10 Slots for the Best Horror I've Seen in the Past Year
[5 of 10]

MUSE

(October 2017)

“The saddest of all stages for the saddest of all endings.”

One year after a personal tragedy, Professor Samuel Salomon (Da Vinci’s Demons’ Elliot Cowan, currently appearing on Krypton) has a premonitory dream of a ritual murder, and faster than you can say “Abandon all hope, all ye who enter here,” the hijinx of an occult investigation ensue.

Based on José Carlos Somoza’s novel, La dama número trece, Muse is Jaume Balagueró’s latest, and for those of you who frequent the Iguana, you’ll be familiar with my long-standing yen for Señor Balagueró’s work.  

Delving the way it does into the supernatural potency of words (with a brief aside to the explosive potential of Neruda), Muse plays almost like a love letter to poetry, but in the form of a dark fantasy/horror movie.

Anyone who favors the structures and conventions of a traditional occult tale will also find a lot to love in Muse…

Plus, Franka Potente, Christopher Lloyd, and Joanne Whalley are in this too, so, yeah, give this one a look-see!

“The end of this story has already been written.”

(Muse OS courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com; Musa Spanish OS courtesy of screenanarchy.com.)

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2018

Candidate #12

MUSE

(October 2017)

“The saddest of all stages for the saddest of all endings.”

One year after a personal tragedy, Professor Samuel Salomon (Da Vinci’s Demons’ Elliot Cowan, currently appearing on Krypton) has a premonitory dream of a ritual murder, and faster than you can say “Abandon all hope, all ye who enter here,” the hijinx of an occult investigation ensue.

Based on José Carlos Somoza’s novel, La dama número trece, Muse is Jaume Balagueró’s latest, and for those of you who frequent the Iguana, you’ll be familiar with my long-standing yen for Señor Balagueró’s work.  

Delving the way it does into the supernatural potency of words (with a brief aside to the explosive potential of Neruda), Muse plays almost like a love letter to poetry, but in the form of a dark fantasy/horror movie.

Anyone who favors the structures and conventions of a traditional occult tale will also find a lot to love in Muse…

Plus, Franka Potente, Christopher Lloyd, and Joanne Whalley are in this too, so, yeah, give this one a look-see!

“The end of this story has already been written.”

(Muse OS courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com; Musa Spanish OS courtesy of screenanarchy.com.)

A Rundown of the 13 Best Horror Movies I've Seen in the Past Year
[4 of 13]
The Zombie Apocalypse Slot

SEOUL-YEOK

(SEOUL STATION)
(April 2016)

Yeon Sang-ho's animated prequel to Busanhaeng (Train to Busan) actually plays better than its live-action sequel, and that’s probably all down to the fact that it’s a more atypical zombie cinema viewing experience than Busanhaeng.

Why is that, you may ask?

To wit:

A: Animated zombies are far more uncommon than live-action ones.

B: Unlike Busanhaeng, we don’t really see your usual zombie cinema character types here.

C: The social commentary is far more satisfactorily evident, with some barbed rants against country and government. And the class divide is likewise more overt here.

It should be noted though that there are some rather cruel and vicious moments in this one, some moments having nothing at all to do with the zombies…

If that all still sounds like your cup of (zombie) tea, then take heed: ¡Qué horror! strongly approves Seoul-yeok!

THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS

(August 2016)

Now here's a zombie film that very consciously takes some relatively unfamiliar routes in its narrative, and that kind of zombie film is definitely worthy of some ¡Qué horror! love.

Mike Carey--yes, that Mike Carey--adapts his own novel, The Girl with All the Gifts, and helps (heh) gift us with a title that should settle in nicely in the annals of zombie cinema.

Now, in lieu of getting all spoiler-y, let’s take a look at some of the film’s other personnel:

Director Colm McCarthy first landed in ¡Qué horror! territory in the 2011 rundown, with his feature debut, Outcast. Now he’s back with his sophomore feature.

(He’s apparently been keeping busy on the telly front. And speaking of, he’s set to direct the Krypton Pilot for SyFy--yes, that Krypton--so that should be something!)

Composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer, who positively killed on the score for the late and very much lamented Utopia, slays once again here.

(He also worked on the first series of Humans, though sadly, he didn’t score the second.)

And that cast!

Not only do we have Paddy Considine and Gemma Arterton, we’ve also got Glenn Close!

Glenn! Close!

And the feature debut of Sennia Nanua isn’t too shabby neither!

So, if you feel like supporting atypical zombie fare (and you really really should!), then by all means, pay The Girl with All the Gifts a visit!

Parting Shot:

While Carey is possibly better known in the comics world for his work on Lucifer or Hellblazer, as far as I’m concerned, his magnum opus in graphic literature is definitely The Unwritten.

(Seoul Station UK quad courtesy of impawards.com & The Girl with All the Gifts UK quad courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com; novel blurb OS courtesy of orbitbooks.net.)

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2017

Candidate #8

THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS

(August 2016)

Now here's a zombie film that very consciously takes some relatively unfamiliar routes in its narrative, and that kind of zombie film is definitely worthy of some ¡Qué horror! love.

Mike Carey--yes, that Mike Carey--adapts his own novel, The Girl with All the Gifts, and helps (heh) gift us with a title that should settle in nicely in the annals of zombie cinema.

Now, in lieu of getting all spoiler-y, let’s take a look at some of the film’s other personnel:

Director Colm McCarthy first landed in ¡Qué horror! territory in the 2011 rundown, with his feature debut, Outcast. Now he’s back in the running with his sophomore feature.

(He’s apparently been keeping busy on the telly front. And speaking of, he’s set to direct the Krypton Pilot for SyFy--yes, that Krypton--so that should be something!)

Composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer, who positively killed on the score for the late and very much lamented Utopia, slays once again here.

(He also worked on the first series of Humans, though sadly, he didn’t score the second.)

And that cast!

Not only do we have Paddy Considine and Gemma Arterton, we’ve also got Glenn Close!

Glenn! Close!

And the feature debut of Sennia Nanua isn’t too shabby neither!

So, if you feel like supporting atypical zombie fare (and you really really should!), then by all means, pay The Girl with All the Gifts a visit!

Parting Shot:

While Carey is possibly better known in the comics world for his work on Lucifer or Hellblazer, as far as I’m concerned, his magnum opus in graphic literature is definitely The Unwritten.

(The Girl with All the Gifts UK quad courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com; novel blurb OS courtesy of orbitbooks.net.)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (66)
DESPERATELY SEEKING SUPERMAN 2008 (2)

And the five final candidates for Metropolis, Illinois’ new Man of Steel are Josh Boultinghouse, Damian Beurer, Jamie Aaron Kelley, Danny Kelley, and John Helfrich. Congratulations to all you fine gentle(Super)men.
From here on out, it’s all in the hands of the Superman Celebration Committee, who will deliberate on the final choice to take on the red cape and boots of the Last Son of Krypton.
Their choice will be announced on May 16, and will be seen in person at this year’s Superman Celebration, to be held on June 12-15. (For other details, go to the Metropolis Tourism website.)

(Images: Josh Boultinghouse; Damian Beurer; Jamie Aaron Kelley; Danny Kelley; John Helfrich)