Steven Berkoff film 2010s-2
Following roles in major films, Berkoff alternates between mainstream films and cheap cameo roles. Strippers vs Werewolves, a horror comedy directed by Jonathan Glendening in 2012. This film is dire- bad script, acting, direction, editing etc. A film with 20 producers is not going to succeed. One of the worst films I have ever experienced. Nightmare on Elm Street's Robert Englund and Steven Berkoff are guest stars.
Berkoff was among familiar faces: Billy Murray previously acted with Berkoff in Dead Cert, Just for the Record and The Rapture and earlier McVicar; Martin Kemp of Spandau Ballet in The Rapture and The Krays; Simon Phillips in The Rapture; Joe Egan in Dead Cert and Just for the Record; Coralie Rose in Dead Cert; Shaun Lucas in Big Fat Gypsy Gangster; Mo Idriss in Dead Cert and Big Fat Gypsy Gangster.
The make-up of the werewolves makes them look like reject hobbits.
One of the strippers kills an over-amorous werewolf using a silver pen, and the werewolves seek revenge.
Sarah Douglas plays Jeanette the owner of the strip club. On the commentary she describes herself as the mother figure to the strippers, and she organises a fightback against the werewolves. The film is ignored by mainstream newspaper and magazines, I don’t blame them, but some horror fan websites do review the film. A couple of American reviewers don't seem able to handle non-American films and accents - surprising as the USA has eight different languages each spoken by more than a million Americans. Also Harry Potter films and Bond films have been top of the American box office.
"Our movie werewolves talk with British accents that even with
a few kill and eat scenes are still quite off-setting to listen to… I’m
not sure if it’s me or that simply British horror-based films sometimes
seem a bit confusing…'Strippers vs Werewolves' falls into the line of
British humor meets horror genre products than crosses over only
slightly... but not enough to win my heart” (Adrian Halen Less extreme but still confused is "Everyone in this production is a Brit, so the performances come across much better than they actually are, I suspect. At least to my Americocentric ears, one could read the phone book and as long as it was done in a British accent I’d think you were the next Sir Laurence Olivier” (TGM, Horror DNA, 7 Oct 2012, click here)". A more sensible American review is "Strippers Vs. Werewolves never forgets what it is: 100-percent B-movie fun. The script is far more clever and funny than most movies of this caliber, but the acting and FX are about what you’d expect. Characters are fleshed out and unique, which I greatly appreciated, especially the different werewolves and their completely over-the-top personalities. Do they chew the scenery as much as they chew flesh? Sure, but all in good humor... The second act does drag quite a bit, as there’s a lot of talking about strippers versus werewolves, but not a lot of actual versus-ing going on. Director Glendening has a few things to learn about pacing" (Mr. Dark, Dread Central, 12 May 2012, click here). The Director of Photography was David Meadows and the Editor was Richard Colton. Best name from the credits, Lloyds de Vere of Onger- he doesn't appear elsewhere on Internet searches.
All images from the film.
RED 2 with Bruce Willis reviving his role as Frank Morris, a RED (Retired Extremely Dangerous) member of the CIA alongside John Malkovich (Marvin Boggs) and British spook Helen Mirren (Victoria Winslow). Hit man Han Cho Bai played by Byung-hun Lee is hired to kill Morris. "Cars careen, lazily written infiltration plans are executed, and the violence is plentiful and toothless. You can tell the villain has been revealed when he’s the only one who really cares about murder" (Nicolas Rapold, New York Times, 18 July 2013).
Lee meets Cobb- Steven Berkoff in his best Chinese cliché character, but negotiations do not go well and Cobb is killed, death by origami. Berkoff is on film for under a minute.
Bruce Willis' Cobb has the occasional action fight and romantic interest but he seems to saunter through the role with no real conviction.
Victoria Winslow does a lot of the killing. "Like the first one, it's played for laughs in-between bouts of mayhem; most of the gags are off-target, though Mirren's Nancy Mitfordesque assassin gets a pretty good kill ratio" (Andrew Pulver, The Guardian, 1 Aug 2012, click here).
John Malkovich plays Marvin Boggs in his usual sardonic manner. Directed by Dean Parisot in 2013. Brian Cox who plays Ivan was in The Flying Scotsman with Berkoff, and extras David Papova was in The Borgias, Lee Asquith-Coe was in Strippers vs Werewolves and Gino Picciano was in Dead Cert. The Director of Photography was Enrique Chediak and the Editor was Don Zimmerman.
All images from the film. Fall of an Empire: the Story of Katherine of Alexandria, also called Decline of an Empire, dirdcted by Michael Redwood. Katherine "was the first woman of position to denounce Rome's enforced pagan worship upon the masses" (Michael Redwood on DVD extras).
Nicole Cernat plays Katherine in her only acting role. Otherwise
Steven Berkoff is in good company with Peter O'Tool "Legendary actor Peter O'Toole shrugged off illness to carry on working 10 hours a day on his final film, its director has revealed... He had suffered from a long illness, his agent said at the time of his death. But O'Toole defied his health problems during filming of Fall of an Empire: The Story of Katherine of Alexandria in January 2012. The film's director, Michael Redwood, said 'Peter was certainly not the type to let illness decide over his career, and despite his being poorly at the time of filming, he remained full-on 10 hours a day, showing great interest in the storylines, angles of shots and the lighting'" (6 Apr 2015, ITVX, click here).
All images from the film. Sasha Bennett directs We Still Kill the Old Way, a film about old time gangsters against young gangs, released in 2014. Ian Ogilvy stars and Steven Berkoff gets a special credit.
...then shortly after he confronts a gang who are attacking a woman. He knocks one down with his knuckleduster but h is age and the number of gang members mean he is overpowered and kicked to death. His brother Ritchie Archer a retired East-End gangster, played by Ian Ogilvy, decides to reform his old gang to get revenge.
The gang terrorise the neighbourhood.
But Ritchie and his old gang pick off the gang members. Not a bad film to see once, and it had a follow-on film with the weaker title We Still Steal The Old Way, but obviously without Berkoff. Director Sacha Bennett is also credited as Music Supervisor and has a cameo in the film. Cinematography is by Ismael Issa and editing by Guy Ducker. Craig Miller is Berkoff's stunt double.
All images from the film. North v South- Long Time Coming. Steven Nesbit directs this 2015 gang film which went straight to DVD. Steven Berkoff plays his usual gang leader role about North and South gangs meeting and fighting, but a couple of young lovers get mixed up in the struggle for power.
T
All images from the film and the DVD extras. A comedy from 2015 directed by Frank Howson. It attempted to get crowd funding but failed to reach the target.
The film copies the Saw films with the challenges to find the victims and the intricate weapons of death but is a poor substitute (though I dislike the Saw films). The dialogue is stilted and the voice-over pretentious "money isn't the key to happiness, but when you've got nothing..." and "we haven't got a hope, and hope is all we need".
The wife (Coralie Rose) has had enough.
As with similar films the number of producers is an indication of how bad
the film i
"Entirely unnecessary sequel on the further fortunes of a football
hooligan turned gangland bruiser trying to rise in a grotty underworld of
thugs’n’drugs... The plot follows football hooligan turned gangland
bruiser Carlton Leach, played again by Ricci Harnett who also writes and
directs, as he tries to regain a foothold in a grotty underworld of thugs
and drugs... it’s a largely forgettable slog littered with tired clichés
and ropey performances, seemingly aimed at an audience made up of drunken
stag parties" (
"With the men front and centre, women are very much resigned to gangland
stereotypes: ‘Irish girl who knows when to keep her mouth shut’ and
‘disgruntled wife’ being the two most complex. “Gypsies” also get a rough
deal, painted as en vogue pests with incredibly broad strokes" (Emma
Thrower, Empire, 11 Dec 2015, click for empireonline
"Lead actor Harnett also writes and directs this time around. Unwisely, he
over-compensates for a thin story with sweary geezer mayhem, gentlemen’s
clubs and white powder consumption. He makes a scrappy job of the
exploitation highlights, while lacking the craft or insight to do much
with the domestic scenes either. Very poor indeed" (Trevor John
Manhattan Night directed by Brian De Cubellis in 2016. Based on the novel Manhattan Nocturne by Colin Harrison.
Steven Berkoff plays Sebastian Hobbs, who has just bought the newspaper Porter Wren writes for, but is soon caught up in the conspiracy. "In spite of- or perhaps because of- the film’s many shortcomings, it should be required viewing for anybody who seeks to write in the noir genre. Manhattan Night is one of the most effective depictions I’ve ever seen of the unfortunate effects of going too far in some aspects of the genre while falling short of others" (Christopher Chan, 19 Jan 2018, The Strand Magazine click here).
&"In its complexity and zest for evil, the plot rivals that of 'Chinatown.'
The story even has its own Maltese falcon, in the form of a priceless
green jade figure of a horse. But what sounds so delicious in the telling
is pallid and ludicrous onscreen... Caroline is being threatened by
Sebastian Hobbs (Steven Berkoff), the glowering plutocrat who has just
purchased the failing tabloid for which Porter writes. Mr. Berkoff plays
him as a Sydney Greenstreet type whose behavior doesn’t add up once his
secrets are bared".
The film has three producers, seven executive producers, four co-producers, one line producer, one "line producer (Pick-up Day)" and two DI Producers. There is also a 2nd 2nd Assistant Director. Not difficult to work out why the film failed. Jackie Chan is one of the producers, but I can't find any information on his involvement.
Titanium White, original title Wrobiony. Steven Berkoff again directed by a first-time director, this time Piotr Smigasiewicz in 2016.
Photo of Daniel Olbrychski from his website on Mubi click here. Any more information welcome. Riot, a film set against riots in London pushing police to the limits, and one policeman over the limits. The film, "based on actual events" was directed by yet another first-time director Simon Phillips in 2017. Later Philips would act in The Rapture with Berkoff. The film is also called G.B.H. which stands for the offence Grievous Bodily Harm.
Damien (Nick Nevern) is an ex-hooligan who is now a cop.
Two police officers on foot-patrol- nowadays police ride in police cars but this film pays little attention to facts.
Louise (Kellie Shirley) partners Damien.
A bullied boy does not want to name the bullies, but after Damien talks to them the boy is later beaten up for being a snitch.
Louise chases a criminal straight into a trap where she is surrounded by a gang and violently beaten. Damien reverts to his violent past and takes revenge. The acting of a number of actors is shamefully bad. The plot is set in London but there is no sense of where in London, and the story has little to say other than violence. Direction seems unfocussed, and scenes are shot basically with little thought of composition. There is nothing good to say about the film. Berkoff and Nick Nevern also share roles previously in Strippers vs Werewolves. The DOP is Haidar Zatar and the editor is Richard Colton.
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