"Oh Maureen!" I hear you say. "At the beginning of the year you promised to post on your blog every three or four days, and now you have left us bereft for two whole weeks!"
Beautiful Reader, I can only apologise.
"But what was it that inspired you to come back to us on this day, of all days?"
Well, it wasn't news of a zombie apocalypse, nor the sighting of an alien space craft heading our way. In fact, it was watching The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, in which Judy Dench, fabulous as ever, blogs about her experiences moving to India and getting her first ever job. It's a very minor part of the movie, but it was like the Universe was giving me a tap on the shoulder and saying, "Momento Maureen, get your butt it gear."
I continued today's DVD watching experience with Urban Explorer (apparently released as The Depraved for no good reason in the US). This is a German film about a group of young folk being lead through the old tunnels beneath Berlin, who accidentally stumble across a crazed former Border Guard who hasn't quite accepted that the country is now unified... and is a cannibal. It's not the most original idea in the world, but it works. It's surprisingly beautifully shot and the sound track is an interesting blend of the strange sounds you might hear under a busy city, well used to increase the tension. It also manages to have characters you aren't wishing dead after the first ten minutes, unlike many slasher films. It also certainly gained it's 18 certificate and the warning of strong violence and gore. I first saw this a couple of years ago at Frightfest and had totally forgotten quite how graphic it is.
Anyway, while watching Urban Explorer it struck me that this was quite a weird double bill that I had stumbled in to. But I thought, hey, I'm sure if I think about it, these films will have something in common that justifies their being watched back-to-back... and they totally do!
Both films are about people going to a new city, learning things they didn't know about their destination, and having an experience they didn't expect. It's a "Holiday With A Twist" Double Bill!
Other films that could fit into this category are, Cabin in the Woods, The Pack, and the "Road" movies, starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. Now that's a film marathon I'd happily be part of.
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