Motel

 

 (themoviedb.org)

NIGHT SHIFT-2023-A young woman named Gwen (Phoebe Tonkin) takes a job on the overnight shift at an isolated motel. After getting the run-down of the place from Teddy (Lamorde Morris), the owner, she settles in. Almost immediately after he leaves, weird things start to happen. There's one mysterious female guest, strange noises and an ominous phone call from an empty room. A car drives by several times. She strikes up a friendship with Alice (Madison Hu), the female guest. Later, an S & M couple show up and Gwen falls into the unused pool. She sees ghosts. Alice tells Gwen the motel is one of the most haunted places around. She in turn tells Alice about a guy who murdered her sisters and tried to kill her. He was in jail but broke out recently. 

Toward the end, the story changes gear a little and gets typically gory and mean spirited and the ending isn't that great but not a bad effort (even though you'll be able to guess what's really going on). Written and directed by two brothers from the UK, Benjamin and Paul China.

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Out of My Element

THE ELEMENT OF CRIME- (FORBRYDELSE ELEMENT)-1984- This was Lars Von Trier’s first film in English. I’m not much of a fan of his so for me he shouldn’t have bothered.

This pretentious, phony noir thriller features Michael Elphick as Fisher, a washed up police detective returning to Europe after spending 12 years in Cairo. He meets his old mentor (Shakespearean actor Esmond Knight, who died in ’87) author of the book “The Element of Crime”. He asks Fisher to investigate the murders of some lottery-selling children. From a police report Fisher traces the movements of the killer, one Harry Grey. Along the way he meets a prostitute (Me Me Lai from EATEN ALIVE BY CANNIBALS) who may not be all she appears to be (despite a full frontal nude scene….). Fisher actually narrates it all to a psychiatrist while under hypnosis. Dark, talky and self important, all the ingredients to make this a pseudo-arty cult hit!

Mr. Dogma himself (who also co-wrote this) went on to make THE KINGDOM 1 & 2 and the Cannes hit DANCER IN THE DARK (with singer Bjork) and other nonsense. Star Elphick was a popular British TV (“Boon”) and movie star who died in 2002 at age 55.