been trying to catch up on recent stuff...
A Field in England (2013, Ben Wheatley)
Battlefield deserters in search of a pint get dragooned by an alchemist who may possess magical powers. (Great Britain) A strange, hypnotic and stunningly beautiful slice of magic-realist historical psychedelia. Funny, baffling, wonderfully well-written & entirely satisfying. Instant favorite.
Frankenstein's Army (2013, Richard Raaphorst)
Found-footage horror about a WWII-era Soviet reconnaisance unit that falls afoul of the mad doctor's madder descendant. Kind of loved this. Obviously made on a meager budget and prizing lunatic monter mayhem above all else, it never lets practical limitations get in the way of unhinged imagination. A blast.
Moebius (2013, Ki-duk Kim)
Said to be wordless, abstract & quite violent (S. Korea). Again, that description right on the money. It's hard for me to rate this one. It's a brave and gorgeous film, exquisitely well crafted and obviously the product of a singular and deeply personal cinematic vision. On the other hand, it's relentlessly unpleasant and almost absurdly on-the-nose. Admirable in its way and obviously bound for infamy, but I can't say I enjoyed it much.
Oculus (2013, Mike Flanagan)
Supernatural thriller about a haunted mirror. Not a bad movie by any means, but a bit bland and underwhelming. I quite enjoyed the first hour or so, but as the mysteries resolved themseves, my interest dissipated. Dull conclusion, too.
Open Grave (2013, Gonzalo López-Gallego)
Existential mystery about a man who wakes up in a pit of human bodies without any memory of his identity or past. Easily spoiled, so I'll just say it's a fairly clever and suspenseful variation on a well-worn horror theme. I can see why many praised this film, but it didn't do much for me.
Rigor Mortis (2013, Juno Mak)
Update of the 80s "Mr. Vampire" series (Hong Kong). Though I've never seen any of the films to which it pays tribute, I loved every minute of this action-packed supernatural drama. Atmospheric cinematography and striking special effects are certainly welcome, but it's the phenomenal ensemble cast and emotionally resonant storytelling that really stand out. Entirely satisfying, if a bit darker than necessary.
Under the Skin (2013, Jonathan Glazer)
Alien in human guise seduces hitchhikers in Scotland, said to be quite abstract (UK). WONDERFUL MOVIE! In the running for the best I've seen this year. Extremely eerie and at times disturbing, often as a product of its coldly dispassionate, successfully alien tone. Great soundtrack, too.
Adam Chaplin (2012, Emanuele De Santi)
Italian "bloodiest movie ever", said to be in the vein of Rikki-Oh (prod. by Necrostorm). A stupendously violent demon-as-superhero revenge story, simple as can be, but equipped with memorable villains, knockout gore effects, and go-for-broke pacing. Bad by any conventional measure, but distinctive, inventive and never less than entertaining. Suprisingly decent production values for such a low-budget effort, too.
Byzantium (2012, Neil Jordan)
Said to be a non-traditional vampire tale featuring two blood-sucking sisters holed up in a small Irish town. A character-driven movie with a rich sense of place, more gothic drama than horror. Could be accused of a romantic sentimentality not uncommon to Jordan's films, but strong performances and melancholy atmosphere kept me engaged. Not a great movie, perhaps, but one I enjoyed a great deal.
Stitches (2012, Connor McMahon)
Ghost clown horror comedy, going in w/ low expectations. Though it's quite gory, Stitches puts the comedy first at every turn. On that level, it easily outclasses most films of its ilk. Helped by a charming cast, good character & gag writing and some surprisingly inventive camerawork. Too facile to sustain interest all the way through, but consistently better than it has to be.
Taeter City (2012, Giulio De Santi)
Sci-fi gore epic set in a dystopian future metropolis (prod. by Necrostorm). Superficially quite similar to Adam Chaplin, but nowhere near as successful. The pacing is more breakneck still and the lovingly depicted gore becomes nearly constant, but the genre context switches from spooky demonic horror to blackly comic dystopian sci-fi. Pointless, incoherent and numbingly repetitive.
Thanatomorphose (2012, Éric Falardeau)
Canadian, a woman rots away from within (expect bleak, slow, gruesome). And yeah: bleak, slow, gruesome. Not much more than that. To be commended for making the most of obviously limited resources, as it features one location and, for the most part, one actor. Still oppressively dull and unpleasant, undone by poor performances, murky lighting and heavy-handed thematic underlining. Great gore effects, though...
Wither (2012, Sonny Laguna & Tommy Wiklund)
"The Swedish Evil Dead". An attractive group of young stranded at a cabin in the woods endure standard zombie flick trial-by-trauma. Though well-executed, suspenseful and cinematically "professional", I found this an almost entirely empty viewing experience. No ideas or personality, just a competent handling of overly familiar material.
Masks (2011, Andreas Marschall)
Giallo homage about a girl enrolled in a mysterious acting school (Germany). A nice surprise after the promising but lacklustre Tears of Kali. Owes a huge and undisguised debt to Suspiria, with enjoyably expressionistic visuals and a wonderful layering of sound & music. Atmospheric, oddly romantic and, like Marschall's earlier film, based around some novel ideas & interests.
The Road (2011, Yam Laranas)
A lonely stretch of road connects three independent stories with shared characters (Phillipines). An ambitious and involving supernatural mystery spanning three decades, concerning the persistence of past in present. The conclusion comes as no suprise, but I suspect the filmmakers were more interested in tragic resonance than pulling a fast one on the audience. Liked the way each story layer deepened the last.
Tomie: Unlimited (2011, Noboru Iguchi)
Reboot of the long-running ghost girl franchise (Japan). Wallows in deliberate cheese & low-budget cruddiness, tries for Hausu-style psychotronic oddity & occasionally succeeds. Lacks that film's visual flair and sugar-buzzed energy. Still quite entertaining.
Tormented (aka "Rabbit Horror") (2011, Takashi Shimizu)
Supernatural mystery (Japan), linked companion piece to Shock Labyrinth. Enjoyable, if overly melodramic in the spirit of its predecessor. Chris Doyle's cinematography & some wonderfully weird, rabbit-themed pop surrrealism help elevate this installment a notch above Shock Labyrinth.
Visible Secret (2011, Ann Hui)
The budding relationship between two young people is complicated by her ability to see ghosts (Hong Kong). Much more digressive and zany than I anticipated, and stressing the romantic and comedic aspects of the story over its horror trappings. Took me a while to orient myself, but once I got the hang of the film's loopy rhythms, I enjoyed it well enough.
The Last Circus (aka "Balada Triste de Trompeta") (2010, Álex de la Iglesia)
Two deranged clowns compete for the affections of a beautiful trapeze artist (comingling of drama, comedy & horror). There's something rather obvious about de la Iglesia's self-indulgent weirdness, and he can't tell a story to save his life, but I enjoyed this film's colorful oddity and constant tonal shifts enough to keep me on board all the way through.
Shock Labyrinth (2009, Takashi Shimizu)
Supernatural mystery, linked companion piece to Tormented (Japan). Slick, commercial and fairly ambitious, but the convoluted narrative is a good deal less interesting than the filmmakers seems to think. And too bathetic by half. Still "watchable", and I did enjoy the old-fashioned, haunted-house atmosphere.
Sick Nurses (2009, Piraphan Laoyont and Thodsapol Siriwiwat)
A vengeful ghost pursues a philandering doctor and his staff of comely young nurses (Thailand). Truly terrible but somehow charming in its screwball ineptitude and go-for-broke nuttiness. I admit the possibility that my opinion may have been swayed by the near-constant (though quaintly chaste) cheesecake parade. Perfect junk food cinema.
Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl (2009, Yoshihiro Nishimura and Naoyuki Tomomatsu)
Transfer-student vampire and spare-parts vixen compete for the affections of a timid young man (Japan). Utter garbage. Boorish, witless pandering of the saddest sort.
Dorothy Mills (2008, Agnès Merlet)
Mystery thriller about a possibly possessed girl, looks great. Wound up a big disappointment. Sleepy, low-intensity gothic mystery about a seemingly possessed girl and a small island town's dark secrets. Initially interesting in that it could be described as an inverted version of The Wicker Man, but descends quickly into soppy melodrama. No pulse, no style, might as well have been a TV movie.
Gutterballs (2008, Ryan Nicholson)
Ugly, irritating bullshit.
Midnight Ballad for Ghost Theater (2006, Gye-soo Jeon)
Korean fantasy about a young girl's encounter with the ghostly inhabitants of a decrepit movie theater. A bit overlong and heavy on both gratingly wacky spirit hijinks and at borderline maudlin sentimentality, this film's inventiveness and good cheer manage to see it through. Memorable songs, atmospheric sets and an appealing cast certainly don't hurt.
― katsu kittens (contenderizer), Tuesday, 22 April 2014 05:52 (ten years ago) link