Five-Legged Iguana

¡Qué horror! 2012

Candidate # 20

KALEVET

(RABIES)

(December 2010)

Touted, not just as Israel’s first slasher film, but actually the country’s first horror film, Navot Papushado and Aharon Keshales’ Kalevet doesn’t play like your standard slasher, unlike, say, Hong Kong’s Wai Dor Lei Ah Yut Ho.

Sure, there’s a killer in Kalevet, but in all honesty, this film is more about how we don’t really need insane psychos to do us in; we can handle that all by our petty, irrational selves, thank you very much.

The odd thing about this film, for me, at least, is that I really did not like the characters. At all.

But then, given what Papushado and Keshales are apparently trying to say, these are exactly the sort of characters you need messing about onscreen to get that point across.

It’s been interesting to see how other countries have been playing around with the slasher template, with titles like Wai Dor Lei Ah Yut Ho, and Kalevet, and if you grew up during the ‘80’s slasher heyday too, this one should be on your radar…

(Kalevet OS courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com; Rabies OS courtesy of impawards.com.)