Green Room [DVD]

Never ending suspense...& what a Great Surprise to see Sir Patrick Stewart in such a Horror Movie!!!

I loved every second of this film. It doesn’t let up for a second.I thought my heart was gonna explode out of my chest it’s so tense. It’s certainly very violent so if that’s not your thing stay clear. Otherwise a really exciting movie which I’ve watched three or four times now.

Green Room sees a punk rock band forced to fight for survival after witnessing a murder at a neo-Nazi skinhead bar, when the ruthless owner (Patrick Stewart) takes over the the handling of the incident.Having not seen the film since its initial cinema release 4 years ago a rewatch was long overdue. Luckily the film lives up to my memory, with its lean, mean, literal punk fuelled attitude and visceral, intense bloodthirsty brawls and kills. Backed by a killer soundtrack and impressive performances. The film maybe very basic and straightforward in its plot and characters but that doesn’t take away from the entertainment factor.The niche genre focus of the punk lifestyle is unique. with its accurate portrayal of the attitude and persona display that band members and fans accumulate. The story is a simple vs. situation, with the band members and a young woman taking on the vicious neo-Nazi skinheads attempting to cover up the murder. With 90% of the film being set in one location and the just over 90 minute runtime makes this a fast paced claustrophobic whirlwind.Going for a more realistic approach means that those looking for and expecting buckets full of splatter may be disappointed. However Green Room brings a gritty, wince inducing savagery to its violence. Dogs tear throats and faces apart, blunt knives slice flesh and bones snap all in suitably brutal fashion. The deaths are swift and come out of nowhere at times, leaving you constantly on edge and never certain of who will be offed next. The film has a sickly green, sweaty and dirty colour palette, the direction and editing build tension effectively.The late Anton Yelchin gives a good performance as the unlikely hero, who tries to keeps calm and reasonable, as he slowly loses it as he becomes wrapped up in the chaos. Imogen Poots is great as the quirky and borderline psychotic Amber and Patrick Stewart brings a cold, ruthless and quietly imposing menace to the bar owner Darcy. The other band members are also impressive in their roles.Green Room is a chaotic, bloodthirsty ball of carnage. Truly nasty antagonists, an original bunch of protagonists. The violence is raw and doesn’t hold back at all and tension never lets up. As mentioned the film doesn’t change the game in terms of genre and it does tick a lot of familiar boxes at time. It’s still an absolute blast though.

Please note that this review may contain some spoilers.Green Room has a pretty simple plot. A down on their luck punk band, the Ain't Rights, travel to play a show that doesn't work out as planned. As way of apology the organiser of the failed show contacts his cousin and manages to get the band another show at a bar owned, managed and frequented by White Supremacists.The band play their show, get paid, and all is well but then as they are leaving the bar they witness a murder and everything goes South from there as the band are trapped and surrounded.I watched Green Room in the cinema knowing very little about the film apart from the basic plot, as outlined above. I won't include anymore of the plot as I feel this film is best when you know as little as possible about it.Focusing on the positives first, Green Room is very good and for me, was just short of being great. It has a simple but effective plot, is gripping throughout and at around 90 minutes it doesn't overstay its welcome. Visually the film is excellent and it is very well shot. The sweeping aerial shots look just as good as the tighter, claustrophobic scenes and I found it a pleasure to watch.The film is quite violent and gory in places and the make up is second to none. I genuinely winced at some scenes and had to look away at times as it is just so convincing. Although very violent in places it isn't one of those films where these scenes are there just for the sake of it, each scene feels as though it belongs in the film and isn't there purely to get a reaction.On to the negatives; the main thing that stuck out for me both in the cinema and watching the film at home on blu ray is that the sound levels are very inconsistent. Some scenes are very loud while other scenes are far too quiet. I did miss several lines of dialogue in the cinema and at home I had to rewind certain scenes and even watch them with subtitles on to understand exactly what was said.Secondly, after watching the film twice now I do question its re-watchability. I found some scenes to be shocking and tense on first viewing but I felt this a lot less the second time around. I think it would have to be left for a long period of time before watching it again.Finally, I felt that Patrick Stewart wasn't given enough to do in this film. He gives a solid performance throughout but I felt that the film was missing a scene that truly made his character stand out and with someone as talented as Patrick Stewart in such an interesting role, I felt he should have had a scene where he truly stole the show, for me this was missing.Finally, in terms of special features the blu ray edition comes with a trailer for the film and also a short making of documentary which is just under 10 minutes long and is worth a watch.

Did not enjoy it at all. Made no sense

A punk band are on tour trying to build up a following and get the ‘vibe’ going. It is going down like a pork pie at a bar mitzvah and then they get offered an actual paying gig; only it is out in the wilds of the Pacific North west of America. On arrival it looks a bit down market to be honest.Then they sort of realise that they might be playing to some sort of white supremacists or something and yet decide to carry on – after all they are guaranteed a pay day. Then they stumble into a room where a crime has been committed. Now they are the only non locals to have seen it and all of a sudden they go from being guests to being in deep trouble.Now I thought this was going to be a slasher horror type and so was a bit non plussed at the thought. However, it is a rollicking and very tense thriller. There are some superb performances here too. Macon Blair as the well meaning MC is superb – but he is always excellent and Patrick ‘beam me up Scotty’ Stewart (I know he doesn’t use that line) is deliciously ambiguous. This is a case of ordinary people having to do extraordinary things and it all hangs together really well – so an easy one to recommend.