EXCELLENT, ARTISTIC EXCITING ENTERTAINMENT!
Erik D. Harshman | St. Louis, Missouri | 04/17/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Honestly, I don't think the typical American will enjoy or "get" this movie. It's a genre bender. I bought the two-disc steelbook edition from Sweden back in 2006 (yes, it's taken two years for this movie to get released in the US. What else is new?) and watched it eagerly, after having read articles on it and watching trailers on www.Twitchfilm.net. The film is, at once, a horror, science fiction, action, drama and darkly comedic film. It is also, mostly, a character study. And it's amazing! Visually sumptuous. Narratively skewered (in the most envigorating way) and just plain fun, in addition to feeding your mind and your artistic/visual aesthetic.
When I watched this film I thought to myself, "This will never get a stateside release!"
Of course, I felt the same way about the Japanese horror anthology RAMPO NOIR, the Japanese creature-comedy FUNKY FOREST: THE FIRST CONTACT, the Russian vampire film THE NIGHT WATCH and the Korean chiller THE RED SHOES. All of which have landed US distribution. Go figure! Yet, all of them languish on video shelves, rarely (if ever) checked out at Blockbuster. Makes you wonder why the studios even try. Also makes you wonder why strange flicks like Del Toro's PAN'S LABYRINTH and the Korean monster epic THE HOST flourish in theaters and open to critical and commercial success (well, modest success- but success nonetheless). It also makes you wonder why imported stinkers like the Spanish bore-fest THE ORPHANAGE and uneven failed attempts, like Chris Smith's SEVERENCE, even get released to theaters at all.
At any rate, STORM is exceptional! It is the reason why genre film is, was and always will be the highest form of cinematic art and it humbly (if not smartly) resists the impulse to turn its nose up at the pretentious, staunch critics who would label this film (as they do all other genre films) a "second class citizen" and, instead, gleefully indulges its audience for two hours of amazement and joy... the way any good film (of ANY genre) should."