International Horror Movies, Reviews, Recommendations, and Suggestions
 

It seems that there are a lot of threads here in the International forum that mentions horror films. I try and keep up on all the ones mentioned. But I thought if we could have one centralized thread to have reviews, recommendations, and suggestions for International horror movies, it would help everyone keep up. Tigger’s Shipment and Reviews thread http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=354141 was the inspiration. I got the idea when posting in the Fritt Vilt thread as we started to mention others movies in there that we liked or compared to it. http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread....ght=fritt+vilt

My thought it that the movies could be new or old and post what you have seen recently or are curious about in the hope someone can shed some light on a movie for you. If possible where you purchased or saw them would be helpful to the rest of us if we are interested in seeing them. The hope here is that there can be some good opposing opinions on the movies not just the usual “that movie sucks balls don’t watch it”, stuff that a lot of the threads turn into. If you don’t like a movie it would actually be helpful to someone to know why. For example I know everyone was really excited about the release of Fritt Vilt, me included. However when I viewed the film I found it to be average at best. I saw the ending coming from the start of the movie and for me I found that to be a problem. The location was a big plus for the film but I found that the people still continued to do stupid things even after they knew someone/thing was after them and to me it became a run of the mill slice and dicer. I will view it again at some point to see if my opinion changes. I have also listed the imdb link for ease. The plot descriptions are pretty good about summing it up plus you can read other opinions on it.

Some of my most recent viewing are:
Ils (Them) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0465203/
Fantastic never racking film, even worse when it is base on a real incident. Not a true horror movie but harrowing none the less. The setup is fairly simple some people move into a house and things and noises start to happen. Telling anymore would ruin it. The DVD is anamorphic widescreen and I purchased it from eThiaCD.com, they list it as fullscreen but that is a mistake.

VillMark- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0356176/
I liked this more than I thought I would. Someone recommended this in the Fritt Vilt thread so I checked it out. I didn’t figure out the ending and it creeped me out. Must be something about being in the woods at night. A camera crew goes to the woods for a team building exercise and things begin to happen. Xploited Cinema.

Frostbiten- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454457/
Sort of a tongue in cheek vampire flick, but pretty well done. The one thing that really is not touched on this is its tag line that states that it is going to be one month till dawn in this Northern Sweden town because of the season. Nothing is really mentioned in the film about this; that was a selling point to me that I thought WOW; dark for 30 days and the vampires can wander around all day/night etc… but it never really touched on that or if it was I missed it. Xploited Cinema.

Perfect Creature- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0403407/
This one many may not like but I really dug it. It has a completely different spin on the Vampire genre. They have never attacked humans and are like a religious sect. I know that not a very good description but, it gets better, one is infected with a virus and goes on a killing rampage and infects more people and Vampires. It has sort of a Children of Men vibe to it for Vampires. Excellent DVD presentation and extra’s in this 2 DVD steelbook set. Xploited Cinema.

Anyway I figured I give horror flicks it own thread if this works great if not no big deal...

Sounds A LOT like "30 Days of Night" by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith, a full fledged adaptation is coming soon:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0389722/

Japanese + HK horror/zombie movies: any recommendations? [merged]

Asian Horror film suggestions [merged]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165623/
Angst ('83) - an Austrian flick by Gerald Kargl about a deranged killer. Quite innovative for the time it was made, with nice camera-work and depressive atmosphere. There's a German release by Epix Films which doesn't have English subs, but you won't need them - there's not much spoken in the film :) I bought a copy on chainsawvideo.nl, and I've seen it's also available on sazuma.com

Another interesting title which I've been tracking for a year already - Worst Case Scenario. It's in pre-production yet and is not on imdb. Here's the link to its website: http://www.gorehoundinc.com/
Looks nice, and although the plot may seem rather lame, watch two promo reels - I liked them immensely. If the whole movie sustains this style and mood - it will be an outstanding film, I suppose.

Well, I'm not afraid to blind buy and often I get burned. Here's a movie you'll want to avoid;

The Room (Belgium - 2006)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808450/

Poor acting (outside of the actor that had Down Syndrome), predictable as hell, and just didn’t feel right. It was very stiff, and there were awkward moments that made me feel like the actors didn’t know what to do next. I don't have the luxury of IMDB ratings or google when I'm in a store, so I'd say the IMDB rating is about right. I got a THAI version, and the cover looked decent. Just be warned to avoid this one.

Thanks on the Room, I had been looking at that one...

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=489700

Pro-B

Baby Blood (Evil Within) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096871/
A French horror of 1990. As I know it passed almost unnoticed, but it's quite an interesting flick about a girl who gets pregnant of some creature. And some creature-baby starts growing inside her, it's blood-thirsty and tells the girl to kill. It's gory and dark. Horror buffs will like it. There's a German R2 release by Dragon. Available on www.chainsawvideo.nl and I'm pretty sure that on some other European websites as well.

Laurin - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097719/
Good German/Hungarian gothic horror. About a little girl who discovers a mystery behind children disappearings in a small village of XIX century. Not mainstream and not for everyone, but utterly atmospheric and obscure. I also bought it on chainsawvideo.

And two Asian films that I liked immensely lately. Both can be found on yesasia, they are not rarities as far as I know:

The Uninvited - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0358345/
South Korean horror drama which story-line is far too complex to retell, but I have to tell you it's much more than just horror. Very thoughtful, sad and moody. Has a couple of genuinely disturbing moments and beats the record of 'people falling down from the high altitude' scenes.

Diary - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0865496/
Oxide Pang's little claustrophobic feature, rather unexpected from this director. The plot is also hard to retell, you have to see it. But I guess this one is exclusively for Hong Kong thrillers' lovers. If you liked something like Koma or Re-Cycle, I think you'll like Diary also.

P.S. Pro-B, thanks a lot for Zulo. I'm definately buying :)

Shutter is the scariest movie I´ve seen in a while. It took me by surprise, because I was tired of the asian blackhaired ghost movies.

I liked the Thai 'family horror' Dorm (Dek hor) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0495824/
It's light on the horror (but there are still some good moments) with more focus on the coming-of-age part of the story.

I loved 'Exitus Interruptus' from German director Andreas Bethman - http://www.sazuma.com/details.php?dcd_id=137540