Review - Peeping Tom.

Directed by - Michael Powell
Starring - Karlheinz Bohm.

Mark Lewis is a strange man. He loves being behind the camera and works in a filming studio. His sexual repression is only released by the murder, and filmings of said murders of young women. Watching their fear as he goes. When he meets a woman who shows the affection he's craved his entire life Marks life changes and his secrets become harder to conceal especially from his new love interests blind but all seeing mother!

Made in 1960 when a certain Hitchcock horror movie was reaching great success, Powell's Peeping Tom was greeting with much less appeasement. Critics tore this film a new one. Powell never really had any success after that and the film was not appreciated until many years later. Now it is seen as a classic and praised the way it should have been 50 years ago.

Voyeurism is the main theme, at the time this was probably a taboo subject, even for a horror movie. While Peeping Tom wouldn't be classed as a horror movie to today's standards, the idea of having someone shove a camera in my face as he pokes a sharpened tripod leg into my throat is pretty horrific to me!

The best thing about this film is it's character development. At first glance Mark Lewis could be seen as just your run of the mill pervert but delving deeper, and seeing what his childhood and life is like, he become a sympathetic character. Craving some female influence and love. His father's treatment of him and how he used him in his own cruel experiments is difficult to comprehend.

The cinematography is beautiful to the eye. Every scene is crafted well, every line written and delivered is perfect, the violence is very tame for the average or hardened horror viewer of today but put yourself back 50 years you can feel that these scenes would have shocked an audience to the core. The only issue is the way the story just plods along. It can feel quite slow at times. This could be because I've become used to todays fast paced slashers. Even so it's enjoyable to watch.

I loved Peeping Tom from the first time I seen it years ago. It doesn't get the reception is deserves.

My rating

8/10

An Extreme World - Martyrs

Extreme world horror is becoming more and more popular with the western world becoming desensitized to violence. Child abuse is reported on the news daily, as is domestic violence, rape and murder. Is it any wonder we turn to film to get away from the real life horrors going on daily. France again has used all these nasty real horrors to their advantage to create realistic and horrific cinema that makes us need a bath afterwards. Martyrs is the first film to do this to me.

Martyrs - France.
Directed by - Pascal Laugier
Starring - Morjana Alaoui and Mylene Jampanoi

Martyrs is a film I heard a lot about before eventually getting the opportunity to watch. I knew from reviews and chatter in horror forums that I was going to go into something horrific and would be taking on something that even I questioned if I was ready for.

Martyrs begins with a young girl, Lucie, of around 12 years old escaping from a warehouse wearing a filthy vest top, knickers and covered in dirt and blood screaming with terror and relief. She is taken to an orphanage where she is taken under the wing of Ana where she is taken care of. Lucie is haunted by something monstrous and terrifying which physically harms her as well as mentally torturing her. Later on, when Lucie and Ana are adults Lucie takes revenge on the people who hurt her in a bloody and shocking manner. Nobody is spared. Still haunted by the mysterious creature, which frankly, is a grotesque work of sfx art. Its only in the final act of the film we see what Lucie was subjected to and it's then the film take the most brutal and sinister turn.

To say Martyrs is down beat is an understatement. Nothing in this film brings any rays of light, no relief from the tension. Things just get worse and worse. The story starts out as a simple revenge plot we're all familiar with but as things progress you just know nothing will work out well in the end. No happy endings here and as the final part of the movie turns into an exercise in endurance, it could have been easy for the film to get boring and tedious as the violence against one of the characters gets progressively worse but the story is enough to prevent this film from becoming just another Hostel. For me, it wasn't the violence that was difficult but the claustrophobia of the entire film taking place in just a handful of settings with much of the final half an hour being in a dark and dingy cell. I felt dirty watching and I felt a desperate need to make the violence stop. I wanted to reach into the TV and stop it from happening! The director does a great job of drawing us in enough to feel almost like we are taking part but sitting and watching. The ending with undoubtedly have you questioning for days after watching.

One thing that is overwhelming in the film is the score. The music is slow, upsetting and sickly. It adds to the nihilistic feeling beautifully. Filmed almost like it's in first person. Like you are following their every move. The actresses are beautiful and play their parts with conviction. The effects in martyrs are scarily real. The creature that haunts Lucie is so realistic, it's hard to tell if it's real or imaginary. whether we are watching one woman driven crazy for the hell she has lived with or a classic vengeful ghost story reminiscent of Japanese supernatural horrors. It's this ability to blur lines that makes the film so successful.

One thing I can say for sure, Martyrs is the most difficult film I've ever sat through. I have done it twice and it wasn't any easier second time round. Infact, it was harder. This film for me is the best of the bunch in the French new wave category.

My Rating.


10/10

An Extreme World - Kill List

The UK get a bad rep for horror really. There isn't a great deal of money being put into british film but with Film4 and the National Lottery funding independent directors have been bring some excellent british cinema. We also have some great horror directors around. Recently, we've started seeing a more extreme side to us. The latest being Kill List.

Kill List - UK
Directed by Ben Wheatley.
Starring Neil Maskell, MyAnna Buring, Michael Smiley.

I will hold my hands up now, I hated Kill List on first view. I found it confusing, dull and I didn't feel the payoff was worth it. However, after much convincing from friends and other horror fans I decided to give it another shot. It's currently on lovefilm free with my subscription so wasn't losing anything. Second time round, Kill List is a whole different experience. Yes I know what's going to happen but I also notice so much more!

Maskell's character Jay, a hitman, hasn't worked in 8 months since something went wrong on a job in Kiev. You get the impression that he is both mentally and physically affected by the job. When money runs out and pressures get on top of him, Jay agrees to do one last job with his friend and partner so he can live comfortably with his wife, played by MyAnna Buring and his young son.

It starts out as a bit of a domestic drama then a hitman movie. On first view, the horror just doesn't seem to play any part until the final 10-15 minutes. On second viewing I started to notice the overall feel. That nasty vibe where you know things just are not going to end well for anyone here. Religion plays a huge part here. Jay obviously is not a believer in any sort of organised religion. I got the feeling he had been at some point but history had caused him to lose that faith. Smileys character seems less skeptical and spends some time apologising for his partners behaviour. Right from the get go you know this job isn't what it appears to be. When the deal is sealed with blood being spilled. The thing that stands out for me on the first and second viewing was the explicit kills. One kill involving a hammer is just so brutal I was not expecting it. It appears all the effects are practical too! A welcome change from the CGI infested industry at the moment.

Storywise, Kill List plods along nicely, some bits feel long and drawn out on first watch but on second watch you realise it's importance. The scenes of family life, violence and friendship are all there to give that ending the kick that it needs. Cinematography is very well done. It feels gritty and realistic. Conversations don't feel forced and scripted. Some scenes you just want to see more and questions are left unanswered but the fun is in wondering, making up your own conclusion. Wheatley never spoon feeds.

Quite frankly, I regret ever slating Kill List. It is a great piece of british cinema and Britain needs more exposure in the horror world right now!

My Rating. 

 7/10

An Extreme World - Inside

When concidering world cinema and the new extreme horror, you cannot forget about the French. French new extremity is making waves allover the world with themes of vengeance, jealousy and abuse. Their talent for shocking while telling truelly emotional stories is second to none.

Inside - France
Directed By Alexadre Bustillo and Julien Maury
Starring Beatrice Dalle and Alysson Paradis

I had this sitting on my watchlist for a long long time. It's been at the top a few times and I've skipped it to watch something else. The theme of pregnancy is a controversial one especially for people who are parents themselves. Often scenes of pregnant women and babies being sexually abused, murdered, tortured and killed are the scenes which put many people off a lot of horror movies. One thing's for sure, Inside touches on a lot of hard subjects. Pregnancy, grief, infant death and impending birth.

Inside starts off with a car crash in which a pregnant woman loses her husband in the process. Cut to 4 months later and Sarah is due to have her baby any day. When a woman knocks on her door she turns the woman away. But the woman won't leave and invades Sarahs home, tormenting her throughout the night and murdering those who try to help. What does this woman want? Sarah's unborn baby!

It is undeniable that Inside is one of the most bloody films I've ever seen. It is also one of the most disturbing. The relentless "La Femme" terrorises Sarah is some of the worst ways imaginable. The death scenes are brutal, and we see almost everything. With a certain infamous ending that is so explicit it had me squirming. The storytelling of Inside is perfect. The focus of our sympathy is always on Sarah, with shots of the baby in utero giving us a new perspective of the unborn child and the pain and suffering he goes through too. These parts, although the CGI is quite obvious, can be extremely difficult to cope with. One scene where Sarah is hit repeatedly in the stomach shows the baby's reaction. This is so raw and the thought of a defenseless unborn child being put through this torment is painful to watch but I could never look away. Surprisingly, for something so extreme, never does it feel forced or over the top. The violence seems realistic and sensible. While some scenes are extremely difficult to deal with unlike some extreme movies they don't feel hamfisted and silly and although the violence is almost constant it doesn't get tedious or boring. Whenever you think Sarah is safe La Femme takes it to another level. La Femme eventually does reveal her story to Sarah. It's heartbreaking what she went through and her reasoning for wanting to take the baby from Sarah, she is obviously going through a complete mental breakdown. There is a scene where she seeks comfort from a cigarette while screaming in what seems like physical as well

as emotional pain. We don't get to feel for her for long though as she continues to kill anyone and anything that gets close to Sarah.

With much of the film being shot inside a blood soaked bathroom, it gets very claustrophobic. There isn't much in the way of light either. The hardest part of any film that takes place in just one or two rooms is the feeling of being trapped, covered in dirt and blood. It makes you want to clean yourself after watching.

In short, Inside is shot beautifully. The camera work is amazing. Nothing feels rushed or hamfisted. The score is one made up of fast guitars or slow gentle piano. So haunting.

My Rating
8/10

An Extreme World - I Saw The Devil.

Extremes in horror isn't a new concept. Boundaries have been pushed since horror began. At first it was monster movies, then Romero blew minds with his Night Of the Living Dead during the late 60's. Later the 80's saw the moral panic and the birth of censorship in the home. The BBFC were given more power to control just how much violence was allowed on video. The birth of the internet made it possible for underground extreme cinema to become what it is today. I began to explore extreme cinema at the same time as foreign cinema. They seem to go hand in hand. France, Japan and Korea have given us some of the bloodiest movies in the past decade. A new era of terrifyingly real effects and shocking storylines which hollywood and mainstream audiences could never handle. In celebration of this new wave of extremities I've been watching some of the best examples.

I Saw The Devil - S.Korea.
Director - Kim Jee-Woon
Starring - Byung-Hun Lee, Min-sik Choi

A serial killer, Kyung-Chul has been running around and police are stumped on how to catch him. The sadistic killer makes the mistake of abducting, torturing and murdering Agent Kim Soo-Hyeon's pregnant young wife which sets off events where said Soo-Hyeon goes against his moral codes to seek revenge.

I Saw The Devil is brutal, raw and tragic. The violence is extreme. The blood flows in buckets. No one is safe here. Sexual violence, dismemberments, stabbings and torture are all present. Some scenes are so nasty its hard to keep watching, at the same time you cannot look away. At first the violence feels justified. After all you've just watched this sadistic killer -played by Oldboy's Oh Dae-Su actor, Min-Sik Choi- murder a pregnant woman, dismember her and leave her body for a heartbroken man to find. He doesn't deserve mercy. If it was simple as torturing and killing the man it would have been rather easy to stay on side with the agent but he doesn't. He catches, tortures and releases. Not once, not twice but several times. It's like watching a cat play with a mouse. It becomes cruelty. However, sides do not switch. While Kyung-Chul is running, he still kills. He does not become a victim. Eventually, it's two monsters facing against one another. Neither of them is a hero, they both become villains. It's just a case of deciding who is worse.

Cinematography wise, I saw the Devil is so beautiful it's startling. Such a mean spirited film can come across as attractive to the eye. Everything passes expectation. One scene where the killer stabs 2 men to death inside a car is stunning. As the camera circles the three men you see every reaction, the sound of the knife stabbing into them almost nauseating. The violence, although strong does not come across as over the top or forced. The finale is spectacular. Every time it rocks me.

I Saw The Devil is not for the faint of heart. It's brutal, shocking and nasty. It is very long. Runtime, almost 2 and a half hours but it does not drag or feel long. The pace is quick, barely a moment to breath.

My Rating10/10 

[[Review]] - Dead Hooker In a Trunk.

Jen and Sylvia Soska 

Starring - Jen and Sylvia Soska, Rikki Gagne, C.J Wallis.

After an evening of drunkenness doing god knows what a sexy "Badass", her "Junkie" friend, "Geek" sister her Goody Two Shoes friend find a dead hooker in the trunk of their car. Trying to decide what to do with it aswell as investigate and avoid a serial killer, they come across angry drug dealers, a cowboy pimp who wants his hooker back and a necrophiliac motel manager among other crazy things!

The Soskas exploded onto most people's radar with their sensational American Mary on the festival circuit last summer. Most people hadn't heard of them before let alone seen their previous work. Among some shorts and a part in Lucifer Valentine's Slaughtered Vomit Dolls there is some genius and the girls' first feature length movie proves it. Dead Hooker is so low budget that on first glance it looks like a student project. The camera is often a bit shaky and the sound is either too loud or barely there. The special effects are 100% practical, just how I love 'em! There are clearly some things that needed a bit of work but are forgivable given the film's good points. The grind-house feel to it is awesome!


The acting is sometimes a bit hammy. The sister's when in more emotional scenes are perfectly dynamic  not surprising given they are twins, the sister who plays the geek, Jen Soska never dropped the ball and Sylvia is hot and powerful in her role as the dominant but unpredictable sister. The actress who plays the junkie is probably my least favourite. She was often annoying but she does redeem herself in a later heart to heart with Jen's character. The goody two shoes is fun and has some reoccurring jokes at his expense. Notice I never use a character name? That's because, they don't have any!

The action and gore comes in force. You don't get constantly gratuitous gore like you come to expect from horror these days, instead when it did come it was often unexpected, brutal and perfectly done. One thing the Soska's know it's how to make blood splatter! The kills come in the form of big guns and power drills! What more do you want!

Over all I loved this movie! It was a damn good time! There is just not enough fun in the genre anymore but Dead Hooker In a Trunk brings that fun back. I look forward to what the Twisted Twins come up with next!

My Rating

8/10

[[Review]] - The ABC's Of Death.

Directed by: (Deep breath!)

Kaare Andrews         Angela Bettis

Hélène Cattet                 Ernesto Díaz Espinoza

Jason Eisener                 Bruno Forzani

Adrián García Bogliano Xavier Gens

Lee Hardcastle                 Noboru Iguchi

Thomas Cappelen Malling Jorge Michel Grau

Anders Morgenthaler Yoshihiro Nishimura

Banjong Pisanthanakun Simon Rumley

Marcel Sarmiento         Jon Schnepp  

Srdjan Spasojevic         Timo Tjahjanto

Andrew Traucki         Nacho Vigalondo

Jake West                 Ti West

Ben Wheatley                 Adam Wingard 

Yudai Yamaguchi

26 directors from allover the world were given a letter each, $5000 and told to go away and produce a 5 minute segment relating to the letter they were given and a way to die.

ABC's was for me one of the most anticipated horrors of 2013. I knew that it could either go really right or horribly horribly wrong but there was promise with names such as Ti West (House of the Devil), Angela Bettis (May, The Woman), Simon Rumley (Red White and Blue) and some newer names such as Srdjan Spasojavic (A Serbian Film). It was ambitious. Such a small budget and time frame to create beauty but gives 26 directors a chance to showcase their skills in hope to become the next Raimi or Carpenter.

Rather than go through all 26 one after the other I'll pick some of the worst and some of the best to give you an idea of what you are getting yourself into.

D is for Dogfight (Marcel Sarmiento) was for me the best piece in the whole selection. It was clever, brutal and well made. The budget was spent well. What starts out as a simple man vs animal fight comes away with a moral message possibly a commentary on the brutality of human nature.

V is for Vagitus (Kaare Andrews) Was quite a fun one, involving robots and what seems to be an end of the world distopia and features a hilarious scene involving a dead baby coming back from the dead. Vagitus in case you don't know already is the first cry of a newborn baby and is explained at the end of the segment.

P is for Pressure (Simon Rumley) is as always for Rumley a sobering drama of a young prostitute with many children living in poverty and the lengths she resorts to to give her daughter the one thing she wants for her birthday. Rumley knows how to hit you where it hurts and to me this was actually genius of him yet again. Makes me more and more excited to see what he's going to come up with next!

M is for Miscarriage. (Ti West) A very disappointing effort from Mr West. Not at all what I was hoping for from him and his segment seemed lazy and cheap compared to others who used the money and time to their best ability. As the title suggests its about a miscarriage but had no pay off, no drama, no real effort at all really. I think West is best off sticking to atmospheric haunting stories that he does so very well.

Z is for Zetsumetsu. (Yoshihiro Nishimura) Terrible. Ok maybe just not for me but those who are fans of J-Grindhouse might just love this one. I just thought it was just bizarre, completely and utterly bonkers. I didn't get it.

Over all this 2 hours of showcase is well worth watching. Most of the fun was in guessing what the story was about if there was any story at all. It was also fairly fun to guess what the word that it was relating to. There were so downright stinkers in there particularly F but some real genius pieces. Sometimes it seemed like five grand had been wasted on nothing. In Ti Wests case the sound and cinematography was terrible, no thought had gone into any of it but the likes of Rumley and Sarmiento the money was well spent and the time they had wasn't wasted at all and real creativity had been put into making them. I will be following some of these up and coming directors in the future. Give this one a look. It is currently available on VOD only. Will warn there are disturbing and intense scenes of pedophilia, infanticide, nudity, gore, sexual scenes and animal death so if any of this deeply offends you stay away from it. Don't watch it knowing what it involves then cry to the complaints board that a kitty get squished.

My Rating

7 Stars