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Terrifier (2016)
Doesn't try to be anything other than what it is
If you love old school gory psycho killer horror fare this is unmissable. "Terrifier " has no interest whatsoever in being smart, satirical or post modern, it just wants to wear its mean spirited, gory grindhouse heart on its sleeve - and good for it.
Hagazussa (2017)
If you have the patience, Hagazussa is rewarding fare indeed
Light on dialogue, almost overbearingly heavy on atmosphere, Lukas Fiegelfeld's astonishing feature debut and film school graduation project has, perhaps justifiably, invited many comparisons to Robert Eggers' "The VVitch". Set in 15th Century Austria, Hagazussa is a metaphysical representation of the plight of two generations of single mothers, ostracized for their transgressions to the point of accusations of witchcraft. Feigelfeld wisely and boldly eschews narrative in favour of a series of eerie, half imagined vignettes alluding to the isolation, religious paranoia and guilt complexes of the film's central character. With its disconcerting score from Greek Avant Gardists MMMD augmenting the film's overwhelming feeling of unease, Hagazussa is well worth tracking down for fans of true arthouse horror cinema.
It Follows (2014)
A modern horror classic that comes along all too rarely
I seriously recommend seeing "It Follows" - just released on Blu-Ray and DVD. It's one of the best horror films to be released in the 21st century so far, imo. Artistic without ever being pretentious, ripe with a sexual-political subtext without ever being gratuitous, beautifully shot and at times, very, very frightening. I liked it when I saw it in the cinema a few months ago, and just saw it on Blu-Ray and absolutely loved it. Modern horror is a quagmire of sh*t, for the most part, but to save you from digging, "It Follows" is a diamond among the cack, and deserves to be hailed as a classic in years to come. I urge you to see it.
Michael (2011)
Possibly the most predictable ending to a film ever
OK, that's a very accusatory title to put to a review of a film, but I don't think that I have ever been so sure about how a film would end than I was during the closing 20 minutes of "Michael". That is not to say that I don't think that the film should have ended the way that it did, it's just that I was so sure of what the final frames would consist of. I was absolutely spot on. "Michael" is a very well made film, for sure, but if you're expecting anything anywhere near as ambiguous or intelligent as even the weakest Haneke film, prepare for a disappointment. I do look forward to seeing what Markus Schleinzer does next as he clearly has a talent for directing films with a disturbing subject matter, but if he has a masterpiece within him, "Michael" certainly isn't it.
Decent film, but must try harder to achieve greatness.
August Underground (2001)
the new wave of horror verite for the 21st century
OK, this has gone on far too long. The negative comments on this page and every other page on the internet are overshadowing the fact that what we have in Fred Vogels tremendous August Underground series is the most truthful, human and groundbreaking independent horror trilogy of the early 21st century. Toetag pictures created a work of pure, visceral, devastating art when they released VHS copies of the first two films in very limited quantities. The impact of such a realistic video tape that looked and sounded awful and seemed to show two idiots torturing and killing innocent victims as if it was just something else to pass the time was undeniable. The word of mouth effect led to the film becoming a treasure among fans of extreme horror and sick art. This is where the problem comes in. When people talk about these things, it unavoidably appeals to misinformed people looking for either speedily edited gory set pieces or a script filled with tightly-wrought tension and psychological mind games played by wisecracking caricatures of the types of people AU films so realistically portray. In the same way as a film like Gomorrah isn't as ENTERTAINING as say, Goodfellas but is far more accurate, so AU is to say, Silence of The Lambs. The films are not intended for the casual moviegoer. Moreover, they should stay in the underground where they belong. Those looking for bland, ridiculously grisly set pieces with a questionable moral contexts should look to the mainstream, where there are many spectacular films showing grand guignol-esque torture and murder, and pass it all off as fantasy. Like Texas Chain Saw Massacre before it, the AU series acknowledges that these kind of people exist, but also, crucially, that they are not kinda scary, kinda mysterious but kinda cute eccentrics, but they are (apart from their psycho tendencies of course) ordinary people. Those who have had the patience and/or the stomach to watch all three AU movies more than once each will agree that once you get past the often unbearable excesses that go way beyond what we are used to seeing in cinema, an emotionally devastating story about serial killers emerges which is exponentially more powerful than the ridiculous yarns spun in the mainstream these days merely to act as torture porn for the emotionally empty gore-hound demographic.
Anyway, for my part I found the August Underground series a revelation, and if you're looking for something that REALLY goes beyond anything seen (or felt) since the video in Henry:Portrait...(which inspired this series) then look no further.