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Gothika (2003): Another oldie I caught up with. Halle Berry is the psychiatrist who ends up in her own hospital for the criminally insane, accused of murder. Are there ghosts at play here or is it part of Berry's psychosis. There also seems to be a conspiracy going on, if you believe another patient. We enter a world of smoke and mirrors where there are no reliable witnesses. Effects are ok and the hospital is weird and eerie, mixing old style cells with new. Good performances by Berry and Penelope Cruz as the other patient but a few plot holes detract from that. Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz from a screenplay by Sebastian Gutierrez. 7/10. On the Horror Channel.
 
Vivarium: A strange horror satire which basically portrays real estate agents as parasites. Something like an idea thought up by Ballard and fleshed out by Philip K. Dick. A couple, Gemma (Imogen Poots) and Tom (Jesse Eisenberg) are brought by a creepy agent to a new housing development, Yonder. The agent disappears and the hapless duo find that they cannot escape from the Yonder either by car or on foot. Seemingly endless rows of identical green houses, a sky dotted with cotton wool style clouds and they are trapped in number nine. Food arrives in boxes when they are asleep, then a baby is delivered in a box with a promise that they will be released if they raise it. The boy grows rapidly, after 98 days he is about 8 years old. He is quite literally a little monster and the couple deal with the strangeness in their own ways. Tom literally digging himself into a hole and Gemma alternating between hating the boy and becoming his stepmother. Most of the horror is prosaic, gradually building up to an existential sense of panic as the months go by. There are some shocking scenes though and while not everything makes sense on a surface level there are hidden layers to this story. Good acting by Poot and Eisenberg but the standout performance is by Senan Jennings as the boy. Director/Co-writer Lorcan Finnegan delivers an interesting tale of terror. 7/10.
 
Vivarium: A strange horror satire which basically portrays real estate agents as parasites. Something like an idea thought up by Ballard and fleshed out by Philip K. Dick. A couple, Gemma (Imogen Poots) and Tom (Jesse Eisenberg) are brought by a creepy agent to a new housing development, Yonder. The agent disappears and the hapless duo find that they cannot escape from the Yonder either by car or on foot. Seemingly endless rows of identical green houses, a sky dotted with cotton wool style clouds and they are trapped in number nine. Food arrives in boxes when they are asleep, then a baby is delivered in a box with a promise that they will be released if they raise it. The boy grows rapidly, after 98 days he is about 8 years old. He is quite literally a little monster and the couple deal with the strangeness in their own ways. Tom literally digging himself into a hole and Gemma alternating between hating the boy and becoming his stepmother. Most of the horror is prosaic, gradually building up to an existential sense of panic as the months go by. There are some shocking scenes though and while not everything makes sense on a surface level there are hidden layers to this story. Good acting by Poot and Eisenberg but the standout performance is by Senan Jennings as the boy. Director/Co-writer Lorcan Finnegan delivers an interesting tale of terror. 7/10.

I didn't care for it. I wanted to quit watching a few times but didn't because like you said the acting was good and I expected something to change but it became tedious to me and I felt like I wasted my time. :(
 
I liked Vivarium quite a bit, but my real horror/sci-fi find this year is Little Joe. I understand why a lot of audiences were turned off by it, but it's so beautifully made (that colour scheme!) and exacting in a very 21st century paranoia that I thoroughly enjoyed it. The fact that it leaves you so uncertain was both the reason some hate it and I loved it. It's like a sinister fable.
 
I liked Vivarium quite a bit, but my real horror/sci-fi find this year is Little Joe. I understand why a lot of audiences were turned off by it, but it's so beautifully made (that colour scheme!) and exacting in a very 21st century paranoia that I thoroughly enjoyed it. The fact that it leaves you so uncertain was both the reason some hate it and I loved it. It's like a sinister fable.

Little Joe got a lot of 1/10 and 2/10 reviews on IMDb, people didn't like the soundtrack.

My own take:

Little Joe: Jessica Hausner directs and co-writes this feature which possesses a touch of old style SF/Horror films. You can see the influences of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Day of the Triffids with even a smidgin of The Midwich Cuckoos but in a much more restrained manner. Alice (Emily Beecham) is a plant breeder who is genetically engineering a new strain of flowers which will produce a scent to make it's owners feel happy. She has taken some short cuts and the (sterile) plant aggressively pollinates, killing other flowers. Another lab worker Bella (Kerry Fox) is suspicious of the flower especially after her dog turns aggressive. But Bella has suffered from her nerves in the past and no one takes her seriously. Alice has brought one of the flowers home to her son Joe (Kit Connor). Soon his behaviour starts to change as does that of her co-workers.

A sense of paranoia and threat builds up from when we first see the flowers, aided by Teiji Ito (music) and cinematography by Martin Gschlacht. Pastel colours both bright and subdued predominate. Ordinary objects like a cupboard exude an aura of menace as you fear what will be found within. There is little violence and the horror is mostly psychological as the enormity of what is transpiring dawns on the viewer and some of the characters. An interesting film which will hold your interest long after the final credits roll. It would have benefited from a ten minute cut in the running time though. 8/10.
 
Little Joe got a lot of 1/10 and 2/10 reviews on IMDb, people didn't like the soundtrack.

My own take:

Little Joe: Jessica Hausner directs and co-writes this feature which possesses a touch of old style SF/Horror films. You can see the influences of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Day of the Triffids with even a smidgin of The Midwich Cuckoos but in a much more restrained manner. Alice (Emily Beecham) is a plant breeder who is genetically engineering a new strain of flowers which will produce a scent to make it's owners feel happy. She has taken some short cuts and the (sterile) plant aggressively pollinates, killing other flowers. Another lab worker Bella (Kerry Fox) is suspicious of the flower especially after her dog turns aggressive. But Bella has suffered from her nerves in the past and no one takes her seriously. Alice has brought one of the flowers home to her son Joe (Kit Connor). Soon his behaviour starts to change as does that of her co-workers.

A sense of paranoia and threat builds up from when we first see the flowers, aided by Teiji Ito (music) and cinematography by Martin Gschlacht. Pastel colours both bright and subdued predominate. Ordinary objects like a cupboard exude an aura of menace as you fear what will be found within. There is little violence and the horror is mostly psychological as the enormity of what is transpiring dawns on the viewer and some of the characters. An interesting film which will hold your interest long after the final credits roll. It would have benefited from a ten minute cut in the running time though. 8/10.
I like the sound of that.Where can I watch it?
 
Little Joe got a lot of 1/10 and 2/10 reviews on IMDb, people didn't like the soundtrack.

My own take:

Little Joe: Jessica Hausner directs and co-writes this feature which possesses a touch of old style SF/Horror films. You can see the influences of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Day of the Triffids with even a smidgin of The Midwich Cuckoos but in a much more restrained manner. Alice (Emily Beecham) is a plant breeder who is genetically engineering a new strain of flowers which will produce a scent to make it's owners feel happy. She has taken some short cuts and the (sterile) plant aggressively pollinates, killing other flowers. Another lab worker Bella (Kerry Fox) is suspicious of the flower especially after her dog turns aggressive. But Bella has suffered from her nerves in the past and no one takes her seriously. Alice has brought one of the flowers home to her son Joe (Kit Connor). Soon his behaviour starts to change as does that of her co-workers.

A sense of paranoia and threat builds up from when we first see the flowers, aided by Teiji Ito (music) and cinematography by Martin Gschlacht. Pastel colours both bright and subdued predominate. Ordinary objects like a cupboard exude an aura of menace as you fear what will be found within. There is little violence and the horror is mostly psychological as the enormity of what is transpiring dawns on the viewer and some of the characters. An interesting film which will hold your interest long after the final credits roll. It would have benefited from a ten minute cut in the running time though. 8/10.

I know the soundtrack was an issue for some, apparently a lot of people like their horror paranoia as soothing as possible. I saw an interview with Hausner, and she said she was inspired by the beginning of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. As her favourite bit of the films, she wanted to concentrate on that for a whole movie. I thought she did a wonderful job - brilliant bit where the lead character's kid and his creepy pal basically say, "It's a fair cop, you've got us bang to rights!" - but then there's a twist.
 
Found this little gem. Sorry in advance, if it is already here. It is digitally remastered but I don't know where you would find that copy to watch it. This copy is free and can be watched on archive.org.

https://archive.org/details/Horror_Hotel


City of the Dead/Horror Hotel

A young coed (Nan Barlow) uses her winter vacation to research a paper on witchcraft in New England. Her professor recommends that she spend her time in a small village called Whitewood. He originally cam from that village so he also recommends she stay at the "Raven's Inn," run by a Mrs. Newlis. She gets to the village and notices some weird happenings, but things begin to happen in earnest when she finds herself "marked" for sacrifice by the undead coven of witches. It seems that the innkeeper is actually the undead spirit of Elizabeth Selwyn, and the "guests" at the inn are the other witches who have come to celebrate the sacrifice on Candalmas Eve. As one of them said when Nan walked away, "HE will be PLEASED."

6.5/10
 
I think Ramonmercado's version sounds much cooler, especially in the horror films thread. lol

I did see Vivarium in the cinema last Sunday, Cineworld is still closed though. Reminds me that I must organise a Meet Up for Sunday, Unhinged, not horror as such but sounds like a good road rage thriller.
 
I've heard Unhinged it pretty funny in a black comedy way, besides, who doesn't like to see Russell go ballistic?
 
This is the film I would have been running out to see in the kinoteatr and reviewing here (and in my blog) - if things had been as normal.

Anyway, SPUTNIK* has been released, a 16+certitifate science -fiction/horror hybrid from the Russian director Egor Abramenko (it seems to be a longer version of a short that he brought out three years ago).

Just from the trailer - English subs! -and the premise it all looks very Quatermass Experiment-ish, both in scenario and general ambience. It seems to be set in Soviet times and features a returned cosmonaut who has been infected by an extraterrestrial presence.

Of course, that whole theme of infection has gained a new resonance since the film's conception....

Unlike a lot of Russian horrors, this one doesn't look as though it will tip over into extravagant fantasy - but like a lot of Russian scary flicks it also looks quite po-faced as though it takes itself quite seriously (which can often be a plus in this genre).

It stars Oksana Akinshina - who was actually in the spi-fi The Bourne Supremacy some 16 years back, and the film director-cum-actor Fedor Bondarchuk who directed the frothier Attraction 1 and 2 blockbusters, which also featured an alien incusion theme.


It made the news on Russian TV that this film is now going to (or now has been) be premiered live online somehow...but, you know what, that won't do for me. I'm going to wait until the time I can get to see it on the big silver screen - second row from the front, bottle in hand - as is my wont. That's how to catch a premier!

* The word `sputnik` just means satellite in Russian - but also can carry connotations of `fellow traveller`. I suspect the film's title is playing on this double meaning.

So I finally goto see SPUTNIK: The cinemas in Moscow have just re-opened and they're showing a backlog of missing releases for one day only. I am so glad I waited for this and didn't bother with its online premier - it just wouldn't have worked on my poxy laptop.

This is a thriller with a science fiction premise and a distinct horror slant. In 1983 two cosmonauts are on a routine mission in Earth's orbit. Just as they are getting ready to re-enter the earth's atmosphere something attaches itself to their spacecraft. Only one of the crew returns back in one piece - and he is a bit disturbed. A military aparsatchik (Fedor Bondarchuk) reruits a young psychiatric doctor (Oksana Akinshina)to work on this unusual case. She is spirited away to the Caucuses where, in a military building the cosmonaut is kept sedated and constantly surveyed.

It turns out that he gives birth to an alien by night (through his mouth) - and has some telepathic control over what this fearsome being gets up to. The doctor, however, begins to have humanitarian concerns about what is going on - particularly when she sees them feeding the alien with prisoners!

The basic plot owes a great deal to The Quatermass Experiment - but takes the idea in a whole new direction, with the focus on the moral dillemma of the woman and the human drama of it all. It ends up becoming an escape-from-captivity scenario.

This is Igor Abramenko's directorial debut (for a long film, that is) and he has got a lot of big names on board - particularly Bondarchuk, who directed the alien contact bloscbusters Attraction (2014) and it's sequel Invasion, also from this year. It is difficult to see what demographic he is aiming for, however - as this is too sombre for a youth audience ( there is a lot of talk and most of the action takes place in a spartan military barracks) The 1983 setting has a distancing effect too - perhaps to allow them to show the military as thoroughly venal.

The alien creature - a slimy, froggy, insecty thing - is well realised, if not so original. Unusually, for a Russian film, there is some gore - although it's restrained. The film provides a great part for the striking Akinshina, who makes for a likeable heroine. The other thing you remember is the score: this consists of adeafeningly loud drum heavy classical music - bombastic but effective.

I need to see this with subtitles as it was dialogue heavy and I'm sure I missed quite a lot. The Western User Reviewers on IMDB have given this film quite an easy ride, for a change: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11905962/ Sputnik 2.jpg
 
Sputnik is out in the UK soon, couple of weeks I think. Not sure if it's dubbed (boo!) or subtitled (yay!). Dubbing seems to be the way in Russian films released over here recently, alas.
 
I always prefer subtitles to dubbing. Dubbing drives me nuts as I focus on how the mouths are not synced with the words. Sometimes the pacing is not right when the film is dubbed.

Some people complain about having to read, I've seen enough with subtitles that I don't notice it. Though when it's translated, I sometimes feel that something is missing especially when it's clear that a word has not been translated correctly or that there is a phrase that is not translatable. Then you get clunky and odd dialog.
 
Unhinged: A dark road rage thriller which creeps into horror territory. Russel Crowe is an angry man, we learn that he is psychotic in the pre-credits sequence when he murders his ex-wife, her new husband and burns down their house. Rachel (Caren Pistorius) has the misfortune to cross Crowe in a road rage incident and he decides to give her "a bad day". This involves chasing after her, shunting her car, attacking or killing those who come to her aid and targeting her family and friends. There are shades of Falling Down, Crowe has lost his job, his partner, his home, he feels the whole system is rigged against him. Rachel isn't without fault, she could have de-escalated the situation when the incident first occurred (her young son was in the car) but instead insulted Crowe. Doesn't justify any of the mayhem which follows though. Multiple vehicle collisions caused by Crowe, a truck T-Bones a police car, he runs people over willy nilly. Crowe portrays a restrained psychosis, never seeming too angrt as he smashes a mug in a face or sticks a knife in the back of someones neck. Tension is maintained throughout the 93 minute running and the main characters are nicely fleshed out, suggesting a back story. Pastorius isn't just a victim as she devises plans to fight back. Directed by Peter Borte from a screenplay by Carl Ellsworth. 8/10
 
Unhinged: A dark road rage thriller which creeps into horror territory. Russel Crowe is an angry man, we learn that he is psychotic in the pre-credits sequence when he murders his ex-wife, her new husband and burns down their house. Rachel (Caren Pistorius) has the misfortune to cross Crowe in a road rage incident and he decides to give her "a bad day". This involves chasing after her, shunting her car, attacking or killing those who come to her aid and targeting her family and friends. There are shades of Falling Down, Crowe has lost his job, his partner, his home, he feels the whole system is rigged against him. Rachel isn't without fault, she could have de-escalated the situation when the incident first occurred (her young son was in the car) but instead insulted Crowe. Doesn't justify any of the mayhem which follows though. Multiple vehicle collisions caused by Crowe, a truck T-Bones a police car, he runs people over willy nilly. Crowe portrays a restrained psychosis, never seeming too angrt as he smashes a mug in a face or sticks a knife in the back of someones neck. Tension is maintained throughout the 93 minute running and the main characters are nicely fleshed out, suggesting a back story. Pastorius isn't just a victim as she devises plans to fight back. Directed by Peter Borte from a screenplay by Carl Ellsworth. 8/10

This ones going on my watch list. My list is getting really long because I keep going for the newest ones on the list. lol
 
This ones going on my watch list. My list is getting really long because I keep going for the newest ones on the list. lol

I have a few films to catch up with on Netflix not to mention series' - Rain (Post-Apocalypse), Umbrella Academy (Fantasy_Superheroes).
 
I was just thinking of getting back into Umbrella Academy. I prefer binge watching TV. Game of Thrones almost drove me round the bend having to wait so long for each episode & season.
 
Unhinged: A dark road rage thriller which creeps into horror territory. Pastorius isn't just a victim as she devises plans to fight back. Directed by Peter Borte from a screenplay by Carl Ellsworth. 8/10
This description reminded me of "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road" - one of the Masters of Horror tv movies. Not a bad movie and the original story was written by Joe Lansdale. I enjoy movies where the woman is quite capable of defending herself. No high heels for these women.
 
I saw Session 9 last night, from 2001, old but good, horror film set in an abandoned asylum. The way the tension and sense of alienation builds up is well crafted. A team is clearing the asylum of asbestos but things start to go wrong. Most of the horror is psychological but there are some gory scenes. Explores themes of DID, possession and betrayal. Certainly worth watching. Directed and Co-Written by Brad anderson (his first Horror Film). On Netflix. 7/10.
 
I've seen Sputnik and am glad to say it was subtitled and in the original Russian. Pretty decent Alien/The Thing copy with an oppressive Soviet ambience, though it is a bit too laborious in the pacing. Stars the girl from Lilya-4-Ever, all grown up.
 
I saw Session 9 last night, from 2001, old but good, horror film set in an abandoned asylum. The way the tension and sense of alienation builds up is well crafted. A team is clearing the asylum of asbestos but things start to go wrong. Most of the horror is psychological but there are some gory scenes. Explores themes of DID, possession and betrayal. Certainly worth watching. Directed and Co-Written by Brad anderson (his first Horror Film). On Netflix. 7/10.

One of my favourites, creepy and quite nasty on a number of levels. Cracking film!
 
Spree: Another Social Media film, this one combines live streaming with a ride sharing app called Spree. A rally black comedy combines horror with satire. Stand up comedy, racism, pick up artists and realtors all fall victim the razor sharp wit of director/co-writer Eugene Kotlyarenko and writer Gene McHugh. Most of them also fall victim to Kurt (Joe Keery) a crazed Spree driver who is intent on becoming a Social Media star. For ten years he has failed, rarely getting viewers into double figures. He depends on teen Bobby (Josh Ovalle) to boost his viewers as he sets off on a killing spree. Kurt poisons, stabs, runs over and drill-kills his passengers but Bobby thinks it's all faked so Kurt's killings go largely unviewed. A comedian Jessie (Sasheer Zamata) provides a foil to Kurt's craziness. Spree grosses out with violence especially towards the end of the film but it's difficult not to laugh at the antics. Anyway nothing is grosser as Social Media and the followers of Influencers. Good performances by Keery and Zamata. 8/10.
 
Watched the "The 9th Gate" last night. A rare book detective (Johnny Deep) is sent on a quest for rare Satanic medieval books. Lots of clock and dagger with this one and a surprising ending.
 
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