CHESS OF THE WIND
Set in Tehran, a recently widowed buisiness man, his disabled step daughter and his adopted nephews are disputing over who should inherit the family estate following the death of the family matriarch
The daughter, Aghdas, firmly believes she is the rightful heir, as the family wealth was her mother's. Whereas her unscrupulous step-father, seems to think everything should belong to him as he was the husband and the man of the house.
Meanwhile, the 2 nephews, that he adopted, feel they should be entitled to some of the fortune themselves.
What follows is a series of schemes, and double-crosses, where everybody is trying to play everyone else off against each other, in a tale of “murder most foul” that plays like an Iranian Agatha Christie thriller.
Made just prior to the Iranian revolution, the film was swiftly banned by the authorities, who disliked the suggestion that the female leads might possibly be in a Lesbian relationship, or the scenes of violence (ironic given how murderous and barbaric that regime was, and indeed still is today, but anyway...)
The film was considered lost for many years, but fortunately the original negatives were discovered by accident in an antiques store in 2014 and returned to the Director's family, who managed to smuggle them out of the country and have the film restored.
Whilst it's great that this film has been saved from obscurity, whether you will enjoy it will depend of course if you love watching foreign language films for their artistic merits. Admittedly, this wasn't my cup of tea, though I'm glad I saw it just for curiosity's sake, but this is definitely a niche interest.
It's not currently on Disc in the UK but is available to stream in the US and there is a Korean DVD, with English subtitles available online.
Watch the trailer on YouTube.
TRANSCENDING
DIMENSIONS
A woman hires a hitman to take out the leader of a bizarre religious cult, as she believes he is responsible for the disappearance of her lover.
The man in question, a Monk named Ajari, claims to have all sorts of magical powers, but they believe he is just some sort of con man.
However, when the assassination attempt fails, Shinno, the hitman, is forced to conclude that there is a lot more to Ajari than meets the eye and the film gets progressively weirder from here on in. As Shinno tries to investigate what's really going on.
Magic spells, interdimensional battles, space travel, you're never really too sure whether what's going on is real, other-worldy, or all in the characters heads and the ending certainly left me with more questions than answers.
Apparently, the film is connected to a series of the Director's earlier short films about Mt. Resurrection Wolf, though haven't seen any of those to comment. The film is currently on the festival circuit, no news as to when it will be available on Disc or to stream, although Arrow films have put out a box set of his earlier works for anyone interested.
View the Trailer on YouTube.
THE ARBITER
Set in London, gangs have pretty much taken over the streets at night. Constantly fighting for control of various territories, the police have decided to just let them get on with it, seeing as they're only killing one another.
However, when a gang called The Nightcrawlers threatens to wipe out all the others, the police send in a negotiator to try and unite the other factions against them. Unfortunately, their “arbiter” has his work cut out out for him. Meeting on supposedly neutral turf, the gang leaders won't stop bickering and no one wants to trust anyone.
But when the Nightcrawlers ambush the meeting, they're quickly forced to find a way of working togethor in order to stay alive. Resulting in a series of absolutely brutal running battles, as they try to work their way to the upper floors of the building, in order to send out a call for help.
Brutal, gory and hilariously funny, it was rather like watching a UK version of THE WARRIORS, crossed with Peter Jackson's BRAINDEAD (in terms of gore) and the film was certainly well received by the audience.
The Director also released the similarly themed NIGHTSHOOTERS, which was another festival favourite and he certainly has a talent for these low-budget, high octane films. So I would definitely recommend seeking this one out when it's released.
Checkout the trailer on Vimeo.
REDUX REDUX
It seems this person was responsible for a bunch of child murders, not least that of her own daughter, so she has decided to avenge her death as many times as possible.
Brutal, action packed and even genuinely touching at times, the film was like a bizarre mash-up of DEATH WISH and QUANTUM LEAP, featuring numerous gun battles, car chases and more murders than you can shake a stick at, but also takes time to examine whether vigilante justice is ever truly justified
Actress Michaela McManus (Into the Grizzly Maze, TV's Aquarius) really stood out with her sympathetic portrayal as Irene, the tortured soul, who's consumed by revenge, whilst Jeremy Holt (Black Mold, Hered, TV's House of Cards) was convincingly creepy as the child killer, who ends up dying over and over again.
If you like brutal revenge flicks, this one is a definite must see.
View the trailer on YouTube.
And thus concluded Day 2, for more info on future events held by the Mayhem Festival, visit the following links.
Offical Website - https://www.mayhemfilmfestival.com/
Facebook Page - @mayhemfilmfestival
X - @mayhem_festival
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