Tuesday, April 29, 2008

The Vanishing ( 1988) - NETHERLANDS






The Vanishing is a film directed by George Sluizer. The film is based on the novel The Golden Egg by Tim Krabbé. It was released in 1988 and is in French and Dutch. Sluizer later remade the film in English, but the remake was poorly received.

PLOT : Three years after the mysterious abduction of his girlfriend while the two were on vacation, a man tracks down her kidnapper. The abductor, a seemingly normal professor who contacts the young man through the mail, is actually a cold-hearted clinician of terror. When her kidnapper promises to reveal the location of his lost loved one, their confrontation explodes.

A thriller free of onscreen violence, George Sluizer's original Dutch-French version of The Vanishing (1988) reveals the capacity for evil lurking beneath the most banal surfaces and the dangers of wanting to know too much. Adapted by Sluizer and Tim Krabbé from Krabbé's novel The Golden Egg and set in brightly bland every day locations like a highway rest stop and a country home, the story of a woman's sudden disappearance becomes a creepily deliberate examination of both the psychologically crippling impact of her vanishing on her lover, and the criminal's unfathomable motives. Shifting point of view midway through the film with an extended flashback, the viewer seems to learn everything there is to know about the crime yet what remains unseen, and the unspoken implications of what is known, deepen the disturbing effect as well as enhance the suspense. With an ending that offers chillingly inevitable closure devoid of any uplift, The Vanishing was not released in the U.S. until 1991; critics and art house audiences, though, embraced The Vanishing's resolutely dark vision. Sluizer's 1993 American remake of The Vanishing, however, became a star vehicle for Kiefer Sutherland and Jeff Bridges executed with far less subtlety.

The film was indeed well done and what struck the most was the focus on that of the villain. It is a portrayal of a normal, respectable family man who trains himself in meticulous detail for an abduction. His cold, calculating approach is probably the most frightening aspect. His inhumanity is difficult to comprehend. Exquisitely creepy and too , too chilling . A masterpiece of psychological horror.

It was Ranked 55 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments.

IMDB Info :

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096163/


Deathdream (1974) - CANADA





Deathdream is a 1974 Canadian horror film, directed by Bob Clark and written by Alan Ormsby. It was inspired by the W.W. Jacobs short story The Monkey's Paw.Deathdream revolves around Andy Brooks (Richard Backus), a young soldier who is gunned down in the jungles of Vietnam. At the time of his death, Andy's mother is praying for the safe return of her son. Despite being told by the U.S. Army that their son is dead, the family is shocked when Andy returns in the middle of the night. But Andy isn't the same as the war has changed him. He spends his time sitting quietly in rocking chair, has no desire to see old friends and dresses to conceal his body with turtlenecks, gloves and glasses. Only at night does he become animated, going out on the town to find victims that can quell his thirst for blood.

This movie is a true rarity in the annals of horror cinema in that it manages to be both creepy and genuinely poignant. The fact it manages to combine both of those emotions makes it something truly special indeed, something worth watching despite whatever production flaws it contains. The acting ranges from good (John Marley) to rather mediocre and overdone. But thats to be expected from these low-budget offerings of the time. The direction by Clark is rather unpolished, and he obviously wasn't completely comfortable with direction by this point. However, he does maintain an appropriate sense of pacing. The screenplay is fantastic and ultimately what makes this work. "Dead of Night" is an unique and emotional production that needs to be seen by fans of either cult cinema or more interesting horror films (ones that work on actual mood opposed to loads of graphic gore). The ending is more dour and stunning. I didn't see it coming, but it made perfect sense in line with everything that had happened. It's the kind of ending that a film would never have now. It's simply too honest. One of the better horror endings I've seen, actually.

IMDB Info :

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068457/










Friday, April 25, 2008

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) - ITLAY





L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo, also called The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, is a "giallo" suspense thriller directed by Dario Argento (his directorial debut) and released in 1970.

Plot : Sam, an American writer in Rome, witnesses a murder attempt on the wife of the owner of an art gallery by a sinister man in a raincoat and black leather gloves - but Sam is powerless to do anything as he gets trapped between a double set of glass doors in going to her aid. The woman survives, and the police say that she is the first surviving victim of a notorious serial killer. But when they fail to make any progress with the case, Sam decides to investigate on his own, turning up several clues that point in the direction of just one possible suspect - assuming that he really knows who he's looking for.

The strength of the film though lies in its suspense, which is almost unbeatable. It rivals any of Hitchcock's works, to which it is repeatedly compared. This is one rare jewel of an intelligent thriller that was also the break-through effort for people like Dario Argento, the director and scriptwriter, Vittorio Storaro, the director of photography, and last but not least Ennio Morricone who composed the soundtrack. There are great performances by a cast of lesser known European actors who did not make it big but are great in this one. An excellent breakthrough film for director Dario Argento with a magnificent use of space and a great Ennio Morricone score. The movie will keep you glued to your seat and surprise with an absolutely unexpected twist at the end.

IMDB Info :

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065143/

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Whispering Corridors ( 1998 ) - South Korea






Whispering Corridors is a 1998 South Korean horror film about a girl's high school.

Plot : While investigating the school files, the frightened teacher Mrs. Park startles and calls the young teacher Eun-young Hur, telling her that the deceased Jin-ju Jang is back. The line dies and Mrs. Park is attacked and killed by a ghost. On the next morning, the teenager Jae-yi Yoon waits for her friend Ji-oh Lim, who has the ability to call the spirits, and they begin a close friendship. The abusive and aggressive Mr. Oh, a.k.a. Mad Dog, is the substitute of Mrs. Park and prohibits Ji-oh to paint and compares the performances of the pretty So-young Park and the weird Jung-sook Kim, raising a barrier between the two former friends. Miss Hur misses her former friend Jin-ju, who committed suicide, and while trying to contact her, she discloses a dark secret about the past of her friend and Mrs. Park.

Ultimately, if you’re looking for gore and guts, you won’t find them here. Sure, there are lots of bloody scenes, but they seem to be there in order to set the general atmosphere. Even the ghost story isn’t particularly frightening. What is horrifying, though, is the portrayal of real evils within the Korean school system. However, in the film, there are several instances of teachers physically beating young girls for extremely minor misdemeanours, sexually harassing them, and even making them carry out janitorial duties (as seen near the beginning, the class monitors have to fill kettles with hot water and scrub the floors and walls), and no-one (maybe except the new teacher Hur Eun-young) seems to bat an eyelash. According to Park Ki-hyung, this kind of event is pretty much standard in South Korean schools.And that’s where the true horror is in Whispering Corridors: this film asks a lot of hard questions, to which the school board could only find an answer in attempting to have the film banned. It’s a slow-paced, moody film with many resonant images and an eerie atmosphere, so if you’re also looking for a fast fix of horror, you’ve come to the wrong place. But it’s probably the most essential film that has ever come out of Korea, so if you feel frustrated by the slowness of the action and give up on it, you’re really missing out on a gem. Anyone who’s ever looked back on their own school days with horror, revulsion or sadness will not fail to be touched and reminded of their own difficult past experiences by this film.

IMDB Info :

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0241073/

Shaun of the Dead (2004)






Shaun of the Dead is a 2004 British Horror-comedy film directed by Edgar Wright . Although this movie is more of a romantic - comedy than a horror , yet it is a very good movie to watch .

Plot : Edgar Wright's horror-comedy film, SHAUN OF THE DEAD, follows the title character (Simon Pegg) through his mundane life in London. Joined by his immature and ever-present roommate, Ed (Nick Frost), Shaun excels at nothing except drinking pints of ale and watching television, which causes friction with his girlfriend, Liz (Kate Ashfield). Before Shaun can save his relationship, however, he's got to fend off a horde of zombies that are slowly taking over the city. Armed with a cricket bat and a vague sense of direction, Shaun must rescue his friends and loved ones, and bring them to the only safe place he can think of--the pub. Cowritten by Wright and Pegg, SHAUN OF THE DEAD succeeds remarkably well at combining droll British humor with good, old-fashioned zombie cinema. While the movie is often hilariously amusing, it takes its horror pedigree seriously, offering up moments of genuine suspense, and even a healthy dose of gore. Pegg is oddly charming as the put-upon lead slacker, and Frost is appropriately oafish, but the living dead themselves also take up a fair amount of screen time, shuffling and limping in their best Romero form. For lovers of zombie films and other chills-and-chuckles outings like EVIL DEAD II and DEAD ALIVE, SHAUN OF THE DEAD is an instant cult classic.

This is played for laughs, but director Edgar Wright also builds up suspense and dread better than a lot of straight horror flicks. a terrific horror movie send-up... even filmgoers who normally shy away from shockers will probably have a good time.

No Need to describe much about this movie as it is a fun movie to watch with some nice comic horror elements in it .

Highly recommended .

IMDB Info :

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365748/

Friday, April 18, 2008

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) - USA





THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE is, without a doubt, the master of all splatter films. Inspired by 1950s mass murderer Ed Gein, Tobe Hooper's debut feature opens with five unsuspecting teenagers driving in a van through sun-scorched rural Texas. After a terrifying exchange with a demented hitchhiker, the group ends up at an old farmhouse. At first, the house appears to be abandoned, but soon, the evil residents begin to wreak havoc on the youngsters' lives. With her friends and wheelchair-bound brother Franklin (Paul A. Partain) disappearing one by one, the terrified Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns) must summon the strength to escape from the ghoulish family of mass murderers, who are led by the gruesome, chainsaw-wielding Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen). Hooper's low-budget exploitation horror film became a cult hit and favorite midnight movie that helped define the splatter genre by introducing such standard features as the house of terror, where innocent victims meet horrible ends, and the girl in peril who survives the mayhem to become the heroine. Spawning several sequels, as well as a 2003 remake, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE remains an untouchable work of sheer terror that continues to shock audiences all over the world.

The natural lighting and loose, improvised acting style creates a strong sense of reality that no other horror film can possibly achieve. Under a thin layer of dated aesthetics (1973 style of dress) lies the most dangerous, horrifying and psychotic world ever committed to script or screen. As the first of its kind, this movie set the mold for the modern horror film, though none were ever to realize any comparable distinction. It gave birth to the "slasher" genre (for better or for worse) . It is also one of few timeless films that has managed to combine horror and avant-garde styles, successfully. Unlike its remake, this one is more of an exercise in minimalism and simplicity (think even Dogme). The expert subtlety of the filmmakers; Tobe Hooper (writer/director), Kim Henkel (co-writer) and Daniel Pearl (cinematographer) results more in
psychological terror than in gore. The air-tight script, jarring realism and attention to detail are unparalleled in practically any film, horror or otherwise. And last, but by far not the least Marylin Burns PHENOMENAL performance is the only in cinematic history (a close second by that of Shelly Duvall in The Shining) that evokes such a nature of desperate and primal fear. You truly believe in every single one of her screams that her life is hanging by a single, thin thread.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre loses none of its intensity as the years go by. The great American horror movie .

IMDB Info :

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072271/




Sunday, April 13, 2008

E tu vivrai nel terrore - L'aldilà (1981) aka The Beyond - ITLAY




The Beyond (also known as E tu vivrai nel terrore - L'aldilà or Seven Doors of Death) is a 1981 Italian horror movie directed by Lucio Fulci. It is considered by some horror film fans to be one of the best movies made by the Italian director.

About The Plot :

A young woman from New York named Liza (Katherine MacColl) inherits a Louisiana motel that has been unoccupied for nearly 60 years. While restoring the old building, many of the workers meet mysterious and untimely deaths, each more ill-fated than the next. Furthermore, Liza is visited by a blind specter named Emily (Sarah Keller) who lectures from a 4000-year-old book of collected prophecies that explains the motel is situated above one of seven portals to hell. As her sanity dwindles, Liza finds some much-needed stability in a local doctor named John McCabe (David Warbeck), who is determined to find a rational explanation for the recent state of affairs. Nevertheless, the protagonists are led through a maze of bizarre confrontations with beings beyond the realm of the living, and into an apocalyptic world of unknown horrors. THE BEYOND is at once the quintessential Lucio Fulci film and a staple in the overall Italian horror genre. The director's epic masterpiece is a blend of atmospheric surrealism and nightmarish visions (a grisly tarantula attack, flesh-melting acid spills, a softball-sized gun blast through the skull of a young zombified girl, and an eyeball impaling, or two) that are definitely unsuitable for those with weak stomachs.

Fulci was perhaps the most prolific of them, adding a flare of his own Art to his works. His movies each played like paint on canvas from beginning to end. The Beyond was his greatest Masterpiece, combining a better plot than most of his works, with the high quality level of gore Fulci was and always will be well known for.

The Beyond starts with a Warlock being executed in the 1930's by a lynch mob. Little do they know that the hotel where the act takes place happens to be one of the seven doorways to hell. Flashing forward about 50 years later, Liza inherets the hotel and decides to restore it. From there all hell breaks loose. The ending is as disturbing as it gets, and the deaths are both unique and horrifying (vintage Fulci).The make up effects is one of the film's best features. Despite the low budget, Giannetto De Rossi's effects are spectacular. The effects are done with flair and pizazz. Giannetto De Rossi did his best when working with Fulci. The effects for the death of Joe the Plumber are very good. The best effects in the film is the scene involving the young girl near the end.

IMDB Info :

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082307/

Monday, April 7, 2008

Tenebre (1982) - ITLAY





Tenebre is a 1982 Italian horror thriller film written and directed by Dario Argento. The film stars Anthony Franciosa, John Saxon, and Daria Nicolodi .

"Tenebre" stars Anthony Franciosa as a novelist Peter Neal who finds himself embroiled in a series of grisly murders,as one of his readers starts to imitate the killings in his latest novel Tenebrae.This Dario Argento's bloody thriller is full of startling plot twists and shocking bursts of gory violence.Plenty of serious shocks and a wonderful musical score by Goblin as well as incredibly gory finale that is among Argento's greatest sequences.As usual,there are some stylish killings,particularly a gruesome arm chopping near the end-definitely one of the bloodiest murder scenes I have ever seen.Argento uses some of the most vivid colors imaginable and like his 1977 effort "Suspiria",he uses these colors to enhance the atmosphere of the film. One of Tenebre's greater achievements is that it demands that we work to solve the identity of the killer, all the while daring us to get it wrong. No scene better details the Genovese syndrome at work here than the strange events surrounding the death of the film's first victim. Writer Peter Neal (Anthony Franciosca) is on his way to Rome to promote his new book (the one burnt in the film's opening shot) and discovers that someone is using his novel to justify a series of murders. A bookstore owner reprimands a young woman after she tries to shoplift a copy of the tome. She's released under her own recognizance, all the while being peeped at by the film's ominous, unknown killer. A homeless man threatens to sexually assault the sexy shoplifter though it seems that a woman watching them from a window above will serve as her silent protector should the man go to far. But Argento has always been concerned with the passive gaze and he evokes a chilling atmosphere of human detachment and non-involvement when the true killer finally slices the woman to pieces.

Argento has removed the boring detective work and given us a ripping good mystery that doesn't always make sense, but never fails to entertain.

This movie is not as great as the other two movies of Argento - Suspiria and Deep Red ,
Yet it is a very good movie . Argento's most coherent film and one of his most shocking.

IMDB Info :

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084777/



Sunday, April 6, 2008

Psycho (1960) - USA





Psycho is a 1960 suspense/horror film directed by auteur Alfred Hitchcock, from the screenplay by Joseph Stefano about a psychotic killer. It is based on the novel of the same name by Robert Bloch, which was in turn inspired by the crimes of Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein. No need to describe much about this classic masterpiece by Alfred Hitchcock . When you look up the phrase "Horror Film" in the dictionary .. a picture of Janet Leigh screaming in a shower should appear next to it. Undoubtedly, Psycho is one of the greatest horror film ever made, bar-none. The story is incredible. The acting is near perfection. The cinematography is godly. The soundtrack is perfect. It's hard to find anything wrong with Psycho. A dark night at the Bates Motel, in the horror movie that transformed the genre by locating the monster inside ourselves. Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 masterpiece blends a brutal manipulation of audience identification and an incredibly dense, allusive visual style to create the most morally unsettling film ever made. The case for Hitchcock as a modern Conrad rests on this ruthless investigation of the heart of darkness, but the film is uniquely Hitchcockian in its positioning of the godlike mother figure. It's a deeply serious and deeply disturbing work, but Hitchcock, with his characteristic perversity, insisted on telling interviewers that it was a "fun" picture. With Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, and Janet Leigh.

Regarding the plot : Phoenix officeworker Marion Crane is fed up with the way life has treated her. She has to meet her lover Sam in lunch breaks and they cannot get married because Sam has to give most of his money away in alimony. One Friday Marion is trusted to bank $40,000 by her employer. Seeing the opportunity to take the money and start a new life, Marion leaves town and heads towards Sam's California store. Tired after the long drive and caught in a storm, she gets off the main highway and pulls into The Bates Motel. The motel is managed by a quiet young man called Norman who seems to be dominated by his mother.

Highly recommended to any horror movie man .

IMDB Info :

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/

Fritt vilt (2006) - NORWAY



Fritt Vilt (English: Cold Prey) is a 2006 Norwegian horror film, directed by Roar Uthaug. It is considered as the best modern Norwegian horror movie.

Reagarding the plot : Jannicke, Morten Tobias, Eirik, Mikael and Ingunn are on a snowboarding vacation in Jotunheimen. They are forced to take shelter in an abandoned hotel when Morten Tobias breaks his leg and their car is too far away for them to reach within nightfall. They quickly discover that the hotel was closed in the seventies due to the disappearance of the managers' son. Unknown to them, someone is still living in the hotel, and getting home, or even surviving the stay, isn't as easy as they believe.

The film is a slasher film, through and through, and that is both one of it's strengths, but also it's weakness. The film contains basically every little slasher movie clichè you can think of. It's just they do it so very well.The setting is excellent. An old abandoned hotel in the middle of nowhere up in the mountains. The back story is not exactly original, but it works well enough to pull of some really scary scenes. The look and feel of the hotel and the isolation is all there, and the evil that is lurking sure is creepy.Roar Uthaug does a few neat tricks early in the movie, which makes you sit at the edge of your seat through out the film, and his direction is good. The script is good enough for a horror story, but sometimes, especially in the opening scene, the dialoges are pretty campy and lame. But they redeem themselves quickly when the sh#% hits the fan.The acting is excellent from most of the cast. This film doesn't need to be compared to The Shining or any other recent horror film. It can stand on its own. There were a few loose ends in the plot, but basically, it was a creepy film with some horrific moments (the first murder) that really made an impression.

IMDB Info :

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808276/

Friday, April 4, 2008

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) - USA




A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 1984 American horror film directed and written by Wes Craven. The film features John Saxon, Heather Langenkamp, Ronee Blakley, Amanda Wyss, Jsu Garcia, Robert Englund and Johnny Depp in his feature film debut. Set in the fictional Midwestern town of Springwood, Ohio, the plot revolves around several teenagers being terrorized in their nightmares by the ghost of a serial child murderer named Freddy Krueger.

The film's premise is the question of where the line between dreams and reality lies. The villain, Freddy Krueger, thus exists in the "dream world" yet can kill in the "real world".

A Nightmare on Elm Street is as creepy as it is original. Who hasn't been wakened in the night by a bad dream only to reassure themselves that it was only that? Sometimes those nightmares are so realistic we have to ground ourselves back into reality before we can put the fears aside. The film taps into that phenomenon and gives it physical life.
Many horror films of the period managed to become maudlin and ridiculous upon future review, but not Elm Street. It remains one of the most formidable films of the era and one that will not easily be duplicated.

It succeeds by preying on archetypal fears and imagery - the myth of the bogeyman, the power of the unconscious conjuring up the worst horrors imaginable.

A highly imaginative horror film that provides the requisite shocks to keep fans of the genre happy.

IMDB Info :

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087800/


Misery (1990) - USA









Misery is a 1990 United States horror/thriller film, based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. Directed by Rob Reiner, the film received critical acclaim for Kathy Bates' Academy Award-winning portrayal of psychotic ex-nurse Annie Wilkes. It was ranked #12 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments.

Misery is the story of writer Paul Sheldon (James Caan), who is driving through a snowstorm after just having finished his newest novel. The car crashes, and it seems that Paul will die, trapped in his car in the snow in a deserted forest, when he is rescued by a mysterious stranger. She turns out to be Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), a former nurse who dresses his wounds and gives him a comfortable bed. In addition, it turns out that Annie is Paul's self-proclaimed Number 1 Fan. Specifically, she is obsessed with the Misery Chastain series, Paul's major claim to fame. Annie keeps Paul in an isolated room for days, then weeks, as the outside world searches for him. Eventually, when Annie objects to the content of Paul's latest manuscript, and when she has a hysterical reaction to the death of Misery in the latest novel, Paul (and the audience) come to see that there may be something wrong with Annie.

Definitely a first-rate suspense film with excellent performances.There are a few holes in the plot, mainly towards the end, but from start to harrowing finish, it is blissfully apparent that Rob Reiner can indeed turn his hand to virtually anything.Veteran screenwriter William Goldman expertly creates a vivid sense of reality from the situation - a bit of a first, this, for a Stephen King adaptation - and the two leads complement each other brilliantly, with Caan back on form, and Bates creating in Annie Wilkes one of the screen's more memorable fruit-cakes.

Good Movie . Recommended .

IMDB Info :

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100157/

Battle Royale (2000) - JAPAN








Battle Royale is a film released on December 16, 2000, in Japan — based on the novel of the same name — released on April 22. The film was directed by Kinji Fukasaku and written by Kenta Fukasaku, and stars Takeshi Kitano and Tatsuya Fujiwara. Like the novel on which it is based, it aroused much controversy.

Based on the novel by Takami Koshun, Battle Royale is a thought-provoking tale of 'what if…?'. The film is set in a near-future Japan where the government's concerns about juvenile delinquency and the youth's disregard for discipline and order have paved the way for extreme measures: the methodical extermination of teenage children. The method: groups of high school children are systematically kidnapped and brought to a deserted island. They are given weapons and food and an order: to go out and kill each other. The last one standing is allowed back into society.It's a brutal premise and what follows is inevitably a brutal film. Fukasaku never has pulled any punches when it comes to showing violence on screen, and this time around it comes bloodier than ever. This has prompted some to judge the film as little more than a stylised blood bath, a Friday the 13th with guns and younger victims.

BATTLE ROYALE is a film that should not be easily ignored, and will not be easily forgotten...the faces of those kids are likely to linger long after the credits stop. A modern classic about the folly of violence.

Out of all of the horror/survival films this is definitely one of the best .

Highly Recommended :

IMDB Info :

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266308/

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Dèmoni (1985) - ITLAY





Dèmoni (also known as Demons) is a 1985 Italian horror film directed by Lamberto Bava and produced by Dario Argento.
This is a fun, gory euro-horror film and one of the best from Itlay .

The plot can be summed up with one sentence: people are trapped in a movie theater with a horde of ugly, long-clawed demons and must fight to stay alive! Sure, the acting is completely over the top and laughable, the movie doesn't make any attempts to explain why the events are happening, there is really bad '80s rock music playing at all the wrong moments and the whole production screams cheesy B grade flick, but if you care about any of this anyways, what kind of horror fan are you?! This movie is just an 88 minute roller coaster ride of gore, rock music, and cool demons. What more could you ask for? It isn't very likely to scare you so much as make you laugh, and there are some classic moments for the genre such as a blind guy getting his eyes scratched out by a demon, a revolting puss-bursting scene, a crazily fun massacre near the end that never gets old to watch, and one of the best climaxes to a horror movie ever where the lead male character severs demon limbs left and right with a sword on a dirt bike! You have to hand it to director Lamberto Bava. He may not ever be remembered as the genius his father was (acclaimed Italian horror maestro Mario Bava), but he managed to create one of the best horror flicks of the '80s and today. The film exudes with an almost Gothic atmosphere and the setting of the big movie theater could not be more perfect in creating a mood.

Demons epitomizes everything the early to mid eighties were about. A lot of things didn't make sense - but neither did the era so it fit in just fine. In the end, it plays out to be a great horror movie, with plenty of gratuitous violence and gore.

Demons is probably Lamberto's best film, not because it approaches Mario's work, but because it's so ludicrously entertaining.
I'm not saying it's the greatest horror flick of all time. But it certanly entertains, and scares the hell out of you. Even after several viewings. The setting for the film is just right.

Recommended .

IMDB Info :

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089013/

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Rampo jigoku aka Rampo Noir ( 2005 ) JAPAN




Rampo Noir is a collection of 4 short films based on stories by Edogawa Rampo, the so-called "Japanese Edgar Allen Poe". Rampo Noir is widely uneven, painfully pretentious and at least half an hour too long. Despite these shortcomings, the film does offer its fair share of pleasures - stunning visuals, black comedy . Rampo Noir is not a great film but it is an interesting addition to the very small genre of "arthouse horror".

These shorts are sick. The writer behind the original stories may have a disturbed and twisted mind for inspiring these disgusting tales of torture and obsession, and love (love which is so alien it doesn't really fit the word).Of course many stories by Edogawa Rampo have been banned already in Japan for that very same reason.However, these shorts were great examples of how dark cinema can get. These push right to the boundaries, where sense, reason, and any sort of real point is left behind in its own madness. And it does try to make points. They draw parallels between conscious and subconscious, reality and delusion. The surreal images and narratives destroy the boundaries between the two and the flow freely into each other. The film challenges what art really is. Whether it's a beautiful reflection, a horrific image, or something that is both beautiful on the outside but dead and corroded inside. Here we see that mirrors have the potential to be god, trapping us in its frame. Love is horrific. Horrific. These shorts have the potential to repel you in disgust, or to draw you in and lose yourself in its insanity, and for that reason alone it is a powerful work of art.You leave the film feeling as if the makers had thrown a lot of violence and sex at you stylishly but with no real substance. The shorts are too surreal and disjointed to follow through with any of the points they try to make. The are no answers to be found in these shorts, and nothing profound to learn or re-learn. However, these shorts were never made with such intentions. They were made to show the madness of Edogawa Rampo. They were made to disgust you, and to provoke you. And they mastered that exceptionally.

Whether you like it or not, you won't forget this one. This movie is not for the taste of everyone but yet it is unique in it's genre . I personally like the last two stories more .

IMDB Info :

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0423034/