Some Like It Rare
French horror comedy Some Like It Rare (Barbaque; 2021) finds that bickering, sexless married couple true-crime-addict Sophie (Marina Foïs) and couch-potato Vincent (writer/director Fabrice Eboué) Pascal have fallen on hard times with their butcher shop, but an incident involving one of a group of vegans who trash their business turns into accidental success when some of the victim’s body parts are accidentally sold to customers. This new item — which Vincent dubs “Iranian pork” — becomes an instant hit. How can the Pascals capitalize on this financial rejuvenation? You can probably guess, but knowing where things are headed in that instance doesn’t hurt Some Like It Rare one bit. Loaded with great-looking gore gags and dark humor, this terrifically acted and directed effort keeps the laughs and shocks coming at a steady pace. Eboué serves up plenty of social satire, with all sorts receiving a good, often well-deserved skewering.
The Ledge
Climbing enthusiasts may find some technical fault with director Howard J. Ford’s U.K. thriller The Ledge, but as someone who has both vertigo from open heights and basophobia, the film worked as a heck of a nailbiter for me. Friends and seasoned climbers Kelly (Brittany Ashworth) and Sophie (Anaïs Parello) arrive at Italy’s Dolomites for a climb dedicated to Kelly’s late fiancé, who fell to his death when the couple scaled it a year earlier. Four Americans — Josh (Ben Lamb), Reynolds (Nathan Welsh), Nathan (Louis Boyer), and Taylor (David Wayman) — arrive for what turns out to be a tension-filled getaway that most didn’t want to really go on, because Josh is a violent sociopath. Too scared of Josh to not make the trip, the men find themselves in hot water when Josh invariably goes off the deep end and involves the others in covering up a deadly act. Kelly catches part of their dastardly deeds on camera, and when they discover that fact, the chase up and above an imposing face is on. Tom Boyle’s screenplay mines drama from the fractured relationships between the men, and though the character of Josh is heavy on the tropes of woman-hating and opportunistic psycho action, Lamb throws his all into the role, while Ashworth gives a fine performance that asks a lot of her physically. Ford (The Lockdown Hauntings; The Dead) helms confidently, delivering a survival horror feature that boasts plenty of white-knuckler action.
Some Like It Rare and The Ledge screened as part of Arrow Video FrightFest Glasgow, which ran March 10–12 at the Glasgow Film Theatre as part of the Glasgow Film Festival in Scotland.
Signature Entertainment presents Some Like It Rare on Digital Platforms 21st March in the U.K.
Signature Entertainment presents The Ledge on Digital Platforms 14th March and DVD 21st March in the U.K.
