Laikals
The greatest movie ever made..!
Ensofter
Overrated and overhyped
Plustown
A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.
Theo Robertson
Not to be confused with the 1970s Soviet film where three men wander off in to the Russian wilderness and do absolutely nothing for four hours STALKER is no less unentertaining . Based upon a British horror movie from 35 years earlier whose only claim to fame it was banned by the BBFC . It features a plot about a female writer working on her second novel but instead of getting on with the task of writing a book she sits in the garden , sips a glass of wine , has a bath , lies in bed and does a hundred other mundane things , none of which involve typing stuff up on a lap top . There might be something about to happen because creepy music plays out on the soundtrack . Ms Writer sits down in a chair , creepy music . Ms Writer stares at a computer , creepy music . Ms Writer brushes her teeth , creepy music . In fact no matter what happens creepy music is the star of the movie . Considering the director of STALKER is Martin Kemp the talented pretty boy from Spandau Ballet this might be the reason for it
FlashCallahan
When novelist Paula Martin retreats to the seclusion of her family home Crows Hall she hopes to clear her mind and focus on her new book. The arrival of an assistant, Linda, should take the pressure offBut bodies begin to pile up, and Paula finds herself trapped in a terrifying nightmare of murder and madness.....A remake of the criminally under seen 'house on straw hill', Stalker begins very well, and Kemp proves he is as good behind the camera as well as in front of it. But as soon as March appears on the screen, it falls apart.I haven't seen March in anything prolific since Color Of Night, and back then she was known as 'The Sinner From Pinner' and this stuck in my head for the majority of the film.Salmon is good, but he's nothing more than a narrator, filling in the blanks for the clueless audience...if there are any.The rest of the cast are really good, but March hams it up too much to be a convincing men ace. Half the time she looks ill, and the other half just being too prissy toward everyone.So all in all, it's well made, Kemp is a very able auteur, but March needs to pull her reins in. She ruins the movie.
Ian Taylor
One reviewer claims this isn't a horror film then seeks to justify that comment by saying there's very little gore. Dear me, when did good horror require gore? If done with a bit of style, atmosphere, decent acting and a proper understanding of and respect for the genre, then it's not needed at all. The interesting thing is that the writer and director is none other than Martin Kemp. The man has gone from child actor to pop start to cinematic gangster to soap star to music revivalist to screenwriter and director...and like everything else he's done, he's been successful! Interesting too that he would know much about the infamous Hose on Straw Hill/Expose film of the mid-70s. Perhaps other reviewers would question that films horror veracity too? Here Kemp remakes with a considerable twist (albeit a somewhat clichéd one) and even brings back Linda Hayden who played a younger, saucier character back in the day. From the original film to Hammer Dracula to the awesome 'Blood On Satan's Claw', Linda is always a welcome contributor. Convincing performances from Jane March and Billy 'The Bill' Murray also help and it's mice to see the excellent Colin Salmon, though he seems less comfortable. In short, a psycho thriller type horror film that isn't particularly original but successfully evokes the feel of mid-70s independent British horror. I hope that Kemp makes more of these.
BakuryuuTyranno
Essentially the movie is about the writer Paula, who travels to her uncle's house hoping for inspiration there on writing another book.And admittedly, the film has good atmosphere at first, and then some weird writing assistant shows up. From there it appears as if the movie could take itself in an interesting direction, but...It's like this - suddenly the assistant is in control of the situation, and here's technically a SPOILER - not because of the detail itself, but because this works up to a very overused twist; see basically, Paula isn't seen talking to the assistant near anyone else, she never inquires about the things her assistant does, almost like she already knows, and so on.If it had taken another direction, the film might have been pretty good, but this became predictable and unexciting.