Night Visions Back to Basics 2023 review roundup
The best films you shouldn't miss at Night Visions Back to Basics 2023.
Night Visions is nearly upon us once again, and I’ve screened a bunch of their selection in advance. Here are 13 films (with a few more reviews dropping soon) that should interest you next week as the festival kicks off.
The Best of the Best
The must-see films of the festival. These are the pictures that make Night Visions such a distinct and genuine pleasure to attend.
Hundreds of Beavers – ★★★★★
In the vein of Buster Keaton, Looney Tunes, Benny Hill, Monty Python, and The Simpsons, comes this delightfully demented oddity from Wisconsin that defies all explanation.
Set during the frontier era of the American west, Hundreds of Beavers plays like a demented version of The Revenant, where things like realism matter very little. A drunken applejack salesman finds himself without shelter, customers, or even food. To avoid starvation, he starts a new life hunting rabbits, then beavers. Eventually, he finds himself wooing the beautiful daughter of a fur trapper.
Hundreds of Beavers is one of the wildest, funniest, and most energizing films I’ve seen. It’s a unique mad work of art that presents a reality both entirely unhinged and coherent in its own way. If you see only one film at the festival, make it this one.
Project Wolf Hunting – ★★★★★
Take a helping of Con Air, throw in some From Dusk Till Dawn, and mix it up with the Resident Evil video games, and you’re somewhere in the ballpark of this batshit insane roller-coaster from South Korea.
Set on a cargo ship somewhere in international waters between China and Korea, Project Wolf Hunting is one of the most visceral and intense action films in recent memory. It wrings out every inch of its environment, crafting horrific and electrifying set pieces at every turn. It’s the kind of filmmaking that makes you wonder why we put with anything less.
How to Blow Up a Pipeline – ★★★★★
Set in the soon-to-be-dystopian landscape of West Texas, Daniel Goldhaber’s exquisite film about a group of extreme activism in the face of extinction is nothing short of staggering.
Superbly written and directed, it’s a difficult and purposefully confrontational film that demands engagement. It is a film that’s impossible to shrug off and is sure to be one of the best films of the year.
Brooklyn 45 – ★★★★
Christmas, 1945. World War II has come to a close. For some, at least. In a nondescript Brooklyn brownstone, four traumatized friends gather to help out a troubled fifth to get through the holidays. The death of a loved one lingers in the air.
As the night goes on, they find themselves in an impromptu séance, and suddenly the ghosts of their past become far more literal than they could have expected.
This is one of those lovely chamber pieces that know exactly the kind of film it is, and what it wants to accomplish. There are very few extraneous flourishes here. Instead, the focus is on the impeccable cast, smart writing, and superb sense of time and place.
While the last third buckles under its grand ambitions and thematic complexity, Brooklyn 45 is a film that refuses to leave my mind. It’s been weeks since I saw it, and I can’t stop thinking about the implications and larger discussion it leaves behind. In utilizing genre conventions to grapple with the trauma of WW2, Brooklyn 45 accomplishes so much with very little in depicting how America never truly moved on from its part in the global theater.
Carried by an exquisite cast of theater and film veterans, Brooklyn 45 is one of those films you want to return to over and over again just to experience the comfort of old-school, classy filmmaking. It’s the kind of programmer that we once took for granted and now should celebrate every chance one appears.
Smoking Causes Coughing – ★★★★
If you like shaggy dog stories, meaning jokes that aren’t really jokes and are only funny for the teller and individuals without functioning souls, then you’re in luck: Smoking Causes Coughing is the perfect film for you.
Playing out like a cross between a comic book parody, a Peter Jackson -style satire, a Tales From the Crypt anthology, and, ultimately, a Jim Jarmuschian hangout film uninterested in the plot, Smoking Causes Coughing is hard to pin down. It’s all of the aforementioned things, and yet none of them. It’s hilarious but also frustrating. But above all, it’s hard to forget once you’ve seen it. There’s nothing quite like it out there, for better and for worse.
Go in without any knowledge of what you’re about to see for the best experience. It takes a little bit to get going, but once you settle into the oddball rhythm, that’s both lackadaisical and ADD, director Quentin Dupieux wrings out laughter from even the smallest detail. After that, it’s hard to stop laughing. Even when you should.
Turbo Kid – ★★★★
In the spirit of Italian exploitation cinema and the halcyon days of 80’s “fuck the budget, we’ve got vision” filmmaking comes Turbo Kid, a demented delight that’s as wholesome as it is violent.
Set in a “we’ve got Mad Max at home” environment of endless sandpits and questionable CGI, Turbo Kid is the story of youthful fantasy crashing headfirst into the concrete pillar of angry adult reality. Michael Ironside is superb as the villainous Zeus, delivering his over-the-top dialog with so much ham the film should come with a health warning. Munro Chambers grounds the lunacy with an earnest leading role, and Laurence Leboeuf is eternally charming as Apple, an unlikely friend in an even unlikelier situation.
Turbo Kid is a wonderful love letter to the past because it understands that nostalgia needs more than obvious riffs to be worthwhile. There’s a lot here that owes its existence to past films, but nothing exists for the sake of reference. It might be pastiche, but it’s an earnest pastiche, and that makes all the difference.
Who Killed Captain Alex? – ★★★★
I’ll just say it, Who Killed Captain Alex? is a better, more accomplished, and far more entertaining film than John Wick: Chapter 4. It’s certainly a hell of a lot shorter, and it probably costs less than the catering budget for the latter.
After a police sting operation goes tits up, the city of Kampala is beset by a gang war between the dastardly Tiger Mafia and the Shaolin monk Bruce U. Whatever else happens is unclear on the best of days, even with the hilarious Greek chorus from VJ Emmie. But that’s beside the point. Who Killed Captain Alex? is about the ride, and director Nabwana I.G.G. proves himself more than adept at taking viewers along for one.
It might not have much of a budget, but Who Killed Captain Alex? has vision, passion, and an endless supply of inventiveness to make up for it. It’s the kind of insanity that genre filmmaking should celebrate every chance it gets.
Nightmare – ★★★★
I’m usually frustrated beyond belief by films like this. They always hinge on some heavy suspension of disbelief, where everyone around the main character has to be an elevated level of ignorant, malicious, or stupid. Sometimes even all three.
Nightmare has all of those problems, and it borrows a lot from Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby, but it benefits immeasurably from solid direction by Kjersti Helen Rasmussen and the terrific leading performance by Eili Harboe.
Making most of its small budget and limited locations, Rasmussen’s film also has something most indie horror films lack: stupendous sound design and a sense of place. Every nightmare sequence is a thing of terrifying beauty, as Rasmussen and Harboe tighten the tension masterfully. They’re easily the best parts of the film, and, along with one of the most chilling final acts in a while, singlehandedly elevate the picture. It’s a terrifying genre chiller worth seeing in theaters.
Solid Programmers
Worth checking out if you’re in for the long haul or particularly interested in the genre.
The Civil Dead – ★★★
While I’m not a fan of mumblecore movies in general, I’m always up for a high-concept idea that dares to look at a well-worn topic in a new light. The Civil Dead is a part buddy comedy, part mumblecore hangout film, with a dose of supernatural thrown in for good measure. But it’s also a delightfully nuanced and subtle depiction of toxic relationships and emotional microaggression. It just happens to feature a ghost of someone who once got ghosted.
But it also suffers from the problems that every mumblecore has. It’s way too long and far too slight, easily running on fumes for the last half hour. There’s a great center premise, a solid relationship between the leading duo, and a terrific ending that lingers far longer than any of the dry humor in the film. But to get there does become a slog, mainly because The Civil Dead tries too hard to be, you know, like, chill, and stuff. Its characters are so noncommittal they struggle to get through a basic conversation. And while that’s fun for a bit, it becomes grating as it repeats well after the point is made.
Luckily, thanks to great performances from filmmakers Clay Tatum and Whitmer Thomas, The Civil Dead is still worth a watch. Its many finer qualities outshine the lesser ones. Mostly, at least.
Superposition – ★★★
Part Twilight Zone with a dash of The Babadook and changeling folklore, Superposition is thematically ambitious, expertly directed, and anchored by a stellar leading performance from Marie Bach Hansen. It effectively builds tension in its superior third act, which mostly makes up for a plodding first half.
But it also takes too long to get where it’s going, and the 1-hour 40-minute runtime is excessive for the story. After a solidly intriguing opening, where an insufferable couple arrives at a remote getaway for overpriced self-discovery, it settles in for a long stretch of “what was that noise?” that overstays its welcome.
Hansen makes the film, permitting even a morsel of empathy for her character, Stine, even as the story tries its hardest for us to hate everyone in the picture. In a story of identity, love, forgiveness, and bitter resentment, it’s necessary to like someone, anyone that’s involved. Or at least understand them. But for whatever reason, Superposition keeps everyone at arm’s length before asking questions to which the only answer becomes “well, who cares? These people are terrible.”
Luckily Hansen’s magnetic presence and a solid – if predictable – finale make this an easily watchable, if not entirely successful thriller. It’s a solid showcase for director Karoline Lyngbye, making her feature debut, and a promise of great things to come.
For Fans Only
While they have their pleasures, these are the films I have a much harder time recommending. If you’re going for the all-nighter, you’re bound to find some fun in each of them.
Dick Dynamite: 1944 – ★★
Exploitation films are an odd duck to get right.
Those films that we view as “classics” of the genre didn’t set out to make bad, or so-bad-they’re-good, films. Most probably thought they were making something awesome. It’s that denial of reality that makes them fascinating.
Today, most exploitation throwbacks tend to be intentionally poorly made. They try hard to capture the janky quality of yesteryear but rarely understand that it wasn’t just the low quality that made them so beloved.
Mostly crowdfunded by fans of the Scottish music scene and starring a variety of both unknowns and oddly specific celebrity cameos, Dick Dynamite: 1944 is an earnest attempt to just have fun, and it does feel like everyone enjoyed their time making the film. But that joy doesn’t always translate to the audience, and a highly specific throwback genre needs more than just inside gags to work.
I appreciate that it exists, but I can’t say I had fun with it. Others will, but this is a very acquired taste.
The Lair – ★
I’m a big fan of Neil Marshall, who rose to fame with his superlative werewolf actioner Dog Soldiers. Since then, his eclectic filmography has turned into a buffet of genre delicacies, ranging from horror classics like The Descent to bonkers mashups like Doomsday. They’re what I like to call schlockbusters. Mid-to-low-budget high-concept oddities that are so finely tuned they put most big films to shame.
So whatever happened between then and now is a mystery on a cosmic scale. Because The Lair is a bafflingly dull and poorly composed mess that has none of the wit that Marshall has shown in the past.
The initial premise is pure Marshall and the best part of the film. A navy pilot on her last mission is shot down somewhere behind enemy lines. Chased down by local combatants, she finds safety in an abandoned soviet bunker. Inside, she discovers remains of gruesome human experiments, which are far more alive and dangerous than they initially appear.
From there, Marshall mines his repertoire to hit the same high points as before, but none of them stick. There’s a ragtag group of misfits, a lot of testicular oneupmanship, and more dodgy accents than you can shake a stick at.
But none of these characters have the same charm as Cooper or Spoon in Dog Soldiers or Eden Sinclair from Doomsday, despite using the same name for The Lair. Instead, I found it hard to care about a single one of the leads to the point that once the body count racked up, I couldn’t remember who was who anymore.
A couple of kills remind us that Marshall once ruled supreme in this territory, and there’s a single great shot that evokes classic British films like Zulu, where The Lair sparks hope that maybe, just maybe, this is an odd misstep in an otherwise solid filmography.
The Last Client – ★
A tiresome Saw-like serial killer chiller built on two performances (one broad to a fault, the other way too good for the film) and a clumsy Shyamalan-esque story that, while undoubtedly ambitious, barely makes sense and comes off as insulting and misogynist by the end.
I’ve seen it twice now, six months apart, and my initial revulsion still stands. As a short film, its inherently silly third act would work better, because the film would have to get to the point much faster than it does now. But as a feature film, the tedious back and forth between patient and doctor falls so flat that when The Evil Grand Plan kicks in, I was counting tropes to see how many we got before the end.
