Let The Right One In - Lisa's Review

Lets start this review off by saying, if you have yet to watch this movie, remedy that!  Watch it.  It's awesome.  I watched this movie with absolutely NO idea what it was about, purely after hearing wow after wow from horror fans.  It really is the best way to see it, so if you haven't, I urge you not to read any more of this review.

So, you're still here?  Ok then, you want to know a little more.  'Let The Right One In' is a Swedish language movie by Tomas Alfredson.  It is based on the novel of the same name by John Ajvide Lindqvist.  There are of course subtitles available.  I know this puts a lot of people off, but it really shouldn't.  There are some fantastic foreign language movies out there that bring something completely unique to the table.  'Let The Right One In' is most definately in that bracket.

I'll start by saying this movie is a story of friendship, triumph over adversity and love.  Adding that it is a vampire movie may make this difficult to imagine.  So to a premise.

The movie follows 2 individuals - shy, reclusive 12 year old Oskar and a very odd, pale young girl called Eli, also 12, who has just moved in beside him and his mum.  Oskar is different.   Because of this he is very badly bullied at school.  I concluded his general peculiarity and anger are what cause his fascination with murders, blood and knives.   

Week 193 - Let The Right One In (2008)

Review / Author Comments due: 31/01/15
Position on Timeout List: 28
More Info: Wikipedia, IMDB
DVD: Link

Trailer

Cat People (1942) - Lisa's Review

Cat people is a rather odd entry in the Time Out 100 best horrors.  It's beautifully shot and competently acted.  The cinematography and lighting is probably the strongest point of the movie.  I struggle to understand why it achieves a No 29 on the list, above the likes of 'Martyrs'!

This movie isn't one that I would imagine most people would rush out to view.  It's probably a movie buffs choice.  A person who watches all kinds of movies searching for those rare little gems.  It definately isn't something that will appeal to todays mass audience.

The story of 'Cat People' is very odd.  We follow Serbian born sketch artist Irena Dubrovna as she meets and falls in love with architect Oliver Reed.  They meet as she is sketching a panther in Central Park Zoo, bringing in the cat theme right from the start.  As the movie progresses we find out that Irena believes she has been cursed along with many women from her native Serbia; the curse being that if she falls in love and gets aroused, she will turn into a large cat/panther and kill her partner.  Irena, who loves Oliver puts up a barrier, not even daring to kiss him lest she transform into a cat.  Not to be deterred, Oliver marries Irena, but this does not convince her to relax her stance on physical closeness with him.

Week 192 - Cat People (1942)

Review / Author Comments due: 24/01/15
Position on Timeout List: 29
More Info: Wikipedia, IMDB
DVD: Link

Trailer

Week 191 - Frankenstein (1931)

 

Review / Author Comments due: 17/01/15 (overdue)

Position on Timeout list: 30

More Info: Wikipedia, IMDB

DVD: Link

Trailer

Week 187 - Dead of Night (1945)

Review / Authors Comments due:  Long overdue

Position on Timeout List: 35

More Info: wikipedia, IMDB

DVD: Link

No Trailer Available

Week 189 - A Nightmare on Elm Street

Review / Author Comments due:  Long overdue

Position on Timeout List: 33

More Info: Wikipedia, IMDB

DVD: Link

Trailer

Week 190 - Martyrs

Reviews / Author Comment due: long overdue

Position on Timeout List - 31

More Info: Wikipedia, IMDB

DVD: Link

Trailer

Martyrs - Lisa's Review

I'll start the review by saying right away that this is one of my favourite horror movies.  It's the only movie I own on Blu-ray even though I don't even have a Blu-ray player.  I will one day and had to buy this one when I saw it as a bargain.  It's not too often a movie comes along that stays with you for a long time afterwards and prompts some deep thought.  This is definately true of Martyrs.  I know a lot of people who refuse to watch a foreign language film, which is such a shame as so many people will miss out on so many fantastic films, this being french is one of them.  So, to the movie itself.

One thing I will say to start with is the less you know about this movie, the better.  Director, Pascal Laugier even states this in a DVD introduction.  He prefers viewers to see it as "Virgins".  Having watched this movie quite a few times, I can understand why.  Having a absolutely terrible memory means I can enjoy different aspects of this movie each time I watch it as I never remember absolutely everything.  Martyrs isn't a simple, easy watch.  It's a very thought provoking, moving and clever movie, that prompts questions that don't necessarily even have answers.  Writing a review of a movie when you're trying to give absolutely nothing away is somewhat difficult, so I would say if you haven't seen this movie, stop here!  Go rectify the situation!

A Nightmare on Elm Street - Lisa's Review

This movie is one I think I could confidently say that every horror fan has seen.  If not why not?  It's a cult classic from my childhood and one of Wes Cravens best in my opinion.  I remember my dad renting it from the video shop for our old top-loader machine.  The second time I saw it still sticks with me to this day.   As a 12 year old first year student in ART CLASS!!  Our teacher wasn't the most dedicated, so had a habit of letting us watch videos or TV, but this particular day he slid 'A Nightmare in Elm Street' into the player before leaving us to it.  As a class of 12 year olds, we were most impressed, but I do remember some kids in the class being freaked out by it.  Although I thought it was awesome at the time, my adult brain questions allowing young kids to watch an 18 certificated movie in school.  I've always been a big horror fan, brought up on them by my dad, but I'm sure there were kids some of those images stayed with.  Anyways, to the movie.

A Nightmare on Elm Street follows a few young kids (Nancy, Tina, Glen and Rod) as most horrors did at this time.  Although the movie initially concentrates on Tina and her boyfriend Glen, we later become aware that Nancy is the star of the show and is the one who will face evil in the inevitable showdown.   A fantastic new idea is utilized in this movie - a world of dreams.  We know that in a good horror movie, we love that 'heart in your throat' scene where the hero(ine) tries to get away from the bad guy.  Here the concept of the bad guy existing in your dreams is introduced and what a bad guy!  With knives for fingers and badly burnt and scarred skin, Freddie Krueger was introduced to the world, giving us one of our iconic movie bad guys alongside Jason and Michael Myers.  We all have nightmares, but generally we wake up and realise that it's just a dream and we're safe.  Imagine a world where if you fall asleep, the bad guy is going to get you.  The worst part?  The nightmare you are destined to have is much more than that.  Whatever happens to you in your sleep, happens in real life.  Here we have the concept behind 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' and as far as I'm concerned it's genius!  Obviously a lot of people thought so as this movie spawned a franchise of 9 movies!  It also led to a TV series and comic books.

Dead of Night (1945) - Lisa's Review

Dead of night takes us back to 1945.  It is an anthology horror, which is a genre I love.  This can also be referred to as a portmanteau horror (something I only learnttonight!).  Everything is exaggerated and dramatic as movies of this era tend to be, but it has a real charm and intrinsic Englishness to it.   I found it much easier to watch the movie having the stories broken up.

The stories are told by way of a group of people in a mansion (it's always a mansion, isn't it...?).  Walter Craig, an architect, arrives at the house to see a potential client.  When he enters the room full of the family who lives there and their guests, he becomes visibly shaken.  He explains that although he hasn't been to the area before, nor has he met anyone in the room, he recognises everyone.  This is because he has had repeated, vivid dreams about them.  He is very unsettled as he knows something horrid is going to happen to someone there, but he can't remember the details.   The guests go on to tell tales of varying degrees of wierdness they had heard of or had experienced.  Stories with no apparent explanation.   There are 5 in total.

Eyes without a face (1959) - Lisa's Review

*** SPOILERS ***

So, back to working my way through my backlog of reviews.  I'm having an online hiatus of sorts to re-balance how I spend my time, so hopefully, once I get caught up, less time spent generally online, should mean my reviews 'mostly' come in on time.  Slowly, slowly catchy monkey!  :)

So, a movie from 1959?  Any reader will know my love of old movies.  Ok, there are the few hidden gems, but for the most part, they're a waste of my already precious downtime with my family, hence my lack of patience for them.  This movie?   Even writing this, I have yet to make up my mind.... I left it a couple of days to sink in and still, I'm left with a hmmmmmm.

So, to a premis.  The movie follows the efforts of Dr Génessier (a well known and respected plastic surgeon) and his ridiculously loyal assistant (and a bit more) Louise, as they search for a young women with similar features and colouring to Dr Génessiers daughter Christiane.  The reason?  Christiane has been involved in a car accident, where unfortunately the dear doctor is most definately to blame.  She has suffered terrible scarring to her face and her only hope of ever regaining an acceptable appearance is if someone could carry out... I don't know.... a face transplant.  Coincidentally, Christianes father just so happens to be involved with a procedure called heterografing, where tissue is transferred from a donor to a host.  The main issue being that both subjects need to be alive to complete the procedure.... now I don't know many people who would be happy having their face transplanted when they still need it, so herein we find the problem.

Week 188 - Eyes Without A Face (1959)

Reviews / Author Comments due: 27/12/2014

Position on TimeOut list: 34

More Info: Wikipedia, IMDB

DVD: Link

Trailer

Week 184 - The Descent

Reviews / Author Comments due: long overdue
Position on TimeOut list: 39
More Info: Wikipedia, IMDB
DVD: Link

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The Descent - Will's Review

This Review was originally published on Will's solo blog

Partial synopsis (seriously, don't read a full synopsis until you have seen the movie: don't even read the back of the damn DVD case):

Six women go on a caving holiday, and things go wrong. Hundreds of feet underground, with no hope of rescue, it is up to them to try to save themselves and find their own way back to the surface.

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Carnival of Souls - Will's Review

David Lynch sites this movie as an influence, and it's not hard to see; I was very much put in mind of a more coherent Eraserhead through much of its runtime.

Week 183: Carnival of Souls (1962)

Reviews / Author Comments due: ages ago
Position on TimeOut list: 40
More Info: Wikipedia, IMDB

DVD: Link

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Week 182 - Peeping Tom (1960)

Reviews / Author Comments due: ages ago
Position on TimeOut list: 42
More Info: Wikipedia, IMDB
DVD: Link

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Peeping Tom - Will's Review

After a long unscheduled break, I jump back into the TimeOut 100 with Peeping Tom, the story of Mark, a glamour (read: nudie) photographer, who in his spare time murders women while filming their faces; hoping to capture pure fear on film.