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¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011Auxiliary List[4 of 4]And for the final batch of the 2011 Auxiliaries, a pair of very strange films…KYNODONTAS(DOGTOOTH)(May 2009)
Nominated at the Oscars for Best Foreign Film, Greece’s Kynodontas is a darkly humorous and ultimately disturbing look at the reality that how parents raise their children really does make all the difference in the world.
RUBBER(May 2010)
Yes, in case you’ve heard about this one, this is indeed the film about the angry psychic tire named “Robert.”You read that correctly.Angry.Psychic.Tire.And while Quentin Dupieux’s Rubber is certainly about that, it’s also about art and how an audience relates to art, how art is influenced by the audience, and the disturbing possibilities of art becoming something more than what was originally intended.Brilliant and absurd, this is quite unlike anything else on this Auxiliary list, or on the main ¡Qué Horror! 2011 rundown, for that matter. (Kynodontas OS, Dogtooth UK quad, and Rubber OS courtesy of impawards.com.)
¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011Auxiliary List[3 of 4]For this batch, I present a real documentary, and the hands-down, best vampire film I saw in the past year…CROPSEY(April 2009)
With all the excellent faux docs making the ¡Qué Horror! grade, I thought it only fair (and well-deserved) that Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio’s honest-to-goodness real documentary--which examines the line where urban legend crosses over into real life--be given a mention here.STRIGOI(August 2009)
It’s been awhile since I’ve seen a vampire film as atypical as Strigoi.* Written, edited, and directed by Faye Jackson, it’s also hands down the best and most substantial vampire film I’ve seen in the past 12 months.Strigoi is an insightful title that’s about tradition and history and folklore and family and corruption. It’s about the poor, the rich, and the opportunistic.And yes, it’s about the different kinds of vampires, even the ones that don’t subsist on blood.This is the sort of vampire film that will keep the form alive and vital and meaningful despite all that Twilight blather that’s currently cluttering up the mythos.Big plus to Jackson for excellent usage of Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky” and Beirut’s “Postcards from Italy.”* It’s been years and years since atypical titles like The Hunger or Vampire’s Kiss or Nadja or Shadow of the Vampire, so Faye Jackson’s moving and bittersweetly humorous take in Strigoi is most welcome. (Cropsey OS courtesy of impawards.com; Strigoi DVD cover art courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com.)
¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011Auxiliary List[2 of 4]For this batch, I present some thrillers…RED RIDING (1974; 1980; 1983)(February 2009)
In the vein of Bong Joon-ho’s Salinui Chueok (Memories of Murder) and David Fincher’s Zodiac, superb films both, the Red Riding Trilogy--adapted from David Peace’s Red Riding Quartet* by Tony Grisoni (who’s also worked on the screenplays of Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Tideland, as well as Keith Fulton's Brothers of the Head)--chronicles the investigations of the Yorkshire Ripper murders in the forensic Dark Ages when the initials CSI still meant nothing in particular to the majority of the public.Like Bong and Fincher’s films, Red Riding is also especially interested in the impact the killer’s crimes have on those orbiting them, like the journalists and the investigators. And dead centre of Red Riding’s spotlight is how vice and corruption is just as insidious an evil as a serial killer’s depredations.The films comprising the Trilogy--1974, 1980, and 1983--directed by Julian Jarrold (Kinky Boots; Brideshead Revisited), James Marsh (Man on Wire; Project Nim), and Anand Tucker (Hilary and Jackie; Shopgirl), respectively, boast a strong cast which includes such solid British talent as Paddy Considine, Sean Bean, Andrew Garfield, and Mark Addy. Originally aired on British television, the Trilogy subsequently got favorable reception on the film festival circuit.* The Quartet’s second novel is Nineteen Seventy-Seven, which did not make a direct transition from page to screen.THE PERFECT HOST(January 2010)
Directed by Nick Tomnay (from a script co-written with Krishna Jones), The Perfect Host is a dark thriller that initially seems to be an interesting variation on the home invasion sub-genre, with David Hyde Pierce as the titular host whose home becomes a rest stop for John Taylor (Clayne Crawford), who’s just robbed a bank. Soon though, the narrative takes some turns and twists, and we’re suddenly not in the film we initially thought we were in.If you can, try and steer clear of the trailer, which gives away some of what this one’s really about.(Red Riding OS courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com; The Perfect Host OS courtesy of impawards.com.)
¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011Auxiliary List[1 of 4]Now, I’ve always had a very broad definition of “horror” and that’s something I’ve never kept a secret.I do however, admit that what I may personally consider a horror movie (for whatever particular reason) may not be seen as that by others, thus, I’m establishing the ¡Qué Horror! Auxiliaries, films that I saw in the past year that I feel need to be talked about, films that had, to varying degrees, horror elements in them, even though they may not be readily seen as “horror” films.For the first batch, let’s have two titles that actually made the candidates list, but, because they were both titles that could raise eyebrows and questions, in regards to their status as “proper” horror films--since the first is almost like an art film approximation of a particular horror sub-genre, and the second plays out more as an indie character drama that just happens to be set against a genre background--I figured I’d feature them as Auxiliaries, since no one would question their place here. Both titles are simply too good to be overlooked because they aren’t “proper” horror films.So, without any further blather…AMER(September 2009)
Playing like a curious love letter to Argento, Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani’s feature-length debut, Amer, is largely about mood and style, a cinematic exercise where narrative takes a back seat to impressionism and dream logic. While dialogue is sparse, shades of classic Argento (giallo and otherwise) can be found scattered throughout Amer’s 90 minute running time, where eroticism and death constantly stare at each other from opposite sides of a cracked mirror.
And while I single out Dario Argento as a clear touchstone of Amer, it should be noted that in an interview, Cattet and Forzani also mention Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci, and Shinya Tsukamoto, among others, as inspirations. They also make it a point to acknowledge Argento’s Inferno and the late Satoshi Kon’s Sennen Joyû (Millennium Actress). Perhaps not so incidentally, it’s interesting to note that Kon’s Perfect Blue is itself, an animated nod to giallo.
While this is clearly not for everyone, Amer is a must-see for anyone who considers himself a serious student of horror.MONSTERS(June 2010)
Six years ago… NASA discovered the possibility of alien life within our solar system. A space probe was launched to collect samples but broke up during re-entry over Mexico. Soon after new life forms began to appear and half the country was quarantined as an INFECTED ZONE.Today…The Mexican and US military still struggle to contain ‘the creatures’…When word first began to circulate about Gareth Edwards’ Monsters, the news seemed to carry the implication that Edwards’ film would have human-sized aliens in it, ala District 9, which was in rotation at the time.So, though the excellent Monsters trailer had already primed me to expect considerably-bigger-than-human-sized extraterrestrials, I was still enthusiastically surprised to see that Edwards’ effort plays rather like a character-driven indie film, which just happens to have giant, tentacled aliens as part of its backdrop.It should be noted that not only did Edwards write and direct Monsters (his feature debut, by the way), he’s also the DP and production designer, plus he did the visual effects. Clearly, a huge part of the credit for placing its audience smack dab in the middle of this fantastic, yet still believable setting, falls to Edwards, who has created a SF/horror-tinged vision of a country upon whose doorstep war has been placed by foreigners.Thus, it shares that aspect with District 9, that there is subtext to be found. But said subtext never crowds out the fact that Monsters is really about the main leads, Andrew and Sam (played by Scoot McNairy and Whitney Able); it’s their lives and their relationship we witness in the midst of the giant monster movie trappings. And it’s to McNairy’s and Able’s credit that their performances keep us interested in the narrative’s goings-on.So Monsters also has that in common with Matt Reeves’ Cloverfield; that the characters really are at centre stage. In fact, if you take Cloverfield, then scale it towards the character-driven indie film end of the cinematic spectrum, you may begin to get an inkling of what Monsters is all about.Better yet though, just get out there and see it.
Parting shot: Reviews of District 9 and Cloverfield can be found lurking in the Archive.(Amer OS courtesy of twitchfilm.net; Monsters UK quad and components for custom OS courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com.)
¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011The Wrap-UpSo, there we are. Thirteen primary titles, plus four additional ones. And yes, one of those additionals wasn’t really a runner-up, but Little Deaths is an anthology that must be seen by those horror fans who aren’t put off by sex and sexual situations. And though it snuck onto the list because Simon Rumley’s “Bitch” was in it, I must also point out that Andrew Parkinson’s “Mutant Tool” was quite definitely one of the most bizarre horror tales I saw within the past twelve months, regardless of length. Heh.Now, before we get on with the candidates for ¡Qué Horror! 2012, I’ll be going through another new ¡Qué Horror! feature, the Auxiliaries, titles that may not be what people will automatically think of as horror films, but were nonetheless some of the most noteworthy movies I had the privilege of viewing over the past year. I’ll kick off the Auxiliaries in November: four batches, ten films.I’d also like to stress that there’s nothing stopping you from checking out each of the 2011 candidates. Just because they didn’t make the final cut, doesn’t mean they’re no longer worth your time; there are good reasons why each of those films became a candidate in the first place. (Two of the Auxiliaries actually come from the candidates list, so you’ll be seeing them there anyway.) Other than that, I guess the only other thing to say is, once again, have a Happy Halloween.
A Rundown of the 13 Best Horror Movies I’ve Seen in the Past Year[12 of 13]
SECUESTRADOS(KIDNAPPED)(September 2010)
Intense, grim, and merciless, Miguel Ángel Vivas’ Secuestrados is home invasion, as told in a series of protracted scenes; about a dozen, I think. I tried to keep track, but, well… things get wild and hairy in this one, so my count may have gotten muddled at a certain point…Like Rodrigo Cortés’ Buried, this one’s an audacious bit of cinema that both impresses in the clearly high ambition of its storytelling, and disturbs with its uncompromising darkness.
Home Invasion Runner-up:CHERRY TREE LANE (June 2010)
The home invasion sub-genre continues to bust down some doors, and Cherry Tree Lane, brought to us by writer/director Paul Andrew Williams, is a nasty piece of work that keeps the atrocity off-camera, and yet plays just as potently as other titles that have their horrors visible for all to see.Instead of the violence and bloodletting, it’s the terrible intimacy that comes into existence between captors and their prisoners that gets centre stage here, that horrible sense of violation that comes when the sanctity and safety of hearth and home is infiltrated by foreign and unwelcome elements.In my review of Williams’ The Cottage (lurking in the Archive), I believe I mention that while I wasn’t too fond of his second feature film, I did like Williams’ debut, London to Brighton. For the record, Cherry Tree Lane is definitely Williams’ best feature effort thus far.With very controlled cinematography by Carlos Catalán, music by UNKLE, and a very lean, mean seventy-seven minute running time, this one is certain to unsettle, and to make you want to double- (and maybe even treble-) check the locks on your doors and windows, and be extra-careful when answering the doorbell.
(Secuestrados & Kidnapped OS’ courtesy of impawards.com; Cherry Tree Lane OS courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com; Cherry Tree Lane DVD cover art courtesy of amazon.co.uk.)
A Rundown of the 13 Best Horror Movies I’ve Seen in the Past Year[11 of 13]
BLACK SWAN(September 2010)
I truly can’t say enough good things about Darren Aronofsky’s latest, Black Swan. Everything in this-- from the camerawork by longtime collaborator, Matthew Libatique (who’s shot everything for Aronofsky except The Wrestler), to the script by Mark Heyman, Andrés Heinz, and John McLaughlin (from a story by Heinz), to the music, to the cast-- meshes like an exactingly choreographed and executed ballet piece.It’s about the brittle fragility of bodies and psyches pushed to-- and beyond-- their limits. It’s about desperation and passion and pressure, and about the cruelty of perfection.And yes, given that this is a horror movie in much the same way a landmark 1960’s film by Roman Polanski was, it most definitely deserves a slot on the main ¡Qué Horror! rundown.Given the manner in which it takes the Swan Lake narrative as well as its motifs and applies them onto the high pressure world of ballet, I’d like to think Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky would appreciate this one.
Parting shot: Black Swan’s BAFTA nominations: Best Film, Best Actress (Natalie Portman), Best Supporting Actress (Barbara Hershey), David Lean Award for Achievement in Direction, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing (Andrew Weisblum), Best Production Design (Thérèse DePrez and Tora Peterson), Best Costume Design (Amy Westcott), Best Make Up/Hair, Best Sound, and Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects; Portman’s win would be the only BAFTA it would take home.Its Oscar nominations: Actress in a Leading Role (Portman), Cinematography, Directing, Film Editing, and Best Picture; again, only Portman would walk on up to the podium…(Black Swan OS’ courtesy of impawards.com.)
A Rundown of the 13 Best Horror Movies I’ve Seen in the Past Year[10 of 13]
SRPSKI FILM (A SERBIAN FILM)
(March 2010)
There are certain films that are so singular and potent in their effect that the post-screening haze they leave me in, as I gradually re-adjust to the real world after my first viewing of them, somehow has a different texture from the wake of other movies.
Films like Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre or David Cronenberg’s Videodrome or Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible, films that leave an impact and an imprint, both indelible and quite unforgettable.
Well, I can now add Srdan Spasojevic’s Srpski Film (A Serbian Film) to those ranks.
Here, Milos (Srdan Todorovic), noted star of such stellar titles as Milosh the Filthy Stud, is lured back in front of the camera from his current domestic life by mysterious filmmaker Vukmir Vukmir (Sergej Trifunovic), for a production whose plot and script is a secret.
Needless to say, things go, not just terribly awry, but total gonzo batshit insane, in a film I can perhaps best describe as the ultimate Hot Blood movie; Hot Blood being the successful erotic horror anthology series that has had writers like Grant Morrison as contributors.
Srpski Film is, quite pointedly, transgressive cinema (yes, some will use the term “perverse”) and there are moments in this film that are nothing short of evil. I’ve made it a point at the Iguana to stress which reviewed films have particularly strong and graphic content; consider my warning regarding Srpski Film the direst I’ve ever given here.
No joke, this one takes the cake.
It’s also got the single most audacious kill I’ve ever seen captured on film; and that’s saying a lot for a film that has a number of atrocious kills during its running time.
If you’ve ever wondered why a porn film is a brainless series of sexual acts, one after another, well, Srpski Film will show you how potentially dangerous porn with a philosophy can be.
(A Serbian Film OS courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com.)
A Rundown of the 13 Best Horror Movies I’ve Seen in the Past Year
[8 of 13]
RED WHITE & BLUE
(January 2010)
Simon Rumley’s The Living and the Dead made quite the impression on me (unearth the review from the Archive), so much so that when I first got a whiff of Red White & Blue, I kept track of its development and production, knowing I was eventually going to check it out.
And while this is a different sort of cinematic animal from The Living and the Dead, it’s got the same kind of jarring disquiet in its onscreen action, action that also takes place in that viciously desolate wasteland where psychology and tragedy collide. But just as Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles had its volume jacked up in the U.S.-set Volume Two, Rumley’s narrative sensibilities are likewise amped to better reflect the tone and atmosphere of this American tale of love and isolation, of desperation and revenge.
The performances (by Noah Taylor, Amanda Fuller, and Marc Senter) are raw and unpolished, the editing jarring, the narrative’s trajectory and propulsion coloured by its staccato rhythms.
This is sordid stuff and it’s interesting how Rumley and his cast can make an audience involved and invested in a tale whose characters are not especially likable.
Now I’m even more excited to see Rumley’s contribution to the upcoming horror anthology, Little Deaths.
Speaking of…
Another Simon Rumley Must-See:
“Bitch,” contained in
LITTLE DEATHS (February 2011)
Multi-contributor anthologies are always a tricky proposition.
Given that there are X number of stories by X number of contributors, there’ll always be a variance in the quality of the collected tales.
There’s also the distinct possibility that, for whatever reason, some stories may work for some of the audience, while others may not, and that’s perhaps more to do with the subjectivity of art than the actual pieces themselves.
The horror anthology Little Deaths is a rarity in that all three stories are excellent, without a real weak link in the lot.
Still, as much as Sean Hogan’s “House and Home” (which kicks off the anthology) is a well-made little bit of sex and grue, it’s still overshadowed by the truly mondo bizarro “Mutant Tool” by Andrew Parkinson, and Simon Rumley’s “Bitch,” where the power and dominance games played in a very atypical sexual relationship reaches a dangerous tipping point.
As made readily apparent by its title (which it shares with an anthology edited by Ellen Datlow), Little Deaths is a showcase for erotic horror, and what’s on display in the contributions of Parkinson and Rumley is rather disturbing and unsettling and not for the squeamish nor prudish.
You’ve been suitably warned…
(Red White & Blue OS courtesy of impawards.com; Little Deaths OS courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com.)
A Rundown of the 13 Best Horror Movies I’ve Seen in the Past Year
[6 of 13]
YELLOWBRICKROAD
(January 2010)
One morning in 1940, the entire population of Friar, NH, walked north up an unmarked trail into the wilderness.
Some were later found frozen to death. Others were mysteriously slaughtered. Most, however, were never found.
This is the mystery that lies at the heart of Andy Mitton and Jesse Holland’s feature film debut, Yellowbrickroad, where a team led by Teddy Barnes (Michael Laurino) walks the very same trail in an attempt to uncover the truth beneath the legend.
It’s a truly excellent piece of distinct unease, of oblique and inexplicable horror, brought to us with the help of Smallville’s own Tess Mercer, Cassidy Freeman, who’s an executive producer on this, along with her rather appropriately named brother, Clark. (The Freeman siblings also appear as Erin and Daryl Luger.)
If you can enjoy your horror without the requisite zombies, vampires, masked slashers, or shambling monsters, then Yellowbrickroad is for you.
(Yellowbrickroad quad courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com.)
A Rundown of the 13 Best Horror Movies I’ve Seen in the Past Year[5 of 13]
BURIED
(January 2010)
There isn’t much more you need to know about Rodrigo Cortés’ Buried other than that it’s a cracklingly intense bit of film-making that, unlike other recent examples of “experiential horror” (like Devil, or Frozen, or Altitude), never once leaves the environs of the protagonist’s circumscribed agony; we spend the entire running time of approximately 95 minutes trapped in a coffin alongside Ryan Reynolds.
And here, as in John August’s The Nines, we really do realize that Reynolds can honest-to-goodness act, as opposed to playing Ryan Reynolds on camera, which, sadly, he seems to do most of the time.
From its great Saul Bass-inspired opening title credits (by Spain’s Royal Cow Studios), on through to that final, telling shot, this is tense, claustrophobic cinema executed with dollops of skill, talent, and bravura.
Parting shot: As I’ve mentioned ‘round these parts before, Buried won last year’s Méliès d'Or Award for Best European Fantastic Film.
Do yourself a favour and see why…
Experiential Horror Runner-up:
FROZEN (January 2010)
Imagine being stranded on a ski lift, without anyone knowing you were there. Trapped way above the snow, in the dark, and the cold…
That’s the wickedly taut scenario writer-director Adam Green invites us to, not so much view, as actually partake in, in Frozen.
I’ve seen the term “experiential horror” being used to describe Frozen, and a bunch of other recent titles (like Buried and Devil), and that’s about as good a term as any. These are the sort of films that attempt to place the viewer in the situation they’re watching from the normally safe remove of their seats, films that strive to break the fourth wall by putting us alongside the narrative’s protagonists, to share their panic and terror. (All this without tacking on a few extra bits to the ticket price with that new-fangled whatchallit, 3D. Is that right? “Three-dee”?)
Now, if the best horror is meant to unsettle and disturb, then experiential horror ups that ante considerably, making the cinematic experience more horribly intimate by confining us in a circumscribed space, forcing us to undergo the suffering.
In Frozen, Green has a superbly crafted and distressingly disturbing film, whose young cast (Kevin Zegers, Shawn Ashmore, and Emma Bell, who was subsequently seen on the first season of The Walking Dead) hits all the right beats, from the casual to the tension-filled.
(Buried & Frozen OS’ courtesy of impawards.com; Buried UK quad courtesy of empireonline.com.)
A Rundown of the 13 Best Horror Movies I’ve Seen in the Past Year[4 of 13]
THE CLINIC(November 2009)
There are some horror films that you simply don’t show expectant mothers, films like Fruit Chan’s Dumplings or Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury’s À l'intérieur or Paul Solet’s Grace. Based on the one sheet above, I think it’s clear that James Rabbitts’ The Clinic is another of those films.If you can get past the unsettling aspects of the material, The Clinic is an absorbing and interesting look at maternal instincts, at just how far a mother is willing to go to protect her child. It also cleverly plays with genre expectations, giving the audience a cinematic experience that may have familiar elements, but nonetheless feels like something we’ve not quite seen before.For Gabriel or Spartacus fans out there, this one’s also got the late Andy Whitfield in it.Aussie Horror Runner-up: THE LOVED ONES (September 2009)
Aussie horror plants a very decisive flag with Sean Byrne’s feature debut, The Loved Ones, a film for all those iconoclasts who ever thought that prom was just some antiquated tradition best left by the cultural wayside.
“Prom is Hell”? In The Loved Ones, that truly is the case, as we bear witness to the Worst Prom Date captured on film since Sissy Spacek got all dolled up just to take a shower in pig’s blood.
Writer/director Byrne triumphs on a number of fronts with The Loved Ones, beginning with the fact that he’s able to counterpoint the blood and brutality with genuine emotional pain and mental anguish (and not just from the film’s main protagonist, played by Xavier Samuel).
Also, The Loved Ones isn’t just about the teen-agers. There’s a significant adult presence in the film, as we’re shown the strained dynamic between parents who no longer seem to understand their rebellious offspring, and children who feel a complex welter of emotion towards these estranged dinosaurs who sired and raised them, when the truth is, that both sides are reeling from the same pain.
There’s also a disturbing parent-child relationship here that, unsettling though it admittedly is, is still grounded in a sick and twisted sort of love.
So Byrne not only delivers the shock and the gore, he also populates the narrative with characters with actual thoughts and feelings, as opposed to the one-dimensional sketches we sometimes see in horror films.
All that, while establishing that not all the “weirdoes” and “losers” we know (regardless of age) share the same sort of scars; some could very well be psychopathic, that’s always a possibility, but some will really be just troubled and traumatized individuals, trying to numb the pain the best way they know how…
(The Clinic OS courtesy of wrongsideoftheart.com; The Loved Ones OS courtesy of impawards.com.)
A Rundown of the 13 Best Horror Movies I’ve Seen in the Past Year[3 of 13]
LA HORDE (THE HORDE)
(August 2009)
Guns and drugs, blood and guts, adorn Yannick Dahan and Benjamin Rocher’s La Horde, where the unfolding scenario interrupted by the latest zombie apocalypse is a violent vendetta.
And as the running, ravening undead lay siege to a decrepit, condemned building, enemies must enter an uneasy truce to survive the ordeal.
With Alain Figlarz as stunt coordinator (Figlarz also choreographed the fight scenes in Babylon A.D. and Chrysalis and worked on Aurélien Poitrimoult’s Green Hornet short), this one’s a kick-ass, adrenalized ride. Things move so quickly and decisively, that there’s precious little time afforded to question why the dead are coming back to animated life and why their bites are contagious. Of course, given that the main characters of La Horde are cops and crooks, we really shouldn’t expect any lengthy bouts of circumspection regarding the situation they all find themselves in.
Parting shot: A review of Chrysalis can be found lurking in the Archive.
(La Horde OS courtesy of impawards.com.)
