Thursday, November 20, 2014

Le Fear 2: Le Sequel, Orson Welles would have been Proud

I love old movies, especially Film Noir films.  The 1940s and 1950s were a fascinating era in Hollywood.  In making "Citizen Kane" and "The Lady From Shanghai," Orson Welles faced obstacles that bordered on the ridiculous.  Never mind the weather, or budget overruns...Mr. Welles had to battle the studios, his ego-maniacal cast, and the unions.  Even after completing his masterpieces, one ponders if this great movie-maker wondered if it was all worth it.  Hence today's entry, "Le Fear 2: Le Sequel."  This film, about the making of a film will hit the screen in 2015...so here is a preview.  Jason Croot has put together a film, that if alive today, Orson Welles would 100% be able to identify with.
The plot: Carlos Revalos (Kyri Saphiris, pictured above) seeks funding for his dream project.  He desires to make a Film Noir/horror film with vampires, gremlins, ghosts, UFOs and aliens, and other creatures...sounds good to me.  He gets swindled into putting up his life savings for the project (a half million pounds).  The day comes to commence filming and immediate bumps in the road occur.  His set consists of a small caravan (trailer) at the edge of a parking lot.  His crew?  Nollywood (Nigerian film industry) cast-offs.  Efi (Seye Adelekan) is his producer, and he enlists the help of many of Nollywood's less than finest.  Revalos has a dream, and dammit.....he's gonna make a movie.  Efi assures Revalos that all will be fine as Efi is best buds with Michael Jackson, who made "Lord of the Sting" and William Shakespeare used this same caravan.  Key in any horror film is the special FX, and Efi hires Africa (Roxy Sternberg).  Africa gets all the FX at the Dollar (pound if you live in the UK) Store (note the above pictured alien).
Let's be fair...not all is bleak.  The female lead (Denise Moreno, pictured above) is very seductive...but she quits halfway through the film. Her replacement is Japanese actress Lucy Lou (Aiko Horiuchi), who does not speak English.  Throw in a nymphomaniac make-up artist (bisexual, I might add), a witch doctor who wonders into camera shot (he's also from Nigeria) trying to sell phone cards from the Nigerian National Telephone Company, an actress (stripper?) playing a vampire straight out of an Ed Wood film, and the great B movie actor Dr. Strange.  Revalos' luck cascades downward as we progress through this film.  We feel sympathy for Revalos, as his goal was a noble one.  Can he salvage a film out of this mess?  Will his Nollywood cohorts ever attempt to get on the same page as their director?  Oh yes...you will also be treated to...as I call it, an alien exorcism scene.
This movie is hilarious, but we all can feel a bit of empathy toward Revalos' plight.  In our increasing multicultural societies, it is clear that we definitely are not marching to the beat of the same drummer (I think I said that right).  To give Revalos credit, he knew his dream was slipping away....unlike the makers of "47 Ronon" or "The Man With the Iron Fists."  In failure, there is comedy, and you will be laughing hysterically at the plight of Carlos Revalos in filming "Le Fear 2: Le Sequel."
 

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