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Fantasia 2019: ‘Harpoon’ is a Sharp, Powerful Thriller [REVIEW]

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Harpoon

Rivalries, dark secrets, and sexual tension crash together in Rob Grant’s Harpoon, a taut and delightfully dark comedic thriller. The film follows three friends who venture out on a yacht for a day trip, only to find themselves stranded in the ocean and at each other’s throats.

Harpoon explores friendship and the strains we put on our relationships. It makes us question the nature and history of our personal connections and why we choose to maintain them.

The film’s three leads – Richard (Christopher Gray), his girlfriend Sasha (Emily Tyra), and best friend Jonah (Munro Chambers) – are stuck in an everlasting cycle of enabling bad behavior. An opening statement in the narration — provided brilliantly by Brett Gelman — describes Aristotle’s philosophy of the three kinds of friendship; friendships of utility, friendships of pleasure, and friendships of the good. Through the film, it becomes clear that Richard, Sasha, and Jonah don’t exactly fit into any of these three categories.

They exist in a vacuum of their own nastiness, constantly pushing and pulling at each other in a way that shows their sickened dependence. While this collaborative friendship is truly toxic for everyone involved, it creates one hell of a compelling film. 

via Fantasia Fest

For a film with only one set and three characters, Harpoon works surprisingly well thanks to its tight direction by Grant and excellent chemistry between the cast. Most notably, Chambers delivers a razor-sharp performance as Jonah, carving through each emotional scene with impressive precision. 

Tyra is excellent as Sasha, the exasperated referee between her boyfriend and his best friend. While she holds an air of righteousness, she’s far from saintly herself. Gray is perfect as Richard, bringing life and humanity to a detestable character. The three work together in brilliant harmony to create a group of deeply flawed individuals with a friendship that walks the line between love and loathing. 

As the film progresses, the boat begins to match the unraveling minds of our poor castaways; the lower deck goes from cozy to crazed thanks to a shifting set design. The lighting moves between painfully bright and depressingly low, but it’s done in a way that expresses the extremes that the characters experience without compromising the shot; scenes are washed with yellows and blues to impose a tone.

The script is wickedly clever with a delightful streak of dark humor. Gelman’s pitch-perfect narration provides some additional details about the characters and their situation, while lightly bumping up the tone of the film to keep it from getting too horrifically bleak. But don’t let the smooth, dulcet tones of Gelman’s voice distract you – Harpoon is sinfully dark and deeply satisfying. 

Writers Rob Grant and Mike Kovac have found the perfect balance of comedy and intensity to really make the film click. There’s a building pressure that keeps the pace moving, driving the story forward despite the stagnant scenery. It’s like the ultimate bottle episode, taking full advantage of the creative liberties that can be found within that isolated focus. 

via Fantasia Fest

The film pushes just enough to satisfy the audience’s desire for depravity while showing enough restraint to not go completely off the rails. It keeps one sea-shaky leg in the realm of realism while the other dances a mad dervish of disastrous worst-case scenarios. 

Effectively, Harpoon raises some questions about the minefield of relationships. Is personal history enough to keep friends together? How dangerously close have we come to permanently damaging our friendships? When a bond has been broken, can it ever be repaired? 

Once you’ve seen the worst in someone, can you ever go back?

The answers aren’t as simple as you’d think.

Harpoon is a bubbling ocean of deep resentment, dark comedy, and maritime superstitions gone awry. From the script to the direction, the performances, and the plot, it’s sharp, powerful, and deadly. If you have the opportunity, I’d recommend you take the shot. 

 

Harpoon is playing as part of Fantasia Festival’s 2019 lineup. For an interview with writer/director Rob Grant, click here. Or click here to read our interview with one of the stars of the film, Munro Chambers.

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Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

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Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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