J*A*S*M

Inception is an incredibly precise film with a cold and detached perfection that reminded me of the Kubrick’s best (more than the oft-mention The Matrix) – that’s how The Killing would look if it was blended with 2001: A Space Odyssey. The way the script works with so many dream levels would be lethal for about 99% of today’s directors and screenwriters, but Nolan no longer needs to prove anything to anyone. This is a class on its own. Thanks to his mastery, the complex plot is easy to understand, at least at the most basic level. After watching it, I couldn’t sleep trying to find inconsistencies. There are films that don’t have an interpretation and will never make sense, no matter how hard the viewer tries, but I think the opposite applies to Inception. There will be several interpretations and all of them could be correct, though I believe it’s pointless to theorise too much, the true interpretation will be the simplest one, and the details (will it fall or not, and why) will remain up to each viewer. Either way, I must watch it again. I can’t tell which place (in terms of quality) Inception takes in Nolan’s filmography, but I liked it a lot more than the over-hyped and straightforward (though also great) The Dark Night. PS: Does it make any sense to talk about how great the performances of the entire cast are? (my favourite were Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Cillian Murphy). Edit: So, for the second time, a truly wonderful experience. The film is full of emotions, but you don’t have a chance to get them the first time (because you don’t know the twist) – Nolan’s rule of repeated viewings still applies.

This movie is awesome! It’s been long since a horror film pulled me into the story in such way that I felt scared. REC is probably the best and most original zombie flick I’ve even seen and far above all the other films shot with a “handheld camera”. Unlike Blair Witch, it never gets boring (really, things move at full steam from beginning to end, there isn’t a single quiet moment), the characters are very believable in their fear, terror and ignorance, and their behaviour is logical (unlike Cloverfield). The old house and the fact that danger can lurk behind every door generate an amazing atmosphere that is best enjoyed watching the film alone and in the dark. I now must correct my ranking of favourite horror movies. Wholeheartedly recommended.

Surprisingly, Tarantino has fulfilled his promise and made a film that in his post-2000 filmography will have the same privileged status as Pulp Fiction had in the 1990s. You could praise pretty much everything about it, from the performances, through the script and the sharp dialogues, to some perfectly directed scenes (the beginning, the climax in the cinema, Shoshanna’s getting ready…). Inglourious Basterds is the best film I’ve seen in the cinema so far this year and I think District 9, Antichrist and Avatar are the only ones with chances to be better. PS: The last line of the film could have been said by Quentin himself.

There isn’t a more impressive movie monster…

A very intense film full of violence and filth in the distinctive style of Tob Hooper. I was very surprised that when compared with the remake, this one is a completely different film, one that relies on the atmosphere generated by the violent behaviour of the cannibal family, but without being as graphic (the remake had blood and innards hanging everywhere), here the brutality is only hinted at. Since the viewer doesn’t see anything clearly, their fantasy can start working at full steam, which is a lot worse than when they show intestines and blood.

Beautifully nasty, dark, stifling, chilling. Something few people will appreciate as much as the knowledgeable horror fans. In Hereditary you need to be able to enjoy the slow, atmospheric, unsettling and emotionally tense first half (or rather, three quarters) as much as the literal (beautiful, if you can call it that) horror atrocities into which the film dives in the end. Half the people will say that it’s slow and lacking cheap attractions (“where are the jump scares?”), while the other half will lament that it didn’t stick to only hints all the way. I love how this film portrays the broken relationships in that family. I love how the director, with only one sound, is able to generate a deeper awful feeling than a dozen jump scares and gore scenes of other films. I love how the actors (excellent, all of them), with just one look and expression, managed to make me shiver and tremble. I haven’t felt so permanently nervous in film in a long time. And last but not least, the advertising campaign also deserves praise for being able to be attractive without giving almost anything away. I strongly advise potential viewers against reading any random comment about this film, because sooner or later, some idiot will say something that you really don’t want to know; the moment when I knew this the film hooked up, and I realised wasn’t watching your average overrated horror indie flick that’s forgotten after a year. Thanks to Planet Dark for the early preview at Kino pilotů, free of any random teenagers going to the multiplex for the new James Wan movie.

(50th KVIFF) As a horror fan I don’t put most of the genre films at the top of the rankings, modern horror doesn’t usually reach the levels of quality, budget and depth to compete with films from other genres. The Witch, however, is really one of the best three films, if not the absolute best film of the 50th Karlovy Vary Film Festival, even if it might not fully correspond to what some drunken viewers were expecting in the midnight section. Such a perfectly directed horror film is something that you only see once in a blue moon. The Witch is not fun, it’s dark, terrifying, and depressing. The amazingly convincing setting of 17th century New England, with the characters and the way they speak, or, rather, what they speak about, and the almost tangible fear of the unknown hidden in the forests, of the witches and the devil’s helper, who threaten the family and drive them into madness. Eggers shows the witches very rarely, but when he does, in short but impressive sequences, it is quite something. Ew! He dedicates more time to the father, the mother, the daughter and the son and shows how the clash with the supernatural has affected their relationships, with insecurity and suspicion creeping among them. The sequence of the agitated father chopping wood in the middle of the night is, thanks to Eggers’s craftsmanship, as terrifying and unpleasant as the one of the witches performing a ritual with a helpless infant. During the scene of Caleb’s cure, I shuddered nervously in my seat and felt a chill running through my spine. Unlike many other horror movies, this one fortunately never stumbles, even in the end, which is very satisfying. After the screening I realised that this is the horror film I’ve always wanted to see even though I didn’t know it. 100 %

I will start pointing out a couple of flaws to avoid giving the impression that I think Wan’s new film is a masterpiece. Some scenes are clumsily edited, the actors are not very convincing at times, and the script could be a little more sophisticated – I was able to figure out one of the minor twists the moment the film began preparing for it. But sod those minor mistakes, I haven’t felt so scared from a film since REC (2007). When it comes to arousing fear "INSIDIOUS is insidious", really. The opening credits have more atmosphere and paranormal phenomena than the entire Paranormal Activity, and the quieter first half made me jerk with two jump-scares, making it clear that this film would not fall into oblivion. And I’m not speaking about any cheap jump-scares where a monster says “boo!!” in a thousand decibels. No, here the monster is standing quietly in a corner and you get scared when you notice it (together with the characters). In the second half things go full steam – a seance and astral travelling – and I was jerking nervously, almost non-stop. Back in the day, Saw shocked and excited me, Dead Silence was a pleasant surprise, but it’s Wan who has made a proper horror gem. Insidious isn’t a trendy horror video clip for the 21st century, but crystal clear terror like from an old master. As horror 10/10.

The best horror film of 2005. After an average werewolf flick, Neil Marshall took a step back and created a perfect combination of atmospheric tension and bloody carnage. If you want to see the monsters in person, I recommend a visit to the Rieseneishöhle cave in the Dachstein massif near Hallstatt, in Austria. On the walls of one of the chambers there’s a projection of one of those “Gollums” and it’s bloody realistic.