¡Qué horror! 2014

Candidate #12

THE POSSESSION OF MICHAEL KING

(August 2014)

This is the world we live in today*: the only real found footage films** that should merit attention are those that A) prove to be something unprecedented within the genre, pushing the envelope, or tearing right through it, or B) are noteworthy examples of the genre’s “traditional” form.

The Possession of Michael King (from director David Jung) falls squarely in the latter category. It doesn’t have any ambitions of showing us anything particularly new. But, while it does colour within the lines, the hues and shades are decidedly of a rather dark and sinister persuasion, as compared to the bland palettes of the hordes of average run-of-the-mill found footage films out there.

The titular Michael King (Shane Johnson) makes a New Year’s resolution: he’s going to make a documentary about his family, to show the world just how lucky and blessed he is as a human being (even if, as he so pointedly admits very early on in the film, he doesn’t believe in God).

But tragedy strikes, and the documentary instead becomes one where Michael sets out to prove once and for all whether the supernatural exists.

Unfortunately, his grief fuels his brazenness, and he unthinkingly calls out far more than he bargained for…

Again, though this is not a found footage game changer in any way, shape, or form, there’s still some disturbing imagery in this one, and a notable performance by Johnson.

(Though you have to wonder why characters in these kinds of movies never seem to listen during the supernatural infodump early in the running time; if they did, they’d realize everything that would come in horrifyingly short order is all outlined right there…)

* The fact is, we've been living in it for quite awhile now.

** Please note that this also goes for zombies on film, whether on the big screen or small...

(The Possession of Michael King OS courtesy of impawards.com)

¡Qué horror! 2014

Candidate #11

PROXY

(September 2013)

Within the first seven minutes of Proxy, something horrendous happens to pregnant Esther Woodhouse (Alexia Rasmussen), triggering the sequence of horrible events that serves as the twisted spine for this unsettling narrative.

After giving us Scalene, with the always excellent Margo Martindale, producer/director Zack Parker (from a script co-written by Parker with Kevin Donner) serves up this sordid tale about the terrible, f*cked up things fundamentally damaged people do to each other.

Fair warning, there is nothing remotely “entertaining” about this kind of intensely disquieting psychological horror, the kind you’d never really see from Hollywood.

This is some tough stuff, and I’m not talking about guts and gore or your standard lunatic serial killer from Central Casting. Fake blood and rubber intestines and bug-eyed, drooling Looney Tunes are easy.

Getting under the skin by showing just how crazy apparently “regular” folk can be, now that takes some skill…

(Proxy OS courtesy of impawards.com.)

SEROKS ART (DIGITAL PRINTS) AVAILABLE

SEROKS art pieces by the mighty fine Alan Navarra are now available! (Shades not included.)
See here and here.
And for other pieces (including non-SEROKS art), check out Alan's Instagram.

¡Qué horror! 2014

Candidate #10

L'ÉTRANGE COULEUR DES LARMES DE TON CORPS 
(THE STRANGE COLOR OF YOUR BODY’S TEARS) 
(August 2013)

Bruno Forzani and Hélène Cattet take their particular brand of neo-giallo--as seen in past ¡Qué horror! candidate Amer--even further in the kaleidoscopic phantasmagoria of L’Étrange Couleur des Larmes de ton Corps.

What begins with the mysterious disappearance of a wife very quickly leads us into a dizzying realm where narrative all but breaks down, and dream logic overwhelms the proceedings; this is like an Argento giallo on a bad acid trip. It’s about eroticism, obsession, and quite unsurprisingly, death.

I imagine, if you enjoyed Amer, then chances are, you’ll enjoy L’Étrange Couleur… as well.

But if your test drive of Amer wasn’t quite to your liking (and I did say it was the sort of film that wasn’t for everyone), then I’d avoid getting behind the wheel of this one too…

(L’Étrange Couleur des Larmes de ton Corps OS courtesy of grignoux.be.)

 

¡Qué horror! 2014

Candidate #9

COHERENCE

(September 2013)

"[Coherence] started with a test to see if I could shoot something without a crew and without a script.”
--James Ward Byrkit

Well, let me come right out and say that Mr. Byrkit and company aced this test.

The set-up’s simple: a group of friends get together for a dinner party, on the night that Miller’s Comet passes.

And what Byrkit and his cast manage to improv out of a limited budget, notecards, and short character descriptions is an exquisite Twilight Zone Chinese puzzle mindf*ck feature debut.

To say any more would be to say too much…

Seriously.

“We are visitors.”

--Em

(Coherence OS’ courtesy of impawards.com.)