Foreign films

This movie put director Robert Rodriguez "on the map." He followed up with two sequels: "Desperado" and "Once Upon A Time In Mexico." Not surprising, the best of the three was this low-budget opening film. As Rodriguez had more and more money to spend on the sequels, the stories got more and more carried away with too many explosions and special-effects, losing the charm of this first effort.

Unlike the sequels, this Mexican-made, so it is in Spanish with English subtitles. Don't let that scare you away. There isn't a great deal of dialog so keeping up with the subtitles is very easy.

The movie has very interesting camera closeups and angles as Rodriquez showed he was going to be a stylish director. The story is simple but effective, suspenseful and even with some humor. Unnlike his subsequent films in this trilogy, the action is not overdone here.

The length is also is a plus. At 80 minutes you can be thoroughly entertained in less than an hour-and-a half. The only disappointment to me was the print quality on th DVD, but I got an early edition. There might be better editions out since. It's not fuzzy but it's not sharp, either.

Anyway: highly recommend for actions/crime buffs who like style in their photography, or saw the sequels and would like to know the history of this particular "Mariachi."

In 2002, Dreamworks released a movie on American theaters called THE RING, by Gore Verbenski. It expanded to great lengths around the world. People claimed they had never been so scared while watching a movie in their entire life. Critics had mixed opinions of it, most for the better. But while the entire world was screaming to THE RING, others decided to reach out for the original version that Dreamworks decided to "hide" while THE RING was in it's theatrical run. The 1998 Japanese phenomenon RINGU (a.k.a RING.)

Based on a 1991 novel by Koji Suzuki (claimed as the Japanese Stephen King) RINGU tells the story of reporter Asakawa Reiko (Nanako Matsushima), a middle-class Japanese single mother. Her latest story is the investigation of a mysterious urban legend that circulates around high schools about a tape that kills whoever watches it seven days later. She learns that five teenagers recently died from a heart attack at the exact same time, and that they were all friends who spent a vacation on a cabin resort exactly one week before. It becomes up close and personal when she finds out one of them was her recently deceased cousin Tomoko (Yuku Takeuchi.)

Reiko eventually tracks down and watches the mysterious tape, and in one of the movie's many chilling moments, receives a strange phone call confirming that the urban legend is true, an element that reminded me of the 1992's similar CANDYMAN. She finds help from her ex-husband Ryiuji (Hirouyuki Sanada), a psychic with paranormal powers (an element obviously removed from the US version). Both Reiko and Ryiuji examine the tape carefully and realize it was shot in a nearby volcanic island. With only a few days left, they travel to the island where the dark, disturbing truth remains hidden, waiting to be discovered.

Taking liberties from the infilmable novel, director Hideo Nakata (DARK WATER, CHAOS) and screenwriter Hiroshi Takahashi (DON'T LOOK UP) were able to create what is perhaps one of the most impressive horror films of recent memory, challenged maybe only by the less-subliminal AUDITION. Nakata's direction already explains what makes RINGU so unique: The absence of music, limited photography, simple camera movements, and no cheap jump scares. The fear in RINGU comes from skin-deep slow burn. If you are looking for jumps, watch the American remake instead. Which brings us to the infamous RINGU vs. THE RING internet battle: A pointless one.

The 2002 remake had more technological resources and a stronger desire to freak out the audience. Director Gore Verbenski decided not to copy the original and went for a less subliminal more artsy Dario Argento dreamy approach with a Nine Inch Nails vibe and a David Fischer love for rain. While THE RING improved on the upcoming flaws of the original, it had problems of it's own. Not wanting to change the subject, let me tell you the Japanese version is the one to see. The problem is that most people who watch the recent remake will hate RINGU, and vice-versa.

Unlike THE RING, RINGU avoids CGI shocks and cheap jump scares like a plague. You won't find any suspenseful moments, chases, or any physical struggles between the cast here. While the remake scared you with fast zooms, weird camera tricks, and inhuman freaky bursts of weird noises, RINGU scares you with it's lack of... sadism. A good example are the videotapes. The videotape seen in THE RING is a Nine Inch Nails video, in a good way, with very weird supernatural images and weird gross-out quick glimpses. The original's videotape is shorter and maybe even weirder. It shows you different but equally impressive images that belong to a David Lynch nightmare while a "scratching" noise is heard on the background. A noise that was unfortunately omitted in the remake. The Japanese tape can be either laughable or scary depending on the mentality of whoever watches it.

But what makes RINGU the phenomenon that it is today is the character of Yamura Sadako, who turns out to be pulling the strings. Not wanting to spoil the plot, I will just say that never since Hanniball Lacter has a character with such little screen time terrorized the audience as good. The American doppelganger Samara was badly used in the remake. While what made Sadako scary was that she was pure evil, the remake's screenwriter Ehren Kruger tried to turn her into a Batman-like repressed character that you are supposed to feel sorry for. This terribly reduces the impact of "the scene". Which leads me to "the scene" itself. If you ask anyone who watched either version what "the scene" is, they will probably know. Let me tell you that "the scene" is done much better in this version. I will go as far as saying "the scene" is hands down one of the scariest moments in cinematographic history, very close to the shower scene and the climax of DON'T LOOK NOW. The remake tried to hard with it's own "scene", adding CGI effects, quick cuts, and many other gross-out elements that the original didn't need.

But RINGU is not without it's flaws. Either the fact that I am not Asian, or maybe that I am not familiar with psychics, but the whole Ryiuji character left me wishing for more. Maybe the subtitle translation didn't make it clear enough, but I couldn't connect to that way he always had an answer to everything. Not that Sanada's performance is lacking. He steals the scene and carries out most of the movie. Remember Bruce Lee in GREEN HORNET? Maybe not, but that is Ryiuji here. And Matsushima is equally good, although she is given less to do than her American counterpart Naomi Watts. I will give credit to the US remake by eliminating the psychic subplot. I won't forgive the fact that Ryuji's American counterpart is a pointless and boring sidekick which is what ironically gives Watts her chance to shine.

RINGU is still a superior horrifying experience that you will not easily forget. Forget the sequels (RING 2), forget the spin-offs (RASEN), the rip-offs (FEARDOTCOM), or remakes (RING VIRUS and THE RING). It all rounds up to here. Be sure to watch Nakata's equally good DARK WATER, which is already getting a remake on early works. Oh, the humanity...

*phone rings*

Well this time around the filmmakers got it right. 'Ringu 2' (1999) is now the true sequel to the 1998 original, forget 'Rasen' (1998). This time around we see Mai Takano and the powers that be go of to look for the answers to the cursed video and to find Reiko and Yoichi only to find that Yoichi has developed Sadako's telekinetic powers and is in-fact becoming the demonic girl. This is the way they should have went in the first pace. 'Ringu 2' blows 'Rasen' out of the water and runs rings around 'Ringu'. T liked the original but found the suspense lacking and the film-making a nit bland, in this film however Hideo Nakata (who also helmed the original) gives the visuals a much needed kick and the atmosphere so much needed zing. The story is a lot more interesting and the acting gives the film a bit of a haunting feel.

Ringu0 is haunting and beautiful. It's definatly the most seriously dramatic and passionate of the ring films. Saadako is represented as a person here with a dark side. But also a wanting side that wants to be forgiven and accepted and most importantly loved for her uncontrollable actions. Their are strong performances and the a vivid and secret spouting storyline that makes you look at each film completely different. In an age of mindless sequels Ring 0 is a perfect film. It balances horror with beauty and love with hate. The film is as much a tear jerker as a screamer. And the true story of what happened will stay with you!

Although the word "grudge" doesn't quite fit the bill as part of the title of a horror film -- one thinks THE CURSE would have been more appropriate but such is the "curse" of translation -- JU ON holds up extremely well as a horror film. Built upon a notion that when someone dies victim of extreme rage, the emotions are left behind and this overpowering, negative emotion will kill anyone who comes into the house, JU ON first gives us a grainy montage at the start of the story of what seems to be a man killing away his entire family. This sets the events that come next, told in a non-linear way so as to disorient the viewer of what has happened/will happen like for example, why is the old lady seemingly living in squalor in this otherwise impersonal looking place, and what part does her most recent caretaker, Rika (Megumi Okina) have to play there?

I've always believed that using subtly disturbing images instead of bringing the horror up front in a broad manner creates more of a punch for the viewer. Amping up the dread, even when the horror seems inevitable, creates a sensation of anguish because one knows that something is terribly out of kilter in this house. What director Shimizu does here with introducing the old lady in the unkempt house by having us see her hands weakly bang on the rice door, and then having her stare vacantly out to nowhere as Rika tries to clean up the place only to later meet the entities in the house, is unsettling as anything else that comes later. She whispers, mantra-like, something closely rendered to an "I told you so" and one only has to see the mounting horror in her old eyes to know something horrible is about to happen to her while Rika witnesses this and faints in horror. It doesn't matter that one sees the little boy running around and then mutely screaming in that cat-like shriek, or the shadow and croak of someone even worse... it's the inexorability in which this curse comes forth and attacks this old, defenseless lady, and then each person who has come/will come in contact with it, and when it becomes clear that the curse is not bound only to the haunted house but is in fact a growing web of death, the rug gets neatly pulled out from the viewer's feet, because safe becomes only a word and something wicked this way comes.

This is a film that people will love or hate. I don't think there will be an in-between feeling. The way that these ghosts manifest themselves as if they were part of the living, leaving hand-prints and footprints behind, the way that horror draws itself on screen -- in barely there suggestions like when Rika is wheel-chairing an elderly man who is making faces; we see the one second reflection on a glass door of Toshio, the malevolent boy --, the way the actors react to fear which is anti-Hollywood, the non-use of swelling music but the use of eerie sounds, this is one very spooky film which can stand aside some of the greatest ever filmed. Quiet yet intense, relying on atmosphere and dread, JU ON is very chilling, and very effective. This is the horror that is rarely done today.

Ju-on:The Grudge 2" is the sequel to the smash-hit "Ju-on:The Grudge", and is the fourth installment into the "Ju-on" series. Like it's precursor, it is told in chapters. All the chapters are somehow connected to the curse of the grudge.

Were you disappointed by "Ju-on:The Grudge"? Well, if you were (like me), you'll be surprised. This sequel was MUCH better than the original in almost every aspect. The scares were more scarier, there were more scares, tenser scenes, a LOT better acting, a much better story, and a more solid plot. I was really surprised by how good this sequel was. Ever heard of the old sequel rule? "Sequels are never as good as the originals"? Well, I' happy to say that that doesn't apply here.

So to sum it up, I really enjoyed this movie. It was a major improvement on the original film. If you're a fan of the Ju-on series, you have to watch this.

This is my idea of a horror movie. No junk, no noise, no random jolts, but plenty of fear, delivered quietly and compactly, without fuss. It's the most suspenseful movie I've seen since "Ring," and I think it's even better. Like that movie, it put my stomach in knots to prep them for the chills, which rose up like waves out of calm water. I thought "Ring" rather like a Robert Aickman story; this is as near as a movie can come. The director has uncanny skill in knowing where to place the camera and how long to hold a shot. And the leading actress gives a wonderful performance. Her face in the elevator...but that would be giving it away. The conclusion is foreseeable--maybe the ends of all ghost stories are foreseeable--but nonetheless satisfying. If you like tales of quietly disturbing dread, this is one for you.

Most Japanese movies are considered as low-budget compared to their Hollywood counterparts. This is because their production costs are so high. However this factor does not deter Japanese creative production teams to come up with movie gems, in different genres.

In the realm of Japanese horrors for example, a studio working with a limited budget has to resort to Jaws-style direction, in which you hardly see or visualise the ghosts/monsters.

And it is through the movie's simplicity, or by not showing/explaining too much, that J-horrors have turned up the notch on the haunting and horror levels through movies such as Ring and Dark Water. Of course there are the still plenty of gorefest movies such as Suicide Circles and Ichi the Killer, the latter being a courtesy of that notorious but prolific J-director, Takashi Miike.

So it is remarkable and truly rewarding to see how Miike toned down his tastes for the twisted and perverted in One Missed Call. Furthermore he implemented his flair of storytelling through symbolisms and graphic metaphors quite nicely. Any shock/gore elements were used in such a way that they serve the movie, instead of downgrading it to a cheesy flick.

In conclusion, One Missed Call satisfies on many levels, providing you keep an open mind and just enjoy the ride. Another plus of the movie is the appearances of several gorgeous J-idols, such as Kazue Fukishii and Kou Shibasaki. Nifty!

Takashi Miike's "Audition" has to be one of the best Japanese horror movies I have ever seen.Ryo Ishibashi plays Shigeharu Aoyama,a lonely middle-aged man.After many years of being loyal to his deceased wife is the right time to begin dating again.His friend Yasuhisa decides to set up a fake casting audition in hopes that his friend can find new wife.Aoyama then goes through countless portfolio's looking for women to audition,but as soon as he sees the beautiful Asami's picture he knows that she is the one.Soon they begin dating.Everything seems perfect at first,but is Asami all that she seems?"Audition" isn't as violent and outrageous as "Fudoh" or "Ichi the Killer",but it certainly delivers some of the most harrowing scenes of violence ever captured on screen.The film is atmospheric and artistic,so if you're looking only for gore and violence avoid this one like the plague.However if you're a fan of Miike's works this masterpiece is not to be missed.

OK, this doesn't compare to the explosive tempo of the first part's opening sequence; nor to its visual shock value; nor, for that matter, to the melancholic suspense of the second installment. No, it's surprisingly and refreshingly different (apart, of course, from the two main actors). The tongue-in-cheek futuristic scenario drives the characters towards each other across genres and languages with an almost gravitational force. The moment of impact-conclusion is your choice of: a)Shakespearean metaphor of life and humanity in a cartoon costume; b)sublimation of violence into homo-erotics; c)humorous detonation of an impossible buildup. Everything up to then is even less unequivocal.

Highly recommended to indiscriminate movie buffs who don't mind following foie gras with a hot dog; caution to those with more refined palates.

Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive 2: Birds is loaded with allegory and symbolism, some that works (like having feathers continually popping up from time to time in the midst of murders, or the sometimes mentioned comet representing wonder in the unknown) and some that doesn't (the re-appearances of the wings on the backs of Mizuki and Shu, and the over-usage of archive clips of impoverished people in Africa to emphasize the two hit men's end goal to donate all their money to that). But at the core Miike has a very thematically rich film, where the insanity, shame and/or brutality of bloodshed and violence and death are contrasted with what comes before people go down the path of crime- childhood. It's maybe that one is given sight to bloody scenes in person as a child, as Mizuki does when he sees his step-father dying on the bathroom floor dialing on the phone (one of the great images in the film). Or it's just that there doesn't seem to be much of a choice, or out of convenience, it's hard to say. Miike isn't out for easy answers anyway, but after a sort of bizarre meditation on the loss of the innocence we all have in youth, and how it can become uglier and without meaning. It's also, on to of this, a very good story of friendship and ties that bind that friendship going beyond professional duty or consequence.

Mizuki and Shu, played by Riki Takeuchi and Sho Aikawa, also from the first DOA (however not connected by character or plot, only in part by mood), are hit men for a hire, and Mizuki, who hasn't seen Shu in many years, witnesses him kill a bunch of gangsters that he was supposed to fire on with a sniper. He follows him, and it leads the both of them, as they're in hiding for suspected/actual murders and money stolen, to the island of their youth. We see flashbacks of said childhood, of fun playing on the beach (a sweet gag, uncommon for Miike, is when one of the kids is buried in the sand and the other kids run away), but also the pain of separating and finding violence among them, like with Mizuki. Nostalgia comes back tenfold, as they reunite with another old friend, and Miike actually crafts sentimental scenes in this middle chunk that work, somehow, because they don't feel very cheap. Then, as if trying to cleanse themselves of their old crime-syndicate ways, they work at a playground helping out kids, and they even put on a demented play involving goofy innuendo with Cinderella and various animals.

This play scene is juxtaposed with the sprawling yakuza/triad warfare that breaks out back at home, and it's here that Miike has not only, for my money, the best sequence of the film, but one of his best sequences to date. The play Mizuzki, Shu and the others put on is immature and a little crude, but shown to be all the more innocent and playful when compared to the manic, multiple murders that occur between the two gangs, as bullets fly, blood flows, and bodies contort all over the place as neither side really comes out victorious, or with many members left. It's Miike leashing out his wicked, no-holds-barred style, but also the goodness on the other side of the coin, and it doesn't get much better for a fan like myself. On the other hand, Dead or Alive 2, following this sequence, gets weirder by the minute, and sometimes not always for the best. With the focused narrative flow given for the Mizuki/Shu story, where they decide to come back to the mainland and keep going with their killings for money in un-selfish reasons, there's another subplot involving, I'd guess, the other killers out to kill them. But it comes off muddled, and even with Miike going for enjoyably crazy images like a midget walking on stilts, or the fate of a character named Jiro, it suddenly felt as if Miike was getting off track of what was working best.

But if anything, DOA 2 tops the first one by delivering the goods on substance just as well as the style. Miike is always out for experimentation, with his editing and transitions and usage of a symbolic inter-title "Where are you Going". And isn't above getting some touching last scenes with Mizuki and Shu on the boat (Takeuchi, by the way, is one of Miike's best actors), even if it feels very sudden, that could be forced by another director but through him feel compassionate to their doom. While Miike and his screenwriter don't quite get deep enough to make this a great film about lifelong criminal friends, and he's still into getting laughs out of depraved acts of violence and bizarre sex (i.e. that giant penis in a couple of scenes), it's surely one of the better yakuza movies I've yet to see to go past its limitations and make it a movie where the main characters aren't just cardboard cut-outs meant for shouting dialog and dying at a clip.

Watch out, this one is not for the squeamish AND those without a sense of humour. The first five minutes are the biggest roller coaster ride I've experienced in a long, long while and left me breathless. What follows is a mix of heroic bloodshed, Yakuza-flics and manga in the flesh. The ending left me laughing way into my eighth drink. Not as creepy as his Audition, but way more fun.

I'm a huge fan of the first one and as much as I hate agreeing with some of the comments, well I do. This isn't even close to the first, simply because kitamura's touch was missing badly. The unique sense of camera angles, sword fights, wire work etc... There's still plenty of violence and blood but not quite as impressive and breathtaking as the first. I hoped for kitamura's direction as it really would have been more intense than the first but not everything goes our way. Still the acting was good and the scene with a copy of the ninja scroll sword boomerang was pretty cool I must say.

Nevertheless I still love this simply because I love the franchise of this type of samurai flick and once again the cute Aya Ueto's presence once more. Recommended to all action and samurai fans out there.

Since Kill Bill 1 I never saw such a wonderful sword choreography. But it wasn't just for the honour, the pride and the respect that I feel for the Asian samurai culture that I liked this movie, it was the plot. A very interesting plot that really caught my attention. The movie tells us the story of a young girl called Azumi. While still a little girl, Azumi's mom died in an accident, so together with 9 other kids, she was adopted and raised by a retired samurai.

The 10 children were raised as samurais, learning all the secrets of mastering a sword so they could complete a secret mission that their "father" never wanted to tell them. But now, the 10 kids have become teenagers, its time to reveal the mission: Destroy all the powerful feudal people that could create gigantic wars, just to obtain a little power. So thats when Azumi and the guys found out: They were NOT being raised as samurais, they were being raised as murderers. Will they do the mission? Are they ready for the mission? They'll have to past a test, a horrifying test to see which of them are ready and which of them are not. If they pass the test, they have two targets to kill. The first one will be a piece of cake, the second one won't be that easy...

"Azumi" movie is based on a manga by the same name. I never had the chance to read the manga, but I really recommend this movie. A movie where murderers are not cold-hearted serial killers. They are just teenagers, feeling guilty by every step they take and by every person they kill. Just normal teens trying to accept (and avoid) their destinies.

I've seen quite a few hack'n'slash samurai movies, and I've also seen quite a few serious samurai films, but this is hands down the funniest movie ever made concerning sword swinging super men! If you have only heard about this one, then you have no idea what you are missing! The only movie that can match its intensity (action-wise) is the Road Warrior. See this one at all costs! And yes, I am aware of the actual series of "Baby Cart" films, but they are not really as strong as this American Tour-de-force of editing.

This film is film that I believed had to be made, and it was only a matter of time before it was. Yet it was a film that the US mainstream could never have conceived making.

Firstly to get it out of the way I will say that I loved this movie, although at no point did I feel comfortable while watching it. It had the power and emotional content, that while not necessarily apparent in the dialogue was visible on screen at all times.

I am truly glad that this film has come out of mainstream Japanese cinema. It would have only been made in the US by independent film-makers who would have basked in the glory of its controversy and felt oh-so-smug that they had created it, while shoving a moral in your face. While I actually have no problem with US Indie film I do feel that a Western background would have comprised on visceral content, and upped the content of cheap moral points.

For those who say the violence was "cartoon-style" and laughable must have been watching a different film. Whilst this film is heavy in black humour I can clearly say that the deaths are shocking in the extreme, and there is no relenting from the beginning to the end. Only occasionally does the camera pan away from the final deed. The only deaths that have a dark humour content to them, are those involving Kitano (Beat Takeshi) and the "lone" vigilante (those who have seen the film will know what I am talking about). Other sections, such as the "Training Video" are equally comedic, and absurd. Yet other deaths are shocking in the extreme, and show how the slightest suspicion can have disastrous consequences for groups that only have trust to keep them together, a truly shocking scene in the Lighthouse reinforces this.

The fact that this film employs Children as the main protagonists of the story is the key to the whole impact of the film. We have all seen films like The Running Man where adults fight adults for survival and it seems that much less shocking, albeit that film was handled in a completely different manner. Children have the innocence that makes the brutality of this film that much more shocking, adults in the same situation would have had the reaction from audiences of cheering at the screen as the hero dispatches yet another victim. This could never and would never have been the case with this film.

To another commentator who felt that this film sticks with you less than Scream, I simply fail to find this to be anywhere close to the truth. The deaths in Scream although bloody are nothing but pastiche of those films that Scream is mimicking, ultimately throwaway deaths that up in brutality in order to out-do the last one that have one or two psychotic perpetrators, who eventually get their comeuppance. In this film their are no victims and besides one exception there are no villains amongst the children. They simply HAVE to play the game or die.

Well I encourage all those who feel they can stomach it to go and see this film or find it available somewhere (as I believe it has been banned in the US). It is not truly a film denouncing the evils of Reality TV or showing us the future of that trend of Broadcasting, that is merely a plot device to place the children in this situation. The nature of the film lies in its deconstruction of Friendships, Trust and our views on Innocence. Go and see it not as a spectator of this BR spectacle but as one of the participants and remember what was important to you when you were at school, and whether any of those rivalries, hatreds and friendships would have been enough for you to decide who deserves to die and who deserves to live.

Toshiya Fujita's "Shura-yuki-hime: Urami Renga" aka. "Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song Of Vengeance" of 1974 is a quite different, but more than decent sequel to Fujita's blood-soaked and beautiful 1973 gem "Shurayukihime" (aka. "Lady Snowblood"). While the film does not nearly reach the greatness of its superb predecessor, "Love Song Of Vengeance" is yet another original and highly entertaining film that no lover of Japanese Cinema in general, and Chambara and Japanese Exploitation in particular should consider missing. The film sadly cannot compete with its predecessor's unique style and beauty, but it is still stylish, and furthermore delivers a good story, and, most memorably, the wonderful Meiko Kaji, who comes back with greatness as the eponymous (anti-)heroine.

As it was the case with several other sequels to popular Japanese 70s exploitation flicks, the sequel adds some political/social commentary to the mainly vengeance-based plot of its predecessor. Obviously, the film is set several years after the events in the original "Lady Snowblood". Yuki/Lady Snowblood (Meiko Kaji) is captured, and sentenced to death for the thirty-seven killings committed by her in the predecessor. She is then offered to carry out an assassination in order to escape her execution... I don't want to give away more, but I can assure that the plot gets quite interesting for my fellow Chambara-fanatics. Japanese Exploitation-Goddess Meiko Kaji (one of my personal favorite actresses ever) is once again stunningly beautiful and brilliant in her role. My personal favorite Kaji role will always be that of female prison escapee Nami Matsushima in the brilliant "Joshuu Sasori" (aka. "Female Prisoner Scorpion") films, but the role of Lady Snowblood is also essential, and no lover of Cult-cinema could afford to miss her in the role (especially in the original, but also in the sequel). Meiko's presence alone would make any film worthwhile, in my opinion, and the film has a lot more to offer. The film's is, once again, filled with quite a bit of stylish bloodshed, which is not quite as aesthetic, but at some points even bloodier than in the predecessor. Unfortunately, the score in this one is not as memorable as that in the original (for which Meiko Kaji sang the theme song), and yet it is more than decent. Nowadays, the "Lady Snowblood" films are probably best known for being the main inspiration for Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" films, but they sure deserve more attention for their own sake. The first film, "Lady Snowblood", is brilliant, and while "Love Song Of Vengeance" is not the masterpiece its predecessor was, it is still a highly entertaining, stylish and memorable film that I highly recommend to every lover of Chambara and Cult Cinema

This is one of those movies that have an all Japanese motivation. A girl is trained from childhood to avenge the death of her father and the brutal rape of her mother. Then she does it. Lots of blood and lots of sword fighting. Well, she does most of it, everybody else pretty much dies.

The movie is well done, although I think it is hard to watch for most of the people nowadays, since it has that 60's-70's feel to it. I can see how this could have been an inspiration for Kill Bill. If you liked Kill Bill for other reasons than that it had Uma Thurman and Lucy Liu in it, then you will love this film.

If you watch the movie, you will probably have fun, but if you look at the whole picture (pun intended) there isn't much to it other than the actual revenge and death of everyone. The girl is very nice, the acting is OK, the atmosphere, settings and soundtrack are good, but that's all. No strange twists of the story, nothing unexpected

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" is a surprisingly poetic finale to Park's excellent Revenge Trilogy. The film fuses the relatively low-key style of "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" with the jet-black humor of "Oldboy," while adding welcome moments of poignancy and sentiment. The film is nowhere near as violent as its predecessors, although a good deal of mayhem takes place offscreen.

Yeong-ae Lee is outstanding as the troubled protagonist Geum-ja, the ex-convict who is seeking redemption as much as revenge. Although the supporting actors -- including several from Park's earlier films -- are uniformly fine, Lee's performance is the heart of the film.

"Lady Vengeance" is difficult to describe without revealing major plot points, as the most memorable scenes come at revelatory moments in the story. Suffice it to say that the climax blends tragedy and hilarity with a degree of success that few directors could hope to match.

Oldboy takes a hammer and "batters" its American equivalents, leaving them as pulped as a chewed up squid. Park Chan Wook displays what America misses with his ultra-stylish, ultra-violent thriller. Why watch Ben Affleck fail spectacularly to summon any displayable talent, when Min sik Choi serves up a memorable role as the disturbed, vengeful Dae Su Oh, in the second of the Vengeance trilogy. Park skillfully creates a compelling plot that will have you guessing through the entire film, up until the final shocking revelation. The Cinematography expertly done by Jeong-hun Jeong, who also worked on the follow up to this film, Chinjeolhan geumjassi. Everything about this film is done in style and panache and creates a memorable experience, and has many memorable scenes.

Many people accuse this film of being "unrealistic". These people forget that this a film, not a documentary. No one complains About Star Wars being unrealistic, and rightly so. Films have a right to stretch out reality, don't forget the reason it does this is to be entertaining.

Although the film has strong violence of a graphic nature, I advise you to watch it, if only to broaden your perspectives of world and Asian cinema.

There aren't to many times when credits roll on a film and I want to immediately start watching it through again. This is one of the rare exceptions.

Visually stunning with artistic merit to almost every shot. Deliberate frame composition with the eye of a classical painter married to lighting that underscores the narrative with sublime control. The shots alternate between tight intimate shots with strong angles that elude to POV and deep staged shots in full focus throughout that nearly ride the axis like looking down the barrel of a rifle into the deepest darkest corners of our characters' lives.

The light and textures on screen are lush and rich and the focus generally deep like Seven or Silence of the Lambs. Solid DOP, solid Cinematographer, solid Production Designer, Solid Art Director, across the board this film stands up as tight, smart, unexpected, sometimes abusive and always engaging like a car wreck in all the charmed ways.

Dialogue, though minimal, is always apt and loaded. Sign language feels like Tai Chi, delicate here, fierce there, somehow clear I believe even without subtitles.

This gem is deliciously horrific, a complete study of tragedy and of theater grotesque. Like Scarface the film is laden with stomach clenching non-gratuitous gore which is somehow infinitely more disturbing.

The driving narrative is about vengeance, layer upon layer, constantly underscored by social commentary both direct and sub-textual addressing inequities, rights, justice and the cruelty / fairness of commerce, fate and basic karma.

Well crafted, well delivered, well done. Excellent. And absolutely NOT for people with weak gullets, true that.

Dobermann is one of the best 'live action comic books' ever made, IMO. The characters, the cinematography, the dialogue and the violence all have the comic book 'feel' - ultra-stylised and larger than life, and full of very black humour.

The movie is basically a heist movie, with Dobermann himself (Vince Cassell) and his band of unlikely partners plotting a robbery, and pulling it off... but getting bad-ass cop Cristini (Tcheky Karyo) on their tale for their troubles.

The movie is exceptionally well done - clearly a lot of love went into it from director Jan Kounen and from the cast. Some of the camera work is utterly unique and stunning, and the performances all round are excellent. Tcheky Karyo is particularly memorable - his role in KISS OF THE DRAGON was basically his DOBERMANN character watered down to about 1%. Dobermann himself is perhaps the least well developed character, remaining pretty detached and enigmatic throughout.

There's lots of sharp dialogue and bits of absurdity that will obviously draw comparisons to Tarantino. This all leads to some action setpieces that are very very nicely done, including a stunning and extended climax.

This is the 3rd time I've watched the movie, and I enjoy it more each time. Watched it at work last night with a pretty large group, and couldn't help wondering if it was a movie that showed cultural differences between the US and Europe. The Europeans & even a Canadian in the room were sat grinning from ear to ear from start to finish, all loving it... but the Americans in the room just didn't seem to 'get it' at all. They all seemed to be taking it much too seriously, and struggling terribly with the idea of an "anti-hero". The fact that Dobermann has killed an innocent man before he speaks his first line of dialogue seemed to give them trouble. Perhaps this is a European thing, along with the black humour. The difference in response between the Americans and the rest really was noticable.

But, perhaps it's just a coincidence - and some people from any country are always going to miss the point on these things. If you like your heroes dirty, your characters about 3 times larger than life, your camera restless, your dialogue cynical and vicious and your violence explosive... then Dobermann is a wonderful movie you should definitely track down.

Ichi the Killer is definitely not a film for people who have weak stomachs or who are easily offended. This film contains some of the most shocking images you'll ever see and includes some very disturbing characters that won't be forgotten in a hurry. It is always a very brave move for a film maker when they decide to adapt from a manga as manga often has aspects within it that can not be replicated in to a live picture. Takashi Miike makes the transition possible and blows away all walls of reality with an outstanding and totally unforgettable film.

The plot involves Yakuza boss Anjo going missing with a huge stash of cash, his gang members investigate and a classic game of cat and mouse is involved. This seems simple enough but what is out of the ordinary is that the leader of the investigation, Kakihara (Tadanobu Asano), is a major masochist and Anjo's killer, Ichi (Nao Omori) is the ultimate sadist with a tormented soul. This is where Ichi the Killer's shocking and graphic imagery really come in to force. Miike is uncompromising in his approach with regards to what he delivers on screen. There are no subtleties, no off camera goings on; it is all there for the audience to see, in full detail! The torture scenes, and their results, are especially horrific. If this film had been made in America or Europe, it would have been banned within a second of being made, it's that graphic. What disturbed me more than the disgusting imagery however, were the characters. Ichi's character I found genuinely terrifying as whilst he often comes across as a cartoonish character, there is a disturbingly real quality to his character. Ichi's childlike naivety draws many parallels to past psychotic killers that have existed in real life and his sexual excitement at causing pain and death is incredibly unsettling. Also unsettling is the character of Kakihara. His badly scarred face and clips either side of his lips immediately make him appear a scary figure and the only thing more disturbing than his pleasure for torturing others and watching their pain is his unparalleled love for being beaten and tortured himself.

What I like about many Asian films is that the acting is often very good and Ichi the Killer is no exception. Tadanobu Asano is brilliant as Kakihara. His performance is charismatic and terrifying, he does a great job of making the role his own. Nao Omori plays Ichi perfectly. The way that he can act tormented, childish and merciless all in one scene is incredible to watch and, as I said before, gives the film a genuinely disturbing edge rather than just immense gore. Alien Sun is very sexy as Karen and the way she speaks more than one language in an almost random fashion adds further mystery to this film. The fact that Karen is the only character who has Ichi's past explained to her from Jijii makes the audience able to empathise with her character more than anyone else. Shinya Tsukamoto is also very good as Jijii. His character is unravelled throughout the film and Tsukamoto is very convincing in his portrayal of what turns out to be a very complex character.

The purpose of this film is to shock and it achieves its goal to the point where you almost can not watch. With extremely graphic gore and some intense surrealist imagery that Salvador Dali himself would have been proud of, Ichi the Killer will never be forgotten and deserves to be watched by a lot more people (even if they can only watch it once!). Miike is very clever with his direction. The way he blends Kaneko's flash back sequences with the present does wonders to keep the audience's attention. The ending is also done with great style and is very effective in ending the film so it is down to interpretation of the audience.

Despite being very hard to palate, Ichi the Killer is a fantastic film. Directing, acting, writing and score are all spot on and the quality of the film is very good. Not a film I could handle watching too regularly but definitely a film I'll want to watch a few more times in the future.

Well, first off, it's got Luc Besson associated with it. That gives it promise. Then it's got one of my favourite actors in it, Jean Reno. That helps it deliver.

Jean Reno is a retired French commando who has become a Paris policeman. Unfortunately, he still tends to use Dirty Harry techniques. This gets him suspended. Then he finds out the lost love of his life has passed away, and he is the sole person mentioned in her will, so he goes to Tokyo for the funeral. There he finds out why she left him, and... other things, about her past that he did not know.

From there the movie heads off into typical Luc Besson territory, as something which should have been simple turns into something complicated. Not a film for someone looking for a brooding, deeply thoughtful flick, just a nice, fun, roller coaster.

Well-cast, well-written, well-produced, and well-directed. With a stronger comic touch, it's probably the weakest of his action flicks, but, with Luc Besson, that's still better than the best of most others.

If you liked The Transporter, you should enjoy this one, too.

Luc Besson's first work is also his first foray in science fiction, a genre to which he will return fourteen years later with "the Fifth Element" (1997). Even if this film was strongly influenced by Hollywood cinema, it is still highly enjoyable. Back in 1983, "le Dernier Combat" reveals Besson's own approach of science fiction. He takes back a threadbare topic and his efforts are discernible to make a stylish work. Shot in widescreen and black and white, a disaster has destroyed virtually all the population from earth and we will never know what was this disaster and why men can't talk any more. Some barbarian hordes were formed. In parallel, a man (Pierre Jolivet) lives on his own and arrives in an unrecognizable Paris where he is received by a doctor (Jean Bouise).

There are no words in Besson's work. The characters' actions and the progression of the events go through looks and gestures. Although the starting point and the backdrop are unnerving, the film has never the look of a despondent one. It seems that the man and the doctor try to reproduce gestures and actions linked to mankind before the disaster. The film opens with the man having sex with an inflatable doll. Later, the doctor tries to make him speak through a machine and he is a painter in his spare time. It's all the more intriguing as these paintings seem to come from the prehistoric times. Following this reasoning, one could argue that the bearded giant (Jean Reno) embodies evil and a threat to the efforts deployed by the man and the doctor to regain what finally made a human being. Ditto for the gang of baddies at the beginning of the film.

The pessimistic whiff that such a film could convey isn't really at the fore and gives way to a glimmer of hope. Personally, the film could have gained with no music at all, except the one the man can hear with his cassette recorder. Luc Besson was to make better and still entrancing films like this one, he also boosted Pierre Jolivet's career as a director who will leave a patchy work behind him in the future: "Force Majeure" (1989), "Simple Mortel" (1991), "ma Petite Entreprise" (1999) or "Filles Uniques" (2003).

-If one needs more proof why foreign films are superior to American crap then look no further this gem. it's beautiful, magical, funny, sad, and wonderfully romantic

-Amelie tells the story of a girl with a highly active imagination. statues come to life, TV's can talk to her and pictures can move around. Her mom dies in a semi-hilarious scene which means she has to spend the rest of her life with her dad. Her dad is a very distant man that seldom shows affection. he's not a bad father by any chance, in fact he loves her daughter more than anything in the world, but he just dosen't know how to express his love for her properly so he becomes a bit distant from him This leads to Amelie having to retreat into her imagination to find people to talk to since her dad won't. she makes up imaginary friends to play with and keeps herself entertained by over imagining what she sees in everyday life

-the movie really begins about 20 mins. into the story. She discovers through TV that princess DI has died in a car crash and so shocked by it that she drops a marble in her hand. the marble rolls in the bathroom till it hits a wall. she pushes aside the tiny wall to discover that it's where a little boy hid his toy a long time ago. so she decides to return it to him, and when the boy whose now a man finds it he's so grateful that he begins to cry. this leaves Amelie feeling so happy that she decides to spend the rest of her life doing good deeds to those who deserve it. she helps out a grocer whose been emotionally abused by his manager, helps a blind man cross the street whiles describing everything in sight, and she reunites a weeping widow with her husband through a letter. as things move along she meets a guy that she falls in love with and the entire 4th act of the movie basically shows how the two of them get together

-french director Jean-Pierre Jeunet brings a unique visual style to this movie. it's almost as if you're watching the movie through a dream. it also one of the best cinematography ever to be committed on film. the beautiful Audrey Tatou plays the title character and the supporting cast also do an amazing job. this is one of those movies that leave you in a good mood after you watch it. plus it will leave you in stitches from laughing so hard. the "Orgasm Montage" has to be one of the funniest scenes in cinema history and that is one of the many reason why this movie is awesome

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Tony Jaa is the new Jet Li and Jackie Chan with a thai boxing background. This guy moves as quick as Jackie, has the strength of Jet Li, put packs a more violent, deadly assault - he uses his knees and elbows for pure annihilation. Why does he use his elbow and knees so much? Because they are the hardest parts of the human body. And god damn in Ong Bak he proper messes up everyone he comes across. Thai boxing is proper hardcore, they don't mess about.In Ong Bak, the story is pretty non existent, basically some gangstas from the city come to our heros poor village and steal the Buddha's head statue, and so Tony Ja commits to bringing it back and restoring peace. Now with that out of the way, let's talk about the fighting as this is where the film excels. WOW, this IS the most realistic fighting you will ever see. The only thing I can compare it to is Ultimate Fighting, but ten times worse. Tony Ja will become a legend this is fact. His flexibility in fighting is so extreme, and this film is basically just crammed up with the biggest, most violent stunts you will ever see. For instance, in a scene where Tony and his newly met friends run away from a group of hoodlums, he gets away in style. This is done by jumping through the tiny gaps, either backwards sliding underneath cars, jumping feet and hands outstretched through a hope, running across people's heads, flippin, kicking, somersaulting absolutely everywhere. Remember when you first saw the matrix and you were like `woah', well this is so much better. For starts, the stunts in this film are REAL. Everybody gets injured. There are no wires, pulleys, fake punches, fake blood. This is how it should be. Hollywood take note. The best scenes come where there is a kinda of street fighter style arena, where the deadliest fighters compete to be champion. Tony gets accidently caught up in this, and doesn't mess around by defeating the champion with a single powerful knee thrust into the opponents chest as Tony bends forwards and twists to avoid the ensuing punch from the opponent then unleashes the killer blow. Everyone in the arena is stunned and Tony gets booed for bad sportsmanship.. But don't worry about that has the biggest fights of his life coming up.You need this film in your life. I haven't seen anything as violent and hardcore as this ever before. But even though its hardcore and low budget, the direction is slick. Double takes are often used for the incredible action so you can really appreciate, for example, taking out three men with a triple, twisting back flip and smashing their heads in with your knees and elbows at the same time with pure accuracy. I have watched this four times now and cannot get enough. Overall, the story line is weak and there are some hilarious cheesy moments, but this all works perfectly well as instead of going `god damn thats sick!' at the beginning, you will end up saying `ha ha! Did you see his elbow get torn backwards then snapped! Ha ha! This is genius!'. It's like CKY2 with all the accidents, but here it is intentional for someone to do themselves in. This is a film you will watch over and over again, and show your mates everytime they come round

In the usual big-budget American action movie of those days, there would be, besides the action, a love story and a bad boy redemption. No such crap here, this movie is much close to "Escape from New York" (I'd say it is even a little kind of a remake) than to an usual action blockbuster. There is not a lot of moral but some kind of a political message about the french suburbs. Anyhow the action is great, the acting is surprisingly good (even if I'm sure that the young Dany Verissimo - the girl - is not very well used). So ? Worth watching. Violent, like kids schoolyard games, not horrific (no torture, no blood), not "adult" (even if Dany Verissimo happens to be a famous adult movie actress), but not too unbelievable either : while you watch, you're in, you believe in all, the action and the plot

Them is a low-key, low-budget suspense thriller from France that strives to tap into the current mind-set of contemporary horror cinema, post-Blair Witch, by opening with a spurious "based on actual events" caption that brings to mind the similarly counterfeit claims made by films such as Hostel, Wolf Creek and the big-budget Hollywood remakes of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes. We know by now that these statements are cynical and exploitative attempts to get people talking, and to also give a greater sense of dramatic worth to a genre that can quite often become bogged down in a mire of predictability and cliché.

That said the film is far superior to any of the films aforementioned, mostly because of the fact that it jettisons blood and guts in favour of subtle shocks and an anxious atmosphere of foreboding dread. Really, it's quite a refreshing change, especially considering the fact that REAL horror isn't about what you see, but what you don't see; a notion that is best exemplified by the pre-credit sequence in which a mother and her teenage daughter stall their car on a lonely stretch of country lane and are fittingly attacked by an unseen foe that emerges from the darkened woodland surroundings like a ghost! It's really an amazing sequence of pure tension, and one that sets up the central threat of the narrative before we're even introduced to the hero and heroine who will feature throughout the subsequent 60-odd minutes of drama (the film is a slender 78 minutes long in total).

So, despite the average rating (we'll come to that later), I must admit that for the most part I found this the film to be incredibly effective; with the bare-bones of the plot focusing on a thirty-something teacher and her struggling-writer boyfriend secluded at a remote and run-down mansion just outside of Bucharest. One evening, the couple are woken by the sound of activity coming from the grounds of the house and when they go out to investigate; they discover their car being stolen by an unseen assailant. The couple immediately phone the police - and can't get through to their messaging service (WTF?) - but it's really only a matter of time before the echoing sounds of footsteps clomping, doors being rattled and bizarre and threatening alien-like noises return and begin to penetrate the deathly silence of night.

I suppose if you wanted to make comparisons, then Them is fairly close in tone to films like that other French horror thriller, High Tension (Switchblade Romance here in the UK) and Michael Haneke's po-faced home-invasion-themed satire Funny Games, with the odd nod to Last House on the Left, Panic Room and The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael. The filmmakers effectively utilise their low-budget by staging much of the film in a single location and with only the two principal actors, with the antagonists going unseen for at least 90% of the film (again, this proves the rule that the scariest stuff is the stuff you never see, which is further proved by the laughable moments that happen towards the end).

Here is where my problem with the film begins; with the last ten minutes introducing something of a plot-twist (although I'm not quite sure it's as obvious as that) that for me rendered much of the proceeding action farcical and highly unbelievable. It also makes us question the decisions made by our two protagonists, with fear and the survival instinct being replaced by blind stupidity. I don't want to give too much away, but the initial theft of the car takes place (according to the digital clock in the bedroom) at 3:45 am. For me, it would have made more sense to lock myself in the bathroom with a heavy object placed behind the door and wait there with a collection of kitchen knives until the early hours of daylight; rather than running off into the darkened woodland as we see here. There was also another aspect of the film that bothered me slightly (something fairly rife in contemporary horror/suspense cinema) but I won't go into it here (for obvious reasons).

These flaws (call them plot holes or implausibility's if you must) kind of spoiled the overall flow of this film for me, which is a great shame, as for the most part this was a five star thriller. I don't even mind the ideas suggested by the final plot reveal, but rather the way it seems tacked on in order to generate a topical talking point. It comes out of nowhere, and although this does make for a great last minute surprise, it shows that the directors were more concerned with being clever, rather than delivering a solid, thought-provoking and plausible horror/thriller.

Still, taken on the basis of its first 60 minutes, and the individual scenes that make up the greater whole, this is still an enjoyable if not entirely successful little film that is sure to guarantee a number of thrills, chills and edge of your seat moments of pure, white-knuckle tension; even if the final moments do show it up to be as dodgy and inconsistent as the majority of similarly themed films from Hollywood and the UK. Certainly worth renting.

The Untold Story is one of those nasty flicks that most horror fans whisper about, or have heard of, but because of its ridiculous premise, foreign nature, and Category III rating (the Hong Kong version of X or NC-17 in U.S.A), most of us have rarely gone out of our way to see it. Or if you?re like me, you made the mistake of getting a hold of the second one before the first film and, consequently, never wanted to see the first film because of the shit nature of the sequel. The Untold Story, despite all of the odds that are stacked up against it, deserves to be mentioned right up there with the heavies of the serial killer genre. Sure, it?s cheaper, more brutal, and quirkier than something like Silence of the Lambs or Se7en, but its originality, coupled with the fact that the film is based on a true story, packs those deficiencies in a delicious barbecue pork bun and washes it down with liberal doses of urine and feces laced gore.

The film follows the story of Wong Chi Hang, a notorious serial killer in 1970?s Macau. Wong Chi Hang has three loves in life, gambling, killing, and grinding up corpses to serve as tasty meat filling in his delicious barbecue pork buns. Chi Hang, a criminal wanted for murder after killing someone in another part of China, flees to Macau, where he unceremoniously becomes the owner of a restaurant entitled The Eight Immortals. The restaurant?s original owner has disappeared along with his family? it doesn?t take a rocket scientist to figure out what happened to them. The cops are soon on his tail, led by the prostitute courting Officer Lee, a tomboy female cop trying to get the attention of her co-pigs, and a couple of other generic silly cops.

One of the major problems with the film is that it is so uneven. For a movie about a dude who kills the fuck out of people and grinds them into dumpling filling, the movie feels ridiculously light as the group of cops engages in Police Academy style hijinks and banter. They eventually tone it down a little bit, but it?s kind of an odd decision to make to inject a little humor in what is clearly a dark story. I don?t know what to be more disturbed by, the lighthearted approach the co-directors took with the film or the disgusting and over the top brutality with which Wong Chi Hang dispatches his mostly undeserving victims.

The other huge problem with the film is how poorly it is put together. The film?s entire crux relies on the fact that there is an ?untold story? somewhere in the film. The untold story is of course what happened to the original owner of the restaurant and his family. The last half hour to thirty minutes of the film focuses on the cops? efforts to figure out exactly what happened to the family? even though they?ve got a sack full of body parts that screams ?missing family? sitting in their evidence locker. The ideas behind the structure and form of the film are off. Instead of taking the true crime direction, the directors turn the film into a Shakespearian like tragedy where the big payoff is one hellacious slaughter and the reveal to the police that they have in fact eaten the remains of humans. This all may seem like spoiler material, but any five year old that has ever seen a horror flick would be able to guess all of this stuff and it?s basically thrown in your face during the film. The Untold Story deserves credit for trying to take a non-traditional approach to the serial killer flick, but it?s light-hearted tactics leave a little to be desired.

The two directors, Danny Lee and Herman Yau, make some pretty solid decisions throughout the film, if you throw out some of the Police Academy type vibe that?s going on with the detectives? seriously I expected to see the Hong Kong version of Michael Winslow to pop up and start making annoying sound effects. The scenes that focus on the serial killer are solid, menacing, and intense as fuck. It?s a shame they shit in their bed and roll around in it by getting too experimental with the tone. There is a lull in the middle of the film, after the serial killer is arrested, and the film?s torture sequence where the cops try to pry information out of Wong feels a little drawn out, but the rest of the film flows rather nicely.

The gore and the brutality is what this film is famous for, and for good reason. You?ve got your over the top rape and murder scene, you?ve got your crazy human butchering montage, and quite possibly the world?s worst and most brutal family massacre scene. The gore and the special effects are all laid out with a reverent flair that is disturbing and pulls no punches. If I liked children, I might have been tempted to turn the film off near the end, instead of laugh insanely. Good stuff.

The Untold Story has some major flaws, but the sheer ballsiness of the flick is enough to counterbalance the good against the bad, creating a delicious Hong Kong classic that is unlike any movie out there. The film?s complete lack of sensitivity to people that may have actually been killed in this true crime tale is appalling, but who gives a damn? It looks cooler than a pile of used profos, gives your stomach a couple twists, and sticks in the memory like that time you played hide and seek with your naked Scoutmaster at the annual Boy Scouts overnight campout.

Final Synopsis: This movie is only for the diehard horror fans out there, as it may be a little over the top and odd for the more casual fans. It?s a great flick that pulls no punches and delivers on the gore without wimping out in typical bullshit cinema-style. Give it a rent, or buy a copy if you?re a sick fuck. Like I am.

Points Lost: -1 for trying to combine Police Academy with Se7en tonally, -1 for a lame approach at telling the story; there?s no real mystery here, so stop pretending like there is one

Lesson Learned: The best recipe for barbecue pork buns includes urine, poop in a bucket, and human bodies ground into filling. Enjoy.

Burning Question: Why is it so fucking hard to find information on foreign serial killers? excluding the lame British serial killers?

The Untold Story.

Enoy and keep a bag next to you.

I love historical movies set in Mexico and this wonderful movie shown on BBC last night simply reinforced that feeling.

The Director, Arau, laid before the viewer a magical cornucopia of settings and in this case, tastes, that tempted the eye as well as a palette that had to remain unfulfilled. Esquivel's novel and subsequent movie script were superb and were certainly not the normal fare dished out by Hollywood. Berstein and Luezki's rich cinematography painted a superb background upon which the rich character development and plot could be traced.

There are a few movies set around this revolutionary period in late Mexican history and i have loved everyone that i have seen-this is certainly no exception.

Like Water For Chocolate is a movie lover's movie and I would highly recommend anyone with a interest in or love for Mexico to make an effort to seek out this gem.

Legendary Swedish director, Ingmar Bergman's probable precursor to Wes Craven's notorious 1972 shocker 'The Last House on the Left' is a far more compelling and emotionally draining film that adroitly and continuously switches the viewers sentiments up until the despondent, tranquil and haunting ending. While one minute the viewer is laughing along with the youthful, if naïve, exuberance of the young Karin (Birgitta Petterssen), the following minute will encourage different emotions as Bergman plunges the viewer into the middle of a nightmarish crime perpetrated by nothing less than the evil inside man. Although the portrayals of the acts committed in 'The Virgin Spring' are far less graphic than the modern viewer may have become accustomed to, they still retain an immense power to horrify as one cannot ignore the great lengths Bergman has gone to in order to give his characters a base in order to harden the impact of what we see. With just the simplest of dialogue, the viewer continues to learn about the relationships and personalities of each of the characters so that we may appreciate the consequences and, in some ways, forgive the actions that we see. This film is, after all, a tale of morality and repentance and therefore, even while in some cases the actions may be evil, it is necessary to accept the goodness that is still there. This thought is made no clearer than during the solemn and subdued final scene which fades out abruptly and leaves the viewer in a state of quiet reflection.

Bergman's pacing and subtle direction which at one point leaves the viewer in suspense for what seems like an eternity is surely the reason for the greatness of this film. As if he were playing chess, he manipulates not only the characters, but the emotions of the viewers with intelligent and surprising maneuvers while pressing home his own sentiments regarding the story so that we may at least take into great consideration the events that we have seen. Bergman has an amazing ability to flip the atmosphere of a movie in a split second using various lighting and camera angle techniques as well as motivating his performers to follow suit. The simple expression changes on the faces of Birgitta Petterssen, Max von Sydow, Birgitta Valberg and Gunnel Lindblom at various points throughout the film quickly alter the mindset of the viewer and indicate that all is not well; so beautiful in undeniable simplicity.

'The Virgin Spring' is nothing short of a masterpiece and a film that few will be able to forget.

Tommy Wirkola sure knows how to make a zombie film! Not only does he reference many classic zombie films, but in turn he makes his own unique spin on the zombie tale and he does it well. The plot has striking resemblance to many slashers, as it starts off with a group of medical students taking a ski vacation. However, it takes a turn with random when Nazi Zombies decide to ruin their fun in order to take back their stolen treasures. Dead Snow has many things going for it apart from its odd story; it is well written and directed, all the actors are very good and the gore levels are extremely high and rival almost every modern zombie flick.

It goes to show that foreign horror (especially European) is loads better than most American trash released. This film comes from Norway and is a shining example. Simple in its execution, with a group of like-able characters, a witty script and much disemboweling and de-limbing, Dead Snow is one of the year's best horror films and should make its way into many Top lists soon enough.

I like Junk: Shiryô-gari. Sure, it's extremely derivative stuff (female super-zombie aside, of course), but it has absolutely no pretensions, delivering fans of your more traditional shuffling undead all the gut-munching, brain-blasting action that they could ask for.

The plot sees a gang of amateur jewel thieves (including sexy getaway driver Saki) bite off more than they can chew when they arrange their meeting with a Yakuza fence and his men at an abandoned factory: the derelict building is, in fact, a top secret army base where experiments in raising the dead have resulted in flesh-eating zombies, and it's not long before the criminals are fighting for their lives against hordes of mouldy walking cadavers.

This weak set up is simply an excuse for a series of violent gun-fights and bloody encounters with manky zombies, so it is easy to forgive the silly script, many glaring plot-holes and terrible acting (particularly from a handful of westerners, playing US Army dudes). Director Atsushi Muroga (who also directed jewellery-heist-gone-wrong action flick Score) wisely keeps the action flowing thick and fast, and ensures that gore-hounds are kept happy with plenty of splattery effects.

Eventually, things get very daft indeed, with the aforementioned super-zombie stealing the show in the film's finale: wearing thigh high kinky boots, this surprisingly sexy corpse runs rings around the surviving gang members, before being shot in the head. Unfortunately, this only makes matters worse: the she-zombie becomes even stronger (and, inexplicably, albino!), fighting on after having been completely cut in half!!!

Cool, crazy, and covered in blood, this undemanding undead actioner is recommended to those who want to switch off their brain and simply enjoy some gory mayhem.

Quel maledetto treno blindato (aka Inglorious Bastards) has risen from the ranks of the rest of the obscure Italian made, American acted cheapies first of all because of Quentin Tarantino's reverence for the film and the fact that he plans to a remake of sorts under the same title; second of all even though Tarantino's word is enough PR to get any obscure film to raise from the depths of the unknown into popular culture, it wouldn't work if the film wasn't any good. No problem there because this film is superb.

A group of soldiers are rounded up in a truck to be court-martialled. On the way to their destination, a German fighter jet opens fire on the Americans. Five soldiers get out and make a run for it. Now as fugitives they are on the run from both the Americans and the Germans as they battle their way to the Swiss border to freedom.

This film is a little known masterpiece that embodies the traits of a very pedestrian style war film. There is no technical war idioms which are common to the genre, the dialogue is cool and hip. This is basically the sort of war film that I would have made because unlike the typical other films in the genre, they are not really out to defend their country, only themselves. There is nothing to dislike about this film at all. Highly recommended.

I didn't have high expectations for a sequel that brings back to life a killer that had been hit by pickax, took a fall of at least 30 feet onto frozen ice, and spent several hours lying at -20.

Despite of this I found Fritt Vilt 2 to be an enjoyable sequel even if somewhat a predictable one. The camera work and sound effects are very and I found the acting even better than in the first movie with Ingrid Bolsø Berdal once again giving an excellent performance as Jannicke, the only survivor of Fritt Vilt 1. I can't really express an opinion on the dialogs as I watched this film in Norwegian and only understood most of it because I speak some Swedish.

Why did I not find it as good as the first movie then? First of all what made Fritt Vilt I really good was the setting: the characters were stuck in an abandoned hotel in the middle of nowhere surrounded by high snow which made any attempt to escape very difficult. In the sequel they are in a hospital and a few of the characters could have run out of it earlier than they actually did. Besides, the script has a few flaws that impact the realism of the storyline: 1) If you are a policeman when your foot gets caught in a trap and you are being dragged into a dark room, amazingly faster than the 2 other policemen only a few feet away can run, you'll surprisingly think of using your MP5 to try keep yourself out of the dark room instead of shooting! 2) If you are a policeman and are left in the car while 3 others enter a dark hospital with a homicidal maniac inside,you'll wait till everybody else is probably dead to load your gun and get out of the car! 3) When the homicidal maniac - who has killed all your friends, 1 doctor, 1 nurse, and 5 policemen - manages to disappear you decide to go after him but you obviously forget about the Glock you were holding in the hand and only bring the shotgun and a knife! 4)When you are waiting for the homicidal maniac after signing the guest book you obviously fall asleep! 5) If you are nurse when your favorite patient decides to hunt down the homicidal maniac who just killed your boyfriend, you first think about it for a couple of hours, then make up your mind and run home to grab your hunting rifle but make sure not to call anybody for help!

The final scene is neat though: how to put it? Revenge is a dish best served "in the cold"!

All in all, I can recommend watching this horror movie: for its genre is definitely well done!

What exactly can I say about FRITT VILT that hasn't been said already. Well for starters, in a world overdosed on allegedly scary slasher movies this Norwegian film actually delivers with a terrifying atmosphere and genuine suspense. It's an old and tried storyline, take five teenagers and place them in an isolated location, this being a long abandoned hotel with a violent killer on the loose inside. However, what differentiates FRITT VILT from the rest of the pack is it's sharp direction by Roar Uthaug who manages to keep the same old clichés of the genre interesting. He does this mainly through the characters. Here we have five friends who emote a sincere affection for each other and for this reason we grow to like them. Unlike most other slasher movies where the characters are cardboard cut-outs simply used to increase the body-count and showcase gory effects these characters drive the story along and all have a purpose within the movie that serves the plot. So when we watch them die it becomes upsetting and genuinely disturbing. In particular the first murder is increasingly harrowing and while watching I felt a terrible pity for the person. Another reason it succeeds is the fluid cinematography by Daniel Voldheim who paints each shot with atmospheric lighting and shadow so the darker scenes generate true claustrophobia and tension. The soundtrack by Magnus Beite is wonderfully haunting, moving and terrifying while the performances by all involved are incredibly accurate, particularly Ingrid Bolso Berdal as Jannicke who provides a compassionate heroine whom we quickly grow to love and in the end we truly feel her anguish and pain. This is an outstanding movie within the slasher genre and a sterling example of Norwegian horror.

First things first, Michael Haneke HATES Quentin Tarantino's films. He hates the way violence and death are shown as being 'cool' - Cool gangsters executing their enemies whilst saying cool lines (And you will know, that my name is the Lord! etc,etc)with a cool song playing in the background. This is not how violence is in the real world, violence is a horrible fact of life, not a glamourous thing for youths to copy but I like Tarantino, and I think Haneke intended Funny Games to show it how it really is. I watched Funny Games without the slightest clue what the film was about, so I just had to sit back and take it as it comes. At first, I wasn't too impressed. I thought the scenes were too long and dragged out, yet at the same time, I felt a strange feeling of suspense. The incredibly long camera shots leave you that bored, that you think "Something bad is going to happen soon, I can tell...". The suspense also lasts right through the film 'til the very end. You don't want to watch it, but at the same time, you feel hypnotised by it.

I will not detail any events of the film, to save spoiling the atmosphere, but I will note one thing that people tend to be confused about:- "Why did the family let them into the house in the first place?" The two characters of Peter and Paul are let to walk all over the family because of one flaw in the bourgios psyche - 'The more polite a person is, the better a person they are.' This absurd way of thinking is played on by Peter and Paul and they obviously score, plus 'getting into the house without breaking in' is also one of their 'games'.For those who haven't seen the film, I definitely wouldn't recommend this for a night in with the parents/girlfriend, but I definitely would for people who want to see the difference between death and Tarantino-glam. Prepare for a highly suspenseful yet sickeningly violent, non-Hollywood, edge-of-the-seat piece of art.

As is always the case when American producers decide to remake a relatively unknown foreign film, there are a lot of people that say this Norwegian film is better than the American one. In actual fact, there's not a lot in it; but this film deserves more credit for having the original idea, and it has to be said that the idea is a good one as this film carries off it's central theme and plot in style, and the two blend excellently to create a compelling and intriguing psychological portrait of both a criminal and the effects of not getting enough sleep. The film carries off an excellent reversal in the common psychological theme, in that this time; it's the daylight that causes all the horrors. Insomnia takes place in Norway where, for one half of the year it's light and the other half it's dark. It's currently light, and detective Jonas Engström has been assigned to a case involving a murdered girl. The plot thickens when the detective accidentally shoots his partner whilst chasing the killer, and then proceeds to cover up the murder he has committed while the search for the girl's murderer continues.

The American remake adheres to the plot of the original rather closely, and that's a shame for someone like me who has seen the remake as I always knew what was going to happen next. But even so, while the plot didn't contain any surprises for me; watching the detective's descent into insanity owing to his insomnia makes for a great watch, and the as the plotting is expertly handled by director Erik Skjoldbjærg, watching it play out is always a pleasure. Stellan Skarsgård takes the lead role, and while he may not have the star power of Al Pacino, he manages to deliver a darker and all the more believable performance as the put-upon policeman at the centre of the tale. In fact, all the ensemble cast comes together well and the film feels very much like an A-class production at all times. Insomnia features a number of memorable scenes that help to ensure that the audience will remember it beyond just its central ideas; and overall, it's clear that the writing team have succeeded in making a film that transcends its cat and mouse formula.

The contribution that Japan has made to the world of screen violence can hardly be overstated, and in the 21st Century there seems to be a new renaissance of sheer bloodiness. Movies like BATTLE ROYALE, ICHI THE KILLER and VERSUS really set new standards for out and out shocking violence that I don't think any other country in the world has matched.

VERSUS is basically all about action. The premise is a crazy one that involves kung-fu samurais re-incarnated as yakuza who then get turned into zombies and vampires. It's actually a very interesting and quite complex story in its own right, but basically it's an excuse to get a bunch of people in a forest and stage a fairly continuous sequence of hand to hand fights, sword fights and gun fights - with a supernatural angle to justify some HK style OTT acrobatics and an undead angle to justify people getting seriously messed up and still fighting on. Genius. Sick as all hell, but genius!

These days, good action movies from Hong Kong are becoming increasingly rare. For years HK stood unchallenged and exported its unique cinematic arts throughout Asia. Since the talent or the investment or the will or whatever seems to have fled the HK industry in recent years, it seems like other Asian countries are stepping up to the challenge of filling the gap. Korea has produced movies like MUSA and MY WIFE IS A GANGSTER, Thailand has produced BANGKOK DANGEROUS and TAK 4, INDIA has produced AANKHEN and MISSION KASHMIR. Hollywood and Europe have had a go too, but with so little success overall it's hardly worth mentioning.

VERSUS is clearly made by a small independant team who recognised that Hong Kong isn't going to produce the next jaw-dropping action movie any time soon, and who believed they had what it took to do it instead. It takes a lot of confidence and dedication to produce results like these on a clearly low budget, and Napalm Films must have had a lot of both. VERSUS attempts practically every type of action scene that Hong Kong has been famous for (and Japan traditionally has not), and pulls most of them off very well.

There'd been such a lot of hype around VERSUS on the net for ages that I'd found myself instinctively hating it before I knew anything about it, but when I saw the trailer I was converted to enthusiasm. Seeing the wild disparity between the cool SHIRAYUKI HIME trailer and the dreadful full length movie gave me some trepidation about VERSUS, which is probably a good thing since at least I wasn't expecting something flawless. VERSUS is not flawless, but it's much much better than SHIRAYUKI HIME.

The action scenes are not better than Hong Kong's best - they're not even nearly as good as some of the scenes in movies like MAGNIFICENT WARRIORS in fact, but they're imaginatively and enthusiastically staged and filmed. And violent! Oh so very very violent! The special effects are some of the most convincingly brutal I've seen. ICHI THE KILLER may have had more outrageous effects, but was never in danger of having convincing effects. BATTLE ROYALE may have had more realistic violence, but nothing like the sheer magnitude of the bodily damage people take in VERSUS! People get cut in half, lose limbs, have gaping holes blown through them... well, you know how much it takes to stop a zombie moving . It's all played fairly non-seriously, but not to the cartoonish extent of ICHI. It looks pretty damn real.

Definitely not one for the squeamish, really not a family movie. But for the sick puppies out there who maintain an innocent curiosity as to just how violent a movie can be (like myself, I admit), VERSUS is definitely a must-see!

The outline of this film appears in other postings, so I will just add my two drachma by way of critical appraisal. In case you are in any doubt, Mediterraneo ranks in my best three ever - a magnificent film. If you never see it, part of your life will have been unlived.

Mediterraneo epitomises the difference between Hollywood and the demands of a largely US audience and the subtler approach of the European director/writer who seeks simply to express him/herself through the medium. I read two reviews in the Washington Post both of which managed to misunderstand the film completely, one going so far as to characterise the cast as "Marx Brothers". In fact, they are probably the finest ensemble of characters I have ever seen in film - a completely disparate group of individuals who nearly all manage to find spiritual (and sexual) fulfulment in the sensuality of Aegean island life.

The film is multi-layered and, the more obvious ones, such as the powerful anti-war message and the venality of post-Fascist Italy are often mentioned. But no-one has ever picked up on the phrase "una face, una race" which is repeated throughout the film. This is the nostrum that Italians and Greeks have a common Mediterranean heritage (come on Washington Post hacks - didn't the title give you a clue?) and that there is an enormous irony in the Italians - who rightly pride themselves on the antiquity of their civilisation - seeking to subdue another culture whose origins are 2000 years older.

This is underlined by the easy participation of the soldiers in both high and low Greek culture, .....the painting of the frescoes in the church (n.b. the Orthodox Church predating the Holy Roman Empire by centuries - clever eh!) and the wonderful unifying theme of football, which only a European or South American viewer could truly appreciate.

The group's ambivalent attitude to sexual mores adds to the sense of the place as essentially a home for Greco-Roman sensuality - a fact which is gloriously exposed with the later juxtaposition of our band of heroes with the starched British Royal Navy officers who arrive to remove them from the island.

I have not seen any mention in other reviews of the beautiful cadence of the Italian dialogue - as lilting as the bazouki music which accompanies much of the film.

The sense of disillusionment that takes over the film at the end is very powerful and it is no accident that Salvatore shows us the Lieutenant returning to the island on a ferry full of burnt-pink tourists.

This is a film that can only truly be appreciated if you have a feeling for, and understanding, of European culture. This is a film for grown-ups.

Mediterraneo demonstrates that though box-office grosses for European films are small (unless it is something produced explicity for a US audience, like the truly dreadful Four Weddings) our directors have managed to stay true to their craft.

Just because this film bears a typically Troma-like title, and features the Troma logo on the packaging, don't make the mistake of thinking it is a Troma production?because it isn't.

It is, in fact, a low-budget Belgian film that was simply picked up for distribution by the studio, and, as far as I am concerned, it is much more enjoyable than the majority of Lloyd Kaufman's own B-movie output.

In this delightfully silly and very gory romp, a group of greedy relatives gather together at the mansion of their two elderly aunts, in order to attend their birthday celebrations (and hopefully worm their way into their aunts' wills). However, when the old women open a surprise birthday present (sent by the black sheep of the family?a practitioner of the black arts), they become possessed, transform into vicious, drooling, bloodthirsty monsters, and proceed to tear their party guests limb from limb.

If you're a fan of visceral OTT slapstick horror?particularly Sam Raimi's Evil Dead trilogy (which this film is obviously heavily influenced by) or the early work of Peter Jackson (whose similarly daft Bad Taste came out the same year)?then Rabid Grannies should be right up your alley. Director Emmanuel Kervyn spends the first thirty minutes introducing us to his raft of absurdly unlikeable characters (none of whom really deserve to survive 'til the end credits), and the next sixty dismembering them in as many inventive and silly ways as possible. It might not be Oscar winning material, but it's a whole heap of fun!

Considering the limited budget, the juicy effects on display are pretty damn good, and the film sure doesn't hold back with the nastiness: one man has his limbs hacked off, before being impaled (between the legs) on a pike; a fat guy gets stuck trying to escape, and has his ass eaten; and even a little girl gets reduced to spare parts by the demonic old dears!

Lola Rennt is definitely in my top ten favourites. Anyone and everyone in the 21st Century can relate to at least one element of this film. Whether it be in from the family relationship perspective e.g. alienated someway by your parents, the feeling of being shut out, or the feeling of wanting hold onto someone so desperately that you'll do anything for them in order to try and stay with them. But surely the most common theme throughout this film is the essence of TIME. How TIME controls everything and no matter what the normal human being does, we cannot stop it, alter it, or change its course. Time has a knock on effect on the series of events that follow. Ever missed a bus on the way to work, thus you were late for work, imagine the most extreme circumstances and that you were fired for being late, and you were late because you missed the bus and the thought that comes into your head?' If only...' And this chain reaction is exactly what Tykwer is trying to defy. Time. Time and fate. By the end of the film Lola is in control of her own fate. Each time she meets someone on her journey she changes his or her fate.

A weird and wonderful twist of make-belief through use of a fantastic melange of cinematic techniques, like a timeless bubble. Is it a music video, a computer game, or a 'groundhog' type film? It's all free for interpretation. Tykwer put a lot of thought into the use of medium to keep the audiences attention, to convince them that this is a mixture of make-belief and reality. Shown through the use of cartoons verse hand held camera, photographic evidences verses red scenes (reflection time). Possibly we believe by the end of the film?if Lola can change time, change a sequence of events, can we?

This is a film that I never tire from. Each time I watch it I notice something that I didn't see the first time. The concept of time, its power and our destiny grows stronger, spinning round and round in my head.

Tick-tock, tick-tock.

Scream for me Seoul! Gwoemul (or The Host) sees South Korea put into a state of hysteria normally reserved for 1950s b-movies. This delightful creature feature is an interesting Asian take on the monster movies of old, with a lot less stagey shtick and a lot more in the way of contemporary concerns and classy film-making.

The film, excellently constructed by director Bong Joon-Ho, centres around the premise that a few years previously an arrogant American official ordered toxic chemicals to be poured down the drain. Thus, said pollutants find their way into the Han River and a mutant is spawned, the 'thing' then goes on to wreak havoc upon the panicked park-goers of Korea's capital city. Poor Seoul isn't only blighted by this watery beast, but also by American scaremongering, secret agendas and monsoon rain; the latter makes the film look all the more bleak and beautifully tragic.

All sounds very appealingly apocalyptic, but what about the monster? Frankly, it's 'orrible: a kind of octopussified-scaly-tentacled-fishfaced-squid-beast that likes to drag schoolkids off to the sewers. A Harryhausen model may be prettier to look at, but it must be admitted that "The Host" in all its CGI sliminess looks the part and shoots the film lightyears away from its papier-mâché and puppet predecessors. Combined with the biting socio-political commentary on offer and the affecting acting performances (as best exemplified by Hie-Bong Byeon and Kang Ho-Song as father and lazy son respectively), Gwoemul manages to root itself in distressing realism.

It may be grey and gruesome, but it's also an enjoyable escapade: a good old-fashioned disaster smash. There's also a little bit of something for everyone, whether it be in the family drama, the social statements, the chase or just purely in the finned fright of 'The Host' itself. South Korea keeps on pumping out vital films and Gwoemul is no exception. With superb special effects and sharp film-making, Gwoemul is something of a modern monster masterpiece.

#30: [REC]
There's a lot of these shaky-cam movies around at the moment, and among your "Cloverfield"s and "Diary Of The Dead"s this low budget Spanish movie may seem like the underdog, but it's punching way above its weight.

Filmed by a TV crew stumbling upon something very nasty happening in an apartment block, the movie is shot and acted brilliantly, the sense of unease gradually giving way to all out terror. While it's obviously derivative of movies like "The Last Broadcast" and "The Blair Witch Project" it manages to deliver in a way that those movies couldn't thanks to some brilliant set-pieces. It's not even out in the UK yet and Hollywood have already remade it (the inevitably inferior "Quarantine") but do yourself a favour and spend an evening in the dark with the original. You'll regret it, but in the best possible way. Terrific.

Best bit: The climactic night vision only stand-off against... well, whatever the hell that thing was.

While not as prolific as the USA, UK and Italy; Mexico is responsible for many great horror films; with the sixties in particular being something of a goldmine for the horror fan. Carlos Enrique Taboada's Hasta el viento tiene miedo has a great reputation amongst those who have seen it; and after having finally tracked the film down myself, I have to say that its reputation is completely deserved! The title translates into English as 'Even the Wind is Afraid' and as you would expect from a film with such a title; this is a macabre treat! Like the classics The House That Screamed and Suspiria, this film focuses on an all-girl boarding house. After a group of girls sneak into a restricted part of the school and are caught; their punishment (doled out by the head teacher nicknamed 'The Witch') is that they have to stay behind during the summer break! Naturally the girls are not too pleased, and things take a turn for the worse when a long dead student is sighted during the heavy winds, and seems to be after a student named Claudia...

The story is very much of the slow burn variety and while we do get plenty of horror; the film focuses more on building the characters, their relationships and the central situation. The horror is brought forward more through atmosphere and while the locations used are not as Gothic as those seen in similar Italian films; the film does deliver a great air of creepiness and the way that the wind is used provides one of the main highlights. The acting is very good, with adult performers Marga López and Maricruz Olivier delivering the standout performances as the two teachers. The younger performers are all very nice looking and while the acting is sometimes a bit cheesy; it doesn't harm the film too much. The plot does move slowly but it's always interesting and the film builds tension as we get closer to the end, with the film taking a rather unexpected twist half way through. It all boils down to an engaging and original (for the time) climax and overall; Hasta el viento tiene miedo may not be one of the best known horror films ever made, but it will certainly be of interest to horror fans. Recommended!

Silvia is a young girl who claims she communicates and plays with Hugo, a statue of a young boy holding a book. Her father and stepmother are somewhat concerned and hire a nanny to look after Silvia. Strange and dangerous things begin to happen around the house and the tension grows.

I just finished watching this little known Mexican horror film, and despite my lack of knowledge of Spanish and the lack of subtitles on the DVD, I was quite impressed with it. It was a slow burning and very atmospheric thriller that reminded me a lot of Jack Clayton's "The Innocents", which is one of my favourite ghost stories of all time.

The acting was solid, the settings were appropriate, the tension built well and the appearances of Hugo were unexpected and startling leading to a few quite eerie moments and the ending is chilling.

I wish I understood more of the dialog so that I could catch all of the details of the story, but even without, the movie is understandable and worth watching.

Mexican director Carlos Enrique Taboada has become a cult-figure in the history of Mexican cinema due to his four entries in the Gothic horror genre, a style not very well explored in Mexico's cinematography. While he never achieved fame while alive, nowadays his films are quite popular and modern Mexican filmmakers like Guillermo Del Toro often cite him as a big influence. Completed almost 20 years after his last horror film, "Veneno para las Hadas" ("Poison for the Fairies") was his final work and while probably less known than the previous three, it's a fitting closure for the career of who is probably the most important figure of Mexican horror cinema.

Set in the late 50s, "Veneno para las Hadas" is the story of the strange friendship between two little girls. Flavia (Elsa María Gutiérrez) is a very rich girl who has just moved to the city and in her first day of school befriends Verónica (Ana Patricia Rojo), a very smart girl who is fascinated with witchcraft and claims to be a witch herself. What at first is an innocent friendship soon becomes a nightmare as the gullible Flavia is tortured psychologically by the possessive Verónica and her threats of using her witchcraft against her.

Written by Taboada himself, the film moves away from his previous horror films ("Hasta el Viento Tiene Miedo", "El Libro De Piedra" and "Mas Negro Que la Noche") where the supernatural had a predominant presence, and focuses on a subtler and slightly more realistic kind of horror. The story unfolds at a very slow pace (at times too slow for its own sake), but it carefully develops the bond between the two girls and the details of their bizarre relationship. Completely told from the point of view of the two girls, the story focuses only on the two main characters with the development of the supportive characters being almost non-existent. While this approach leads to a definitely less shocking horror, its very appropriate and its portrait of childhood is frightening and very realistic.

The film strongest point is its beautiful cinematography, and no matter if its in interior or in exteriors Taboada manages to create haunting Gothic images that show an influence from Italian filmmakers. Children's powerful imagination is a recurrent theme in the movie and the film makes use of surreal compositions of great beauty to portray it successfully. As the story is told from the children's eyes, Taboada makes sure that we rarely see an adult's face, keeping us inside the girls' world of fantasy and magic.

Given that the film focuses on only two characters their performances are vital for the film, and while a mixed bag, the overall result is positive considering that children who can act are a rare thing. Elsa María Gutiérrez as Flavia is the weakest of the two and many times seems wooden and unprepared. Ana Patricia Rojo is the total opposite as her performance as Verónica is an absolute joy to watch. She makes her character both adorable and hateful at the same, and displays a lot of talent for her young age (no wonder why she has had a somewhat successful career in her country).

Taboada's final film may be disappointing to fans waiting for another pack of his grandiose Gothic set pieces. The horror in this film is even subtler than in his previous films and it's incredibly slow pace makes it more akin to a melodrama with traces of psychological thriller than a horror in the strict sense of the word. This slow pace is probably what hurts the film the most, as at times it makes it drag a bit too much and may turn off some viewers. The fact that it focuses on children and their fears may also make it look as childish or silly, but the film offers an interesting study in the nature of evil and the powers of imagination.

While nowhere near as famous as "Hasta el Viento Tiene Miedo", and definitely nowhere near as wonderful as his Gothic masterpiece "El Libro De Piedra"; this little gem is a nice entry in the Gothic horror sub genre and a wonderful film to introduce children to the genre while being entertaining enough for adults. A fitting closure to a great director's career.

The plot is very simple but very effective to provoke some chills; a young woman inherits a mansion from her deceased aunt with the condition that she has to take care of her black cat. The young woman is in the necessity of a home mainly because of financial situations so she accepts and invites her friends to live with her. When they arrive to the house they start to hear strange things and also feel like there's a negative vibe. Also, in the house lives the old maid who took care of the deceased aunt. She advertises the young women that the cat is the owner of the house and that they had to take special care on him. They ignore the warning and even remove him from his bedroom. The cat gets on the nerves of everyone and things start to get bad when they decide that the cat shouldn't have that many benefits.

One day, the cat is found dead for no apparent reason. He's found in the cellar. After that tragic event, hell breaks loose on the house. One by one these girls are getting murdered by an unseen figure and the negative vibe grows strongly on the house. Who could be behind the murders? Could it be that the aunt is back from the grave to avenge the death of her beloved cat?

Join these girls in a terrific tale of secrets, ghosts, and mysteries.

**SPOILERS** I love this movie because it goes directly to the point. It tells you the events in such a manner that truly grabs your attention and makes you wonder in fear what will happen next. The plot is simple but it gets more interesting when it's explained that the cat was actually "murdered" by three of the girls. When that is explained, you are in front of a ghost revenge flick that will send shivers up to your funny bone. It's a classical ghost story but it's managed in a way that it's interesting and scary. The direction is perfect. Taboada knows perfectly how to create a creepy atmosphere (indoors and outdoors the house) and how to create tension before something "strong" is about to happen. The cinematography is also excellent. The combination of dark and light is great! and works perfect for the big, old house. The score works and is genuinely chilling. The acting is also great! Islas delivers a solid performance. The same goes for the rest of the cast. The house keeper also delivers a creepy but solid performance. Excellent cast. The death scenes are great. There is tension among them and there is even gore! Violence is minimal but still good. The movie relies part of it's creepiness on some freeze frame scenes where something is discovered (like Dosamante's dead body hanging on the school's library). Also, Mendez death is something to remember.

My favorite moment is when the aunt makes presence. The scenes are genuinely scary and well done.

Please, watch this movie because it is surely scary and very well done. I strongly recommend you to watch it if you're in the mood to get scared. This is how Mexican Horrors movies should be made nowadays!

My respect for you, Mr. Toboada. You really know how to create a scary movie.

Something that has great importance for me is that the women in the movie are extremely hot! I'm sorry but I have to comment on it. Claudia Islas, Helena Rojo, Susana Dosamantes, and the super sexy Lucia Mendez are the hottest cast in ANY Mexican movie I've seen. Claudia is the mature, beautiful, but strong lead. Helena is the sensual but reserved women. Susana is the classy and hard to get woman. Her beauty is elegant, supreme. But Lucia Mendez steals the show. She was freakin' hot in the movie! She was very young and she knew that she had to show her delicious attributes. Thank you Lucia for wearing those steamy short skirts through all the movie. Also, your beautiful face shined through the movie. She's totally worth the watch.