“The House of the Devil”
"The House of the Devil" kicks it back to 1978 ... old school horror! There's none of that cheeky oh-look-at-how-clever we are satire that is the mainstay of "throwback" horror. This movie literally could have come out when the likes of "Halloween" ruled the screen. Everything in the movie works to make you think you are really watching an old-style horror movie (even the movie poster harkens back to the good old days). The story relies more on creepy atmosphere than in your face gore (don't expect a fast moving story). The soundtrack (composed by Jeff Grace) is pitch perfect homage to the great horror scores of the late 70's/early 80's. My major complaint about the movie would be that the resolution feels kinda rushed ... but all that comes it before is my kinda scary! I am thinking that Ti West might be my new hero.
And speaking of new heroes ... here's A.J. Bowen who is in "The House of the Devil." He's 12 shades of handsome!
The Last House on the Left (2009)
Finally ... a remake that actually works!
I have a love/hate relationship with the Wes Craven original. It has some brilliant moments of terror but is also filled with a lot of silliness that ultimately deadens the movie's impact.
That stuff is gone from the remake. "The Last House on the Left" is now a lean, mean revenge thriller machine. There are solid performances. There's damn fine gore. All-in-all, it's a much better film than I ever expected it to be.
Plus, "Last House" gets bonus points for having Garret Dillahunt go shirtless through the last quarter of the movie.
Viva La France!
I will say that I find the "torture porn" sub-genre of horror to be quite low class and without much merit ... but if more of said films were made some intelligence and flair then I could easily change my mind.
"Martyrs" (France, 2008) knocked my socks of. I didn't know much about the premise of the film other than a wee bit of the blurb on Netflix.
"Years after she escaped from an icy torture chamber in an abandoned slaughterhouse, Lucie enlists the help of her closest friend, Anna, to track down the family who tormented her and exact her revenge."
Sounds like a pretty simple revenge film, doesn't it? But, what you get is a tale that mixes several horror genre elements into one very brutal and very bloody cocktail. "Martyrs" does take an unexpected detour about 3/4 of the way through. Honestly, the less you know going in, the better. I was totally unprepared for the final act of the movie.
"Martyrs" follows on the heels of other envelope pushing French films such as "Haute Tension," "À l'intérieur" and "Frontière(s)." If this tend continues, I could become a total convert!
Because, it certainly appears that France is the current king of splatter.
Other Weekend Weekendiness
So ... some other things happened this weekend!
I saw The Faint and Ladytron at The Orange Peel on Friday night! The show was pretty awesome even if the opening act (Crocodiles) was kinda crappy. The dynamics of the bands was kinda fun to see. The Faint was totally frenetic and all over the stage ... whereas Ladytron was very subdued in their presentation.
And ... this Thursday I get to see Mogwai at The Peel!!!
A couple of movies got viewed off Netflix as well. And both were better than I thought they would be.
"Quarantine" is soooooooo much better than the trailer or advertising would lead you to believe. I must confess that I was curled up in a fetal position on the couch for much of the end of the movie. Now I really want to see "REC," the Spanish movie on which "Quarantine" is based.
"Vacancy," while not the greatest movie ever made, was fun and entertaining. A nice "put your brain on hold" kinda movie with a few nice scares.
In other news ...
I was a total bad boy and ordered too much Dr. Who on DVD today!
The Blair Witch Project: A Poster
And here it is ... that 'lil art project that I have been working on.
The Blair Witch Project Poster
Measures: 18" Wide x 12" High
Printed: Offset on 65# White Cover Stock
Inks: Red, Metallic Silver and Double Black
Limited Edition of 75 (Hand Numbered)
You can buy one for yourself here.
Click on the image to make it bigger!
The Midnight Meat Train
"The Midnight Meat Train" is hardcore! Plus is got a lot of things going for it that make it a great horror movie.
In all honestly this movie is really more about the gore than the scares. But the atmosphere of "Meat Train" elevates it above the average gore film. To me the movie feels claustrophobic yet epic at the same time. The story has a lot of similar elements to another Clive Barker story, "Candyman." And that's not a bad things as we are treated to something very real yet surreal at the same time.
And the blood ... the blood! I really don't know that I have ever seen a movie with so much of it. The gore scenes are handled very stylishly and only suffer occasionally from some noticeable CGI. I really would like to see what the "R" version of this film was like as the only version out on video is the uncut version.
Speaking of not seeing this in the theater ... it is a real shame that Lionsgate felt the need to bury this film in a second run theater release and then a straight to video release. Especially since dumbed down crap like the remake of "Friday the 13th" get such play.
So, get aboard the "Meat Train" and take the ride. I dare you!!!