J*A*S*M

Average. At its most basic, is pretty similar to A Nightmare in Elm Street, but with a villain that is not a burned up murderer, but a drowned murderer. And he doesn’t get to the victims through their dreams, but with the help of any random large body of water. Plot-wise is a big cliché where everything happens exactly the way the viewer expects. From at least the moment the protagonist googles the origin of the curse, it is very clear what we are into. But it’s quite nicely shot, the characters are likeable, given the circumstances, and the make-up of the villain is fine. The rating is between two and three stars.

Montse doesn’t want to be alone. Montse is a sad case, nobody likes her and she doesn’t get any joy in life. She sacrificed her youth raising her little sister, who, after the death of her mother (while giving birth) and the disappearance of her father (in the war), didn’t have anyone who would look after her. She’s God fearing and prissy. And on top of all that, she suffers from agoraphobia, she’s not even able to leave her flat. The film relies on the superb performance of Macarena Gómez, who plays the character in an incredibly nervous way. You feel how she loses control of the unseen, and her helplessness and anger. But you also understand and sympathise with her in a way – she doesn’t want to be evil, but the circumstances of her life, which have denied her of even a shred of happiness, have turned her into a stuck-up person who makes life unpleasant for others. A very impressive film, only the ending is perhaps a bit too grandiloquent for me. I haven’t felt sorry for a “villain” in a long time. After a relatively long break, I’m again satisfied with a Spanish horror thriller.

What makes this film interesting is the way the viewer’s impression worsens with every minute. The opening sequence before the credits is a beautifully shot and effective introduction to a group of nasty, charismatic and merciless villains. The credits then awkwardly point to a twist that will happen 45 minutes later or so, but whatever. The first half is still a pretty decent home invasion exploitation flick, but then comes the twist and everything falls apart. It’s not only that all of a sudden the behaviour of the characters becomes utterly ridiculous, or that the sun is shining in the middle of the night, but the film also begins to feel surprisingly amateurish, not because of the make-up (which is quite good), but the overall quality of the craftsmanship. Honestly, I got the impression that the second half of the movie was made by someone else.

This is quite a hard film to rate. Two years ago, indie horror fans were captivated by Scott Shirmer’s début Found, a film that was very cheap, but even with that ridiculously low budget, it did more than many other creators can do with a much bigger budget. In Found, the character is affected after watching an old trashy horror film called Headless, and now we have a chance to finally see this “lost horror movie from the 1970s” as some sort of sibling to Found – a film inspired by images of a film within a film. So it will greatly depend on the individual approach of each viewer. The film itself, without its context, can not be considered very good by any modern standards. The visuals, the edition, the camera, everything feels like and old VHS bootleg – but that’s exactly the way it wants to feel. And it’s also worth mentioning that the creators do not spare in obscenity, violence and brutality. Actually, I think that in this regard they go further than the great majority of the “video nasties” that have a cult following in certain circles, I mean those that due to their brutality and inappropriateness have been at times banned in certain countries. Here, the perverted murderous psychopath sets on a spiral of violence where gouging out eyes and their subsequent eating (with white and red liquid dripping from the mouth included) is not at the top of the imaginary ranking of nastiness, but rather at the bottom. In other words: it’s not my horror cup of tea, but considering what the film wants to be, it’s good. Some of the images and scenes (especially the murder scenes, which blend reality, imagination and the memories of the murderer) are very strong, a rather weird mix of trash and art. The rating can be anything, basically, I’m between three and four. PS: Someone give this people good money so they can show what they do in big!

To begin with, Moorhead and Benson aren’t horror directors/fans, but smart and distinctive filmmakers able to come up with an interesting and original concept, and, although they use elements of the genre, they can’t be relied on or considered its saviours. Spring is less “horror” than their previous film, Resolution. Actually, it’s not horror at all, but a good film nonetheless (and, unlike the previous one, you can see some production values). Captivating atmosphere, nice cinematography, good performances and an interesting mythology. But what’s important is that I really cared about the fate of the protagonists.

A very realistic and minimalist survival flick, the script can’t have been more than five pages long. I think that’s what it must look like when two people get lost while camping in the wilderness and get attacked by a bear on their way back. The level of credibility and crudeness is very high in Backcountry, including those “main” scenes when the bear attacks. It’s on a completely different level (in conception and ambition) that this year’s Grizzly, fortunately so, I must say. My only quibbles are the self-serving and pointless episodes with the foreigner and that the survival part “proper” begins rather late. Edit: I sometimes think about this film, even a year later, and that main attack scene still remains very much alive. Quality.

Compared to its sequel, the first Monsters (4*) is proper popcorn fun. Anyone expecting a more action packed and viewer friendlier film after watching the trailer couldn’t be more mistaken. Really, it’s not possible to describe in words how awfully boring it is.

The first half: a confused search of sense and order, with a well made atmospheric scene here and there. The second half: no sense and order found, utter disinterest.

While watching I wasn’t sure whether I was enjoying the film or not. It has nice visuals, a pretty good concept and quality gore going on for it. The problem is the music: the main score is fine, yes, thumbs up for it, but the creators push other “scary” melodies way too often, even in scenes that would actually be more effective without any music, sometimes it feels ridiculous, in fact. Another problem are the characters, who are incredibly unlikeable. This, of course, can be justified given the concept, but the reward (the horror action) comes too late for the viewer to not become irritated by them. At the beginning they speak a lot, then hints of relatively brutal violence start showing up, reaching their peak with the appearance of the maniac with the shotgun from the poster. At some point, the overall impression from the film the leant towards the good.

As Krnáčová would say, probably an idiot is behind this project. I try not to use the Boo! rating too often, but here it was solidly deserved. A cheap and pointless murder-fest (and by cheap I don’t mean only in terms of money) that unnecessarily jumps back and forth and the characters have nothing better to do other than showing boobs and bums (in the case of the girls) or bare chests (in the case of the boys). The humour has some hints of self-awareness, but it’s dominated by toxicity. I don’t know what else to say. It wasn’t fun, it was painful. If the author wants to dedicate two more films to this, I admire his effort and perseverance, but IMHO it’s not worth it, really.