M. Night Shyamalan is one of the most fascinating and controversial contemporary directors. His newest independent movie goes back to his roots and offers an increasingly addicting plot, a solid acting performance and a twist that is so simple you might not even see it coming. The creative Indian artist manages to make a convincing movie despite a limited budget, a rather unexperienced crew and a lot of found footage material that is usually employed in some of the worst contemporary horror films like ''Devil's Due''. In this movie, the idea of the found footage material makes sense for once and even adds some intimate depth to the two main characters. The fact that two young and rather unknown actors are taking the lead somehow adds to the credibility of the scenario. Even the limited budget turns out to be an advantage since this movie comes around without any distracting special effects. Still, the camera angles, the lighting techniques and the soundtrack are decently chosen and add to an overall positive impression.

What makes this movie stand out is its curious mixture of genres. In fact, M. Night Shyamalan once said that there are three different versions of this film and I'm really curious to watch the other two. One version is an over-the-top comedy flick, the second is a creepy horror movie and the cinematic choice that I'm reviewing right now is in fact a convincing mixture of both. Let's add that the beginning of this movie almost feels like a mixture of a documentary and a reality television show.  

Most of the times, humorous horror movies can't convince me and feel ridiculous to me since I even disliked the original ''Evil Dead'' flicks. In this clever case, the movie starts with a few awkward scenes where the audience might not be sure whether they should laugh or feel scared which adds to the overall uneasy atmosphere of the film. In the beginning, one doesn't clearly know where this movie is going to lead us. There are a few creepy horror movie sequences. Other moments feel like light slapstick comedy scenes. The behaviour of some characters shows hints at a solid psycho thriller. The background story of the movie includes dramatic elements. M. Night Shyamalan leads us to a surprisingly coherent and entertaining potpourri of genres before the final thirty minutes of this cinematic cut clearly prove that this version ends up being a gruesome psycho thriller or horror movie. The twisting and turning story is so captivating that the final twist comes almost unexpectedly despite its simplicity.

It has become an almost popular trend to expose M. Night Shyamalan's most recent efforts to unjustified prejudice but let me tell you that true fans of this director and the psycho thriller and horror genres will get more than they could expect from this movie. Despite its subtle diversity, this film is to the point and never loses its clear guiding line. Despite its slow build-up, the film always remains entertaining and even gripping. This movie might not be the director's opus magnum but its mixture of grounded cinematic elements and experimental influences from diverse genres makes this one of the director's best movie of the past ten years and one of the better psycho thrillers or horror movies of a rather unconvincing cinematic year 2015. If you are a sucker for any of these two genres, I can warmly recommend this movie to you. 

Ladies and gentlemen,

Please vote for your 2017 pocket change and celebrate Canada's achievements, character, future, passions and wonders. Let this beautiful country inspire you and vote for your favourite designs until October 9, 2015. 

http://www.mint.ca/store/coin-design-contest/contest-vote-form.jsp?lang=en_CA

Dear readers of my blog!

I went to visit the beautiful town of Montebello for the very first time with my parents last Saturday. We spent several hours in the gorgeous Oméga Parc where we saw many different animals like bears, mooses and wolves in their natural environment. We also visited some parts of the town such as the Manoir-Papineau close to the Ottawa River. I hope you like these little snapshots.

Enjoy the rest of your summer and take care!

Sebastian

Dear readers of my blog!

Last weekend, I visited a couple of interesting places in and around Gatineau with my parents who are right now being in Canada for the first time in more than five years. I simply felt like sharing a few pictures and hope you like them. You can read further descriptions by clicking on the different photos.

Take care and enjoy the end of the summer!

Sebastian

DrakariuM is a power metal band from Jonquière, Québec that was formed back in 2004 by several students who originally planned to play a mixture of hardcore and black metal but quickly switched to the European power metal genre inspired by bands such as HammerFall, Sonata Arctica and Stratovarius. The band played only a couple of concerts and I remember a particularly nice one where the band played with local acts One Crimson Night and Kastlegar in the middle of winter back in early 2007. Back in the days, I was surprised that the band's compositions were mainly instrumental and that the most outstanding instruments were the keyboards and the drums. The band played mainly cover songs back then but also a few own tunes that sounded rather promising to me. A couple of years later, the band went on hiatus and there were no news for over six years. It came as a big surprise to me when the band came back to life a few months ago and even announced that they had secretely been recording some old and some new material over the past months. The result is the band's first official release in form of a self-titled EP with a running time of twenty-five minutes. The unique sound that I discovered more than eight years ago is still there in the five compositions inspired by the Japanese five elements philosophy and the two short yet dreamy and appeasing keyboard instrumentals.

In general, the band has a weakness for catchy melodies carried by melodic guitar leads, fast and dominating keyboard sounds and a very solid rhythm section with a particularly variable drum play. Despite the short length of this output and a very focused song writing, the band has also a sense for epic song structures and a few minimal progressive influences in the technically skilled guitar and keyboard solos. I you like a soft, melodic and epic take on European Power Metal that conquered the world around two decades ago, this charming little gem is made for you. The group reminds me a little bit of the Finnish flower metal band Epiclore, the melodic German power metal band Saidian and the Spanish heavy metal legends Tierra Santa. A particular bonus point for this group is the fact that their fantasy-inspired texts about emotions, freedom and nature are performed in French even if some of the lyrics are somewhat hard to understand due to the singer's unusual pronounciation. The catchy and melodic French vocals even recall pop singers like Jean-Jacques Goldman and Florent Pagny which isn't a bad thing in my book. Metal purists might claim that this approach is too commercial, fluffy and predictable but I think it gives the band an outstanding sound that distinguishes DrakariuM from similar acts.

In the end, this debut EP might not be the most original genre release and comes at least a decade too late to have a significant impact on the North American power metal scene but it's better to release a debut record late than never and I'm pleasently surprised to be able to rediscover a band and a genre that introduced me to metal music almost a decade ago. DrakariuM's nostalgic European power metal revival output convinces with powerful drum sections, beautiful guitar melodies, enchanting keyboard passages, harmonious French lyrics and really catchy vocal lines. Support this forgotten underground band and party like one or two decades ago again.

Final rating: 8/10

Please support the band and check out the following links:

Bandcamp: http://drakarium.bandcamp.com/album/drakarium-2

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/drakariumband

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-SjznLOQnFIIDdnC8jrqrQ/videos