Welcome back to part two of Terry's AFTERDARK HORRORFEST IV reviews for WELCOME TO HELL, only the coolest pop culture blog in New Jersey. (And the rest of the world, too.)
Now, hopefully, you've already read part one, where I introduced my experience with the HorrorFest movies and started on the three weakest movies (of which, I only felt one, Zombies of Mass Destruction was not very good. Kill Theory meandered in mediocrity and The Graves was decent, but could have been better.)
Before I delve into the three movies for this post, I wanted to touch base on what I look for in a horror movie. Okay, most of you are probably going to say, "It scares you, right?"
Wrong. I don't scare easily... in fact, I don't scare hardly at all. And this isn't internet braggadocio, this is just me. Granted, I'll jump if startled, but that's surprise, not fear. True fear... it's hard for a movie to capture that for me. So what I look for in a horror movie is suspense, is keeping my interest, is drawing me in and making me forget/overlook the flaws of the movie... and if at all possible, give me the creeps. And, most importantly, entertain me.
That being said, let us move on to DREAD. Dread is based on the short story (of the same title) by Clive Barker (who, in fact, is listed as producer, so it's entirely likely he gave his approval for the changes from the story.)
I wanted to like this a lot more than I did. It's not so much a horror movie, until the end; leading up to that, it's a psychological-suspense-drama. And it's a good one, no doubt about that. The acting is decent, the story is tense, several of the characters are (mostly) likeable.
In short, several students get together to work on a project, cataloging people's fear, their dread, what scares them, what gnaws at their sense of security. From there, things get worse as the personal issues of Quaid (quite excellently portrayed by Shaun Evans, who's done mostly British telly – including PC Kevin Hales in the second series of Ashes to Ashes) become a danger to everyone around him.
No spoilers, but the ending is pretty uncomfortable (but that's a good thing in this type of story.) I felt the script could have been polished up a bit, maybe with a different director (Anthony DiBlasi wrote and directed this, and I wonder if that can be a detriment more than not. Not everyone can do it as well as Christopher Nolan and others.)
I give this a six out of ten – it's well done, but has a sense that it should be been something a bit more. I feel that they were aiming for something special, something magical with this.. and it's not.
The second of this post is THE REEDS. Highly touted as the cream of the crop of the recent Brit-horrors, The Reeds is directed by Nick Cohen, written by Chris Baker. Don't worry if you don't know their names, neither is (as of yet) prolific, though both seem to have experience in British telly as well as movies.
Again, we have a trope of horror movies – a group of (young) adults go out for a party weekend in a secluded area. This time, a boat trip out in the middle of nowhere of England. From the time they arrive at their destination, things go wrong – their original boat was made a mess and the proprietor won't rent it to them, but they end up getting another boat from him, and after dealing with some punk kids, are on their way.
There's a sense of unease, and when things start turning for the worse, panic quickly sets in. The story behind it all is rather interesting, especially once you start to figure out what really is happening.
The characters make a lot of the same stupid decisions that will grate on your nerves, but the acting is decent, the story isn't bad... and the mystery, I really got into it.
My biggest problem was the 'twist' at the end. It seemed almost unimportant, unnecessary and made no sense whatsoever to me. I know I spoke before about how a good ending can save a movie, and I love a good twist as much as anyone, but this just seemed to have a twist just to have a twist, and that's a shame, because for me, it actually degraded my whole enjoyment of the movie, and that's why, where others are giving this high marks, I can only give it a six out of ten – had they done the ending differently, I would happily have given it a seven. Go watch it and let me know what you think.
Third, and final for the post, is SKJULT (HIDDEN), Norwegian psychological horror movie, written and directed by Pål Øie, which stars Kristoffer Joner, Karin Park and Bjarte Hjelmeland. It is the story of Kai Koss, a man who returns to his home after the death of his (cruel and twisted) mother, to take care of things. We learn that upon his escape, Kai inadvertently caused for another boy to lose his parents, and much of the drama of Kai's return deals with that... as the movie goes along, we learn exactly what happened.
It's a complex, almost convoluted story, one you have to stay focused upon. (Also, it is subtitled, which for some people is a turn off.) There are nuances which I suspect are cultural – as an American, I'm used to everything being explained in my entertainment. So many things are left open, and you have be able to just accept what isn't and move on.
The cinematography is, as is common with Norwegian and Swedish movies, excellent. There is a strong sense of color, framing and contrast that you don't see in every American film. If you've never seen one, I strongly recommend checking out some of the more recent films. (Another film, not exactly horror, but definitely graphic and suspenseful is THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO. Granted, there's an American remake in the works, but the original is astounding.)
Back to Skjult, this movie is a very good, creepy tale. I can't go into too much detail, as there is a mystery to the story and I don't want to spoil it at all. It suffers slightly from cultural differences, so I can only give it 8 out of 10.
That's it for today's post – one more to go, with the cream of the crop – The Final and Lake Mungo.
