Movie update: The Army of Crime (15); The Spell (18); Surviving Evil (15)

Oct 8 2009

The Army Of Crime (L'ARMEE DU CRIME) (15)

Director Robert Guediguian leafs through another chapter in his country's history with this true-life tale of heroism during the Second World War. In 1940s Paris, poet Missak Manouchian (Simon Abkarian) leads 22 men and one woman from the French Resistance, who are determined to battle against the Nazi occupation of their nation. Missak and his associates strike at the very heart of the German war machine.The group's exploits enrages Berlin and the Gestapo joins forces with the French police to re-establish control of the capital. As Resistance numbers dwindle and one of his associates denounces the whole group, Missak is forced on the run for his life.

The Spell (18)

Shot on location in Yorkshire, writer-director Owen Carey Jones's drama centres on a girl called Jenny (Rebecca Pitkin), who finds herself at the centre of her parents' messy separation. Her parents don't show much interest in her so Jenny leaves home at the earliest opportunity and moves in with her boyfriend Rick (Pietro Herrera). However, he likes to dabble in black magic, and Jenny suffers a horrific experience. No one believes her story, propelling the youngster to the brink of a mental breakdown. As a last resort, she is placed into the care of a mental hospital from where she is finally able to confront the events of the past.

Surviving Evil (15)

Sebastian Beazley (Billy Zane), the host of Surviving The Wilderness, heads for one of the 7,000 islands of the Philippines with his crew: Christina Cole (Phoebe Drake), Cecelia Rhys (Natalie Jackson Mendoza), Joey Valencia (Joel Torres), Dexter Simms (Colin Moss) and Rachel Rice (Louise Barnes). The six-day assignment turns into a fight for life when Sebastian and his colleagues realise their island is the hunting ground for a voracious predator that will pick them off one at a time - without remorse.