A New Horror - A New Hope?

HALLOWEEN is the time of year where, as everyone knows, you have to get out the horror collection.
But recently there have two new sub-genres that people can curl up in front of the tv with a tub of ice cream – torture porn and trolls.
The first of those is a category which I really don’t see the point because it really just likes to bathe in blood, and has no scary aspect about it.
The Saw franchise is similar in ways to that of the Final Destination saga – elaborate deaths portrayed as something clever but ultimately really predictable and boring. There is a morbid curiosity with all horror films, but while all the others inspire fear, torture porn just makes people go “oooh, that’s clever”. Well, no it isn’t.
At least the Final Destination was able to laugh at itself. You know that the characters won’t die as you first think they will and the humour is in how ridiculous the deaths become. The film makers can string out one death over the course of an entire film and it would be worthwhile, perhaps that’s where they’ll do next for their next film.
But the Saw and Hostel films are just plain boring without any thrills, just a fascination on blood and gore that really isn’t healthy. They just shock for shock’s sake while The Human Centipede is a one-trick pony that should be a ten minute short, at best.
But the second new sub-genre that I think has come about is trolls. Have we ever had a troll movie before? I don’t think we have. Recently I got to see Trollhunter for the first time. (Living in a “provincial city” means that we get most films a few weeks after everyone else.)
It’s a terrific film and one that really deserves to be shouted about and I hope that it will inspire other films of its type.
Yes, it lends itself to the Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity films, but at least this one spoofs those documentary films and becomes a great mockumentary.
The comedy and the horror are blended perfectly to create a fantastic film that is at the right length, and really shows up the flaws of those films I’ve mentioned.
At every step of the way you feel for the characters despite knowing little about them, and Otto Jespersen’s performance is spot on.
Like Shaun of the Dead, I think it could really open up a new type of film and one that will see film makers across the planet making their own type. Here’s hoping that there will be more leaders than imitators.

Frightarama

Watching a horror film is a staple part of the Halloween tradition. The difficulty always comes down to which one to watch. So, on October 29, Leicester’s Phoenix Square cinema had a horror movie marathon, and to make life a little easier, they put on three films – two classics and a new film that is a worthy addition to the genre.

The Shining – Here’s Johnny!

From the opening shot, this film oozes fear. Opening with Wendy Carlos’s haunting bass resonating throughout the film, it lingers long in the mind, forever connected with Jack Nicholson’s grimace and helicopter views over the Rockies. The terror was just as palpable as when I first saw it many moons ago. Some people find children in horror films psychologically disturbing, and those two girls in their blue dresses contribute to the terror. It’s not something I get because personally I find the blood flooding out of the lifts one of the most horrific moments in cinema history. Others meanwhile find Jack Nicholson’s performance as Jack Torrance the most traumatising aspect of The Shining. The moment Wendy (Shelley Duvall) finds those meaningless scribbles from the typewriter is when we start to cower behind our hands. And of course when he starts running around with the axe, that’s when we get really scared. A great start to the triple bill.

Trollhunter – “they can smell the blood of a Christian”

Zombies, aliens and monsters, ghosts and poltergeists, deranged killers, demons – surely it’s only trolls that haven’t been covered in their entirety in cinema? This must be a sub-genre defining film if ever there was one. After the terror of The Shining, comedy horror came with Trollhunter. So trolls can smell Christians, but can they smell the blood of Muslims? “I honestly don’t know” is troll hunter Hans’s response. The moment our band of heroes are in the trolls’ lair provokes the two great emotions of fear and humour in one go. Who would have thought a fart would be so funny and terrifying at once! Its reception in its home country of Norway has been mixed but over here it looks like it will be every bit of a success story.
For my full review click here: http://filmbuff-moviebuff.blogspot.com/2011/10/trollhunter.html

By this time, because the air conditioning had broken down the heat in screen two was getting too much, despite both films being set in really cold places. There was great relief to find we were being re-housed into the other screen to watch our final instalment ...

The Exorcist - It’s only a movie, it’s only a movie, it’s only a movie...

At the climax of William Friedkin’s classic, you could hear a pin drop in the theatre. Shown on 35mm film, it was cinema gold, it looked like a hand-made movie, like picking up a hand-made leather-bound book. Those precious moments when the devil takes over Regan are great fun and a wonder of technical proficiency. But it’s those little moments that add to make the whole - the very brief frames of the devil pale and gaunt; the devil reminding Father Karras if he could spare some change for “a poor old altar boy, father”; reminders about what he did to his mother by leaving her in the home. By the time Max Von Sydow re-enters from stage left, it was full throttle for the final battle of good versus evil.

Trollhunter

Director: André Øvredal
Starring: Otto Jespersen; Glenn Erland Tosterud; Johanna Mørck; Tomas Alf Larsen.

EVERY once in a while a genre defining film comes along – and Trollhunter is exactly that.
It is very difficult these days to come up with something new or refreshing but writer/director André Øvredal has done just that.
Recently there has been a truckload of zombie films, Jason Bourne imitators and other spy films.
But a film about trolls? That is something new. A fairy tale monster which rarely comes up on the horror radar is a sight to behold.
Trollhunter begins with three media students finding out about shootings of bears in Norway. Hungry for an assignment, they stalk a man they believe to be a bear poacher.
But when they follow him into the woods, they find that he is a hunter of an altogether different kind of beast.
From the start it turns out that the troll hunter or trolljegeren, Hans (Otto Jespersen who plays along with comic precision that would make Leslie Nielsen proud) has some very odd personality traits.
One of his first questions he asks is whether one of our trio is a Christian, because trolls can smell the blood of God-fearing men. Later, the question of whether trolls can smell the blood of Muslims arises, to which Hans’s answer is “I don’t honestly know”.
Then they have to rub themselves, including their nether parts, in troll scent. And because he can’t sleep during the night time, Hans sleeps on a sun bed. Clearly not very health conscious.
Trailing not far behind is the incompetent yet ruthless Troll Security Service who ship in dead bears from Croatia to make people believe that poachers are responsible for the deaths of cattle.
And throughout there is a light-hearted look at the situation. Everyone is asking themselves: “I mean, trolls. Really?!?!”
But despite a limited budget they’re illustrated with exquisite CGI and inspire real fear. Even when they fart.
A problem in horror movies is when to reveal the monster. If it is too early then it becomes ridiculous and the subject of humour.
Thankfully there are many different breeds of beast and beyond that each time is like the arrival of the T Rex in Jurassic Park - you know what’s going to come and it makes you want to change your pants.
The only thing that kills the trolls is intense UV light, so the nocturnal aspect creeps through with everything that made you scared of trolls when you were a kid, afraid that the troll would come out from under your bed.
What might put people off is that it is yet another one of those ”found footage” faux documentaries but in this film it is almost a spoof of that type of film.
But at the same time, the frenetic use of the hand-held camera adds to the fear of the unknown.
With a great Nordic monster, this film will add another layer to the horror genre. Hitherto unvisited, one wonders why it hasn’t done so before.

We Need To Talk About Kevin

Director: Lynne Ramsay
Starring: Tilda Swinton; John C Reilly; Ezra Miller.

Lynne Ramsay shot to fame with her last film (back in 2002) Morvern Callar, a gem of a Brit flick which should have made a bigger splash.
The Glaswegian director then tried to adapt The Lovely Bones for the big screen but in the end the baton was passed to Peter Jackson and Ramsay picked up Lionel Shriver's We Need To Talk About Kevin.
Clearly a difficult book to adapt Ramsay has made an extraordinary job getting this onto film, but it’s a movie that really demands your attention.
It opens with a long shot of a net curtain blowing in the breeze, while the sounds of crickets or either a fan play over the top. It’s a moment of distortion where the confusion continues for several minutes.
The next moment, a crowd of hundreds is bathing in the blood-coloured flakes and juice of the Spanish tomato festival with Eva, played by Tilda Swinton, gloriously throwing herself into the action.
Next, we discover that her house has had blood red paint thrown over it, while the sounds of the festival slowly dissipate.
It’s an arresting start, but incredibly infuriating too as it takes time for the jigsaw pieces to fall into place while the timeline flickers back and forth.
But get past the first 20 minutes and the tension and atmosphere will slowly start to simmer to the boil.
The crisscrossing timeline soon becomes a tour-de-force with heavy symbolism, red-filled complex shots and editing, while Swinton could not have been better cast for the role.
Never a fan of Swinton, I have previously found her cold and at times aloof and have never warmed to her, it seems this role was made for her.
And her battle with devil child, Kevin, (the perfectly evil Ezra Miller) illustrates how difficult motherhood has been for her with this Damien-like offspring.
But her husband Franklin (John C Reilly) finds it hard to understand why she finds him such a mean-spirited child.
There are few clues to why Eva is such a terrible mother but it is clear that Eva would rather be travelling round the world or living in glamorous surroundings rather than raising a family.
But it appears the Kevin is really a horrible child with a bullying streak who really needs taking down a peg or two.
As the film progresses the tension towards the horrific finale grows and grows, answering many questions asked along the way.
But not all of them. The audience is left wondering why Eva is so reviled by the public. Her son has committed an awful atrocity, but she’s lost her family too, so why is she being vilified?
Fans of the book will no doubt be disappointed.
Thankfully this is a film which will see Ramsay get the plaudits and attention she deserves and Miller and Swinton put in performances which hold it all together.

Tyrannosaur

Director: Paddy Considine
Starring: Peter Mullan, Olivia Colman, Eddie Marsan

Fresh from the Shane Meadows school of film, Paddy Considine has put forward one of the bleakest films of the year in Tyrannosaur.
His directorial debut pulls no punches with horrible scenes of domestic abuse and unexplained violence.
The film opens with Peter Mullan’s Joseph softly tapping a baseball bat against his head in an unknown Northern English town. It is a scene which tells us that we’re in for a rough ride. Mind you, if you’d seen the trailer for the film, you knew what to expect.
Joseph is as rough as his appearance, and is easily prone to violence which one wonders whether it is due to a psychological imbalance or from previous experiences.
Whether it is attacking pet dogs or neighbours, he knows he is going down the wrong path and wants to stop.
After a violent encounter in a pub, he takes refuge in a charity shop run by Olivia Colman’s Hannah, a good-natured woman putting up with life’s lot.
From the moment of their encounter, Hannah has a calming influence over Joseph, who relies on her Christian faith to keep her going through a difficult marriage that has brought forth no children.
She also believes others can benefit from God’s love.
But Joe throws her goodwill back in her face and insults her, yet she runs back to this vicious monster, mainly because her abusive husband (played by Eddie Marsan) inflicts black eyes - and worse injuries - on her. In place of him she finds solace and warmth in Joe.
The domestic violence leaves a nasty, bitter taste in the mouth and a cold, uncomfortable feeling over the rest of the body. This is not a film for a first date, or indeed any relationship anniversary.
Mullan’s gruff performance perfectly captures the tortured monster that is Joseph, but the plaudits should be going to comedy actress Colman, who is the ying to his yang.
Her performance is far removed from Sophie in Peep Show, and the ditzy Harriet in Green Wing.
Colman and Mullan waltz perfectly through the film, playing off each other magnificently, but it is Colman’s performance that is the stronger by being less confrontational.
But Tyrannosaur’s not a film that engages throughout and that is somewhere Considine needs to work on. It is still an impressive debut but it is too close to Meadows that it could almost be one of his mentor’s own.
The credits rolled with a sense of relief that the horror was over but left far too many unanswered questions and plot holes than I would have liked.
A bleak and empty feeling is left which needs replacing with a bottle of gin ... or perhaps a good comedy, depending on the tipple of your choice.

Before going into this film I was given the choice of reviewing this film or The Lion King: 3D. Somehow I fear I made the wrong choice for my Friday night viewing.

Drive

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan

EVERYONE knows the proverb – actions speak louder than words and Ryan Gosling’s acting follows that maxim to the letter.
If you haven’t heard of Ryan Gosling by now, then you must have been in the back of beyond; if you haven’t heard of him after Drive then you must be on a different planet.
He puts in a career-defining performance in Nicolas Winding Refn’s latest thriller as stunt driver forced to commit grisly killings in order to protect Irene (Carey Muligan), the woman he loves and her little boy.
The tension is tight and rarely lets up even until the final shot cuts to black.
With little happening on screen throughout the film, the camera pulls you into the film like the opening minutes of Sergio Leone’s Once Upon A Time In The West.
Opening with a taut heist, he sits and waits for the robbers to return to the getaway vehicle he’s driving, before he drives away in a slick, intelligent escape.
And then when it’s time to release the brakes, control is maintained throughout with one of the greatest car chases in a long while, and certainly the cleverest.
The electro-pop soundtrack adds another texture to the film making sure it doesn’t skip a beat.
And even if wasn’t there, Mulligan and Gosling are great when they’re on screen together, complementing each other’s moves.
But as the central protagonist, Gosiling is the one that shines. Despite having few lines, every time he’s on the screen he makes the film light up. It’s as if Gosling knows he doesn’t even have to try hard, he is effortlessly cool.
Despite the cold exterior he exudes there’s a lot of empathy for him, even after the horribly acts – and the violence is considerably graphic – that the audience will rout for him every step of the way.
From the start we can read him like a book, but it never once gets boring finding out more about him – and Refn allows every part of his character to be explored.
Refn has done another terrific job of allowing the actors to flex their muscles.
As with Bronson, his biopic of Britain’s most notorious criminal, he is not afraid to let the actors pull the audience in, and at the same time push them further with his twisting plots.
And every shot of LA looks as beautiful as it did in Heat.
One big disappointment is that we don’t get to see enough of Mulligan, who is far better than her colleagues in their supporting roles.
A terrifically tight film, this is the film that will launch Ryan Gosling into the stratosphere.