ebossert
Member: Rank 3
Continued from prior post.
Recommended
The Void (2016) (Canadian Horror) – Shortly after delivering a patient to an understaffed hospital, a police officer experiences strange and violent occurrences seemingly linked to a group of mysterious hooded figures. This movie has some fantastic monster effects, the vast majority of which appear to be practical. There is also some moody, atmospheric lighting. The one location premise is helpful for the production budget, but in this case it creates a few pacing problems during the middle section. In terms of content, this is wafer thin stuff, but it barely matters because the horrific content is more than enough to compensate.
Cold Fish (2010) (Japanese Thriller/Horror) (repeat viewing) – A timid, repressed family man becomes unwillingly involved with a murderous businessman. This is one of Sion Sono’s weaker films, but has enough to sustain interest. This has a slow buildup, only one adequately developed character, and a basic plot, which means that the 144-minute runtime feels too long and repetitive. There is bloody violence throughout, but the ending is quite frankly ridiculous in how it unintentionally exposes its own superficialities, which demotes this film to a level below some of this director’s best works (and their fascinating, complex characters). If a critic called this film “garbage” I would have difficulty arguing a counterpoint. However, Sono’s talent for blending perverted elements with traditional filmmaking qualities is at least partially intact here, with good direction and performances by the cast. The actresses are all insanely hot, by the way, but Asuka Kurosawa (“A Snake of June”) plays the psychotic, bi-sexual, horny, sadist wife to perfection. She’s so much fun to watch; this film is worth seeking out for her alone. Also, this director takes his time to develop all of the scenes slowly and meticulously, which is definitely a positive. In the end, it’s the violence, perversions, craziness, and Asuka that make this entertaining.
Baskin (2015) (Turkish Horror) (repeat viewing) – Serving out a quiet night patrol, a group of cops get a request for assistance at a remote location. When the squad arrives, they soon realize that they’ve been lured into a concealed and hellishly surreal situation. The final 50+ minutes take place inside an abandoned, decrepit building. Set designs and lighting are moody, with a focus on creepy atmosphere mixed with demonic, bloody imagery. The actor they cast for the villain is a freaky looking dude, and was a nice choice. Things get sufficiently disgusting during the final half hour, which could turn off viewers who dislike stomach-churning gore. With that said, I like every section of the film, but feel like it’s more dynamic and interesting before the gore is introduced, after which it gets a bit static and repetitive.
Kidan (aka Inferno) (2005) (Japanese Horror) – The story centers on the strange case of a graduate student who went missing for a time, only to return with a case of amnesia. She travels to a secluded Christian village with an unorthodox archaeologist (Hiroshi Abe) to find out the truth. This is a theatrical horror film with good production values that somehow never got a release outside of its home country, despite being produced by the prolific horror producer Takashige Ichise. Much of the atmosphere is earned thru the forest/rural environments, which are captured beautifully by the filmmakers. There are a few creepy moments and no jump scares at all. There’s also quite a bit of religious content and discussion, mostly involving Japanese adaptations of Biblical scripture. That alone gives this movie a nuance that feels different from other Japanese horror films. Pretty good stuff.
Illusion of Blood (aka Yotsuya Kaidan) (1965) (Japanese Horror) – This is another adaptation of one of the most popular Japanese ghost stories. It involves an overly ambitious samurai (Tatsuya Nakadai) and the hauntings he experiences. This is nicely shot, with some solid set designs. The corpse shots are cool, but I found the make-up effects to be underwhelming. The fake rats are also unintentionally funny. This is not as impressive as the 1959 adaptation, but it is watchable.
Not Recommended
Sinister 2 (2015) (American Horror) – A young mother and her twin sons move into a rural house that's marked for death. There are a lot of problems with this movie. The script is a complete mess because it painfully muddles a very simplistic premise. Yes, the 8mm tapes are creepy as usual, but the reasoning that is given for their existence and how they fit into the prior film is confusing and feels like a tacked on element. The mystery of this evil spirit was already solved in the last film, so the writers tried to add in other stuff to create a new mystery. The problem is that almost no time is spent on it and it’s not properly developed. I had serious problems making sense of how the newly revealed 8mm family killings and the possessed radio fit into the “linear killing pattern” from the prior film. To add insult to injury, this film focuses a lot more on the kids, which creates all kinds of problems. First, the human kids are either uninteresting or downright obnoxious. Second, the ghost kids are completely humanized in their interaction with the human kids, which eliminates much of the evil spirit’s influence. I do like the deputy character but most of the other characters are completely one-dimensional. I can usually handle weak scriptwriting in horror flicks, but this was an extremely frustrating film to watch.
Recommended
The Void (2016) (Canadian Horror) – Shortly after delivering a patient to an understaffed hospital, a police officer experiences strange and violent occurrences seemingly linked to a group of mysterious hooded figures. This movie has some fantastic monster effects, the vast majority of which appear to be practical. There is also some moody, atmospheric lighting. The one location premise is helpful for the production budget, but in this case it creates a few pacing problems during the middle section. In terms of content, this is wafer thin stuff, but it barely matters because the horrific content is more than enough to compensate.
Cold Fish (2010) (Japanese Thriller/Horror) (repeat viewing) – A timid, repressed family man becomes unwillingly involved with a murderous businessman. This is one of Sion Sono’s weaker films, but has enough to sustain interest. This has a slow buildup, only one adequately developed character, and a basic plot, which means that the 144-minute runtime feels too long and repetitive. There is bloody violence throughout, but the ending is quite frankly ridiculous in how it unintentionally exposes its own superficialities, which demotes this film to a level below some of this director’s best works (and their fascinating, complex characters). If a critic called this film “garbage” I would have difficulty arguing a counterpoint. However, Sono’s talent for blending perverted elements with traditional filmmaking qualities is at least partially intact here, with good direction and performances by the cast. The actresses are all insanely hot, by the way, but Asuka Kurosawa (“A Snake of June”) plays the psychotic, bi-sexual, horny, sadist wife to perfection. She’s so much fun to watch; this film is worth seeking out for her alone. Also, this director takes his time to develop all of the scenes slowly and meticulously, which is definitely a positive. In the end, it’s the violence, perversions, craziness, and Asuka that make this entertaining.
Baskin (2015) (Turkish Horror) (repeat viewing) – Serving out a quiet night patrol, a group of cops get a request for assistance at a remote location. When the squad arrives, they soon realize that they’ve been lured into a concealed and hellishly surreal situation. The final 50+ minutes take place inside an abandoned, decrepit building. Set designs and lighting are moody, with a focus on creepy atmosphere mixed with demonic, bloody imagery. The actor they cast for the villain is a freaky looking dude, and was a nice choice. Things get sufficiently disgusting during the final half hour, which could turn off viewers who dislike stomach-churning gore. With that said, I like every section of the film, but feel like it’s more dynamic and interesting before the gore is introduced, after which it gets a bit static and repetitive.
Kidan (aka Inferno) (2005) (Japanese Horror) – The story centers on the strange case of a graduate student who went missing for a time, only to return with a case of amnesia. She travels to a secluded Christian village with an unorthodox archaeologist (Hiroshi Abe) to find out the truth. This is a theatrical horror film with good production values that somehow never got a release outside of its home country, despite being produced by the prolific horror producer Takashige Ichise. Much of the atmosphere is earned thru the forest/rural environments, which are captured beautifully by the filmmakers. There are a few creepy moments and no jump scares at all. There’s also quite a bit of religious content and discussion, mostly involving Japanese adaptations of Biblical scripture. That alone gives this movie a nuance that feels different from other Japanese horror films. Pretty good stuff.
Illusion of Blood (aka Yotsuya Kaidan) (1965) (Japanese Horror) – This is another adaptation of one of the most popular Japanese ghost stories. It involves an overly ambitious samurai (Tatsuya Nakadai) and the hauntings he experiences. This is nicely shot, with some solid set designs. The corpse shots are cool, but I found the make-up effects to be underwhelming. The fake rats are also unintentionally funny. This is not as impressive as the 1959 adaptation, but it is watchable.
Not Recommended
Sinister 2 (2015) (American Horror) – A young mother and her twin sons move into a rural house that's marked for death. There are a lot of problems with this movie. The script is a complete mess because it painfully muddles a very simplistic premise. Yes, the 8mm tapes are creepy as usual, but the reasoning that is given for their existence and how they fit into the prior film is confusing and feels like a tacked on element. The mystery of this evil spirit was already solved in the last film, so the writers tried to add in other stuff to create a new mystery. The problem is that almost no time is spent on it and it’s not properly developed. I had serious problems making sense of how the newly revealed 8mm family killings and the possessed radio fit into the “linear killing pattern” from the prior film. To add insult to injury, this film focuses a lot more on the kids, which creates all kinds of problems. First, the human kids are either uninteresting or downright obnoxious. Second, the ghost kids are completely humanized in their interaction with the human kids, which eliminates much of the evil spirit’s influence. I do like the deputy character but most of the other characters are completely one-dimensional. I can usually handle weak scriptwriting in horror flicks, but this was an extremely frustrating film to watch.
