In this
cheap Schnaas-esque monster movie from France…
Haha. No, just kidding. I’m teasing Rubbermonsterfetichism-Joachim. I used the word “cheap” together with this movie and he didn’t like that. I can understand him. Cheap is a cheap word, but also very true when it comes to Resonnances, a low res monster film made to fuck up conservative fanboys who can’t stand movies shot new digital movies. But believe me, this is a very good movie. Not a masterpiece, but a lot better than some of the more famous monster flicks that the fanboys loves even if they’re quite crappy.
Shot on what must have been an absurdly low budget, this is the story of three law students (I read that at Wikipedia, didn’t notice it when I saw the movie) on their way to have some fun after the latest important test. On their way to whatever place they’re going they pick up a hitcher – who also seems to be a raging lunatic. He’s violent and not in the mood to be nice. This would have been an ordinary thriller if it wasn’t for a fucking big underground monster with tentacles crawling underneath them, and it wants to eat human flesh! Soon our heroes is hunted by this enormous creature through the fairy tale forest, surrounded by castle ruins and the remains of earlier human victims! Will they survive? Will they eat frog legs again, like all Frenchies?
When I wrote low res up here it’s actually true. It looks like it was downloaded from YouTube. Almost anyway. I guess its shot with a simple DV-camera. This doesn’t stop it from looking quite good, a lot better than I thought it would consider the non-anamorphic version squeezed into the R1 Synapse disc. I still have a quite big look, at least if you accept creative use of digital homemade effects and miniatures. In a lot of ways this reminded me of the 2011’s The Millenium Bug – also “homemade”, with a giant creature underground, set in a forest and with a small cast. I really liked that one and Resonnances is great flick to watch as a double bill together with that one.
If I can complain about something it’s the lack of easily identifable characters. The actors doesn’t really look similar to each other, but none of their personalities are explored and it took quite some time to learn who’s who and keep them apart. Suddenly a woman shows up, and in all honesty, I can’t remember where she belonged in the story – but she seems to be a law student or a girlfriend or something. So the script could have needed a little bit more work to be perfect.
Still a fine indie-flick with tons and tons of creativity involved. It’s nice to see filmmakers who’s not so fucking lazy they spend years just waiting for a multi-million budget and then waste it on something big and mainstream – and totally lame.
Resonnances is not for everyone. But it’s something for me. Which is the most important thing here.
"Haha. No, just kidding. I’m teasing Rubbermonsterfetichism-Joachim. I used the word “cheap” together with this movie and he didn’t like that. I can understand him."
Whoa....be nice Phred...hahahhahahahhah....yeah, but I think I know what you mean.
"a low res monster film made to fuck up conservative fanboys who can’t stand movies shot new digital movies."
I usually don´t care what format the film uses, I looooooovveeeeee creature features.
"When I wrote low res up here it’s actually true. It looks like it was downloaded from YouTube. Almost anyway. I guess its shot with a simple DV-camera."
Maybe it was shot on a cellphone...?
Think about, Fred.....a creature feature/found footage shot on a cellphone, you should write a script with that story.
"In a lot of ways this reminded me of the 2011’s The Millenium Bug – also “homemade”, with a giant creature underground, set in a forest and with a small cast."
I still haven´t seen that one....
"The actors doesn’t really look similar to each other, but none of their personalities are explored and it took quite some time to learn who’s who and keep them apart. Suddenly a woman shows up, and in all honesty, I can’t remember where she belonged in the story – but she seems to be a law student or a girlfriend or something. So the script could have needed a little bit more work to be perfect."
Yeah, you need characters to care about, otherwise the creature can eat anyone......you just don´t care anymore.
"Resonnances is not for everyone. But it’s something for me. Which is the most important thing here."
Well......I want to see it, french genre films are usually more darker, complex, then it´s US counterparts.
Good review and thanks.
Posted by: Megatron | June 26, 2013 at 14:52
Fred...are you doing a tribute to Richard Matheson later this week...?
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/63018
Posted by: Megatron | June 26, 2013 at 21:29
No, I don't think so. So many others are probably gonna do it better than me :)
Posted by: Fred Anderson | June 26, 2013 at 21:44
Fred: Awwww...come on Fred...well, I guess you made up your mind.....
Posted by: Megatron | June 27, 2013 at 00:19