rape

Imprint (2006) Review

November 9, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Synopsis: In the 1800s, an American returns to Japan to find the prostitute he fell in love with, but instead learns of the psychical and existential horror that befell her after he left.

Quick Review: This segment of Masters of Horror was considered so violent that it wasn’t even shown on cable. While I’m not cautioning this decision, I can understand where it’s coming from.

Indeed, as usual, Takashi Miike does its best job at bringing intense shocking imagery on our screens. All of the biggest american taboos are to be found in Imprint: Incest, Child molestation, conjugal violence and extreme abortion.

Miike’s camera does not shy away from all the horror on display and when an intense torture scene that will make you cringe is not the most shocking scene in the movie, you know you’re in it for a wild ride.

It’s just a pity that Billy Drago’s performance is such an horrendous mess (one of the worst I’ve seen in a long while) and that the whole film has been made in english. Had it been in japanese and the main character played by a more competent actor , I believe the impact would have been greater.

Still, with its nightmarish imagery, violent perversions and great practical fx, Imprint will stay in your mind for a long time.

My Rating: 6.5 (would be higher if not for Billy Drago’s inept acting)

Click Here to Get Takashi Miike’s Imprint on DVD

The Seasoning House (2012) Review

October 4, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Synopsis: 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: Paul Hyett

Origin: UK

Click Here to pre-order The Seasoning House on Blu-Ray and DVD

I Spit on Your Grave 2 (2013) Review

September 12, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Synopsis: (from IMDb) Katie is trying to make it in the cutthroat world of modeling. When she innocently accepts an offer to have new photos taken for her portfolio, the experience quickly turns into an unthinkable nightmare of rape, torture, and kidnapping. When a twist of fate finally frees her from her captors – beaten, battered, bruised, and broken, she will have to tap into the darkest places of the human psyche to not only survive her ordeal, but to ultimately find the strength to exact her brutal revenge.

My Quick Review: A sequel to a remake might not always sound like a good idea with such movies as The Hills have Eyes 2 and Rob Zombie’s Halloween 2 in recent years. But I Spit on Your Grave 2010 is one of the best horror revenge flick in recent years and its sequel is still directed by Steven R. Monroe who did an excellent job 3 years ago.

The movie’s premise is of course similar, with the movie divided in 3 parts: Rape, Failed Escape leading to more Rape and Revenge.

The first hour, once again proves difficult to watch at times but even if the pain and suffering laid upon Katie are. to some extent, even worse than what Jennifer went through, the movie fails to recreate the same crass feeling of the first one.

The revenge part is also a bit of a let down when compared to the imaginative sequences in I Spit on Your Grave 2010, with the exception of the last torture scene that is, by far, one of the hardest to watch (especially if you’re a man). I have seen many torture movies but even I had to look away a few seconds.

So what’s left of I Spit on Your Grave 2 is a satisfying revenge flick with great performances and production values (even for a low budget) that might not reach the highs of the first film but still delivers enough shocks and thrills.

My Rating: 6.5

Director: Steven R. Monroe

Origin: US

Click Here to Watch and Own I Spit On Your Grave 2