Memento Mori (II) (2018) User Reviews

almost pathologically bad

[myriamlenys · 1/10 · 25 June 2019]

As a Belgian I'm always in for a new Belgian thriller or horror movie. As a result I started watching "Memento Mori" with a certain degree of enthusiasm, which seems to indicate that I've become a gullible fool.

"Memento", as it turns out, is a particularly bad movie - I suppose a bad horror movie ? - which combines equal amounts of nonsense and nastiness. The title is unoriginal ; the story makes no sense ; the atmosphere does not convince ; the characters constantly change their viewpoint, nature and motivation ; the dialogue is dull ; and there is an overload of needless nudity and porn, often of the more violent kind. There is also an overload of frilly feminine lingerie, to the point of insanity.

Ah yes, I forgot to mention the symbolism - to say that the symbolism is obvious is somewhat like saying that the Sahara is warm or that Adolf Hitler did not fully embrace the concept of universal brotherhood.

Flee, flee, flee : remember, life is short and you too will die... So there's really no excuse for wasting your precious time on this Flemish monstrosity.

See above

[viktortje007 · 1/10 · 3 May 2020]

The 'Blood and Sand' review is obviously written by a featured actor or maybe director. This movie is not worth your time.

110 min you won't get back I your life

[mww70 · 1/10 · 22 April 2019]

Bad dialogues combined with involuntary humor. The movie did cost only a few bucks and you will notice this every moment. Can not recommend this to anyone.

Blood and Sand

[tonioklein · 9/10 · 15 April 2019]

Belgian director Michael Vermaercke created his debut feature as an ambitious horror / coming of age drama for a budget of only 150.000 EUR (about 170.000 USD). A coma patient, the 17-year old fleur (Charlotte de Wulf) has to review the disturbing circumstances that led to her being in hospital. On one hand, it is nothing but a wild party that went haywire, Fleur's boyfriend Jules pressing her hard to have sex with her, finding her reluctant and inhibited. On the other hand - well, one may never be sure. Vermaercke uses different techniques to turn his movie surrealistic, disturbing, terrifying, and quite enigmatic. Whatever happened to baby Fleur? Little signs like a license plate "LSD 666" suggests a trip directly to hell, and m mysterious vamp (Tine Roggeman) not only may be Fleur's dark side, but also an apocalyptic character for she asks Jules to "confess his sins, before it's to late". The sand in an hourglass is not only associated with "the black death" (coming as a skeleton to a young woman, carrying the hourglass), but also with Fleur's dying. The blood, of course, with her defloration. Will, as Vermaercke told me on a German film festival, the fact that Fleur cannot have sex be a matter of life and death to her? There were many filmmakers, who used the symbolism of blood, knives, doors in a sexual connotation, some of the best among them (like, for example, Alfred Hitchcock). "Memento Mori" may be influenced by them (I thought of "Carrie" in the 1976 version, some critics named David Lynch and "The Neon Demon"), but his film stands for itself. You can see it again and again, every time discovering new signs and trying new interpretations. For the moment, it may only be sure that a definite explanation does not exist. Vermaercke is more interested in the human mind than in reality, or to be more exact, he seems to think that the mind is the more important "reality", which is also made clear by a Marcus Aurelius quote at the beginning. This film does not give easy answers. But it has so much to offer. I rate it as almost perfect, 9 from 10 stars - maybe the electronic soundtrack is a bit too repetitive. But well, no hard feelings, this is far better than an all-too perfect blockbuster movie. Not to be overlooked and worth being watched by more than some festival-goers and horror buffs.