Salutations, traveler of The Internets! Welcome to William's Bloody Hell, so named after our founder, Sir Bloody William.
He is seen in the likeness above in a rare, 19th century woodcut. This
image was rumoured to have been
commissioned after a bout of unpleasantness
in the White Chapel district of London. Do enjoy your stay and peruse our many, varied offerings, much of which cannot be found elsewhere!
:: Hard Candy ::
by William the Bloody
For weeks 14 year old Hayley and 32 year old Jeff have been chatting online. They finally decide to meet in real life and choose a public place, the coffee shop Nighthawks. The two talk like mature adults and hit it off despite the gaping age difference. Hayley lightly flirts with Jeff, but he puts on the picture of restraint, even stating that he would have to wait four years for her to be legal before they could ever do anything sexual. Despite all of Jeff's claims of reservations, he puts up little to no argument when Hayley pretty much invites herself over to his place, supposedly to borrow a concert recording of her favourite band. However, when the two are alone at Jeff's home, manipulation is definitely what's on, but who's manipulating whom to what end may not be what anyone suspected until the very end.
The Good: This movie pretty much features only two characters for the duration, but man they couldn't have chosen better actors to portray them. Haley and Jeff banter on about many intense subjects and they never dumb anything down, but are up front about quite a lot of the facts. They have an interesting battle of wits and reasoning, and Hayley's cold nymphesque performance delivers on just about all fronts. There are definitely times in this movie that made me uncomfortable to watch, but that's exactly what they're supposed to do, so props to the director on that. And speaking of the director, the direction and cinematography were both well done, making good use of the bold colours on Jeff's walls, the paintings, and the layout of the apartment, not only for the framing of the shots, but also the sweeping, rotating camera movement.
The Bad: There are probably parts where you, the audience, might have to suspend disbelief just a little bit, and in a film that is striving for realism, this can come off as a bad thing. I'm not saying the bullshit alarm will go off loudly; maybe just a little, tiny whisper.
All in all, I was surprise how much I enjoyed this movie. I had never heard of it and had no idea what to expect and was pleasantly surprised by this find. There are many parts where you back in forth in your mind as to which of the characters is lying, or putting on a show for the other, or who is right or wrong, and when certain secrets are revealed it's a real slam dunk. Which of them is really messed up? Either, neither, or both? And if they're both psychotic, who do you root for? This film is definitely worth the watch, but try to stay away from as many spoilers as you can (I really tried to keep this as spoiler-free as possible).
A
