VideoVista covers rental and retail titles in all genres and movie or TV categories, with filmmaker interviews, auteur profiles, top 10 lists,
plus regular prize draws.
HOME PAGE
INDEX OF ALL REVIEWS
SEARCH THIS SITE
COMPETITIONS
FORTHCOMING REVIEWS
TOP 10 LISTS
INTERVIEWS & PROFILES
RETRO REVIEWS SECTION
ABOUT OUR CONTRIBUTORS
READERS' COMMENTS
SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER
SITE MAP
LINKS
SUPPORT THIS SITE -
SHOP USING THESE LINKS
visit other Pigasus Press sites...
The ZONE - genre nonfiction
Soundchecks - music reviews
Rotary Action - helicopter movies
|
September 2010
cast: Mai Charoenpura, Anuway Niwartwong, Wiradit Srimalai, Rattanaballang Tohssawat, and Duangta Tungkamanee
director: Tiwa Moeithaisong
99 minutes (18) 2009
widescreen ratio 1.85:1
4 Digital Asia DVD Region 2 retail
RATING: 4/10
review by Jason Brawn
|
The Meat Grinder
Noodle vendor Buss (Mai Charoenpura), who had an abusive childhood, kills and slices her victims into meatballs for noodle soup. This is
another story about humans preserved as food, like in Sweeney Todd, and Roald Dahl's classic tale, Lamb To The Slaughter.
However, the title of this Thai film made me feel that I could be watching a similar premise to The Corpse Grinders (1971), but I was
wrong.
Some of the torture scenes are graphic, and the flashbacks reveal more about the killer's troubled past: paternal rape; her father getting
her pregnant and marrying her off into a turbulent marriage. The Meat Grinder (aka: Cheuuat gaawn chim) also has dreamy images
of the country's political unrest, which should have been toned down to build the narrative. The first 15 minutes do show a lot of promise,
and then it loses track and later wanders off aimlessly.
Later, Buss does have a love interest. She falls for Attapon (Rattanaballang Tohssawat), a demonstrator who saves her from the striking police
- during a riot. The structure is very complex, with its many flashbacks, and the subtitles appear and go far too quickly making Meat
Grinder a very hard film to follow. Some of the flashback sequences are rather bleak, in their black and white format, and right towards
the end I felt there was no twist, which is badly needed.
I like the portrayal of Buss and her evil husband, but wanted to know more about her male victims, for me to empathise with them. Instead,
the director and co-writer (Tiwa Moeithaisong) spends far too much time explaining Buss' past. Perhaps if the story focused a little more on
the victims, by showing them trying to escape, or trying to lead an ordinary life before their capture, then the story could have been
well-balanced between the killer and victims' points of view.
That is why I feel Saw, and
Hostel, and other slasher films work, because we learn
more about the victims before the killer gets them. Also, after watching the flashbacks here, I don't know whether to root for the characters
or not. If this was to be a revenge flick, like I Spit On Your Grave
(1978), then I would have cheered out loud for Buss, as the film's heroine.
However, I do not dislike this film, as it has guts, and the cinematography and editing (Tiwa Moeithaisong again) are great. I would like to
see more from the director. Meat Grinder is an average film let down by its script.
|
|
|
