British Horror Movies

Berberian Sound Studio Review

June 1, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Year: 2012

Synopsis: A sound engineer’s work for an Italian horror studio becomes a terrifying case of life imitating art.

My quick Review: If you are a horror movies fan or would like to know more about what’s going on behing the scenes of a movie, you should definitively watch Berberian Sound Studio.

The movie is a pleasure to the ears (better to watch it with a headphone, if at home) and writer/director Peter Strickland delightfully mixes sound effects and colorful imagery to let us in the mind of his main protagonist.

Berberian Sound Studio pays homage to the italian cinema (more specifically the giallo) from the 60’s to the 80’s through its use of color, close-up shots and of course sound. It reminded me at times of the works of Mario bava, Dario Argento, Brian de Palma but also Stanley Kubrick (some of the cinematography and the character’s journey).

Clearly ,Berberian Sound Studio is not a movie that will satisfy everyone. There is absolutely no gore (we never see any actual footage of the movie that the studio is working on) and it’s not scary whatsoever. Furthermore, the ending is quite abrupt and nothing really happens during the run of the film.

Berberian Sound Studio should therefore be appreciated as a rich sensory experience, a journey into someone’s psyche, showcasing the artful sense of direction of a promising young director. Not for everybody, but well worth a watch.

My Rating: 6.5/10

Click Here to Own Berberian Sound Studio and Watch it Now!

The Facility Review

May 26, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Year: 2012

Director: Ian Clark

Synopsis: Eight volunteers find themselves fighting for their lives when a drug trial goes horribly wrong.

My Quick Review: I’m a big fan of horror movies using a group of people who do not know each other and putting them in a remote, often closed, location. Movies like The Thing, Cube, Saw…..Quite often, the paranoia and distrust are bigger enemies than the surroundings or the monsters lurking in the dark.

The Facility tries to follow this path but it somehow feels half baked. The danger that our group of “heroes” are facing does not really seem life threatening and we always have a feeling that they could get away if the script was not prohibiting them of doing so.

So, for a low budget indie horror, The facility never feels too cheap but the unoriginal script and the lack of scares (all of them are in the very well made trailer below) can not help it raise above average.

My Rating: 5/10

Don’t Move Review

May 1, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Year: 2013

Director: Anthony Melton

Summary: 6 Friends gather around a ouija board. Their little “seance” will unleash a demonic force looking for 5 souls.

My Short Review: “Don’t Move” is the 8th episode in a web series of 13 shorts: “Bloody Cuts” .

I have to admit I did not know about this web series until now and what a discovery this movie was!! “Don’t move” packs more punch in 10mn than most recent full length horror movies do in 90mn (apart maybe from Evil Dead’s remake ;-)). There is absolutely no time lost on introducing the characters, we are indeed immediately drawn into the aftermath of the ouija seance with some bloody corpses already lying around and survivors trying to stay alive by being as quiet and still as possible.

Because they need to stay immobile to avoid the demon to notice them, the remaining “friends” will use ingenious ways to make sure they will be the last one standing.

I loved everything about this short: the demon look (clearly inspired by Hellraiser’s Chatterer cenobite), the gore (especially the last kill), the sound effects (creating the perfect tension) and the believable acting (often a weak point in some short movies). “Don’t move” is a great achievement in Horror cinematography and I will now go and look back at all the other shorts from “Bloody Cuts” and look forward to the next ones (if they do more Kickstarter funding, I’m in!!).

Official site: http://www.bloodycuts.co.uk/films/ep8-dontmove/

A Lonely Place to Die Review

April 28, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Year: 2011

Director: Julian Gilbey

Starring: Melissa George, Alec Newman, Ed Speleers, Sean Harris

Summary (from IMDb): A group of mountaineers in the Scottish Highlands discover a kidnapped girl and are pursued by her captors.

My Quick Review: At first, “A lonely place to die” makes you think about other climbing movies such as “Cliffhanger” and the first few minutes with its fabulous cinematography taking full advantages of Scotland’s Highlands are really breathtaking. For much of the film, the action revolves around only a manhunt in nature, with all the obstacles that a mountain set-up implies on top of being chased by two trigger happy guys. Therefore, the first half of the film is fairly conventional, but soon enough, while probably trying too hard to stand out, the film goes in all directions that become almost ridiculous and cluttered with clichés (Serbian war criminal torturer) and improbabilities (the heroine, played by Melissa George, resuming her escape/run just after falling from a cliff through a number of trees).

What remains in mind after the end credits are the beautiful Scottish Highland scenery, the great cinematography and sound effects, but not really the conventional story and cliched characters nor the heroes (we do not feel any emotion or empathy towards them as they get chased and killed).

My Rating: 5/10

Cockneys vs Zombies

April 12, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Year: 2012

Director: Matthias Hoene

My Short Review: Used to direct commercials, music videos and webseries, Matthias Hoene, young English director, signs here his first feature film. And he manages to bring into his project veteran actors like Alan Ford (owner of the wicked pigs in “Snatch”) and Honor Blackman (Goldfinger). With Cockneys and Zombies he gives us another good entry into the Horror Comedy Genre. And plenty of british humor that is: mixing elements such as zombies, guns and random “SHAUN OF THE DEAD” hommage, “Cockneys VS ZOMBIES” is definitively a fun ride.

There is something really exhilarating to watch old people shooting down zombies with powerful guns and the movies play out those scenes creatively, especially when a zombie tries to catch an old man who fled with his walker … It’s stupid, filmed with the utmost seriousness and probably the best moment of the film!

Cockneys vs Zombies is a crowd-pleasing feel-good movie that screams for a sequel, that I hope we will have the chance to see.

My Rating: 7/10