whiskey, and he prepares for the special performance. A semi-nude dancer (Karin Webb), tied up in ropes, hands the man one end.

She rhythmically removes the bindings while he sits there, gleefully. As she gets to her underwear, he senator is clearly in some discomfort. Has his drink been spiked? Has he been hypnotised by the gyrating beauty? As he passes out, the Madame and another woman (the director herself) look on, a jar containing something in hand. He wakes outside, covered in blood and in pain. What goes in the body, must come out and must be put there legitimately, surely?...

Equal parts sleazy and shocking, Legitimate is an impressive first film from Lee, providing a two-finger message to a certain mindset while not being preachy and too ambiguous. The use of low light in the nightclub sequence is handled well (a testament to Bryan McKay, the cinematographer/editor), and the way the music, the typical slow-sleaze stripper style, is slowed down during the senator's collapse is wonderful and inspired - especially accompanying the visuals in which the depth of field is continuously adjusted. 

Izzy Lee, who along with McKay, is does virtually everything on the film, is certainly a force to watch out for. Someone with a kind of passion to confront stupidity who, one hopes, would not be restrained or diluted if handed a bigger budget for future ventures. 

Legitimate has already picked up accolades on the US/Canadian festival circuit, and will no doubt receive more if more screenings are announced. Lee's next short, Picket has already hit the market.

Keep an open for both of them, and on Miss Lee herself (check out her website). 

8 out of 10

Blu-ray review: Vendetta (2013) Danny Dyer British Revenge flick

After years of being pillared by the "mainstream" film press, Danny Dyer has learned to ride it out, carving a name for himself in hard man roles and the like. But ultimately he has kept working. By his own admission some films are better than others, but he has refused to be banished by the few vocal detractors. I went into this deeper in the last film of his I reviewed, Run For Your Wife, but his critics never seem to know when to stop.His latest film, Vendetta is once again a hard man role, but this time he puts in a more polished performance, with no 'mockney' cliches to bog the character down.

The film tells the story of Jimmy Vickers (Dyer), a soldier returning from Afghanistan. Unfortunately, in the weeks before his return his father broke up a street robbery, accidentally killing one of the perpetrators in the process. Being the low-life scum they are, they don't see this as a risk of the 'trade' but instead track him down and burn him and his wife alive. Jimmy naturally wants to know who was responsible, and make them pay in the only way he sees fit. Painfully. The police want him locked up, and the army want him back in their ranks and covered up (a plot point I won't reveal so as not to spoil your enjoyment), and the scum want him dead.

While it may seem like a simply story, writer/director Stephen Reynolds manages to come up with enough twists and nuances to keep it from becoming just another Death Wish/Harry Brown re-tread. While there is some suspension of disbelieve required (notably where the police is concerned), it is a impressive, enjoyable thriller with Vickers coming up with some inventive ways to off the little scrotes who killed his folks.

While still low-budget, the film looks splendid. The night time shots of London's sky line providing a perfect cinematic backdrop to the nastiness. It's not a nice film, (a particularly distasteful scene involves a girl being forced to into a sex act to pay for some cocaine) but as escapist exploitation it does its job, and does it well. Hopefully the film will be successful enough to enable the hinted-at sequel to go ahead. Unlike producer Jonathan Sothcott's Dead Cert (2010) which I enjoyed (I realise I'm probably alone in that opinion), and featured a fantastic cameo from Dyer at the end, promising more to come.
The Blu-ray comes with a few decent extras, including the obligatory 'making of', but the most worthwhile is Reynold's earlier short The Snowman, which is brilliant. The disc (and DVD version for those still in the dark ages) is dirt cheap on Amazon (and, I believe in-store at HMV) so PLEASE do the right thing and purchase and support the British film industry!

Vendetta won't be to everyone's taste, but it's generally well made, and harks back to a time and style when cinema was fun. Give it a chance.
7 out of 10

Retro Review: Julie Darling (aka Daughter of Death, 1983)

Young Julie (Isabelle Mejias) loves her daddy. A little too much, unfortunately. They spend lots of time together, mostly hunting, and Julie, it seems, is quite a crack shot. After a string of fall outs with her mother (Cindy Girling) which culminates with her setting the teen's pet snake loose, Julie has a strop and puts her headphones on and locks her door. This coincides with her mom getting brutally attacked and raped by the local delivery boy she asked to help get rid of the pet. Just about hearing her screams in the nick of time, she grabs her rifle (every girl should have one) and aims it at her mom's assailant. Dawdling a little too long, and suddenly mom is dead, her head smashed against the wooden floor. Realising she now has her Father (Anthony Franciosa, Tenebre) to herself, she allows the assailant to make his escape.

Father and daughter adapt to live alone, the blossoming teen taking advantage of having the grieving father to herself, even going so far as to consoling themselves by sharing a bed. As time goes on, father  Harold meets a new woman, Susan (the marvelous Sybil Danning) who moves in along with her son. Julie isn't happy with this arrangement, but puts up with it until a chance comes that she must take. Playing hide and seek while the folks are away, the boy hides in the refrigerator that is conveniently lying around their garden, and Julie shuts the door on him. When the parents return, they find him just in the nick of time, and drop the bombshell that they have married. Susan has her suspicions about Julie, and has it out with her in a fantastic scene acted out over a game of chess. Julie must hatch a bigger plan to oust the pair and have daddy all to herself again.

This early 80s piece of nastiness comes (with the "help" of co-writer Maurice Smith) from Paul Nicholas, the director who brought us the best WIP flick, Chained Heat (1983). Although it is a thoroughly entertaining piece of sleaze, there are a few moments that are quite troubling. The homicidal child routine has been done before, many times, and better than this. The troubling moment comes when Julie awakes to the sound of her father and his new wife making love. She opens the door slightly to peek inside, and then imagines herself in the throes of passion with him instead. It's one thing having incest hinted at, or just under the radar, but to go all out and show it takes some balls as a film maker! I'm guessing Mejias was older than her character when she played this, as there is some nudity involved, and the film has not been impounded. The real problem with having this in the story, however is that is never mentioned, or hinted at again. Similarly, Susan has a tense heart to heart with Julie over the game of chess. Basically telling her that she knows she is trying to get rid of her and her son (who we don't see again after he's saved from the fridge) . Yet, a scene or two later, she asks the young girl to help steady a ladder she's working on, right at the top of some stairs! Talk about trust. Talk about a missed opportunity for Julie!  Although there are flaws - some of the younger actors are abysmal - it is a quite effect exploitation film, with plenty of nudity and well put together scenes of violence. The ending is fantastic, so I won't ruin it.
THE UK VERSION ANOMALY

I picked this up for £4 on a UK DVD release by Elstree Hill. They have, of course, got a reputation of putting out shoddy and awful prints on their DVDs, and Julie Darling is no exception. It's probably sourced from a VHS copy, full frame, not even pan and scan. The opening titles are actually "Ulie Darlin" and it's quite muddy and dark. There is a Code Red US release, but it's OOP and costs a lot more than this (although I wouldn't mind hearing the commentaries, as there are one for each of the two main actresses). The back of the box does warn "some quality may have been lost during the transferring process". No kidding. At least it's not as bad as some of their other releases. The real interesting (for want of a better word) thing about the UK release, is it has a PG rating. Considering what I have already said about the subject matter, the fact that there's plenty of violence, nudity (although no front bottoms, sadly) and one "F" word, I was surprised to say the least. After doing a check on the BBFC website, which has a great database search facility, I found not only had Elstree Hill not put the film through the board to get the PG certificate, but the film has NEVER been rated in the UK, making this release completely illegal. I'm pretty sure it would have had a pre-cert VHS release, but it was never rated for cinema or home viewing. Buy it now, kids before they get wise.

Apart from all that, it's a good, solid piece of trash cinema and Sybil Danning's boobs are always worth a look, ain't they? (No disrespect meant, as she is brilliant in this)
6 out of 10