Indie
[BD Review] ‘The Raid 2’ Is Viscerally Thrilling!
Remember those days as a teenager when you’d leave an action film so exhilarated, you’d start exchanging air jabs with your best friend in the theater lobby? The Raid 2: Berandal is that movie. Screening a mere three times at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, rabid fans scrambled to see an uncensored cut before the MPAA got its grubby hands on one of the best action films of all time. Some festival attendees even saw it twice. Writer/editor/director Gareth Evans’ appearance at the final screening, in Salt Lake City, was met by appreciative applause. “You don’t even know if it’s good yet,” said Evans, humbly, prior to the screening. But the audience knew. They were about to witness to something mind-blowing.
Evans’ two and a half hour crime opus has The Raid’s Rama (Iko Uwais), battered and bruised from his encounter with Tama, going deep undercover to flush out corruption by exposing dirty cops. Rama’s first assignment is a prison sentence, as he’s sent to the joint to build a relationship with the son of a corrupt businessman. Of course, Rama’s incarceration is only an excuse for a series of sweet-ass prison fight scenes featuring pencak silat, the Indonesian martial art Evans expertly stages and films. One of the director’s first major skirmishes, a prison riot set in a mud-strewn exercise yard, is shot with a masterful fluidity that makes Natural Born Killers look like a film school hack job. His always-moving camera sees all, and puts the audience right in the center of the action. Nobody films controlled carnage like Gareth Evans.
Once he’s out of the can, Rama continues to infiltrate the criminal enterprise, embedding himself deep into the corrupt family. Evans’ screenplay is packed with plenty of twists and turns, none of which I’ll divulge here, and the action set-pieces are good enough to make John Woo weep blood. Simply imagine a crime movie as deeply layered as The Departed or Goodfellas and then add some of the most viscerally thrilling martial arts to ever hit the screen. That, in a nutshell, is The Raid 2. Film bloggers struggled not to jizz all over themselves after the first screening, their engorged tweets straining under the 140-character limit. The love is completely understandable. The Raid 2 is that movie, one that sets a new standard for action films.
Her House of Horrors, the horror division of Independent Production House WOMXNOGRAPHY, has launched its Bite Size Short Grant Program, ahead of its film festival Dollhouse of Horror, which will take place in March 2025 in Los Angeles, CA.
The Bite Size Short Grant Program awards $2,000 film grants to female-identifying and queer horror filmmakers. Shorts must be able to be made for $2,000, with a minimum runtime of 8 minutes. Submissions are now open on Filmfreeway, and are being judged by a panel of horror lovers and content creators.
The 2024 Bite Size Short Grant Program judge lineup is as follows:
“James H. Carter II- A documentary director, film producer, podcaster, marketing specialist, and writer. James is the founder and co-owner of Creepy Kingdom. Creepy Kingdom was founded in 2011 and is a multimedia website, and production studio specializing in creepy content. Their primary focus lies at the intersection of childlike fantasy and the macabre, covering horror films, theme parks, haunts, and much more. Beyond their extensive media coverage, Creepy Kingdom hosts events, offers original merchandise, and engages in film production under the Creepy Kingdom Studios brand producing original films like “Foolish Mortals”, exploring Disney’s “Haunted Mansion” fan culture, and “Georgie”, featuring Tony Dakota from the original “It” miniseries.
“In addition to founding Creepy Kingdom, James has won awards for his documentary work, including the award-winning “Foolish Mortals,” which has earned him recognition. He has been featured on Freeform’s 31 Nights of Halloween special.
“Ashleeta Beauchamp is the editor-in-chief of Peek-A-Boo! Magazine, a cheeky horror magazine created to uplift marginalized writers, artists, models and other creators within the horror community. She also runs The Halloween Coalition, a community group to provide support and marketing for horror and Halloween events around the Southern California area.
“Titeanya Rodríguez is a multi-hyphenate creative, and the founder and owner of HER HOUSE OF HORRORS, home of DOLLHOUSE OF HORROR and the horror division of WOMXNOGRAPHY. As a fellow storyteller and a self-proclaimed artivist, Titeanya’s mission is to create opportunities for women of color and queer women, across film, tv, sports, music, and beyond. She is also the creator of the BITE SIZE SHORT grant program.”
Winners will have a one-night theatrical screening at Regal Cinemas. Submissions Close April 8 at Midnight. Winners will be announced on May 27, 2024. Shorts must be shot and through post-production by June 30, 2024. The screening will take place on July 8, 2024, in Los Angeles, CA.
WOMXNOGRAPHY, HER HOUSE OF HORRORS, and Rodriguez are represented by Azhar PR, Granderson Des Rochers, and Kinsella Holley Iser Kump Steinsapir.
To submit your short to the Bite Size Short Grant Program, go to the FilmFreeway link here.
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