Loft


Title: Loft
Rating: 4.5/5
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Mystery
Starring: Koen de Bouw, Filip Peeters, Bruno Vanden Brouke
Language: Flemish

A Belgian thriller isn't what we usually notice in the film industry, but out of curiosity, I decided to try something different, I was into a really bumpy ride of seduction, betrayal, jealousy, paranoia, and enigma. Five men share a loft, each has a key to it, and it's used as a sanctuary for any mistress they'd desire. A body of a woman is discovered in it by one of them, who is she? The maze begins. With brilliant story-line co written by "Erik Van Looy", who also directed, we can't help but being forced to watch, eagerly anticipating what might happen as the film progresses to darker twists.

I couldn't help preventing myself from being mesmerized by Looy's techniques, every movement is calculated to as a reflection of the characters desires and their ongoing suspicions. This is one of those films that work smartly on the tension factor, it captures the audience and leaves them engaged with what is going on, perfecting the elements of obscurity and suspense. There is no fooling around or over killing here. "Loft" moves on with such lucidity, that it makes any change of event or key twist seem natural, rather than being overly exaggerated like many thrillers, especially those of "Hollywood." The construction of the events is wicked. We are hit by many things without having a clue how on earth we missed them. All I can say about the acting is that it's great. I choose not to specify certain characters because of how they are all connected together, and if did talk more about them, I'm afraid I'd ruin the film. Even the neglected wives of this film are plausible.

The film is atmospheric, and with it hypnotic soundtrack, we are only drawn more. We can Notice that "Looy" was careful in choosing the camera angles and the way the footage moves. I enjoyed how the lightning was used to reflect the characters' moods and their mood swings. All the clichés that we usually encounter in these sorts of films are eliminated. We have a foreshadows that it won't be a happy or good ending, we even get hints of events to come, yet the intelligent construction removes the common "thriller" stereotype. What might be eerie about this film is that the events are also quiet reasonable to happen in real life. Some films tend to go beyond the ordinary to create such a tension, while "Loft" presents us how ugly and mischievous man can be.

I hesitated about giving a perfect, in the end I just felt near the last part of the film; they might have rushed a bit in order not to exceed the "two hours" length. This is not that big of a problem, it will not prevent us from enjoying the film, but I just felt that with a slight adjustment, the film would have marched better. Watching "Loft" brings to my mind other films such as "Seven", "Session 9", and "Oldboy". This is a must watch to those who enjoy such films. I've used adjectives such as "intelligent" and "smart" not to exaggerate or try to show off, but because I truly believe they are appropriate. "Looy" presented us with a powerful film. From the beginning of the film I honestly expected something good, I was not disappointed.

Trailer

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Female Prisoner: Scorpion

Image
Title: Female Prisoner: Scorpion Rating: 4/5 Genre: Drama, Thriller, Crime Starring: Meiko Kaji, Rie Yokoyama, Isao Natsuyagi Director: Shunya Ito Language: Japanese It was the 70s that saw the rise in Japanese grindhouse cinema (also known as ‘Pinky Violence); tired of the very ‘traditional’ style of many local films, and with the rise in success of Hollywood titles such as ‘Dirty Harry’ and ‘The Great Escape,’ a new wave of daring and experimental directors came to light. Armed with a low budget and all the influences of the early Western grindhouse cheap gore flicks, they combined it with traditional Japanese film-making sensibilities to create a style that somehow succeeded in being both artistic in style whilst retaining those cheap traditions such as gratuitous nudity and violence to result in something rather unique. And it was with this, the first instalment in the ‘Female Prisoner’ series, that would influence a wave known as ‘Women in Prison’ films; with a strong the...
Read more

Slasher Hunter

Image
Title: Slasher Hunter (2011) Rating: 3/5 Genre: Horror, Comedy Starring: Chad Phillips, Derek Rothermund, Ryan Sullivan Director: Steve Rudzinski Duration: 35 mins Four pals are planning to have a great weekend of sex and brews in an old cabin in the woods. Now, I know what you’re thinking: “this is the exact set up to every slasher movie from ‘79 to ‘99; this can’t end well.” Well our group of campers have thought of that, that’s why they brought sci-fi nerd Lee along for the ride who carries within him the so-called “survivor gene.” This special gene helps prevent him from being the unfortunate victim of any slasher maniacs that may be lurking about. Unfortunately this gene is also highly coveted by a group of the most dastardly slashers around: Frank, Larry, Jay, Charles, Pleatherface, and Puzzle (I didn’t say their names were very dastardly, did I?). It’s up to a renegade, federally-employed Slasher Hunter to thwart the slashers’ plan and save Lee and his friends before it’...
Read more

Chinese Erotic Ghost Story

Image
Title: Chinese Erotic Ghost Story Original Title: Yuk lui liu chai Genre: Comedy, Exploitation Rating: 2.5/5 Starring: Ben Ko Chu, Chun Chung, Siu Wan Hung Director: Kin-Nam Cho Language: Chinese It's always a little tricky to think how these sort of films should be rated; from the title it's apparent that they aren't perhaps the most creative when it comes to titles, though if nothing else it certainly is an accurate one, with perhaps some mention of how batshit insane the bizarre events of the actual film are being the only thing missing. It all kicks off rather normally; Chu is introduced as the debt collector working for an asshole of a King with a beautiful mistress, two beautiful daughters and an even prettier wife, whilst he's stuck with a woman who sleeps 20 hours a day and spends the remaining four awake eating. Caught in the embrace of one of the King's daughters he's punished with the task of entering Satan's Temple and stealing the statu...
Read more