Let the Right One In (2008)

 

The best romantic horror movie ever made. I love how natural the relationship between Oskar and Eli happens. I like that they had a better ending than I expected because I thought the whole time this wouldn't end well. This movie does something that revisionist vampire movies such as Thirst have done. It shows that being a vampire kinda sucks. Never aging is just as much of a curse as a blessing for Eli, she has to keep secrets from people she cares about, she can never see the sunlight, she is always looking for blood like a drug addict and acts withdrawn and sick without it. I enjoy the contrast between her relationship with the innocent Oskar and what seems like an ambiguous tragic romance with the older Hakan. I love the style of this movie as well. There are some magnificent wide shots. The wintery and snowy setting hits close to home. The orchestral score by Johan Soderqvist is great. So I loved this in all three phases. The filmmaking, the story and the characters.

The movie starts with Oskar (Kare Hedebrant) talking and making a possible Deliverance reference by saying, "squeal like a pig." This is something his bullies frequently say to him as we find out. The movie quickly gives you a sense of geography as we see it mostly takes place around some balcony apartments in a very snowy area of Norway. The scene moves to Oskar at school. It shows how smart he is early on. A cop comes to the school for something and he talks about how they knew a murder happened even after someone's body was in a fire. He asks why. Oskar responds that there would have been no smoke in the lungs. The scene then transitions to two men near a highway near some woods. The old man who lives in the apartments, Hakan (Per Ragnar) stabs and kills the other man. He hangs him upside down nearby and starts draining his blood. A woman's dog interrupts him and he is forced to run away. A girl chastises for not finishing the job. Oskar is outside stabbing a knife with a tree. Eli (Lina Leanderssen) meets Oksar outside. They have a cute moment talking about a rubik's cube. There are a group of people who live in the apartments who gather in a restaurant. Eli kills one of them, Jocke (Mikael Rahm), beneath the underpass that night. Gosta (Karl Robert Lindgren) sees it but doesn't seem to believe his eyes. Eli and Oskar have another conversation about her age and how she doesn't know her birthday. 

The relationship between Oskar and Eli makes this just as dramatic and romantic as it is horrific. Any scene between them seems natural and makes you feel just as happy as the viewer as they do.

Hakan drags the body of Jocke on a sled and hides it in an ice hole at the local lake. Oskar is beaten up by three bullies lead by Conny (Patrik Rydmark). Eli and Oskar see each other again that night and they have a cute moment where Oskar buys her candy and she gets sick after eating one of them. She looks emaciated here. Eli asks Oskar if he would like her if she wasn't a girl. He says yes. Hakan doesn't want Eli seeing Oskar. Hakan abducts a basketball player from the school but is caught in the locker room before he can get the blood. He uses some kind of acid to disfigure his face so the police cannot identify him. That night Eli is seen climbing the walls to his room in the hospital. They share a goodbye as Eli kills him to get his blood and he falls out of the window. 

What I love about this movie early on is some of the style. There are so many great wide shots including in the first two kill scenes. In the first kill scene you see Hakan and the guy he kills from far away through the trees. In the second kill there is an awesome overhead angle and another long shot. I like the visual of Eli with the red blood on her shirt. There is an interesting contrast between her relationship with Hakan and Oskar. She seems attracted to Oskar's innocence. I'm not entirely sure if this relationship should be seen as appropriate. It would seem that Hakan and Eli may have been in love once, though it is never spelled out. Since she can't age you can make the assumption that they have known each other a long time. Oskar seems to make her feel her physical age, something she is stuck with. There are scenes where she looks pale and that isn't only because of lack of food but also lack of sunlight. I like how this movie shows what it might be like on a vampire physically to live. I also love the setting. As a Mainer I'm familiar with long and cold winters and this feels like home and it feels like seasonal depression with all the snowy scenes at night. There are even little things I love like Eli's eyes changing in the dark and her eyes changing when she sucks blood.

Spoiler Section

Oskar starts taking weight training classes after school after Eli tells him to fight back against his bullies. On a field trip near the ice two girls find Jocke's body. More importantly, Oskar beats up Conny with a stick. Oskar tells Eli about this and he suggests they make a blood pact. After he cuts his hand she licks up his blood and runs away. Virginia (Ika Nord) is attacked by Eli. Eli goes to see Oskar and confirms she is a vampire. She almost dies after she enters his house without being invited. Virginia gets out of the hospital after finding out she is sensitive to sunlight. Gosta's cats, sensing her vampirism, attack her. She goes back to the hospital and lights on fire when the curtains are opened during daylight. Her boyfriend Lacke (Peter Carlberg) puts two and two together. He sees a something covering Oskar's bathroom. In a very suspenseful scene he sneaks into the bathroom while Eli sleeps in the tub. Oskar distracts him and Eli is able to kill him. Again the bathroom door shuts and you view this kill in a long shot like a spectator. I like how Lacke was able to find out about them from the window being covered. That is the only way he could have known. Good writing. 

Eli eventually says she will leave as it is no longer safe. Oskar is tricked into being alone at the swimming pool. Jimmy, Conny's older brother forces him to breathe underwater or he will cut out his eye. In another interesting way to film kills, Eli shows up and kills all of the bullies besides the one who is more sympathetic. She reaches into the pool to drag up Oskar. I like how you just hear some commotion and see limbs going into the water and then you see the aftermath. After this Oskar and her leave on a train together. Eli taps on the box to say "kiss," in morse code. He taps back, "small kiss." 

I couldn't decide which scene I loved most in this movie. Anything with Oskar and Eli together is good and that moment of them listening to music is cute. As people know I enjoy any scenes where two people connect for happy moments in a movie where you know it won't end well. This movie however did. In a way it feels like a circle as it seems Hakan and Eli could have had this stage in their relationship at some point. This movie is in some ways about moving on from one friend and finding another to live for. I think anyone looking for a dramatic romance in a horror movie with some interesting vampire mythos would enjoy this. 

Rating: 10/10

Trivia: Tricks were used for sound effects. Biting into sausages was used for biting into skin and flesh. Eating yogurt was used for sucking blood. 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoPJJSXZDEM

May

 

I love movies that take me into a different world for 90-120 minutes. A world where you can care about someone you wouldn't like in real life or wouldn't associate with. I would hangout with Angela Bettis anytime. Her character May not so much. Just like Pearl we see what this character is like behind closed doors compared to the characters that have to find out. As a person who has been single most of my life and has lost time doing things I want to do because of an eye disease, I really related to May. The problem is though as Adam says in this movie I like weird but not that weird. This could be seen as a commentary on things and people we like in movies but not in real life. That idea is even reflected in the movie when Adam shows may his movie with cannibalism and she starts wanting to act out the movie which he is put off by. I like that we got both perspectives on how people feel about May but also how she feels even more hurt by the way they treat her. 

The movie starts with May as a child wearing an eye patch to school because her mother thinks kids will make fun of her because of her lazy eye. Her mother makes her a doll named Suzie to be her best friend and keeps Suzie locked in a glass case. The movie transitions to May (Angela Bettis) as an adult. She is seen sewing. She talks to Suzie about how she will like certain parts of people but will be put off by how they see her and not like her. This is shown when she starts looking at a guy sitting near her on a bench but once he sees her lazy eye he is put off. May shows an interest in Adam (Jeremy Sisto), and more specifically his hands. Adam works as a mechanic near where May lives. May works as a veterinarian assistant with Polly (Anna Faris) and a foreign Doctor (Ken Davitian). May is able to interest the things he pronounces wrong such as "scoopels," instead of scalpels. Her eye doctor fixes her lazy eye first with glasses then with contacts. May starts to become more confident and makes her own clothes. 

Here are some scenes from the movie as I loved so many of them that I can't single one out: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZbXA4lyCtqpuGq4fi7KC2VNquSBH4smL

May begins to stalk Adam around as she can't bring herself to say hi to him. When he falls a asleep at a restaurant she goes over and begins touching his hands and rubbing her face on them. He eventually wakes up and she leaves. She later sees him at the laundromat and they have a nice interaction where she smokes a cigarette for the first time. She notices his race car underwear and he says his girlfriend bought it. The smile goes back on May''s face when he says it was his ex-girlfriend. She later sees Adam on break from work and they eat a sandwich in a park where blind kids are also on a field trip from the child care center. More on that later. Adam says he likes weird and he likes gross. That intrigues May. She tells a story about how they had no dog sutures at work to sew a dog back up. They used triple cat sutures instead and the dog's stomach fell open so she had to suture it back up. Adam doesn't seem that put off by this. May has a smile the whole time while telling this story. Adam says he is going to see Dario Argento's Trauma. Him and May go hangout at his house where he shows her his movie memorabilia and some interesting things like fake retractable knives. He talks about a film he made and May invites him to her apartment so they can watch it. They have a good date at her house but May becomes aroused by the cannibalism in his film and tries to act it out when they start to have sex. She bites Adam's lip and he is put off by her being attracted to the blood. He leaves and hears May screaming at Suzie. 

May looking adorable in glasses.

From early on in this movie I was rooting for May to find love. I couldn't help but see some of myself in her. People could be reading this saying Ian how do you find empathy with such a character. I find empathy with strange characters sometimes. Adam Sandler's character in Punch Drunk Love is one of the most relatable characters to me. As a person who has never had much besides a big relationship in high school, I really empathize with May wanting to connect with someone. Sometimes though I've tried to connect with people and found out they aren't what I expected. Especially when I talk to people online and then meet them in person. I've been ghosted as well and its hard and hurtful knowing that person is ghosting you. That scene where Adam lies about the washer being broken is really sad but it feels real. That being said you can only blame Adam so much because if May were real I wouldn't want to be around her either. 

That leads me to my next point. May watching the cannibal film and being turned on by it, while Adam is repulsed by her is how we might feel if a woman tried to be May in real life. We like this stuff in movies but in real life we don't. I think that says something. I think Lucky McKee is trying to call people out a bit. Even as weird as May is we still empathize with her by the end of this movie. Yet in real life she would be equal to someone like Jeffrey Dahmer for wanting to kill people and keep their bodies. I think some of the other things May goes through are relatable as well. The lazy eye could relate to me as a person who who has lost time doing things with others because of an eye disease. When I couldn't see well at all for a couple of years I really couldn't do anything with others. May's problem is more a physical affliction and could relate to people with body dysmorphia disorder. 

Spoiler Section

May eventually hooks up with Polly saying she likes her neck. Polly is into women and she says she likes weird just like Adam did. Polly gives her a cat named Lupe. Unfortunately when May goes to see her the next day she is all ready hooking up with another woman named Ambrosia (Nichole Hiltz). May eventually volunteers at the child care center. A blind girl named Petey makes her an ashtray. She brings Suzie to the child care center saying she is her best friend. May never takes her out of the glass though and the kids want to touch her and the glass breaks and the kids get injured by touching the broken glass. Suzy is broken into many parts. After this May reaches a breaking point. She kills Lupe by throwing the ashtray at her. She meets a punk (James Duval) on the bench and kills him with a pair of scissors to the head after he sees the cat in her freezer and calls her a freak. On Halloween she goes to Polly's house and slits her throat with a scalpel. She kills Ambrosia after saying she likes her legs. Finally she goes to Adam's house and kills his girlfriend (Nora Zehetner). She also kills Adam after he agrees to touch her face. 

May in her homemade Halloween costume

She goes home and in a suitcase full of body parts he liked from all of the people she killed, assembles a new body to replace Suzie. She uses Adam's hands, Polly's neck, Ambrosia's legs, the Punk's arms, Lupe's fur for hair, and Adam's girlfriends ears as she liked her earrings. She uses the smashed ashtray to name the doll "Amy" with the letters. She realizes though that the doll can't see her without eyes. She gouges out her own eye and the doll comes to life and brushes her face with Adam's hands. 

As the horror became more of the focus I liked this movie even more. When the kills come in the end in the form of scalpels and scissors I really enjoyed it. This joins the ranks of Us and Inside as movies with great kills using scissors. This movie has many homages to European genre films. Not only Adam going to see Trauma and having the Opera poster in his house with needles below the eyes. The building a body out of ideal parts feels right out of Pieces. This is a psychological horror movie where a character seems to have a split personality with whatever object they have. It reminds me of movies like Love Object or Magic in that way. It also becomes a slasher movie in the final act and a damn good one with how awesome the kills are. This is also like Audition if that story were told exclusively from Asami's perspective. May actually reminds me of Asami in that she wants people to love her and only her. Just like some real serial killers though she feels she has to make a friend because she can't connect to anyone. It feels just as real as cinematic. That scene with the broken glass is great because I feel secondhand embarrassment for May. I also feel anxiety and pain for her when Suzie is broken. I also feel pain for kids touching all the broken glass. So there are many moments in this I loved. 

Rating: 10/10 For the longest time I've said Dark Water was my favorite film of 2002 but this is dead even with it now. 

Trivia: The teenage girl who asks May "Got any cold ones?" This is when she sees her suitcase. That girl is dressed in the same cheerleader outfit makeup as Lucky McKee's first movie All Cheerleaders Die. Lucky McKee also cameos as the man making out with his girlfriend in the elevator. 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OkP7JcUYVE

Lake of the Dead (1958)

This was a fascinating tale that contrasts the supernatural with gothic horror and murder mystery. That not only makes its way into the story but it is represented in different ways by all the characters. The characters being a psychoanalyst, a cop, a novelist, a magazine editor, and a lawyer make way for interesting conflict about the folklore around the lake and cabin in this movie. Speaking of that, this is one of the first horror movies as far as I know that is set near a cabin. That allows for a mysterious and ominous atmosphere throughout the whole movie. The ending was also ahead of its time and a lot of the reveals and putting the story all together reminded me giallo movies and Psycho. While the ending was a little underwhelming the combination of supernatural mystery, murder mystery, and atmosphere because of the cabin setting makes this a thrilling watch. 

The film starts with shots of the lake featured in the film and the lily pads on it as novelist Bernhard Borge's (Henki Kolstad) wife, Sonja (Bjørg Engh) quotes something from his book. This is not the last of some interestingly written and poetic lines and dialogue in this movie. The film wastes no time as we see the six people on the train going to a cabin owned by Bjørn Werner (Per Lillo-Stenberg). He is the brother of Liljan (Henny Moan) on the train. Others include: psychologist Kai Bugge (Erling Linhdahl), magazine editor Gabriel Mørk (Andre Bjerke), and lawyer Harald Gran (Georg Richter). They are all traveling to a cabin in the Osterdal woods. 

Upon arriving they meet the constable, Braten (Øyvind Øyen). He has not heard from Bjørn in three days. Liljan had a premonition about this as she can tell when Bjørg is in trouble as they are twins. She tells a story, and we see the flashback of her having the same feeling when Bjørn is hit by a car. Braten tells the story of how 100 years ago the cabin was built. Tore Gruvik (Leif Sommerstad) was a cruel man who tolerated only his sister. The sister eloped with a charming fieldhand. Hello Candyman! He ended up killing both of them and putting their bodies in the lake and committing suicide three days later. He haunts the lake and apparently possesses anyone who comes to the cabin. 

Soon after this they keep finding footprints suggesting someone is around. They find Bjørn's diary that says that the legend says that every night before August 23 you can hear Gruvik's screams as the lumberjacks did before he died. Hello Victor Crowley! His diary recounts his time alone at the cabin as he starts to go crazy. He starts visiting the lake every day and we see the progression as the film shows him with a beard in a fast forward shot. Eventually the ghost of Gruvik follows him. The flashback ends on some great suspense as he gets back home and the doorknob starts turning before we go back to Bugge and Bernhard reading the diary. Meanwhile Liljan sees the lily pads in the water with a log and has a feeling of deja vu. They find Bjørn's gun and hat near the water, further making his disappearance more ominous. Braten and Bugge debate as to whether to consider it suicide, murder, or possession. 

I enjoy a lot of things about this movie early on. There is a great use of shadow in certain scenes in and around the cabin. This movie makes you think about the infinite possibilities of bodies of water and how looking at them seems to bring a hypnotic quality. Ever just stare into the water of a lake just because it looks different? There is something about that this movie tries to explore. I like the blurry camera moments during the flashback and as a I all ready said the suspense is great ending on the doorknob opening while the two men read the rest of the diary entry. There is a great transition there to bring us out of that flashback Bernhard gets so into the story that he hits his head on the light above. The mystery aspects are intriguing as well and I like how it becomes a conflict between authority and health practitioner. The music is also great and from the opening you hear different horn, and woodwind instruments that add to the mysterious nature of the setting. 

Spoiler Section

Earlier in the film Bernard had read a note of Bugge's about a patient who was having nightmares about the lake and a creature dragging someone underneath. The rest of the diary after the transition said that Bjørn felt like he had to jump in the lake so that would mean suicide. However, upon analysis by Braten the handwriting is different so he thinks it was forged. Liljan almost walks into the lake one night before being stopped. Harald, the lawyer, thinks it was murder but Bugge is still convinced it was a possession of some kind. Harald walks out near the lake and the next time anyone sees him is his dead body in the lake. 

The night before August 23, Bugge says he knows what is going on. Liljan is his patient and the note about the dream Bernhard read earlier was hers. The diary let Bugge piece it together. From the diary Bugge thinks that Bjørn fell in love with Liljan and didn't want any man to have her. Come midnight they don't hear any screams and they go to the lake and hide on a bank as Liljan jumps in the water. They see Bjørn come up after her and chase after him. They hear laughing and ripples in the water and it is implied Bjørn committed suicide. Back at the cabin Liljan is asleep. Sonja, an experienced diver pretended to be Liljan to lure Bjørn into a trap. In a very Psycho ending Bugge explains that Bjørn used the legend of the lake to try to get away with murder. He was jealous of Harald for being with Liljan and wanted revenge. At a certain point though he was consumed with the legend so he could never be himself again. '

There was no more than just a basic premise for this on Wikipedia so if you wanted a plot summary you came to the right place. I just wish the end had been more climactic. I would've liked to have seen a longer chase. While the reveal is decent, it doesn't hold a candle to Psycho. I don't know if Hitchcock was influenced by or saw this movie but man the similarities are there. I wonder if I could pick up more details and know the characters better a second time around. Because of all the non-linear moments in this and how quickly the characters get to this one setting I found myself learning more about them as the story unfolded. This movie never felt boring though and I was interested the whole time on where it would go. I enjoyed the combination of the mystery with the local legend. The flashbacks, something which giallo movies and slashers sometimes do seems ahead of its time. The cabin setting is great too. That allows for a sense of the characters being isolated and anything goes with supernatural things in that setting. 

Rating: 8/10

Trivia: Andre Bjerke, the writer of the novel published in 1942 that this was based on, plays Gabriel Mork.

You can find this movie on Shudder. It is another one on the Severin Folk horror collection. 

 

Planet Terror

 

One half small town pandemic, the other half a military bioweapon zombie apocalypse, Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror is a perfect mashup of a 50s sci-fi movie meets a George Romero zombie film. The thing that makes it even better is several memorable looking characters and dialogue that gives every actor a chance to shine. You want to see Rose McGowan lighting up the camera you got it, you want to see Michael Biehn be the best small town sheriff you got it, you want to hear Jeff Fahey talk about his perfect barbecue recipe you got it. Every scene spent with these random characters is fun. There is also some of the best exploding blood squibs in horror movies and some incredible gore effects by Greg Nicotero and Howard Betger. As a person who is desensitized to almost all forms of movie violence and gore there were effects in this that made me gag. There is also some perfectly timed comedic moments that brought some levity. I know that I loved this movie because I didn't want it to end. Unlike it's Grindhouse counterpart Death Proof which I thought was too long at times. 

The movie starts with Rose McGowan as Cherry Darling doing a go go dance where her boss Skip (Skip Reissig) scolds her for crying the dance. Cherry walks out of her job and is almost run over by some military trucks. The trucks go to an exchange between chemical engineer "Abby" (Naveen Andrews) for  quantities of DC2, a deadly nerve agent. Lieutenant Muldoon finds out that Abby is keeping some of the DC2 from him and attempts to take him hostage. As he does Abby shoots some of the biochemical making it spray into the air and infect people in the local town. 

We meet El Wray (Freddy Rodriguez) a drifter who reunites with Cherry, his ex. This happens at J.T.'s (Jeff Fahey) restaurant called the Bone Shack. He owns the restaurant with his brother Sheriff Hague (Michael Biehn). Meanwhile Doctor Block (Josh Brolin) and his unhappy, unfaithful, and bisexual wife Dr. Dakota Block (Marley Shelton) treat infected people at the hospital. She has been seeing Tammy (Fergie), behind his back. Ranger Earl McGraw (Michael Parks) helps out the local sheriff's department while taking care of his ill wife Ramona (Jerili Romero). 

Rose McGowan as Cherry Darling

Marley Shelton as Dr. Dakota Block. She is effectively creepy and sexy in this. Props to her for allowing running makeup and having a chipped tooth in the second half of the movie. Not all actresses would do that. Between her and Jeff Fahey this movie has a share of people with piercing blue eyes. 

I'm just going to leave you a link to all the clips from this film on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZbXA4lyCtqp-i8pQuMUFzXF0Bw8HU1u9

I could talk about every scene and every character and why I love it. I love Rodriguez's style in this movie. He frequently goes from close ups, to extreme close ups and back to medium shots which feels like an older exploitation movie and something Lucio Fulci might do. The scratching of the film makes this look like it is from a different time. Rodriguez shoots this digitally though which actually makes for a good hybrid. Most of the time that style doesn't work. Rodriguez might be the only person who has made the digital throwback style work well. Some of the coloring makes it look digital. Nicotero and Berger's effects are out of this world. The exploding blood squibs when anyone gets shot are awesome. I love the effect when Tom Savini's deputy character is torn apart and you hear him scream high pitched. A hybrid of some of the effects Savini himself did in Day of the Dead, I love the effect of Fergie's split open head. The most disgusting effects of course come in the form of pulsating boils on faces due to the bioweapon infection and the infected herpes looking testicles. It is a double whammy of gross out when the herpes is seen on screen and then Dr. Block pops abscesses on someone's tongue. Those effects actually made me gag at times and throughout this movie Rodriguez with his FX crew do things that Fulci used to do which is push the audience to the breaking point with blood and gore. 

Before I move to the spoiler section I'm just going to say some of the my favorite lines from some characters: 

Earl McGraw (talking about Dr. Block): I never did like that son of a bitch. About as useless as a pecker on a pope."

Cherry Darling: That's the thing about goals, they become the thing you talk about instead of the thing you do."

J.T.: I finally figured it out. Blood has salt in it. My sauce needs more salt. 

Sheriff Hague: "Try not to shoot yourselves. Don't shoot each other. But especially...don't shoot me."

Dakota Block (talking about her anesthesia needles): These…are my friends. My yellow friend is to take the sting off. My blue friend you’ll barely feel. That means my yellow friend is all ready taking effect. See how fast my friends work? And after my red-headed friend, you’ll never see me again.”

Without the characters having some degree of relativity this wouldn't be as good. Everyone feels grounded in some way even in such a ridiculous movie. I love so many little things that happen. I enjoy the scene where the Block's son shoots himself after Dakota gives him the gun. It feels like something a real little kid would do and a great comedy moment. I love when El Wray wrecks zombies in the hospital with his knives. I love the shootout outside with the cops. Another great Rodriguez moment is when he lingers on the closeup of the deputy's arm and it gets bit off. I love Abby and his Rambo knife that can cut off other men's balls. There are so many fun character moments in between the madness. I enjoy the score by Rodriguez which feels like a throwback to John Carpenter's more minimalist synth scores.

Spoiler Section

All of the characters end up meeting at the Bone Shack. Cherry escapes the hospital with Wray after having her leg eaten off by a zombie. The cops at first arrest Wray because he isn't allowed to own guns. Dr. Block eventually figures out Dakota is cheating on him and locks her in a closet from which she escapes. Dr. Block is infected by one of the zombies when they overrun the hospital. Dakota flees to her father, Earl McGraw whom she is estranged from because he didn't like her marrying Dr. Block. This ties in with Death Proof as does Fergie listening to the radio and hearing "in memory of Jungle Julia." When all the surviving characters gather at J.T.'s Wray and Cherry have sex after he reveals a wedding ring that was in the jacket she stole. During this scene there is a missing reel. The film resumes sometime after the sex scene when Deputy Tolo (Tom Savini) had shot Sheriff Hague and the restaurant become overrun. In an ode to Night of the Living Dead Cherry goes to grab the truck outside near gas tanks and a lot of zombies as Wray covers her. He is one hell of a shot. They all escape on the tow truck, a car, a motorcycle, and Wray rides minibike. This sequence as they to escape is awesome. Michael Biehn driving the tow truck and splattering zombies is awesome.

Eventually they are surrounded on the bridge by many zombies and the military shows up and kills them all. Two soldiers take Cherry and Dakota away. Abby tells them about the DC2 and him and Wray escape. They confront Lt. Muldoon who says his team killed Bin Laden and because he wasn't supposed to be there he got infected to keep quiet. They have to breathe in a gas every so often to stay human. They kill Muldoon. Dakota and Cherry kill the two soldiers who attempt to rape them. This is a nice homage to Lucio Fulci as Cherry stabs Quentin Tarantino's character with the splintered part of her peg leg. Dakota shoots the other with a syringe gun she has. Wray then tapes an M16 to Cherry's leg. She is able to stand on the barrel and they all escape and kill all the soldiers.  Earl kills the infected Dr. Block. Wray is shot though trying to protect Cherry. Cherry leads the survivors to a Caribbean Beach where she is seen with her and Wray's baby daughter. 

How awesome is it seeing Cherry with the M16 use the grenade launcher to blow herself into the air over a gate and then use it again to kill a bunch of soldiers as she comes down? That was like something out of a Halo game and I loved it. There really isn't anything I disliked about this movie and if it were even longer with more zombie carnage, awesome character moments and dialogue I'd be there for it. I haven't even talked about the scenes where Cherry says she wants to be a comedian and how J.T. finds her funny. There isn't a moment that I don't like.  Rose McGowan as Cherry is one of the hottest characters in all of horror movies. She has never looked better. 

Rating: 10/10

Trivia: Casting Bruce Willis in a small part was an homage to Grindhouse movies where big stars were cast to enhance the credibility of the movie. 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCFQtc6BzyM

Impetigore

From the beginning this movie grabs you with suspense and intrigue. It never lost me for one moment. The atmosphere and doom of the village as the setting in this movie has my attention. Once the story comes along I only get more invested. It does a great job of making you feel scared but also wanting to see what happens next. This isn't really a slow burn. It reminded me a lot of Lucio Fulci's The Beyond where every 5-10 minutes there is something unexpected that happens, instead of a slow burn leading to the ending.  Since most people know that that The Beyond my favorite film ever made that is putting this in good company. At a certain point in the movie becomes just as much of a ghost story as folk but it never loses any bit of my investment on it. I loved this movie. I loved every minute of it. Not only is some of the suspense great in this but it will satisfy gore hounds and the folklore in this is incredibly horrific. This is one of the meanest curses in any of these movies which makes you invest in wanting it end and why it happened even more. This is right up there with movies like Audition and The House with the Laughing Windows as far as movies that scared me, kept me intrigued and had the most satisfying reveals to a mystery. 

Best friends Maya (Tara Basro) and Dini (Marissa Anita) work in toll booths in different parts of Jakarta, Indonesia. Maya and Dini talk for a few minutes which sets up a natural friendship. Maya mentions there has been one man there to see her a few times that day and because of his look is concerned. She then sees that same car coming. The man gets out of his car and knocks on the window. She opens it and he asks her if she is Rahayu from a village called Harjosari. She declines and he seems to leave. They had showed him park his car far away and walk up to the window. That was suspenseful enough. Now we see him getting a machete like weapon out of his car and start walking toward the booth again, upping the tension. This movie does this throughout with fake outs but also different outcomes than you would expect. It never seems predictable. Dini is on the phone while all this is happening providing us with a cipher. Maya leaves the booth and runs away but falls at one point. As he is about to stab her he says "We don't want what your family left behind, make it go away," before the cops that were called shoot and kill him. 

Soon after this Maya finds a picture of her with her parents in her Aunt's possessions. On the back of the picture it says "Rahayu," and, "Harjosari." She decides to go the village to secure the house in the background of the picture and see if it could get her any money. They travel by train to the village. This starts something I love which is the natural lighting of this film. This film has lighting by car lights, lanterns, and fire. I love the lantern lights specifically because lantern lights are dim. You can see but it doesn't illuminate anything the way a big florescent light would. I enjoy how all of it looks. It contrasts with the way the scenes of the forest look in the daytime. Some of the greens in the daytime are beautiful. While on this bus ride Maya at one point sees three children near the woods off the road. She then sees them again in the exact same way a minute or so later. Again relieving the tension and then upping it even more. 

They get to the village via a horse ride and no one wants to tell them anything about the house. Villagers look at them suspiciously. They pose as University students doing a thesis on wayang. After they go through the house Maya finds pictures of her parents but none of them with her. That scene is great because you see a long shot of someone approaching her from two rooms away. It turns out to be Dini who had put on some garment over her other clothes making her look different. The soundscape music adds to these moments throughout the film. That night a child is born skinless and the child is forcibly drowned. Maya and Dini wander through the graveyard to see many graves for such a local village and find her parents graves. This movie had all ready setup something supernatural as Maya had asked a man on the bus to read a note left for her that was in Javanese. The man says it is something about a spell and the carrier not being haunted. The next day Maya goes out to get food. Two men come to the house to tell Dini to leave, no one goes in the house because it doesn't belong to them. Their faces change when she says she is Rahayu. They say that Saptadi (Ario Bayu) the local puppeteer has the papers that prove the house is hers. She leaves with them...

Spoiler Section

There is some great suspense as it is obvious the men lied to Dini and they go into the woods as they say that is where Saptadi is. As she tries to run away after they prevent her from leaving she trips on a branch and they knock her out. There is some great upside down camera angles here as she is hanging upside down. Saptadi, the two men and Saptadi's mother Misni (Christine Hakim) kill her and flay her body. Maya starts to wonder where she is and goes to see Saptadi who feigns not knowing. That night at a wayang show a pregnant couple believes their baby will be safe. Their is some great percussion music during that sequence. That night a small child wakes up Maya and says to go see the birth. The birth happens but the child is again skinless. A woman sneaks up on Maya but when they see the woman outside she doesn't say anything. A good moment where this movie does the unexpected numerous times. 

The woman says she is named Ratih (Asmara Abigail). She leads Maya back to her place and she tells her about Donowongso (Zidni Hakim), Maya's father making a pact with the devil and killing three girls to heal his daughter Rahayu as she was born skinless. From that point forward all children in the village were born skinless. Misni and Saptadi gather a mob as they confirm they killed the wrong girl. Two come to Ratih's house. After getting them to away Ratih and Maya leave through the woods and wait for a cop they called there. While in the woods Maya admits she got Ratih's husband killed as she saw a picture of him in her house. He was the man from the beginning of the movie. I like how that comes back around. 

The mob comes and kills the cop. Maya runs away. While hiding in the forest the three ghosts of the girls gather around her and one forces her to remember her past. They show her that her dad married a woman every man in the village wanted named Shinta (Faradina Mufti). Unfortunately Shinta couldn't have kids so she had an affair with Saptadi. This angers Minsi who curses the child and makes Saptadi forget. After Rahayu is born they hide her because she is skinless. It is around this time that her father started killing girls to heal her. Minsi and her father were both shamans practicing black magic. It shows how that power can corrupt. Her father turned the girl's skin into puppets and the only way to stop the curse is to bury the bones with the puppets. Ratih and Maya do so. Shortly after Maya is abducted by the mob. She is hung upside down just like Dini was earlier. Saptadi and others prepare to flay her as they believe making her skin into puppets is the only way to stop the curse. It is at this point Minsi admits that Maya's grandfather had an affair with her, making Saptadi and Donowongso half brothers. This might be why she wanted revenge after Saptadi's affair. Maya pleads with Saptadi telling him she is his daughter and his mother made him forget about the affair. Feeling ashamed Saptadi kills himself after a baby is born with skin from the other expecting couple. Minsi follows and kills herself as well. Maya runs away and hitches a ride in the back of a truck. One year later an expecting woman has her baby taken from her womb and eaten and we see Minsi in the mirror eating it. A new curse.

If this movie had not had a reveal the middle and then kept following it up I don't think I would've been as interested. While this movie takes its time it always feels like it keeps giving you appetizers before a big meal at the end with the climax. I do think the very end is a bit of a sequel grab and not necessarily a good way to end it. That being said they could make a sequel which would be awesome. The lighting and atmosphere throughout are perfect. I loved the story. What blood we get with skinless bodies and slit throats is great. It never shies away from it is just scarcely used. The idea of cursing the babies is cruel and something deserving of a horror film. The themes focus on interesting themes. Maya and Dini don't deserve this. If they just left the possible inheritance alone they would be fine. I do like that this movie doesn't go full doomed scenario like The Wicker Man but it still feels the main character won't get out of that situation. 

It does show that evil is always around though, especially with that ending. What her father does compared to Minsi is still evil. Lives are not supposed to be traded but all humans will try to save their family over many lives of others. Both of them do it in evil ways though rather than possibly appreciating what they do have. Donowongso doesn't love his daughter seemingly until she is healed. Minsi puts her own personal motives ahead of being honest to her son. That doesn't excuse what the grandfather did which is basically exploitation of his workers. Evil comes in many forms but it only stops when someone like Ratih wants to help. She chooses love and the life of one over hate and rejection in more than one way. She is shown taking care of the only skinless child who the village let live. It is these people that make a difference over the mobs of many. There were also things in this movie that reminded me of other horror movies in good ways. The lingering shots of the bathtub toward the beginning reminded me of The Beyond which has a big scene involving a bathtub. The ending and even the beginning with a character traveling somewhere they are unfamiliar with for a house reminded me of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Rating: 10/10

Trivia: The title of the film is a combo of the word "impetigo" which is a skin infection more commonly seen in children and "gore." Checks out. 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdKU13L5MCI

 

Wilczyca AKA She-Wolf

 

Not many horror movies combine location, atmosphere, and folklore as well as this does. There are many sequences and images I enjoyed but above all I liked the witch FX, the snowy setting where you can feel the cold air, and the giant mansion and castle settings. The or bright snow during the day contrasts with with the windy nights and the shadows in the big houses. I can't think of many other movies tat combine witchcraft, vampirism, and lycanthropy this interestingly. By the end I was happy there was some payoff as I can't stand folk horror movies that don't actually show you the antagonist and it makes you think it is all psychological. I like mystery, just pay it off and this does. The great ending with a suspenseful followed by some incredible blood and gore elevated my feelings. The score with its use of brass and horns almost sounded like something from a Universal monsters movie and I really enjoyed that as well. Also the poster is awesome and the movie actually lives up to it.

Right away this movie shows one of the images that stuck with me. It starts with a bird eating a horse in the snow. Then it goes to soldier Casper Wosinski (Krzysztof Jasinski) riding his horse home, presumably from a war of some kind. He goes home to find that his wife, Mary (Iwona Bielska) has had an abortion and is dying. He asks for a priest and notices the crucifix in their home has been taken down. As she dies she curses him saying she will always find him. Casper then leaves his estate in the hands of his servant of some kind, Matthew. Before he leaves though Matthew says he must put a stake through her coffin as Mary was a witch. Casper cannot bring himself to do it so Matthew does. Some time later Casper is living alone with his awesome dog when he sees a big wolf wandering around outside.  He gets a visit from a servant to bring him to Count Victor (Leon Niemczyk) and his old friend Count Ludwik (Stanislaw Brejdygant). Upon arriving it seems like they talk about fighting some oppressors. There is a subplot about war in this story and I didn't completely understand it because I just didn't understand the terms they were using and I don't know Polish history. If I ever get the Severin collection with this in it I'm sure there's some features that talk more about the setting and cultural stuff in this movie. Anyway, Ludwik is revealed to be married to Julia, a vindictive, domineering sort of woman. She is played by the same actress as Mary! So that actress pulled a Mia Goth here.

The same actress who plays Mary...

...Also plays Julia

The two counts leave Casper in charge of the property, along with the servants and Dr. Goldberg (Henryk Machalica). While they all travel to the manor to rendezvous with someone they show him to be killed. Casper goes back to the house and brings a letter to Julia from Ludwik. Casper continues to see the wolf. A soldier named Otto (Olgierd Lucaszwicz) visits and all of his soldiers quarter in the house. Otto and Julia are shown in a flashback to have a romantic relationship. She is seen feeding wolves meat and shown to enjoy licking Otto's blood after he is cut. Julia frequently shows no interest toward Casper and is shown with Otto a lot. I'm never sure throughout this movie when Julia could have Mary's spirit within her, or when or if she transforms into the wolf which leaves a subtle mystery here. 

As I said in my thesis there are so many memorable images and an incredible atmosphere here. The scene where they all stop at the crossroads is great. The wind and the steamy breath adds an atmosphere and you can feel the cold. I enjoy the giant crosses they see, that adds something to it. The part when Casper and the other soldier see the ghost is really cool and it looks like an optical effect of some kind. The scenes during the day, specifically when Casper hunts the wolf is great because it is a good antithesis to most wolf horror movies that take place at night. There are also some awesome surreal moments. Like when Matthew says he has the nightmare about Mary and sees here but you don't know if it is real or not. I enjoy the look of Mary's more decaying corpse over the course of the film whenever she is seen. There is a great scene toward the end where Casper is shown walking the mansion with a gun and the use of shadow with the light just coming from his candle is great. This movie delivers in many ways. Atmospheric, nighttime winter scenes, snowy daytime scenes with the wolf and the big mansions, and the gothic nighttime scenes in the mansion. 

Mary's decaying corpse is frightening

Spoiler Section

Casper starts to hunt the wolf one day and seemingly hits it but then as soon as he goes to look he finds Julia riding her horse in the woods. Julia in the red and black outfit is a memorable image. She is shown adjusting a bandage on her hand. While it seems doubtful that she turned back into human from the wolf, you're not entirely sure. You heard the wolf yelp when he hit it but Julia looks as though she has a cut a knife or something. It doesn't check out but the movie never confirms nor denies anything, yet you know the wolf is real because other people have seen it. Eventually Matthew shows up and says everything was fine on the estate until Mary's coffin was distressed and the stake was taken out of the coffin. That is why Matthew has been having nightmares. Eventually Casper teams up with Dr. Goldberg. Casper looks at a picture frame of Mary that turns into Julia. When Goldberg does a witchcraft spell of some kind to put Mary's soul to rest Julia falls ill. That confirms they are one and the same. Goldberg makes a silver bullet with holy water for Casper, which is shown in full. That is when Casper finally goes hunting in the castle for Julia. He finds her having sex with Otto and kills her. The blood squibs are great. He takes a sword and kills the two guards. Some awesome dismemberment here. He then jumps out the window and gets on a horse and gets shot in the back by soldiers as he escapes. It is left ambiguous whether he survives or not. Ludwik returns home and asks to see his wife's corpse which is that of an animal skeleton. 

Julia looks striking in the red and black outfit.

This was a satisfying folk horror movie. Instead of being a slow burn set in one location around only one or two people, I found this movie kept things interesting. The twist with Julia and Otto was nice break from the other things going on. The team up with Doctor Goldberg at the end was great. This movie had different elements of werewolves, vampires, and witches I enjoyed. It never seemed to lean firmly into all three though, which I thought was interesting and it leaves some mystery to it. You never fully know if the wolf is real or who it could be. Or if it is just a random wolf. I can't find the score anywhere. It is a great mix of an epic score with something like a noir movie. I enjoyed it. 

Rating: 8.5/10

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YG9yG3mPUs

Full movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m98inrbrEtU

Leptirica AKA The She-Butterfly

 

This checks the boxes for what I like in a folk horror movie. A village or rural location, an actual folk related villain you can see that isn't metaphorical or psychological, and.a villain that plays on local folktales. While I liked this, I didn't love it. Maybe because it happens too fast. This is only a 64 minute movie. If you're looking for a fast paced folk horror movie with some memorable images and atmospheric setting this this is for you. There were a lot of images of the creature in this movie that I enjoyed and there are some scary moments at the beginning and the monster. I enjoy the idea of a vampire coming to a mill night after night for flour. That seems like a scary story people would tell at night. The same goes for how this plays with the idea of not seeing the bride before the marriage. There are some well timed comedic moments as well. 

The movie starts with Zivan (Slobodan Perovic) bringing flour to a miller named Vule (Toma Kuruzovic). At night Vule is attacked and killed by a vampire going into the mill. While you don't see the vampire's face you do see the mouth and the fangs which look awesome and the face is in the shadow. I like atmosphere of this scene as the candle goes out in the mill. The vampire bites Vule and this is well done because he is still shaking around as he dies and there is a nice amount of blood. The next day farmers find his dead body with the wound on his neck. The film then transitions to Zivan's kin Radojka (Mirjana Nikolic) who we saw the day before over the hill near Zivan and Vule. She is in the woods with sheep and a farmer named Strahinja (Petar Bozovic) sneaks up on her and they play around. They have a forbidden love as Strahinja is a pauper and Zivan doesn't approve of them being together. Strahinja goes to ask Zivan if he can marry Radojka and he doesn't give an answer. "You'll be waiting for an answer for a long time." 

The mysterious vampire fangs at the beginning.

The Case of the Bloody Iris inspired shot of the beautiful Radojka

Strahinja tells Radojka that he cannot bear for her to marry someone else and will leave if he cannot have her. He meets with the other farmers who have talked about Vule being the fourth miller to die while while working there in the same way. Strahinja, wanting to make some money before he departs offers to work in the mill. His first night in there the same thing happens. It is a great visual when he is covered in flour as he falls from the top of the room. Apparently the vampire never attacks him because the farmers find him the next day covered in flour. They discuss the myth of Sava Savanovic and go to see an old woman in the neighboring village who apparently was alive when he was around. This is one of the funniest moments in the movie as they ask her if she knew him and they get no answer so they all start walking back then she says she did know him and they all rush back to her. This is repeated when they ask her where the grave is and she says it is by a ravine. 

They eventually find the grave and put a steak through the middle of the coffin. A butterfly comes out that they can't catch. Strahinja talks about how he feels about Radojka. The rest of the men don't like Zivan and agree to help him take her from Zivan. This is another funny moment as they sneak around the farm but Zivan is right there as soon as they get to Radojka. A couple of the men keep falling down as they run away. They go to another village to consummate the marriage. 

Spoiler Section

The farmers talk about how he shouldn't see her before the marriage and one of the women from the village guards the door when she sleeps. Strahinja sneaks in after the guard falls asleep and begins to take Radojka's clothes off...this reveals a big scar in her chest as she transforms into a vampire who gets on Strahinja's shoulders and he runs back to the site of the grave. He manages to take the stake out of the coffin and stab her with it, killing her. I do like the ambiguity here. Would he have ever known she was a vampire if he didn't break a marriage taboo. We see Zivan catch the butterfly and says he will show them for taking her. Did he have anything to do with it? Does the butterfly represent the vampire by day? I like that this movies does not tell all. 

Radojka showing her fangs

Radojka fully transformed. Talk about beauty and the best. I can't help but think if this was an influence on Fiona in Shrek. 

There are so many great images. Just Radojka's look as this beautiful blonde in a village with mostly older people is great in itself. Radojka's tranformation between beauty and beast is great. There is one shot I love where we see reflection from water in a well. While I enjoyed this movie I never got to the point of loving it and I'm glad it is only around an hour long because nothing ever hit the bullseye for me but there was nothing I didn't like. There is even a commentary on class in here between Zivan and Strahinja and the forbidden love story is a tale that goes back forever. 

Rating: 6.5/10

Trivia: The movie was filmed in the village of Zilinje. The mill that appears in the movie is still in it's original location.

You can find this film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vojhfYK0T5c

Also available on Shudder and in the Severin Films Folk Horror Collection