Modern Alternative Horrors That I Like - Part 1

Modern Alternative Horrors That I Like - Part 1

So I decided to type this in my down time between a long old day of sorting student finance issues and writing a nice long essay for one of my uni courses. When you live in a city where you know so few people and have a limited TV signal, talking about the things you love can be quite the therapeutic hobby, regardless of who reads it. I've had a handful of blog posts planned for the last year, but having the attention span of a gnat seems to have hindered their existence somewhat. I thought I'd talk a little about my long standing romance with the horror genre. It's a genre that gets quite a bit of stick in the film world, and having little to no artistic merits unless it's one of the classic greats. And although Rosemary's Baby, and The Thing and The Wicker Man are all fantastic horrors, and yes, since the 90's, the quality of horror has nose dived somewhat, there are some little gems out there waiting to be watched. I'd like to talk about a handful of horror films that are a tad less mainstream and may have slipped under the radar, but all have some degree of merit to them and I feel all have something to offer. Now these ten are an assorted handful and I could go on forever, so I'm going to break this into parts and start with ten for now. So without further ado, trailers attached and in nor particular order...: 

Excision 

I hadn't watched the trailer for Excision when I decided to watch it. I was drawn to it by the poster image on Netflix. It was the image of a woman seated on a thrown, like the Red Queen from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, but the bottom of her dress was soaked in blood. I casually glanced at the cast and noticed that the lead was played by AnnaLynn McCord. McCord had played the notorious and beautiful Eden in Nip/Tuck. I'm pretty sure she's in a series called 90210 as well, not that I watch a lot of teen drama, and I could just imagine her playing a scream queen in slasher film, but the poster juxtaposed her previous roles so massively that I had to watch it. 

It was probably one of the strangest, most different and surprisingly good horror films that I'd seen in recent years. McCord plays Pauline, a strange young woman who has sexual fascination with blood, and a strong desire to become a surgeon.

Though visually stunning, It's not clearly defined as a horror outside of Pauline's fantasises, which usually involve blood, nudity and corpses, and a shock ending that will see you with your hand clapped over your mouth. Otherwise, it's just a bit gross and often pretty amusing. Pauline is an interesting and generally likeable character. I take my hat off to McCord in this role. She has really earned her acting stripes. McCord is a grand beauty in real life, just google her, and the grotesque Pauline could not be further from her real life appearance. As well as the shocking transformation, McCord plays her with a sensitivity and depth that is not often apparent in horror protagonists, and I hope she gets the opportunity to get her teeth into more roles like this. The woman can act.  If you're a fan of horror and you want to see something totally new, this is a film for you. A cautionary tale for parents who deny proper treatment of their children's mental health problems. An uneasy and shocking original.  Oh, and Malcolm McDowell.

Antiviral

Good news to my Bath Spa Uni friends, I've seen this one floating around in the library. Another Netflix find, and the debut film of Brandon Cronenberg. David's Cronenberg's son, no less. Though it's message isn't subtle, it doesn't stop it from being powerful. A harrowing and not altogether unbelievable portrait of a future where our obsessions with celebrities have hit an all time creepy, creepy high. Butcher's and restaurants sell the cloned meat of celebrities for fans to dine on, skin grafts cloned from the rich and famous are not uncommon, but most popularly; for a price, fans are able to purchase the sicknesses straight from celeb's veins, believing it brings them closer to their most beloved. 

We follow Syd, played by Caleb Landry Jones, who's pale and interesting appearance works perfectly here. Syd works for a company that administers the aforementioned viruses and sickness to fans who are able to cough up the cash. Syd also opperates for the viral black market, earning himself a pretty penny on the side, but for a price; Syd has to carry the virus in his body to incubate it until it needed. When Hannah Geist, the most beloved celebrity of her time, dies from an aggressive and unidentified virus, Syd has to race against time to save himself, after incubating the virus in his own body. 

It's incredibly original, you'll not have seen anything like this before. As obvious as it is, it really does hold up a mirror to society. You just know that is this sort of service was offered today, Justin Beiber and One Direction fans would flock to clinic doors. The acting is perfectly decent, and visually, it's stunning, but it's the storyline that will carry you. Well worth the watch. Oh and Malcolm McDowell again.  

May

May is a film I stumbled across some years ago, on one of my quarterly horror movie marathon's with a friend of mine named Hollie, who's father possesses the Sistine Chapel of horror film collections. This film has always stayed with me for being generally unsettling throughout, and then, a little like Excision, has a kick in the face ending. Now I've posted a trailer with all of my films, but I highly recommend staying away from this one, as its marketed around the twist in the last 20 minutes, and I think the fun of this film is avoiding knowing what happens until it happens, and because most of interesting parts happen outside of the twist.  The story follow's May, a socially inept young woman who's only close friend is china doll, locked in a display box.  Her obsession with perfection and fascination with anatomy extends into her love life; Adam is mechanic that May spies near her work, who she pursues a relationship with proceeding an infatuation with his 'beautiful' hands. 

May is a tragic but intensely interesting creation, and as an audience, we can never quite figure out whether she's sympathetic or just plain creepy. Angela Bettis plays her alarmingly well, I couldn't have imagined anyone else being cast in this role. Well worth a watch. It's a slow burner, but the pay off great. It's fun at first, then disturbing, then actually pretty sad. 

Dog Soldiers 

Dog Soldiers is British horror at it's greatest, and probably one of the best modern werewolf films available today. It tells the story of six army soldiers on a training mission against an SAS unit, who find themselves hunted by those infamous canine beasties. Sounds average, yes, but the delivery punches well above average throughout. 

It's very bloody but it's incredibly funny as well, and there are even some touching moments scattered around throughout. I don't think I've ever seen a werewolf film and not had to suspend my disbelief before. It's totally believable. The characters are just like any chaps you'd bump into in the pub, and although the werewolves themselves are not technically ground breaking, all the characters react believably.  Sean Pertwee as Sergeant Wells absolutely steals the show in this film with his comedic timing, along with the insanely instinctive realism in his acting. His Eddie Oswald speech is absolutely fantastic, this is a man who knows how to tell a story. I bet his kid adores him. (oh look, a picture of me and Sean, how did that get up there?). A bloody good film, this one. "So, if Little Red Riding Hood should show up with a bazooka and a bad attitude, I expect you to chin the bitch."

Dumplings 

I've only seen this film once, and a very long time ago. It's part of the Three... Extremes horror collaboration, but also has a longer cut which stands alone. 

It's probably one of the sickest films I've ever seen, I can't, to this day remember why or how I ended up watching it, I think I was going through my Asian Horror phase and just watching everything, but this is one that stuck in my memory for being so uniquely revolting, but actually carrying an alarming message. To cut it short, it's about fetus dumplings. There, I said it.  But it's more than that. It's about women's struggle against the loss of youth, and how affecting it can be. Women's worth is measured by their beauty and in the case of a fading Mrs. Li, she'll do just about anything to feel like she has value again. 

I could write a case study on this film, and a second viewing lends itself well to film students. Thee cinematography is both clever and unique (they stick a mic in the actresse's mouth so that you can hear every disgusting squelch as she bites into her little parcels of ick) but first and foremost, you'll come away feeling sick and scarred. You'll probably not eat dumplings again either. 

Murder Party

Man, I love this one. Critically, it's not rated, but then I suppose an estimated 2 critics have seen it. It's not a very well known film, to say the least. I'm not sure if it's still there, but this was another Netflix find. The poster was styled in a kind of an 80s, Evil Dead sort of way, which intrigued me, but it turned out to be an awesome, well acted, low budget comedy horror. 

The film opens on Christopher, a lonely horror nerd on Halloween night, who finds an invite to a 'Murder Party' party floating around the streets of New York. He dons his best cardboard knight costume and makes his way to the party, which doesn't turn out to be quite what he'd expected of the evening. 

It's a slow burner, this one, but stay with it, the payoff is excellent. The characters are very funny, and the whole thing basically rips apart the pretentious artistic community. It's amusing throughout, but actually becomes pretty scary during the final third. There is one scene with SFX makeup that absolutely blows my mind, and is a fantastic tribute to old werewolf films. you'll know it when you see it! The performances are excellent and the lead actor, Chris Sharp, is just fantastic as the puzzled, frightened and hilarious bloke who gets caught up in the madness. He just wanted to party! 

Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

I could sing an aria in praise of what this film gets right. I am shocked that so few people have seen it. You could barely even call it a cult film. Leslie Vernon is a horror/comedy mockumentary, spliced with clips of the film as it would play out on screen, set in an AU where all of out most beloved slasher fiends exist; Jason, Freddy, Michael Myers and so on. Leslie is an up and coming slasher, preparing for his debut.

 What is so effective about this film, is that it's not intended to be taken with a pinch of salt, but it IS funny. 

It's not making fun of horror tropes, but rather examining them in a way that makes the process of hunting down and massacring a group of ill fated teens seem almost scientific. The humour comes from Leslie, who is genuinely likeable as the rising seriall killer, and really holds the slaughter close to his heart. He's funny and at times, even childlike. The real kicker is the last third of the film, where the cameras cut and we're no longer watching a mockumentary, but a real horror film. Leslie is someone that is very easy to warm to, and It's shocking to witness Leslie's transformation from lovable clown into  someone genuinely frightening. You almost didn't believe it could happen. Nathan Baesel takes on the roll of Leslie with gusto, and I'd like to see more of him. 

Angela Goethals is brilliant as our documentary presenter, and a genuinely fantastic actress. The chemistry between her and Baesel is perfect. It's tense but warm, and you never know quite where the two stand with each other, but none the less, their interactions are compelling to watch. Their are brilliant cameos from renowned horror actors throughout, ones that even people with very little knowledge of horror would recognise. It's a genuinely clever film, I have never showed anyone this and had a bad response. A must watch for horror fans. 

Ginger Snaps 

Now this here IS a cult horror and it's pretty easily accessible, you'll find it in any second-hand DVD shop. Ginger Snaps is a unique horror/comedy in a sense that it does what no horror had ever done before. When Ginger gets bitten by a werewolf at full moon, she mistakes her changing body for the pains of puberty.

Blood, body hair, mood swings, an insatiable lust for someone's flesh, you get the picture. Without being half as grim as it sounds, it's not only incredibly clever, but very entertaining. Katharine Isabelle is magnetic as Ginger and wonderful to watch. Her transformation is comedic, but strangely relatable to anyone who has gone through puberty, which is, hopefully, anyone who picks up the film. Emily Perkins provides pretty good foil for Isabelle's character, as the less than worldly sister, Brigitte, who sees Ginger's changing personality and body for what it really is, and makes it her mission to stop it. Ginger Snaps is a fun romp, it's no masterpiece, but it's cult horror status is deserved. A must watch. Oh and kudos to Pamela Fitzgerald as the Ginger and Brigitte's mother, she's just hilarious. 

 

Repo! The Genetic Opera

"A LITTLE GLASS VIAL?!" Another cult film her, but I'm not just throwing this in because I know a vast amount of people who worked on the film (oh but you know I've totally got the hookups), it's genuinely something special. Repo was originally a stage showed named The Necromerchant's Debt by Terrence Zdunich and Darren Smith, who then went on to star in the film and play a heavy part in it's production, as directed by Darren Lynn Bousman of Saw 2 - 4. 

Repo is a complex intertwining of many different character's storylines, set in the future, where there has been an organ failure epidemic. GeneCo rises from the ashes to provide transplants for people, but at a cost. If they can't make their payments, they get a visit from a Repo Man. And he's not stopping by for a cup of tea and a chin wag, I can tell you that much.



Repo is an assault on the senses, and visually, it's absolutely mindblowing. But the real heart of the film is the music. It's genred as a rock-opera, and I think that's just about a perfect description. It stars a pretty impressive cast, spanning from Anthony Head of Buffy, and the wonderful Sarah Brightman. Most of the cast have pretty great pipes, even those who have not come from a musical background. Paul Sorvino blows it out of the water as Rotti Largo, GeneCo's dying owner, and even Paris Hilton's presence doesn't muddy the water all that much. She's basically playing a futuristic version of herself, so there's little for her to get wrong. After watching this film. you'll have 'Zydrate Anatomy' in your head for the next year, I can promise you that much. Look out for the Joan Jett cameo. I've yet to watch the Devil's Carnival, by the same makers, which is along similar lines I hear, but I'll make sure to pop it in a future post, if I enjoy it! 

Wolf Creek

Loosely based on true events, Wolf Creek is a film set in the Australian out backs, and it follows two young Brit girls and an Aussie guy on their trip to visit Wolf Creek, where they encounter a mysterious bloke in the middle of nowhere when their car breaks down. Nothing new here and quite frankly it does 

sounds like your typical horror film, but what sets Wolf Creek apart is not the storyline, but the phenomenal execution. Don't listen to the critics when they tell you it's nothing more than exploitation horror. It is nothing less than a masterclass in modern horror film making, and I say that with the utmost confidence. There's no nudity, no overt gore.

 It's labelled exploitation because it's difficult to watch. It's not just the top class acting  to be praised, (which is undeniable, even if you hate the film) the direction blows it out of the water and the cinematography is off the scale, everything is so intensely thought through. There is a long shot in this film that blows my mind every time. It's such a simple story, that going into any massive detail would just give the entire plot away, but what I will say is that it's not for the faint of heart. Some lovely references to Texax Chainsaw too, you'll know them when you see them.