Horror Movies Not to Miss

First saw this as a young kid and it was scalded into my mind (much like Return of the Living Dead or It). When I purchased the DVD in my teens, I still loved it. Reviewing it today, it's still a great horror concept awesomely executed, though my high rating is due to my high like of the characters and setting of this flick. A must-see for horror fans or Barkerites.

the most poetic vampire film I have ever seen. Beautiful, emotional, raw, engaging, and vastly under-seen and under-rated.

Horror Not to Miss List Commentary:
Ramp Noir is comprised of four short pieces all based upon the writings of valued horror writer Edogawa Rampo. The first is the most art-house, avant-garde, lacking sound and existing within a world of its own colors and kineticism. The next is an astoundingly creepy detective horror with a superb mythical-meets post-modern/surreal ending. The third is one of the most beautiful disgusting movies you'll ever see, with much astute - no, plain genius - subtext. The final piece feels like a good end, as it has the least ambiguous conclusion and the most gratuitous beautifully rendered decay and madness.
Everyone should see this so that they can know what proper modern horror film is supposed to be.

"So Fucked Up" highlight:
wife simultaneously copulates with and tortures her crippled mute husband, who sort of likes it

A new benchmark for slasher films. I love the self-referential genre film, especially one executed as nicely as this one (all puns intended). I hope this is the start of a gagillion Les movies. Dark, ironic, and revealing in theme, the story flows well. I found the killer to be genuinely scary, both in art design and character pschology.

the most visually astonishing vision of hell to ever be rendered on screen

The premise of The Crazies receives the treatment and production the concept deserves in this new flick. Enough blood to satisfy any media vamps out there, and more than enough story to hold the cynical horror fan tendencies at bay. Some nice little scenes of insanity, and I don't want to give anything away because you should just see it. There are a few things the discerning viewer would gripe about, but compared to its contemporaries, this is a freshly sliced chunk of violent psychological horror that implements enough fun little cinematic techniques to tickle even the staunchest of classical film students. This is a horror film that I can confidently recommend to those outside the horror hound camp; this is a damn good scary movie as well as a thoughtfully structured tale and depiction. See it!

A good intro to select horror classics of the 70s. The best part of this documentary is that it is padded by interviews with the directors and film-makers. This group of film-makers examines the themes and subtext of their own and their peers' work, and how this greatly affected the path horror film-making took afterwards. Also, you might find a gem you haven't gotten around to yet.

Horror Not to Miss List Commentary:
I recommend you obtain the fully-featured DVD version of this, as many of the purposefully unanswerable questions about production that the movie raises are all answered in a documentary featurette and an "only when relevant" commentary from director Deodato and the movie's main protagonist. This film is infamous because it sparked legal action regarding the use of animals in film and the director Deodato was arrested under suspicion of murdering his actors (he didn't kill any people) and the film was banned in virtually every country, and had the unconfirmed reputation of being "the most banned movie in history".
Besides all that great hoop-la and film history, Cannibal Holocaust has got a great premise and the tactic of showing "found documentary footage" that is consuming the horror genre now, though 'The Blair Witch Project' is usually credited in mainstream sources with this innovation. Some extremely brutal scenes that leave no question in the viewer's mind as to why audiences thought all or most of the violence was real.

"So Fucked Up" highlight: the adultery punishment ritual

Re-watched this again a few days ago. Has gotten cheesier with age and I can, for once, see why a remake might be justified as every plot point that isn't gore or grotesque related is flimsy and paperthin. For example, keeping that girl as their sort of "pet", who is supposed to be the protagonist, is really odd and feels misplaced. The relationship between her and the farmer is not believable because neither actor is trying to sell it.

Onto the goodness: the "farmer's" whole process is great. Any scenes with the grounded people are fascinating and funny yet scary. The part which I remembered from childhood, which I still really love today, is when the ground people have escaped and begin their zombie-like descent upon the farmhouse; the lighting is great and it's one of the better examples of making victims frightening to the audience. The chainsaw showdown is great because although illogical to don a pig head mask, it's damn weird and creepy.

Must-see horror. Best to go into this knowing nothing. A new classic, with some of the most gripping gore to splatter the screen in decades. This is one of those movies where I feel the only substantial thing I have to say is, "Why haven't you seen this yet?"

After a second screening, I've noticed some cool details: the address of the house is 666, the film uses fade wipes not to indicate passage of much time but to indicate a shift in perspective (except for once towards the very end), the first time the killer is in the house her shadow appears pregnant. As I recall from the first screening, the house feels incredibly womb-like and I still can't exactly decipher how the director does this other than pure pacing, tension, some of the soundtrack, and the story itself. The sound is brilliant and is responsible for making the kills seem so immediate and vicious. The whole final scene, but especially that final creepy shot is excruciatingly horrifying to the extent that it almost makes me want to quit the horror genre. Few films have delivered such genuine and unforgettable scares. I was left genuinely frightened and creeped out at the conclusion, feeling that same residual horror that The Exorcist leaves stained upon your brain. I'm ratcheting this up to five stars.
"So Fucked Up" highlight: supposedly dead and eyeless policeman rises and fights back

Horror Not to Miss List Commentary:
Vincent Price, in glorious color with an AMAZING primary set, plays an ingenious serial killer who kills his victims in odd ways, the scenes of which are still innovative and original in today's market. The film also holds onto Prince's signature Gothic horror themes with the character of Phibes and his lair. A vastly underrated Price movie, and a hugely underseen horror classic.

Horror Not to Miss List Commentary:
Great cinematography and a Gothic plot quite controversial for a feature film on its time. Compared to Hitchcock's Psycho in terms of visual language, it does deliver but didn't strike me as the "perfect piece" it was hyped to me as. Still, most viewers will be able to bite into this a bit more firmly, as my big gripe was predictability of this film within the whole of Gothic horror tales.

I had a gigantic article praising this cheese romp but it was either lost in the shuffle or removed because of the naughty language oooh

Anyways see this flick if you want great satire of the oddest movie genre in history (zombies).

"So Fucked Up" highlight:
couple of zombie hos beat a four foot zombie penis with ketchup and mustard containers for all of their mutually assured sexual pleasure

Second/third screening: see it for the B movie it is, but still an essential step in Romero's career. I think the only thing failing him is the budget; given bigger production values, this could have been a much better movie and potentially a classic.

First screening reaction:
This is awesome!!! Solid acting, stunning action, interesting story concept and well executed plot, and wow doesn't Romero know how to use 35mm for his first time! It's clear to see from this movie how the director's subsequent film was a watershed work.

Horror Not to Miss List Commentary:
This German film centers around the fictional alliance of medical professionals who believe in a credo antithetical to the Hippocratic Oath, that is their goal is to advance science without regard for the patient instead of vowing to preserve the patient's life above all other duties. This features some of the better effects I've seen in a long time, as the med students of the anti-Hippocratic order use their classmates to make groundbreaking educational installations of human anatomy. Set within the med school, the central heroine gets keen to this practice, and must unravel what is going on before she ends up as the next feature in her professors' exhibit. The plot doesn't get more interesting beyond that, but the gore is amazing and the anatomic installations are beautiful.

solid indie horror flick. great production, good acting, fun gore scenes, interesting and humorous characters.

"So Fucked Up" highlight:
the "installation" that is really real

I watched the whole August Underground series in one go, and this is the only movie I kept in my collection. It's the most extreme, feels the most natural and charged, and finally does the good deed of working with three killers. A vast improvement over the first and far better than its followup; perhaps that has something to do with the fact that Fred Vogel is no longer charged with directing. This is extreme for snuff even, with the most intense scene involving a severed penis rape. Perfect balance between camera quality and effects quality (effects are extremely high quality and better than most professional productions). The visual quality is compromised on purpose to capture the handheld/found footage aesthetic and of all three movies this strikes the best balance between overplanninng and underplanning in terms of shot composition and how much jerky hand tremble shooting is allowed. A great extreme movie, and the only entry in the August Underground series worthy of notice.

"So Fucked Up" highlight: forcing guy to cut his own penis off, the friend's basement playroom

Horror Not to Miss List Commentary:
This middle movie of Herschell Gordon Lewis' Blood trilogy offers a great contrast of the grotesque with large celebration. The acting gets a bit annoying, and any gore hound will complain that their isn't enough blood on the screen, but I think what is there and what is implied is sufficient. I get tired of the victims wandering about befuddled and acting poorly in a "middle of a Twilight Zone episode" sort of way, but it pays off when those scenes cut to a killing ritual occuring simultaneously on the other side of town. Don't waste your time with the over-gored and shitty remake '2001 Maniacs' until you've watched Lewis' hugely influential piece.
"So Fucked Up" highlight:
the barrel roll

I actually like this one better than the first Demons, because I think Bava is allowed more freedom and expression on his set. The plot may start slow and unsteady, but once the gore kicks in, this movie moves at the perfect pace for horror. I love the strong tone of trapped dense panic in the garage scene. This scene feels more realistic than Demons, as realistic as giallo is allowed to be .

This is such a fun exploitation flick. It suffers from a few filming problems (jump cuts that don't reveal what just happened, esp the race against the random "Boy Next Door" at the beginning). A great thriller story, and you can clearly see the influence on today's directors, especially Tarantino, and the rumor that he would do a remake of this has been reported numerous times on cinephile sites, but he sort of did his version of this with Death Proof and the Kill Bill films.
For my horror fan friends, this isn't horror perse but it is a very cool psychological thriller you need to check out if you have appreciation for compelling story as opposed to just gore. The body count is plenty high, but the accent here is on the distinctive characters and this odd world they've happened into. A must-see for anyone interested in film history as this film personifies much of the commonalities in exploitation film and bridges the gap between the masters of the 50s and the upped visual ante of the 70s.

"So Fucked Up" highlight:
conclusion of the story

For people who can still appreciate something made in the prior century (and those numbers are dwindling), Murnau's vision of "Faust" begins with what was at the time a revolutionary visual, and still today is a provacative and effective image. There are any many variations on Faust, and I like the plot details of this one the best. The Faust and Mephistopheles are well acted; I particularly like the facial expressions of this Faust.

8-17-08: Been a week since I finished the Hellraiser series in one go. Parts of this and the end of the first movie are the only images sticking with me (and scaring me!). The corpse scene in 'Deader' is firmly planted in my fear garden and I can easily see myself setting up a nightmare in which I am on the Deader ritual table. Added half a star, even though I still hate the plot and think the head Deader wasn't cast well.
______
This entry has potential, as there are some really cool sets, a decent lead, and a return to a more Cenobite-grounded story. But the mistake this movie makes is not making any sense whatsoever. With any sort of subjectively/cryptically ordered plot with dream or hallucination sequences, things get tricky for writers and teh audience can quickly be left behind if the director can't put the right visual cues on screen to make up for what the writers didn't do. This movie can't pick up that slack, so it's story becomes quickly frustrating.
PLOT SPOILERS BEGIN: I don't think there needed to be another reference to the leMerchant line because that was what ALL of Bloodline was about! And it does NOT at all explain how this Merchant descendant is able to harness supernatural powers. I get that he's trying to solve the lament configuration by using other people, but I don't understand how he is able to bring them back from the dead as deaders, or how he is able to elude Pinhead's powers using these people as buffers, which would seem to me that these people would just make him more vulnerable to Cenobite attack than fortified against it.
SPOILERS END
Anyway, now I'm totally fed up with most of the movies ending by Pinhead doing the signature chains-n-hooks tears you apart sequence made famous by Barker's work in the first entry, and this movie gives us another one.

This movie did creep me out on some levels though. In terms of making me weirded out by freaky Euro trash scenes, this is a million times better or cooler than Hostel because this is actually freaky, whereas Hostel is just fuckin funny and stupid. The scene with our heroine and the corpse in the beginning of the movie, who becomes a secondary character, is pretty damn cool and memorable - great cinematography and shot angles (someone actually tried!). If the script wasn't so supremely muddy and indecipherable, like most of the Hellraiser movies, I'd be mass recommending this, even with the worst ever ending chain-hooks sequence in BAD BAD CGI.

Even though, it's 35 minutes before the plot launches into kill mode, it is obviously time well spent, as the characters feel like real people that I actually cared about. Considering that the premise is Rat-People, this is a very well written and engaging horror movie; in an age of overwhelming mediocre horror scripts, this story is refreshing, and if I were a rat, it'd be simply *the* cheese. Acting wise, the bit parts reveal some green talent, but the main cast are all pretty natural actors who maintain believable people, very hard in horror. The infected people/creatures of Mulberry Street, in terms of design and scare factor, are on par with Argento's Demons or some of Jackson's odder creatures in Braindead, and better than the rage victims of the "28 Later" series or Snyder's running zombies from 04's "Dawn" remake. I'd like to see some more rat people movies, but I just hope they're as compelling in terms of story and acting as this movie is. Talking of the image now, I love it. There is no huge focus on any particular kill or gore scene, but, for once, the editing works in conjunction well with handheld to create a sense of tension that does not require heavily calculated gore shots to scare the audience. This is a great and fun indie flick, and I hope to see more from this director.

Instead of watching a crap modern American horror movie, indulge in this evenly paced supernatural thriller. The dubs on the version I saw surely did not do the actors justice (they dub screams and sobs as well as dialogue). The gore scenes are evenly placed from each other, but linked together by compelling setup scenes. When the gore does kick in, we are introduced to some incredible visuals and also truly inventive ways to be killed. My only genuine criticism of this movie is that it is not good as other modern Asian horror, but that still makes it five heads above any recent Lions Gate releases.
Every horror fan MUST see the "snails" scene in this flick, it is too badass to skip.

"So Fucked Up" highlight:
the snails sequence

This is standard Asian shock horror (or Asian Extreme as the dsitributor would like you to label this genre of new ultra-gory ultra-absurd, yet incredibly realistic towards the portrayal of absurd violence, movies).
I liked the first 'Art of the Devil'; the story/script, as is typical for Asian shock imports, is much more amped, with more twists, and certainly more characters than the first movie, and certainly more than an American audience would get in a ported release. Instead of one twist in your typical shite American scareflick, you get about five. Instead of one character with a dark past, the majority of main characters have bloody and nasty secrets. And I say "gimme more, more, more" because that's the way this genre works. Americans screw up imports of similar titles to this by simplifying the plot (less writers to pay), scaling down the amount of characters (less actors to pay), copying the gore scenes essentially cut for cut, but then KEEP all the plot holes and continuity errors and DROP the consistent pacing, which in a "gorefest", these plot/script flaws are only excusable when they are done to the max as in Asian horror. So mindfick me all you want, just do it as much as you can, like this movie does, or else the movie will suck. The only annoying thing in this movie is that it is dubbed instead of subbed, but I'd rather that over a full-blown American ported version anyway.
I love the aesthetic qualities given to the production design of the blood, ghosts, and, in this movie, featured amphibians and aquatic life. I don't know why, but Asian directors just have a better grasp of what makes a f-ed up scenario look as f-ed as it actually is; meaning I think the kills are amplified and beyond the reach of your typical Dimension or Lions Gate trash. Even compared to the elaborate, and my only favorite of the series, Saw 3, the inventive diabolical behavior and mutilation is effectively executed in this movie to scare or stun me, as oppposed to me laughing at it (I'm talking about Eli Roth And Darren Lyn Bousman in particular here).
I've rated this the same as its predecessor, but I do think it is better and you don't have to see the first to understand this one. The premise is: people put curses on each other and no characters from the two movies cross over so feel free to skip the first, as it is slower paced. While the first really pays off all around, in the non-violent and grotesque scenes, this movie only shines for the grotesque, which is more abundant and equally creative, though if you like this, you must see the first, at least fast forwarding to all the kills, particularly the "snails" murder which is stunningly shot. In this one, the top murder is...tied between the "hooks" and "newts" scene. It's really badass. You gotta see this, horror fans.
"So Fucked Up" highlight:
finding out what's in the fish soup

This is a vastly underseen film, and in my opinion, this film is a Gothic horror classic, and I think this should be on a few more film/media/literature professors' syllabuses. This may be Corman's best work with Price.

Survival horror for the art house crowd, Calvaire has a unique oddness that drives its deranged story straight into the eyeballs of viewers. The horror here is in the insanity of the captors and the atmosphere of the area where the main character is stranded.

If you want silly excessive gore, this is not your movie. If you want a captive survival horror narrative that dares to flirt with believable mental illness and bothers to use the camera and cinematography to tell the story as much as dialogue, this is it.

This is middle of nowhere backwards crazy people done to a perfect chime; look no further for your pigfucking scene needs. I hereby declare that I believe this film is superior to "Deliverance".

"Most fucked up" highlight: the village dancing around the piano

Builds to a great ending. a bit too obsessed with lactation. This is best described as a surrealistic thriller. As usual, Miike makes a list of extreme activities and mashes them together to make grotesquefest. Not as nasty as Visitor Q. Too slowly paced, but some full characters and obviously fantastic visuals.

"So Fucked Up" highlight
the conclusion, and the way in which "Soup Ladle Yakuza Boss" dies

I loved this. Tiny set, never lets up on the strangeness, deals with the occult alongside real-life horrors, and still packs in some great gore.

Using the tinniest of settings - one prison cell - the film stages a grand odyssey and one never tires of the setting.

As usual, I've got to complain that I don't think the trans character was handled in a manner consistent with the aspirations of trans-aware advocate-artists like myself.

All of the (four main and one temporary secondary) characters are complex and intriguing. For once, I'm not really that incensed at a "twist" ending, though I do think it was not appropriately foreshadowed and a montage of clips that were supposed to foreshadow the reveal shown right before the reveal is way too cliche and should have been cut.

Overall, the feeling of being utterly trapped with something so cryptic and powerful and surrounded by dangerous people is perfectly conveyed. I do wonder if there are modern prisons that are this shitty, though.

Frightening for its realism, tight characterization, solid dialogue, and shocking shots, this is a superior examination of serial murders, and not a genre film, but a legitimate drama with psychotic twists.

"So Fucked Up" highlight:
the conclusion

Wes Craven's debut has caused me to have many a debate with other horror fans, who think the movie doesn't have the same ability to shock in today's market, but I was freaked out, whereas most current stuff of this type just makes me laugh. I think the characters have alot, for me, to do with sustaining the fear this movie can generate.

Horror Not to Miss List Commentary:
As so many films have been influenced by this one little no budget indie project (and two of horror's biggest names Craven and Sean Cunningham began their careers with it), it is essential viewing for horror students. And for those who want a movie with realistic killers and fully expressed personalities, watch this instead of your SawHostel tripe.
"So Fucked Up" highlight: forcing the girl to urinate herself (actress really did it on set)

A magnum opus. One thinks of great and iconic first horror films: Craven's "Last House on the Left", Carpenter's "Halloween", Hooper's "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", Romero's "Night of the Living Dead", Argento's "The Bird with Crystal Plumage". And we should be reminded of these as these are the films that the directors, Alexandre Aja and Gregory Levasseur, studied and adored in their youth. More specifically, they wanted to pay tribute to this new form of horror film which emerged in the early to mid 1970s. But this isn't a big allusion-fest, this is a contemporary extreme thriller. Aja and Levasseur have clearly digested the films they've seen and are capable of using that knowledge to create fantastic film.
Horror Not to Miss List Commentary:
THERE IS NO REASON WHY YOU SHOULD NOT SEE THIS FILM.

Most fucked up movie and most fucked up fictional family I've seen yet. Anything extremely taboo is stacked together like a sandwich. Some incest, lactation fetish, forced defecation, rape with a microphone, impromptu murder, regular beatings, and corpsefucking combines with the theme of family values and the cycle of violence and bullying. I defy you to watch this entire movie.

"So Fucked Up" highlight: corpse voids itself of feces whilst father character rapes it and then the family helps dad get his wee wee out of his dead colleague

Only a 5 because it is a childhood fave. And technically, it is flawless in script, acting, cinematography, effects. It's a SMASH A MONSTARRRRR BASH!!

It's great that Wrong Turn was made because that caused Wrong Turn 2 to be made!

This sequel is a hell of an upped ante. More bodies, better kills, more original premise, better script, improved effects. For horror fans, the first movie is just a regurguatation of so much that we've seen already, but Wrong Turn 2 allows itself to be self-deprecating and campy, which makes for a much better flick.

There are some fantastic kill sequences in this flick that I won't soon forget. My favorite is when a girl is perfectly halved, and two creatures each drag a half, leaving minimal blood behind (which means that I think it is staged in a way that it knows this is ludicrous having two perfect body halves, so why make that more outrageous by showing us massive amounts of blood so early on?). Because plenty later, we get all the blood splatter we want, and it's mostly the creature's blood.

This flick has actually got some scary moments, some grotesque moments, some funny moments, and some thrilling action moments. A must watch for horror fans.

"So Fucked Up" highlight:
the creatures giving birth

The rarest of horror films - a slasher where I care about the victims, and a movie that pulls off the "killer is in the house" angle very well. With likeable characters, actual acting, and the few bits of violence coming off as genuinely terrifying, Black Christmas is an undoubted classic. Superior to Friday the 13th and just a rung below Nightmare on Elm Street, this is like Halloween with less blood and without the tight action-movie editing. Also, the killer's eyes scared the absolute shit out of me. People don't call this a classic for no reason - it is. All you need is a plastic bag and a noose.... (well not all you need, but this movie makes damn good use of just those two things).

7-27-08
Re-screened this over my NY/DC trip last week with a huge Rodriguez fan, and I actually taught HIM some things about this movie and gave him a quick education on what the "grindhouse" genre actually is.
Comments I've always needed to write about this film: Not only is this a perfect tribute to its genre, it would fit right along the films it glorifies had you released it 30 years ago. Rodrigues not only fully understands these films, he fully understands how to make one. This is by far the superior movie of the Grindhouse Double Feature, and you can teach people all about grindhouse, exploitation, and giallo simply by going through the film scene by scene and discussing which movie(s) that scene is alluding to. Even for people who don't have an internal image database of those classic flicks, this is still one helluva fun ride that also bothers to treat us to some great dialogue and wonderfully absurdist script. A must see for SO many people, ESPECIALLY fans of the general horror or action genres; this is a great gateway flick to introduce you to the films of days gone by.

"So Fucked Up" highlight: the babysitters

One of my favorite indie vampire flicks ever. Combines road movie and a vampire pack on the hunt, and I don't mind the protagonists' corny buddy scenes tacked in because the vampires are so cool and hard in comparison.

Definitely worth a watch if you just want an entertaining horror flick.

I regret NOT going to see this at the movies, that the reviews got to me, because this is actually damn good.

Remakes are never a good idea, but Aja and Levasseur prove again that if a studio insists on doing it, HIRE AJA. The diamond duo of modern gore showed that they could handle an era remake with "The Hills Have Eyes" and here they prove that they are also suited to adapting new Asian wave.

Keifer Sutherland is the weak point of the film, often lapsing into Jack Bauer mode and overacting. He sort of goes mental with the gun brandishing and frequent shooting (no wonder his character was kicked from the police force) to the extent that it does become silly (especially shooting the mirrors in the front yard).

DP Maxime Alexandre deserves a medal for his work here, as we have some dead-on shots into these mirrors and as Alexandre commented, "When you receive a script called 'Mirrors', it's a cinematographer's nightmare". The art direction is astounding and the department store is beautifully decayed.

There is undoubtedly a constant sense of tension created by this movie, and though I didn't fall for any of the jumpscares, I thought they were handled very well in that they weren't made over-obvious by the score. I found myself constantly checking the screen for reflective surfaces that could be potential antagonists, and on that level, the movie is extremely successful at giving inanimate objects intimidating and creepy qualities.

The final sequence is particularly astounding and I thought the SPOILER demonic nun WAS scary and such an awesome makeup job. SPOILER END

The two biggest gore scenes were a bit ruined by putting them on the internet for advertisement, as the surprise was removed. So if you haven't yet seen the "red band" trailers (or any trailer), DON'T and I believe you will enjoy this film more.

SO much better than mainstream critics AND horror fans have labeled it. Aja and Levasseur aren't breaking new ground here, like they did with Haute Tension, but they ARE making great horror, which is astoundingly rare these days for a major studio release.

First screening: this is a plain thrilling goregasm.

Vinnie Jones - or as I know him from Gervais' and Merchant's "Extras", that footballer bloke who just acts hard though Ross Kemp reckons he could definitely beat him up - does a great butcher. He's a naturally mean looking man and a large solid physique that dwarfs his victims and equals one buff and tough wrestler-like guy who ends up as another meal. Jones has the dead stare nailed down!

I want to read Clive Barker's original story before I comment on plot elements and the script (as I watched crapfest 'Insanitarium' to get a taste of Jeff Buhler's screenwriting skills, and because this is an adaptation, I can't fairly appraise or praise until I've read the source material. UPDATE 2-11-09: Read the story a while back and just now commenting because I have adjusted the score to 1/2 star less while reviewing my Best Horror 2008 list. The short story is very minimalistic and quite open to adding storylines. I like the dramatic changes done to Mr. Brown (the killer) as I think a badass dude like Vinnie Jones is more effective than a pudgy middle-aged geek type (though really either could work with the right direction). The best thing is that screenwriter Buhler adds a great backstory for the protagonist as a fledgling photographer looking to capture gritty reality and land his first break. And the worst bit, which I've mentioned a bit before, is the ending, not just all the added unnecessary action but how the history of the city (and its elders) is not so clear in the film as compared to the story where it is explained and not just nodded at.

I now see what Barker was talking about when it came to fighting to keep this film uncensored, and it's generally fucked that the production and distribution systems clash so much.

There's not much holding back on the blood, and gore fans will be in heaven throughout the final reel. I think there were some anticipatory censorship issues with nudity of the corpses on hooks as I saw a few too many unrealistic bodies: obvious simplistic crash dummies next to a more detailed model that had a penis that defied gravity.

Still any wide shots of the corpses displayed in rows on the train cars, drawn and hung like cattle, are sickening sublime.

The (primary) murder weapon is just plain cool, from finish to design, it's an iconic horror movie weapon.

I did dislike how the beginning of the movie has some bits realistic-striving avant-garde stuff but then splats that against action-geared fights; basically, sometimes the film is playing out like a noir with lingering atmospheric shots, then it kicks into action movie mode of quick cutting and I found that conflict of moods was the biggest detriment. The action geared final act just ruins this movie's potential for greatness.

I know now that I will watch this movie a few more times, one or two for serious screening, and loads for the sheer fun of it.

The story is about a 3 star (for horror), but the production effects are so great that I HAD to give this four stars.

This is a FUN creature feature with some wicked awesome monsters and an interesting protagonist who is not annoyingly cocky, but instead empathetically emotional. This is a fun get smashed Friday night movie for gore freaks, and it would scare the crap out of a kid or lightweight. I imagine if I saw this before I developed my scare immunities, I wouldn't sleep comfortably for a few days - that's how great the makeup is.

I'm a huge proponent of practical effects, which is probably why I like this movie so much. The first two acts are mostly exposition, and then the concluding twenty-five minutes is all monster fighting. During the fight, Jack does some foolish things like discard his weapons constantly, then when the next monster attacks him, has to struggle to find another makeshift weapon (and this gag is pulled at least three times). I thought compared to earlier outbursts, the actor didn't showcase Jack's rage when it came to fighting the monsters, and it's not just because the monsters dwarf his aggression with their growls. I think the actor was trying to inject some fear into Jack, but it just came off as Jack wasn't in his uncontrollable anger mode.

I'm definitely looking forward to the sequel and hope they don't lapse into using loads of CGI, as the practical makeup/fx was the meat of the movie. I like how bits of the creatures' anatomy mimics the aesthetic of plumbing and pipes, which is Jack's porfession (in particular, their blood looks like dirty pipe sludge).

Also worth mentioning is Robert Englund's performance. He does a great eccentric professor. Once his character is affected by the monster heart, his body language is just astounding as if I was watching a person actually possessed.

A new classic of vampire film and also a great coming of age drama with stunning cinematography. So many people are recommending this film with good reason. It's tender and genuine, very relationship focused, but the horror shots that are here are super memorable, inventive, and look just as beautiful as other shots in the film. There's nothing that smacks of horror cliche or of a forced plot, and besides one of the main characters being a vampire. this film doesn't really sit right with the bulk of what is presently acceptable as "horror" but feels better in a serious drama or art house genre because it is such a well done and subtle film.

first screening: half awake, but still loved it

Another version of the Armin Meiwes story, except this one IS the ground-breaking film I expected from this story.

The mix of sound and image is positively hypnotizing, and the little dialogue there is has been expertly placed. Once we do get dialogue, this is the high caliber of it:
"I'm your flesh."

This is the film Grimm Love aka Rohtenburg wanted to be (see my review of it for more info). Where Grimm Love failed with minimalistic dialogue and scenes that attempt to convey unspoken layers of emotion, this film exceeds expectations. The connection between the two actors is nearly tangible, and I'm glad that there is a version of this story wherein the director is not afraid of male nudity and gore, especially for the crucial biting scene. The castration and cooking scene are even more explicit, enough to satisfy my sick curiosity about this story. And my question of "did he cut off just the dick or the balls as well?" is answered. I was disappointed that there was no dialogue about the penis being overcooked, but both characters suggest it by their dislike of the taste and inability to chew the meat. The bathtub scene is strikingly simultaneously tender and disturbing and a brilliant cinematic achievement. The butchering scene is the pinnacle of disturbing cinema.

The settings are unbelievably realistic and the room where the main event occurs is a perfect amplification of the anxiety, despair, and desire between the two characters.

This is the definitive extreme film with male homosexuality. This is on par with "Trouble Every Day" when it comes to the sublimely troubling mixture of sensuality and cannibalism. Never before has a film been so grotesquely beautiful.

"Hot Gay Sex" commentary: yet another selection where the steamy sex happens alongside a MUCH more severe taboo, this time of cannibalism

"So Fucked Up" highlight (this film has quite a few): vivid penile bleeding after the unsuccessful biting, the fluids flowing into the jar immediately following the castration by knife, carrying the leaking and defecating nearly-dead body through the house, the butchering scene with the cannibal sensually worshiping the internal organs, the "morning after" breakfast

This movie has a consistent and unique tone, which is why I wasn't surprised this was an Araki film. Araki is fantastic with tone, and in this film, he creates an alternate electro junkie 90s fever-dream where the world is always on the edge of ending and everything is distorted into symbols and pop art to convey the indescribable desperation and fear the characters think rests naturally within their souls. The soundtrack is near constant, and is as much an important character as the three people this film focuses on. The story is an odd love triangle set in post modern crazy land, with the repeated incidents of sudden deadly violence and cases of unforgivable mistaken identity pushing the plot from one sex scene to another.

This film pulls into the world of these three characters so fully. Rose McGowan creates the paradigm of the annoying junkie girl from the 90s and it plays well off the sensitive stoner and daring bad boy cutouts of characters. Definitely a film for people who feel like thinking about what they are watching, as much of the detail is in symbolic 90s art creations and the main plot points reference not reality, but B movies. Watching this movie is like falling into an abyss of the 1990s and its complacent pessimism. The film just leaves one feeling unsettled and in this way perfectly captures its era and what its characters are feeling and conveys that to the audience.

Fantastic ending, a real blinder that works so well.

Cool cameos: Parker Posey and Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction

"Most Fucked Up" highlight: head still talking, the conclusion

See this if you want a Voodoo horror drama about an American who goes to Haiti in search of uncovering the truth and feasibility of zombification.

This film has an interesting, and in horror, not always effective, structure where the first two thirds are spent on genuine plot and character development, with only hints at the lurking malice to come in all its gory. Craven pulls off this tough format with utter grace and natural pacing. The horror stuff kicks in at an hour into this 90 minute feature, and it's a regular Craven wallop of effective and inventive horrific distortions of reality. So it's a divided film (but the parts compliment and tie together). The first segment is legitimate drama and if done through to feature length by a non-horror director, would be praised as such. That's what makes the horror part work - that Craven's whole film balances and feels real in its plot and characters. So much horror films cannot achieve this.

Bill Pullman does a really stellar job as the scientific Westerner scouting for the next pharmaceutical breakthrough in a dangerous politically upset poorer nation. His character falls into the Haitian world so well, that the second half, wherein Voodoo takes center stage, the magical and spiritual elements his character once doubted now seem wholly real, and for him, beyond lethally dangerous. We can believe that souls are really at stake; this is what any good drama with Voudon or or Christianity or paganism or any faith-based practices aims toward.

The production design is stellar. The Voudon temple setup reminds me of old Hammer Voodoo films.

Reflecting on many of the earlier non-supernatural action sequences in the movie, I really like Craven's action style in the 80s, and think he doesn't always get acknowledged for his extreme flair for orchestrating action because his primary peer their is John Carpenter. (They are each complete masters of the action horror, but Carpenter is utterly and incomparably genius with his action directing, and Craven is utterly and incomparably genius in his talent for horror.)

The three primary zombie (or zombified) examples here are just plain great. The makeup is subtle and the sell is in the acting and scene framing and lighting. The harsher and gorier bits (which are non-zombie but still atypical and advanced in concept) are very 80s; they're NOT BAD but they have that distinctly 80s makeup aesthetic going on and the big tell is in a poorly done decapitated head.

Like how the finale reconnects the spiritual and physical worlds - while a small group combats for their souls, a nation-forming revolution ensues in the streets above.

This was an uber effective and fun treatment with a special twist on the "went down the wrong road and got stuck with serial killers" movie. In this one, the backwards serial killers make marketed snuff from all their victims, and this film's two protagonist victims discover this fact while waiting for their death on the same "set".

The tension built up great and stayed strong. I like that the layout of the set is easily communicated that I can visualize and make real the dimensions of the setting. The simplicity of the scares (the masks, the banging on the door, being watched by the killers) is effective. I like the physique of these killers, how they are so quick and flexible. The voyeur aspect of this film adds great dimension to it. I think the best thing about it is that the protagonists act (for the most part) pretty damn rationally; they do what we as the removed viewer can suggest they do and stay within the script (see Devil's Chair or Scream 2 for films that jump out of the script to guide the characters through horror). All of the acting is solid, and that's often a back-breaker for a survival horror. Just a solid flick.

"Most fucked up" highlight: seeing the first snuff scenes on the room's TV set and watching the characters realize that they're in that room

For a horror film, this is a four because of the split genre format and genre commentary in the main character's narrating voice-over, as well as the demon creature and related effects. The sets are interestingly bare and bleak, and the actors know how to overact on purpose. The gore is pretty great and the practical effects are fun, and I can also tolerate the bits of CG effects.

The main reason I like this movie so much is that I would have written this script from the synopsis the same way that is done here. The framing technique gave away the ending to me, but I think that's because I was thinking about how I would do it vs. what would be the worst way to do it. The great thing is...they do it the worst way (the plot) and then switch it into the cleverer mode at the necessary points, leaving a stunner of an ending. The camera work, which is mostly brilliant save a few handheld scenes, matches which version of the story is at work, especially at the ending where the camera is most responsible for the creep-em-out factor.

A nice break from the slew of modern B movies with a modern B movie that seeks to subtly satirize itself and its genre.

"So Fucked Up" highlight: final reel

The introductory car scene is cinematically identical to Funny Games.

On deciding to confront the kids, "If everyone said that, where would we be?" Leave it to a fuckin Englishman to be so damn... English about it, almost deserves it. Still, with this kind of proactive approach, I'm expecting a fighting couple for a chance.

I've gotta do a hit by hit analysis as I've the browser open; expect many SPOILERS. First mistake was to be sorry about the dog; if he had acted all hard and used it as an opportunity to pound the lead little bastard, they might have stopped out of respect for equally reckless ego-driven violence. And then once they get the car, "I can't see!", right so how about slowing it down a bit; they couldn't catch a slow car on foot right away.

The knifing scene: and my case for keeping guns legal stands strong; I'd rather a few quick trigger happy caps than this kiddie medieval torture shite. And are we just NOW checking our mobile service bars to concoct a clever Blackberry trick? The youngest kid Cooper is the same actor who plays the central character in This is England and he is clearly retreading dramatic territory with this scene which I'm sure the producer was thrilled to have happen.

It's always best to give up your hiding spot the moment your boyfriend yells out to you to run and the mean little kiddies all pause from their torture sesh to peer about.

Okay that is WAY too convenient for the plot to have our fleeing heroine step on a massive spike in the middle of bumfuck nowhere and cry out uncontrollably.

"Can you please just show me the way?" How about can you please just whip out your mobile and call the police?

What happens next...damn that leader kid is FUCKED.

I guess tit for tit... random screwed-overs leads to one decent break in a grotty bin. Of course Cooper gets the "oops"...sympathy scene. Am a bit annoyed at the stereotypical "battle paint" look had from the roll in the bin.

Isn't this the fence scene from Ils? (just before the heroine is "saved" by a passing car)

Wow I don't think ever before in film history has killing a kid been so restorative for the audience.

Though predictable and too clearly contrived in plot, this film is sufficiently fucked up and realistic about it to earn an extra half star.

"Most fucked up" highlight: "Is it warm?" through "I'll burn him instead", and also the ending

After a brilliant montage of nursing home living set to thudding rap music, this film's story begins outrageously bleak and desperate, and certainly doesn't improve with each passing sequence.

Stephen Rea plays Tom, a man who in one day has lost his apartment, been lost in the paper shuffle at unemployment, and now faces his first night as a homeless person.

Mena Suvari plays Brandi, nursing attendant to the elderly by day and party girl by night. She too has a great day cleaning an incontinent Alzheimer's patient (and it is ALL the way graphic) just before she finds out that she's gonna have to pull another Saturday to help secure a promotion.

Brandi just wants to party and Tom just wants to find somewhere to stay. After the club, Brandi is headed home and Tom, recently ejected from a nearby park and pushing his squeaky new - and fleeting- badge of homelessness, is seeking shelter for the night when Brandi provides her windshield for Tom to lodge in.

I can remember when this happened - and actually, watching this film - where Brandi is driving around and there are no other cars to be seen - the events seem incredulous and beyond believability for fiction. But all the while the panging reality is that this actually happened and probably looked just as surreal and improbable as it is depicted.

Upon arriving home, Brandi indulges in a night of explicit one on one partying with her boyfriend. In the morning, homegirl calls a cab to pick her up for work the next morning and !!!HOLY SHIT!!! John Dunsworth of Trailer Park Boys Mr. Lahey infamy is the cabbie!!! (If you don't know the TPB, well... get all the episodes now! I literally yelled with delight when I saw 'Mr. Lahey' in this serious flick, but back to the story) Meanwhile, Tom is still STUCK in the windshield of Brandi's car, in her garage, and he is conscious but obviously injured beyond capability of major movement.

The film stays pretty firm to the real timeline at the outset (visit http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,90498,00.html for the real life case timeline) and Gordon even timestamps events. After the big incident, the movie strays far from reality for dramatic effect especially in terms of how long the victim remains conscious and what he is able to do to cry for help.

[[That concludes the minibits of spoilage]] and there is plenty more astounding developments as the story takes a turn towards (extreme) dark comedy.

It is fantastic to see Stuart Gordon, who has such a schlocky history beginning with Re-Animator, doing some realistic and truly intelligent work in the first half of the film. I saw much development in his Masters of Horror episodes (Dreams in the Witch House and The Black Cat) that I started to really respect him as a director, but I never expected this astounding level of skill. I'll certainly have to check out his other recent not-totally-horror forays King of the Ants and Edmond (written by David Mamet). Of course because this is Gordon all the red stuff is done just right and the sound mix fits the amount of pain and will cause as much (or for me more) flinching than the gory visuals.

Most fucked up highlight: Brandi and ALL her actions

If you like absurdity in your gore horror, this is beyond must watch and into new classic territory.

Just be aware that the gore here is in the Asian fountain style where it's all about quantity, not reality in any sense. To this effect, those who seek authentic blood colors and consistency will be disappointed, but if you like the blood fountain aesthetic and that's what you're looking for, you probably don't give a damn about coloring or any realism, and you're gonna see some of the coolest gore fountains in cinema history.

The story here is that in future Tokyo, police have been privatized and primarily spend their time fighting things called engineers. Engineers are crazed killers that can only be killed by destroying the hidden key-shaped organ within them; any other damage done to an engineer turns the wound site into a weapon. This rule makes for some of the most awesome human-monster hybrids ever on screen. It starts with the Evil Dead tribute of guy with chainsaw hand, and then moves on to all original territory with guy with turret gun eyes, lady with giant jaw lower half, guy with giant dick gun, lady with acid-spewing titties. Even those who fight engineers have some awesomely odd weapons; this movie brings new meaning to the term "handgun".

The dubs are not annoying but actually well done. The props/special effects are great for the most part. The commercials throughout are hilarious, as is the majority of this movie. Instant new fave and I can't wait for the next one!

"Most Fucked up" highlight: Take your pick. For me, it's the chair person.

Tentative rating of 4 on first screening. This is a movie that has to sink in and I need to watch again before I can give an accurate rating.

Two things can definitely be said: this film scores huge points for originality, and the second sequence is just the coolest "fuck off!" to Michael Haneke's Funny Games.
_
March 17, 2009: Rating revised 4 to 4.5.

Now my full breakdown, including many SPOILERS will commence. If you have yet to see this movie, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER.

Laugier gives us not one, but two astonishing and amazing films. The film has a definite divide, with the first segment being a revenge tale wherein former victim becomes murderer plagued by psychological demons and assisted by a best friend who has been by her side throughout both her victimization and realization of revenge. The second segment is a "torture porn", except it's not so much of the "porn" variety but of the Salo school of torture film as it does have a driving philosophical point.

The makeup and gore are beyond astonishing. This sets new levels of achievement for the genre and proves that the studio chose wisely when they signed Laugier to do the Hellraiser remake. This film is certainly this year's A L'Interieur. Both the imagined demon girl and the actual tortured girl are incredibly frightening and left me shivering.

The high tech basement room instantly reminded me of the setting for the climax in Laugier's previous horror outing Saint Ange.

An interesting thing I noted in the version I saw: once the controlling financiers of the Martyrs project are revealed, the head woman often refers to what the subtitles translate as Anna's "transformation". Using my rough ear for French, I am sure that what she is really saying is transfiguration, which ole wikipedia tells you is "a momentary transformation of a man or woman into someone having the aspect of the divine". This better fits the context and explanation of what the financiers are trying to achieve, and hopefully it's corrected in the DVD english release and I just downloaded a crap subtitle.

As is usual with Argento, if you don't expect much in the story/character department, you will find a great film.

Argento creates some of his best visuals with this film. From the beginning in the raven's eye to the bullet in the eye, this film is made for eyes. The pins taped beneath the eyes is a cruel and incredible plot detail (the murderer forces the opera singer to watch the murders using them).

I really like how the score switches between opera and power metal because IMO metal is the modern equivalent of opera in terms of theatrics, emphasis on power in musicality, and social groups that surround the genre to praise and celebrate it.

As I said, there's nothing special about the story and anyone will be able to guess the killer. Like any Argento I've seen, this is all about visuals and that's why this gets a 4 star rating.

NOTE: please read my Suspiria review if what I say here inflames you. On second screening, I GOT the genius of Suspiria, but out of respect to my former self (and other viewers) who was able to view the film as "pretentious" and to also make my point about what modern horror should be, I leave those defaming comments on Suspiria intact.

The murder ataboutaround 10minutes in is AMAZING. Goretastic like one craves and with a great use of guts. And they just keep getting gorier and more creative. From Udo Kier's priest character to the medium's girlfriend, this is full of crazy kills.

And the antagonists - the demonic forces, followers, and possessed people are just damn scary with a cool edge. From the ancient language speaking ravers to a fully fleshed pointy eared demon, the design is well done and the result is some very unique characters. The monkey is probably the coolest though.

The acting is over the top melodramatic to say the least, but that didn't matter much to me when the version I'm watching has French audio and English subtitles. People complain that the story moves around too much, thus lack of atmosphere (am I the only one that equates "atmosphere" to a more static setting and slower pace with fewer plot details), but I think that a fast film overloaded with details fits this horror subgenre of end of the world sorcery battle much better. I'm a sucker for Catholic mythology, and unless you're going to do it perfectly as in The Exorcist, the "atmospheric" approach should be avoided.

This is an action thriller horror movie, and not an atmospheric psychological-subjective horror like Susperia. I haven't seen Inferno yet, and I didn't really see what was so damn great about Suspiria on my first two views, so now I'm going to go back and see that again and Inferno the first time because I really like the story. As a horror movie, this has no "atmosphere" because it has a fast pace instead. But fuck atmosphere; that's not what modern horror needs. This is what modern horror needs - absurd kills and insane amounts of violence and a heavily loaded plot. Not some minimalistic over-lit underwritten character piece with not nearly enough blood like Suspiria. This movie piles it on, and I like it like that. Suspiria is slow and overimportant, read too pretentious for its own good; this is fast and rude, read made for the blood-addicted ADD generation. I prefer the latter style for this millennium and leave the former style to actual masters of it like David Lynch.

My only complaint is that the ending isn't so much a showdown as it is a letdown. I expected a full on witch fight or at least a more hyped scene, and instead the main character just gets lucky without having to struggle for it.

As a huge Lovecraft reader, I think the best film versions of his work are movies like these where the script is essentially fantastic fanfic.

This film is hypnotically creepy and I loved every second of it. Mind you, in addition to my Lovecraft love, I am also fascinated with films about novel authors and love the possibilities of a sanitarium setting done to delightful melodrama proportions like this one.

Those goodies said, this is not an accessible film because it is essentially set inside the mind of a madman. If you hate dream sequences come alive and living scenes descending into nightmare, with all the odd and inexplicable dream logic intact, you will find yourself swamped by WTF? moments and not be able to enjoy the creepiness on display here.

The ending for me is one of the few "twist" endings I find satisfying. The effects are top notch as one would expect from Carpenter. THE BIG FX EXCPETION: On principle, I disagree with showing full "Old Ones" or any such Lovecraft "deities" or "indescribable" creatures because they are MEANT to be indescribable and thusly impossible for us to even comprehend were one ever to be real and appear to a human, much less be possible for any human to replicate the experience - and to IMAGINE what these creatures could look like is an insult to Lovecraft's central driving theme of fear of the unknowable. In this film, the Old Ones on display are not an exception to this rule of "Don't show the top tier Lovecraft nasties" - they aren't indescribable horror finally and unbelievably realized, but instead just the exact sort of effects installation style you would expect from John Carpenter. I LIKE his style so I'm not as offended by what was done here to Lovecraft creatures so much as the horrendously awful CGI Dagon in Stuart Gordon's Dagon.

To me, this is undeniably a horror classic and every horror fan should have this on their to-see list or objective "Best of Horror" lists. The real test of genuine greatness is that my dreams the night after screening this film were looping bits from the film with tiny touches of my own subconscious added details.

Working as a multiplot that ebbs and flows back into itself, balancing scares and giggles all the way, Trick r Treat is one of the best American horror films of the decade and is a new classic.

I really have to watch it again to see if there is anything really wrong with this film (I just hesitate to give 5 stars after only one screening). Probably the only wrong thing is that this didn't receive the gigantic release that it deserved, but got caught in (to the horror blogosphere) a ridiculous distribution shuffle that landed it a mere DVD release with minimal press support. THIS SHOULD BE AT THE BOX OFFICE FOR HALLOWEEN NOT ANOTHER SHITTY INSTALLMENT OF A SHITTY GORE PORN THAT HAS AN AD NEXT TO THIS VERY BOX WHERE I TYPE THIS REVIEW.

Anyways, enough about Saw VI sucking and American horror being mostly devoid of talent and then very stupid about using it when they find it.

Trick r Treat is amazing and a must see.