¡QUÉ HORROR! 2012 [10 of 13] The Eduardo Sánchez Slot

A Rundown of the 13 (plus) Best Horror Movies I've Seen in the Past Year
[10 of 13]
The Eduardo Sánchez Slot

Yes, Sánchez appears on one title as director, and on the other as producer, but hell, it’s still Sánchez, and these two films are still amazing…

So...

LOVELY MOLLY

(September 2011)

Once again, Eduardo Sánchez directs the sh!t out of material born from his fruitful collaboration with co-writer Jamie Nash; they worked together on both Altered and Seventh Moon.

This time out, it’s Lovely Molly, where Molly Reynolds (Gretchen Lodge, in her impressive feature film debut) returns to her childhood home with her brand new husband, to make a go at a brand new life, only to have the terrible ghosts of her troubled past rise and eclipse her married existence.

Lodge, whose background lies in London theatre, acts the sh!t out of this one, too, as does Alexandra Holden, who plays Molly’s sister, Hannah.

I really shouldn’t say too much about Lovely Molly, other than perhaps, it’s about (among other things) the ugly malevolence of transgressions, both past and present.
The fact that Johnny Lewis--who played Molly's husband, Tim--died late last month under violent and tragic circumstances makes the effect of this title even more potent today.

MIDNIGHT SON

(July 2011)

Let’s get down to brass tacks: writer/director Scott Leberecht’s debut feature, Midnight Son, is an excellent vampire film, the sort of atypical bloodsucker title that I’ve always been predisposed to.

As with Tomas Alfredson’s Låt Den Rätte Komma In, the centerpiece of Midnight Son is a burgeoning relationship between a human and a vampire, though in this case, it’s a decidedly adult relationship. There’s also the added complication of the vampire (Zak Kilberg’s Jacob) not even knowing what it is he’s becoming exactly.

There are muted strains of body horror in this, as Jacob gradually succumbs to the bizarre urges that are consuming him, which then neatly segue into vampirism as metaphor for addiction.

This may be the kind of vampire film that isn’t for everyone, but as I said before, I’m a (heh) sucker for atypical vampire films.

And let’s face it, these days, any vampire that doesn’t do the whole Sparkle Motion thing, that’s instantly a big plus in my book.

In addition, this has got Eduardo Sánchez (whose Altered, Seventh Moon, and as indicated above, Lovely Molly I love) as one of its executive producers, and as I’ve clearly found myself to be predisposed to Sánchez’s post-Blair Witch films, it made putting Midnight Son up here an awesome doubleplusgood.

Parting shot: Speaking of doubleplusgood, I’m also so looking forward to what Leberecht chooses to direct next, as well as, and I've mentioned this before, Sánchez’s Bigfoot movie, Exists.

(Lovely Molly OS courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com; Midnight Son OS' courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com & aintitcool.com.)

¡Qué horror! 2012

Candidate # 25

MIDNIGHT SON

(July 2011)

Let’s get down to brass tacks: writer/director Scott Leberecht’s debut feature, Midnight Son, is an excellent vampire film, the sort of atypical bloodsucker title that I’ve always been predisposed to.

I waffled a bit on this, since the “horror” isn’t as apparent in it as in other ¡Qué Horror! candidates, and I thought I’d sneak this out of the ¡Qué Horror! madness (as I’ve done this year with titles like Steven C. Miller’s The Aggression Scale). Ultimately though, this is a horror movie (at least, to my way of thinking it is), so here it is, an official ¡Qué Horror! 2012 candidate.

As with Tomas Alfredson’s Låt Den Rätte Komma In, the centerpiece of Midnight Son is a burgeoning relationship between a human and a vampire, though in this case, it’s a decidedly adult relationship. There’s also the added complication of the vampire (Zak Kilberg’s Jacob) not even knowing what it is he’s becoming exactly.

There are muted strains of body horror in this, as Jacob gradually succumbs to the bizarre urges that are consuming him, which then neatly segue into vampirism as metaphor for addiction.

This may be the kind of vampire film that isn’t for everyone, but as I said before, I’m a (heh) sucker for atypical vampire films.

And let’s face it, these days, any vampire that doesn’t do the whole Sparkle Motion thing, that’s instantly a big plus in my book.

In addition, this has got Eduardo Sánchez (whose Altered and Seventh Moon I love and reviewed here at the Iguana, and whose Lovely Molly I’m so looking forward to) as one of its executive producers, and as I’ve also found myself to be predisposed to Sánchez’s post-Blair Witch films, it made putting Midnight Son up here an awesome doubleplusgood.

Parting shot: Speaking of doubleplusgood, I’m also so looking forward to what Leberecht chooses to direct next, as well as Sánchez’s Bigfoot movie, Exists.

(Midnight Son OS courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com.)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (64)

64.1 CRUISING TRIBECA 2008 (2)
From a field of 120 films in competition, Tomas Alfredson’s vampire film, Lat den ratte komma in (Let the Right One In) took home the feature prize at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, while Thomas Turgoose and Piotr Jagiello (both from Shane Meadows’ Somers Town) shared the acting trophy.

Among the festival jurors this year were Doug Liman, Josh Schwartz, Oliver Platt, Peter Dinklage, Callie Khouri, and Whoopi Goldberg.

A rundown of the other winners this year can be found here.

And, in further Lat den ratte komma in news, in a bidding war for the film’s remake rights—in which Warner Bros., Paramount, and Overture figured in the wheeling and dealing—Hammer Films and Spitfire Pictures emerged victorious.
A writer for the English-language Let the Right One In redux will be chosen shortly.

64.2 THE FLY OPERA ABOUT TO OPEN
Iguana regulars will know I love me my Cronenberg and Shore, so I’d just like to do my part and make note of the fact that the two-act opera of The Fly—directed by David Cronenberg and composed by Howard Shore—is almost upon us.
It’ll be conducted by Los Angeles Opera general director, Plácido Domingo, with a libretto by David Henry Hwang (whose M. Butterfly was taken to the big screen by Cronenberg), and set design by Dante Ferretti (who took home the Oscar this year for his work on Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street).
Scoot on over to http://www.howardshore.com/ for info on tickets.

64.3 REPRISE GETS U.S. RELEASE
Joachim Trier’s Reprise will get its U.S. theatrical release on May 16, and will then subsequently be available as a Netflix rental.

Parting shot: Reviews of Shane Meadows’ This Is England (which also stars Thomas Turgoose), a number of David Cronenberg’s films, and Joachim Trier’s Reprise can be found in the Archive.

(Let the Right One In OS courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com; The Fly opera image courtesy of howardshore.com; Reprise UK quad courtesy of impawards.com.)