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Exhibit A (2007)
Found footage done right.
Exceptional, very easily a top ten found footage film for me. Painfully authentic, horribly palusible, with a third act that had me holding my breath. Ignore the generic title and poster, they do it no favours at all.
The Living and the Dead (2006)
Emotionally devastating
Nothing like going into something blind and having it blow your socks off. This is some emotionally brutal stuff, the last film to kick me in guts like this was Session 9 (which this shares some DNA with, along with The Babadook, The Shining and, peculiarly, Withnail & I). Leo Bill's performance seemed a little too mannered at first, but I bought into it after a little while, from there on in it felt devastatingly authentic. Bleak as it undoubtedly is, director Simon Rumley balances tragedy and comedy so perfectly that it often blurs the line between the two, had he not nailed that balancing act so completely, I might not have got through the brisk 79 minute running time without wanting to go outside and lay down in the road. Really, really excellent stuff, going to have to give Rumley's follow up Red, White and Blue a look now.
Mientras duermes (2011)
A creepy, darkly comic, Hitcockian gem
I occasionally find myself wondering if any of the current generation of horror movies might ever be held up as classics in the same way that my generation views the likes of John Carpenter's Halloween or Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. More often than not the answer is no, but I believe there is a definite case to be made for Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza's Spanish found footage zombie flick REC, one of very few films of recent years to, a) scare me silly, and b) produce a worthy and expansive sequel. Inbetween the first sequel and the upcoming final entry in the REC series, the duo have separated to take on projects of their own. Plaza has chosen to continue plowing the undead farrow with his peculiar but enjoyable splat-stick sequel/spin off REC 3: Genesis. Balagueró's new movie however, ignoring the familiar setting of a Madrid apartment building, is a very different proposition indeed. Sleep Tight centres on the day-to-day activities of a lonely and largely ignored building superintendent named César (Luis Tosar). By day he tends to the requests of the building's various residents. By night he lays next to the drugged and unconscious body of Clara (Marta Etura), a resident with whom César has developed a powerful, all consuming obsession. The nature of the story immediately sets Sleep Tight poles apart from the savage zombie flick that made Balagueró's name. Where that movie was raw and immediate, Sleep Tight is wonderfully controlled and elegant, brimming with near unbearable tension and quiet menace. The source of much of this tension is an unusual one. While most horror/thrillers that centre on a deranged stalker will tend to give greater or, at least, equal consideration to the victim, Sleep Tight focuses pretty much entirely on César, with his victim Clara remaining only faintly sketched. It's an interesting variation on a well worn theme, the audience watches César while César watches Clara, seeing her only as he sees her (or indeed the attributes he projects upon her), it's not just voyeuristic, there's an inherent level of complicity that comes with the territory too, as César proves to be one of the most peculiarly likable horror movie psychos since Hannibal Lector. It's not simply that he's downtrodden and ignored. It's not purely that he's the movie's focus either. He's a genuinely witty and fascinating character who's just as likely to produce a wry smile as an uncomfortable shudder. With the wrong actor in place, César would have been a totally unsympathetic monster, with the wonderful Luis Tosar in the role he becomes an unexpected delight. Between them Tosar and Balagueró mine a rich vein of dark, spiky, often spiteful humour that beautifully compliments the movie's atmosphere of brooding tension. Much like Balagueró, Tosar's role here is a very dramatic shift from the one he is perhaps best known for, the towering and terrifying Malamadre in prison riot drama Cell 211. Where, in that film, his character was defined by being larger than life and known to all, César is that character's total opposite, a man who has has either chosen to be invisible, or already was and used it to his sinister advantage. It's a genuinely miraculous performance, nuanced, fascinating and always sympathetic, with truly sublime, killer comic timing. The rest of the cast play their parts perfectly, but they are wisely sidelined to a degree so the audience can view them as César does, to be objectified or idealised rather than known. The screenplay is fantastic too, not just in terms the brilliantly brutal dialogue and meticulous character development, but in its brilliant subversion of expectations, it takes great delight in wrong-footing the viewer, but does it smartly in a way that is always totally organic to both story and characters. As for any negatives, there is perhaps a very slight dip in pace around the halfway mark, but it doesn't last enough to truly upset the flow of the story, it's hardly even worth mentioning in fact. Sleep Tight is quite easily my favourite movie of the year so far, a wonderfully witty, tense piece of character driven suspense cinema with a director and lead actor on truly glorious form. I honestly cannot recommend it highly enough.
Sae-yi yaeseu (2001)
A sub part offering from South Korea
South Korean thrillers are amazing, that much is fact. From the hammer swinging, octopus chomping lunacy of 'Oldboy' to the obscenely violent and visceral 'I Saw the devil', they've been kicking the pampered backside of Hollywood's cookie cutter film industry for a good decade now. Sadly, the success of these movies (along with 'The Chaser', 'The Host', 'The Yellow sea' and more) has, in a way, conspired to make 'Say yes' a slightly disappointing movie in comparison.
To celebrate their anniversary, Jeong-Hyun takes wife Yun-Hie on a romantic road trip along the coast, however it's not long into their journey that the happy couple encounter the mysterious (and outwardly hostile) Em, when they back into him with their car. Using this as excuse to demand a lift to the next town, Em begins to show a dark side, openly threatening the couple, who soon realize that their lives could well depend on getting as far away from this man as possible. Unfortunately for them, Em has a sadistic game in mind and has chosen them to play it with.
If all of this sounds familiar, then you, like me, have no doubt seen 'The Hitcher', the seminal psycho hitchhiker flick where a magnificently evil Rutger Hauer takes a young traveler on a horrific and unforgettable journey into hell (figuratively speaking). This film shares a LOT of DNA with 'The Hitcher', from small details like the psycho's trench coat, to larger details, such as the entire plot, a couple of set pieces and much of the character Hauer so skillfully created in his movie. That's not to say that Joong-Hoon Park is not good as Em, he's excellent, genuinely creepy, intimidating and clearly mad as a box of dog dicks (this is one area where he manages to separate his character from Hauer's, who is SO evil that it seems as if he might be the devil himself, Em, on the other hand, is drawn as simply being utterly insane), there are just too many tics and line deliveries that seem a little TOO familiar.
Putting the possible plagiarism to one side, there is plenty to recommended about 'Say yes'. Both of the other two performances in this three-hander are excellent, Ju-Hyuk Kim in particular, as protective and devoted husband Jeong-Hymn, is not afraid to play his character as fairly unsympathetic for a good portion of the film, ignoring his wife's advice and actually engaging in this competition with Em, at least until the full scope of his plan (and his insanity) become clear to him. Sang- Mi Choo acquits herself very well too, despite a severely underwritten role, her character really only serving to keep the stakes high for the increasingly desperate Jeong-Hyun.
Director Sung-Hong Kim manages to maintain an air of tension throughout the film right up until the final 40 minutes, where a series of false endings kill the pace somewhat. Thankfully everything comes back together during the actual finale, it's grisly, shocking, intense, everything I expect from a Korean thriller, and makes me wish that the rest of the movie, which never really rises above being just 'good', could match it.
'Say yes' is a very watchable thriller, with fine performances, it's just a little derivative and a little too much like an American production when compared to other Korean efforts with stronger identities and a little more imagination.
Lovely Molly (2011)
A thoroughly creepy return to form.
Newlywed Molly and husband Tim move into the house left to them by Molly's deceased mother, where a dark secret and unexplained happenings begin to haunt Molly.
Review
I watched this in the hope that it would be a half decent return to form for Eduardo 'The Blair witch...' Sanchez, instead it surprised me by being quite easily the best horror movie I have seen all year. It has shades of several terrific films such as 'Absentia', 'The Exorcist' and, of course, Sanchez' previous masterpiece while still retaining a strong identity all of it's own. The central performance from Gretchen Lodge is absolutely perfect, totally believable and incredibly sympathetic, the scenes that she shares with Johnny Lewis (also excellent) as her new husband give the movie a very solid emotional core, and as outside forces conspire to destroy this young couple it becomes hugely upsetting, heartbreaking even. While I was totally engrossed in the movie I did wonder if it was possible for Sanchez to equal the astonishing climax of 'The Blair witch....' for sheer WTF chills, and, unbelievably, he does just that.. One particular, totally unexpected moment at the movie's climax had both me and my girlfriend out of our seats, terrified, mumbling "what the f@ck? WHAT THE F@CK?...." for nearly a minute, it chilled my blood and created, for me at least, and indelible, unforgettable image to rival poor Mike, standing in the corner of that old house in the Burkittsville woods. In closing, 'Lovely Molly' is a movie that I can imagine dividing audiences in much the same way as the 'Blair witch...' did over a decade ago, but for me it's nothing less than a minor masterpiece and proof positive that horror movies still have the power to scare me witless. Hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.
The Signal (2007)
Superb horror with a few neat tricks up it's sleeves
Had heard good things about this movie before I watched, with comparisons made to Romero's underrated classic 'The Crazies', and while to some degree they are indeed very similar, this movie is a whole different beast and to fresh and original to ever be considered just a re-hash of Romero's film.
First thing you should know is that the first couple of minutes are no indication of what's to come, the cheap looking 'Last house on the left' cloned is simply a film within the film, a cheeky red herring before we pull out if the film, into a young couples bedroom, as the film is replaced by the movie's eponymous 'Signal'.
From this point on the film is divided into three chapters. The first reveals that one half of the aforementioned couple is in fact married, and as she leaves her lover to go home to her husband the beginnings of the signal's effect on the other members of the public who have seen or heard it become clear. This signal is driving people mad, not just odd behaviour, but homicidal. This starts subtley enough, confused conversations, mild panic, distant cries, but upon reaching her home it becomes apparent that people's behaviour is becoming more and more erratic and dangerous. After a quietly hostile 'interogation' by her husband it becomes clear that her husband is infected, thus begins z desperate escape from her apartment block, with her husband and neighbours all seemingly infected and out to kill anyone they can get their hands on. This is all done in a very authentic, realistic fashion, while being reminiscent of '28 days later' and it's sequel. As the players in this central love triangle collide we are shown events from variou perspectives, the three protagonists story lines interweaving in a very intriguing fashion.
The second chapter is very different from the first in terms of atmosphere and purpose, as, while maintaining the same cast as the first chapter, it becomes a jet black comedy, a sort of comedy of errors with an ever escalating supply of corpses, madness and misunderstandings that inevitably result in gruesome violence. I felt that this chapterwas perhaps the strongest of the three, it's gallows humour a terrific juxtaposition to the intensity of the previous part, with each performer showing great comic touches and bizarre characters emerging from the woodwork at the most inopportune moments ( it had to be said that AJ Bowen, playing the husband, is the clear standout in the movie and acquits himself brilliantly in this section).
Chapter three takes much the same approach as the first, llurching back into straight, frightening and suspenseful horror as various characters seek each other out to exact revenge or rescue loved ones, culminatingin a wonderfully acted confrontation in a desolate bus station.
The most impressive aspect of this movie was it's vivid depiction of madness and the descent into it. Whilst some movies are content to simply show characters as nad by making them rant and behave violently, thus movie takes great pains to try and immerse the viewer in the chaos and confusion, swapping out actors and roles to create a truly believable and authentic take on how it might feel to lose your mind.
Overall I was incredibly impressed by the quality if every aspect of 'The Signal', from it's terrific performances, taut direction and original takes on stale genre themes, very, very highly recommended
The Last Seven (2011)
The end....
Film tastes vary greatly, I am aware of this. Films that I love have been described to me as "boring" many times over the years. 'Rushmore' , 'The chaser', 'Halloween', all apparently "too slow", or I'm told that "noyhing happens". Well THIS is a movie where absolutely nothing happens for the entirety of it's excruciating running time (anything between 85 mins and a couple of months, depending on how you quantify time). I really have never been so bored in my life, it's as if Uwe Boll found a discarded script by Terence Malick and didn't really get it. Flashbacks featuring Danny Dyer crop up to piece together the supposed plot and it's final twist, and in the hope that all would be revealed and I could switch this piece of garbage off, I welcomed every scene that Dyer appeared in. And I never, ever thought I'd say that. It was not very good.