Horror in ANY form

"Overlook/
Inner sense of Pain/
Eyes of the Insane/
Bleeding Evil's might./

Shades of Black and Grey/
Lock the human Prey/
In Dark, Demented Fright./

Through Psychosis dwells/
Death's Defying Spells/
That shine the Ancient Rite./

Lontano/
Reaps Tormented souls/
With sounds of rising Ghouls/
And Morbid Howls of night./

Fear seeking the past/
Screams that everlast/
And Whispers in delight./

Noises from the Deep/
Embrace the Cold, Dead Sleep/
And Overshadow light./

Madness/
Prowls in hollow flesh/
Born of Flaming Ash/
Bleeding Evil's might./

Final Anguished Maze/
Leads the wanderer's gaze/
In Dark, Demented Fright./

Man's Scavenging Mind/
Facing Shadows Blind/
That shine the Ancient Rite./

RedruM/
Feeding Darkened skies/
Polymorphic eyes/
And Morbid Howls of Night./

Fear becoming Freedom/
Breeds the Inner Kingdom/
And Whispers in delight./

Through the Ripping Blade/
Ghostly orbs Invade/
And Overshadow light./


Only Death is true/
"Midnight,/
With the Stars and You.""

Dr. Hannibal Lecter is my favorite movie character ever! Brilliant movie and completely out of its time when it was made.

One of the greatest and most twisted films of all time. A perfect demonstration of the darkest corners of the human psyche.
The most brutal and brilliant of the genre.

The Exorcist is the first of a series of movies that I consider to be my all time favourites, and that for several reasons haven't properly reviewed yet.

As I've seen it again recently, this seems like a great place to start.

It's hard to review a movie like this in today's time. Specially considering the subject. Back in 1973, there was no Internet. There was no religious choice per se (most western civilizations made their toddlers catholics / christians / religious zombies before they even knew how to think). There wasn't that much tolerance regarding certain things or subjects. There was a natural tendency of shock and outrage when facing some more extreme visual and audio displays.

For that reason, when The Exorcist was released, a big part of the world shook. Sadly, I only know this due to some feedback from the past and a fair amount of intensive research.
Although I was still fortunate enough to watch it at a time when things weren't all that different.

And, obviously , it shook my world as well.

The Exorcist is, by far, William Friedkin's masterpiece. Such an achievement comes once in a lifetime (if that much) in a director's career. He got his at a very early stage.

In a way (brainless idiots aside), I can't help but to feel sorry for today's movie productions. Because no matter how hard they try, there will never be a way for anyone to top this in the same genre. Simply because it's 2008. The shock isn't there anymore. Nowadays, you can pretty much do whatever you want in a movie, that no matter how dark, eerie or horrifying you want it to be, you will never be able to capture the necessary sensitivities. 1973's sensitivities, for one.
Unless you're actually one of the very few people that crave and search that feeling in some movies, you will either come out of the theatre saying something like "It was a nice movie" or "Did you see that scene where she sticks the crucifix in her p..." and probably even laugh about it.

And those were simply not proper reactions for The Exorcist in 1973.
A proper reaction would be a gaze of shock and horror in your eyes. A physical and mental exhaustion. A nervous and hard-to-unfold speech.

This movie was able to accomplish this. Just take a look at the reactions of the ones fortunate enough to go see this in the theatres 35 years ago.
You can't fake that.
Usually, you don't even see it coming.

I could go on and start talking about the aspects of the movie itself.
But there's no point in me doing that.
Simply because I wouldn't change a thing.
If you're capable of picking up little details, you realize that everything is exactly how it should be.

So what I guess I'm trying to say is something like this.

If you still haven't seen it yet, or have seen it in the last 15 years for the first time, or have seen it before but were too young to remember, I'm not even sure if this is worth being recommended to you, for several reasons.

But if you were of the ones that actually went to see it when it was released, or if you watched it more than 15 years ago and still remember the emotional impact (if there was an impact) it had in you, or even if you've seen it more recently but somehow were able to truly relate to what I've written here...

The following is for you.
I know.

Another movie I've been meaning to review for ages, since it's in my absolute top of preferences.
But these ones usually take longer, as I'm always afraid I'll end up missing something important, hence not making my review as just and praising as it should be.

In a few words, first: raw, sick, filthy, shocking, and perverse to the core.

The original TCM is an unparalleled achievement and a priceless contribution for the classic, gory horror cult genre. This movie is all about revisiting torture, in many forms, over and over again.

Make no mistakes. This is one of those movies that you either have to say you love or hate. There is no way of standing in the middle. "Normal" people will probably tend to reject and ostracize it, making use of the argument that it has no plot, no fundament, no substance. That this is just free violence for the sake of shock and controversy. Trend freaks will probably tend to say they loved it just because nowadays it seems hip and fun and fashionable to appreciate explicit gore and violence and torture through movies, especially in the so called classic ones. These too have no idea what this movie is about. Most likely, a great number of them hasn't even seen it yet. Intelectuals or pseudo-intelectuals will probably tend to regard it as a low budget groundbreaking, avant-garde movie, although deep down inside, it's unlikely that there is any part in them capable of feeling something other than disgust by its essence.

I could go on for hours.

Then, there are others, whose irrational morbid fascination for the ORIGINAL Texas Chainsaw Massacre lacks a proper explanation.
Better yet, lacks a need to be explained.
Those people relate to the movie simply because its true core appeals to them, and despite the fact that most of them will actually try to verbalize an explanation, I feel there is no need for it. Some people are just more connected to some things than others. Watch American Psycho, watch the scene where he is exercizing, and look at the movie playing in the background.
It's just something you feel. Not something you think.

And for me, this movie is perfect in every way.


"I was just standing in Montgomery Ward's, in front of an upright display of chainsaws, thinking of a way to get through the crowd. And the focus just racked from my eyeball to the people to the saws, and the idea popped."
Tobe Hooper

I guess, deep down inside, it all comes down to which thoughts pop into your mind, when you're standing on a crowded store cue waiting for your turn to pay.

"As the characters run out of food, we started giving the actors less and less food..."
"Besides the fact that we wanted to keep them safe, we wanted to push them as far as possible."
Eduardo Sánchez, director

"They wanted us to be hungry and tired, so they did the sleep deprivation, and they stopped feeding us... which is a great way to create animosity, for future reference."
Joshua Leonard, lead actor

"By applying the same physical and mental stresses to the actors - lack of food, lack of sleep, walking them around, fucking with them at night -, we hoped by the time we really needed them to freak out, they would be able to tap into areas of their psyche they normally wouldn't be able to tap into."
Gregg Hale, producer and former U.S. Special Army Forces linguist

"There was actually a clause on our contracts about mental health..."
Heather Donahue, lead actress

"You're waking up out of an extreme tiredness... your mind isn't quite where it should be... I mean, you can feel the blood pumping out of your skin cause it's so eerie, the sounds and the noises."
Michael C. Williams, lead actor

"We were given our instructions upon coming up to their campsite - no talking, walk quietly. We pressed on for about another minute, then finally you could see the light coloring of a tent off in the distance. Everyone took his or her places. We created a triangle around the tent but from way out. On queue - the guys hit play on the three tape players, out comes the high-pitched screech of a child - then laughter, then children talking. The actors are waking up - you could hear them talking. Then the guys begin to do footsteps in the leaves. Then, some of the guys go up and begin to violently shake the tent. The actors begin to scream and eventually run from the tent out into the woods. Their cameras rolling."
From the journal of Stefanie DeCassan, film crew member

"...and the tent started shaking and we heard babies crying outside, and so I think that all of our first reaction was 'I'm not getting up... this is not happening...'"
Joshua Leonard, lead actor

There's something about The Blair Witch Project most people fail to realize.
This is not just a movie trying to pass as a documentary with great marketing outcomes.
This is the one of the sickest, most daunting, rarest barely legal human breaking experiences ever made in cinema.

Haxan and Artisan really went off their way trying to pass this as a true story until their premiere at the Sundance Festival.
But co-directors Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick also pushed things to the limits while trying to give the acting and shooting a sense of creepy realism.
For that purpose, they hired three inexperienced and unknown actors with high improvisational skills, gave them a crash course on the filming equipment, sent them to the woods in Seneca Creek State Park, Maryland, and directed them remotely, giving them no script dialogues and only a brief guideline of what was to come.
The result is a genuinely terrifying experience which proves to be like no other, if you embrace it as it should be embraced.
This is getting more and more difficult to achieve, as some parts of the movie have now been spoofed beyond maximum tolerance and without deserving that treatment.
But giving it the proper personal investment, you will be dragged into the woods with three people. And you will feel confused, scared, exhausted, hunted, haunted, and on the verge of physical and mental collapse. All these were felt by the actors at some point.
You stretch your physical and mental limits, and you will end up entering a different, unfamiliar reality, where nothing's certain or safe anymore. The most eerie and haunting fear of all is the fear of the unknown. If you end up being led by the darkest places of your imagination, you'll end up seing the most frightening things under the dimmest light...

For all this, and because I can truly feel that when I can create the right conditions upon viewing of this film, The Blair Witch Project stands in my book as the ultimate horror experience, side by side with the cult classics that gave me true nightmares when I was younger.

Top notch.

Disturbed. Unexpected. Maniac. Brutal. Twisted. Horrifying. Insane. All this with a sense of style!
Brilliant performance from Christian Bale.

I want to put this right out in the open to begin with.

I'm not what you can call an usual movie fan. My favorite movies tend to be rather specific, genre wise (unless it really translates itself in an absolute masterpiece), mainly because there simply are a couple of genres that I can "feel" and relate to more than the rest of them. Some of the aspects I mention in my reviews as being simply brilliant are usually minor ones to the rest of the reviewers around here. I rarely enjoy blockbusters, Hollywood cliches, remakes, recent movies, movies with Ben Affleck or one of the others 325632,3 actors exactly like him, and so on.

This is simply for you to know that I'm more than aware of the fact that probably none of you who will end up reading this will be willing to give [REC] the same amount of consideration I did.
This is not a movie to "get". So if you go see it for your fair amount of twists and turns (although it does have a few surprises, specially towards the end), then you're likely to be disappointed.
This is, quite simply, a movie to feel.
And either you will or you won't, and that's what will make you like it or not.

[REC] is easily one of the very best movies I've seen in the past few years.
Probably one of its greatest features is that it's purposedly minimalistic, and yet it's also a masterpiece that will make you shiver (but truly shiver), and want to think and talk about it long after it's over.
If you're one of the lucky ones, that is.

This movie (surely THE best Spanish one I've seen to date) is probably one of the most realistically haunting experiences you'll find in a screen up until this moment. Everything in it, from the most insignificant, ordinary thing, to the truly surreal and hard to believe ones, is presented in the most perfect possible way and in all its aspects: acting, pace, action - reaction moments, emotions... you name it, and I'll add it here for you. It's simply that good.

Now, the filming.
If I had to depend on previous movies to explain what kind of movie is [REC], I'd say it's a clear refinement of a mixture between The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield (by the way, if you feel like talking about ripping off issues, do yourself a favor, and do your homework properly before bringing that up). Better than either one of them. Better than the two combined.
And that's actually saying much, as I really liked both.

Another brilliant highlight of this movie. It's as intense as they come, it's all going up until the end, it has a very short length (nowadays, less than an hour is either insane or brilliant. In this case, it's both.), and yet not even once you see them rushing things.

And then there's the ending.
Exactly how it should be.
I wouldn't change a thing, and that's something you very rarely see me saying, specially about an ending.

And children.

Long review.
Longer than it should.

Bottom line: if you know me, and somehow understand why I rated this movie as I did, and if you feel that you somehow relate yourselves with it...
Then don't waste anymore time, and go watch it.

Maybe, in the end, you'll be as lucky as I was.

Muy bien España!
La mejor película de horror de los últimos años!

What would you be willing to do to in order to survive?
A sick movie that continuously tests the boundaries of human sanity.

Twisted, schizophrenic, original, and with the modern version of the Bates Motel!
If you still haven't seen this one... MOVE!

I was very young the first time I watched this. I only recall the place I was, a couple of emotions attached to it and the main subject in which the movie dwelt. For all of this, the movie left its mark at that time.
I've watched again recently.
Several times.
Polanski is a genius. No doubt about it. But what he is able to accomplish with Rosemary's Baby goes slightly beyond that.
This movie is horror. But it's not today's horror.
It's horror in its purest form.
True evil, darkness, madness, paranoia, delusion, ... it can all be felt here. And all wrapped in an apparent context of normality. Brilliant.
"At first I thought I started reading a soap opera. But then I found myself reading it at four in the morning with my eyes burning."
This was what Roman Polanski said about the time he began reading the novel.
I completely understand him. And that is what you get if you truly let yourself be involved in the movie.
One of Polanski's greatest achievements as a director is his ability to suggest. No visual effects. No big budget scenes. Pure mental and spiritual suggestion. This is superbly done in Rosemary's Baby.
But what he suggests, and the way he suggests it is so unspeakable that we find ourselves wondering if we should believe it.
But we do.
And, at a certain level, we want to.
At least I did.
And the seemingly normal atmosphere in which he involves the story is as simple as it's perfect.
The actors (specially the six characters more focused throughout the movie) are pretty close to emotional incarnations. They are so drawn into the story that, at some point, you feel inclined to be drawn with them. You can actually feel their feelings and experience the relationships between them.
Another note goes to the year of its release. 1968. With Rosemary's Baby, Polanski dared to go where no other director had gone before.
At least not like this.

You can appreciate this movie at many levels.
But the best way for one to experience it is to regard it for what it really has to offer.

And that you can only discover by looking deep inside yourselves.

Roman Polanski's masterpiece, along with Rosemary's Baby. A real, true nightmare that continuously defies the viewer's sanity. Some of the scenes get printed in your mind, and if you look at them properly, they will surely haunt you for quite some time.

A brilliant film!
Kathy Bates has an overwhelming performance, one of the best i've seen until today.
And again, a great story by Stephen King.

Jack the Ripper, late 19th century London, opium.
You can't go wrong with this one.
It's a visual explosion, also giving us a great rational script that presents a strong possibility for what was really behind good old Jack's intents. One of my favorites, draws me right into the middle of it everytime i see it.
Say, did i mention opium?
Ehr, i meant Heather Graham...
Nah.
I really meant opium.

One of the best sequels ever. The sense of style in Lecter's way of life is perfectly characterized. Too bad Jodie Foster had to be replaced in this one, though.

I must admit I had very lowered expectations regarding this movie, mainly because I tend to dislike sequels of the movies I truly enjoy, but also because 11 years had gone by since The Silence of the Lambs, and Red Dragon supposedly happened BEFORE, story wise. So I figured something like:"Great... now Lecter will show up looking as old as professor Dumbledore."
By the way, Harry Potter sucks. Really.
I"ve seen him doing it.
Anyway, I thought that would pretty much ruin the chances for me to see an overall coherent movie.
But I was wrong. I mean, Lecter DOES look older in this one, that was somewhat inevitable. But the movie was so good in pretty much all aspects that it didn't bother me the least. Breathtaking performances! Simply put, everyone acted as they should. Fiennes (one of the great actors around these days) pulls off the greatest performance I ever saw coming from him. Don't even need to talk about the brilliance of Hopkins playing (or, once again, "becoming") Lecter or about another genius performance from Norton.
The script stands at the same level as the other two chapters of the story, and Brett Ratner made a great job directing it. Once again, it presents its very own sense of style and depth into it, already achieved in Hannibal.
I recommend this movie to EVERYONE, even for the ones who don't deserve to watch it, cause it...
Ok, let me rephrase that.
I recommend this movie.
Period.

Cronenberg's first display of genius. And it clearly has his name written all over it. Although the main idea may seem somewhat outdated or even pointless by today's standards, it was a guaranteed shock when it came out, nearly 35 years ago. At the time, not many dared to go where Shivers went, and how it went.
Simple - at least, as simple as a Cronenberg Sci-fi Horror can be - yet very effective. Some scenes are visually very powerful and disturbing. Great make-up achievement for the time.

The acting is average, but as this is usually the case in early Cronenberg's movies, I'd say this was not exactly his main priority in his early stages.
His ultimate goal was to deliver a message. A message revolved in blood, disgust, evolution and primal instincts. Rabid, The Brood, Scanners, The Fly and, in a way, even The Dead Zone are, like Shivers, prime examples of that attempt.

A cult director with a unique vision (which he kept, in my opinion, until The Fly, but that went downhill from there), bringing us his first cult movie.

Highly recommendable, especially if you relate yourself with this director.

The original trailer is simply one of the most eerily gripping ones ever released.

"We're gonna do this the scanner way.
I'm gonna suck your brain dry!"

As I revisit most of Cronenberg's early work, I realize this director truly deserves to be among my favorites. Scanners makes use of a highly original premise, not so much with the subject itself, but with the way it portrays it. Back in those days, it took something special to talk about ESP phenomena such as psychokinesis and telepathy the way Cronenberg did, shaping and adjusting it into a factual, scientific discussion.

Like most of this director's early work, Scanners relies on average acting, powerful message deliverance - social criticism is not unusual to find in his movies -, and shocking visual scenes that were sure to haunt you in those days.
The combination is, as usual, explosive.
Literally, in this case.

Again, this movie can definitely be recommendable if you get what I'm on about, and if you relate yourself with such a specific genre and way of directing.

This is not a horror movie. It's not a sci-fi movie either.
This between both.

It's a Cronenberg.

If you're happy with that, then Scanners is for you.


And you and I will get along just fine.
Hopefully.

I have a strange, irrational feeling that most people will not like The Poughkeepsie Tapes.

I trust that all the idiotic doubts as to whether this movie was or wasn't based on true events are dissipated by now. It does not use real footage, nor is it based on true events, other than being loosely inspired by the serial killer case of Kendall Francois, a redneck-like creature who lived in Poughkeepsie, NY and killed several prostitutes in the Poughkeepsie area, during the late 90s. Therefore in this case, reality is much more dull and uninteresting than fiction.

The serial killer portrayed in this movie is far from being a redneck. His level of disturbance surpasses the normal definition of insanity. His boundaries go way beyond the mundane concept of murder and torture. His means are much more than a simple sadistic self-indulgence.

But I digress.
Plus, I am starting to sound like an admirer more than anything else.
And I hate to digress.

If one already knows what to expect when one chooses to watch The Poughkeepsie Tapes, and if one is still willing to do so, then it's highly probable that this will result in a rewarding, albeit draining experience. I suppose it falls under the category of those movies that either draw you or don't. And if they do, then this work is highly conceptualized and executed to capture your attention, interest and emotions throughout.

The camera work is one of a supposed documentary enriched with parts of real footage, i.e. steady filmed interviews crossed with shaky, dark and sometimes unclear shots of what was supposedly filmed by the human centerpiece of this movie. But, even without showing too much, several scenes are haunting in the little they show and in what they make you feel, and will be haunted by what your perception adds to them. That is probably one of the greatest achievements of this cinematic effort.

Almost every single actor in this movie is anonymous, and can't act (although there are a few and notable exceptions). The latter would account for two things:

1) the reason why they are anonymous;

2) (in this very specific case,) the higher degree of realism depicted, which creeps inside your skin while you watch what's being unfolded before your eyes: a horrific display of human psychopathy, relentless, uncompromising, with the satisfaction of the Id as its sole motivator, and with no feelings other than the visceral ones resulting from his actions.

The Poughkeepsie Tapes, an unexpected, disturbing and obscure pleasure for the eye and for the deepest, untapped realms of your soul.

Enjoy.

(Hint: four out of five means they could still do better.)

If it weren't for a couple of goofs, this movie would be close to perfection. The content in which the movie is based is very intense and heavy. This is not for everyone.

This one was really surprising! One of the best horror movies made in the past few years. I started to see this one with no expectations other that to have a few laughs... and in the end i was stunned.

When you think about Japanese horror movies, you usually think of nothing.
Because most of you don't watch Japanese horror movies.

But the ones who do, think of titles like Ju-on, Ringu, Honogurai mizu no soko kara (Dark Water), Rinne, Ôdishon and the likes.
Which makes Kansen a totally underrated movie.
This one sits right at the top along with the best J-Horror pictures. Kansen is a truly claustrophobic, unsettling, atmospherically haunting film, if you let yourself be absorbed by it.
This is not an easily understandable film, and the way I see it, several interpretations are possible, when you get to the end of the movie.
The actings are... well, Asian like, so if you know what I mean, you know what to expect, in terms of visuals and dialogues.
Now, some of the things may seem to have script or acting flaws, here and there. But no. I had my share of Asian horror to realize that a lot of the elements displayed are ultimately symbolic and lots of the characters presented have their own archetypal imagery in which they sometimes dwell. And Kansen is no exception.

If you like weird, uncomfortable movies with "punch in the face" kind of twists, then this is the one for you.

But if you're still not convinced, then take a look at the list that sold me off:
- needles;
- blood;
- creepy hospital;
- creepy characters;
- creepy old lady;
- scary, skinny Asian nurses;
- scary, skinny Asian nurses using needles.

If you somehow find yourself unable to become aroused by the list above displayed...
Then it's clear that I'm not the one with issues, am I?

...Am I?

It never ceases to amaze me how can Japanese directors continuously succeed in a genre where American directors, with all their high budgets and prone conditions, usually fail.

Yes, the Japanese culture has a more symbolic and spiritual vision of things, movie wise.
Yes, Japanese directors are usually brilliant when it comes to create eerie movie atmospheres.
Yes, Japan is Oprah Winfrey free.

But I still don't think that explains it all.

Once again, with Rinne, they deliver a masterpiece of horror and insanity. Japanese storytelling all the way. The usual pace is there too, although this one kicks off a little sooner. The direction style is typical of any good Asian horror story, as is the acting.
Apart from all that, and on a more particular note, Rinne displays a somewhat common idea in an interesting, original way, giving us some chilling moments and some unexpected twists along the ride.

Well worth watching!

I often tend to say that Asian cinema is pretty much like an Ashley Tisdale dismemberment.

A personal investment.

Which if you find the right amount of time to spare, will prove to be an extremely rewarding experience.

I am not going to write a review, because this movie doesn't deserve one.
It deserves a human sacrifice.

And I am not joking.

You know, the more I keep seeing old-school movies, the more I realize I should have been born in another time.
When you compare it with your average horror / slasher movies of today, Black Christmas beats the crap out of pretty much all of them. Now, when you realize that this was released in 1974, it becomes more than a movie.
It becomes a statement.
It portrays a psychotic situation in an extremely realistic way, which used to be a distinctive feature of horror movies at the time. The emotions are appropriate and well presented, which means that both the script and the acting are quite good.
Although the main subject may seem common and even overexploited nowadays, it wasn't like that in the seventies. Plus, Black Christmas delivers it in a rather unusual way, one we're not used to see in the genre, even if you count movies until this date.
And it certainly doesn't have to rely on gore or visual effects to give you the creeps, now and then, making use of some great and sometimes subtle techniques and situations.
Be sure not to miss it.

And, if you have the chance, make sure to watch it with your family on a cozy Christmas's eve night.
They're gonna love it.
And who knows, you might even feel in the mood for some role playing afterwards.

At least that's what I would do.
Except I don't believe in Christmas.

Excellent!

I must say I was greatly divided whether I should give this one 3 and a half or 4 stars. And though I ended up going with the first choice, I must assume that it probably deserved more than that.

"Then why the hell didn't you give it 4 stars, you fucking stupid asshole???", you ask?

Easy.

Because I really am a fucking stupid asshole.

You can feel that this is a Stephen King's story pretty much throughout the entire movie. There's this eerie evil feeling that dwells in most of his horror stories, and you quickly become aware of it in this one.
The mind games presented are pure gold (some of the scenes actually reminded me of Roman Polanski's masterpiece, The Tenant) and the acting is overall pretty good (bigger spotlight going obviously to Cusack's acting), and it has its own sense of style, specially inside the room.
But then again, the room DOES have quite a character... so I guess having its own sense of style isn't that far out. Even for a room.

There was only one thing I didn't like that much in it: the ending. But I'll leave it alone, since it's a novel adaptation, and it somehow has to follow the same story structure.

Overall, probably one of the best movies this year.

So, if you like the genre, Stephen King stories, Evil that checks in, mind games, movies with a number instead of a proper title, orgies, hotels, hotel rooms, hotel lobbies, hotel maids, grilled cheese, Paris Hilton's last poodle, Samuel L. Jackson, suicidal tendencies and country music...

Then you're not a normal person.


(I just saw the alternative ending version of this movie.

Now THAT's an ending.

So naturally my rating had to be revised.)

Now, see how can I also be not so unpleasant?

What a nice surprise!
This had pretty much everything you can think of to work out awfully wrong (especially for me, as I tend to dislike this kind of theme), but it turned out to be quite the opposite. Darabont is becoming quite a regular when it comes to adapt King's stories to the big screen, and he keeps doing a good job at it.

Surely one of the best of 2007.
Not that it had that much competition to begin with.
But still, it deserves to be praised.

Can't actually write that much about it, as I would probably ruin some parts. It's one of those that the less you know when you start to see it, the better.

Suffice it to say that the eerie, creepy feeling typical in King's novels is there.
You sense it throughout pretty much the entire movie, and that's a big plus when one is trying to accomplish something good with King's work.

As for the cast, brilliant job in gathering it.
Thomas Jane has a performance that was perfect at all levels. You may regard this opinion of mine as an overstatement, because it's not exactly an oscar nominee role, but if that's the case, let me try to express my feelings about it:

- for the most part of it, it is indeed far from a brilliance prone role, but that's what makes it clever. He's able to be completely low profile when he has to, and when he has to "explode"... he really pulls off a tremendous job, coherent, down to earth and emotionally very believable;

- I don't fucking care.

Another side note goes for Marcia Gay Harden. She was able to be, literally speaking, one of THE most irritating God fearing freaks I've ever seen.
I still wanted to fill her mouth with rat poison long before the movie was over.

I think I still do.

But that's probably also because me and God have some issues.

But despite all this, clearly the biggest outcome of The Mist was saved for the end. I know there are some people who liked it, and some who didn't.

As for me, I can honestly say it was one of the most genius ones I've came across with so far.
Perfect display of human emotions.

You certainly won't forget it anytime soon.
Or at least you shouldn't.

ALL HAIL THE KING!

I honestly don't know how I was able to stay this long without coming across with this movie.
BRILLIANT! It continuously defies the boundaries of sanity. Until the very end. It's dark, it's twisted, it's painful, it's pure anguish... it's a nightmare.
An horrific one.
In spite of that, it also presents subtle nuances that, here and there, are able to help you understand what's really happening. It's a very cleaver work, no doubt about it.
Tim Robbins does a hell of a job. Though he is, in my opinion, a great actor, he really outdoes himself in the role of Jacob Singer. The rest of the cast doesn't do bad either.
If they had somehow been able to preserve that dark atmosphere throughout the entire movie, getting rid of some not exactly needed parts... then this movie would be pretty much perfect.
And, besides all this... it ends with a fist in your face.
Which is a wise move, if you ask me.
You probably deserve it.
The only real bad / pathetic thing about it: some scenes feature Macaulay Culkin.
Worse.
He actually gets to talk in a couple of them.

Mario Bava is considered by many the Godfather of several genres and filming techniques. His extensive work is regarded as highly influential for, among others, the gothic horror, giallo, atmospheric suspense, J-Horror (yes, J-Horror) and slasher styles. Popular directors such as Scorsese, Tarantino, Dario Argento, Joe Dante, Tim Burton, Coppola and Guillermo del Toro paid Bava an artistic tribute by adopting some of his techniques and sense of style (sometimes even an exact reproduction of a particular scene) in several of their works.

I tre volti della paura - Black Sabbath - is part of his Unholy Trinity, if you will, along with La Maschera del demonio - Black Sunday - and Reazione a catena - A Bay of Blood (although some may argue that movies like Operazione paura - Kill Baby, Kill - or Sei donne per l'assassino - Blood and Black Lace - also deserve a place in the podium). It's not as visually gothic as the first nor as gory as the latter, but it wasn't intended to be. And whilst the three stories comprised in it are quite simple and not incredibly original (with the exception, perhaps, of the twist in the first segment "Il telefono"), and I'm actually considering 1960's standards, the way they are presented is more than enough to lock one's attention throughout the entire film. The disturbing display of colours and picture stylization, which is one of the most distinguishable traits in Bava's cinematography, is particularly well worked and balanced in I tre volte della paura, especially in the middle segment, "I Wurdalak". Although it's not the best story of the three, the gloomy and darkened landscapes are able to drag one's mind right into it.

This movie benefits from an extended contribution from the horror icon Boris Karloff himself, who opens the festivities with an introduction, plays a role in "I Wurdalak" and ends the movie with a message to the viewers. And while he lives up to his acting standards in the tale he stars in, and his introduction is more than welcome, his final commentary (note that he is obviously not the one to blame for this) is completely unnecessary and a painful mood killer, particularly after such a macabre tale as "La goccia d'acqua". This happened simply because Bava ended up giving in to the pressure of his American distribution company, who feared the last segment was too strong and visually nightmarish to end the movie with, making him add a comic final comment and ultimately a visual joke, personified in Karloff. This moment alone makes it very difficult for me to consider the film as a top notch achievement, or as Bava's finest hour. It's just that bad, and unnervingly out of context. Such a movie should not have any humurous moment, otherwise it risks ruining everything it built before. And with this particular scene, it nearly did.
Yet, luckily, it didn't.

So all things considered, I tre volti della paura stands, by its own right, as one of the most influential horror movies of its decade, along with titles like Hitchcock's Psycho or The Birds, Peeping Tom, Polanski's Repulsion or Rosemary's Baby, The Haunting, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane, The Innocents, the Hammer horror productions, Night of the Living Dead or Bava's very own La Maschera del Demonio.
And for that reason alone, it should be considered compulsory viewing for any self-proclaimed true horror aficionado.

There is not much left to say about Polanski's genius. Namely about his early one.

Let's try, nevertheless.

Repulsion is the first of the so called "Apartment Triology". Before Rosemary's Baby. Before Le Locataire. Before color appeared in his movies. Before most of people even thought about dwelling in a similar subject and turn it into a movie.
But that's one of the things that describes Polanski best.
Vision.

I've been meaning to see this movie for a long time. Never got into the right mood for it (because you really need to be facing the right direction for this kind of movie, and I was already expecting it).
Until now.

I can't say I liked it better than any of my two Polani's favorites, already mentioned.
But I can say I'm far from disappointed.

In Repulsion - the title is as brilliant as it is fittable -, you slowly witness a downward spiral of claustrophobia, schizophrenia, mental twistedness and self-destructive paranoia. And although it eventually comes to a point where it starts to become physically disturbing, you end up "enjoying" it at several levels.
At least I did.

A warning regarding the pace, though.
If you're familiar with Polanski's early work, then you know what to expect. It is not a fast paced movie. Nor was it supposed to be. In fact, if one does not allow himself to indulge in the pleasures of such a mind breaking movie, one might even find it boring, every now and then.

Too bad.

Your loss.

First of all, this movie is not for everyone. It's slow for the most part of it, it's not one of those "powerful" movies we usually see in the genre (and I'm talking about both good and bad ones here), and it's european.

That said, I found Spoorloos to be pretty close to brilliant. And what makes it that way is its grip of reality. This is a very common story told in an extremely convincing way. No hollywoodisms whatsoever here. No heroes or villains. Not in that usual movie sense, at least. And yet, we get to see a masterpiece of sociopathic display without even giving it much thought.
Until the end, that is. Which actually nailed me to the chair for a few minutes, trying to figure out why can't today's movies be more like this: simple yet provocative and painfully real.
And when Spoorloos is over, you immediately realize why it was made for an european audience and not for an american blockbuster one.
We can take it.
They can't.

NOTE: Do NOT watch the remake. Gladly I haven't. Though I accidentally bumped into the script of the american version. And after having a look at it, I came to the conclusion that this remake is one of the best arguments to sustain the theory that remakes should not exist.

And I'm not just talking about the fact that Sandra Bullock stars in it.

It's not easy at all to review a movie like this. For several reasons, but mainly because it draws, by its own fault, a very thin line between success and failure.

Gladly, Cloverfield was able to make the best out of it.

Brilliant filming, extreme intensity and the ability to constantly lure the viewer into the story environment are three characteristics VERY hard to find in one single movie. Specially in today's cinema.
Surprisingly enough, this one was able to pull that off as well.

I understand why lots of people will probably think that this is a "been there, done that" kind of film.
But they couldn't be more wrong.
Well, actually they could...
Specially if they truly believe Ben Affleck can act.
Or think.

No. Although, divided in smaller aspects, it can be regarded as common, in its whole this movie is a completely different and original thing. The filming is sheer magnificence, the amount of info given throughout is perfectly adjusted, the length is exactly what such a story demands and the acting is, for the most part, sincere and compelling. And the way all these aspects are combined turns this into a very enjoyable experience.

Though obviously, I still prefer bondage.

But don't get me wrong. It has its flaws and bad choices, and a couple of them would be, in any other movie, more than enough for me to lower this rating considerably.
But it clearly offers much more than it takes out, which, again, is extremely hard to achieve in this kind of picture.

So, for all the things stated above, Cloverfield will certainly stand out as one of the greatest endeavors in 2008 cinema.

One final note.
Due to the peculiar way this picture is filmed, my strong sense of morality compels me to warn those who have a tendency for dizziness, migraines or even common headaches.
So this is my advice to you.

Stop being such a pussy.

And watch this movie.

This is a strong one. Same subject as 8MM, but without the "hollywood atmosphere". Although some things in the story are a bit predictable, and others tend to work out TOO well, it keeps you wondering possibilities almost until the end. And the roughness of the spanish language is always a plus in this kind of movies.

From the past comes this true gem packed with four solid old-school horror tales, which have the likable yet creepy character of the great Peter Cushing and his little "shop of horrors" as their binding element.
The movie was released in 1973, based on some of Chetwynd-Hayes stories, and captures the luring macabre feeling of the seventies' horror. Of all the four segments - The Gate Crasher, An Act of Kindness, The Elemental and The Door -, the first two are probably the ones with an inner sense of realism truly capable of crawling under your skin.
If you're into that sort of inner sense of realism, obviously.

Angela Pleasence's character in An Act of Kindness is easily the eeriest one in all the short tales. Daughter of Donald Pleasence (in this segment as in real life), her presence is awkwardly uncomfortable from start to finish, and you always feel that there is something frightening and hypnotizing about the character. The end of this segment is a very interesting one to watch.
This is not to say the other stories pale in comparison to this one. On the contrary. By revolving such different stories around the shopkeeper's character, Kevin Connor (I'm completely unfamiliar with the rest of his work, most of it series and TV films, but I must say, based on my quick and ridiculously random research, it doesn't look too impressive) manages to create a coherent downward spiral of madness and supernatural horror, in which the stories fit and, what is more, complement themselves in a subtle sort of way.
Probably the only bone I have to pick relates to Margaret Leighton's character in The Elemental, a medium who should've chosen a career in drama (or comedy) instead. Too much.
Yes, I understand the intent.
But it is still too much.
Nevertheless, this is a very little thing when you weigh the overall package you get.

If you enjoy short, good old horror stories, of the likes of Hammer House of Horror series, some of the Tales From the Crypt episodes, or even the macabre side of The Twilight Zone series, then From Beyond the Grave is definitely for you.

Leave your apparent sanity at the door, please.

This one had been on my "Must see" list for long, now.
Too long.

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer should be compulsory viewing for true fans of the genre. What genre, you ask?

Hard to say.
But the greatest accomplishment of this film is definitely its grip of realism. Sometimes it's intense, sometimes it's slow, sometimes it's surprising, sometimes it's very sick and perverse.
But it's always real.

Keeping in mind that it was NOT intended to portray Henry Lee Lucas in an accurate way, the movie has the ability to pull you in, to make you a part of it as a spectator, because it gives you absolute freedom.
It has no morale.
It does not judge.
It's simply there, waiting for your perception to match its eyes.
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is completely free from interpretations, until it meets you.

So I suppose what you make of this movie tells more about you than it seems at a first glimpse.

Which is definitely not easy to pull off in cinema.

This one lives up to its reputation.
Great achievement.