Five-Legged Iguana

2012-02-13T07:03:00.000-08:00

TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
(Review)

Since this is a film adaptation of a John le Carré spy novel, this may initially seem an odd title to get a mention here, till it becomes clear that this one is director Tomas Alfredson’s follow-up feature to past ¡Qué horror! title, Låt den rätte komma in.
With an absolutely killer cast that includes Gary Oldman, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Tom Hardy, this one should really be on any film enthusiast’s radar.
The recently concluded BAFTAs gave it the awards for Outstanding British Film and Adapted Screenplay (by Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan); it had nine additional BAFTA nominations, including nods for Cinematography and Editing (by Låt den rätte komma in tag team, Hoyte Van Hoytema and Dino Jonsäter), and Original Music (by frequent Pedro Almodóvar collaborator, Alberto Iglesias).
As a neat BAFTA capper, John Hurt was also recognized for Outstanding Contribution to British Cinema.
So, go. Really. Watch this. Please.

Parting shot: Sadly, the film seems to have been short-changed at this year’s Oscars, only receiving a middling three nominations, for Actor in a Leading Role (Oldman), Original Score, and Adapted Screenplay.
Sigh.

(Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy OS courtesy of aintitcool.com.)

2012-02-06T09:34:00.000-08:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2012
Candidate # 7

KILL LIST
(March 2011)

Ben Wheatley’s Kill List is yet another of those films that’s best seen knowing as little as possible about it beforehand.
Suffice it to say it’s about a pair of hitmen (played by Neil Maskell and Michael Smiley) who take on a job that goes way off the tracks into disturbing and unsettling territory.

Provided you appreciate horror that’s ambiguous and engaging, horror that leaves the audience anxious and contemplative long after the end credits have finished rolling, then Kill List is most definitely for you.

(Kill List UK quad courtesy of impawards.com; Mondo quad by Iron Jaiden courtesy of twitchfilm.com; composite assembled from images courtesy of thechurchoflondon.com.)

2012-01-30T01:42:00.000-08:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2012
Candidate # 6

LA MEUTE
(THE PACK)
(May 2010)

Some good old French disturbo-horror in Franck Richard’s feature debut, La Meute, as Charlotte (Ėmilie Dequenne) drives from one end of her CDs to the other, and along the way, winds up in very deep piles of doodoo, as she encounters yet another damn good reason why France must be avoided at all costs.
To give you a fair idea of what’s in store for you here, I’ll note that Richard, in his end credits “Thank You”’s, cites Leatherface, Pinhead, Jason, Michael Myers, Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Gremlins as, “by far, the best babysitters of the world.”
You’ve been duly warned.

(La Meute OS courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com.)

2012-01-30T01:37:00.001-08:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2012
Candidate # 5

MUTANTS
(January 2009)

Since this is ¡Qué Horror! it should be fairly obvious that director David Morley’s titular mutants are not at all like Professor Xavier’s Gifted Youngsters.
In this one, we are thrust into what is nowadays a seemingly commonplace scenario: the middle of a zombie apocalypse.
Of the running, infected variety, these “zombies” are wild and beastial. And though that may sound rather common as well, it should be noted that there’s a strong streak of body horror in Mutants, as one of its principal characters undergoes horrific bodily decay as the infection spreads throughout the unfortunate’s system.

(Mutants OS’ courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com.)

2012-01-30T01:17:00.000-08:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2012
Candidate # 4

BITTER FEAST
(June 2010)

Writer/director Joe Maggio’s Bitter Feast is cautionary horror for those who freely criticize in that very snide and mean-spirited way that’s become so sadly widespread over the ‘net that it permeates vast swathes of the information superhighway in this unwelcoming, stifling miasma of negativity.
In Bitter Feast, Chef Peter Grey (Ally McBeal's James Le Gros) is just one of the many targets of the spewing vitriol of Gastropunks food blogger, JT Franks (The Blair Witch Project's Joshua Leonard, also seen more recently in Shark Night). Following a streak of career misfortune, Grey decides to strike back.

Fair warning though, for those of you in search of sympathetic characters to identify and commiserate with, those are practically nonexistent in Bitter Feast. Like I said, it’s cautionary horror for all those Negative Nellies out there, and both Grey and Franks are quite unlikeable.
There are other faces to look at here though, and one can also find A Horrible Way To Die’s Amy Seimetz here, as Franks’ suffering wife, and Larry Fessenden (yay!) as private investigator William Coley (and, behind the camera, as producer, too).
Now, as to whether either are more sympathetic than the two main leads, well, you’ll have to find out for yourself if you decide to check this one out.

(Bitter Feast OS courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com.)

2011-12-31T18:37:00.000-08:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2012
Candidate # 3

RED STATE
(January 2011)

Given that the last Kevin Smith film I enjoyed without having any major issues with it was Chasing Amy, and still holding out the hope that he could once again win me over, it was with a generous amount of curiosity that I looked forward to checking out Red State, considering that it was also going to be his first “horror movie,” something that appeared to be way out of his comfort zone. (As evidenced below on the final one-sheet, it is billed as “An Unlikely Film From That Kevin Smith.”)
Of course, by the time I finally got around to having the opportunity to see it, the whole “I’ll sell the distribution rights, oh no, let me buy them instead for a negligible fee” auction thing came and went, and it had also just been announced that the film had taken home the Best Motion Picture award at Sitges 2011, where Michael Parks (who plays cult leader Abin Cooper) was also awarded Best Actor.
Well, not having yet seen some of its other Sitges competition, I can’t really say whether I agree with its Best Motion Picture win, but I will say that it’s a very good film, quite possibly the most accomplished one of Smith’s career.*

It’s always been evident that Smith has very strong and pointed opinions about everything from geek culture to religion, a characteristic made even more evident from his appearances outside of his own film work, and while I’ve always been fond of his smaller, more intimate films like his debut feature Clerks and Chasing Amy, in Red State, he delivers a caustic tale of (as the headings under which he divides his cast’s names in the end credits roll indicate) sex, religion, and politics.
The fact that the events of Red State kick off with three horny high school kids just looking for some sex should have put me off this one; I think I’ve mentioned it in these parts before, that I have very little sympathy for film characters who wind up in deep doodoo because of sheer stupidity. Instead, Smith succeeds in drawing me into his film and keeps me there for the duration. Sure these kids are dumb and horny, but what happens to them is simply our way into the story, and it’s a grim, disquieting one.

And not only is Red State the best-looking Smith film I’ve seen (Smith on edits; DP, David Klein, who’s shot most of Smith’s films, including the Reaper pilot), it also sports the best cast Smith has ever assembled, with John Goodman; Kevin Pollak; Oscar, SAG, and Independent Spirit Award winner, Melissa Leo; the Sitges winner, Parks; and Stephen Root. There are also other familiar faces in this like Kevin Alejandro (as with Root, a True Blood alumnus), Buffy alumnus Marc Blucas, and younger, recognizable actors, like Kyle Gallner and Michael Angarano. In a fun bit of casting, Smith also ropes in noted casting director Deborah Aquila (instrumental in casting shows like Dexter and The Shield, and films like The Mist, One Hour Photo, and Sex, Lies, and Videotape) for a small role.

If you think Smith is only about raunchy, potty-mouthed comedy, then give Red State a look. It’s mean and nasty, but it certainly proves that Smith can step away from his comfort zone and deliver the goods.

* I have yet to see both Jersey Girl and Cop Out, so, for all I know, either of these films could whup Red State’s a$$ from here to Timbuktu and back.
Or not.

(Red State OS’ courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com and impawards.com.)

2011-12-31T18:31:00.000-08:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2012
Candidate # 2

THE BLEEDING HOUSE
(April 2011)

The Smiths are a troubled family trying to return to a normal life in the wake of an initially undisclosed past tragedy, but the arrival of the stranger Nick (Patrick Breen) to their household signals the beginning of a night of harrowing revelation and bloodshed.
Written and directed by Philip Gelatt, The Bleeding House is an interesting look at the high costs that must be paid to protect one’s family. It may not have the razorblade intensity or gory splatter of other films of its ilk, but it’s still a film that has things to say, and for that, it’s definitely worth a look.

(The Bleeding House OS courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com.)

2011-12-31T18:19:00.000-08:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2012
Candidate # 1

A HORRIBLE WAY TO DIE
(September 2010)

In the same manner that Gareth Edwards’ Monsters was essentially an indie character piece with alien monsters running all about the place, Adam Wingard’s A Horrible Way To Die is an indie character piece with a serial killer as one of its characters.
The pacing, the narrative structure, the entire general approach to the material is very tellingly from this particular branch of the vast and sprawling cinematic tree, so whether or not you enjoy this film will probably be dictated by where indie character pieces fall on your personal movie tastes barometer.
You’ll either like and applaud the efforts of Wingard and writer Simon Barrett in applying that template onto genre material, or you won’t.
If you do like it, though, you’ll also find some nice performances by Amy Seimetz as a woman recovering from both alcohol and a very bad relationship, Joe Swanberg as a fellow AAer who shows an interest in Seimetz’s Sarah, and the ever-reliable AJ Bowen, who’s continued to impress since I first caught sight of him in past ¡Qué Horror! title, The Signal. Here, he plays Garrick Turrell, the aforementioned serial killer who has “several fan sites on the Internet dedicated to him, and a Facebook fan page with membership in the hundreds of thousands.”

Though I was never really that bowled over by Barrett’s past work on scripts for Dead Birds or Red Sands, I do appreciate what he’s done here, and heartily look forward to his subsequent collaborations with Wingard, which includes the very buzz-y festival darling, You’re Next, which plays an interesting variation on the home invasion template. (The other collaborations are shorts for the anthologies The ABCs of Death and V/H/S, which is debuting at Sundance 2012.)

(A Horrible Way To Die OS courtesy of impawards.com; DVD cover art courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com.)

2011-12-11T19:11:00.000-08:00

PIMP MY STUFF
“BALAT, BUWAN, NGALAN”
Appearing in ALTERNATIVE ALAMAT

Alternative Alamat is an anthology of short fiction that repurposes Filipino myths and legends into modern, 21st century configurations, that is going to be available in ebook format on December 14.
I was invited by editor Paolo Chikiamco to contribute a piece to it, and thus, my story, “Balat, Buwan, Ngalan (A Myth for the 21st Century)” is contained therein.

Below is the story’s introduction (which also doubles as the writer’s bio), as it appears in the anthology:

Balat, Buwan, Ngalan
(A Myth for the 21st Century)

David Hontiveros

David Hontiveros was a National Book Award Finalist for Best Comic Book in 1997 for Dhampyr (drawn by Oliver Pulumbarit), and a 2002 Palanca Award Winner (2nd Place in Future Fiction- English Category) for his short story, “Kaming Mga Seroks.” He has three horror/dark fantasy novellas out under the Penumbra imprint, published by Visprint, as well as a digital novel, Pelicula, from Bronze Age Media. His on-going comic book series, Bathala: Apokalypsis, is also available digitally from Flipside. He has had his short fiction, film reviews, articles, and comics appear in several Philippine publications. He has recently adapted Bret Harte (no, not the wrestler) and Edgar Allan Poe (twice!) into comic book form for Graphic Classics. He may be observed online at fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com (where he blathers on about film) and davidhontiveros.com (where assorted bits of his work are housed). He would like to humbly dedicate the story to his four current grandspawn, in chronological order: Gray, Mischa, Chloe, and Sophia, who will keep the flames of his family history burning on, down through the years.
While the Philippines is home to distinct cultural groups, a certain amount of cultural cross-pollination did take place. The results are myths which are variations of the same themes, and characters which appear in more than one culture, or who bear the same name but with an altered form. But, as David says of this story, there is power in words and there is truth in myth. If these characters did exist… which version would be true? Would it matter?

I should point out for those who follow my books and comics that “Balat, Buwan, Ngalan” has very solid ties to some of my past (and future) work.
And among the ten other stories in the anthology is a Trese prose piece by none other than Budjette Tan, as well as lots of kicka$$ art by Mervin Malonzo.
For more on Alternative Alamat, please check here.

2011-12-10T19:12:00.000-08:00

ATTACK THE BLOCK
(Review)

“You know what that is? I’ll tell you what that is! That’s an alien, bruv. Believe it! Must have come from outer space trying to take over the Earth, innit?”

Playing like an ‘80’s Amblin movie recontextualized to the council estates of South London, Attack the Block is an absolute blast as Wyndham Tower falls prey to an invasion of “big alien gorilla wolf motherf-ckers,” all black fur and fluorescent fangs (courtesy of Mike Elizalde’s Spectral Motion), who run afoul of the block’s juvenile toughs, led by Moses (an impressive John Boyega).

Written and directed by Joe Cornish, with Edgar Wright as one of its executive producers, Attack the Block made a big splash at this year’s SXSW Film Festival as part of the Midnighters section (where it won the Midnight Screening Audience Award), and also made an impression at Sitges (taking home Best Original Soundtrack, the Special Jury Award, the Audience Award for Best Motion Picture, and the Jose Luis Guarner Critic Award).
It really isn’t hard to see why. This one’s a whole lot of fun, with Nick Frost and Brothers of the Head’s and Heartless’ Luke Treadaway joining the delinquents for this wild alien romp.

“Excuse my French. They’re f-ckin’ monsters, ‘int they?”

(Attack the Block UK quad and OS courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com.)

2011-12-01T20:58:00.000-08:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Auxiliary List
[4 of 4]

And for the final batch of the 2011 Auxiliaries, a pair of very strange films…

KYNODONTAS
(DOGTOOTH)
(May 2009)

Nominated at the Oscars for Best Foreign Film, Greece’s Kynodontas is a darkly humorous and ultimately disturbing look at the reality that how parents raise their children really does make all the difference in the world.

RUBBER
(May 2010)

Yes, in case you’ve heard about this one, this is indeed the film about the angry psychic tire named “Robert.”
You read that correctly.
Angry.
Psychic.
Tire.
And while Quentin Dupieux’s Rubber is certainly about that, it’s also about art and how an audience relates to art, how art is influenced by the audience, and the disturbing possibilities of art becoming something more than what was originally intended.
Brilliant and absurd, this is quite unlike anything else on this Auxiliary list, or on the main ¡Qué Horror! 2011 rundown, for that matter.

(Kynodontas OS, Dogtooth UK quad, and Rubber OS courtesy of impawards.com.)

2011-11-20T23:15:00.000-08:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Auxiliary List
[3 of 4]

For this batch, I present a real documentary, and the hands-down, best vampire film I saw in the past year…

CROPSEY
(April 2009)

With all the excellent faux docs making the ¡Qué Horror! grade, I thought it only fair (and well-deserved) that Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio’s honest-to-goodness real documentary--which examines the line where urban legend crosses over into real life--be given a mention here.

STRIGOI
(August 2009)

It’s been awhile since I’ve seen a vampire film as atypical as Strigoi.* Written, edited, and directed by Faye Jackson, it’s also hands down the best and most substantial vampire film I’ve seen in the past 12 months.
Strigoi is an insightful title that’s about tradition and history and folklore and family and corruption. It’s about the poor, the rich, and the opportunistic.
And yes, it’s about the different kinds of vampires, even the ones that don’t subsist on blood.
This is the sort of vampire film that will keep the form alive and vital and meaningful despite all that Twilight blather that’s currently cluttering up the mythos.
Big plus to Jackson for excellent usage of Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky” and Beirut’s “Postcards from Italy.”

* It’s been years and years since atypical titles like The Hunger or Vampire’s Kiss or Nadja or Shadow of the Vampire, so Faye Jackson’s moving and bittersweetly humorous take in Strigoi is most welcome.

(Cropsey OS courtesy of impawards.com; Strigoi DVD cover art courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com.)

2011-11-11T18:58:00.000-08:00

PIMP MY STUFF
BATHALA: APOKALYPSIS
Ecomic Release

Okay.
It’s official: Bathala: Apokalypsis is now available in ecomic format for the Kindle as well as for its computer/iPad/Android device-compatible app.
The first 2 issues are available here and here, and should be available on the iTunes iBookstore in about two weeks’ time.
And if you pick the issues up and should they meet with your approval, please review them on Amazon and tell your friends about them, online or in real life.
Help spread the word.

You can also check on the availability of the ecomic format issues here and here.

(Bathala artwork by Ian Sta. Maria.)

2011-11-11T18:50:00.000-08:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Auxiliary List
[2 of 4]

For this batch, I present some thrillers…

RED RIDING (1974; 1980; 1983)
(February 2009)

In the vein of Bong Joon-ho’s Salinui Chueok (Memories of Murder) and David Fincher’s Zodiac, superb films both, the Red Riding Trilogy--adapted from David Peace’s Red Riding Quartet* by Tony Grisoni (who’s also worked on the screenplays of Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Tideland, as well as Keith Fulton's Brothers of the Head)--chronicles the investigations of the Yorkshire Ripper murders in the forensic Dark Ages when the initials CSI still meant nothing in particular to the majority of the public.
Like Bong and Fincher’s films, Red Riding is also especially interested in the impact the killer’s crimes have on those orbiting them, like the journalists and the investigators. And dead centre of Red Riding’s spotlight is how vice and corruption is just as insidious an evil as a serial killer’s depredations.

The films comprising the Trilogy--1974, 1980, and 1983--directed by Julian Jarrold (Kinky Boots; Brideshead Revisited), James Marsh (Man on Wire; Project Nim), and Anand Tucker (Hilary and Jackie; Shopgirl), respectively, boast a strong cast which includes such solid British talent as Paddy Considine, Sean Bean, Andrew Garfield, and Mark Addy. Originally aired on British television, the Trilogy subsequently got favorable reception on the film festival circuit.

* The Quartet’s second novel is Nineteen Seventy-Seven, which did not make a direct transition from page to screen.

THE PERFECT HOST
(January 2010)

Directed by Nick Tomnay (from a script co-written with Krishna Jones), The Perfect Host is a dark thriller that initially seems to be an interesting variation on the home invasion sub-genre, with David Hyde Pierce as the titular host whose home becomes a rest stop for John Taylor (Clayne Crawford), who’s just robbed a bank. Soon though, the narrative takes some turns and twists, and we’re suddenly not in the film we initially thought we were in.
If you can, try and steer clear of the trailer, which gives away some of what this one’s really about.

(Red Riding OS courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com; The Perfect Host OS courtesy of impawards.com.)

2011-11-10T02:37:00.000-08:00

PIMP MY STUFF
BATHALA: APOKALYPSIS
Ecomic Release & Issue 4

With the imminent release of Bathala: Apokalypsis in ecomic format, we’ve pulled down issues 1 to 3 from davidhontiveros.com, leaving a sneak preview of 5 pages from each issue on the site.

Meanwhile, issue 4 is scheduled for release in pamphlet form at the next Komikon on November 19, 2011, where we’ll also be indulging in a “Catch-Up Promo” (as indicated below).

Look! Convenient recap! And a sneak peek at pages 1 & 2!

Previously in Bathala:

1999.

Andrew Carreon, reporter, is secretly the mighty superhero, Bathala.

After years of maintaining a close and steady friendship with co-worker Isabel Ignacio, Andrew has finally moved their relationship into deeper territory.
But this development takes place in the middle of a sea of chaos, in a world that is tearing itself apart.

In the other half of Andrew’s dual life, Bathala does his best to stem the tide of apocalyptic hysteria that permeates society in the wake of all the wars and catastrophes and disasters occurring across the globe.
And amidst all these occurrences, reports file in of individuals who claim to be enveloped by a bright light, who hear a voice tell them, “You are blessed. You are one of the People,” and are left with a distinguishing mark on their foreheads.

Even as Bathala helps to maintain order though, a massive earthquake in Los Angeles (coinciding with an eclipse), followed shortly by the destruction of the United States’ East Coast as a result of an attack by the alien artificial intelligence Cerebellax, leaves the world stunned.
In retaliation, Bathala is forced to destroy Cerebellax’s craft, and a large chunk of it crashes into the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Japan. Electronics zaibatsu, Irimahu, begins salvage operations almost immediately, and manages to recover the fragment of the alien vessel.
Unknown to Bathala though, Irimahu’s operations are being guided by his arch-enemy, Harold Hernandez, and the Uploaded Personality (UP) of Leonardo Carreon. The UP is a digitally encoded copy of the personality of Andrew’s twin brother, identical in every respect to the late environmentalist, save for the presence of a physical body, and quite possibly, a soul.
Cerebellax is found in the salvaged wreckage, and the UP uses its power to enslave the alien intelligence to its own system.

Meanwhile, in South Wales, a handsome stranger anticipates the weight of a Key on his palm.
And elsewhere, Leonardo Carreon, killed by a gunman months ago and yet somehow still existing, has been given a scroll and apparently been made to break the seals that cover it. With only one seal left, Leo wishes to be relieved of this burden, but is told that this is his destiny and he cannot escape it.

A strange phenomenon then takes place: all over the world, a blanket of complete silence falls.
And in the silence, Andrew’s father, Jose Carreon, now apparently one of the People, readies to tell Bathala decades-old secrets, about the hero’s origins, and his ultimate role in the End Times.

(Bathala art by Ace Enriquez.)

2011-11-10T02:26:00.000-08:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Auxiliary List
[1 of 4]

Now, I’ve always had a very broad definition of “horror” and that’s something I’ve never kept a secret.
I do however, admit that what I may personally consider a horror movie (for whatever particular reason) may not be seen as that by others, thus, I’m establishing the ¡Qué Horror! Auxiliaries, films that I saw in the past year that I feel need to be talked about, films that had, to varying degrees, horror elements in them, even though they may not be readily seen as “horror” films.

For the first batch, let’s have two titles that actually made the candidates list, but, because they were both titles that could raise eyebrows and questions, in regards to their status as “proper” horror films--since the first is almost like an art film approximation of a particular horror sub-genre, and the second plays out more as an indie character drama that just happens to be set against a genre background--I figured I’d feature them as Auxiliaries, since no one would question their place here. Both titles are simply too good to be overlooked because they aren’t “proper” horror films.
So, without any further blather…

AMER
(September 2009)

Playing like a curious love letter to Argento, Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani’s feature-length debut, Amer, is largely about mood and style, a cinematic exercise where narrative takes a back seat to impressionism and dream logic. While dialogue is sparse, shades of classic Argento (giallo and otherwise) can be found scattered throughout Amer’s 90 minute running time, where eroticism and death constantly stare at each other from opposite sides of a cracked mirror.

And while I single out Dario Argento as a clear touchstone of Amer, it should be noted that in an interview, Cattet and Forzani also mention Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci, and Shinya Tsukamoto, among others, as inspirations. They also make it a point to acknowledge Argento’s Inferno and the late Satoshi Kon’s Sennen Joyû (Millennium Actress). Perhaps not so incidentally, it’s interesting to note that Kon’s Perfect Blue is itself, an animated nod to giallo.

While this is clearly not for everyone, Amer is a must-see for anyone who considers himself a serious student of horror.

MONSTERS
(June 2010)

Six years ago…
NASA discovered the possibility of alien life within our solar system. A space probe was launched to collect samples but broke up during re-entry over Mexico. Soon after new life forms began to appear and half the country was quarantined as an INFECTED ZONE.
Today…
The Mexican and US military still struggle to contain ‘the creatures’…

When word first began to circulate about Gareth Edwards’ Monsters, the news seemed to carry the implication that Edwards’ film would have human-sized aliens in it, ala District 9, which was in rotation at the time.
So, though the excellent Monsters trailer had already primed me to expect considerably-bigger-than-human-sized extraterrestrials, I was still enthusiastically surprised to see that Edwards’ effort plays rather like a character-driven indie film, which just happens to have giant, tentacled aliens as part of its backdrop.

It should be noted that not only did Edwards write and direct Monsters (his feature debut, by the way), he’s also the DP and production designer, plus he did the visual effects. Clearly, a huge part of the credit for placing its audience smack dab in the middle of this fantastic, yet still believable setting, falls to Edwards, who has created a SF/horror-tinged vision of a country upon whose doorstep war has been placed by foreigners.
Thus, it shares that aspect with District 9, that there is subtext to be found. But said subtext never crowds out the fact that Monsters is really about the main leads, Andrew and Sam (played by Scoot McNairy and Whitney Able); it’s their lives and their relationship we witness in the midst of the giant monster movie trappings. And it’s to McNairy’s and Able’s credit that their performances keep us interested in the narrative’s goings-on.
So Monsters also has that in common with Matt Reeves’ Cloverfield; that the characters really are at centre stage. In fact, if you take Cloverfield, then scale it towards the character-driven indie film end of the cinematic spectrum, you may begin to get an inkling of what Monsters is all about.
Better yet though, just get out there and see it.

Parting shot: Reviews of District 9 and Cloverfield can be found lurking in the Archive.

(Amer OS courtesy of twitchfilm.net; Monsters UK quad and components for custom OS courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com.)

2011-11-07T21:57:00.000-08:00

IN SEARCH OF:
COMIC BOOK ARTISTS

If you’re a regular to the Iguana, you may have noted that aside from being a film geek, I’m also a comic book geek who happens to be a writer, of, among other things, comic books.
It’s in this capacity that I’m currently in search of the right artist to collaborate with on a comic book that’s in the superhero genre, a title with action and drama, with rock ‘em and sock ‘em, angry punchy bits and weepy, sniffy, talky bits.

If you think you’re the right artist for the job, visit the Cube for more details.

2011-10-08T01:44:00.000-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
The Wrap-Up

So, there we are. Thirteen primary titles, plus four additional ones. And yes, one of those additionals wasn’t really a runner-up, but Little Deaths is an anthology that must be seen by those horror fans who aren’t put off by sex and sexual situations. And though it snuck onto the list because Simon Rumley’s “Bitch” was in it, I must also point out that Andrew Parkinson’s “Mutant Tool” was quite definitely one of the most bizarre horror tales I saw within the past twelve months, regardless of length. Heh.

Now, before we get on with the candidates for ¡Qué Horror! 2012, I’ll be going through another new ¡Qué Horror! feature, the Auxiliaries, titles that may not be what people will automatically think of as horror films, but were nonetheless some of the most noteworthy movies I had the privilege of viewing over the past year. I’ll kick off the Auxiliaries in November: four batches, ten films.

I’d also like to stress that there’s nothing stopping you from checking out each of the 2011 candidates. Just because they didn’t make the final cut, doesn’t mean they’re no longer worth your time; there are good reasons why each of those films became a candidate in the first place. (Two of the Auxiliaries actually come from the candidates list, so you’ll be seeing them there anyway.)

Other than that, I guess the only other thing to say is, once again, have a Happy Halloween.

2011-10-08T01:40:00.000-07:00

A Rundown of the 13 Best Horror Movies I’ve Seen in the Past Year
[13 of 13]

TROLLJEGEREN
(THE TROLL HUNTER)
(October 2010)

These days, like the zombie movie, the found footage genre boasts a new title every couple of seconds it seems. But it’s titles like André Øvredal’s Trolljegeren (The Troll Hunter) that make wading through the clutter such a rewarding experience.
Plunging headlong into the deep, dark woods and sprawling mountain ranges of Norway, Trolljegeren is an absolutely fun ride through folklore and conspiracy as a camera crew stumble onto the most darkly amusing secret a government could ever hope to cover up.
“The most important film of our time is Norwegian” trumpets one of Trolljegeren’s trailers. And with what it manages to blow the lid off of, you’d better believe it!
Michael Moore (name-dropped in the trailer as well) would be proud…

(Trolljegeren OS courtesy of impawards.com.)

2011-10-08T01:34:00.000-07:00

A Rundown of the 13 Best Horror Movies I’ve Seen in the Past Year
[12 of 13]

SECUESTRADOS
(KIDNAPPED)
(September 2010)

Intense, grim, and merciless, Miguel Ángel Vivas’ Secuestrados is home invasion, as told in a series of protracted scenes; about a dozen, I think. I tried to keep track, but, well… things get wild and hairy in this one, so my count may have gotten muddled at a certain point…
Like Rodrigo Cortés’ Buried, this one’s an audacious bit of cinema that both impresses in the clearly high ambition of its storytelling, and disturbs with its uncompromising darkness.

Home Invasion Runner-up:
CHERRY TREE LANE (June 2010)

The home invasion sub-genre continues to bust down some doors, and Cherry Tree Lane, brought to us by writer/director Paul Andrew Williams, is a nasty piece of work that keeps the atrocity off-camera, and yet plays just as potently as other titles that have their horrors visible for all to see.
Instead of the violence and bloodletting, it’s the terrible intimacy that comes into existence between captors and their prisoners that gets centre stage here, that horrible sense of violation that comes when the sanctity and safety of hearth and home is infiltrated by foreign and unwelcome elements.
In my review of Williams’ The Cottage (lurking in the Archive), I believe I mention that while I wasn’t too fond of his second feature film, I did like Williams’ debut, London to Brighton. For the record, Cherry Tree Lane is definitely Williams’ best feature effort thus far.
With very controlled cinematography by Carlos Catalán, music by UNKLE, and a very lean, mean seventy-seven minute running time, this one is certain to unsettle, and to make you want to double- (and maybe even treble-) check the locks on your doors and windows, and be extra-careful when answering the doorbell.

(Secuestrados & Kidnapped OS’ courtesy of impawards.com; Cherry Tree Lane OS courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com; Cherry Tree Lane DVD cover art courtesy of amazon.co.uk.)

2011-10-08T01:32:00.000-07:00

A Rundown of the 13 Best Horror Movies I’ve Seen in the Past Year
[11 of 13]

BLACK SWAN
(September 2010)

I truly can’t say enough good things about Darren Aronofsky’s latest, Black Swan. Everything in this-- from the camerawork by longtime collaborator, Matthew Libatique (who’s shot everything for Aronofsky except The Wrestler), to the script by Mark Heyman, Andrés Heinz, and John McLaughlin (from a story by Heinz), to the music, to the cast-- meshes like an exactingly choreographed and executed ballet piece.
It’s about the brittle fragility of bodies and psyches pushed to-- and beyond-- their limits. It’s about desperation and passion and pressure, and about the cruelty of perfection.
And yes, given that this is a horror movie in much the same way a landmark 1960’s film by Roman Polanski was, it most definitely deserves a slot on the main ¡Qué Horror! rundown.
Given the manner in which it takes the Swan Lake narrative as well as its motifs and applies them onto the high pressure world of ballet, I’d like to think Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky would appreciate this one.

Parting shot: Black Swan’s BAFTA nominations: Best Film, Best Actress (Natalie Portman), Best Supporting Actress (Barbara Hershey), David Lean Award for Achievement in Direction, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing (Andrew Weisblum), Best Production Design (Thérèse DePrez and Tora Peterson), Best Costume Design (Amy Westcott), Best Make Up/Hair, Best Sound, and Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects; Portman’s win would be the only BAFTA it would take home.
Its Oscar nominations: Actress in a Leading Role (Portman), Cinematography, Directing, Film Editing, and Best Picture; again, only Portman would walk on up to the podium…

(Black Swan OS’ courtesy of impawards.com.)

2011-10-08T01:29:00.000-07:00

A Rundown of the 13 Best Horror Movies I’ve Seen in the Past Year
[10 of 13]

SRPSKI FILM (A SERBIAN FILM)
(March 2010)

There are certain films that are so singular and potent in their effect that the post-screening haze they leave me in, as I gradually re-adjust to the real world after my first viewing of them, somehow has a different texture from the wake of other movies.
Films like Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre or David Cronenberg’s Videodrome or Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible, films that leave an impact and an imprint, both indelible and quite unforgettable.
Well, I can now add Srdan Spasojevic’s Srpski Film (A Serbian Film) to those ranks.

Here, Milos (Srdan Todorovic), noted star of such stellar titles as Milosh the Filthy Stud, is lured back in front of the camera from his current domestic life by mysterious filmmaker Vukmir Vukmir (Sergej Trifunovic), for a production whose plot and script is a secret.
Needless to say, things go, not just terribly awry, but total gonzo batshit insane, in a film I can perhaps best describe as the ultimate Hot Blood movie; Hot Blood being the successful erotic horror anthology series that has had writers like Grant Morrison as contributors.

Srpski Film is, quite pointedly, transgressive cinema (yes, some will use the term “perverse”) and there are moments in this film that are nothing short of evil. I’ve made it a point at the Iguana to stress which reviewed films have particularly strong and graphic content; consider my warning regarding Srpski Film the direst I’ve ever given here.
No joke, this one takes the cake.
It’s also got the single most audacious kill I’ve ever seen captured on film; and that’s saying a lot for a film that has a number of atrocious kills during its running time.
If you’ve ever wondered why a porn film is a brainless series of sexual acts, one after another, well, Srpski Film will show you how potentially dangerous porn with a philosophy can be.

(A Serbian Film OS courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com.)

2011-10-08T01:27:00.000-07:00

A Rundown of the 13 Best Horror Movies I’ve Seen in the Past Year
[9 of 13]

OUTCAST
(March 2010)

Directed by Colm McCarthy, from a script co-written by McCarthy with Tom K. McCarthy (apparently no relation), Outcast is a truly excellent dark urban fantasy that transposes ancient myth and folklore onto a modern setting.
What makes Outcast an even more impressive achievement is the fact that it’s McCarthy’s feature film debut, a very confident piece that’s got some notable performances in it, from Niall Bruton’s first feature role as “Fergal,” to those delivered by one of the resident cuckoos on Game of Thrones, Kate Dickie, and Rents’ Da from Trainspotting, James Cosmo.

(Outcast UK quad courtesy of impawards.com.)

2011-10-06T23:41:00.000-07:00

A Rundown of the 13 Best Horror Movies I’ve Seen in the Past Year
[8 of 13]

RED WHITE & BLUE
(January 2010)

Simon Rumley’s The Living and the Dead made quite the impression on me (unearth the review from the Archive), so much so that when I first got a whiff of Red White & Blue, I kept track of its development and production, knowing I was eventually going to check it out.
And while this is a different sort of cinematic animal from The Living and the Dead, it’s got the same kind of jarring disquiet in its onscreen action, action that also takes place in that viciously desolate wasteland where psychology and tragedy collide. But just as Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles had its volume jacked up in the U.S.-set Volume Two, Rumley’s narrative sensibilities are likewise amped to better reflect the tone and atmosphere of this American tale of love and isolation, of desperation and revenge.
The performances (by Noah Taylor, Amanda Fuller, and Marc Senter) are raw and unpolished, the editing jarring, the narrative’s trajectory and propulsion coloured by its staccato rhythms.
This is sordid stuff and it’s interesting how Rumley and his cast can make an audience involved and invested in a tale whose characters are not especially likable.
Now I’m even more excited to see Rumley’s contribution to the upcoming horror anthology, Little Deaths.

Speaking of…

Another Simon Rumley Must-See:
“Bitch,” contained in
LITTLE DEATHS (February 2011)

Multi-contributor anthologies are always a tricky proposition. Given that there are X number of stories by X number of contributors, there’ll always be a variance in the quality of the collected tales. There’s also the distinct possibility that, for whatever reason, some stories may work for some of the audience, while others may not, and that’s perhaps more to do with the subjectivity of art than the actual pieces themselves.
The horror anthology Little Deaths is a rarity in that all three stories are excellent, without a real weak link in the lot. Still, as much as Sean Hogan’s “House and Home” (which kicks off the anthology) is a well-made little bit of sex and grue, it’s still overshadowed by the truly mondo bizarro “Mutant Tool” by Andrew Parkinson, and Simon Rumley’s “Bitch,” where the power and dominance games played in a very atypical sexual relationship reaches a dangerous tipping point.
As made readily apparent by its title (which it shares with an anthology edited by Ellen Datlow), Little Deaths is a showcase for erotic horror, and what’s on display in the contributions of Parkinson and Rumley is rather disturbing and unsettling and not for the squeamish nor prudish.
You’ve been suitably warned…

(Red White & Blue OS courtesy of impawards.com; Little Deaths OS courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com.)

2011-10-03T23:13:00.000-07:00

A Rundown of the 13 Best Horror Movies I’ve Seen in the Past Year
[7 of 13]

THE VIOLENT KIND
(January 2010)

“… it’s been a really weird night…”

By the time the sh*t hit the fan in The Violent Kind’s climax and “Lights in the Sky” began to play over the end titles crawl, I knew that, once again, from out of the clear blue, The Butcher Brothers (AKA as Mitchell Altieri and Phil Flores) had just whacked me on the side of the head with some kicka$$ cinema.
I came into The Violent Kind knowing nothing more than, this was the new film by the same people who’d notched a pretty high point in After Dark’s very first Horrorfest with The Hamiltons, and that’s pretty much the way you should go into it as well. Any attempt at a synopsis will just spoil things.
Suffice it to say that there are shades of David Lynch in The Violent Kind, which features some familiar faces from The Hamiltons; let’s leave it at that.

Parting shot: A review of The Hamiltons can be found lurking in the Archive.

(The Violent Kind OS courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com.)

2011-10-03T00:25:00.000-07:00

A Rundown of the 13 Best Horror Movies I’ve Seen in the Past Year
[6 of 13]

YELLOWBRICKROAD
(January 2010)

One morning in 1940, the entire population of Friar, NH, walked north up an unmarked trail into the wilderness.
Some were later found frozen to death. Others were mysteriously slaughtered. Most, however, were never found.

This is the mystery that lies at the heart of Andy Mitton and Jesse Holland’s feature film debut, Yellowbrickroad, where a team led by Teddy Barnes (Michael Laurino) walks the very same trail in an attempt to uncover the truth beneath the legend.
It’s a truly excellent piece of distinct unease, of oblique and inexplicable horror, brought to us with the help of Smallville’s own Tess Mercer, Cassidy Freeman, who’s an executive producer on this, along with her rather appropriately named brother, Clark. (The Freeman siblings also appear as Erin and Daryl Luger.)
If you can enjoy your horror without the requisite zombies, vampires, masked slashers, or shambling monsters, then Yellowbrickroad is for you.

Parting shot: Smallville’s Chloe Sullivan, Allison Mack, is also afforded some thanks in the film’s end titles crawl.

(Yellowbrickroad quad courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com.)

2011-10-02T01:24:00.000-07:00

A Rundown of the 13 Best Horror Movies I’ve Seen in the Past Year
[5 of 13]

BURIED
(January 2010)

There isn’t much more you need to know about Rodrigo Cortés’ Buried other than that it’s a cracklingly intense bit of film-making that, unlike other recent examples of “experiential horror” (like Devil, or Frozen, or Altitude), never once leaves the environs of the protagonist’s circumscribed agony; we spend the entire running time of approximately 95 minutes trapped in a coffin alongside Ryan Reynolds.
And here, as in John August’s The Nines, we really do realize that Reynolds can honest-to-goodness act, as opposed to playing Ryan Reynolds on camera, which, sadly, he seems to do most of the time.
From its great Saul Bass-inspired opening title credits (by Spain’s Royal Cow Studios), on through to that final, telling shot, this is tense, claustrophobic cinema executed with dollops of skill, talent, and bravura.

Parting shot: As I’ve mentioned ‘round these parts before, Buried won last year’s Méliès d'Or Award for Best European Fantastic Film.
Do yourself a favour and see why…

Experiential Horror Runner-up:
FROZEN (January 2010)

Imagine being stranded on a ski lift, without anyone knowing you were there. Trapped way above the snow, in the dark, and the cold…
That’s the wickedly taut scenario writer-director Adam Green invites us to, not so much view, as actually partake in, in Frozen.
I’ve seen the term “experiential horror” being used to describe Frozen, and a bunch of other recent titles (like Buried and Devil), and that’s about as good a term as any. These are the sort of films that attempt to place the viewer in the situation they’re watching from the normally safe remove of their seats, films that strive to break the fourth wall by putting us alongside the narrative’s protagonists, to share their panic and terror. (All this without tacking on a few extra bits to the ticket price with that new-fangled whatchallit, 3D. Is that right? “Three-dee”?)

Now, if the best horror is meant to unsettle and disturb, then experiential horror ups that ante considerably, making the cinematic experience more horribly intimate by confining us in a circumscribed space, forcing us to undergo the suffering.
In Frozen, Green has a superbly crafted and distressingly disturbing film, whose young cast (Kevin Zegers, Shawn Ashmore, and Emma Bell, who was subsequently seen on the first season of The Walking Dead) hits all the right beats, from the casual to the tension-filled.

(Buried & Frozen OS’ courtesy of impawards.com; Buried UK quad courtesy of empireonline.com.)

2011-10-02T01:11:00.000-07:00

A Rundown of the 13 Best Horror Movies I’ve Seen in the Past Year
[4 of 13]

THE CLINIC
(November 2009)

There are some horror films that you simply don’t show expectant mothers, films like Fruit Chan’s Dumplings or Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury’s À l'intérieur or Paul Solet’s Grace. Based on the one sheet above, I think it’s clear that James Rabbitts’ The Clinic is another of those films.
If you can get past the unsettling aspects of the material, The Clinic is an absorbing and interesting look at maternal instincts, at just how far a mother is willing to go to protect her child. It also cleverly plays with genre expectations, giving the audience a cinematic experience that may have familiar elements, but nonetheless feels like something we’ve not quite seen before.
For Gabriel or Spartacus fans out there, this one’s also got the late Andy Whitfield in it.

Aussie Horror Runner-up:
THE LOVED ONES (September 2009)

Aussie horror plants a very decisive flag with Sean Byrne’s feature debut, The Loved Ones, a film for all those iconoclasts who ever thought that prom was just some antiquated tradition best left by the cultural wayside.
“Prom is Hell”? In The Loved Ones, that truly is the case, as we bear witness to the Worst Prom Date captured on film since Sissy Spacek got all dolled up just to take a shower in pig’s blood.

Writer/director Byrne triumphs on a number of fronts with The Loved Ones, beginning with the fact that he’s able to counterpoint the blood and brutality with genuine emotional pain and mental anguish (and not just from the film’s main protagonist, played by Xavier Samuel).
Also, The Loved Ones isn’t just about the teen-agers. There’s a significant adult presence in the film, as we’re shown the strained dynamic between parents who no longer seem to understand their rebellious offspring, and children who feel a complex welter of emotion towards these estranged dinosaurs who sired and raised them, when the truth is, that both sides are reeling from the same pain.
There’s also a disturbing parent-child relationship here that, unsettling though it admittedly is, is still grounded in a sick and twisted sort of love.

So Byrne not only delivers the shock and the gore, he also populates the narrative with characters with actual thoughts and feelings, as opposed to the one-dimensional sketches we sometimes see in horror films.
All that, while establishing that not all the “weirdoes” and “losers” we know (regardless of age) share the same sort of scars; some could very well be psychopathic, that’s always a possibility, but some will really be just troubled and traumatized individuals, trying to numb the pain the best way they know how…

(The Clinic OS courtesy of wrongsideoftheart.com; The Loved Ones OS courtesy of impawards.com.)

2011-10-02T00:54:00.000-07:00

A Rundown of the 13 Best Horror Movies I’ve Seen in the Past Year
[3 of 13]

LA HORDE (THE HORDE)
(August 2009)

Guns and drugs, blood and guts, adorn Yannick Dahan and Benjamin Rocher’s La Horde, where the unfolding scenario interrupted by the latest zombie apocalypse is a violent vendetta.
And as the running, ravening undead lay siege to a decrepit, condemned building, enemies must enter an uneasy truce to survive the ordeal.
With Alain Figlarz as stunt coordinator (Figlarz also choreographed the fight scenes in Babylon A.D. and Chrysalis and worked on Aurélien Poitrimoult’s Green Hornet short), this one’s a kick-ass, adrenalized ride. Things move so quickly and decisively, that there’s precious little time afforded to question why the dead are coming back to animated life and why their bites are contagious. Of course, given that the main characters of La Horde are cops and crooks, we really shouldn’t expect any lengthy bouts of circumspection regarding the situation they all find themselves in.

Parting shot: A review of Chrysalis can be found lurking in the Archive.

(La Horde OS courtesy of impawards.com.)

2011-10-02T00:49:00.000-07:00

A Rundown of the 13 Best Horror Movies I’ve Seen in the Past Year
[2 of 13]

THE POUGHKEEPSIE TAPES
(April 2007)

“I’ll tell you one place we’ll be watching. If this documentary thing you’re making ever gets to the theatres, he won’t be able to help himself. He’ll see this movie as many times as he can. We’ll keep an eye on as many screenings as we can because he’ll be there.”
-- Leonard Schway, FBI Field Agent

Though this was the film that brought the Dowdle brothers (John Erick and Drew) to the attention of Hollywood, to date, it’s languished in releasing limbo (more on that later). Thus, it’s actually the latest film of theirs I’ve seen, getting to lay eyes on Quarantine and Devil first, two gigs they got on the strength of the faux doc, The Poughkeepsie Tapes.
Like former ¡Qué Horror! title, Lake Mungo, The Poughkeepsie Tapes plays like a documentary you might catch on cable, this time, about a serial killer’s depradations, culled from 2400 hours of video tape-- the eponymous Tapes-- he left behind for the authorities to discover.
This is a convincing piece that plays the faux doc card all the way through the end credits, not even naming the actors who appear in it (one or two who may look familiar to film geeks out there). The disturbing nature of the low-fi video clips are also effectively disquieting, without needing to resort to loads of on-screen violence; like Lake Mungo, The Poughkeepsie Tapes gets a lot of mileage from minimalism.
It’s clear to see why Hollywood has knocked on the Dowdles’ door.

Parting shot: The Poughkeepsie Tapes had its festival debut at Tribeca in 2007, but hasn’t yet seen the light of releasing day because of the recent bankruptcy troubles of MGM, which has also kept Drew Goddard’s The Cabin in the Woods in limbo, and delayed the productions of The Hobbit films (to the point where Guillermo del Toro had to back out of the director’s chair) and the next James Bond movie…

(The Poughkeepsie Tapes OS’ courtesy of moviemaze.de & bloody-disgusting.com [Tribeca OS].)

2011-09-30T22:29:00.000-07:00

A Rundown of the 13 Best Horror Movies I’ve Seen in the Past Year
[1 of 13]

SHIVERS
(October 1975)

“If this picture doesn’t make you scream and squirm, you’d better see a psychiatrist. Quick.”

That’s some of the most awesome copy ever heard in a trailer. And yes, indeed, it’s from the trailer for Shivers, David Cronenberg’s first feature film in the wake of his self-described “underground” work, Stereo and Crimes of the Future.
It’s been a long quest, this, getting to see Shivers, and finally finding this particular Grail (thanx so much to Jeb for that) was certainly a rewarding experience.
For Cronenbergians out there, all of the themes and preoccupations that would subsequently recur throughout most of his body of work, they’re here, in this disturbing tale of a sexual parasite and the spread of its contagion throughout an apartment complex. Quite tellingly, Shivers is also an unsettling, prescient take on the horror of AIDS.

In this day and age where even Steven Soderbergh is up for making a movie like Contagion, it’s also worthwhile to take a look at a very early example of the form; Cronenberg would, of course, journey through similar narrative terrain with Rabid.
And, all those zombie movies that are all over the place these days? They may find their roots in George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, but the influence of Cronenberg’s Shivers and Rabid are also undeniable.
Thirty-six years after it was made (filmed in just over two weeks on a very limited budget), Shivers still has a potent and disquieting impact.
I mean, how can it not? Copy that awesome can’t be wrong…

(Shivers UK quad courtesy of wrongsideoftheart.com.)

2011-09-30T22:25:00.000-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
The Preliminaries

Here we are. October again, and time for this year’s final list of the 13 best horror films I’ve seen in the past year.
As you may have noted if you’re a regular visitor to the Iguana, I’ve been keeping an online track of the candidates for this year’s list: 44 in all. As I’ve done in the past, I’ve tried my best to spread the ¡Qué Horror! love around, so this year, I’m instituting a list of runners-up, wherever applicable.
As always, you can break down the horror scene into the current sub-genre trends; these days, you’ll find zombies, vampires, found footage, faux docs, home invasion, just to name some.
To avoid instances where, say, zombies threaten to overrun the list, I’m giving each sub-genre a single slot, but in cases where the decision was difficult, or there were just several noteworthy titles, there will be a runner-up. Just think of it as a bonus, other films that are worthy of your time and some ¡Qué Horror! love.

As always, cut-off viewing date was September 30, and the list is comprised of the 13 best horror movies I saw for the first time within the window of October 1, 2010 and September 30, 2011, regardless of initial public screening date.

For the past years’ ¡Qué Horror! rundowns, please scour the Archive.
Beyond that, there’s not much else to say but, Happy Halloween! Hope you enjoy this year’s baker’s dozen plus…

2011-09-22T00:09:00.000-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 44

OUTCAST
(March 2010)

Directed by Colm McCarthy, from a script co-written by McCarthy with Tom K. McCarthy (apparently no relation), Outcast is a truly excellent dark urban fantasy that transposes ancient myth and folklore onto a modern setting.
What makes Outcast an even more impressive achievement is the fact that it’s McCarthy’s feature film debut, a very confident piece that’s got some notable performances in it, from Niall Bruton’s first feature role as “Fergal,” to those delivered by one of the resident cuckoos on Game of Thrones, Kate Dickie, and Rents’ Da from Trainspotting, James Cosmo.

(Outcast UK quad courtesy of impawards.com.)

2011-09-21T02:08:00.000-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 43

INSIDIOUS
(September 2010)

When director James Wan and writer/actor Leigh Whannell made their feature length debut, they brought the world Saw, kickstarting what is now, to date, the most successful franchise in horror film history, for which it was inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records as the Most Successful Horror Movie Series.
They followed Saw with Dead Silence (with a then-relatively-unknown-in-the-US Ryan Kwanten), a film they felt was compromised by the studio system, so they agreed that if they were to collaborate for a third time, it would have to be on a film where they would have creative freedom.
Enter Paranormal Activity, which made a squillion dollars on a practically non-existent budget. Paranormal Activity’s producers turned right around and, under the Haunted Movies banner, threw all that money back into funding five micro-budgeted horror features. Apparently, Wan and Whannell were the first creative team they approached, and thus, we have Insidious, the pair’s take on the haunted house sub-genre.
Thus, we’ve got familiar conventions here: the strange domestic goings-on; the family under siege; the paranormal investigators; the psychic; but Wan and Whannell throw in some interesting spanners into the works that make Insidious both a very excellent example of the haunted house form, and a title that strives vigorously to be something more.
Whannell (as in Saw) appears onscreen, as “Specs,” one of the paranormal investigators, acting alongside Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne, who bring an earnest and genuine believability to the married couple at the centre of the film’s supernatural maelstrom. Wan, meanwhile, brings in his great design sensibilities, giving Insidious another edge up.
Whether or not a third act narrative turn works for you, Insidious is still an effectively creepy little number that doesn’t play it safe within a tried and tested sub-genre template, and that’s something to be commended.

Parting shot: As of April 2011, Insidious was the most profitable film of the year; at the time of this posting, the film’s worldwide box office receipts ring up to a total of just over $92 million, on a $1.5 million budget.

(Insidious OS courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com.)

2011-09-16T19:47:00.000-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 42

LOS OJOS DE JULIA
(JULIA’S EYES)
(September 2010)

Like past ¡Qué Horror! title, El Orfanato, Guillem Morales’ Los Ojos de Julia is produced by Guillermo del Toro, and, as if she hadn’t already had enough anguish on El Orfanato, Belén Rueda signs up for some more here.1
In a scenario that certainly has standard Hollywood thriller in its celluloid DNA, Rueda plays a woman with a degenerative disease that is gradually taking her sight away, who is convinced that her similarly afflicted twin sister’s apparent suicide was the result of foul play.
Los Ojos de Julia though, is certainly better than your standard Hollywood thriller, and is the sort of movie I wouldn’t be at all surprised will get the English-language remake thing done to it.

1 And while Rueda suffers here, El Orfanato co-star Fernando Cayo has a supreme b!tch of a time in fellow ¡Qué Horror! 2011 candidate [#37], Miguel Ángel Vivas’ Secuestrados.

(Los Ojos de Julia OS courtesy of impawards.com.)

2011-09-15T20:52:00.000-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 41

THE CLINIC
(November 2009)

There are some horror films that you simply don’t show expectant mothers, films like Fruit Chan’s Dumplings or Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury’s À l'intérieur or Paul Solet’s Grace. Based on the one sheet above, I think it’s clear that James Rabbitts’ The Clinic is another of those films.
If you can get past the unsettling aspects of the material, The Clinic is an absorbing and interesting look at maternal instincts, at just how far a mother is willing to go to protect her child. It also cleverly plays with genre expectations, giving the audience a cinematic experience that may have familiar elements, but nonetheless feels like something we’ve not quite seen before.
For Gabriel or Spartacus fans out there, this one’s also got the late Andy Whitfield in it.

(The Clinic OS courtesy of wrongsideoftheart.com.)

2011-09-14T23:23:00.000-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 40

THE REEF
(May 2010)

Another of those films that broke the mold? Steven Spielberg’s Jaws.
So, yes, Andrew Traucki’s The Reef isn’t Jaws. But it is nonetheless an intense bit of man-eating shark cinema, one of those “Based on True Events” films, like Open Water before it. (For the record, I prefer The Reef over Open Water.)
This one also sports one of those awesome actor names in Damian Walshe-Howling (who plays Luke); I haven’t heard that great an actor’s name since 28 Weeks Later gave the world the double whammy of Imogen Poots and Mackintosh Muggleton.

(The Reef OS courtesy of impawards.com.)

2011-09-13T22:04:00.000-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 39

LA POSESIÓN DE EMMA EVANS
(EXORCISMUS: THE POSSESSION OF EMMA EVANS)
(October 2010)

There are just certain films that seem to break the mold, that are so well-made that, when they make their impact on movie history, can never really be equaled, much less topped, by those that attempt to follow in their celluloid footsteps.
One such film is William Friedkin’s The Exorcist. There’ve been many a possession/exorcism movie since then, and some have even been noteworthy, but none have come close to what Friedkin and company achieved on The Exorcist.
Given that reality though, Manuel Carballo’s La Posesión de Emma Evans (like The Last Exorcism before it) is still worth a look. Written by David Muñoz (co-writer of Guillermo del Toro’s El Espinazo del Diablo), this one takes a close look at how the possession of one member of a family impacts upon everyone else.
The possession itself is (again, like The Last Exorcist) very low key in its visual presentation; no 360 degree rotating heads, no pea soup projectile vomiting, not even the recently fashionable creepy Cirque du Soleil contortions.1 As I’ve mentioned, the film’s more concerned with examining the impact the diabolical goings-on have on the family in question.
It should also be noted that Doug Bradley is in this, in a small role as Father Ennis.

1 Which, let’s face it, have probably been inspired by the “Spider walk” sequence from The Exorcist, excised from the original theatrical version, but reinstated in the Director’s Cut.

(La Posesión de Emma Evans & Exorcismus OS’ courtesy of impawards.com.)

2011-09-13T00:06:00.000-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 38

LITTLE DEATHS
(February 2011)

Multi-contributor anthologies are always a tricky proposition. Given that there are X number of stories by X number of contributors, there’ll always be a variance in the quality of the collected tales. There’s also the distinct possibility that, for whatever reason, some stories may work for some of the audience, while others may not, and that’s perhaps more to do with the subjectivity of art than the actual pieces themselves.
The horror anthology Little Deaths is a rarity in that all three stories are excellent, without a real weak link in the lot. Still, as much as Sean Hogan’s “House and Home” (which kicks off the anthology) is a well-made little bit of sex and grue, it’s still overshadowed by the truly mondo bizarro “Mutant Tool” by Andrew Parkinson, and Simon Rumley’s “Bitch,” where the power and dominance games played in a very atypical sexual relationship reaches a dangerous tipping point.
As made readily apparent by its title (which it shares with an anthology edited by Ellen Datlow), Little Deaths is a showcase for erotic horror, and what’s on display in the contributions of Parkinson and Rumley is rather disturbing and unsettling and not for the squeamish nor prudish.
You’ve been suitably warned…

(Little Deaths OS courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com.)

2011-09-12T00:30:00.000-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 37

SECUESTRADOS
(KIDNAPPED)
(September 2010)

Intense, grim, and merciless, Miguel Ángel Vivas’ Secuestrados is home invasion, as told in a series of protracted scenes; about a dozen, I think. I tried to keep track, but, well… things get wild and hairy in this one, so my count may have gotten muddled at a certain point…
Like Rodrigo Cortés’ Buried, this one’s an audacious bit of cinema that both impresses in the clearly high ambition of its storytelling, and disturbs with its uncompromising darkness.

(Secuestrados & Kidnapped OS’ courtesy of impawards.com.)

2011-09-11T00:09:00.000-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 36

THE TUNNEL
(May 2011)

Amongst the bunch of Aussie horror films I’ve seen in the past 12 months, we find Carlo Ledesma’s The Tunnel, and what makes this one stand out is the manner in which it was produced (crowd funded, each frame meant to be paid for by the movie’s backers through the 135K Project) and in which it was distributed (free, online).
Though the film itself isn’t anything particularly new, it is, hands down, the best- and most professional-looking crowd-funded production I’ve seen to date.
If you’re interested, check the film out yourself at thetunnelmovie.net.

(The Tunnel OS courtesy of twitchfilm.net.)

2011-09-10T00:40:00.001-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 35

RARE EXPORTS: A CHRISTMAS TALE
(August 2010)

This one’s for everyone out there who either loves everything about Christmas and doesn’t really care (or is ignorant) about its pagan origins, or everyone who just loathes the “Coca Cola Santa” and the rabid, desperate commercialism that now cloaks all things “Christmas,” regardless of where the holiday springs from.
Come to think of it, Rare Exports may be for everyone else in-between too. Written and directed by Jalmari Helander (based on an original idea by the Helander brothers), Rare Exports finds some of its roots in those ‘80’s Amblin pictures where the only person who seems to know exactly what’s going on is a kid (here, played by Onni Tommila), who has to get everyone else to believe him: that Santa Claus is real, and he’s not at all the fat, jolly fellow everyone’s come to think he is…

Parting shot: An AJ Annila is given some thanks in the film’s end titles crawl; I’m assuming this is Antti-Jussi Annila, director of past ¡Qué Horror! title, Sauna.

(Rare Exports OS courtesy of impawards.com.)

2011-09-08T23:18:00.000-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 34

SHIVERS
(October 1975)

“If this picture doesn’t make you scream and squirm, you’d better see a psychiatrist. Quick.”

That’s some of the most awesome copy ever heard in a trailer. And yes, indeed, it’s from the trailer for Shivers, David Cronenberg’s first feature film in the wake of his self-described “underground” work, Stereo and Crimes of the Future.
It’s been a long quest, this, getting to see Shivers, and finally finding this particular Grail (thanx so much to Jeb for that) was certainly a rewarding experience.
For Cronenbergians out there, all of the themes and preoccupations that would subsequently recur throughout most of his body of work, they’re here, in this disturbing tale of a sexual parasite and the spread of its contagion throughout an apartment complex. Quite tellingly, Shivers is also an unsettling, prescient take on the horror of AIDS.

In this day and age where even Steven Soderbergh is up for making a movie like Contagion, it’s also worthwhile to take a look at a very early example of the form; Cronenberg would, of course, journey through similar narrative terrain with Rabid.
And, all those zombie movies that are all over the place these days? They may find their roots in George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, but the influence of Cronenberg’s Shivers and Rabid are also undeniable.
Thirty-six years after it was made (filmed in just over two weeks on a very limited budget), Shivers still has a potent and disquieting impact.
I mean, how can it not? Copy that awesome can’t be wrong…

(Shivers UK quad courtesy of wrongsideoftheart.com.)

2011-09-08T00:06:00.000-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 33

YELLOWBRICKROAD
(January 2010)

One morning in 1940, the entire population of Friar, NH, walked north up an unmarked trail into the wilderness.
Some were later found frozen to death. Others were mysteriously slaughtered. Most, however, were never found.

This is the mystery that lies at the heart of Andy Mitton and Jesse Holland’s feature film debut, Yellowbrickroad, where a team led by Teddy Barnes (Michael Laurino) walks the very same trail in an attempt to uncover the truth beneath the legend.
It’s a truly excellent piece of distinct unease, of oblique and inexplicable horror, brought to us with the help of Smallville’s own Tess Mercer, Cassidy Freeman, who’s an executive producer on this, along with her rather appropriately named brother, Clark. (The Freeman siblings also appear as Erin and Daryl Luger.)
If you can enjoy your horror without the requisite zombies, vampires, masked slashers, or shambling monsters, then Yellowbrickroad is for you.

Parting shot: Smallville’s Chloe Sullivan, Allison Mack, is also afforded some thanks in the film’s end titles crawl.

(Yellowbrickroad quad courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com.)

2011-08-19T17:29:00.000-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 32

STAKE LAND
(September 2010)

If you’re of the mind that there are just too many danged zombie apocalypses around these days, then how does “vampire apocalypse” sound to you?
If it’s something that piques your interest, then Jim Mickle’s Stake Land should be on your radar. Co-written (with Mickle) by Nick Damici, who plays ace vamp killer, Mister, Stake Land shows us the United States in the aftermath of societal breakdown, where anarchy and religious extremists reign over a broken down land, while feral vampires roam the night.
Familiar genre face Danielle Harris is in this, as well as a nearly unrecognizable Kelly McGillis. And for Fringe followers (or perhaps, even vampire-loving Broadway aficionados), Michael Cerveris is here, but in my books, it’s another all-too brief appearance by The Last Winter’s director, Larry Fessenden (here wearing his producer’s and actor’s hats), that makes my day.

Parting shot: A review of former ¡Qué Horror! title, The Last Winter, can be found lurking in the Archive.

(Stake Land OS courtesy of impawards.com.)

2011-08-19T17:17:00.000-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 31

SECONDS APART
(January 2011)

For the past few years, After Dark’s annual Horrorfest (“Eight Films To Die For”) has helped bring us such winners as Nacho Cerdà’s The Abandoned, The Butcher Brothers’ The Hamiltons, Sean Ellis’ The Brøken, Joel Anderson’s Lake Mungo, and Anthony DiBlasi’s Dread.
It’s also to blame for helping spread The Gravedancers, Dark Ride, Wicked Little Things, and ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction.
Win some, lose some.

This year, After Dark’s taken it a step further by giving us the first batch of After Dark Originals. No longer content to simply pick up completed films for distribution, After Dark has gone into straight-forward producing.
I’ve been keeping track, and though I’ve yet to see a complete stinker, of the four Originals I’ve seen thus far, Antonio Negret’s Seconds Apart is the first that I feel merits some ¡Qué Horror! love.
Featuring murderous psychic twins (played by Edmund and Gary Entin), Seconds Apart’s script, written by George Richards, seems to look back at classic Cronenberg for some of its inspiration, and really, that’s a rather good thing, if I may say so myself.

Parting shot: Reviews of most of the After Dark-distributed films mentioned above can be found in the Archive.

(Seconds Apart OS courtesy of shocktillyoudrop.com.)

2011-08-19T17:10:00.000-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 30

DANS TON SOMMEIL
(IN THEIR SLEEP)
(January 2010)

Even if you can guess the plot turns of Caroline and Éric du Potet’s Dans Ton Sommeil before the onscreen reveals take place, that really shouldn’t stop you from appreciating the grimness of this title.
And seeing the one and only true Nikita, Anne Parillaud, was a most welcome plus in my books; my last cinematic sighting of her was John Landis’ Innocent Blood, back in ‘92. Here, Parillaud very nearly runs over, and subsequently, brings home a young stranger (Arthur Dupont), and things quickly go awry from there…

(Dans Ton Sommeil OS courtesy of moviepostershop.com.)

2011-08-19T17:03:00.000-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 29

VANISHING ON 7TH STREET
(September 2010)

Though he’s kept himself busy recently on television by directing the occasional episode of Fringe (as well as the season finale of The Killing and various episodes of a scattering of other shows), the last time Brad Anderson had his work appear on the big screen was with Transsiberian. Finally though, he’s back with Vanishing on 7th Street, and all I have to say is, It’s about time.
From a script by Anthony Jaswinski, Vanishing on 7th Street presents us with an apocalyptic scenario where people disappear when caught by an eerie, whispering darkness. Like a sinister take on the Rapture, Anderson’s latest feature has shades of both Jaume Balagueró’s Darkness and Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Kairo in it, and would make for a brilliant (if rather bleak) triple bill with them.
Along for the ride are Thandie Newton, Hayden Christensen, and John Leguizamo, who apparently didn’t get enough apocalyptic madness in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening.
The Last Winter director Larry Fessenden also makes an oh-so-brief appearance as the “Bike Messenger.”

Parting shot: Reviews of Anderson’s The Machinist and Transsiberian, Balagueró’s Darkness, Shyamalan’s The Happening, and Fessenden’s The Last Winter can be found lurking in the Archive.

(Vanishing on 7th Street OS courtesy of twitchfilm.net.)

2011-08-19T17:00:00.001-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 28

AMER
(September 2009)

Playing like a curious love letter to Argento, Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani’s feature-length debut, Amer, is largely about mood and style, a cinematic exercise where narrative takes a back seat to impressionism and dream logic. While dialogue is sparse, shades of classic Argento (giallo and otherwise) can be found scattered throughout Amer’s 90 minute running time, where eroticism and death constantly stare at each other from opposite sides of a cracked mirror.
And while I single out Dario Argento as a clear touchstone of Amer, it should be noted that in an interview, Cattet and Forzani also mention Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci, and Shinya Tsukamoto, among others, as inspirations. They also make it a point to acknowledge Argento’s Inferno and the late Satoshi Kon’s Sennen Joyû (Millennium Actress). Perhaps not so incidentally, it’s interesting to note that Kon’s Perfect Blue is itself, an animated nod to giallo.
While this is clearly not for everyone, Amer is quite definitely the most singular ¡Qué Horror! 2011 candidate thus far.

(Amer OS courtesy of twitchfilm.net.)

2011-07-15T08:01:00.000-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 27

THE VIOLENT KIND
(January 2010)

“… it’s been a really weird night…”

By the time the sh*t hit the fan in The Violent Kind’s climax and “Lights in the Sky” began to play over the end titles crawl, I knew that, once again, from out of the clear blue, The Butcher Brothers (AKA as Mitchell Altieri and Phil Flores) had just whacked me on the side of the head with some kicka$$ cinema.
I came into The Violent Kind knowing nothing more than, this was the new film by the same people who’d notched a pretty high point in After Dark’s very first Horrorfest with The Hamiltons, and that’s pretty much the way you should go into it as well. Any attempt at a synopsis will just spoil things.
Suffice it to say that there are shades of David Lynch in The Violent Kind, which features some familiar faces from The Hamiltons; let’s leave it at that.

Parting shot: A review of The Hamiltons can be found lurking in the Archive.

(The Violent Kind OS courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com.)

2011-07-15T07:53:00.000-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 26

WIR SIND DIE NACHT
(WE ARE THE NIGHT)
(October 2010)

I suppose the pertinent thing to say about this is, if you like your vampires sexy, lesbian-ish, and feminist, and your vampire films sleek, stylish, and subtitled, then Dennis Gansel’s Wir Sind Die Nacht is just the ticket.
And in this age of paedophilic, sparkly, swoony bloodsuckers, I can’t imagine you’d want to say “No” to that recommendation…

(We Are The Night OS courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com.)

2011-06-18T08:49:00.000-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 25

HATCHET II
(August 2010)

Now that was one fun slasher ride.
I imagine two of the reasons why I enjoyed Adam Green’s Hatchet II more than its predecessor are: 1) I already knew what sort of tone to expect given my previous experience with the original; and 2) having seen Spiral and Frozen, I’m assured that Green is capable of more than just delivering over-the-top stalk and slash mayhem.

Whatever some of the other reasons may be, bottom line is, if you remember the ‘80’s slasher heyday with fondness, you’ll doubtless appreciate Hatchet II.
Buckets of fake (and in some cases, unashamedly rude) gore and bloodletting, Tony Todd, AJ Bowen, a bunch of familiar Frozen faces, and a Behind the Mask nod.
Not much more you can ask for in a movie like this…

Parting shot: There are reviews of Hatchet and Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon buried in the Archive, along with ¡Qué Horror! mentions of Spiral and Frozen.

(Hatchet II OS courtesy of impawards.com.)

2011-06-18T00:23:00.000-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 24

SHELTER
(February 2009)

I’ll admit: this was a pleasant surprise.
I went into Måns Mårlind & Björn Stein’s Shelter largely because, a) it sported a fine cast (Julianne Moore, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Jeffrey DeMunn, and Frances Conroy), and b) I was curious; I may not have been thrilled with Identity-- a title previously penned by Shelter’s writer, Michael Cooney-- but it was nonetheless, an ambitious bit of screenwriting, so I wanted to see what Cooney had come up with here.
Shelter starts off as a psychological thriller with Moore as a self-professed “doctor of science and woman of God,” who looks into Rhys Meyers’ (head)case. The film then unwinds in an interesting and involving manner, and while what it eventually ends up being may not be entirely new and original, it’s still an excellently executed bit of genre that’s worth a look.
And it was definitely a better ride than Identity turned out to be…

(Shelter OS courtesy of impawards.com.)

2011-06-18T00:14:00.000-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 23

RAMMBOCK
(SIEGE OF THE DEAD)
(January 2010)

The undead hordes have trudged onto German soil.
Brought to us by director Marvin Kren, from a screenplay written by Benjamin Hessler, Rammbock (alternately known internationally as Siege of the Dead and Berlin Undead) is purportedly the first German zombie film* and if only for the distinction, it’s worth checking out.
At a brief 59 minute running time, it’s approximately as long as an episode of The Walking Dead and plays out much better than some of the TV adaptation’s episodes.

* As opposed to films like Død Snø or Outpost, which feature Nazi zombies, but were Norwegian and British productions, respectively. (Reviews of both may be found shambling about in the Archive.)

(Rammbock US OS courtesy of impawards.com.)

2011-06-17T23:50:00.000-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 22

RED WHITE & BLUE
(January 2010)

Simon Rumley’s The Living and the Dead made quite the impression on me (unearth the review from the Archive), so much so that when I first got a whiff of Red White & Blue, I kept track of its development and production, knowing I was eventually going to check it out.
And while this is a different sort of cinematic animal from The Living and the Dead, it’s got the same kind of jarring disquiet in its onscreen action, action that also takes place in that viciously desolate wasteland where psychology and tragedy collide. But just as Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles had its volume jacked up in the U.S.-set Volume Two, Rumley’s narrative sensibilities are likewise amped to better reflect the tone and atmosphere of this American tale of love and isolation, of desperation and revenge.
The performances (by Noah Taylor, Amanda Fuller, and Marc Senter) are raw and unpolished, the editing jarring, the narrative’s trajectory and propulsion coloured by its staccato rhythms.
This is sordid stuff and it’s interesting how Rumley and his cast can make an audience involved and invested in a tale whose characters are not especially likable.
Now I’m even more excited to see Rumley’s contribution to the upcoming horror anthology, Little Deaths.

(Red White & Blue OS courtesy of impawards.com.)

2011-06-17T23:45:00.001-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 21

NEEDLE
(August 2010)

John V. Soto’s Needle features as its centrepiece the latest in the notorious line of cinematic infernal devices that includes Hellraiser’s Lemarchand’s box (better known as the Lament Configuration) and Oganelli’s titular Cronos device from Guillermo del Toro’s debut feature.
Here in Needle, Soto (and co-writer Anthony Egan) proudly bring you Le Vaudou Mort, a one-stop shop voodoo killing machine: just add picture of intended victim, and voila, gruesome bloodletting ensues.
Basically a variation of the slasher film (in the same way the Final Destination films are), Needle nonetheless boasts some rather good practical effects sequences.
Featuring Michael Dorman (from Triangle, Daybreakers, and Acolytes), Calvin Klein model-turned-Tarzan, Travis Fimmel (seen recently in The Experiment), and V matriarch Jane Badler, Needle may have a third act reveal-- the who and why of it all-- that isn’t anything we haven’t seen before, but that shouldn’t stop you from checking this one out.

(Needle OS courtesy of beyondhollywood.com.)

2011-06-17T23:35:00.000-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 20

HARPOON: REYKJAVIK WHALE WATCHING MASSACRE
(September 2009)

Belonging to the school of international slashers-- which includes alumni like Austria’s 3 Tagen Bist Du Tot (Dead in Three Days), Norway’s Fritt Vilt (Cold Prey), and France’s Vertige (High Lane)-- Júlíus Kemp’s Harpoon: Reykjavik Whale Watching Massacre is Iceland’s winning entry in this global film movement which predated international zombie cinema for a good number of years.
Unlike the previous international slashers I’ve seen though (including those I mention above), Harpoon is the first one I’ve encountered that ultimately plays out as more than just a regular slasher with its cultural context and language changed. There’s a lurid ‘70’s horror vibe to it that makes this one an effective exercise in slash ‘n stalk as an international group of whale watchers encounters an unsavoury family of ex-whale hunters.
And I just couldn’t resist a film that has, a) amongst its cast, the original Leatherface, Gunnar Hansen, b) an interesting callback to Romero’s original Night of the Living Dead, and c) two Björk moments, one bizarre yet oddly moving, and the other, simply headbangingly insane.
Not to mention the fact that, in the end credits crawl, Clint Eastwood, Brad Pitt, and Barack Obama are acknowledged.
Not many films can boast that…

Parting shot: A review of 3 Tagen Bist Du Tot can be found in the Archive.

(Harpoon: Reykjavik Whale Watching Massacre DVD cover art courtesy of listal.com.)

2011-05-05T03:07:00.000-07:00

PIMP MY STUFF

PELICULA

An ebook of Pelicula is now available on Amazon.
Look! Product description!!

Luis Conrado exists in two worlds, the fictional reality of Habagat-- the brave and all-powerful superhero he plays on television-- and the madcap realm of the Philippine showbiz industry.

In many ways, it’s the latter world that’s more bizarre. It’s a world that has its own unnatural powers and principalities, a dangerous and dazzling world of secrets, intrigue, and lies.

A world where fame can exact a terrible price, and love can be the most dangerous thing of all.

This international edition contains several "special features": endnotes, a glossary of Filipino words retained in the text, and a Habagat script excerpt.

The first four chapters of the international edition can be found at davidhontiveros.com, and if you find them to your liking, then mosey on over to www.amazon.com/Pelicula-ebook/.

So, yeah, just to clarify, if you happened to have read Pelicula in its entirety when it was online before, the ebook is an English-language edition, the lines of Taglish dialogue and much of the colloquialisms translated for the global audience. If you prefer the original version though, fret not, as there are plans to ebook it as well.

BATHALA: APOKALYPSIS

The third issue takes flight this Saturday, May 7, at the MetroComic Con, at the Megatrade Hall, SM Megamall.
Hope to see you there. Look! Convenient recap!!

Previously in Bathala:

1999.

Andrew Carreon, reporter, is secretly the mighty superhero, Bathala.

Among the many people Andrew has chosen to keep in the dark about his dual identity, is fellow reporter Isabel Ignacio, the friendship they share a relationship that always seems on the verge of becoming something deeper, though never quite taking that last and fateful step.
Andrew fears exposing Isabel to the dangers of his other life, for over the many years, Bathala has clashed with numerous enemies, like the alien artificial intelligence from the Andromeda Galaxy, Cerebellax, or the hero’s own dark clone, ThaBa’al.
But the most dangerous and relentless foe he has is his arch-enemy, Harold Hernandez, who knows Andrew’s secret, and whose latest scheme to destroy the hero has caused the death of Andrew’s twin brother, environmentalist Leonardo Carreon.
Following the groundbreaking procedure that digitally mapped and encoded Leo’s entire personality-- producing an exact copy of Leo as an UP, an Uploaded Personality-- a gunman hired by Hernandez assassinates the environmentalist.

Enraged and grief-stricken, Bathala overpowers his clone, and demands of Hernandez that Leo’s UP be downloaded into the body of ThaBa’al.
It is Leo’s UP though that intercedes, explaining to Bathala-- to whom he shows the digital realm he now exists in-- that he no longer wishes to be encased in flesh and blood.
Reluctantly, Bathala accedes to the wishes of all that is apparently left of his dead twin, and leaves the unconscious ThaBa’al in Hernandez’s penthouse office, where the clone’s recovery is interrupted by the UP’s machinations.
Apparently, the UP has its own sinister agenda…

Meanwhile, seemingly isolated events are taking place all over the cosmos:
In Iraq, four ancient entities struggle against massive chains at the bottom of a river. One of the entities sheds a pair of tears, which are swallowed by Syrian siblings, who then seem to fall into epileptic fits.
In Scotland, a handsome stranger walks, expectantly waiting for a pivotal moment in history.
In Los Angeles, the autopsy of a charred, apparently human corpse reveals a host of eyes covering its interiors. When the coroner Paul Walsh brings in a colleague for consultation, it is discovered that the corpse has vanished from the morgue.
In the Andromeda Galaxy, Cerebellax prepares for his next encounter with Earth’s champion, Bathala.

And, despite having been killed by that gunman, Leo awakens from darkness, and not only does he encounter the charred corpse from Los Angeles, seemingly reanimated now, but he is also told that he has an “important” and “pivotal” role to play in the coming days, and is handed a scroll with seven seals…

(Pelicula ebook cover by Bow Guerrero; Bathala: Apokalypsis cover by Ace Enriquez.)

2011-04-30T22:42:00.000-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 19

TROLLJEGEREN
(THE TROLL HUNTER)
(October 2010)

These days, like the zombie movie, the found footage genre boasts a new title every couple of seconds it seems. But it’s titles like André Øvredal’s Trolljegeren (The Troll Hunter) that make wading through the clutter such a rewarding experience.
Plunging headlong into the deep, dark woods and sprawling mountain ranges of Norway, Trolljegeren is an absolutely fun ride through folklore and conspiracy as a camera crew stumble onto the most darkly amusing secret a government could ever hope to cover up.
“The most important film of our time is Norwegian” trumpets one of Trolljegeren’s trailers. And with what it manages to blow the lid off of, you’d better believe it!
Michael Moore (name-dropped in the trailer as well) would be proud…

(Trolljegeren OS courtesy of impawards.com.)

2011-04-30T22:32:00.000-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 18

WAKE WOOD
(March 2011)

Take Pet Sematary and transplant it into the grand British horror tradition of The Village with a Dark Secret, and you’ve got the makings of David Keating’s Wake Wood. As the third title from the recently reconstituted Hammer Films, it’s the second one to garner ¡Qué Horror! attention.*
With Timothy Spall, The Children’s Eva Birthistle, and a creepily effective score by Michael Convertino, this one disturbs on some very primal levels. The script by Keating and Brendan McCarthy, from a story by McCarthy, also, quite incidentally, explores some of the themes I delved into in my horror novella, Craving. So if you happen to have read and liked that (and if you may forgive me my shameless pimping of my own stuff in this mention), then Wake Wood should be right up your alley.

Parting shot: Brendan McCarthy has produced some notable titles in the past like Freeze Frame, Isolation, and Breakfast on Pluto. He’s also one of the producers on Wake Wood, as well as another title I’m keeping an eye out for, Outcast.

* The second title, The Resident, with Hilary Swank and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, didn’t really rise above, as Let Me In and Wake Wood did, despite having old school Hammer poster boy Christopher Lee in a brief role.

(Wake Wood UK quad courtesy of empireonline.com.)

2011-04-10T22:55:00.000-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 17

BURIED
(January 2010)

There isn’t much more you need to know about Rodrigo Cortés’ Buried other than that it’s a cracklingly intense bit of film-making that, unlike other recent examples of “experiential horror” (like Devil, or Frozen, or Altitude), never once leaves the environs of the protagonist’s circumscribed agony; we spend the entire running time of approximately 95 minutes trapped in a coffin alongside Ryan Reynolds.
And here, as in John August’s The Nines, we really do realize that Reynolds can honest-to-goodness act, as opposed to playing Ryan Reynolds on camera, which, sadly, he seems to do most of the time.
From its great Saul Bass-inspired opening title credits (by Spain’s Royal Cow Studios), on through to that final, telling shot, this is tense, claustrophobic cinema executed with dollops of skill, talent, and bravura.

Parting shot: As I’ve mentioned ‘round these parts before, Buried won last year’s Méliès d'Or Award for Best European Fantastic Film.
Do yourself a favour and see why…

(Buried OS courtesy of impawards.com; UK quad courtesy of empireonline.com.)

2011-04-10T22:47:00.000-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 16

CHATROOM
(May 2010)

Being a Hideo Nakata fan, having missed Kaidan and having been rather disappointed by Death Note: L Change the World, I waited for Chatroom with relish, and I’m glad it turned out to be a disturbing picture of how today’s technology, ostensibly bringing all of us together in one global digital village, can still be the avenue by which manipulation and deception can harm the unwary.
Written by Enda Walsh (based on his play of the same name), Chatroom follows five youths trying to make meaningful emotional connections in their own ways and how that simple urge to be a part of something bigger than one’s self can potentially be a dangerous, and possibly fatal thing.
Chatroom’s got some fine performances from Kick-Ass himself, Aaron Johnson (also impressive as a young, pre-Beatles John Lennon in Nowhere Boy), and 28 Weeks Later’s Imogen Poots. Matthew Beard (Chatroom is my first exposure to his work) also proves to be a promising name to keep tabs on in the future.

Chatroom doesn’t give any easy answers to the only-too-real possibilities it raises. The truth is, the young, the angry, and the misunderstood have always sought comfort from each other, closing their ranks to adults, shutting themselves off from the world they’re meant to be a part of. And lies and manipulation happen everyday in the real world. The ‘net simply makes things easier for the unscrupulous, because of that filter afforded by physical distance, by the interaction through keystrokes. It’s so much easier to escape the consequences of our actions, of an unthinkingly dropped word here, a callous comment there.
This is the everyday horror of the Internet Age. The interesting thing about Chatroom though, is, it’s not so much about the dangers of the Internet, but about the dangers of parents’ inability to effectively communicate with their children; it’s about the dangers of children acting out in ways their parents are ignorant and oblivious to.
At the very least, Chatroom is a film that should open up discussion, not just between peers, but more importantly, between parents and children. Perhaps, it’s not really cyberspace that needs to be watched over, but our own personal circles of friends and family.

(Chatroom OS courtesy of digitalspy.co.uk.)

2011-03-19T23:29:00.000-07:00

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2011
Candidate # 15

LET ME IN
(September 2010)

Like Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead, this is arguably a remake that didn’t need to be made. But, again like Snyder’s redux, this is a particularly well-made film that (now that it exists) deserves to be placed alongside the original.
The original, of course, is Tomas Alfredson’s Låt den Rätte Komma In (Let the Right One In), and to be completely fair, Matt Reeves’ Let Me In is, according to the end credits, based on both John Ajvide Lindqvist’s screenplay and his novel, upon which the Swedish film was based.
Certainly, Reeves’ effort boasts an impressive (though at the same time, recognizable) cast, which has veterans Richard Jenkins and Elias Koteas, as well as two of the best young actors out there right now, The Road’s Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Hit Girl herself, Chloë Grace Moretz. There’s also Michael Giacchino on the score.

And while there are a few bits where the CGI doesn’t quite cut it, there are also a few bits that paint Let Me In in darker shades than its predecessor.
It should also be noted that this is the first film brought to us by the newly reconstituted Hammer Films (after the web serial Beyond the Rave), and if they sustain this level of quality for their subsequent feature productions, then that’s certainly good news for horror cinema.
When all is said and done though, I do admit to missing two things in this English-language remake: the first, a key shot, entirely absent here; and the second, the Morrissey reference in the title.
Oh, well.
Can’t win ‘em all…

Parting shot: Reviews of Matt Reeves’ Cloverfield and Tomas Alfredson’s Låt den Rätte Komma In (both past ¡Qué Horror! titles) can be found lurking in the Archive.

(Let Me In OS’ courtesy of slashfilm.com & aintitcool.com [Fantastic Fest OS].)