Well, what's up with you guys? I'm fine and dandy and very happy to write about a topic that fascinates me, call me weird, but yes, I love horror, I have a passion for horror. But not your typical horror...and I'm not really into Paranormal/Excorcist/ Spirits kind of horror, those scare me. If I do watch those, I need a lot of company...more than my husband.
Actually, ever since I was a little girl I've had a fascination for the horror genre, don't know why, but it's in my veins. I think I get it from my mom. The best part is, my husband loves it also.
Based on that premise, my husband and I have done great research in finding rare movies, avoiding mainstream: The ideas, attitudes, or activities that are regarded as normal or conventional; the dominant trend in opinion, fashion, or the arts, i.e. (Halloween, Friday the 13th), and taking it up a notch, searching for more sophisticated horror.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good mainstream horror film, but we have discovered that Europeans and Asians are masters in the making of the grotesque, macabre and terrorific films...( is it so bad I enjoy this?), Sometimes I wonder...Oh well, to each its own.
I will be making some recommendations on excellent, sheer, true horror, don't expect much mainstream, we love International cinema, and that is on what I will be focusing today, specifically outstanding European horror/thriller films. I will later be posting on Asian Cinema, also excellent filming.
Here are some choices for today: Are you ready?
1- Martyrs, French 2008: "Fifteen years after a horrifying experience of abduction and prolonged torture, Lucie embarks on a bloody quest for revenge against her oppressors. Along with her childhood friend, Anna, who also suffered abuse, she quickly descends, without hope, into madness and her own delusions. Anna, left on her own begins to re-experience what Lucie did when she was only twelve years old." Written by kwedgwood@hotmail.com -imdb.com
In my opinion...
This little French flick scared the living daylights out of me, I will not give you much detail, other that it is not for the weak at heart. It is extremely graphic, and it walks you through a journey filled with torture, pain and the long quest for one character to pursue full throttle revenge and another character, to discover her ultimate, if you want to call it whim or desire...
One of the strongest horror movies I've seen, not only becuase of its content, but its context.
I am telling you, this is for the horror genre lover, I had to cover my eyes sometimes, and believe me, I watch a lot of horror.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1029234/
2- 7 Days/ Les 7 jours du Talion, French 2010: "Bruno Hamel is a thirty eight year old surgeon. He lives in Drummondville with his wife Sylvie, and their eight year-old daughter Jasmine. Like many happy people, he is leading an uneventful life until a beautiful fall afternoon, when his daughter is raped and murdered. From then on, the world of the Hamel family collapses. When the murderer is arrested, a terrible project germinates in Bruno's darkened mind. He plans to capture the "monster" and make him pay for his crime. The day the murderer appears in Court, Hamel, who had prepared his plan in great detail, kidnaps the monster and later sends the police a brief message stating that the rapist and murderer of his daughter was going to be tortured for 7 days and then executed. Once this task accomplished, he will then give himself up." Written by Deanne Sowter -imdb.com
In my opinion...
This flick is intense, filled with regrets, sadness, revenge and cruelty. Again, a French masterpiece, where parents, in a blink of an eye, loose their most precious belonging, and the rage, revenge and anger takes a twist, and it downspirals to the unthinkable.
Here's the scoop on 7 days/ 7 jours du Talion
In my opinion...
Damn, talk about motherhood, this is crazy stuff...an emotional ( in a bad, scary way) rollercoaster going on between a pregnant woman, who is being harrassed by this lunatic, to say the least.
A creepy weirdo, who apparently stalks pregnant women and steals their babies, God only knows why, in a very twisted, sick and disturbing way.
It kept us at the edge of our seat, excellent acting, thrilling, it really catches your interest, and the stalker really gets into character, and when I say "really" I mean ' God forbid I see that women close to me ANYWWHERE!'
A creepy weirdo, who apparently stalks pregnant women and steals their babies, God only knows why, in a very twisted, sick and disturbing way.
It kept us at the edge of our seat, excellent acting, thrilling, it really catches your interest, and the stalker really gets into character, and when I say "really" I mean ' God forbid I see that women close to me ANYWWHERE!'
Here's the full scoop on Inside/ À l'intérieur
4- Dusk/ Schemer, Netherlands 2010: "After a group of teenagers discover one of their friends
lying dead on a river bank on one of the hottest days of summer, a story of
jealousy, insecurity and peer pressure gradually unfolds. Group leader Caesar
is able to magnify - out of all proportion - the small grievances that each of
Jessie's friends bear towards her and transforms them into a general and
pervasive hatred that leads ultimately to her horrible, senseless killing." Written by Anonymous -imdb.com
In my opinion...
This is a magnificent Dutch teen drama, where a group of ordinary teens, leading an ordinary life in an ordinary town, intertwine daily, with their ups and downs, their growing pains, and their relationship evolves and downward spirals to a terrible tragedy that can be foreshadowed by certain characters in the movie. The reason we enjoy these foreign films so much is because they mostly depict the culture and the day to day of the characters in different countries other than the U.S.. Here we have a group of friends who in an unfortunate series of events, wind up wallowing in a heinous catastrophe.
Here's the scoop on Dusk/ Schemer:
5- Mum and Dad, UK 2008: "Mum and Dad, and their 'adopted' children, Birdie
& Elbie, work at the airport. The family live off whatever they scavenge
from cargo holds, offices and hotels - including a steady stream of transient
workers who populate the airport's soulless hub. When Lena, a young Polish
office cleaner, is befriended by Birdie, she gets drawn into a nightmarish
world of torture, murder and perversity. Imprisoned in a suburban House of
Horrors and designated a 'Mummy's Girl', Lena's only options appear to be to
become part of the family - and join them in their insanity - or die."
Written by Anonymous -imbd.com
In my opinion...
Ok, now, here is a British film, a grey, glum, horrifying, nighmarish flick that will occupy a little space in my mind forever. A micro budget film that carves a darkly comic streak all throughout the movie. This is the Brady Bunch gone putrid, rotting in every scene morally, ethically, visually (it's about a family). This film is sheer horror, macabre and extremely unsettling. A lot of gore, strong, disturbing, graphic scenes. Simply put, a poor Polish girl working at the airport is doomed to hell.
Here's the full scoop onnMum and Dad:
6- Next Door/Naboer, Norway 2005: "A psychological thriller, where the main character, John,
has been recently dumped by his girlfriend, Ingrid. He is seduced by his
beautiful neighbors, Anne and Kim, and is taken to a mystical and frightful
world where he isn't able to tell reality from fantasy." Written by Shnoodles -imdb.com
In my opinion...
As I was watching this movie, It felt like it had a David Lynch twsit to it. Film Noir where you have to come up with your own conclusions. There are moments in this film where you don't know if the characters are delusional or sane. It is an erotic psychological thriller where the main character gets involved with his neighbors in a twisted sexual game. When you finish the movie, you will be shocked.
Here's the scoop on Next Door/ Naboer:
7-Sleep Tight/Mientras Duermes, Spain 2011: "You wake day after day to the comfort and security of your
home. But how safe is it really?" -Imdb.com
In my opinion:
Spanish horror cinema at its best. Quite disturbing. We all tend to live in a bubble and feel safe at home, but when a totally unexpected twist, surprise, event, or call it what you want, slashes through our life when we least expect it, nightmares seem to be gorgeous dreams in Teletubby land, compared to this. I won't say much, only that if we don't watch out this could happen to any of us, and that's the scariest part!
Here's the scoop on Mientras Duermes/ Sleep Tight:
8- Antichrist, Denmark 2009: " A couple lose their young son when he falls out of a window
while they are having sex in another room. The mother's grief consigns her to
hospital, but her therapist husband brings her home intent on treating her
depression himself. To confront her fears they go to stay at their remote cabin
in the woods, "Eden", where something untold happened the previous
summer. Told in four chapters with a prologue and epilogue, the film details
acts of lustful cruelty as the man and woman unfold the darker side of nature
outside and within." Written by Peter Brandt Nielsen -imbd.com
In my opinion:
Lars Von Trier's Antichrist is an extremely graphic psycho-sexual thriller.
William Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg practically compose the film all on their own, lacking personalities, because they simply don't need it. They are just two souls representing grief and sadness, trying to recover from the loss of their only child. The film is divided into lovemaking, death, grief, pain and Despair.
In a nutshell, it shows us the story of a psychotherapist trying to help his wife with the grief of loosing their only child, and it slowly makes a twist to the unexpected, instead of releasing her psychological pain and sadness, he strengthens it and she becomes the controlling entity throughout the story.
***graphic sexual imagery*** ( not porn)
Here's the full scoop on Antichrist
Well guys, this is it for my "Horror Soiree", if you love the horror genre, then these are great alternatives. I will definitely be posting more, but for now, these are great.
They have substance, layers and some are unpredictable.
Hope you enjoyed my recommendations!
xo,
T.
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