The Last Winter: Who needs Spring?

Man, Larry Fessenden is about one film away from being added to my all-time favorite writer/directors list I have made up in my tiny mind. I haven't seen Habit yet, but it should be here any day now from Netflix, and I have a feeling that will be the film to do so, from what I'm reading about it. I really dug Wendigo, and The Last Winter just established my love for this man, an intellectual love! To tell you the truth, any director whose palette is a brooding wintry backdrop can pretty much count that I'm going to fall in love their film. The Last Winter has all the ingredients I love in a film. It's haunting, it's methodical, it's got that slow-paced brooding feel, an effective, haunting score, and creepiness. The backdrop as already established, is a desolate wintry landscape. The film centers on a remote drilling station and the men/woman who are there for the purpose of, well, drilling. As in Wendigo the film has some mythological undertones, but what's different with this one is that it's also has global warming as an ingredient. The films message from what I understand isn't HEY! stop fucking with earth, but more or less, this is a possibility. Ron Perlman of course is amazing. How can this man not be amazing? Some downfalls are that it does take about fifty minutes to really pick up, and some CGI used wasn't the greatest but it doesn't ruin the films strength in storytelling and spook factor. I'll definitely keep my eyes on Fressenden.

Let the Right one In: Let this one in

Haunting,poetic,brooding,alluring,beautiful,tragic; these are just some of the adjectives that represent Tomas Alfredson's film, Let the Right one In. Set in suburban Sweden in the early 1980s, the sullen wintry backdrop provides companionship to the already existent somber tone. The script was written by John Ajvide Lindqvist which is based on his own novel. The film opens and we meet a prepubescent boy named Oskar who is coping with the problems of school bullies, divorced parents, and loneliness. Soon after, he meets a demure but odd girl named Eli outside of the apartment complex where he lives. She informs Oskar that they can't be friends. However,they continue to meet at the jungle gym outside of the complex and the development of fist love and the innocence that blankets it surfaces,which the young actors brilliantly display! We soon learn however,that Eli is the Nosferatu. Alfredson abandons the clichés associated with vampires and in turn offers a different take on the age-old myth of the undead whilst staying true to the legend! I loved the disclosure of the myth of having to be invited in and what happens when you cross that line if you're not! This is not at all a typical fang-flick,and that's why I dug it so much! Eli hauntingly climbs up buildings, jumps on the backs of her victims draining their blood and snapping their necks, gives bloody kisses, and enjoys swimming pool killings(amazing and beautifully shot)! On the downside however,there was one scene in particular that was a little weak and involved a bit of shoddy CGI; however, it didn't ruin the film for me.The ending could be interpreted as both tragic and beautiful; I tend to be partial to the latter. The film is slow-paced and is sure to send people into the arms of Edward and his diamond skin, but, I urge you to leave him at a pawn shop and sink your teeth(delicious pun) into the better film!

Black Christmas: Where's the Baby,Billy?

If I were abducted, beaten, tortured, and thrown into a piss-laden dungeon with one choice of horror film to take with me, Bob Clark's Black Christmas would be that horror film! From the pervading atmosphere he creates to his methodical set up for impending doom, Clark's Christmas is an underrated holiday-horror classic, in my opinion. The film was released in 1974, nine years before his prominent holiday staple A Christmas Story, and four years before Carpenter's Halloween(sorry Michael fans, but before Haddonfield was being stalked, Billy was making unsettling phone calls to unsuspecting sorority girls). The film opens with a wide-shot of a sorority house where we are introduced to a nice point-of-view shot of our menacer sneaking into the house and making his home in the attic. What makes this set up so delightfully suspenseful is the fact that the girls haven't got a clue, but we the viewers know very well what's going on. Soon after Billy makes his way into the house, the obscene phone calls start. The calls continue and become increasingly macabre along with the girls becoming rapidly instilled with fear after they catch word of a young girl who was found murdered in the park not too far from their house. Not before long, the girls lives are taken at the hands of Billy. The film offers very little blood-shed, but this isn't at all a downfall. The phone calls are extremely unsettling and as I stated before, the girls lacking knowledge of Billy in the attic provides much-o suspense. You never see Billy. He's purposely draped in shadow the entire film along with his hidden identity of the POV shots. I believe this adds to the film in many,many ways. Bob wanted it to be that way. He was given shit about concealing the killer's identity, and I'm glad he didn't cave! The performances from Margot Kidder,Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea and John Saxon are very credible. You actually believe these are real people! Throw in an eerie score from Carl Zittrer and an unsettling ending and you've got yourself a horror/thriller you can set your watch to. The only drawback is that I'll never get to see this for the first time again. One of my all-time favorites!

Laid to Rest: Mediocre at Best

After seeing a clip of this on Bloody-Disgusting, I was immediately intrigued. Johnathon Schaech's(That Thing You Do!, Prom Night Remake) death scene was a gore hounds banquet of sex! Unfortunately, after watching the film in its entirety, I was disappointed. This film comes from Robert Hall writer and director of Lightning Bug, which I am a fan of! I was excited to see how he would follow that one. So I put it, stuck a knife in it and... I felt like a kid waking up in the middle of the night to the smell of chocolate chip cookies, wandering into the living room only to see Daddy eating "Santa's" cookies and Mommy spreading gifts under the tree. What a bummer! From the start, the film didn't reel me in. I kept waiting for it to pick up and it never did. Sure the production value was on its game and the gore was impressive, but I'm better than that! I want the whole package man! If I'm going to purchase a hooker, I'm not going to settle for just a magic hands in the pants dance, I want the whole party! This was pretty typical slasher fare with some impressive death scenes. Do I really need to go into detail about the plot? Feeling a little middle about this one, which is unfortunate, because I'm a fan of Robert Hall.

The Children: I want five of each,please!

You could set the dinner table with the films that inspired The Children, a film written by Tom Shankland and Paul Andrew Williams and  directed by Tom Shankland. There's a plate of The Devil Times Five, a bowl of Who Can Kill a Child?, and a cup of The Bad Seed. I'm a sucker for mood, and Shankland's film is drenched in it! We are introduced to a family holiday get together within the first few minutes of the film. As soon as you meet the children, you automatically feel a sense of dread that foreshadows something unpleasant. The children become ill, vomit some sort of pear-like substance and paint the snow red with their parents blood( another thing I'm a sucker for). Now,I'm not one hundred percent sure what causes the children to turn on their parents( maybe I should watch it again) but it's pretty frightening to think of your child turning against you. The question arises,would you be able to kill your child if you were put in a position where you would have to? Sure it's a question that's been asked many times before, but Shankland knows how to ask the question with such grace and suspense that it's like the first time you've ever heard it. The film is not at all uplifting(would you expect it to be?) and is laced with many unsettling moments. Shankland must've baked the MPAA a slamming apple pie to let him get away with some of the child violence exhibited here. Any harm inflicted on a child is a no-no here in the states, and Shankland doesn't give a shit and spills the red on these six and seven year olds and then some! I'm glad someone had the balls to make a film like this. Definitely recommended!

Martyrs: My Thoughts

What better way to welcome my first post then with my thoughts on Pascal Laugier's Martyrs! Firstly,this film is being wrongly stereotyped as just another torture-porn film; I couldn't disagree more! How can this film be grouped with films like Hostel and Saw? Those films don't even come close to the beauty and intensity this film displays. Laugier has a tight grasp on his direction whilst displaying bleak and atmospheric imagery. The first hour or so is a suspense-filled revenge story then switches gears in the last forty minutes culminating with a totally left field gut-punch! This is not at all a bad thing! You are given explanation to the mayhem bestowed upon the lead characters of Lucie and Anna. There is so much raw emotion that lingers after each scene comes to an end that you can't help but feel a little unsettled by what you're witnessing. Have there been films that exceed this film in terms of violence? Yes, but this film hits you with a devastating emotional punch that the physical violence at times is hard to bare. I cannot recommend this film enough. Do yourself a favor horror-chums, grab a copy of Martyrs, cuddle with your loved one and prepare to watch a horror film in its purest form!