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High Tension (2003) Review

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high tension reviewOriginal Title: Haute Tension

Synopsis: Two college friends, Marie and Alexa, encounter loads of trouble (and blood) while on vacation at Alexa’s parents’ country home when a mysterious killer invades their quiet getaway.

Quick Review: It’s interesting how the perception you had of a movie can change over the years. I first watched High Tension about 10 years ago and fell in love with it. It was a raw, brutal, unforgiving ride that started the new wave of french horror cinema that would bring us so many classics (Inside, Martyrs, Frontieres..).

Watching the movie again today, I had a much harder time appreciating it and could only focus on the negative aspects of it.

HUGE SPOILER WARNING!!! (stop here if you haven’t watched High Tension yet)

Now that I know the twist, I tried to check if there was any warning signs or clues throughout the movie that could have warned us. Except for one of the first line of Marie when she said she had a dream and she was chased by a killer, and the killer was her, there is nothing to make us think she might be the killer. And I’m fine with that. What’s not working though is that there are so many plot holes in that case, that the whole movie does not make any sense (where is the truck coming from, why are some of the victims reacting the way they do, what is in Marie’s imagination, what is not).

In retrospect it really does feel that Alexandra Aja and Gregory Levasseur only used the twist as a way to shock the audience, but there is not enough logic and ties-in with the rest of the movie to justify it. High Tension would have been the better movie if they had kept things straight with a classic villain (who, by the way is greatly played by the always awesome Philippe Nahon). On a side note, most of the movie follows the same plot than Dean koontz’s book, Intensity. A great read by the way.

END OF SPOILER

In 2013, the movie also suffers from 10 years of torture porn and a myriad of gory slashers that make it much less impactful than it was back in 2003.

So what’s left? High Tension is still very efficient and brilliantly directed. The score and music choices are spot on and contribute to make High Tension an entertaining piece of horror cinema. Not the classic I once thought it would be, but still a must-watch in my book, if only to see the birth of Alexandra Aja as one of the new master of horror.

Rating: 8.5 (first viewing in 2003), 6.5/10 (second viewing)

Director: 

Origin: France

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We are What We Are (2013) Review

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we are what we are reviewSynopsis: The Parkers, a reclusive family who follow ancient customs, find their secret existence threatened as a torrential downpour moves into their area, forcing daughters Iris and Rose to assume responsibilities beyond those of a typical family.

My Quick Review: There is plenty to like about We Are what we are, the remake of the mexican movie “Somos Lo Que Hay”, it’s a pity I did not like the movie as a sum of those likable parts.

Since I haven’t seen the original movie, I won’t be comparing notes and criticizing the differences between the two version.

What I can do though is pinpointing what works in the american version: The cast, first and foremost, led by Bill Sage, Ambyr Childers and Julia Garner is just plain brilliant and makes the characters look authentic; not an easy feat when you know what this family is all about. The direction, perfectly served by a great score makes the movie looks and sounds like a oscar-runner film.

If it sounds as if I enjoyed the movie, well I didn’t. You know exactly where the story is going and it takes more than 2/3rd of the movie for anything exciting to happen. Even a somewhat disturbing ending can not make it for the 90mn leading to that moment.

I do enjoy slow-burns movies but I need to being kept entertained in one way or another by the script and it did not do it for me in We Are what We are. This movie reminded me a bit about The Woman with maybe better direction but much less fun and creep factor.

With that being said I’m still looking forward Jim Mickle’s next film since he proved to me that Stake Land was no fluke: he is a very talented director.

My Rating: 5.5/10

Director: 

Origin: US

Undocumented (2010) Review

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undocumented reviewSynopsis: A documentary crew accompany a group of illegal immigrants crossing the Border, but their plans run afoul when they are captured by a gang of sadistic radicals in New Mexico

My Quick Review: What starts as a classic documentary about illegal migrants turns out to be an interesting twist in the crowded found footage genre. Or so I thought.

I usually publish a review right after watching a movie, at most within the next 24h. This time it took me more than 2 days to write this review. I somehow could not find anything to say about Undocumented (in bad nor in good). And the longer i have been waiting, the more difficult it is to remember anything noteworthy about the movie.

I could talk about the fact that it mixes actual documentary-style POV shots with more traditional shots, very well. I could also mention that Peter Stormare does a great job as the main villain, without ever showing his face. But I could also complain about the lack of gore and the fact that most kills/torture stuff happen off-screen.

Finally I could discuss the main theme of the movie (illegal immigration vs self righteous nationalism) and how the filmmakers tried to depict a very black and white world when this whole situation right now in the US is more of a grey area with both sides having their own rights.

But at the end of the day, Undocumented is easily forgotten despite its touchy subject and is failing as a shocking torture porn flick.

My Rating: 5/10

Director: 

Origin: US

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The Seasoning House (2012) Review

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The-Seasoning-House-reviewSynopsis:  Young girls are captured by the military during the war in the balkans and prostituted. An orphaned deaf mute is enslaved to care for them. She moves between the walls and crawlspaces, showing the little kindnesses when she can. When fate brings the men that murdered her family and the reason she ended up in the whore house, a chain of events begins that will grant her revenge on the soldiers that destroyed her life.

My Quick Review: Sometimes the true horrors in life are worse than any supernatural horror seen in movies.

Case in point with The Seasoning House, a gruesome, hard to watch look into the horrors of war and, more specifically, prostitution in the after-war balkans.

The violence in the movie is psychological first but very visual as well. Some outbursts of violence are extremely graphic (one knife fight is extremely well made) so kudos to the practical FX team. This is after all the directorial debut of Paul Hyett who worked as a make up specialist on some of the best recent Horror movies from the UK (The Descent, Eden Lake, Attack of The Block…).

Some have described the violence in The Seasoning House as being gratuitous without any strong message. It is true that the movie ends up being more a traditional Rape and Revenge movie than an in-depth look into prostitution rings in eastern europe but the director’s intention was probably not to make a potential academy award movie.

As it stands, The Seasoning House is a riveting, shocking Horror Movie with bursts of violence that will leave non one indifferent.

My Rating: 7.5/10

Director: 

Origin: UK

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Naboer (2005) Review

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naboer next door reviewEnglish Title: Next Door

Synopsis (from IMDb): John has just been left by his girlfriend Ingrid. That day he allows himself to be seduced into a mystical and scary world, where it is impossible to separate truth from the lies

My Quick Review: I have to admit that on second viewings, Naboer left me perplexed. I had forgotten that I already watched this film a few years back. On one hand I remember now that I found Naboer to be great, but if I had all but forgotten about it, maybe it wasn’t so memorable.

The truth lies in between.Thanks to great performances from the 3 main actors and a great use of the sets on display, Naboer is a captivating movie with a couple of disturbing scenes that won’t release its tense grip until the end credits are on screen (and with a quick 75mn running time, there is no time to have a look at your watch).

On the other hand, the biggest fault of Naboer script is that it tries to be smarter than it actually is. Using some visual clues and some key dialogues, director Pal Sletaune wants to play with the audience while showing off big time.

I would of course still recommend the movie to fans of psychological thrillers, John’s descent into madness is indeed an enticing ride worth spending 75mn.

My Rating: 6.5/10

Director: 

Origin: Norway

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