It is tempting to think of the “Red Coat” as a vampire, especially
(apparently) if you are writing copy for a film about it. Yet, even though the
forest spirit of Northwest Native mythos feeds on blood, it shares little in
common with traditional vampire lore. Whatever you call it, the Red Coat is
still dangerous to provoke in Andrew Baird’s Sunrise, which releases in
theaters and on-demand this Friday.
Reynolds
runs this depressed town like an old school crime boss. Unfortunately, he is
also a virulently racist boss, so he is not what you call welcoming to the Loi
family (recently immigrated from China). If Mr. Loi had just signed over their
farm, Reynolds might have let him live, but he killed him for refusing.
Since
the body never surfaced, Yan Loi has been living in limbo, but her teen son has
given up hope. He still has some fight left in him, despite the regular bullying,
but his secret high school flirtation with a white girl could bring down a
great deal of trouble on the family. Reynolds wants to run off the Loi’s for
good anyway, but the mysterious Fallon interrupts the latest attempt. He used
to be the law in these parts before the Loi’s arrived, but as far as they know,
he is a sullen drifter with a bizarre appetite for blood—mostly animal, at
least for now (and he can walk around in the daylight, despite the title).
Baird
and screenwriter Ronan Blaney deserve credit for trying to do something new and
different in the supernatural genre. However, the final film’s pacing is so
deliberate and restrained, it is debatable whether Sunrise can be
properly categorized as horror. The burn is definitely slow in this one.
On
the other hand, the atmosphere and grim sense of place is highly potent. Evil
palpably hangs over this community, so viewers will emphatically root for some
payback in the E.C. tradition. The cast is also quite impressive, particularly
Alex Pettyfer, who plays Fallon with a quiet, seething intensity that is
unusually disconcerting (especially for an ostensive “good guy”).
Guy
Pearce also chews the scenery like nobody’s business as Reynolds. His is
certainly a sinister villain, but much of his dialogue is over-written. His
long racist diatribes sound like they were written for the audience’s benefit,
to show us what troglodytes like Reynolds really think. However, in reality, guys
like him are usually bluntly to the point.
These special operators are about to experience a form of “Havana Syndrome”
that builds to a Scanners-like finish. They are not used to this kid of
warfare or the mysterious men-in-black who are waging it against them in Philippe
Martinez’s Black Noise, which releases on-demand this Friday.
Ryan’s
team of mercs are enjoying some well-deserved R&R in the Caribbean when their
business agent forces them back into action. Apparently, the client needs extraction
from Esperanza, a nearby island that is the ultra-exclusive home to some of the
world’s richest people—or at least it was. When they get there, they find
eerily deserted.
At
first, the rest of the team was a little wary about Jordan, who had been away
for a while. The exact reasons are unspecified, but some form of PTSD is clearly
implied. However, he has the incredibly good fortune to be searching a walk-in
freezer when the nasty initial signal is broadcast. As a result, he is spared
the ringing ears, persistent buzzing, and hallucinations that immediately start
plaguing the rest of the team.
The
clear-headed Jordan detects signs of something stalking them, but it almost
seems like it is out of focus. Regardless, it is clear his comrades are in a
bad way, especially when one of their heads explodes.
Martinez
and Sean-Michael Argo and Leigh Scott never fully spell out what is going on,
which is okay. They do a nice job showing how the team instinctively falls back
on their training. Martinez’s also stages an impressive climatic fight scene
between Jordan and the bad guys, whoever or whatever they might be. The film
also gets credit for likening its sinister business to “Havana Syndrome,” by
name.
