J*A*S*M

A horror blockbuster from Venezuela, and a good one at that! Professionally made, with an effective atmosphere. At first, the story looks very traditional, but it gradually becomes tangled and the outcome is very interesting. I’m satisfied, even though the scariest thing in the film is the monstrosity the make-up artists perpetrated for the older version of the female protagonist.

Very solid psychological thriller about three characters: a mother, her son and his new wife. The plot doesn’t surprise even a bit, but the direction and the performances are very good, the tension is not lacking and there isn’t a hint of boredom. Worth a watch.

Well… how to take this… certainly one of the candidates for the weirdest film of the year. At first, Borgman looks like it would be another addition to the family of classic home-invasion thrillers. But the moment that, besides the shabby hirsute bloke, the house is invaded by giant dogs, to whom the hirsute bloke says: “You’re early. Off with you", and they listen to him, it’s clear that we’re dealing with something a bit more supernatural. The movie has a pretty unsettling and gripping atmosphere, it’s a lot of fun despite not being very forthcoming, and it’s a pleasure to watch from the technical standpoint. But if you need a clear plot and answers to the questions that arise during the story in order to have a proper movie experience, then better go elsewhere, because this is a very bizarre thing, about the spread of evil. Maybe.

Very British. Your typical stylish piece from the BBC that begins with the arrival of a biographer to an old country manor, where its inhabitant tells her the story of her childhood… which begins with her arrival to said old country manor :-D It can’t get any more classic than that! Too ordinary for my taste, but it’s beautifully made.

Subjectively, almost impossible to endure. One the hand, this film is insane fantasy silliness, on the other, (and I repeat, subjectively) it’s aesthetically awful. It feels like some sort of weird blend of cheap TV, like a South American soap opera, and a CGI fest out of a computer game. The result is downright horrible in many scenes, where things look artificial, even when they probably aren’t (the actors :-D). Painful experience.

More authentic than Blair Witch and all the episodes of Paranormal Activity put together. The concept is excellent (I had a slightly similar idea bouncing in my head for a time at FF and was surprised that nobody had made something like that long ago, but they did) and the execution is so convincing. It’s as unsettling as Hanneke’s Funny Games. I’m surprised that it’s only now that I hear about one of the most interesting found-footage movies in recent years, and even more surprised that it comes from this neck of the woods.

It’s already a rule that every year we get one of this über-classic found-footage horror movies about a group of young documentarists going into the woods to investigate a local legend. Blair Witch Revival, this time with a rubber vampire, which in film looks even less scary than in the poster, which says something. Utterly devoid of ideas. I see no reason why anyone should watch it.

Something brilliant from Indonesia. The poster made me expect some kind of insane gorefest, but my jaw dropped after ten minutes. Atmosphere. Atmosphere! Atmosphere!!! The first half is pure horror delight. It’s not so much about the story – the protagonist falling deeper and deeper into madness – but the way it’s delivered! Excellent visuals, amazing cinematography, and fantastic performances in the main roles. It feels like a checklist of the worst nightmares: a bizarre village with bizarre inhabitants, depression, rain… and a giant plush rabbit wielding an axe. Basically, the first half of Shackled is the purest type horror filmmaking that any fan could wish. I haven’t seen anything better in the genre in the last year. My quibbles are addressed towards the second half, which was too literally explained for my taste, and the conclusion feels a little uneven perhaps (so, the classic problems with the script), but this time I don’t care. I haven’t had so much fun in 100 minutes in a long time.

One the one hand, a nice homage to the Giallo sub-genre (the plot, the music), and a good comedy on the other. And I really mean it, I’m not making fun of an imperfect amateur piece of work. I’ve quite liked the shorts of Horrorwatch so far because I can never be sure whether the WTF lines are intentionally funny or unintentionally out there (e.g. “You just bit me”, from Amanda :-D). But this one is really funny! [CAPEFEÁR]. And a big plus are the (non)actors playing the detectives, they are having a lot of fun and their comedy is surprisingly convincing. I looked forward to every scene with them.

We get what we get. A pretty good horror film about a priest who must come to terms with the fact that he was unable to save a member of his flock, who, instead of believing in God’s help, killed herself. So he’s haunted mostly by his own conscience and remorse. From a certain point forward, the plot of Heretic is almost sinfully predictable, but it has no problem conjuring an atmosphere. When, after about half an hour, the story moves exclusively to the interiors of one house, I could no longer complain about the lack of atmosphere. I really like this intimate, domestic horror flicks :) There’s room for improvement, but Handford has made a good entrance.