THE MENU : Tuesday 6th December 2022.

I saw the MA15+ Rated 'THE MENU' this week, which is an American black comedy horror film Directed by Mark Mylod whose prior feature film making efforts are his debut in 2002 with 'Ali G Indahouse', then 'The Big White' in 2005, with 'What's Your Number?' in 2011 being his last big screen offering before this one. In the meantime he has also Directed multiple episodes of 'The Royle Family', 'Entourage', 'Game of Thrones', 'Shameless' and 'Succession'. This film saw its World Premier screening at the Toronto International Film Festival in mid-September this year, before its release in the US in mid-November and here in Australia from 24th November. The film cost US$30M to produce, has so far grossed US$49M at the Box Office and has received generally positive critical press.

Here then, young couple Margot Mills (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Tyler (Nicholas Hoult) are waiting patiently on a jetty awaiting the arrival of a private boat to take them and a bunch of other selected guests to a remote island to eat at Hawthorne, an exclusive restaurant run by celebrity chef Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes). We are quickly introduced to the other guests, those being Lillian Bloom (Janet McTeer) a famed food critic and her Editor, Ted (Paul Adelstein); George Diaz (John Leguizamo) a self-centred washed up Actor and his assistant and girlfriend Felicity (Aimee Carrero); a trio of tech business executives Soren (Arturo Castro), Bryce (Rob Yang) and Dave (Mark St. Cyr); and Richard Liebbrandt (Reed Birney) and his wife Anne (Judith Light). After disembarking the boat the restaurant maitre'd Elsa (Hong Chau) while conducting a quick roll call, notes that Margot was not Tyler's originally designated guest for the evening, which causes her some consternation. Elsa then guides the guests through the grounds on foot pointing out their herb and vegetable gardens, their Norwegian smokehouse, the house where Chef Slowik resides that is out of bounds for everyone and the living quarters where the kitchen brigade and front-of-house staff live. They are also advised that there is no mobile phone reception on the island.

Dinner begins, with first an amuse bouche then the first, second, third, a palette cleanser and then the fourth and fifth course all accompanied by the finest of wines. As each course unfolds Slowik claps his hands together to gain everyone's undivided attention, and his accompanying introductory monologues to each course gradually becoming more disconcerting and violent. On Slowik's orders, he calls upon Sous Chef Jeremy Louden (Adam Aalderks) at the start of a course he's titled 'The Mess' and tells everyone that Jeremy has aspirations to be him, but he is only good, not great, and never will be great. Slowik, kisses each cheek of his Sous Chef, who then pulls out a pistol, places it in his mouth and pulls the trigger. Hence 'The Mess', which Lilian Bloom quickly dismisses as part of Slowik's showmanship.

At this horror the guests try to leave, with Richard Liebbrandt being the first to the door but is halted by some burly looking floor staff and Elsa. She asks him, which hand - the left or the right, but Richard looks on quizzically. Out comes a chef with a kitchen knife and promptly cuts off his wedding ring finger, returning his bloodied wedding ring to his wife. Slowik then asks the guests to look out of the window to see the restaurant's main investor, and the boss of Soren, Bryce and Dave, while strapped to a harness with angel wings, is slowly lowered into the water and drowned in front of the guests.

Later all the guests are asked to step outside the restaurant, with the male guests given a forty-five second headstart and the opportunity to flee, but all are caught in no time and returned by the staff. Slowik declares all the guests were selected because they either contributed to him losing his passion for his craft or because they make a living off exploiting the work of artisans like him, then announces that the night will end with everyone on the island dead. Since Margot's presence was unplanned, Slowik gives her the choice of dying with either the staff or the guests, and she has fifteen minutes in which to decide. 

Slowik turns his attention to Tyler, revealing that he was invited personally eight months ago and knew all along that the dinner would end with everyone's death. This enrages Margot. It is revealed that Margot is in fact an escort named Erin whom Tyler has hired for the evening, knowing full well she would die, since the restaurant does not serve parties of one. Slowik humiliates Tyler further by forcing him to cook in front of the guests and staff, chastising his dish of leeks, shallots and lamb all roughly cut up and cooked up hastily in a frying pan. Slowik whispers in Tyler's ear who then leaves the kitchen and commits suicide by hanging in a storeroom. Slowik decides that Erin belongs with the staff and asks her to collect a barrel that is required for dessert from the smokehouse, falsely claiming that Elsa forgot it. 

After going to the smokehouse to retrieve the barrel, Erin sneaks into Slowik's house, only to be attacked by Elsa. After a scuffle in another commercial kitchen Erin kills Elsa in self-defence by stabbing her in the neck with a kitchen knife. Using a key found on Elsa's now lifeless body, Erin gains entry in Slowik's private quarters. After seeing newspaper clippings of Slowik's past life in his sparsely decorated office, and a photograph of the man from back in 1978 when he was flipping burgers at the dawn of his career Erin finds a radio, calls for help, and returns to the restaurant with the barrel. A Coast Guard officer soon arrives from his boat, bringing hope to the guests of their rescue. The officer recognises George from a movie he once saw him in and asks for his autograph. George nervously complies and pens the words Help Us and folds up the piece of paper. As the officer turns and is ready to leave he opens up the paper to reveal the message and promptly holds Slowik at gunpoint, commanding him to get down on his knees. The officer then reveals himself to be a line cook in disguise and returns to the kitchen, much to the guests astonishment.

Because of Erin's betrayal, Slowik tells her that she belongs with the guests, but Erin turns the tables and mocks his dishes and complains that she is still hungry. Having previously seen a photo of a young, happy Slowik working in a burger joint, Erin asks him for a cheeseburger and fries. Moved by her simple request, Slowik says that he'll fix her up the best cheeseburger she's ever tasted and asks if she wants crinkle cut fries or julienne. He then prepares the meal to her requirements. Erin takes a bite and praises his food, and then asks if she can get it 'to go'. Slowik packs the food for her and lets her leave, but not before she has paid ten bucks for her burger and fries. Erin takes the Coast Guard boat docked nearby and flees from the island.

The dinner culminates with dessert, for which Slowik pays tribute to the popular campfire treat in the US and Canada of s'mores, by covering the guests with coats made of marshmallows and hats made of chocolate. The kitchen brigade meanwhile adorn the floor space and table tops around the guests with decorative patterns of seemingly flammable ingredients. He then sets the restaurant ablaze, killing the guests, staff, and himself as Erin watches on from the now drifting boat off shore while chomping down on her cheeseburger. 

'The Menu' is deliciously entertaining from its strong performances of Fiennes, Taylor-Joy and Chau, to the very black dead-pan humour, to the social commentary about chefs as celebrities, up themselves critics, over zealous fans, the fear of missing out fiends and wealth and capitalist privileged consumerism writ large. And all of this is wrapped up in a tongue-in-cheek offering that is as much about the unfolding horror the guests increasingly find themselves in as it is about the gastronomic delights served up to them by the unwavering and dedicated team of cooks working the kitchen. The storyline is a feast for the senses and here Director Mark Mylod serves us up film packed with all the right ingredients to offer the viewer something fresh, mouthwatering and tasty. 

'The Menu' warrants four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps. 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

AMSTERDAM : Tuesday 11th October 2022

I saw the MA15+ Rated 'AMSTERDAM' earlier this week, and this mystery comedy film set in the early 1930's is Written, Directed and Co-Produced by David O. Russell whose previous feature film making credits include 'Three Kings' in 1999, 'I Heart Huckabees' in 2004, 'The Fighter' in 2010, 'Silver Linings Playbook' in 2012, 'American Hustle' in 2013 and 'Joy' in 2015. This film saw its World Premier showcasing in New York City on 18th September and was released in the US and here in Australia last week week, having cost US$80M to produce, has so far recouped just US$12M and has garnered mixed critical reviews. 

In 1918, Burt Berendsen (Christian Bale) is sent at the insistence of his very well connected and very well to do estranged wife's parents to fight in World War I. While stationed in France, Burt meets and becomes good friends with African-American soldier Harold Woodsman (John David Washington), both under the command of affable General Bill Meekins (Ed Bagley Jnr.) After they sustain severe and multiple shrapnel injuries in battle, including Burt's loss of an eye, the pair are nursed back to health by Valerie Voze (Margot Robbie), an outgoing nurse, whom they form a close bond with also.

When Burt and Harold have sufficiently recovered from their wounds, the three move to Amsterdam, where they live together and become close friends spending their time living life to the full, until Burt announces his return to New York City to be with his wife Beatrice (Andrea Riseborough). Harold, who has fallen in love with Valerie and she with him, also leaves to return to New York City and fulfill his own aspirations, but before he leaves Valerie leaves him unexpectedly leaving just a hand written note bidding him farewell. 

Fast forward to New York City in 1933 and Burt has opened his own medical practice catering to injured veterans of the war and still remains firm friends with Harold, who is now a lawyer, while they have not heard from Valerie since they left Amsterdam some fifteen years previously. Harold asks Burt to perform a post-mortem on Bill Meekins, now a senator who served as the commander of their regiment during the war, at the urgent request of Meekins' daughter Elizabeth (Taylor Swift), who believes that he was murdered. Burt performs the post-mortem aided by nurse Irma St. Clair (Zoe Saldana). The post-mortem reveals that Meekins stomach contained an unusual amount of a grey liquid indicating a mercury laced poison leading them to conclude that this must have been the cause of death. Burt and Harold meet with Elizabeth to talk about the post-mortem results, but she is suddenly killed when a hitman pushes her under the wheels of an oncoming car. The hitman frames Burt and Harold for her death during the ensuing melee, while they flee the scene on foot as the Police arrive.

In an attempt to clear their names Burt and Harold try to determine who had led Elizabeth to hire them. This leads them to wealthy textile heir Tom Voze (Rami Malek) and his antagonising wife Libby (Anya Taylor-Joy). At the Voze residence they reunite with Valerie, and learn that she is Tom's sister and was the one who convinced Elizabeth to hire them, knowing that ultimately they could be trusted. Valerie is now under constant supervision by Tom and Libby, who claim that she suffers from vertigo, a nerve disease and various other ailments though the medications Tom and Libby urge her to take every day could just be the real issue. Tom suggests to Burt and Harold that they should talk to Gil Dillenbeck (Robert De Niro), a famous and decorated veteran who now advocates for WWI veteran's rights and was close friends with Meekins.

Burt's initial attempts to contact Dillenbeck fail, and meanwhile Harold and Valerie spend the day at her home, where they notice the hitman, Tarim Milfax (Timothy Olyphant) maintaining a watchful on their movements. They follow him to a forced sterilisation clinic owned by a mysterious organisation known as the 'Council of Five'. After a fight with Milfax, Harold and Valerie catch-up once more with Burt. Valerie takes them to New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel where they meet Paul Canterbury (Mike Myers) an MI6 spy, maker of glass eyes and an ornithologist and Henry Norcross (Michael Shannon) a US Naval Intelligence Officer, maker of glass eyes, ornithologist and partner of Canterbury - Valerie's benefactors from Amsterdam who are secretly spies masquerading under their other guises. Paul and Henry explain that the Council of Five are planning to overthrow the American government and that Dillenbeck can help them foil their plot.

The three finally are granted a meeting with Dillenbeck having got past his gatekeeper wife, and who is offered US$40K from a fat middle aged man on behalf of an unnamed benefactor to deliver a speech rallying veterans to forcibly remove President Franklin D. Roosevelt from the White House and install Dillenbeck as a puppet dictator in his place. Dillenbeck agrees and plans to speak at a reunion gala that Burt and Harold are hosting, in order to draw out whoever is behind the plot.

At the reunion event, Dillenbeck instead makes his own speech instead of the one he was paid to say. Milfax, from the rafters directly above the stage has intentions to shoot Dillenbeck for going against the plan, but Harold and Valerie spot him and are able to thwart him in time. Milfax is arrested, while the Council of Five are revealed to be four industry leaders, including Tom, who are fanatically obsessed with Benito Mussolini, Heinrich Himmler and Adolf Hitler and have designs on making America a fascist state, with Dillenbeck becoming the fifth member of the secretive cabal, or so they had thought.

Tom and the other leaders are arrested by Police, but are quickly released as such people in high places often were, and so they in turn slander Dillenbeck in the press following their release. Dillenbeck testifies about the incident to Congress and returns home to live out his life. Harold and Valerie leave the country since they cannot be together in the United States aided by a slow boat out of New York organised quickly by Canterbury and Norcross, but not bound for Amsterdam as it will soon enough be overrun with the Gestapo exclaims Norcross, to which Valerie nonchalantly responds with 'who are they?' Burt wishes them farewell and plans to reopen his medical practice and pursue a relationship with Irma, finally coming out of the shadow of his estranged wife and his over bearing in-laws.

I have to say that I am somewhat surprised by the critical drubbing that 'Amsterdam' has received, because I, and the two movie buddies I went with to see this film, enjoyed this latest quirky comedy thriller supported by an ensemble of fine A-list acting talent. The trio of Bale, Washington and Robbie share a screen presence that is a pleasure to watch and between them they rarely miss a beat, delivering their quips, comedic one liners and sight gags with aplomb, and look as though they're having a great time doing it too. The production values and cinematography are also top notch, and whilst the story line zigs and zags, ducks and weaves, it is nonetheless a work of fiction with a modicum of a true story woven into the at times meandering narrative, but it works and all comes together nicely in the end. This may not be David O. Russell's greatest ever work, but as a story of the power of friendship and love; remembering those that exist on the fringes of our society; and thwarting the enemy at the gates, this is an entertaining enough period romp that merits the price of your movie ticket. 

'Amsterdam' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps. 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE NORTHMAN : Tuesday 26th April 2022.

Having this week returned from a break in England, which should explain my absence from this Blog for the past month or so, I saw the MA15+ Rated 'THE NORTHMAN' at my local independent movie theatre earlier this week. Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written by Robert Eggers whose previous two feature films were 'The Witch' in 2015 and 'The Lighthouse' in 2019, this epic historical action film cost US$90M to produce and has so far garnered largely widespread critical acclaim, having thus far recouped US$27M. Following its World Premier showcasing in Stockholm on 28th March, advance screenings we held in certain cities in early April before its wide release (including Australia and the US) from last week onwards. Normal service of my Blog BTW, will be resumed form next week onwards. 

The film opens up with a number of Viking longboats sailing towards a remote windswept island upon which sits a settlement. It is A.D.895 and the returning King Aurvandill War-Raven (Ethan Hawke) is welcomed back triumphantly with the riches he has pillaged from various overseas lands. He is met by his wife, the Queen Gudrun (Nicole Kidman) and his young son and heir Prince Amleth (Oscar Novak). Also in the returning party is Fjolnir (Claes Bang), Aurvandill's younger brother and Amleth's uncle. Later on Aurvandill and Amleth take part in a spiritual ceremony that marks Amleths passage into manhood. The ceremony is overseen by Aurvandill's jester Heimir (Willem Dafoe). 

The next morning as father and son are exiting the place of the ceremony, several warriors on horseback all descend upon the King wounding him with arrows and spears. Fjolnir is among them as the leader of the pack, and ultimately beheads Aurvandill. Having hidden behind a rock nearby and witnessed the slaying of his father, his village massacred and his mother taken away screaming by his uncle, Amleth flees the island by row boat repeatedly uttering the words 'I will avenge my father, save my mother and kill my uncle'. 

We then fast forward to years later and the now adult Amleth (Alexander Skarsgard) is rowing a Viking longboat down river in the land of Rus. It seems that he was found by a band of Vikings and raised among them as a berserker. After a bloody attack on a village, Amleth comes across a Seeress (Bjork) in the temple of Svetovit. She predicts that Amleth will exact out his revenge on Fjolnir. Amleth learns that Fjolnir was overthrown by Harald of Norway and now lives in exile in Iceland. Amleth sneaks aboard a slave ship headed for Iceland. Posing as a slave, he encounters a Slavic slave named Olga of the Birch Forest (Anya Taylor-Joy), who lays claim to being a sorceress. Upon arrival, Amleth and the other slaves are shackled and taken to Fjolnir's farm, where it is revealed that Queen Gudrun, now Fjolnir's wife, has borne him a son, Gunnar (Elliott Rose).

One night, Amleth flees the farm and comes across a He-Witch (Ingvar Eggert Sigurosson), who facilitates a spiritual discussion between Amleth and the late Heimir, revealed to have been murdered by Fjolnir by gouging out his eyes, cutting out his tongue and slicing off his ears while he still lived. He then tells Amleth about Night Blade, a magical sword that can only be drawn at night, and its whereabouts, which Amleth later obtains through fighting and overcoming an undead spirit for the sword.

The next day Amleth is chosen to compete in a game of knattleikr. Needless to say this is a brutal and bloody game which turns violent and Amleth saves Gunnar, who runs to play, from the rival team's champion Thorfinnr (Hafþor Julius Bjornsson). Amleth wrestles Thorfinnr to the ground and repeatedly heads butts his opponent until his skull cracks open. As a reward, Thorir (Gustav Lindt), Fjolnir's eldest and adult son allows Amleth to claim Olga as his wife and makes him a supervisor over the other slaves, but warns him that he will never be free of a life of slavery himself. 

During the celebrations later that same evening, Amleth and Olga make love. They commit to work together to overthrow Fjolnir and his men. Over the ensuing nights, Amleth kills a number of Fjolnir's men. Olga meanwhile mixes the men's food with magic mushrooms, causing them all to hallucinate, so allowing Amleth to enter Fjolnir's house. There he meets his mother, Gudrun, who tells him that she was originally taken into slavery, and that Amleth was the result of rape. She also reveals that it was her order for Fjolnir to kill Aurvandill and Amleth, and that she prefers Fjolnir and her new son Gunnar. Amleth leaves, distraught and angered and promptly kills Thorir in his sleep and rips out his heart. 

Fjolnir is determined to find his son's killer and promptly begins slicing the throats of random slaves if they don't give him the answer he is looking for. He threatens to kill Olga, resulting in Amleth revealing himself as responsible and trading Olga's life for Thorir's heart. Amleth is taken captive, strung up and severely beaten to within an inch of his life. Amleth is released from his restraints by a flock of ravens who peck away at his bindings. Olga rescues Amleth from the farm and the two escape, planning to go to Amleth's kin on Orkney island. Departing Iceland by boat, Amleth kisses a wound on Olga's throat, caused by the knife held to her neck previously by Fjolnir. This triggers a vision that she is pregnant with twins, and believing that his children will never be safe as long as Fjolnir lives, Amleth, against Olga's wishes, determines to finally kill Fjolnir and jumps overboard and swims back to shore.

Back at the farm, under cover of darkness, Amleth frees the slaves and kills the majority of Fjolnir's men. The slaves burn the farm down to the ground. While looking for Fjolnir, Amleth is attacked by Gudrun and, after, by Gunnar. Amleth defends himself, but, in the ensuing melee, kills both, but is seriously wounded from multiple stab wounds. Fjolnir discovers the bodies and arranges a fight to the death with Amleth at the Gates of Hel—the actively spewing volcano Hekla, to resolve their conflict. At the volcano, the pair engage in a fierce swordfight, resulting in Fjolnir being decapitated and Amleth fatally wounded. As Amleth lies dying, he has a future vision of Olga embracing their twin children safe on Orkney, and sees his ascent on horseback to Valhalla.

'The Northman' will not be a film for everyone, which probably explains the lacklustre Box Office performance (as at the time of writing), but having said that I don't think that Director Robert Eggers is too worried about that given the overwhelming critical acclaim the film has generated. For me, I certainly was entertained and thoroughly engaged for the duration of the 135 minute run time by the authenticity of the production values that Eggers insisted on, the storyline (which while simple enough is hardly complex but engrossing nonetheless), the strong cast of A-list talent, and the brutality and blood soaked violence of the Viking era where life meant so much less than it does today. All of that said, the film does labour at times and the VFX of Amleth's family tree branching out from his heart with passing images of his ancestors and ultimately his own children felt clunky and somewhat ill paced. Despite these minor observations however, Eggers continues to demonstrate his ability over his craft and this time with a much more sizeable budget that expands on the historical worlds he created in his two previous cinematic outings and offers the viewer an original gripping story that alas, we see far too little of today. 

'The Northman' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

LAST NIGHT IN SOHO : Tuesday 23rd November 2021.

'LAST NIGHT IN SOHO', which I saw at my local independent movie theatre this week, is an MA15+ Rated British psychological horror film Directed, Co-Produced, Written and based on a story by Edgar Wright, whose previous film making credits are 'A Fistful of Fingers' - his Directorial debut in 1995, then 'Shaun of the Dead', 'Hot Fuzz', 'Scott Pilgrim vs. the World', 'The World's End', 'Baby Driver', and the doco 'The Sparks Brothers' released earlier this year. The film saw its World Premiere screening at this years Venice International Film Festival on 4th September 2021, before its release in the UK and US on 29th October. The film was originally slated for release at the end of September 2020, but was delayed to 23rd April 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, before being delayed again to 22nd October, then again to the following weekend, before being released in Australia last week. So far the film has grossed US$20M off the back of a US$43M production budget and has garnered generally favourable Reviews. 

Here, an aspiring fashion designer Eloise 'Ellie' Turner (Thomasin McKenzie) who has a love for everything from the Swinging Sixties relocates from her home town of Redruth in Cornwall to London to attend the London College of Fashion. Her mother was also a fashion designer, committed suicide, and whose ghost she sees from time to time in mirrors, although the apparition never speaks to her. She lives with her grandmother Margaret Turner (Rita Tushingham) in Cornwall. 

Once in London and located in the halls of residence, she is paired up with snobbish roommate Jocasta (Synnove Karlsen). It is only John (Michael Ajao) another student who shows Ellie any empathy. Ultimately, after one too many rowdy parties and put downs Ellie moves out and into a bedsit owned by the elderly Ms. Collins (Diana Rigg, in her last screen acting role before her death in September 2020).

That night, Ellie has a dream whereby she is transported back to 1965 London, and in particular Soho. At the famed and popular Cafe de Paris, she observes a confident young blonde woman, Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy), making enquiries about becoming a singer at the club, saying that she will be the next Cilla Black. Sandie embarks on a relationship with the charming manager, Jack (Matt Smith). The next morning while in class at college, Ellie begins to design a dress inspired by Sandie and discovers an unexplained love bite on her neck.

The next evening in another dream, Sandie successfully auditions at a Soho nightclub, arranged by Jack, before returning to the same bedsit that Ellie has rented. Inspired by her visions of Sandie, Ellie dyes her hair blonde, changes her fashion style, uses her as an inspiration for her dress designs and gets a job at a pub in order to make ends meet and pay for her rent and the original '60's clothing she has purchased. She is observed by a silver-haired man, who recognises her similarities to Sandie. In other dreams, Ellie discovers Sandie is not living the life she had wished for, and Jack begins to pimp Sandie out to his mostly middle-aged male clientele.

Back in the present day Ellie is disturbed by more and more menacing apparitions that resemble Jack and the men who abused Sandie. John persuades her to go to a Halloween Party, from which she later flees after the spirits attempt to accost her. John returns with her to her bedsit, where she has a vision of Jack murdering Sandie. Ellie decides to track down the silver-haired man, who she believes is Jack. She goes to the Police, and recounts her story in full detail, but she is taken for an unhinged crank.

Ellie visits the university library to find newspaper reports about Sandie's murder but is unsuccessful, instead finding plenty of stories of local men who mysteriously vanished seemingly without a trace. The spirits again manifest themselves, and attempting to flee the scene again, she nearly stabs Jocasta in a blind panic believing she was stabbing a spirit, but was prevented from doing so by John who intervened. Believing she must avenge Sandie's death, Ellie confronts the silver-haired man, who regularly drinks at the pub where she works. He angrily denies killing Sandie but is hit by a London cab and killed while leaving the pub. The pub landlady (Margaret Nolan in her last screen acting role before her death in October 2020) reveals the man's name to be Lindsay (Terence Stamp), and Ellie recalls coming across him in her dreams (as portrayed by Sam Claiflin) when he was an undercover vice officer who tried to help Sandie escape her life of prostitution. 

Distraught, Ellie decides to leave London and return to her Grandmother in Cornwall. John offers to drive her there, but first he drives her back to Ms. Collins' house so she can tell her that she's leaving and collect her belongings. Ms. Collins tells her that a female detective came by earlier in the day asking about Sandie's murder before revealing that she is actually Sandie. She explains that Ellie's vision of Sandie's death was in fact a vision of Sandie killing Jack when he threatened her with a knife. She then lured the men she was pimped to back to her room and killed them, hiding the bodies under the floorboards and in the walls of the house. Ms. Collins also reveals that she drugged Ellie's tea with the intention of killing her to prevent the truth from getting out.

In the ensuing scuffle, a cigarette from Ms. Collins' ashtray falls into a box of '60's LP records and begins to smoulder and burn. John comes to Ellie's assistance but Ms. Collins stabs him in the stomach as she lets him in through the front door. Ellie, in a semi-conscious drugged up state by now, makes it up the stairs to her room, where the spirits of Sandie's victims beg Ellie to kill Ms. Collins, but she refuses. With flames now taking hold over the house Ms. Collins enters Ellie's room, where she too witnesses the spirits and is slapped by the ghost of Jack. With the Police outside, she attempts to slit her own throat saying she will not go to prison, but is stopped by Ellie, who tells her she understands why she killed those men. Ms. Collins, as Sandie, tells Ellie to save herself and John from the increasing fire. Sandie remains sat at the end of Ellie's bed as the fire rages out of control all around her. 

Later, Ellie enjoys success as her '60's inspired dresses are showcased at a fashion show. She is congratulated backstage by her grandmother, other college students and John, now her boyfriend. Ellie sees her mother's spirit in a mirror smiling at her, followed by a vision of Sandie, who waves at her and blows her a kiss.

Edgar Wright certainly knows how to create a genre bending film that is a nod to all things that London had to offer the Swinging Sixties; to the Hammer House of Horror movies that dominated cinema from the mid-'50's til the mid '70's; to time travel; the mix of Italian and British horror thrillers of the era; to the soundtrack straight out of the '60's songbook; the great performances from an ensemble cast of young players and senior practitioners; and the surprising plot twists and turns that in the final analysis I never saw coming. Whilst this is touted as a horror film, horror it might be in the 1960's sense of the term, but it never left me feeling on the edge of my seat, or biting my nails in eager anticipation of what comes next, or offers up anything that can be truly defined as scary. Additionally, the timing of the final fashion show sequence is a bit off, with Ellie's hand still bandaged up from being slashed by Ms. Collins/Sandie indicating it is just a week or two since, while John seems to have made a complete recovery from the stab wound to his gut. That said, the stunning visuals, the stylish thrills, and the mash up of genres make for a highly entertaining couple of hours spent in a darkened room with a bunch of strangers all gawping up at a giant screen. 

'Last Night in Soho' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-