Culch.ie

What new horror movies are you looking forward to?

As I have mentioned here, I was in attendance at Film4′s FrightFest in the Empire Cinema, Leicester Square, London last week. It was a great few days, and I caught some really excellent films. So here’s a few reviews from some of the films that I was lucky enough to catch:

Colin

This one’s as Indie as you get, made on a budget of just £43 or something ridiculous like that. It’s a really valiant effort, but dies halfway through, only to be resurrected by a really good ending. Main actor Alastair Kirton does very well…apparently most of these guys were picked up on Facebook for little or nothing. The plot is quite unusual, focusing on the transformation of a guy in his 20s into a Zombie over the period of a few hours. We follow him through a post-apocalyptic London and experience many unusual happenings along the way. Could be a metaphor for just about anything from drug use to the descent into dementia. Both nights that it was on were sold out, and it seems that big things are destined for its cast and team. 6/10

The Horde

This was a French film called ‘La Horde‘. There’s an embargo on reviews until the film is released worldwide. But I will say this. It’s really French. I’ll post my thoughts when I can.

Hierro

Great Spanish thriller, produced by the guy who produced Pan’s Labyrinth. If you’ve seen ‘The Orphanage’, the plot is similar enough, but the tone of the movie is quite different. A woman’s boy goes missing on a ferry on the way over to the island and a body turns up a few months later. The mother must return to the island to identify the body, and begins to go slightly loopy upon her arrival. This movie isn’t super natural as such, but more psychological. It’s based on the island of Hierro and is beautifully shot. There’s some really quirky ‘blink-and-you’ll-miss-it’ animation throughout, and the lead performances are very strong. Some marks are lost for some slightly confusing editing mid-way through the movie which can make it difficult to understand a few minor points, but for the most part, this is thrilling stuff. Watch out for the beautiful Elena Anaya who plays the very disturbed Maria. 8/10

Millenium: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

This movie actually won Best movie at the FrightFest Festival, and rightly deserved it. It’s a fantastic adaptation of the Stieg Larrson bestseller. On the surface, it’s a crime mystery about the disappearence of a young girl 40 years ago in a small Swedish town. It features elements of horror, drama, comedy and mystery and although it runs at well over 2 hours, you don’t feel it. The movie would be a mix of a thriller like Se7en and also has elements of the mystery in Dan Brown’s novels. Basically this movie has everything and I’d urge you to go see it. Noomi Rapace, who won best actor award for her role as the hacker, Lisbeth Salander is another one to watch. 10/10

Pontypool

Even I would admit, though it kills me to say it, that Zombies are becoming pretty cliche in horror now, and that it’s hard to find an original Zombie movie. But Pontypool is incredible. It’s based on the great novel by Tony Burgess called ‘Pontypool Changes Everything’. The plot is one of the most original that I have come across in horror in recent years. I shan’t say anything about it though, as I really don’t want to spoil anything for anyone. Suffice to say it’s thought provoking, brutal but also manages to be sweet and humorous when it tries. It’s set in Ontario and was shot on the RedOne camera. It made it straight into the Toronto Film Festival and has been doing very well on the festival circuit. This is a film to catch guys. 9/10

You can check out some more news from my FrightFest week here and here.