Films of the week

The Devil Inside
The Devil Inside is the Paranormal Activity of exorcism movies. A young woman travels to Italy to see her mother who, years ago, murdered three people during an exorcism that was being carried out on her. Faced with a deeply disturbed (or even possessed) mother, the woman decides she will investigate exorcism scientifically to see if there is anything she can do to free her mother of her demons. But she is entering a world that science has yet to tame, putting herself in mortal danger. The documentary feel of this movie makes it all especially frightening.

21 Jump Street
This is a nutty knockabout cop movie with a difference. When Jenko (Channing Tatum) and Schmidt (Jonah Hill) become cops, it’s not long before they flunk their first arrest. As punishment, and with their baby faces and their immature attitude, they are chosen to return to high school undercover to bust a drugs ring, and can’t think of a better way to do it than to throw a huge party. The only thing is, the combination of drink and drugs, guns and these two idiots does not bode well for good crime clear-up rates.

Contraband
This is an adrenaline-pumped high-action thriller based in the underground world of smuggling and drug trafficking. John Bryce (Mark Wahlberg) is a smuggler who has turned away from his life of crime to start a family. But when his wife’s brother gets into trouble with a drugs lord, he is forced back to that underground world to try and save the boy’s life. As he gets sucked into a plot to import counterfeit money, his enemies decide they can get to him by harming his wife. Cue all-out war as Bryce fights to the death to save his family.

The Raven
The macabre and lurid tales of Edgar Allan Poe are vividly brought to life – and death – in this stylish, gothic thriller. When a madman begins committing horrific murders inspired by Poe’s darkest works, a young Baltimore detective joins forces with Poe in a quest to get inside the killer’s more »mind in order to stop him from making every one of Poe’s brutal stories a blood chilling reality. A deadly game of cat and mouse ensues, which escalates when Poe’s love becomes the next target.

Cleanskin
Director: Hadi Hajaig.
Cast: Sean Bean, Abhin Galeya, Charlotte Rampling, Peter Polycarpou, Tuppence Middleton, James Fox, Ruth Wilson.
Ewan is a Secret Service Agent faced with the task of pursuing and eliminating a suicide bomber Ash and his terrorist cell, while Ash wrestles with his conscience and reflects on his journey to terrorism.

These films are showing at Dagenham Vue. Cook Road, Dagenham Leisure Park, Dagenham, tel. 0871-224 0240.