Audition
Takashi Miike
1999
Audition is a 'classic' Japanese horror film directed by Takashi Miike. Like most of Japanese horror to terror lies mostly in the suspense while the violence is just the icing on the cake. If there is one thing that American horror movies don't focus on it's the suspense. Which is why 1 out of 10 horror movies that come out in America are just mindless gore-porn and end up falling short of a wait-til-it-comes-to-the-RedBox films. True horror can leave a deep scar in your mind that keeps the view always thinking bout it, mouths, even years later. The Japanese are perfecting this art in their films, so much that just the mere mention of watching a Japanese horror film sends people for miles just from the sheer rumored horror stories about the psychological effects it leaves.
Audition does this so well that the first hour and a half was just all suspense leading up to it climax. No real violence was dealt with until the last 20 mins of the film. The story focuses on Shigeharu Aoyama, whom in the beginning of the film lost his wife, but years later is encouraged by is son and friend to start dating again. He holds mock-auditions for the 'role' of his wife. Yes, this is a deceiving method of leering in a girl but he doesn't really hits on girls for kicks he genuinely wants to be happy and is looking for a soul-mate not a quick role in the hay. Asami, whom is the antagonist and is the women that Shiegeharu wants to be with, focuses on hurting people, based on her abusive past. And thats what takes up most of the film just trying to unravel Asami's and find out who she truly is. The film ends with a mind whopping conclusion that asks the view, was that all really real?
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
Thrist
Thirst
Park Chan-Wook
2009
Thirst is a Korean horror film that takes on this version of the vampire. This film succeeds in bring forth the legendary monster known to us as the vampire, where other modern films fall short. Most modern films focus on all the cliques of being a vampire, while Thirst focuses on a realistic approach to the vampire. The film is filled with settle yet intense violence, which in the end makes it scarier then your regular hack and slash. You are literally on your toes the whole time during the film. It really just seeks up on you at unexpected times so much that you start to think that very scene is going to have something freaky happen. However the film is to balance it out with an intense romance plot, which leads our leading characters too their doom.
By the end of the film one of the main themes that I personally felt repeated it self through out the film was the human limit. In this film when though you are a vampire and are no longer considered to be human in our world. You were still born as a human and you still grew up as a human, so human tendencies are all you really know. It's not like clique 'Oh I'm a vampire, guess I'm going to act like a vampire now' mentality at other film characters seem to have.
Our main character Sang-Hyun, whom starts off as a Catholic struggles with this the entire movie. Even through he knows that he is now vampire he still thinks in the mind set of a human as far of what is morally right or wrong. He tries not to kill people, he doesn't hold himself as a superior being, and overall he is his trying to live out his human life while adjusting to this whole vampire issues. And in the beginning he seems to have a strong will and determination. But this film show us that even the most strongest of wills can submit to temptation. Our protagonist falls in love which cause him to break every rule that he believes in, causing a lot of pain on the way. Unable to deal with the guilt and have the need to fix everything our protagonist ends up killing himself and her in order to make things right. Or could this suicide just be another part of his will just being broken.
Park Chan-Wook
2009
Thirst is a Korean horror film that takes on this version of the vampire. This film succeeds in bring forth the legendary monster known to us as the vampire, where other modern films fall short. Most modern films focus on all the cliques of being a vampire, while Thirst focuses on a realistic approach to the vampire. The film is filled with settle yet intense violence, which in the end makes it scarier then your regular hack and slash. You are literally on your toes the whole time during the film. It really just seeks up on you at unexpected times so much that you start to think that very scene is going to have something freaky happen. However the film is to balance it out with an intense romance plot, which leads our leading characters too their doom.
By the end of the film one of the main themes that I personally felt repeated it self through out the film was the human limit. In this film when though you are a vampire and are no longer considered to be human in our world. You were still born as a human and you still grew up as a human, so human tendencies are all you really know. It's not like clique 'Oh I'm a vampire, guess I'm going to act like a vampire now' mentality at other film characters seem to have.
Our main character Sang-Hyun, whom starts off as a Catholic struggles with this the entire movie. Even through he knows that he is now vampire he still thinks in the mind set of a human as far of what is morally right or wrong. He tries not to kill people, he doesn't hold himself as a superior being, and overall he is his trying to live out his human life while adjusting to this whole vampire issues. And in the beginning he seems to have a strong will and determination. But this film show us that even the most strongest of wills can submit to temptation. Our protagonist falls in love which cause him to break every rule that he believes in, causing a lot of pain on the way. Unable to deal with the guilt and have the need to fix everything our protagonist ends up killing himself and her in order to make things right. Or could this suicide just be another part of his will just being broken.
Monster Island
Monster Island
David Wellington
2006
David Wellington's Monster Island takes a very different approach to the horror genre. It is very rare (for me at least) to find any novels on Zombies that are good. When you think of zombies in any written form they are manly found in comics or graphic novels. Zombies overall are just a visual monster. It's almost like you have to see it in order to really believe it. Zombies just don't have the same structure as say Vampires or Werewolves. The characters just don't get that same reaction as they would with other monsters. I believe it is because of the inability to commutation between humans and zombie. That inability to communicate head on with the enemy leaves the story dry and the audience longing for something more, when reading a novel. Which is why you see more zombies on the big screen then in novels, unless it's that Jane Austen's parody, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
David Wellington's monster island is written a way that makes keeps you interested just because you get to hear from all sorts of character's personal points of view. When I first started read it, it sort of reminded me of the way Dracula was written. Not in a journal type of format but just jumping back and forth to people's personal point of view at first seemed to be a little intimating, but it was actually easier to catch on then Dracula and then the rest just flows out.
The character that I found most interesting is Gary Fleck. His character is something that I have personal never seen done when it comes from to the genre of Zombie. His character is zombie, however he is able to retain a high level of self awareness of his actions. So basically he is a person who knows that they are a zombie and is able to control themselves in actions and thought process. I have never seen a character like that, expect John Marston in Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare, but thats a video game, which is entirely different cause you play as the zombie. Anyway the reason I find it so fascinating, is because this is what people wish for in zombies apocalyptic situations. If a loved one is bitten they hardly care that they turn into a zombie. They care about the fact that their flesh is hanging off their bones. They don't care that their is blood and ooze coming from their mouths and that they now have taste for human flesh. No, they don't care about that. What gets most people is the fact that their minds are now lost forever, and if you mind is lost then you might as well be considered dead. That is when strings are severed and killing zombies seems much more easier. Cause without the conscious mind of a human then you might as well consider yourself shooting at dead cow meat.
David Wellington
2006
David Wellington's Monster Island takes a very different approach to the horror genre. It is very rare (for me at least) to find any novels on Zombies that are good. When you think of zombies in any written form they are manly found in comics or graphic novels. Zombies overall are just a visual monster. It's almost like you have to see it in order to really believe it. Zombies just don't have the same structure as say Vampires or Werewolves. The characters just don't get that same reaction as they would with other monsters. I believe it is because of the inability to commutation between humans and zombie. That inability to communicate head on with the enemy leaves the story dry and the audience longing for something more, when reading a novel. Which is why you see more zombies on the big screen then in novels, unless it's that Jane Austen's parody, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
David Wellington's monster island is written a way that makes keeps you interested just because you get to hear from all sorts of character's personal points of view. When I first started read it, it sort of reminded me of the way Dracula was written. Not in a journal type of format but just jumping back and forth to people's personal point of view at first seemed to be a little intimating, but it was actually easier to catch on then Dracula and then the rest just flows out.
The character that I found most interesting is Gary Fleck. His character is something that I have personal never seen done when it comes from to the genre of Zombie. His character is zombie, however he is able to retain a high level of self awareness of his actions. So basically he is a person who knows that they are a zombie and is able to control themselves in actions and thought process. I have never seen a character like that, expect John Marston in Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare, but thats a video game, which is entirely different cause you play as the zombie. Anyway the reason I find it so fascinating, is because this is what people wish for in zombies apocalyptic situations. If a loved one is bitten they hardly care that they turn into a zombie. They care about the fact that their flesh is hanging off their bones. They don't care that their is blood and ooze coming from their mouths and that they now have taste for human flesh. No, they don't care about that. What gets most people is the fact that their minds are now lost forever, and if you mind is lost then you might as well be considered dead. That is when strings are severed and killing zombies seems much more easier. Cause without the conscious mind of a human then you might as well consider yourself shooting at dead cow meat.
No Such Thing
No Such Thing
A 2001 film by Hal Hartley
No Such Thing, Let my start off by saying this; No Such thing is the most contradicting horror film of the 21st, that I have personally seen. Everything about human morals as time passes on through this film is LITERALLY turned on it's back. By the end of the film I, as a viewer was personally left feeling mad, confused, and somewhat betrayed by the false advertisement that this film opens up in.
The film starts out with a the monster in a somewhat silhouette setting. He is recording a message to the world saying the he is fed up with not only humans but himself as well and if humans don't do something soon to kill him, then he is going to go on a killing rampage and basically DESTROY EVERYONE.
This leads us to our main protagonist/ heroine/ damsel in distress, Beatrice. Beatrice works as one of those low ranking help for a new station. Whom is basically sent off to investigate this so called monster, but while flying on the way there she was involved in a plane accident over the Atlantic ocean.
And that it, this is what takes up half if not more of the whole freakin' movie. It's just her recovering from the accident. There are no screens that just cut to the monster, to even reestablish his existents. Hell, at this point of the movie I would not be surprise if the viewers even forgets that this monster is major part in this film. Anyway, during Beatrice's recovery she is approached by for snotty boss, who is a obvious clique of very big time reporter ever made. She is that one person that would do anything to get ratings and report the next big thing. She proposes to Beatrice to tell her story to the world about being the only lone survivor of the plane crash over the Atlantic. Of course she promises that she would be payed in full enough to cover all her hospital bill and more. Beatrice being the supposedly good noble girl that she is declines saying that she would not subject herself to be used as just an object to the world. This is just to add to her "positive" and "gentle" personality. Well later on in the movie these facts or limits to her personality changes and takes a complete 180 by the end of the film.
After taking up 2-3rd's of the film we finally see Beatrice on her way to track down the monster. They finally confront each other after Beatrice was welcoming tricked into getting drunk by the village people. They exchange a great screen in which they make a deal. If Beatrice is able to help kill the monster then she can live in peace. If she is unable to kill the monster then she will meet her end by the the hands of him. She of course agrees but on one condition, not only must the monster come with her, but he must also not harm anyone on their journey. This whole screen makes the viewer think that they are going to go on this amazing adventure together and experience major character development on the way.
With that in mind the Beatrice and the monster set out on their journey, of course getting strange looks form the villages on the way out. You imagine that based on Beatrice's character and the whole set up that they were going to go on this interesting adventure, but instead they do something that is completely counter-acts everything that leads up to this story. Instead of going on a classic on foot adventure, they have Beatrice call up her old new reporter station and basically sell out the monster to them in order to find the Doctor, who is going to help kill the monster. And to seal the deal with selling out the monster, the last thing she says in that scene is, "I think we are going to be famous"
And thats it a girl, whom a first seems like a human being so perfect and so nice and has no desire to be famous, suddenly does a complete 360 and becomes this greedy self adsorbed little girl, that doesn't really give two-f*cks until it is too late.
This factor right makes the whole story seem somewhat pointless. They focus too much on the girl and her recovery. Her character development is just off the wall, that by the end the viewer is questioning themselves like, "What the heck just happen?"The remanding characters are painfully, and I mean painfully clique in their own personalities. The only decent character in this whole movie is the monster. His development was approached much more differently and was way more original then the other characters. By the end his character teaches us that man is more so of a monster then he ever was. Which was exampled through the other characters throughout the film and even the main protagonist, Beatrice, seems more of a monster by the end of the film.
A 2001 film by Hal Hartley
No Such Thing, Let my start off by saying this; No Such thing is the most contradicting horror film of the 21st, that I have personally seen. Everything about human morals as time passes on through this film is LITERALLY turned on it's back. By the end of the film I, as a viewer was personally left feeling mad, confused, and somewhat betrayed by the false advertisement that this film opens up in.
The film starts out with a the monster in a somewhat silhouette setting. He is recording a message to the world saying the he is fed up with not only humans but himself as well and if humans don't do something soon to kill him, then he is going to go on a killing rampage and basically DESTROY EVERYONE.
This leads us to our main protagonist/ heroine/ damsel in distress, Beatrice. Beatrice works as one of those low ranking help for a new station. Whom is basically sent off to investigate this so called monster, but while flying on the way there she was involved in a plane accident over the Atlantic ocean.
And that it, this is what takes up half if not more of the whole freakin' movie. It's just her recovering from the accident. There are no screens that just cut to the monster, to even reestablish his existents. Hell, at this point of the movie I would not be surprise if the viewers even forgets that this monster is major part in this film. Anyway, during Beatrice's recovery she is approached by for snotty boss, who is a obvious clique of very big time reporter ever made. She is that one person that would do anything to get ratings and report the next big thing. She proposes to Beatrice to tell her story to the world about being the only lone survivor of the plane crash over the Atlantic. Of course she promises that she would be payed in full enough to cover all her hospital bill and more. Beatrice being the supposedly good noble girl that she is declines saying that she would not subject herself to be used as just an object to the world. This is just to add to her "positive" and "gentle" personality. Well later on in the movie these facts or limits to her personality changes and takes a complete 180 by the end of the film.
After taking up 2-3rd's of the film we finally see Beatrice on her way to track down the monster. They finally confront each other after Beatrice was welcoming tricked into getting drunk by the village people. They exchange a great screen in which they make a deal. If Beatrice is able to help kill the monster then she can live in peace. If she is unable to kill the monster then she will meet her end by the the hands of him. She of course agrees but on one condition, not only must the monster come with her, but he must also not harm anyone on their journey. This whole screen makes the viewer think that they are going to go on this amazing adventure together and experience major character development on the way.
With that in mind the Beatrice and the monster set out on their journey, of course getting strange looks form the villages on the way out. You imagine that based on Beatrice's character and the whole set up that they were going to go on this interesting adventure, but instead they do something that is completely counter-acts everything that leads up to this story. Instead of going on a classic on foot adventure, they have Beatrice call up her old new reporter station and basically sell out the monster to them in order to find the Doctor, who is going to help kill the monster. And to seal the deal with selling out the monster, the last thing she says in that scene is, "I think we are going to be famous"
And thats it a girl, whom a first seems like a human being so perfect and so nice and has no desire to be famous, suddenly does a complete 360 and becomes this greedy self adsorbed little girl, that doesn't really give two-f*cks until it is too late.
This factor right makes the whole story seem somewhat pointless. They focus too much on the girl and her recovery. Her character development is just off the wall, that by the end the viewer is questioning themselves like, "What the heck just happen?"The remanding characters are painfully, and I mean painfully clique in their own personalities. The only decent character in this whole movie is the monster. His development was approached much more differently and was way more original then the other characters. By the end his character teaches us that man is more so of a monster then he ever was. Which was exampled through the other characters throughout the film and even the main protagonist, Beatrice, seems more of a monster by the end of the film.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
The Next Big Thing In Horror
Through out time, especially in the 20th century we have seen a phase of whats in for horror. Every monster has had the spot light on them at some time or another. But the ones that truly stand out have the ability to make the whole world go through a trend (or phase) in which you see them non-stop.
This is the time in which everything and everyone wants to be that monster. For example Bram Stroker's Dracula, The legend of the vampire has evolved far and beyond what I believe Bram Stroker's original expectations were. Vampires are everywhere, from comics (Blade), to video games (Castlevania), to movies (Twilight unfortunately), to even across the sea in other counties, like japan (Hellsing), vampires are everywhere. They are even to the point that people have developed cults or societies in which the ACTUALLY BELIEVE that they are vampires. Even to the point in which I hear that they even partake in actually drinking human blood.
And it is not just vampires that have caused a cultural impact, werewolves,witches and wizards, zombies/infected, and of courses ghost have all seem to have left their internal imprint on the world that has manifested into something more which has became a daily impact in some peoples lives.
But whats the next big thing? Recently the thing that seems to be in is Zombies, or Infected if you will. I can't really recall when they started to pop up, but now they are everywhere and don't seem to be going anywhere soon. And it's not like we just invented zombies or anything. We have been adding little tweaks here and there, but we were far from inventing them. Which brings me to answering my previous question. I believe that the next big thing in for horror are Mutates or Mutated versions of those already existing monster.
Do you want to know why? It's simple not only are their endless possibilities with mutates, but mutates can be in a humanoid form. People love things that they dress as or imagine themselves as, and it is most easy to imagine yourself when your image has a humanoid shaped. I believe that people are more attached to this types of monsters cause somewhere deep down they believe that they have more in common with these monsters that meet the eye. Plus it just seems that everyone wants to jump on the ban wagon when something is in style.
This is the time in which everything and everyone wants to be that monster. For example Bram Stroker's Dracula, The legend of the vampire has evolved far and beyond what I believe Bram Stroker's original expectations were. Vampires are everywhere, from comics (Blade), to video games (Castlevania), to movies (Twilight unfortunately), to even across the sea in other counties, like japan (Hellsing), vampires are everywhere. They are even to the point that people have developed cults or societies in which the ACTUALLY BELIEVE that they are vampires. Even to the point in which I hear that they even partake in actually drinking human blood.
And it is not just vampires that have caused a cultural impact, werewolves,witches and wizards, zombies/infected, and of courses ghost have all seem to have left their internal imprint on the world that has manifested into something more which has became a daily impact in some peoples lives.
But whats the next big thing? Recently the thing that seems to be in is Zombies, or Infected if you will. I can't really recall when they started to pop up, but now they are everywhere and don't seem to be going anywhere soon. And it's not like we just invented zombies or anything. We have been adding little tweaks here and there, but we were far from inventing them. Which brings me to answering my previous question. I believe that the next big thing in for horror are Mutates or Mutated versions of those already existing monster.
Do you want to know why? It's simple not only are their endless possibilities with mutates, but mutates can be in a humanoid form. People love things that they dress as or imagine themselves as, and it is most easy to imagine yourself when your image has a humanoid shaped. I believe that people are more attached to this types of monsters cause somewhere deep down they believe that they have more in common with these monsters that meet the eye. Plus it just seems that everyone wants to jump on the ban wagon when something is in style.
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