DVD OF THE WEEK

MR73 ****
Dir: Olivier Marchal. Starring: Daniel Auteuil, Olivia Bonamy, Phillippe Nahon

Taking its title in the manner of Full Metal Jacket, MR37 is named after a French-manufactured double action revolver. The film is yet another stylish complex French policier and is centred round another brilliant performance from Daniel Auteuil.
Auteuil plays a cop right on the edge, burnt out, alcoholic and prone to actions like his early hijacking of a bus at gunpoint to get him home (it seems vaguely reasonable at the time). For this transgression he is arrested by a SWAT team (or French equivalent) and pulled off the serial killer case he is working on. Reassigned to desk duties the story splits into three strands: the current investigation; the accident that killed his young daughter and left his wife on life support; and a murderous criminal who has just convinced the parole board to release him.
Director Marchal, who previously made the excellent cop thriller 36 Quai Des Orfèvres (which I think was just called 36 here) is an ex-policeman (and actor) and this is apparently based on his real-life experiences in the force. That may be what brings the feel of gritty authenticity as Auteuil's character struggles with demons internal and external, but the film also has the style you expect of the French – it's great to look at and gripping in equal measures.

The Killer Inside Me (****) is a film that has polarised audiences worldwide. Just the other day a friend whose judgement I trust described it as: 'A mediocre story, not very well told, based around two notorious scenes of violence.” On the other hand, I thought it was a brilliantly twisted character study of a psychopath, with another fantastically slimy turn from Casey Affleck, whose small-town sheriff tells his story, a story of revenge, betrayal and murder. It becomes apparent fairly early on that Affleck is 'not right”, but viewing events from his warped perspective adds to the disconcerting feel. There is, indeed, strong and unpleasant violence towards women; this is not a film that (excuse the tasteless pun) pulls its punches. Michael Winterbottom continues to be a director who surprises and impresses, though – as I mentioned – others may disagree.

Road Train (***) sounds like a very tired formula: four young folk on an outback road trip are menaced by the huge titular long haul truck. But after being quickly run off the road, things take several surprising turns and what looked like a straightforward story morphs into an atmospheric supernatural romp. The direction and cinematography are striking yet not gimmicky, using the beautiful landscapes to impressively menacing effect. Things may veer towards the overwrought and silly, but this is still a worthwhile outing for horror fans.

If you like something weird and don't mind a few subtitles, then you could do a lot worse than Greek oddity Dogtooth (****). It's set in the totally isolated county house where three teenage kids are being raised by their normal-seeming, but seriously warped parents without any contact at all with the outside world (aside from a local hooker, brought in to ‘service' the son). To protect them, words have been given different meanings and horrors stories are told about the world outside the walls. Actually, the less you know about this the better as it is full of delightfully warped surprises, though not necessarily nice ones.

In Altitude (***) five young friends, one a pilot, head off to a concert in a small plane. With the action confined to the claustrophobic cabin, tension quickly rises when bad weather and mechanical faults threaten the group. But, as the inclusion of a copy of a Weird Stories comic suggests, this is just the entrée to a banquet of fantastical H P Lovecraft-like developments. Even with the occasional low-rent CGI and dialogue this remains solid disposable B-movie fun.