Simply Perfect

A Masterpiece!

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

That's all I could think of while struggling to get to the end of this mess. Movie starts with several random prisoners in what looks like a medieval type of dungeon. Simple steel cages with straw for bedding. One of the prisoners finds a white sash tied to the bars of his cell which apparently means that he has a chance of being set free if he can pass some kind of test. The test is a sadistic torture sequence at the hands of what are eerily represented as Eastern European prison guards. After they torture him, they let him run off to see if he can escape with a rabid human let loose after him. As it turns out he wasn't fast enough, so the result is they catch him again and rip all his teeth out with pliers before returning him to his cell perhaps to bleed to death as from memory that was his last appearance. Charming stuff.Through various flashback sequences we learn that all these prisoners are there as the result of very violent crimes they committed. One day they notice a new prisoner but none of them saw her arrive and she's certainly not like any prisoner they have seen before. She arouses the male prisoners and gets under the skin of the female prisoners, and they start referring to her as a witch.As the movie progresses, it starts to become clear that this new inmate is not what she seems. A female prisoner manages to throw a blade at her getting her in the neck but she doesn't die, and she seems to know too much about everybody else there. Another prisoner who appears to be a trustee, is doing his rounds and collecting the meal spoons. He starts to go nuts when he realises one is missing and via another flashback this guy, who's called "spooney", loves to gouge out women's eyes with large spoons and then eat them.The whole thing just statically jumps from one mindless brutal scene to the next as this new girl kills one of the prison guards with her bare hands and kills one of the male inmates after getting frisky with him for no other reason other than wanting his soul. It then starts to become clear what this is all about.Turns out this really isn't a prison as such, it's purgatory, so basically they have a chance to redeem themselves and have their souls end up in a positive afterlife or their souls are collected and they are forever damned. Some of the prisoners who end up killed, (again, I guess), wake up in their cell feeling empty. In the cell opposite is a blackened version of them with glowing eyes and this is supposed to represent their black souls. A blind medieval monk explains to them what they are there for and that they are not to re-bond with their souls. 2 female prisoners do just that anyway, they try to escape, are re-captured and killed for their trouble.One of the prisoners manages to redeem himself by praying to god for forgiveness just prior to being killed by another prisoner, so apparently his soul is lost to them forever which manages to upset the witch just a tad, but with everyone else dead and their souls now pretty much useless it's a kind of "c'est la vie" moment as more souls are on their way soon.To say that I hated this movie is an understatement. I didn't know much about this when I picked it up and thought that the movie would head in a different direction than what it did. This isn't well written or well acted and it's nothing more than a sick snuff film. Violence and brutality just for the sake of it isn't entertainment. OK, for the sake of argument, these people are in prison or purgatory for committing very violet crimes and Hell is probably where they need to end up, but this is just trash. The source material is amazing and there is so much you could do with a tale of purgatory, but this was just a cheap, nasty flick that didn't the need copious amounts of gore and suffering to drive home a point. It's the same reason I hated the Saw and Hostel movies, the story and characters end up taking a back seat to the brutality as the makers of such rubbish believe that excessive violence will cover up any holes in the acting, writing or the plot.The fact that Fangoria writes positively about this movie highlights just how far they have fallen from endorsing good horror movies, and will now praise anything that has bucket loads of blood whether it makes any sense or not. Give this a total miss.

Had the privilege to be invited to the Red Carpet's screening of a new Horror, the psychological thriller "Wrath of the Crows". Wasn't expecting anything like it, and, like others, i must state here, had seen a trailer i thought somewhat deceiving, without justice made to a film nevertheless pretty much anything, but, never an exploitative genre film, rather a dark drama, a psychological and visionary consideration, shot with splendid cinematography, always haunting and gripping, without ever resembling anything you'd see at the Grindhouse, or in another Horror films,think of Eli Roth, Rob Zombie, Uwe Boll or even down to the Asylum, or to Lloyd Kaufman, for example, who may be a very clever and humorous man, but, definitely, not a great seeker, nor a very open minded filmmaker, rather, just the mirror of an industry that's always been put at the fine borderline that lays in between Art and pornography, between products, either conceived by great directors, re-interpreting the Genre(think of Polanski in "Repulsion", "Rosemary's",etc., Kubrick with "The Shining", Friedkin, Bergman, Roeg, Bunuel, Ozu, Clayton, Frankenheimer, or more recently,others like Medem, Ozon, Adrian Lyne, Almodovar, Soderbergh and Von Trier, of course, with the strong "Antichrist"or Haneke in "Funny Games")or by "people", without many expectations or virtues, aside making the usual quick low budget's, cash in, shake, and, re-start all over again, with mostly forgettable results, ultimately, provoking what's happened to a whole Genre, which has been suffering, always like suspended in a misconception, that's grossed out many and engaged others! There's no right or wrong, some could say they like only greater Cinema, others instead could enjoy bad taste and provocations that many like myself feel more of the 1960's/1970's, but today seem trite and plain shabby. To each their own, i guess! But, it is so rare to see an original film, and,let's face it, it is extremely rare to see an Horror film, that breaks all rules with greater skills, such as some personal story telling, a precise and vibrant, driven visual style, and, a profound search and devotion fencing, without fears, most superstitions, presenting an audience, with a show daring to introduce us to the verge of a mysterious, unraveling darkness, coming directly from the mind! Talented, true virtuoso, Italian filmmaker (he writes, produces, photographs, cuts his movies!)Ivan Zuccon is indeed a surprise himself for me, and, for many of those who saw his enigmatic, but, splendid, somber yet powerful, "Wrath of the Crows",the other night in Hollywood, leaving pretty much everyone, at the end of the projection, like under a spell! I am not saying that this work is flawless, but, with ambiguity and with scenes, at times, virtually unexplained and seemingly coming out of a nightmare, drives us all inside a rabid madness and really does conquer fear from the interiors, using with nonchalance, a thought provoking, emotional tone of discovery, featuring pessimistic hallucinations, over a succession of alternating and troubling, incessant flashes, where the fine line between evil and good may be drawn, making us question whether its immoral conclusion was maybe already impairing our final judgment! Through an always fascinating array of arresting and vivid images, at times dreamy, at times much more painfully real, like the horror devouring all principal characters, the movie is extending, stretching not credibility, but, simply living with us, a surreal, yet never impossible path: a walk through existence, love, death, addiction, sickness, religions and faith, injustice, even a complete, utterly penetrating, reconstruction of the after life, with a clarity not made accessible to everyone, but able to interest even the agnostic's. Zuccon, always extremely well served by stories that feel real, thanks to the good use of some great actors, does not leave us ever breathing for a single moment! The acting certainly was another winning point: was mostly impressed by all British players, all truly exceptionally believable, and, in particular, Brian Fortune and,newcomer John Game, who both are able to almost create singular elements of introspection out of the reveal of their characters! And, then, Domiziano Arcangeli, who is another example himself of life and paradox, finds here another occasion, not limiting his extremely unique face and his burning glare to a provocative image, but, that adds up to a playful and painful game, portraying a dilemma that spawns over existence, solitude, addictions, murders, revealing how a sense of self awareness can break into despair even the most sarcastic, harsh and distant aloofness, while, his hidden frailty is rather at the very helm of his irremediably wounded, tragic persona. More surprises were delivered by all lead characters, a full cast of scream queens, all so perfectly "non screaming" (aside, from Tiffany Shepis, revealing and sexy costume, that ends up becoming too much of a concession to the non sublime, and, to interfere with her powerful performance, some of her best work to date!) but sensitively working on building up their corrupted characters with earnest dramatic qualities, recreating emblematic dark ladies,also conveying a disturbing impression over the meanings of abuse, nailing, completely, the different ways it gets in the middle of happiness and redemption. A chilling, bewildering movie introducing, so convincingly, some impressive thoughts over destiny and after life, rarely discussed elsewhere,and, an impressive wave of humanity tragically anchored to repress, hopelessly, their heavy contradictions, facing life and death, within the repercussions of a present that's here re-enacted as envisioned by the mind of a true artist, and, this was truly the best surprise of the evening, for me!

I had the chance to catch the Premier of "Wrath of the Crows" and was blown away by how big the movie turned out! It didn't feel condensed or showed in any way or form that it had a small budget (typical Independent film)! It has Action, Horror, Suspense, Amazing Visuals, great camera work, Amazing cast and one original story with a very unique twist towards the end! Not a lot of horrors will touch what is beyond the known and go that extra mile of Originality, But this movie sure did! Dealing with the spiritual world that is similar to our reality but in a different dimension.When given a chance, check out this movie and you will see what I mean! You will be amazed by its story telling! and if you are a Tara Cardinal fan such as myself... It is definitely worth the watch to see this amazingly multi-talented Actress showcase her range and epic character performance! This Film is a horror film so be warned that it will contain a lot of blood and such! But in the end, it is one rare entertaining movie! 9/10

The visual imagery of this film is stunning, the acting is fantastic, and the story was gripping - all wrapped up with an ending that was not expected.The way the back stories of the various characters were interlaced with their current situations allowed you to completely understand how they found themselves in the places they were in, and as the overall story line was allowed to blossom, you were let in on secret after secret until you could see the entire picture!! Occasionally terrifying and continually gripping, the overall result was very well done and is something I will seek out to see again.