BChristgau
02-14-2012, 04:05 PM
Pedro Almodovar is one of those directors (like David Lynch and Tim Burton) I always wished would make a straight-up, balls-out horror movie. So, naturally, I was pretty jazzed when I heard that his latest was a remake of the oft-remade French classic LES YEUX SANS VISAGE (aka. THE EYES WITHOUT A FACE). I watched the film last and, although it's way more of an Almodovar movie than it is the proper horror film I was hoping for, found it decent arthouse entertainment.
Almodovar's fellow Spaniard Jess Franco must have remade EYES at least ten times (if not more), and Almodovar shares his penchant for mischief-making. Even when something thoroughly nasty is happening on-sceen, you can't help but not take any of it too seriously... and I think that's SKIN's chief problem.
I think to do this sort of a thing right, you can't be winking and nodding at the audience: let the bizarreness of the proceedings speak for themselves and the chips fall where they may. Lynch got this when he made BLUE VELVET. I think "poker-faced" is the word I'm looking for.
Anyway, although I found it slightly disappointing, I think it's still well worth checking out for more adventurous filmgoers. Just be sure you know you're walking into something very twisted and strange.
Cheers,
B
Almodovar's fellow Spaniard Jess Franco must have remade EYES at least ten times (if not more), and Almodovar shares his penchant for mischief-making. Even when something thoroughly nasty is happening on-sceen, you can't help but not take any of it too seriously... and I think that's SKIN's chief problem.
I think to do this sort of a thing right, you can't be winking and nodding at the audience: let the bizarreness of the proceedings speak for themselves and the chips fall where they may. Lynch got this when he made BLUE VELVET. I think "poker-faced" is the word I'm looking for.
Anyway, although I found it slightly disappointing, I think it's still well worth checking out for more adventurous filmgoers. Just be sure you know you're walking into something very twisted and strange.
Cheers,
B