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Horror Films

Anatomy (2000): A medical student, Paula (Franka Potente),earns a much sought after Summer internship at a Heidelberg University Institute. But strange things are going on. Live patients are being experimented on. Soon Paula is caught up in a conspiracy which has gone on for centuries. Pretty gruesome scenes of murder ans experimentation, a ancient secret society is behind it all. Nothing too original apart from the secret society angle but the tension is maintained throughout in this enjoyable horror thriller. The Netflix series Biohackers certainly took some inspiration from this film. Written & Directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky. On Netflix 7/10.
 
Interesting piece here on how horror movies are enjoying a boom time currently:
Article

Basically, the worse the news gets, the more people find catharsis in horror. And weirdly, comfort as well, presumably because the fictional version is something you can control.
 
GNC said:
Let's hope their livers aren't identical.

Isn't there a Jaws play on in London, I think Ian Shaw is involved?
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Yep, that what Ian Shaw's promoting. I've read 'The Shark Is Broken' is based on Robert Shaw's diary from the time he worked on the film.


... and any excuse to re post this classic Robert Shaw U.S.S. Indianapolis speech ..

 
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Swifty said:
Yep, that what Ian Shaw's promoting. I've read 'The Shark Is Broken' is based on Robert Shaw's diary from the time he worked on the film.


... and any excuse to re post this classic Robert Shaw U.S.S. Indianapolis speech ..

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For those in the area I would recommend you go and see The Shark is Broken. Its excellent. Saw it when it premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe.
 
In the 1980s this would have been taken seriously:

Fortunately we're wiser now. The short they did a few years ago was great, and this has taken ages to be released, but I think that's a very funny trailer.
 
Halloween Kills: Let There Be Blood! Needless to say Michael Myers survived the fire in the previous film and sets forth once again on a path of mayhem and murder. But it's not just Michael who goes wild, Simpsonsesque mobs charge around a hospital seeking Michael, determined that te evil will die that night. Hysteria and victimisation are subtly dealt with in this film even if the determination of Myers' surviving victims to kill him is justified. A gory film, Michael slays firefighters using a Halligan Bar, then turns their own tools on them , including an angle grider cutting into a head. Stabbings abound as does eye-gouging and impaling. Some really disturbing scenes with a more than adequate number of jump shocks. The tension is generally maintained throughout but two scenes could have been edited: the mob charging around the hospital; the survivors at the start of the film reminiscing about 1978 in the local bar. Maybe ten minutes cold have been shaved off the running time. The film also flips back to 1978 at times, revealing new facts about what took place then. Apart from that nothing really original but it's a satisfying slasher flick. Directed & Co-written by David Gordon Green. 7/10.
 
Swifty said:
Yep, that what Ian Shaw's promoting. I've read 'The Shark Is Broken' is based on Robert Shaw's diary from the time he worked on the film.


... and any excuse to re post this classic Robert Shaw U.S.S. Indianapolis speech ..

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This (the Indianapolis speech) is one of the great moments in all of film. Thank you for posting.
 
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Night Teeth: An LA (and World) where a secret pact was sealed between humans and vampires 100 years ago, vampires would only take blood by consent. Now a rogue vampire Victor and his minions have broken that pact, slaying humans and the vampire lords. We see nightclubs where humans are strapped to tables, eager to be vampire groupies and give blood, suddenly their throats are torn out by Blaire (Debby Ryan) and Zoe (Lucy Fry). This dastardly duo proceed from club to club slaying the vampire leaders, they have hired Benny (Jorge Lendebourge Jr.) as their chauffeur, thinking he is his brother Jay (Raul Castillo) a human aware of the pact. Benny behaves like his namesake from Crossroads at first but his character develops as the plot unfolds. Vampire enforcers also get involved, clashing with the rogue vampires. Quite gory at times with the biting stabbing and crossbows; Victor literally has human prisoners on tap for blood. Most of the narrative proceeds relatively predictably but there are a few pleasant and disturbing plot turns. Good bloodsucking action and fun. Directed by Adam Randall, written by Brent Dillon. On Netflix. 7/10.
 
Just watched Norwegian black comedy horror The Trip on Netflix (2021).
Some top-notch gore and genuine laugh-out-loud moments, as a dysfunctional couple head to a remote cabin with plans to bump each other off - only to find they have bigger fish to fry.
Noomi Rapace is brilliant and toggles beautifully between heroine and villain.
Clever, funny, gory as hell, twists aplenty and, above all, hugely entertaining.
9/10
 
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Guests (Gosti) is a Russian paranormal thriller from two years back. However, like many local products, it had but a a blink-and-you'll miss run in the Moscow cinemas and I've only tracked it down now.

A reserved young woman has a job as a waitress on the Crimean coast. Here, via a friend, she becomes involved with a group of four young early twenties hedonists who are keen finding venues for private techo-rave parties.

It just so happens that Katya knows just the place in the area - an abandoned old property (which we know, from a prologue was once the lair of a local occultist). The kids set up shop there and, trying to ignore the old textbooks listing demons that they discover, are soon raving to their hearts content. Then the owner of the property turns up and seems to be somewhat deranged. They overpower him, knock him out and imprison him in the cellar. This turns out to be a bad move - because he - Andrei - was trying to warn them about what they have taken on board.

We also learn that Katya has previously had a near, unconsummated relationship with this man.

Anyway, stuff starts to happen, of course. Silhouettes of figures are seen passing doorways. A strange black gluey substance keeps oozing out of fissures in the wall. One of the girls is hurled into the air and gets impaled on a tree branch. A ghostly young lady and her son are seen with glimmering eyes and mouths that open wide . And so on.

It turns out that they are the demonic spirits of Andrei's ex wife and son - and they have come to take him into their fold....

This is a hackneyed part of the kids-in-a-deserted-old-house subgenre. It is from a director (Evgeny Abusov) better known before and since as a director of comedies, but you wouldn't think so from this.

The film is leisured in its pace and has very few jump scares and a romantic element to it. I was reminded of The Other more than anything else. Angelina Stretchina (Katya) seems quite apart from the spunky dreadlocked streetgirl that she played just a year before in Queen of Spades 2: Through the Looking Glass (reviewed above, somewhere). Yuri Chushin (Andrei) is a very prolific actor and here plays well the quintessential brooding, tragic romantic hero.

The setting gives the whole thing its special atmosphere: Guests was filmed on location on the coast of Crimea - but during the autumn (this is unusual for a Russian film: if they film on the coast at all, it will be during the high summer).

A modest budget, unsurprising, but professionally delivered ghost yarn enlivened by an interesting locale and two classy leads. If, like me, you prefer the more subdued, slower burn type of spectral horror - then this is perfectly pitched.

Guests 3.jpg
 
blessmycottonsocks said:
Just watched Norwegian black comedy horror The Trip on Netflix (2021).
Some top-notch gore and genuine laugh-out-loud moments, as a dysfunctional couple head to a remote cabin with plans to bump each other off - only to find they have bigger fish to fry.
Noomi Rapace is brilliant and toggles beautifully between heroine and villain.
Clever, funny, gory as hell, twists aplenty and, above all, hugely entertaining.
9/10
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I didn't take to it, gave up after about 20 minutes, might try it again seeing as you rate it so highly.
 
The Deep House: A haunted house but this one is submerged. Two youtube bloggers, James Jagger and Camille Rowe travel to South West France to explore and film an underwater village in a flooded valley but find that that the lake is now a popular tourist resort, with boating and swimming in different areas and in any case the houses are in ruins. A local man offers to bring them to an isolated arm of the reservoir where an intact submerged house may be examined. Most of the film takes place underwater, the settings being eerie before they even penetrate the villa even a fish suddenly appearing is threatening, a floating doll in a room is eerie as any ghost. Dark deeds have occurred in this home, a memory of evil lives on. The nature of the mystery is revealed as the divers discover artifacts and other clues. Some well portrayed scenes of horror with gruesomely imagined undead. The tension is well maintained as the couple struggle to survive and escape from their ordeal before their air runs out. A satisfyingly nail biting horror thriller. Co -Directed & Co-Written by Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury. 8/10.

At the Horrorthon Festival.
 
ramonmercado said:
I didn't take to it, gave up after about 20 minutes, might try it again seeing as you rate it so highly.
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You and I often seem to have similar tastes in movies, so give it a go!

For me, the killer scene was around half way through, when Noomi and her husband are tied up and she fears she's about to be violated. Sounds pretty horrific, but what happened next was brilliant.

Am currently watching "The Deeper You Dig" on Prime.
Full of Tarot and other occult references, but way too arty-farty for me.
15 minutes left but, unless the ending has a terrific twist, I think this is a 5/10 movie.

PS. There was a twist of sorts, but it was a totally daft one and I'll stick with 5/10 for "The Deeper You Dig".
 
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Post Mortem: Hungarian horror flick set in 1919 during the Spanish Flu pandemic. Thomas (Viktor Klem) is a post mortem photographer, often snapping the dead with their loved ones. He is with a travelling fair when a young girl, Anna (Fruzsina Hais) asks him to travel to her village to photograph the dead. He only agrees because Anna looks just like a girl he saw in a vision when he was wounded during WW1. The village is gloomy, some residents wear flour sacks over their heads "to fend off the Flu", the dead are stored in a barn, partially frozen due to the Winter cold. Strange events ensue, he hears someone running on the roof, as he sets up the dead to be photographed we see them move and weep. Strange human shadows appear in the images he develops. He sets out to solve the mystery with the help of Anna. But things aren't as jolly as that makes it sound, Anna seems wise beyond her years and the spirits which infest the town are angry ghosts indeed. Poltergeist effects occur, ranging from moving objects to levitation, to storms of thrown furniture, culminating in a levitated man be strangled. The power of the spirits even go beyond this as they seek to slay more villagers. Only really one Zombie but he appears in a terrifying scene. Great performances by Klem and Hais, with an eerie village and an atmosphere which captures the dread and despair of the time when the Spanish Lady stalked the world. Directed & Co-Written by Péter Bergendy. 8/10.

At the Horrorthon Festival.
 
The Sadness: Taiwanese horror film set in Taipei. The Alvin virus is at a pandemic scale but the deniers say it's a hoax or a political stunt. A virologist warns that Alvin may mutate into something akin to Rabies but is laughed. He may not have the last laugh but he's right, people turn savage killing each other with any weapon to hand. A young couple become separated and the narrative centres on their encounters with the infected and their attempts rendezvous again. This must be the goriest film I've ever seen, throats are bitten out, people eaten alive. in a subway car severed jugular veins and arteries spray the passengers with blood as more fall prey to the mutated virus. These are not Zombies (though one does go after brains), they live but stay dead when killed, they laugh manically as they attack, kill, torture and abuse but seem to retain their intelligence and ability to reason apart from the uncontrollable violence. This is not a film for the squeamish or fainthearted, kilometres of intestines are strewn about along with an ocean of gore. There are some elements of black comedy but this an in your tale of terror and not one you'll forget in a hurry. Written & Directed by Rob Jabbaz in his triumphant feature film directorial debut. 8/10.

At the Horrorthon Festival.
 
ramonmercado said:
Night Teeth: An LA (and World) where a secret pact was sealed between humans and vampires 100 years ago, vampires would only take blood by consent. Now a rogue vampire Victor and his minions have broken that pact, slaying humans and the vampire lords. We see nightclubs where humans are strapped to tables, eager to be vampire groupies and give blood, suddenly their throats are torn out by Blaire (Debby Ryan) and Zoe (Lucy Fry). This dastardly duo proceed from club to club slaying the vampire leaders, they have hired Benny (Jorge Lendebourge Jr.) as their chauffeur, thinking he is his brother Jay (Raul Castillo) a human aware of the pact. Benny behaves like his namesake from Crossroads at first but his character develops as the plot unfolds. Vampire enforcers also get involved, clashing with the rogue vampires. Quite gory at times with the biting stabbing and crossbows; Victor literally has human prisoners on tap for blood. Most of the narrative proceeds relatively predictably but there are a few pleasant and disturbing plot turns. Good bloodsucking action and fun. Directed by Adam Randall, written by Brent Dillon. On Netflix. 7/10.
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Have to disagree with you slightly about Night Teeth.
I found it very much to be style over substance.
Cinematography was good. and soundtrack was great, with some exceptional surround effects but, aside from the eye and ear candy, it was just a bit of fluff.
I'm maybe somewhat biased here, as I like my cinema vampires to be more old school and absolutely reeking of evil (like in Stake Land or all except Nadja in Blood Red Sky) rather than the heavily overdone trope of young, sassy and sexy.
So, Night Teeth was only a 5/10 for me.
 
blessmycottonsocks said:
Just watched Norwegian black comedy horror The Trip on Netflix (2021).
Some top-notch gore and genuine laugh-out-loud moments, as a dysfunctional couple head to a remote cabin with plans to bump each other off - only to find they have bigger fish to fry.
Noomi Rapace is brilliant and toggles beautifully between heroine and villain.
Clever, funny, gory as hell, twists aplenty and, above all, hugely entertaining.
9/10
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Thanks for the review. I looked it up and watched it tonight. Totally agree with you. It is now one of my favourite movies. I don’t think that I have ever seen a non-English language horror movie that is so much fun (in a very twisted way).

ps. I have seen some foreign films, but until streaming came along, the selection was pretty limited.
 
blessmycottonsocks said:
You and I often seem to have similar tastes in movies, so give it a go!

For me, the killer scene was around half way through, when Noomi and her husband are tied up and she fears she's about to be violated. Sounds pretty horrific, but what happened next was brilliant.
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My WTF moment was right after they are doing a little bartering and following that slight hiccup, the ceiling falls in and…:omg:
 
ramonmercado said:
The Temple: Another film about vengeful and angry ghosts. Mostly told in flashbacks, the only survivor of a trio of Americans who went to visit a remote Temple in Japan is questioned, seriously injured he is in an oxygen tent. The trio were warned, in a curio shop in a bar, by a village resident to avoid the Temple but of course they went to it. This Temple is protected by Werefox statue which comes to life. Not great but some good scenes of the Werefox, a hand rising and pulling someone through a wooden floor; ghosts rising and maiming people. Good sense of dread, especially in underground shots. Interesting plot twist. Worth watching. Directed by Michael Barrett, written by Simon Barrett. On Netflix. 6/10.
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Only got around to watching this last night.
Whilst the slowly building atmosphere and Japanese travelogue were reasonable, the plot-holes were inexcusable....

If the ghosts of the kids wanted to be found so the truth about their disappearance would emerge, why go all bitey on Chris?
If Chris had a broken leg, how could he chase after James and bash his head in (whilst apparently staying with the girl at the same time)?
If James were blinded by Foxy lady/demon thing in the mine, how come Chris killed him too?
If it were really the shapeshifter pretending to be James that Chris killed, then why did (heroic) Chris come over all Joe Pesci and do the pen-stabbing thing at the end?
What happened to Kate (apart from giving into hysterics after finding ONE dead end in the mine?

Then there were clichés aplenty, from the creepy little dark-eyed kid that only one member of the trio can see popping up everywhere, the cursed artefact in the musty old antique shop, the dire warnings to stay on the path SORRY not visit the temple and loads of too-dark scenes being semi-lit by a flickering torch.

Let's face it, apart from the interesting setting, this was just the product of a couple of horror fan wannabes bashing their familiar toys together whilst forgetting to include a coherent plot.

3/10 for me.
 
blessmycottonsocks said:
Only got around to watching this last night.
Whilst the slowly building atmosphere and Japanese travelogue were reasonable, the plot-holes were inexcusable....

If the ghosts of the kids wanted to be found so the truth about their disappearance would emerge, why go all bitey on Chris?
If Chris had a broken leg, how could he chase after James and bash his head in (whilst apparently staying with the girl at the same time)?
If James were blinded by Foxy lady/demon thing in the mine, how come Chris killed him too?
If it were really the shapeshifter pretending to be James that Chris killed, then why did (heroic) Chris come over all Joe Pesci and do the pen-stabbing thing at the end?
What happened to Kate (apart from giving into hysterics after finding ONE dead end in the mine?

Then there were clichés aplenty, from the creepy little dark-eyed kid that only one member of the trio can see popping up everywhere, the cursed artefact in the musty old antique shop, the dire warnings to stay on the path SORRY not visit the temple and loads of too-dark scenes being semi-lit by a flickering torch.

Let's face it, apart from the interesting setting, this was just the product of a couple of horror fan wannabes bashing their familiar toys together whilst forgetting to include a coherent plot.

3/10 for me.
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Too long since I've seen it to adequately address your forensic dissection in the spoilers!
 
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