Diary of a Mayhem 2025 Day 1 - Thursday

After a couple of years away, Mrs Probert and I are back at Nottingham's Mayhem Film Festival. It's taking place, as always, in the luxurious environs of the Broadway Cinema, still the comfiest setting we've ever attended for an event such as this. And that's just as well, seeing as this year's programme is packed with must see films. As usual I'll be posting my thoughts as I go so let's get started:

Game

The festival opened with the UK premiere of this low budget effort set in 1993. David (Marc Bessant) wakes up in an overturned car and finds himself trapped when he can't get his seatbelt to release. After spending some time trying to escape he's attacked by a dog, which he kills (dog lovers beware of this). Unfortunately the dog belongs to a local poacher (Jason Williamson) who has no intention of letting David go. However, when David pours the stash of drugs he obtained from a rave the night before into the poacher's cider, everything takes a turn for the psychedelic. 

        The plot for GAME is slight and the film spends a ponderous amount of its scant 80 minute running time detailing David's attempt to get out of the car. Neither character evinces any audience sympathy and by the time everything goes Ben Wheatley by way of Ken Russell stylistically in the final act you are still wondering why you should care about either of these unpleasant characters. 

The Old Woman with the Knife

In 1975 a 16 year old girl stumbles into a restaurant and, after she kills a US soldier who tries to attack her, into a new way of life. 50 years later she's the most senior member of a secret assassination squad who only take on hits on people they consider vermin in society. But 50 years of hits means you make a few enemies, and one of them is about to come back to haunt her. Min Kyu-dong's Korean crime thriller plays around with narrative, making things a bit confusing at times, but it builds to an action-packed climax at an abandoned amusement park and the lead performance from Lee Hue-yeong as an ageing female John Wick is a winner.