October 21, 2007

Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), 10/21.

Muoi: Legend of a Portrait Muoi: Legend of a Portrait "is a serviceable horror film with two or three effective jolts, but the real reason for any viewer to watch it to the finish is to gawk at its two incredibly beautiful lead actresses," writes Kyu Hyun Kim at Koreanfilm.org. "Don't expect anything like a thoughtful, self-reflexive take on the (potentially ironic) position of Koreans now exploiting Viet Nam as an exotic land of the ghosts with unrequited love." More (plus a trailer) from luna6.

"Even though it is marketed as another J-Horror entry, Vital indicates that Shinya Tsukamoto has more on his mind than frightening his audience with another genre exercise," writes Peter Nellhaus.

31 Days of Horror roll on at Not Coming to a Theater Near You:

  • "Part supernatural mystery, part psychological thriller, part grisly zombie horror, [Lucio] Fulci's City of the Living Dead is a multifaceted, character-driven tale of terror that manages the impressive feat of creating an appreciable atmosphere of fear while holding its death-defying denizens in check for the bulk of the picture," writes Thomas Scalzo.

  • For Megan Weireter, The Wicker Man "resonates with a sadness that we as a species can't live up to the beauty of our rituals, our music, our poetry—that all this has no bearing on the fact that we are an immoral scourge on the earth. Everyone is so full of faith, and still they can't be bothered to just be nice to everyone else. The outlook for humanity is bleak."

  • "Unsurprisingly, Maniac Cop is not one for the wine-and-cheese crowd," writes Victoria Large. "But for those willing to roll with the B-movie punches, including the straight-faced delivery of some unabashedly hackneyed dialogue ('This isn't about romance. This is about murder.'), Maniac Cop does have its pleasures. It is essentially an 80s slasher picture dressed up in a blue uniform, but that very premise carries a glimmer of originality and even subversion."

They Came Back "It's a mark to writer/director Robin Campillo's singularity that They Came Back only incidentally recalls the works of Romero (the shots of the slowly returning dead marching through the city streets eerily recalls the opening of Day of the Dead), for his film is one of primarily intangible horrors," Rob Humanick. "The living dead may not be an immediate threat, but outside of their tucked away graves they remain a constant reminder of our imminent mortality." Also, "Resident Evil: Apocalypse is a good bad bad movie, or something like that."

"The Mummy plays out certain anxieties about British imperialism, but it's hard to tell where its sympathies ultimately lie," writes Billy Stevenson.

"Blacula is more about empowerment than exploitation," writes Eric D Snider.

Also at Cinematical:

In the Los Angeles Times, Susan King reports on a revival of Poltergeist, newly struck print and all.

"The inventive and unnerving DIY shocker Mulberry Street may seem to take its cues from 28 Days Later, but since Danny Boyle's zombie-virus hit was the British response to George A Romero's very-American undead allegories, director Jim Mickle and his resourceful collaborators can be excused for taking a little something back thru Ellis Island: all is fair in love and the zombie war, it can be supposed," writes Robert J Lewis.

At Facets Features, Phil Morehart posts two clips from Ed Wood's Orgy of the Dead. Also, Lon Chaney in The Phantom of the Opera; and the shower scene from Psycho: "50 cuts, between 71 to 78 angles, screeching strings, chocolate syrup and casaba melons."

More online viewing from Todd Brown at Twitch: a trailer for the newly restored version of Dario Argento's Suspiria; and another for Deaths of Ian Stone, "aptly described as the Groundhog Day of horror films."



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Posted by dwhudson at October 21, 2007 8:29 AM