Psychological

The Forbidden Door (2009) Review

August 25, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Original Name: Pintu Terlarang

Synopsis: The life of a successful sculptor is turned upside down when he begins receiving mysterious messages from someone who asks for his help.

My Quick Review: My first Anwar’s movie experience was recently with Modus Anomali, a very intense Thriller with a twist. I was already seduced. But this Lynchian experience that is The Forbidden Door has cemented my initial feelings.

With Pintu Terlarang, Joko Anwar definitively proves indeed, that he is a master storyteller and cinematographer and a director/writer to keep following in years to come.

The movie’s visual clues, the shocking bursts of violence (some child abuse scenes are especially hard to stomach) and the excellent acting across the board (special mention to Fachry Albar in the main role) all add to the eeriness of Pintu Terlarang and will keep you guessing till the end.

The Forbidden Door is a movie that truly deserves multiple viewings to be better appreciated and understood. It is far from being perfect (some plot points drag a bit too long and the editing has a few problems as well) but I, for one, cant wait to see what’s next for Joko Anwar.

My Rating: 7.5/10

Director: Joko Anwar

Origin: Indonesia

Countdown (2012) Review

August 18, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Synopsis: (from IMDb) Three Thai teens in New York City are planning the New Year’s Party of their lives. They called Jesus, a drug dealer, to drop off some stuff at their apartment so they can celebrate and countdown the end of the year in style. Little did they know that Jesus’ visit that night will change their lives forever

My Quick Review: I stumbled upon this movie on dvd without any kind of expectation. I was just looking forward another Thai Horror entry by GTH, the production company behind most of the biggest Thai hits.

Right off the bat, I liked the idea to base the action in New York but the movie never really takes advantage of this if not for what is supposed to be some kind of surprise twist.

The whole movie relies on David Asavanond’s performance as Jesus the drug dealer and, while not bad, his effort is slightly unconvincing. He is also not being helped by the other actors who are not given much and just represent stereotypical rich kids living abroad.

I did like the pitch and there are a couple of scenes with real tension, but as a whole Countdown is a bust that drags for too long (especially during the introductory scenes) and relies too much on the (average) performance of its actors.

My Rating: 5/10

Director: Nattawut Poonpiriya

Origin: Thailand

Red Room (1999) Review

July 20, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Original Title: Akai misshitsu (heya): Kindan no ôsama geemu

Synopsis: How low would you go to win a million dollars? Just how desperate are you for the cash? Desperate enough to enter the Red Room?

Quick Review: You got to give it to the japanese: they know their shit when it’s about showing weird twisted human depravity.

Red Room is a typical game of survival where the last one standing wins 10 million yen. 4 People are playing the game (a married couple on a verge of a divorce, a schoolgirl and a young business woman) and they all have their own reason to be there.

What happens during the next 65mn (average running time for japanese direct to video movie) are game/torture scenes that mix soft porn and gore (especially in the last 15mn). It is not as outrageous or bloody as some other similar movies out of japan but twisted enough to make you look forward to the next sick game.

Red Room is an extremely cheap looking movie (that makes Death Tube looks like an hollywood production) with 4 people in a room for most of the duration of the film, but this format actually works in favor of the movie’s whole atmosphere.

Thanks to its short running time, enjoyable and sometimes imaginative games (great uses of a blow-dryer and a bulb) and above average acting, I did enjoy Red Room and would definitively recommend it to fans of Japanese twisted movies and survival games.

My Rating: 6/10

Director: Daisuke Yamanouchi

Origin: Japan

Warning the trailer below is definitively NSFW and spoils most of the movie!!

The Poughkeepsie Tapes Review

June 10, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Synopsis (from IMDb): In an abandoned house in Poughkeepsie, New York murder investigators uncover hundreds of tapes showing decades of a serial killer’s work.

My Short Review: The Poughkeepsie Tapes is a mockumentary about a serial killer, mixing found footage from interviews and actual footage taken by the killer. And maybe I should not have watched this one after V/H/S 2 but it definitively pales in comparison.

First of all, the acting totally killed the movie for me. I never could get into the movie when so many of the people interviewed sounded and/or looked so fake. For a documentary supposedly with “real” people depicting real events, it just doesn’t work.

What did work (a bit) were all the footage from the killer. It looked real enough and some of the scenes were actually quite creepy. Unfortunately, I’m not a big fan of the old VHS look used for those segments. I get that this was supposed to be filmed before the HD cams came along, and it does add to the creepiness and realness of what is on screen, but I can’t stand watching such poor quality videos when I’m so used to 1080p movies. On the other hand, that’s just me so I can’t blame the filmmakers to have made this choice.

I can blame them though for the casting choices, the unoriginal script… Mind you, the Dowdle brothers greatly improved their skills with their next found footage movie, the Rec remake, Quarantine.

Year: 2007

Origin: US

Director/writer: John Erick Dowdle

My Rating: 4/10

Berberian Sound Studio Review

June 1, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Year: 2012

Director: Peter Strickland

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!