Maven's Movie Vault of Horror

Thursday, 1 November 2012

Top Ten Best Foreign Horror Movies (non English speaking)

For Halloween 2012, I once again took to the groups and pages on facebook to compile another top ten, this time of foreign horror movies (non English speaking).

So here are the horror fan's top picks...

Number 10 - RINGU (Ring - Japan 1998)

After the death of her cousin Tomoko, reporter Reiko hears stories of a videotape that kills everyone who sees it exactly one week after viewing. At first she discounts the rumours, but when she learns that Tomoko's friend (who watched the video with her) died at exactly the same time, she begins to investigate. After viewing the tape herself, strange things start happening, and so she teams up with her ex-husband to try to stop the death clock that has once again begun ticking.

The original film series is made up of Ringu, Rasen, Ring 2, and Ring 0. The films have also been adapted into the Korean film The Ring Virus, and the American films The Ring, the short film Rings (It was initially released as an extra disc with a re-release of The Ring on DVD) and The Ring Two.

Number 9 - LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (Låt den rätte komma in - Sweden 2008)

In the suburb of Blackeberg in Stockholm, Oskar, a bullied 12-year old, dreams of revenge. He falls in love with Eli, a peculiar girl. She can't stand the sun or food and to come into a room she needs to be invited. Eli gives Oskar the strength to hit back but when he realises that Eli needs to drink other people's blood to live he's faced with a choice. How much can love forgive?

The movie was remade in 2010 for the American market, Let Me In was nearly word for word and scene for scene perfect with the Swedish original!

Voted movie of the year by Empire magazine (the first time a foreign language film topped their list since City of God in 2003).

Number 8 - INSIDE (À l'intérieur - France 2007)

Four months before Christmas, Sarah and Matthieu Scarangelo were in a car crash, of which Sarah and her unborn baby were the only survivors. On Christmas Eve, Sarah stays home alone, where she grieves her husband and prepares to go to the hospital the next morning for the delivery. As night falls, a woman knocks on Sarah's door asking to use the phone. When she refuses, the woman reveals that she knows Sarah and tries to force her way in. Now on the brink of motherhood, Sarah is tormented in her home by the strange woman who wants her unborn baby.

Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury also directed Livid (2011).

In the scene where the three policemen come check on Sarah, you can see to the left end of the screen the house number, it's 666.

Number 7 - DEAD SNOW (Død snø - Norway 2009)

Several friends take to the mountains and shack-up in the wilderness of back-of-beyond to enjoy a little R & R together, their peace is soon interrupted by a mysterious old man, warning them of a local curse that during the German occupation of the local area that these Nazi invaders were brutal and harsh in their methods of control. Telling of the legend of the villager's revolt that drove them up into the cold, dark mountains where they perished, that is until rumour of their return in the form of zombies, evil Nazi zombies.

Back in 2010 it was confirmed that a sequel was in the works and it was to be shot in 3D. However, director Tommy Wirkola has been busy with Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, so as to when he gets around to Dead Snow 2 could be a while.

Number 6 - I SAW THE DEVIL (Akmareul boatda - South Korea 2010)

When his pregnant fiancee becomes the latest victim of a serial killer, a secret agent blurs the line between good and evil in his pursuit of revenge.

The Korea Media Rating Board forced Kim to recut the film for its theatrical release, objecting to its violent content. Otherwise, the film would have gotten a "Restricted" rating, preventing any sort of release in theatres or on home video.

You can read my review here.

"I will kill you when you are in the most pain. When you're in the most pain, shivering out of fear, then I will kill you. That's a real revenge. A real complete revenge"

Number 5 - AUDITION (Ôdishon - Japan 1999)

A lonely Japanese widower whose son is planning to move out of the house soon expresses his sadness to a friend and fellow film producer, who becomes inspired to hold an audition for a non-existent film so that the widower can select a new potential bride from the resulting audition pool. The widower ultimately becomes enamoured with and fascinated by one particular young woman...but first impressions can often be horribly wrong.

Audition had its share of audience walk-outs. When shown at the 2000 Rotterdam Film Festival, one enraged female viewer confronted Miike, shouting at him, "You're evil!"

For its unflinching graphic content, the film has been likened to the film adaptation of Stephen King's Misery and Nagisa Oshima's In the Realm of the Senses. However, the torture scene in the movie is very brief, and only a few shots show the actual torture, focusing more on Asami's sadistic enjoyment of it.

Number 4 - HIGH TENSION (Haute tension aka Switchblade Romance - France 2003)

French college students, Marie and Alex, head to Alex's secluded farmhouse in hopes of studying for their exams without distractions. While settling in, a man breaks into the home and brutally murders Alex's family while Marie tries to hide herself from the killer. When the killer binds and kidnaps Alex, Marie follows him, attempting saving her friend and, along the way, running into some dangerous obstacles.

Alexandre Aja and Grégory Levasseur (writers) are childhood friends and made this film as a homage to the old-school horror films of the 70's and 80's that the two would watch together growing up.

The camera used during the car-attack scene got so much fake blood on it during shooting that when it was being used on another film later on, fake blood oozed from it during the focusing of a shot.

Number 3 - JU-ON (The Grudge - Japan 2002)

An evil curse and vengeful spirits seem to linger upon a house where the horrific murder of a woman and child took place and anyone who sets foot inside the house is marked for a terrifying haunting which will not rest. One by one, those who have been tainted by the house begin to die, and nowhere is safe.

A sequel, Ju-on: The Grudge 2, was released in 2003 and in 2004 Sony Pictures Entertainment released an American remake of the film. The film was again directed by Takashi Shimizu and starred Sarah Michelle Gellar. The main plot of the film followed Rika's experience within the house but with a different ending.

On the DVD audio commentary on the Ju-on: The Grudge 2, the filmmaker said, "I want to move on and try other things, and then, maybe, when people stop remembering me for Ju-on, I may come back and make Ju-on 3 for Japanese audiences."

Number 2 - [REC] (Spain - 2007)

A television reporter and cameraman follow emergency workers into a dark apartment building and are quickly locked inside with something terrifying.

[REC] has spawned 3 sequels, [REC]2, [REC]3 Génesis and the soon to come [REC] Apocalypse. It got an American remake called Quarantine and the release of [REC] was postponed in the states till after the remake was released!

It's also caused a bit of an argument whether this is a Zombie or a "Not Zombie" movie!

During the filming of the scene where the young fireman falls from the stairs, not a single actor knew that was going to happen, so the reactions we see on the films were the real reactions of the actors themselves.

Number 1 - MARTYRS (France 2008)

A young woman's quest for revenge against the people who kidnapped and tormented her as a child leads her and a friend, who is also a victim of child abuse, on a terrifying journey into a living hell of depravity.

This came as quite a surprise, but it was mentioned in 80% of the voters top ten.

Director Pascal Laugier's latest film is The Tall Man (read my review here), starring Jessica Biel.

"Lucie was only a victim. Like all the others. It's so easy to create a victim, young lady, so easy. You lock someone in a dark room. They begin to suffer. You feed that suffering. Methodically, systematically and coldly. And make it last. Your subject goes through a number of states. After a while, their trauma; that small, easily opened crack, makes them see things that don't exist."

So there you have it, represented is Japan, Sweden, Norway, South Korea, Spain and France coming out on top.

I'm already thinking about next years top ten! I'm also open to suggestions from the people that count and that's you, the reader, the horror fan. So leave a comment here or head over to Maven's Movie Vault of Horror on facebook to brainstorm with me!

(Sources - Wiki, IMDB, facebook)

Wednesday, 31 October 2012

Top Ten Best Horror Movies Of All Time.

Back in 2011, for Halloween, I decided to take a pole, via Maven's Movie Vault of Horror on facebook, on the top ten horror movies of all time and worked it into a ten day countdown to Halloween night.

So I took to various pages and groups on facebook, posting on discussion boards and asking other horror fans to post their own top ten in order for me to tally up those votes to get the final ten. Here are the results. Enjoy...

Number 10 - DRACULA (1931)

Everyone's favourite Vampire, the legend of Dracula has been portrayed in film a numerous amount of times over the years. The most popular one to date would have to be 1992's Bram Stoker's Dracula directed by Francis Ford Coppola with an all star cast of Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins, Keanu Reeves and Richard E. Grant.

But it was Tod Browning's 1931 classic Dracula, as portrayed by Bela Lugosi so sophisticated and menacing, that was top of the list as regards the count!

More actors that played Dracula, John Carradine (House of Dracula - 1945), Ferdy Mayne (The Fearless Vampire Killers - 1967), Udo Kier (Blood for Dracula - 1974), Frank Langella (Dracula - 1979), Gerard Butler (Dracula 2000 - 2000) and the King of the Dracula movies Christopher Lee, who appeared in 11 films as Dracula between 1958 and 1975.

Number 9 - THE THING (1982)

In John Carpenter's masterpiece, scientists in the Antarctic are confronted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of the people that it kills.

Based on the story by John W. Campbell Jr. this was itself a remake of the 1951 The Thing from Another World.

According to John Carpenter in an interview, he takes all of his failed movies pretty hard, but this was the one that disappointed him the most. Not only was the movie a box office failure upon release, but both critics and the audience (to Carpenter's shock) panned its gory effects and bleak tone. He was particularly upset when the original movie's director, Christian Nyby, publicly denounced Carpenter's version.

The 2011 release of The Thing confused a lot of people as it's not a remake, it's a prequel to the 1982 film!

Number 8 - NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968)

The radiation from a fallen satellite might have caused the recently deceased to rise from the grave and seek the living to use as food. This is the situation that a group of people penned up in an old farmhouse must deal with.

Though the radiation of a detonated satellite returning from Venus is theorised to be the cause of the dead rising and attacking the living, according to the filmmakers, the actual cause is never determined.

George A. Romero has readily admitted that Herk Harvey's Carnival of Souls was a big influence in his making of this film.

Spawning a number of sequels and remakes BETWEEN 1968 and 2010, George A. Romero's original masterpiece is not quite top of the Zombie food chain though!

Number 7 - STEPHEN KING'S IT (1990 TV)

In 1960, seven outcast kids known as "The Loser Club" fight an evil demon who poses as a child-killing clown. 30 years later, they are called back to fight the same clown again.

Pennywise, played by Tim Curry, is the horror fan's favourite clown. On the DVD commentary track, the actors note that Curry's characterisation of Pennywise was so creepy and realistic that everyone avoided him during the filming.

Based on one of Stephen King's longest novels, at 1138 pages. The length derived from King's desire to have all his favourite monsters in one place. King remarked that if he'd written the script for It, it would have been a 32 hour miniseries.

Stephen King allowed a lot of flexibility when it came to rewriting much of the novel.

Number 6 - DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978)

George A. Romero's Zombie franchise is back, making an appearance at 8 and 6 in the the top ten.

Following the scenario set up in Night of the Living Dead, the United States (and possibly the entire world) has been devastated by a phenomenon which reanimates recently deceased human beings and turns them into flesh-eating zombies. Two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter, and his television-executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.

Much of the fake blood used in the blood packets was a mixture of food colouring, peanut butter and cane sugar syrup.

Remade in 2004, it was probably one of the better remakes out there in a genre full of them. But the original Dawn of the Dead is top of the Zombie food chain in this top ten list!

Number 5 - THE EXORCIST (1973)

Something beyond evil is happening in a little girl's room. Regan has brutally changed both in the way she looks and the way she acts, with violent outbursts on everyone who comes in contact with her. Her worried mother gets in contact with a priest who comes to the conclusion that Regan is possessed. The top priest who can deal with an exorcism, Father Merrin, is called in to help save Regan from the demon inside her.

With stories of the set spontaneously combusting during filming and a cross falling off the top of a church across the road from a cinema showing the film on opening night in Spain, this movie is a popular choice for "the scariest movie of all time!"

I recently watched the Blu-Ray Extended Director's Cut. In full 1080p HD and surround sound this movie was just fantastic to watch, it was like watching it for the first time again.

Number 4 - FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980)

One summer at Camp Crystal Lake, a group of young counsellors begin to get ready to lead campers. Unfortunately for the former, someone isn't happy about what's going on in the camp and enjoys playing Kill the Counsellor. As bodies fall to the ground in the camp, no one is safe!

Everyone's favourite killer mum, Mrs. Pamela Voorhees, kicks ass in the first film which gave birth to Jason and to 10 sequels, including a "Deathmatch" against A Nightmare on Elm Street's Freddy Krueger, plus a remake in 2009.

At one point, Mrs. Voorhess slaps Alice around a few times. Having worked onstage for years, Betsy Palmer was used to really striking her co-stars with a cupped hand along the jawline to achieve the scene. Sean S. Cunningham had to tell her about faking the blows and cheating with camera angles!

Number 3 - THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE (1974)

En route to visit their grandfather's grave (which has apparently been ritualistically desecrated), five teenagers drive past a slaughterhouse, pick up (and quickly drop) a sinister hitch-hiker, eat some delicious home-cured meat at a roadside gas station, before ending up at the old family home, where they're plunged into a never-ending nightmare as they meet a family of cannibals who more than make up in power tools what they lack in social skills.

Leatherface enters the top 3 with his chainsaw! Only 3 sequels followed the original, a remake in 2003 and a prequel in 2006 which are both produced by the original director Tobe Hooper.

But now there's a direct sequel to the original, Texas Chainsaw 3D, which is set to be released January 2013. The new film will also use footage from the original, converted into 3D.

Number 2 - A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984)

On Elm Street, Nancy Thompson and a group of her friends including Tina Gray, Rod Lane and Glen Lantz are being tormented by a clawed killer in their dreams named Freddy Krueger. Nancy must think quickly, as Freddy tries to pick off his victims one by one. When he has you in your sleep, who is there to save you?

Freddy with his knives for fingers, struck back with a further 6 sequels and a "Deathmatch" against Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th in Freddy vs Jason (2003) and a remake in 2010 which split the fans opinions.

According to Wes Craven, Robert Englund was not the first choice for the role of Fred Krueger; he had initially wanted a stunt man to play the part, but upon testing several stunt men, he realised he needed an actor. Englund went on to make the role his own and became a horror icon in his own rights!

Number 1 - HALLOWEEN (1978)

The year is 1963, the night: Halloween. Police are called to 43 Lampkin Ln. only to discover that 15 year old Judith Myers has been stabbed to death, by her 6 year-old brother, Michael. After being institutionalised for 15 years, Myers breaks out on the night before Halloween. No one knows, nor wants to find out, what will happen on October 31st 1978 besides Myers' psychiatrist, Dr. Loomis. He knows Michael is coming back to Haddonfield, but by the time the town realises it, it'll be too late for many people.

No real surprise here that Michael Myers hits the number 1 spot with the majority vote.

From 1978 to 2009 Michael Myers has been terrorising horror fans and slashing his victims. Even the music is probably the most well known theme tune in horror!

In the documentary short, Halloween 2000: Unmasked, it was revealed that the crew had chosen two masks for Michael Myers to decide on. The first was a Don Post Emmett Kelly smiling clown mask that they put frizzy red hair on. This was an homage to how he killed his sister, Judith in a clown costume. They tested it out and it appeared very demented and creepy. The other mask was a 1975 Captain James T. Kirk mask that was purchased for around a dollar. It had the eyebrows and sideburns ripped off, the face was painted fish belly white, and the hair was spray painted brown, and the eyes were opened up more. They tested out the Kirk mask and the crew decided that it was much more creepy because it was emotionless. This became the Michael Myers mask.

The most recent Halloween movies (1 - 2007 and 2 - 2009) were remade by Rob Zombie, which like any remake, caused split feelings between fans of John Carpenter's 1978 original masterpiece. I personally liked both of Rob Zombie's Halloween films!

For this year's top ten - ten day countdown to Halloween, the theme is foreign horror movies (non English speaking). Head over to my facebook page for a sneak peek or if you can wait, I'll be posted it here on the blog.

(Sources used: listal.com, IMDB, facebook)

Monday, 29 October 2012

My Reviews for Horror-Movies.ca

Saturday, 6 October 2012

Sinister (2012)

Friday. Money in the bank. Time - 12:45pm. Check the local cinema for times. First screening for Sinister - 1:30pm, screen 2. I'm there by 1:10pm and as it turned out I was the only person to see the film at that time. Awesome, the whole theatre to myself!

Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) is a struggling true crime writer who hasn't had a top selling book for over ten years and has moved his family around during that time in search of another story that will give him a shot at the fame and fortune once again.

His wife Tracy (Juliet Rylance), son Trevor (Michael Hall D'Addario) and daughter Ashley (Clare Foley) are moving into their new home while being watched by the local law enforcement. Ellison's last two books didn't go down well with the police and the local Sheriff's office know why the Oswalt family are moving in.

Ellison has a habit of moving into homes that are a few doors down from where the crime he is investigating has taken place. But this time, he gone that little bit closer and moved into the house where murders had taken place and a little girl has gone missing. The Sheriff (Fred Dalton Thompson) politely lets Ellison know that he's not welcome in town!

As soon as they are in the house, an eerie overtone is set. This is literally between five and ten minutes in! There's no long build here like a lot of horror movies suffer from, we're thrown straight into the deep end, as is Ellison with the discovery of a box in the attic that contains 8mm reel footage and a projector. So instead of hitting the hay with Tracy, he stays up to watch the footage.

There's a number of reels and they all show gruesome murders. Each is a family being killed, each in there own sick way. After examining the films closer he notices a strange figure, the same figure, in each murder reel. This is when things start to happen. Trevor starts having night terrors and Ellison starts to hear noises coming from the attic. He checks out the attic only to fall through the floor onto the hallway below.

After receiving medical attention and the aid of a local Deputy, Ellison befriends the Deputy and recruits him to help with the investigation. Deputy So and So (James Ransone), yes that is what Ellison calls him, ends up gathering some pretty damn good information and along with the help of Professor Jonas (Vincent D'Onofrio) from the local university, Ellison soon realises that all the families in the footage are linked and he has taken on more than he can handle as it's not just effecting him, but effecting his wife and kids. In an effort to find the truth about a real crime, an ancient supernatural evil is now at play and he may be too late to stop it.

Let's get the negative side out of the way first. It was predictable in parts, especially the ending. But I was willing to over look this as evrything else was fantastic.

I was freaked out at certain points and a couple of times it did actually make me jump. Did the fact I was sat in an empty theatre add to that? Yes, but don't let that fool you, this is genuinely scary and I'm rarely made to jump while watching films due to the fact I watch so much horror. They're not just cheap scares either because they're backed up by everything else that happens and I know that this film will stay in my head for a few days to come!

What you see on screen, the SFX, the acting, the content of the found footage, is all made more effective by the truly frightening score. Ethan Hawke's performance is outstanding and even the light comedic act from James Ransone gets serious the more we see him. In fact, I can't fault anyone in this movie.

Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) directed his own and C. Robert Cargill's excellent screenplay superbly. And credit has to be given to producer Jason Blum, as the Paranormal Activity franchise and Insidious made some serious bank at the box office and I'm sure Sinister will too.

This isn't just your standard horror, it's so much more than just a horror movie. It's part found footage, part supernatural chiller, part crime thriller and it should keep you glued to the screen with anxiety. It surpassed my expectations and I had high hopes for it!

Sinister gets 9/10
Check out this TV spot trailer below...

Friday, 5 October 2012

Smiley (2012)

The movie opens with the classic slashers set up - Stacy (Nikki Limo), a baby sitter, is waiting for young Mary's father to come home from work. In the mean time, while sat in front of a laptop, Mary (Darrien Skylar) strikes up a conversation with Stacy about Internet chat rooms and the urban legend of "Smiley."

Legend says Smiley can be summoned through the Internet by typing "I did it for the lulz" three times on a chat room. Later that night, when Stacy is back home after the baby sitting gig, she goes on line to check out the chat rooms.

She gets talking to a guy and it doesn't take long before he gets aggressive with the comments he posts. Stacy receives the dreaded message from the guy, "I did it for the lulz" three times.

ENTER SMILEY!

This was a great start to the proceedings as it had a real old school slasher feel to it and hopefully setting the tone for the rest of the film to follow suit.

We're now introduced to Ashley (Caitlin Gerard) as her dad (Billy St. John) is helping her move into a house near the collage Ashley is starting at. Already living in the house is Proxy (Melanie Papalia). Ashley is quite a shy timid girl, who is also still in recovery from the loss of her mother, while Proxy is a bit of a party girl. So to make Ashley welcome Proxy suggest she tags along to party.

At the party, the alcohol is flowing and people are having a great time. Ashley is introduced to Zane (Andrew James Allen) as well as some of his friends, one of which is watching a video on his laptop. The video is of someone getting murdered by the demented serial killer Smiley and in turn she is told about the urban legend. The fragile Ashley is freaked out by what she's just seen and been told, but at the same time it also intrigues her.

Later that night, back at home, both the girls decide to troll the chat rooms. This leads to one thing, after choosing an appropriate looking person they start up a conversation and inevitably Ashley types and sends the "I did it for the lulz" three times!

"Evil Wears a Smile"

What happens next throughout the film is a bit up and down. It lacked a lot of tension that should have been created in between the kill scenes. However, this is made up for, although not in bucket loads, by Caitlin Gerard performance. As Ashley delves deeper into the urban legend, Proxy becomes more of a cynic and now Ashley can't decide whether she is losing her mind or becoming Smiley's next victim. So she seeks the help of a new friend Binder (Shane Dawson), psychiatrist Dr. Jenkins (Liza Weil), Officer Diamond (Keith David) and collage tutor Professor Clayton (Roger Bart), who gives the best performance in the film by the way. But in the end she realises that she can only depend upon herself!

This film had so much potential, but didn't quite hit the mark. It could have been this generations Scream and it did remind me of it a little. Using today's modern technology with how big the worldwide web has gotten was a fantastic story. I feel that director Michael J. Gallagher didn't make the most of the script he co-wrote with Glasgow Phillips. The special SFX worked great, but the score also lacked that certain something.

Don't get me wrong, I still thought it was a pretty cool movie as the ending was brilliant and I think it's worth giving a go. I actually hope a sequel will be in the works soon!

Smiley gets 6/10

Check out the trailer below...