Movie Reviews for Nature Morte

Nature Morte

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Movie Reviews of Nature Morte

Movie Review: Sexy, Spooky, Arty, what more could you ask for?
Summary: 5 Stars

Here's a movie that stands out from the pile of low budget productions I usually watch. The story is thought-provoking, the cinematography is daring and very very stylized, the sexy scenes are... super sexy, in particular the sapphic one illuminated only by thunder:)The score is by an ex-member of my favourite bands ever (Siouxsie and the Banshees), which was a bonus! For a first movie, I have to take my hat off to Paul Burrows, shame the marketing of the movie seems to concentrate on the slasher elements rather than the Noir genre Nature Morte definitely belongs to (and the movie's website certainly reflects this). I believe that if you watch it expecting another Hostel movie, you'll be disappointed, but don't dismiss it if you like a good psychological thriller or are a fan of Giallos, like me!

Movie Review: Not worth the disc it was printed on...
Summary: 1 Stars

This was a terribly executed movie on many fronts. The actors were not convincing and the script not well written. But the worst part was the terrible cinemetography. It appears that the director was attempting to make an experimental-type film through the use of different lenses and effects. But all this did was make it difficult to see what was happening and distracted the viewer from the already disjointed storyline. Two thumbs down, way down!!!

Movie Review: Disappointing film... Terrible photography... Rent at most
Summary: 2 Stars

This was disappointing on several fronts. From the DVD cover and Amazon reviews, I was happily expecting a horror-gore-exploitation film. It wasn't. If it was meant to be, then it fell far short. There is too little horror, gore, nudity or sex. My biggest bugbear however is the photography. It is too self-consciously "arty", filmed with dark filters throughout. Most of the film is unwatchably black. Visually, it looks ugly. People's faces are practically always in shadow. There seemed to be no lighting technician on the set. You can hardly see anything. Even the "action" sequences are filmed in near blackness. How can you enjoy horror, gore or sex when everything is black? It's exasperating to watch. To add to the steadily building frustration, is the stilted acting. Especially of the main character Oliver. I'm not sure if he intentionally meant to parody bad acting or if he was really just a bad actor. To top it all of, there is the loud throbbing, syntho-pop music which I presume is meant to be menacing but is just downright annoying.

I actually liked the story itself. A series of apparent copy-cat serial killings take place in France and Thailand. An American art expert and a French cop go over to investigate. It is a variation of the classic novel, "Picture of Dorian Gray". In the movie, the central painting, purportedly a self-portrait of the killer, keeps changing, not to mirror the change in one man's twisted soul as in the book, but to indicate the identity of the person whose body has been taken over by the roving "evil" spirit that is the cause of all the killings. This "evil" flits from person to person turning the one it possesses into serial killers all with the same modus operandi. They torture and kill their victims while immortalising their death throes on canvas. Very promising material. Sadly not realised.

The only gore I could make out through the gloom were a few skin-deep slash marks on a victim's arm. There is a bit of nudity but you won't see much through all those filters. The victim with the bit-gag and blinkers (shown on the cover) was cute but her scene ended all too quickly and I couldn't make out what actually happened to her. All I know is that she died.

The film is also a sad waste of location shooting. After spending all that money travelling to France and Thailand, the cameraman slaps on so many weird filters that you can barely tell where you are through all the murk. Thailand is a land of brilliant sunshine and this film was supposedly shot on the famous Koh Samui resort island. I could not recognise it at all. I have never seen Thailand look so grey, drab and dull. Might as well have shot it in a studio decorated with a few palm trees. And just where in Thailand is there a French colony with people speaking French? The producers seem to mix up Thailand with French Indochina. All the French portions come with English subtitles burnt onto the print. No way to remove them.

The film is shot in 1.85:1 widescreen, letterboxed into a 4:3 standard frame (Non-Anamorphic). The picture quality is mediocre. All those artsy filters make the picture look flat and dead. I was squinting and straining to see what was happening all throughout. Totally annoying. There are 20 minutes worth of deleted scenes with director commentary. Those were pretty good. The bloopers reel was also fun. With hindsight I shouldn't have bought it. Worth a rental at most.

Movie Review: Dark , scary and atmospheric
Summary: 5 Stars

This is a great work of stylish film noir. It has an intriguing story line, bloody murders, eroticism and more than a few shocks. Everyone looks so damned cool on camera in the settings of Thailand, France and London. The film follows the work of a mad artist who likes to murder his models, work that keeps appearing after the artist's death - or so it seems. A French cop and American art expert try and find out the truth by following the source of the paintings to Thailand where there lives descend into a decadent world of drugs, debauchery and death. The supernatural slant is an added gem. I really enjoyed this independent film, a good example of its genre.

Movie Review: A pleasant surprise
Summary: 4 Stars

I watch an awful lot of low budget exploitation stuff, to be honest 99% of them stink. Once in a blue moon, I watch something that is very good. I thought this movie was great! It had the proper amount of nudity, with beautiful women. It had some very good gore scenes, although I would have preferred it be a bit more graphic. And most importantly, it had a great story! It's so rare to see a movie that combines all three, and does it well.
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