Ever get the feeling youve been lied to?
Hungry and excited, I accepted his offer and followed his lead down a dark, shadowy walkway.
I waited for three hours before I had to accept that the Opal Fruits were not coming.
I had been tricked.
When I sat down to watch giallo-inspired French thriller,Amer, I had a similar feeling.
I had been tricked again!
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Ameris a film made up of three individual segments.
The third segment finds the same character as an adult, returning to her childhood home.
The first section ofAmeris the best.
In this section, the filmmakers employ visual tricks to create an imposing, tense atmosphere.
Many visual elements of the giallo genre this film is paying homage to are present.
Theres peeking through keyholes, a shadowy witch-like figure and some otherworldly colours filling the screen.
Whats most frustrating is that it does it with all of the subtlety of a crotch punching, too.
In this section we get a barrage of sexual imagery thrown into our unsuspecting faces.
Its a complete shift in tone for the film and, for me, it doesnt work at all.
There are still some interesting visuals and sounds, but not enough.
Unfortunately, it doesnt.
Even with a runtime under ninety minutes, by the time the end credits rollAmerhas long outstayed its welcome.
The giallo elements are visual and aural.
The story elements are entirely missing, as the film features no real narrative at all.
The disc features a full and a teaser trailer for the film.
Theyre good trailers, but they dont really give an accurate account of the film.
Also included are four short films by the directors ofAmer.
These are actually a really good inclusion.
In smaller segments, just having interesting visuals works better.
Its also interesting to see them develop the techniques they eventually used in their feature.
Film:
Ameris out now andavailable from the Den Of Geek Store.
Rating:
4 out of 5
