Film Talk: A swansong study of strife in the north with Ken Loach's The Old Oak
October is almost here, and with it the ghouls and goblins are coming out.
As we move towards spooky season, some of cinema’s most beloved eerie entries are celebrating monster anniversaries, and with that audiences across the land are being treated to spine-chilling re-releases.
Fifty years ago, a little flick by William Friedkin proved so terrifying that a number of cities attempted to ban it, yet so brilliant it became the first horror film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Love it, hate it, or simply scared stiff by it, there’s no denying that The Exorcist will always stand as one of the most memorable movies of all time. And now, those fans who may not even have been a glint in their parents’ eyes when it first hit the flicks can catch it on the big screen. In honour of it hitting the big 5-0, this 1973 classic is returning to cinemas around the country from today – the only question is, do you dare?
Celebrating another big birthday (and admittedly, to peg this one as ‘eerie’ was a bit of a stretch), 1993 supernatural comedy Hocus Pocus is also about to enjoy a revived stint on the silver screen. Starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Sister Act legend Kathy Najimy, this 90s banger offers a far more family-friendly option for those looking to get into the Halloween ‘spirit’ (see what I did there?) nice and early.
Yet topping the bill this week is an entry that’s less about horror than it is about heart. Directed by the acclaimed Ken Loach, The Old Oak tells the tale of an unlikely friendship built between a northern pub landlord and a Syrian refugee. As ever, Loach is going for gold, but does this latest effort hit the mark?
THE OLD OAK (UK 15/ROI 15A, 113 mins)
Released: September 29 (UK & Ireland)
With an illustrious career behind the camera stretching back almost 60 years, Ken Loach has repeatedly celebrated the ebb and flow of British working-class life on screen, collecting the Cannes Film Festival’s coveted Palme d’Or twice for The Wind That Shakes The Barley and I, Daniel Blake.
The Old Oak is his swansong and reunites the Warwickshire-born filmmaker with screenwriter Paul Laverty for a third consecutive study of solidarity and strife in the north-east of England. His final feature may be emotionally underpowered compared with earlier work including Sorry We Missed You but Loach’s farewell is another rousing call to arms for compassion and acceptance set in 2016 County Durham as anti-immigration sentiment takes root in a former mining community following years of austerity.
An impressive ensemble cast led by Dave Turner as the local publican, who is struggling to make ends meet following the breakdown of his marriage, lends authenticity to a familiar story of division torn from headlines of the time when the first Syrian refugees arrived in the UK and were met with hostility.
Earthy humour in Laverty’s script infuses a culture built on unity and hardship while Loach delivers familiar body blows before he dons kid gloves for a surprisingly sentimental final flurry.
TJ Ballantyne (Turner) was born and bred in his village and he has never left the close-knit community, becoming a valued leader following the 1984 miners strikes and the subsequent closure of the pit, which led to the collapse of the local economy.
The Old Oak is the last remaining pub and as its wearied owner, TJ pours all his time and effort into the watering hole, which he shares with a scruffy four-legged companion named Marra.
The arrival of a bus of Syrian refugees exposes division and despair, leading to an ugly confrontation between 20-something new arrival Yara (Elba Mari) and a local man, who callously breaks her treasured camera.
Yara is the eldest child of her family and speaks English, translating for her mother Fatima (Amna Al Ali) and siblings.
Her courage inspires TJ and he risks the wrath of old friend Charlie (Trevor Fox) to help Yara repair her camera.
As tensions rise, TJ’s family friend Laura (Claire Rodgerson) works closely with him and Yara to establish a community food kitchen in the pub’s neglected back room where families and children can enjoy a hot meal surrounded by photographs of the village’s proud mining heritage. The Old Oak incorporates touchstones from Loach’s distinguished career, anchored by Turner’s committed performance and winning on-screen chemistry with Mari. Political fires that raged defiantly in earlier work flicker less furiously here, but still leave scorch marks.
THE CREATOR (UK 12A/ROI 12A, 133 mins)
Released: September 28 (UK & Ireland)
Denzel Washington’s son John David Washington trades the time inversions of Christopher Nolan’s Tenet for full-blown conflict between man and machines in a muscular action thriller directed by Gareth Edwards.
In a dystopian future, humanity’s fascination with the application of technology and artificial intelligence has backfired spectacularly.
The elusive architect of an advanced AI has reportedly developed a weapon with the potential to end the war and wipe mankind off the face of the Earth.
Former special forces operative Joshua (Washington) leads a team of battle-hardened operatives into AI-occupied enemy territory with a simple brief: destroy this weapon.
In the midst of grieving his missing wife, Joshua’s allegiances are torn when he discovers that his target is an AI in the form of a helpless young child named Alfie (Madeleine Yuna Voyles).
SAW X (UK 18/ROI 18, 118 mins)
Released: September 29 (UK & Ireland)
Almost 20 years on from the release of the ingenious original film, the Saw saga created by James Wan and Leigh Whannell is one of the highest-grossing horror franchises of all time.
Kevin Greutert nestles in the director’s chair for a bloody and graphically violent 10th chapter penned by Peter Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg. Saw X unfolds early in the series’ timeline, shortly after John Kramer (Tobin Bell) aka deranged serial killer Jigsaw has played his first sadistic games of trial and retribution.
Battling with terminal cancer, Kramer hears whispers about a cure for his illness and he travels to Mexico in search of a miracle. Unfortunately, the medical breakthrough is exposed as a heartless scam targeted at vulnerable, desperate cancer patients who will pay anything to spend more precious time with loved ones.
Aided by his apprentice Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith), Kramer wreaks terrifying revenge on the con artists and he subjects them to a dizzying array of grisly traps.
HOCUS POCUS (UK PG/ROI PG, 96 mins)
Released: September 29 (UK & Ireland, selected cinemas)
Time has been exceedingly kind to director Kenny Ortega’s family-oriented supernatural comedy, which suffered the indignity of a lacklustre sequel last year.
To mark its 30th anniversary, Hocus Pocus returns to haunt cinemas in the run-up to Halloween.
On October 31, 1993, exactly three hundred years after the diabolical Sanderson sisters were hanged, Max Dennison (Omri Katz), his younger sister Dani (Thora Birch) and classmate Allison Watts (Vinessa Shaw) go trick or treating around Salem, Massachusetts. They visit the Sanderson sisters’ old cottage and unknowingly light the Black Flame Candle that fulfils a prophecy to resurrect Winifred (Bette Midler), Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Mary (Kathy Najimy) during a full moon on All Hallow’s Eve.
With the help of Binx the cat (voiced by Jason Marsden), the children steal Winifred’s spellbook and seek temporary shelter on sacred ground where the witches cannot strike.
THE EXORCIST (UK 18/ROI 18, 132 mins)
Released: September 29 (UK & Ireland, selected cinemas)
Fifty years on from its original release, William Friedkin’s notorious psychological drama retains the power to shock and unsettle even the most steely-nerved viewer.
Linda Blair delivers a terrifyingly convincing performance as the 12-year-old girl possessed by a demonic spirit, with Ellen Burstyn in support as her terrified mother teetering on the verge of mental meltdown. The majestic Max Von Sydow portrays the priest who faces the evil head on. Unlike contemporary horror films, there’s very little on-screen violence, gore or special effects trickery but that is the film’s genius, showing fragments of the whole picture and forcing the audience (whether they want to or not) to fill in the blanks.
Undeniably, The Exorcist grabs you by the throat and refuses to let go.
