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Upurga
Latvia 2021
produced by Uldis Cekulis for VFS Films
directed by Ugis Olte
starring Igors Selegovskis, Inga Tropa, Rihards Sniegs, Elvita Ragovska, Morten Traavik, Reinis Boters, Andris Akmentins, Mara Kimele, Elita Klavina, Ugis Praulins
written by Ugis Olte, Bojana Babic, Lucas Abrahão, music by Reinis Sejans
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Rafting instructor Andrejs (Igors Selegovskis) leads a small film team
that also includes his sister Mara (Elvita Ragovska) to a remote river in
a rather primordial forest - and the combination is not ideal from the
start as while the film team with little rafting experience wants to shoot
as dramatic scenes as possible, Andrejs is a safety-first guy - which
eventually leads the director Eva (Inga Tropa) to seduce him while the
rest of the team go out on the river on their own, without life vests or
any such stuff ... with the result that they all go missing, as does Eva
really, and it's up to Andrejs to track them down. Thing is, the forest is
apparently also the training place for the militia of ranger Salins
(Morten Traavik), who do their best to chase Andrejs off, and who seem to
be very unwilling to even talk about the missing filmcrew with Andrejs,
leading him to believe they might have something to do with their
disappearance. But the more Andrejs investigates, the weirder the things
he finds out get, and when he finds one of the team's GoPro cameras, the
footage he sees is worrying indeed. But not all might be what it seems, up
to the point where Andrejs can't be sure anymore whether it's the right
thing to do to save his people. And what has the local cabbage got to do
with it? A very weird piece of trip-like folk horror that might
start in a rather conventional way with all the stock characters for a
run-of-the-mill slasher firmly in place, but then veers off into something
completely else, and while the film supplies the audience with many false
leads, it refuses to give any definite answers, making things all the more
unsettling. And wonderful locations beautifully captured on film, an
atmosphere-heavy directorial effort that nevertheless doesn't shy away
from action if needed either, and a strong cast make this one cool and
slightly otherworldly genre entertainment.
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review © by Mike Haberfelner
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Robots and rats,
demons and potholes, cuddly toys and shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill Your Bones to is all of that.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to -
a collection of short stories and mini-plays ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle,
all thought up by the twisted mind of screenwriter and film reviewer Michael Haberfelner.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to
the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
Out now from Amazon!!! |
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