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Midsommar (2019)
Disturbing, trippy, shocking, original, new American Horror
I was drawn to it because the words were controversial and divisive. And grotesque. Midnight show I saw it alone, walked to my car at 2am thinking about what the hell I just saw. Days later I was still haunted and had questions so started reading director interviews and realized this was bigger than it looked, and I was still in a daze. Saw it again. It was brilliant. Except for disruptive laughter by some idiots, it was hypnotizing. Joined some discussion groups, shared observations and reactions. Then the Directors Cut came out and I am ready to say.
One of the 10 best psychological horror/thrillers I have ever seen. Infinitely re-watchable. Beautiful. Psychedelic. Disgusting.
The hate for this film is totally understandable. It is high art. It has no tropes. It is long and a slow burn. It's not gore, but it has nauseating images. No jump scares, just devastating shock.
Looking for Hostel, Saw or Conjuring universe? This isn't for you.
My best advice: DO NOT WATCH TRAILERS or try to figure the plot out before you watch. Just let it happen.
I can't wait to see it again.
Upgrade (2018)
Stop reading reviews and run to see this movie as fast as you can
This is a total shock review I am writing while The end credits are playing. The movie had gotten my attention because it was on a horror/ultraviolent movie list. I didn't think there would be much to it. One review said it was the best AI movie someone had seen and I thought that's a bit of a stretch. I am stunned at how good this movie is. It is a thriller, it is violent but for anyone who watches violent films it's really nothing. There Is not even much Gore. I don't want to say too much because there are twists and turns and you absolutely Will not be disappointed with the ending. So many films are going for vague, artsy, leave you hanging, endings. This was satisfying. Very satisfying. I hesitate to say perhaps the best film I've seen in two years. Betty Gabriel is amazing .
Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma (1975)
Statement from Pope in 2016 will shatter you, if you know Pasolini
""The Pope himself fell victim to a fake news story, which falsely reported his endorsement of Donald Trump. In a frank interview with Belgian Catholic weekly Tertio, the pontiff said the media's obsession with scandal was akin to "coprophilia", an abnormal interest in excrement. This preyed on people's "tendency towards the sickness of coprophagia", the eating of excrement, he added, extending the analogy to apply it to the public's consumption of such coverage.""
I read this today, and realized 40 years ago, an Italian provocateur named Pasolini was trying to shock with this film, and the relationship to Fascism, the media, and consumerism.
It's as if the Pope knows something about either the film itself, or at least Pasolini.
Gefangen (2004)
It's great when you realize what you are actually watching...sexually
90% of the reviews calling it "soft core porn" or "bad porn" are unaware of this unique film.
Have you ever been just a little turned on watching actors do a sex scene, and become really voyeuristic...hence every actor always being obsessively asked if sex scenes were hot or just bullshit?
Well this pretty mediocre gay prison love story is actually much, much more than people who stumble upon it on Amazon or Netflix realize.
You are about to lose your mind because I'm going to compare this film to some classic. Lars Von Trier innovative techniques regarding sex scenes. He innovated blending real sex integral to a story with mainstream actors who would never have sex on film..by filming porn actor look alikes and merging the bodies using CGI.
After I watched the movie, I thought the male leads chemistry was a little intense, while they were also both incredibly hot. Can an erection be "sincere"?
Well it turns out, this film is a deliberate brilliant attempt to bridge the gap between cock-teasing gay art films with nudity of the young and pretty....and actual gay porn. It's 2 films with different names, and if you are anyone who likes a little backstory with your hot guys really enjoying sex.... I'm about to make your day. Watch THIS film "Locked Up "first.
Then go find "In The Hole" (Eingelocht) by Cazzo Films....and see all the real footage cut out of all these actors filming the hell out of some German porn.
How can I give this 9 stars? Originality...marketing...and the unanswered question....is the point that people who watch one film never know about the other one?
HOT
The Green Inferno (2013)
This can't be the movie Eli intended . . .
Opening Day. Waited 2 years. Pretty dazed and confused, and I just want to put on the record that there is a vibe in the flow of this film that gives the impression it's been sliced and diced up and put back together again for reasons that hopefully will leak out at some point. This seems like a movie torn from it's director's hands, and homogenized for American audiences.
Keep focusing on the fact that Eli Roth is not stupid, and during this 2 year waiting period and reading about the stages it went through, SOMETHING had to be causing the delays. This was intended as a homage, or re-imagining of Cannibal Holocaust, and seeing Mr. Roth's arc of history, he had a blueprint to go off on that it looks like at first he was going to do.
I am willing to bet there are HOURS of footage he shot that went unused, allusions to the original "Holocaust" gore, yet they are like writing full sentences as part of a paragraph, then all of a sudden, the sentence just "stops" - and if you know the source material - you know precisely why the action stops, and it's because it would have been a bridge too far for American audiences. There are several times, we get the foreshadowing (like someone taking a p*ss, not a spoiler) that is clearly a setup for something that happened in Cannibal Holocaust, yet you see the lead up . . . .the pitch . . . .and then there's no hit. It was clearly ripped out. Hollywood ruins everything with it's formulas. My hope was Eli would wield some power, and do what the French have been doing and break some ground in the horror / thriller genre. I don't like that I hated this experience tonight. I was pulling for it. If you were hoping for a new level, you still can only go to the French, with Haute Tension, Inside, Frontier(e)s, and Martyrs. They leave Hollywood in the dust.
Sure, it was aggravated by several cringe worthy moments of dialogue, but it was mostly tight. The lead actress was amazing and nearly carried the entire picture on her shoulders. The villain's arc completely unbelievable and cartoon-ish.
Greg Nicotero from the Walking Dead did the effects, and I was salivating for how much more he was going to get away with than he could on television, yet this was LESS than we see on a weekly basis with Walking Dead! Less gore than television? The Cannibals of Terminus arc was infinitely more visually horrifying than this. I didn't have to look away once. The laughter in the theater tonight didn't come at the right parts either. No one would be cracking jokes in these characters situations.
Say what you will about Hostel - it reinvented the genre a bit for American audiences, and caused the creation of the idiotic expression "torture porn" to roll off everyone's lips in an excuse to explain breaking new ground.
I've never heard of a completed film of this nature delayed for so long without explanation. I think the original vision is shut down, I think major moments were cut, and knowing the blueprint of Cannibal Holocaust, the ending is particularly infuriating because anyone with a film background knew where the ending was headed - yet in a series of strange edits that reek of "post post production tag ons", we seem setup for a damn sequel. Jammed into the middle of the credits, seriously? Half the audience was gone. That's the most disgusting torture of the night.
Stonewall (2015)
Disaster from start to finish
OK....make up a fake white boy to lead the real cast to the future. I was a kid living on 4th street a few blocks away, my mom owned another underground twink bar called Sherrys Playground. We were no more than 1,000 feet away during this time. It's one cringe inducing scene after another, all bad. Just like the first awful Steve Jobs movie with Ashton which fades away out of consciousness. This hot mess deserves the dustbin. It's wrong, it's fake, it doesn't set the stage for the politics of 1969' it mentions Judy Garlands death but misses the point about the day of the funeral itself. All stereotypes, including of course "Drag Queen with a heart of gold". Just gross, wron(, and worst of all, cringe worthy bad story telling. Wait for cable.
Proxy (2013)
Intelligent thriller completely original
NO SPOILERS HERE. It will ruin the ride. First off, the title is so brilliant, it might just pay to know one thing only. It's a frightening condition called Munchausen By PROXY. Many people in these reviews are questioning the title, and the title might not intrigue a potential viewer. It's a new story about completely new territory. Utterly unpredictable. Not traditional horror, it's way too smart. If you like your movies a bit disturbing, it's great. "Gone Girl" only wishes it's twists and turns made this much real world sense. A few dumb plot holes could have been closed with some attention to detail, that's why no 10. If you are reading reviews so that you think you might watch the movie, stop reading reviews now and go watch the movie.
Oldboy (2013)
Entire point of view and concept is changed - invalidating it
The worst thing is reading all the reviews that think the movie is "close" to plot line of original with "slight" changes. What the hell are they talking about? The ENTIRE point of the written piece was REVENGE and INCEST, voluntary and involuntary by entrapment. Violence? just a part of an amazing thriller and stylized. This film has removed more than an octopus and a tongue - it removed the entire foundation of the story. I'm pretty angry actually - if you're going to remake a story, then remake THE STORY. Man locked up for 20 years by fellow student who had incestuous relationship with sister, which was exposed, leading to her suicide and his broken heart, thereby explaining his insane revenge plan. This mess seemed like maybe he copped out because Americans can't handle the real plot without outrage. The ending thereby makes no sense at all given everything else. I will say that the technology in this remake makes it a bit more believable as a story, and I appreciated some plot clarifications that the Korean were hard to understand because of sloppy subtitles. I'm just mad, and disappointed. If you are a fan of original, stay away. If you just want to see these good actors do an OK job of a watered down thriller, it's about a 5.6.
Room 237 (2012)
Waste of time for a real fan
It's crazy to the point of being a bit disrespectful, and I wondered if they were really serious. To find a frame where an actor is standing in front of a paper shelf and imply that it represents a sexual erection is where I just checked out. Just like the old school "lincoln and kennedy" fake coincidences theories, this is just like that. Exactly like that - fake connection of dots.
There is a "shining" moment. The 3D analysis of the hallways, room placements, kid on his big wheel ride, and seeing the impossibility of the blueprint makes you appreciate Kubrick's ability to make us uncomfortable with those scenes.
Martyrs (2008)
Psychological, thought provoking horror
If you trace or follow the history of shocking films that are intelligent, risky, and even ahead of their time since the invention of celluloid, you get Freaks, Psycho, Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist, Salo and many more that are not just gore-fests. Gore-fests are really a genre of their own, and some films fit both criteria (Salo, A Serbian Film) but others are meaningless gore that lack intelligence, or a message (Cannibal Holocaust, Human Centipede). I have been sure to watch all the above mentioned films and appreciate them, but Martyrs is much bigger than all of them in terms of message. The Exorcist went from creating controversy, to actually being embraced by the Catholic Church for it's "accuracy" and renewing an interest in religion itself. This film is the first film on a list of horror/controversial that is truly spiritual in nature, given the darkness. I was a child who was raised by fighting segments of two families, so I was part time Catholic, part time Jewish, and more disturbingly, part time Pentacostal. There was lots of conflicting reading from bibles and torahs and exciting Revelations. I was 10 when I saw the Exorcist, and had to prove I had read the book first so an adult would bring me. Horror with religious or political undercurrents can prove the most disturbing and disruptive to the psyche, if that's your . . . sensitivity? People who are empathic, susceptible to the suffering of animals and other living things, or who have conflicted spiritual beliefs can see this positively or negatively. Schlocky B-film fans will get nothing out of this. It's so unfair to compare anything about this film to "Hostel" or "Saw" - those were checklists of ways to do special effects gore and a good reason for the term "torture porn". This film Martyrs can enlighten you about yourself, and your attitudes about spirituality. Don't read spoilers, and you'll have the raw unexpected reaction you should have beyond the first rather normal half of the movie.
I have an addictive personality, and seeing The Exorcist at 10, and the Omen etc started a fascination with the genre that I'd like to advise those who may suffer from depression, anxiety or spiritual issues to use caution with a film like this. A similar warning in the case of another great film, Antichrist. Several years ago, I got caught up in hype banned films lists, and watched Human Centipede (silly, really high camp), Salo, Cannibal Holocaust and regrettably slipped into a malaise and sadness that took several weeks to dig out of. Likely triggered by Salo, and the research surrounding the film, the ending, the director's death, and knowledge of Italian politics.
Several years go by, and now I've done A Serbian Film, Antichrist and Martyrs back to back. Bad move. I feel the sadness these artists may have used film directing of these particular films as forms of expression of a darker view of the human spirit. They are literally martyrs for the cause of film-making for our voyeuristic needs. (all directors who have suffered from depression on the record) I'm sure I may be mocked for this review as being weak in some way - but isn't film meant to make us feel? Don't we all feel in our own way? My message - use caution, and know your heart. This film makes a brilliant overall spiritual statement, that is horrifying to get to. You must not turn away, but, if you are prone to fits of depression, use caution, share the experience with others, or at least clean your palette with something uplifting or funny afterward. Believe in the light perhaps?
Irréversible (2002)
The most homophobic film in every way - barely a spoiler - just gay bashing
There is a hatred of gay men in virtually every frame of this film. Some of it is on the top layer, but the majority of it lies just underneath. It's clearly written by a heterosexual bully, and deals with outdated film stereotypes, but creates new ones, disgusting ones. The movie plot is also full of sh*t regarding gay men, and none of it is even close to reality. Not only would the centerpiece of the film (a rape) hinge on a machismo guy trading one hooker for our whore heroine, we are supposed to believe he is primarily a gay anal rapist. This makes the entire plot point simply a lazy excuse to start the film off (end up) in a gay S&M sex club to make it as shocking as possible.
I have been to every type of sex club there is, first hand, and although I do not partake in S&M I believe everyone has a right to their sexual freedom as long as no one gets hurt. There is a constant barrage of false imagery as they go through this club, gay men do not even remotely ever behave in this way, regarding real violence, although sex club behavior and general piggishness would still be shocking to most people. It's not the sex or the dress, it's the brazen witnessing of real true violence and no one even appearing the least bit phased by it, and even masturbating to it. Stereotypes of the "gay man bottom" running around screaming for anyone to please put their fist or anything into their "rectum" in exchange for information is an insult. Yes Virginia, gay S&M clubs exist, but readers please understand, this is not simply an exaggerated look - this is complete and utter nonsense meant only to shock you and to use the mock-depravity of gay male sodomy to disgust you down to the last thought. Rape wasn't enough. Bisexual psychopaths who anal rape both sexes equally? It's barely evident in real crime.
And to add the final insult - the director himself was afraid of being accused of being homophobic - he is - he returned to the S&M club to film HIMSELF as the masturbating man witnessing one of the most violent deaths (discussion point) filmed.
It's lighting is too dark to often see important information, and the opening soundtrack is deliberately culled from vibration sounds meant to trigger nausea and vertigo in the viewer. So he arrogantly wanted to insure people would walk out of the theater, so he basically "drugs" the audience into getting sick with the soundtrack, Between that and himself masturbating in his own film, it isn't worth it.
Full disclosure: I am a film fan of controversial films and I seek them out to see when the intersection of story, cinematography, and shock make for a truly adrenaline experience. Salo, A Serbian Film, Audition - these are disturbing stories you watch at your own risk. Skip this homophobic garbage.