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Certificate: 
Director: Sam Raimi
Release Date: 27 May 2009
Tagline: Christine Brown has a good job, a great boyfriend, and a bright future. But in three days, she’s going to Hell.
Main Cast:
Alison Lohman … Christine Brown
Justin Long … Clay Dalton
Lorna Raver … Mrs Ganush
It’s so good to see a Sam Raimi horror back on the big screen! He’s been gone too long (in this genre).
Drag Me To Hell is everything you’d expect from him – over the top “ewww” factor and funny scares. It’s great to see flying eyeballs back where they belong (so to speak).
Despite much of the horror being comedic, there are some genuine scares (not for a seasoned horror pro like me, but going by the squeals of the audience I can tell there was!) I spent much of the film grinning as I really like Raimi’s brand of gross-out horror.
We have, at last, another great Sam Raimi classic!
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Director: Christian Alvart
Release Date: 17 November 2006
Tagline: The Good is the Evil in it.
Main Cast:
Norman Reedus … Polizist Schmitz
Christian von Aster … Polizist Wagner
André Hennicke … Gabriel Engel
Antibodies is the thinking man’s Silence of the Lambs. It’s a quiet paced drama that gets slowly murkier and the lines between good and evil get somewhat blurred. It’s a far darker story than the above, and is, in my opinion, better. Don’t get me wrong – I really liked Lambs, but it was undoubtedly ‘Hollywood’. Antibodies is a far more disturbing experience. I like disturbing films. They really get under your skin and make you question not only life in general, but also aspects of yourself.
Can’t say much else really, as to do so would spoil the film.
It’s not perfect, but it’s a very good film and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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Director: Thomas Alfredson
Release Date: 10 April 2009
Tagline: Eli is 12 years old. She’s been 12 for over 200 years and she just moved in next door.
Main Cast:
Kåre Hedebrant … Oskar
Lina Leandersson … Eli
Per Ragnar … Håkan
Patrik Rydmark … Conny
Let the Right One In, is, in a word, stunning. It’s going to be hard for me to tell you quite why it is, so bear with me. It is a story about love, loneliness and finding your place in the world. It’s a very tender and innocent film despite the fact that it is a film about a vampire. Indeed, to describe it as such is doing it a great disservice. It is so much more than your average vampire film. In fact, it’s not really about that at all. It’s about Oskar and Eli. Two children who are outcasts and share so much in common despite their obvious difference. You could even describe it as a love story.
It’s not like watching a film. Both Kåre Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson are so utterly perfect that it feels like you are watching real events. I can’t remember the last time I saw two young actors that are so talented and natural. And their on-screen chemistry is a joy.
It’s beautiful, touching and sad, and it deserved to be shown in more cinemas than it was. I live in a city, but neither of our cinemas (Vue and Odeon) showed it. Doubtless, there is not much money in showing ‘foreign’ films when most cinema goers lap up the Hollywood crap that is churned out at a frightening rate. I shake my head at those who say that they don’t watch a film to read. I bet the same people don’t read books as ‘if it’s any good they’ll turn it into a film’.
Rubbish like Marley and Me plays for weeks, but LTROI wasn’t even given so much as a single screening. I was fortunate enough to be in London during its release and was able to (after some searching) watch it there.
Wonderful.
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![[.REC]](http://www.greebly.co.uk/film-images/REC.jpg)
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Directors: Jaume Balagueró & Paco Plaza
Release Date: 11 April 2008
Tagline: One Witness. One Camera.
Main Cast:
Manuela Velasco … Ángela Vidal
Ferran Terraza … Manu
Jorge Serrano … Policía Joven (as Jorge Yamam Serrano)
Pablo Rosso … Pablo
[.REC] is by far the best of the first person films I’ve seen and is really quite creepy and powerful. The tension builds slowly and then all Hell breaks loose! It follows a TV crew that are filming the night shift of a fire station. They are called out to what seems to be a routine job at an apartment block to assist the police with forcibly entering one of the flats. What they find there, however, is far from routine.
I found it much easier to watch than The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield as there is far less erratic camera movement. It also has a degree of believability about it and has a great ending.
I’m not sure that a first person film will ever be truly outstanding as I just don’t think that the style lends itself to brilliance. [.REC] is, however, a very worthwhile film and no self respecting horror fan should miss it.
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Director: James Watkins
Release Date: 12 September 2008
Tagline: An unforgettable weekend.
Main Cast:
Kelly Reilly … Jenny
Michael Fassbender … Steve
Jack O’Connell … Brett
Eden Lake makes for very uncomfortable viewing. It’s tense, bloody and very brutal. The most shocking thing of all though is that the youths’ behaviour requires no suspension of disbelief whatsoever. This film would not have been made a few years ago because none of us would have believed that adolescents could behave in such a deplorable fashion. Sadly, we now live in a shocking and morally bankrupt age. Incidents of mindless brutality and behaviour are becoming increasingly common in this country.
In a way, Eden Lake isn’t actually a horror film in the traditional sense. It’s horrific yes, but only because it’s far too close to reality.
Definitely one to watch. A sad comment on the state Britain is in.
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Director: Alexandre Aja
Release Date: 10 March 2006
Tagline: The lucky ones die first.
Main Cast:
Aaron Stanford … Doug Bukowski
Kathleen Quinlan … Ethel Carter
Vinessa Shaw … Lynn Carter
Emilie de Ravin … Brenda Carter
Dan Byrd … Bobby Carter
I don’t usually like remakes of classic films (I can’t see the point and they are almost without exception, inferior), but I really liked this one! It also makes a change to see a horror remake retain its C18 status and not watered down to get the teenage audience (C15).
As is the norm with horror films of this type the plot is very basic (no time should be wasted before getting down to the nitty gritty of torturing and axing people to death!). A family are going on a caravan trip and are crossing the rather barren countryside of New Mexico. Needless to say, they have to stop at one of those run down petrol ‘stations’ in the middle of nowhere* where they come across a creepy man who recommends a short cut…
THHE is very, very brutal, gory and disturbing. The scene in the caravan with the three women and the baby is deeply unpleasant and quite difficult to watch.
Great stuff!
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* I swear, if I ever find myself travelling across America, I’ll never stop to fill up at one of these places as they all seem to house deranged murderers!
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Director: John Carpenter
Release Date: 25 October 1978
Tagline: The Night HE Came Home!
Main Cast:
Donald Pleasence … Dr Sam Loomis
Jamie Lee Curtis … Laurie Strode
Nancy Kyes … Annie Brackett (as Nancy Loomis)
P.J. Soles … Lynda van der Klok
Ah… The quintessential horror film and, arguably, the daddy of all stalk & slash movies (see my review of Black Christmas for a comparison between these two films).
Halloween is a masterclass in how to make a truly scary horror. It’s power comes not only from the increasing tension but also from the score (I only need to hear the first few bars and I get the chills!) It’s not a gruesome film (barely a drop of blood is spilled) but this just makes it even better. There’s an eerieness about the whole thing. The streets and houses seem to be largely empty and this adds to the feeling of isolation and helplessness that Laurie finds herself in.
If you were to watch it for the first time now, you may be tempted to think of it as rather clichéd. Please bear in mind though that the modern clichés come from somewhere, and that somewhere includes Halloween.
For the ultimate experience make sure you watch it alone on Halloween night with the lights turned off. It just can’t be beaten!
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Certificate: Originally rated
Director: Richard Donner
Release Date: 25 June 1976
Tagline: It is the greatest mystery of all because no human being will ever solve it.
Main Cast:
Robert Thorn … Gregory Peck
Lee Remick … Katherine Thorn
Billie Whitelaw … Mrs Baylock
Harvey Stephens … Damien
A true cinematic classic. It’s one of those rare instances when the film is just as good as the book. Even after all these years and several viewings it still has the power to create a real feeling of unease. The scenes at Windsor Safari Park are especially powerful, as the young Damien is taking delight in seeing the animals, but they are somewhat less than delighted to see him, much to his very real disappointment.
It’s this depiction of innocence together with demonic undertones that makes it a very powerful film. This is going to be one of the more ridiculous sounding sentences that I’ve ever written, but here goes! Damien is not aware that he is the Antichrist, and come the ending where his ‘father’ has to murder him, you can’t help but feel for him.
The Omen is a masterpiece, and should be seen by all!
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Director: Frank LaLoggia
Release Date: 16 June 1989
Tagline: The year is 1962. The place is Willowpoint Falls. Nobody talks about what happened in the school cloakroom 10 years ago. Now, in the dead of night, Frankie Scarlatti is going to find out why.
Main Cast:
Lukas Haas … Frankie Scarlatti
Len Cariou … Phil Terragarossa
Alex Rocco … Angelo ‘Al’ Scarlatti
It’s hard to pigeonhole this film. It’s mostly a thriller, but the ghost story part of it gives it an element of horror, which I really liked. Lukas Haas gives a very good performance and easily carries the film. It’s a very good story and is at times genuinely creepy (I like creepy films – they’re always the best horrors).
It starts off a bit slow, and you’re not quite sure if you are watching the film that was described, but stay with it as it picks up the pace and quickly becomes very engaging.
Lady in White is not a brilliant film as far as thrillers and horrors go, but it is well worth a look.
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Director: Christophe Gans
Release Date: 21 April 2006
Tagline: Enjoy your stay.
Main Cast:
Radha Mitchell … Rose Da Silva
Sean Bean … Christopher Da Silva
Laurie Holden … Cybil Bennett
Jodelle Ferland … Sharon / Alessa
Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. What an unmitigated pile of drivel this is. It’s an absolute mess of confusing plot which is full of holes, appalling dialogue, atrocious acting and the most utterly ridiculous and pretentious ending you are ever likely to see. It’s also far too long (about 2 hours too long, I’d say).
It ‘borrows’ highly from Asian horror styling (the traditional ‘ghost girls’ as seen in Ringu and The Grudge), Don’t Look Now and cheesey horrors from the 1980s (there’s a scene with the barbed wire that is very reminiscent of the ‘tree rape’ scene from The Evil Dead . The difference here being that the latter was a humorous film).
The main character spends the first half of the film (maybe even more) just running around shouting “Sharon!”. It would have been far better if they had Ozzy Osbourne in the main role ;-D
What the hell was Sean Bean doing in it? Could they not find a mediocre American actor to play the part rather than a mediocre British man? His accent swings from terrible American, to Yorkshire and even, at times, Irish.
On the plus side, the visuals are very atmospheric and the special effects are pretty good. It is for these reasons that it gets more than 0 stars from me. Oh, and there’s the part when all the zombies or whatever they were started shuffling in a little group and I thought the soundtrack was going to break into Michael Jackson’s Thriller…
Silent Hill is yet more proof that video games should never, ever be made into movies.
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