So, I've got a knack for watching terrible horror movies. Here's three films I've watched recently:
Du Saram-Yida - translates literally from Korean to "Someone Behind You", and it was released with English subtitles in America as
Voices for the 2008 After Dark Horrorfest. Basically, a young girl becomes the target of a 'curse' of some sort that infected people around her (especially in her family; aunts pushing each other off balconies and wives stabbing their children), and now she can't trust anybody, not even herself. This is different from most Korean horror I've seen simply due to the fact that it's absolutely
gory. Generally, Korean horror gravitates more towards stuff like
Janghwa, Hongryeon/A Tale of Two Sisters (or for those looking for a more Western example,
Jacob's Ladder); psychological horror. This movie tries to be both gory and complex, and it succeeds at both, sure, but it ends up being incredibly ambiguous with the plot, never really going in to actually explain anything. Sure, it might be what the writer wanted the viewer to think, but it's frustrating to watch when you try to piece everything together. It's not that great of a flick, anyways; if you want to test your patience/ability to piece a stupid plot together, then go ahead and watch it. It's just too inaccessible for people besides those previously mentioned, diehard import fans, or mental masochists.
Mogsy's opinion: skip itAutopsy - the only other Horrorfest '08 movie I saw, and it's honestly the reason I stopped to watch them. It's got all of the horror movie clichés; stupid people being dragged to a place they shouldn't be going to, them being idiots and not being suspicious of the weird cast of doctors and nurses in an abandoned hospital, and not
running whenever they had the fucking chance to. Okay, here's a basic plot breakdown: college graduates go to Mardi Gras one last time, accidentally run into someone who has escaped from a hospital and subsequently crash their car, are rushed to a hospital that has a four-person staff, and they are all called into O.R.s one by one and are either brutally slaughtered or have vivisections performed on them. The film is gory to points where a naked guy with a hole in his stomach runs up to one of the short-lived supporting cast characters and pours his organs and blood all over her, to which she replies by running out of the room (AFTER LETTING THE GUY EMPTY HIS ORGANS ON HER) and promptly stops to look in the eyes of one of the nurses and gets punched in the face; and another of such points shows one of the characters with ALL OF HIS ORGANS hanging around the room (literally suspended by wire). The movie ends on a "suspenseful" note, sure, but it's more like a "WHAT THE FUCK, WHY DIDN'T YOU GET OUT WHEN YOU HAD THE CHANCE" moment. Essentially, if you want to see people be dumbasses, be my guest and watch this pile of crap. I must say that the girl getting punched in the face was the only good part of this movie.
Mogsy's verdict: skip itThe Strangers - Yet another American horror film, I swear, I rarely stray away from imports, but damn, I'm glad I did this time. Plot is simple enough: girl and guy get back to the guy's summer home after a wedding reception, and at four in the morning, a suspicious girl knocks on the door asking for someone who doesn't live there, and then shit goes down; weird noises, knocks at the door, doors slamming, cut phone lines, the works. A group of three people in masks are stalking them, and it eventually ends with the two being brutally murdered. Simple plot, yes, but this movie does such a terrific job with setting up the atmosphere that there really is little need for the tiny amounts of gore in the movie. It gives the viewer such a paranoid feeling, and it's compelling to see how they're going to scare you next. To be honest, it's a simple movie with a great atmosphere. The faults about it are the simple plot (compared to what I'm used to) and the slow pace. However, the movie passes by at a slow pace so it can achieve its atmospheric awesomeness. Yes, I like this movie, wanna fight about it? Just watch it if you feel like slowly getting more and more frightened (imagine playing an old Silent Hill game, that's sorta what it's like).
Mogsy's verdict: watch it, suckaSorry for the novel-like post, just me being overly obsessed with horror movies.
