FFF#25 Review: DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK

It's become an ongoing routine that the opening film of the Fantasy Filmfest is regarded as a let down by many in the audience. It's never been fully established where this animosity stems from, as most films that screened as openers over the last ten years were at least decent or interesting, albeit some of them unspectacular. Thus, I feel sorry to say that Don't be afraid of the Dark, the Guillermo Del Toro produced remake of a 70s TV-horror film, was the one film that felt most like a let down to me.

The story starts compelling enough: a little girl finds herself threatened by small creatures in the new family home. Her father is busy polishing his ego and has little time for his daughter, while her step mother gives her best to bond with the kid (albeit unsuccessful). Due to a trauma, neither of her parents believe her in her plight that the house is haunted. Combine that with great set design and the usually reliable Guy Pearce, and it looks like a fun evening.

But something is wrong with this film - and it's the script.

Don't be afraid of the Dark simply makes many mistakes. The creatures are revealed too early, CGI animated and seemingly not a threat (whenever they try to kill somebody, they don't even manage to do that). Their backstory is lackluster at best (as is their motivation). The father only cares for architectural digest and little else, and is content to constantly put his traumatized daughter in rather troubling situations.

The step mother never realizes she's in a horror film as she sneaks from one genre-typical moment to the next (giving your daughter a polaroid camera instead of a flashlight when she clearly exclaims fear of darkness is sort of stupid, really). The girl is mostly unlikable (suppose you find a strange furnace in the cellar where creepy voices come out from - would you open it?) and acts like a teenager (both the situations she is placed in, her dialogue and her acting style remind more of a character that age - it is important to note that her character was created for the remake, the protagonist of the film it is based on is Katie Holmes character, and her husband has no daughter). Supporting characters only act as conveyors of exposition. The ending doesn't work and is not properly explained.

So we end up with a good looking film that lacks any scariness or individuality, interesting characters or food for thought. Del Toro's touch, however, makes it at least a decent experience, as one can indulge in enough stylistic beauty and great set-design to carry us through the film. But compared to other Del Toro productions (like 'The Orphanage') or successful haunted house horror films, Don't be afraid of the Dark disappoints.

Rating - 5/10

FFF Review: THE SILENT HOUSE

In my last review, I ranted a bit about the problem of novelty in the horror-film genre. Well, consider the film I saw right after CAPTIFS to completely blow my prejudices away. THE SILENT HOUSE, this quiet and only secretly hyped ghost-house film from Uruguay (!!) is everything you can wish from a horror film and more.

Get this: THE SILENT HOUSE was shot in one single take, without any cuts!! From beginning to end, there is no pause. It's all one long shot!!

The film opens as a girl and her father approach a run down house. Why there are here is a unknown, a second man reveals that they will do work in the house, but what kind that is remains a mystery to us. So the second man leaves as father and daughter get inside the house and try to take a nap. However, the daughter is woken up by some strange noises from upstairs, and wakes her father. The old man tries to calm her down and then goes upstairs to take a look. The daughter stares at the ceiling in horror, as all she hears is her fathers scream and a loud thud.

THE SILENT HOUSE manages to convey the sense of dread and doom as the girl further searches the house for her father or for clues as to what is taking place around her. With minimal dialogue (and no subtitles, as those ran 20 seconds before their actual position in the film, causing the entire audience to ignore them), the film manages to suck us into the house - there are no cuts, no moment of rest or of re-assurance that all will be well - it's one long shot of creepy situation after creepy situations, with dozens of jumps and plenty of opportunities to calm down scared girls.

THE SILENT HOUSE is a masterpiece in its own right that will surely receive every bit of hype it has deserved. One of the most unique and atmospheric horror films in years, it has to be seen to be believed.

Rating - 9/10

FFF Review: CAPTIFS

It's hard for French horror these days. Sure, they get a lot of funding, some of the best actors and technicians in the country and a wide release with good promotion. But if we leave those technical achievements aside, almost every film that came out after MARTYRS looked and felt like a bit of a let down. Maybe that is due to the quality of films like ILS, MARTYRS, FRONTIERS and INSIDE, but maybe it's also due to the one big problem the horror genre has suffered from for decades now: that of expectations.

A horror audience knows all great horror films of the last few years - at least those that are considered the recent classics. Hence, there are only two ways left to go - either you make a great film out of a plot constructed around clichés and well known genre-moments, or you come up with something completely new (you can also come up with something old and present it in a way it's never been presented before). CAPTIFS - or CAGED - settles for the former.

So here's our plot: a few nice doctors in the the Kosovo try to get from point a to point b. On the way, they are ambushed and taken into captivity. They try to figure out why the are held captive, until the scheme of the the kidnappers is unveiled. The rest of the film pretty much uses the same plot devices like most of those genre films (one in particular I don't want to spoil). So yeah, if you've seen this kind of film, you know what's coming.

However, CAPTIFS is quite well made. The highlights of the film are the first three minutes as well as a dream sequence, that prove that director Yann Gozlan is better at generating suspense than go for mindless horror territory that others have tread before him. If this is one of your first films of this kind, you will surely be amazed, due to the great actors, great cinematography and suspense in some scenes, but the film does leave a bit to be desired. However, for the aforementioned qualities of the film, it still holds up pretty well.

Rating - 7.5/10

FFF Review: AMER

Like me, you'll be staring at those pictures here right now. That looks cool, doesn't it? Somehow, this would have been my summary for AMER, but I feel obliged to say some more about the film than just post pictures out of it.

AMER is most of all an homage to the Giallo-genre. If you have no idea what a Giallo is, just follow this link. If you do know what a Giallo is, you might be drooling all over your keyboard right now. But AMER is not a straight Giallo - it also includes elements of avant-garde cinema, reminiscent of the works of Kenneth Anger, Luis Bunuel's UN CHIEN ANDALOU or Alejandro Jodorowsky's EL TOPO. Most of all, it is a coming of age drama, and a film about sexuality.

Amer is the brainchild of two belgian artists: Helene Cattet and Bruno Forzani. The film is loosely cut into three acts: the first is centered on Anna as a little girl and both looks and feels very much like Dario Argento's classic gothic horror film SUSPIRIA, including some supernatural elements.

The second act concerns Anna as a teenager, rather resembling Lucio Fulci's early Giallo, such as LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN, than SUSPIRIA. Less colorful than the previous part, but with a great original 60s/70s soundtrack, this was my favorite part of the film. We really see the world through the eyes of a teenage girl, and feel what she feels.

The third act concerns Anna as a woman, inheriting the house she grew up in as a child. This one feels a lot like Argento's PROFONDO ROSSO, and is the act that is closest to the straight Giallo genre. This was in my book the weakest part - it still wasn't bad, but it was overtly cryptical and came quote out of nowhere. I'm not really sure if this is in synch with the other two parts, as it shows a side of Anna that has been obscured for the viewer and that isn't thoroughly explained.

Amer does belong on the big screen, even though it isn't a usual film. It follows nothing but its own rules, as the directors try to make us see and feel what Anna experiences. Close ups, silent sounds and subjective shots with mostly no dialogue set the atmosphere, and boy, is it a gorgeous atmosphere.

In the end however, the film leaves a bit to be desired. The ending is quite strange (as is the entire third act), and even though it's all quite easy to analyze and to understand, the background to the world of Anna is never fully supplied, questioning what else it is this woman has experienced in her life. We know her experiences - but we don't know her story.

But maybe it is this elusive plot that creates the magic of AMER, one of the most unique and thrilling films in recent years. I will re-watch this film as soon as I can, because I can see myself appreciating it a lot more the second time around, focusing a bit more on analytical subtext - but even without a second viewing, I am sure that this is a cult film in the making, pleasing both arthouse and horror fans!! There's nothing like it - really!!

Rating - 8.5/10

FFF Review: TETSUO 3 - THE BULLET MAN

Let's all take a minute to let the idea of a third Tetsuo film sink in. That's right, a third entry in the avant-industrial-horror-saga by Shinya Tsukamoto. Let's all remember how awesome Tsukamoto's VITAL - his best work to date and one of the best films of all time - is, how disturbed SNAKE OF JUNE left us in our seats, how shocking HAZE explored our most inner fears, how utterly scary and beautiful GEMINI was... and let's remember, that NIN are doing the OST for TETSUO 3.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

This is awesome...

And as I sat down in my seat, opened a box of Sushi and started to eat, no way could I have ever imagined this to be the most painful film of the festival.

It's not that TETSUO 3 is bad. No, it isn't. If you get over the (intentionally) ridiculous plot, it's a lot of fun. Seizure inducing, messy, autism like fun.

But after some 50 minutes, I had to run out of the cinema. Screaming.

TETSUO 3 is one of the most over the top films I have ever seen. The action sequences are eardrum shattering, the visuals seizure inducing (you can't mention this one enough), the plot completely clueless of what it is or what it wants to be. Tsukamoto may have had fun with this, but it comes off like the work of a person suffering from autism - the director doesn't care what ends up on screen, he just does whatever he thinks is right in his head. Belonging rather in a museum of avant-gare video art than into a cinema - TETSUO 3 is a baffling, loud, messy and maybe even pointless affair, a techno DJ-set in film form, or something. It can be enjoyed, but the same goes for getting a tongue piercing. Personally, I would rate the film a 7, but the experience of watching it a 3. Maybe I will like, or "understand", this when it comes out on DVD, but as of now, I am deeply disturbed.

Rating - 5/10

FFF Review: WE ARE WHAT WE ARE

There are few films that achieve what WE ARE WHAT WE ARE succeeds in. The debut feature of Jorge Michel Grau manages to combine elements of social realism with horror and poetic drama, very much like LA TETA ASUSTADA and EL NINO PEZ. However, compared to those highly flawed (and in the end boring) efforts, WE ARE WHAT WE ARE is truly a breath of fresh air in the genre!

When the patriarch of a small mexican family dies, three children suddenly find themselves in the awkward position to find a "successor" among them who is worthy to be the new leader of the family. The father obviously wasn't very good - quarreling with customers and spending his money for whores, the run down watch-repair-man put his family in a dangerous position. However, without him, the family is close to their doom. The two sons of the family realize this, and with their sister, quickly come up with a mysterious theme. There is talk of a ritual, that they have to "find someone". "You know what happens if by tomorrow we don't find one?" With the sister out of the running due to her gender, the two young men have to prove that one of them is worthy to be a successor.

What then follows is a gruesome, poetic, realistic and daring chiller, filled with great symbols and unforgettable images as the boys try to "hunt" somebody down. The film is cryptical in what the main intentions of its protagonists actually are, but it is safe to say that the film deals with the problem of the patriarchic hierarchy system - present in most of southern america - and poverty. The sons both try to come up with some sort of "companion" to be the new head of the family, both failing repeatedly due to their own nature.

WE ARE WHAT WE ARE won't be a film for everybody. It is a slow paced, quiet, brooding film, that indulges both in the fantastic, the macabre and realistic, rendering it dark, daring and non-conforming. Arthouse lovers might find it as cryptic as horror fans, but ultimately, seeing how the flawed and bland LA TETA ASUSTADA was showered with praise and awards, WE ARE WHAT WE ARE with its outstanding acting, shocking yet beautifully composed images and daring central message could easily be mexico's pick for the 2011 academy awards.

Rating - 8.5/10

FFF Review: ENTER THE VOID

Its shadow was tall, and hard to miss. Its cry was heard through streets and bedrooms. Film cried I AM ALIVE, and Gaspar Noé listened.

There is not one single frame in this film that is wasted, no shot that lingers too long, no second that can be cut out. As brilliant, as loving, as torturous, as brutal, as honest, as unique, as through and through genius as ENTER THE VOID is has nothing been for a very long time. before I continue, I must say this: ENTER THE VOID is what the title suggests! You enter a world of its own, and even when the film is over, you are still in this world - it changes your way of consciousness, your way of seeing thins, of feeling things.

The film opens with reel 1, in which our hero Oscar is in his apartment - the entire first reel has no visible cut. We are inside of Oscar, seeing what he sees, hearing his thoughts, our vision only obscured of some 2, 3 black frames each time he blinks. We learn that Oscar lives with his sister Linda (of whose boyfriend he is jealous), that he is a drug dealer and user. As Linda leaves, he smokes a drug (is it DMT, the drug that sets free a chemical the brain produces when somebody dies?) and we gaze with him at what he experiences: flowers and insects made of light, color, energy.

His telephone rings: he has to supply somebody in a bar. He tries to come down... a friend - Alex - rings his doorbell, and he lets him in. The two talk about the tibetan book of the dead (which Alex lend to m... to Oscar) and as we... the two walk through the streets of Tokyo, we gaze at the flashing neon lights around us, ponder what dying may be like, enjoy the last haze of the high...

But once at the club, something is wrong. There are screams... police?? I flee to the toilet, grab the drugs, try to flush them but some fall around the toilet and why doesn't it flush oh shit just take the pills and throwthemintherew hilsththepolicebangsatthedo orandfuckfuckfuckWHYD OESN'TITFLUSHWhyitflushesthankgod thewindownthewindowwon'topenit'sblockedhofuckinpolicethwwin

I am shot...

I am bleeding...

shotwhatsgoingonshiwashotbytheposho...

As the first reel ends, we die. With Oscar. We are with his soul now - no more thoughts, no more blinking. Where are we? Oh, above our body... where to go... Linda!! Where is she?? We fly over Tokyo, looking for Linda... entering the strip club she dances at, flying over the strippers, gazing at their naked bodies, entering rooms, leaving them, looking for Linda, finally finding her... there she is, not answering her phone... Alex must be calling her, he got away, he saw our body, he knows... but Linda, she is busy with her boyfriend, naked now, as we come closer to her body... enter that of her boyfriend, seeing through his eyes... feeling?? Felling... I can't feel, just see...

Where to go now? Past?? Present?? Future?? It all blurs, thoughts seem to get me into the situations I am thinking of, standing behind my back, gazing over my own shoulder... still looking for Linda, where is she? Where is Alex? Flying over the city, searching, searching... because there was a pact, a pact to never leave Linda, even after death, watch over her, stay with her, protect her...

As we follow the soul, no, BECOME the soul, we do nothing more or less than overlook a life... many lives. We do not just gaze at flat psychedelic effects, drug hallucinations, naked bodies or ponder buddhist philosophies, we are living another life. We experience something that is not us, yet it becomes us. The film manages what hundreds of thousands of films tried to achieve yet failed, and succeeds. ENTER THE VOID is far from being cynical, far from being dumb, far from being style over substance - the substance is a life (tell me how anything can be more substantial?)!! And we learn how beautiful life is, how unique.

Long after the film has ended, you will still be in its world, only slowly coming down, though you will have the feeling of being in Oscar's body, of seeing the world as presented in ENTER THE VOID. 48 hours after, I've still not come down from this film, my brain still trying to cope with all the images.

But there is one thing certain to me: ENTER THE VOID is a one time experience that no other film will ever come close to. It is possibly the best film of the decade, and because I am still speechless (even though I discuss the film with dozens of people - all as amazed by the film as I was, one of them director Christopher Smith -, after getting a handshake and signatures by Gaspar Noé, after hearing what he's had to say about the film), I can only give this film the rating it deserved, the rating that fits it, the rating that my best friend wrote next to its entry in my festival program. It is as wonderful, as hilarious, as stupid, as grand as life is. There is nothing like it!!

Rating - 100000000000000/10

FFF Review: THE LOVED ONES

It's still a bit early, but who cares? THE LOVED ONES is the best horror film of the year!!

I'm basing my judgement on my personal reaction to this australian shocker. More than any other genre, the horror film plot has to generate a variety of reactions in the viewer: you have to be scared, you have to be shocked, you have to be entertained, you have to feel sympathy for not just the protagonist but every single character on screen (something only few genre films achieve since they aim to make the bad guys as inhumane as possible) and yet they also have to make you laugh and cringe. This is a whole lot that has to be achieved, and THE LOVED ONES manages with ease.

So here we go: It's the last days of school for a group of australian teenagers, and the kids are looking forward to their "end-of-school-dance". All but Lola, who's in love with Trent - because Trent is in a relationship with Mia. Unbeknownst to her, Trent's still grieving for his father, who's died in a car crash with his son driving. Trent has fled into a world of heavy metal and self destruction. However, Lola only cares for the pretty outside. And so, she asks her dad to KIDNAP TRENT AND STRAP HIM TO A CHAIR, so she can re-enact with him her very own, perfect end-of-school-dance-night, which mostly consists of boring party games, sexual advances and torture.

So whilst Trent is beaten, slashed, cut, burned and all sorts of other cringe-worthy things, his best friend has his big date - a beautiful rock-chick (see above) who's way cooler then him, making him act like a complete idiot and an oversized teddy bear at the same time. And we are also with Mia, as she fears for her disappeared boyfriend and Trent's still grieving mother. All of those side-stories are flawlessly performed, absolutely perfectly written and well paced. We truly feel with those people, even more since we know what Trent goes through. And further, even though Lola and her father and disturbingly psychotic, the audience still feels with them, as one clumsy move after another, the two just can't help but loose to the good guys... or can they?

A mixture of terror-film a la TCM or MUM & DAD and John Hughs coming-of-age story, THE LOVED ONES is one of the most entertaining films I have seen in a very long time and highly recommended!!

Rating - 10/10

FFF Review: LA MEUTE

Over the last few years, the new french extreme-wave has built up a reputation of ambitious horror films that deliver both in style an substance. Even if you didn't enjoy films like IRREVERSIBLE, MARTYRS or INSIDE, it was striking how quality filmmakers and A-list actors from france delved into genre material and blood-soaked horror films alike.

However, in recent months, the output of the newest generation of such filmmakers was rather disappointing. Last years MUTANTES for example was, whilst visually striking, just a re-hash of long established zombie film clichés. it had a twist of its own, but nothing new to tell.

So ironically, LA MEUTE has something new to tell, but somehow loses the plot midway in.

It all starts out well enough: a young bad-assed girl rides through the countryside, picks up a hitchhiker, picks a fight with some bikers and soon is taken in by a depraved backwoods-family. So far, so well. The cinematography is striking as well and the film has a gorgeous blue/silver/chrome coloring to it that looks very neat.

Even better, halfway through, the director delves into Guillermo-del-Torro-esque surrealism and presents a pretty nice mythological twist, but instead of taking off from there, we are never presented with a true mythology, never really introduced to a backstory or anything that could elevate this from what it soon turns out to be - a generic shoot-em-up-thriller, with some nice moments, but in the end nothing unique. As the credits start rolling, I wondered just what exactly took place, if any of the unexplained twists really had a meaning to them and if there was more to it than somebody in front of word thinking "Heh, THAT could be a nice idea for a horror film."

The audience received the film a lot worse than I did - sadly, since LA MEUTE still has many things that elevate it above the generic US-shocker. However, I doubt the film is more than what it feels like - a film by a fan boy that will make fan boys raving about how it can be done better.

Rating - 6.5/10