NAJOČEKIVANIJI HORORI 2013-te (3. deo) – Evropa i Južna Amerika

            U prethodna dva nastavka ovog opsežnog pregleda najavio sam šta nam spremaju Amerika i Engleska, i njihovi engleski-govoreći sateliti. Naslovi sa zakazanim datumima premijere izlistani su OVDE, a oni kojima se još ne zna tačno kad će na DVD ili u bioskope opisani su OVDE.

            Sad je, najzad, kucnuo čas da obznanim šta nam od horora sprema nadahnutiji i svežiji deo sveta: u ovom delu predstavljam šta zabavno i excentrično arty-fartsy hororično stiže iz Evrope i Južne Amerike, a u narednom (poslednjem) nastavku razotkrivam šta nam kuva Azija... Vrlo malo ovih naslova mogli ste naći u godišnjim najavama na horor sajtovima zato što su oni bitches američkih studija i DVD distributera i bave se pretežno njihovim direktnim produktima. Ovo što sledi je moj izbor najzanimljivijih naslova na koje sam naleteo u izveštajima sa raznih letošnjih, jesenjih i zimušnjih filmskih festivala, pretežno nežanrovskih. 

Pošto je svima nama ovde engleski ipak maternji, naslovi su izlistani prema naslovu na engleskom (gde ga ima), a u zagradi je dat originalni za vas što parlate mađarski, nemački, francuski, španski, itd.

Poređao sam ih po visini očekivanja, od onih čije mi najave najviše draškaju Ghoulish-zonu, pa do onih koji mož-da-budu-al-ne-mora-da-znače.

HERE COMES THE DEVIL - Adrián García Bogliano

Mexico

Od reditelja PENUMBRE.

Another movie about creepy Spanish kids who may or may not have been touched by something evil after disappearing for a day. Both the ferocity of motherhood and the nightmare of lost children are explored in grim, all-too-real detail. But this dark, domestic treatise is goosed by a genuinely skin-crawling supernatural streak, one that does not negate the realities of the story, but rather serves to accentuate it, boiling to fever pitch that by its final, delirious reel is almost unbearably intense.

Echoing the ambiguous, sound-and-image-charged fury of cinema sensualists like Ken Russell and Nicolas Roeg, HERE COMES THE DEVIL hooks its audience immediately, with an intense, explicit lesbian sex scene followed by a vicious assault that sets the tone for the earthy, erotic and spastically violent texture that coats the picture like a sheen of greasy sweat. Sex and death and the dark link between the two are at the black heart of the film, with human coupling either preceding or accompanying bloodshed, and in many ways, it is sexuality that is responsible for the family’s nightmare to begin with.

THE OUTING - Mathieu Seiler

(Der Ausflug)

Germany

A young family in Berlin decides to go on an outing into the woods outside of town. Once in the countryside, the little daughter gets an unsettling feeling. Soon, this turns out as a dark foreboding. As the quiet afternoon progresses, for the young family, it will never be the way it was...

A weird and compelling horror/fairy-tale. Imagine if Alfred Hitchcock directed a Brothers Grimm fairy tale and asked Giallo-savants Goblin to score it. But that pitch is reductive, and it doesn't even take into account the unique balance Seiler manages between child-like wonder and near-relentless subtle tension. While Seller uses familiar elements like a family lost in the woods and "the big bad wolf," the simultaneously playful and sinister mood he creates is completely unique and absorbing.

SILENT ONES   - Ricky Rijneke

(A csendesek)

Netherlands / Hungary

Hallucinogenic, surrealist trip in the twilight zone between two worlds, debut by Dutch filmmaker. Young Dutch director Ricky Rijneke examines with meticulous shots the fragile dividing line between life and death in her feature debut.

Hungarian Csilla wakes up inside a crashed car, somewhere in the countryside. Her younger brother Isti is nowhere to be found. Dazed, Csilla leaves the spot to begin a second life, as she promised her brother she would. She’ll never return. Persuaded by the shady Gabor - he is involved in ‘import and export’ - she sets off with him in a freighter to Western Europe. During the endless journey, Gabor violates her and Csilla loses her only reminder of Isti. Slowly, she loses her grip. Life on board the freighter is like a vacuum in which Csilla finds herself - a surrealistic twilight zone.

For Silent Ones, a former CineMart project, Rijneke brought together dexterously a choice selection of prize-winning European film talent, including Gergely Pohárnok (Hukkle, Taxidermia) and Jean-Paul de Zaeytijd (Bouli Lanners’ regular DOP) for the camera work. Andrej Dergatchev (who worked on The Return and The Banishment by Andrej Zvjagintsev) sets the tone for the film with his dreamy-ominous soundtrack. With her expressive face and few words, the Hungarian Orsi Tóth (Delta, Women Without Men) portrays a young woman fighting herself and her past.

IXJANA  - Józef Skolimowski, Michal Skolimowski

Poland

The young, successful writer Marek tries to explain the puzzling death of his friend Arthur. In order to do that, he enters into an alliance with a sinister figure. Psychological thriller drama by the Skolimowksi Jr. brothers does not shy away from the occult.

The second film by the Skolimowski brothers, the sons of filmmaker Jerzy Skolimowski (Essential Killing). One of them, Józef Skolimowski, died in 2012 in India. The film is a dark and expressive glimpse into the soul of a young man plagued by guilty feelings. Faustian references and occult elements are amplified by the ominous soundtrack, written by Józef.

The writer Marek has completed a successful debut novel, but is tormented by the memories of his best friend, Arthur, who was found dead in the garden after an extravagant costume ball in the villa of Marek’s publisher. What happened on that night filled with drink and drugs? And what was Marek's role? He seeks advice from a soothsayer, the girl he and Arthur once quarrelled about. A mysterious figure with a black goatee beard also offers help. However, it comes at a price.

Opis ovoga zvuči genijalno, i bio bi mi film još više na listi očekivanja – da nisam pogledao trejler, koji me je malko ohladio...

PROFANE EXHIBIT

Uwe Boll (segment "Basement")

Ruggero Deodato (segment "Bridge")

Marian Dora (segment "Mors in Tabula")

Andrey Iskanov (segment "Tochka")

José Mojica Marins (segment "Viral")

Ryan Nicholson (segment "Goodwife")

Yoshihiro Nishimura (segment "The Hell Chef")

Michael Todd Schneider (segment "Manna")

Richard Stanley (segment "Coltan")

Sergio Stivaletti (segment "Tophet Quorom")

Nacho Vigalondo (segment "Sins of the Father")

 

Deep within the underbelly of Paris, there is a club which is the home of a secret, wicked society. At first it resembles an ordinary fetish or Goth nightclub, but within the cavernous building are many hidden rooms, one of which is known as "The Room of Souls," a private gathering place of the world's richest and most evil people. Their host is the elegant yet frightening Madame Sabatier. For their amusement each member takes a turn and spins a true tale of depravity:

A good wife learns that her husband goes out at night to abduct and murder young women; a botched suicide attempt leads to a drug-induced dream; a girl is believed to be possessed by a demon, and her overly religious parents enlist the help of a corrupt reverend who has his own sinister plans. We are invited inside the deranged mind of a respected surgeon as he takes us on a guided tour of life, death, and everything in between; a young street prostitute crosses paths with a charismatic flesh trader and is forced to take an unspeakable journey of sex, violence, and murder; a nun is abducted off the streets of Rome and held captive for over a year, turning her into a feral, murderous creature to be unleashed on society; a chance encounter on a fateful bus ride for an unsuspecting girl who dreams of riches and fame is her undoing; a man picks up a woman in a nightclub and soon finds himself at the mercy of a cult of women who believe consumption of their sacrifice will bring them to their highest form of female dominance; an unflinching look into darkest Africa where human life is traded for fortune and the most unspeakable atrocities are committed.

TULPA - Federico Zampaglione

Italy

With Italian director Federico Zampaglione’s 2009 outing Shadow being an unappreciated gem that really should be seen by more horror fans (2+ na Ghoulovoj skali; u pitanju je dobro režiran ali idejno i dramaturški imbecilan torture porn), the announcement that his latest effort would be a Giallo was cause for considerable attention. The film has a heady plot, revolving around a woman called Lisa (the stunning Claudia Gerini), a high powered company executive who spends her nights at the S&M club of the title, where she engages in orgies and all manner of perverse sex, urged on by a bizarre Tibetan guru to try and use her libido to reach a higher state of consciousness. Her life starts to spiral out of control when company politics turn nasty and people from her nightly couplings begin turning up viciously murdered, with all the signs pointing to the killer being somehow connected to the club. The only word which does Tulpa justice is simply ‘wow’, as it’s genuinely hard to remember a crazier, stranger or more mesmerising film.

FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY - Richard Raaphorst

Netherlands

            Ovo je još pre pun udeceniju golicalo maštu sjajnim trejlerom, kad se zvalo Worst Case Scenario. Sad je najzad gotovo, i izgleda da deliveruje!

Using shocking vintage newsreel footage as his jumping-off point, Raaphorst has hit on a unique and bold premise. Toward the end of World War II, Russian soldiers pushing into eastern Germany stumble across a secret Nazi lab, one that has unearthed and begun experimenting with the journal of one Dr. Victor Frankenstein. The scientists have used the legendary’s Frankenstein’s work to assemble an army of supersoldiers stitched together from the body parts of their fallen comrades – a desperate Hitler’s last ghastly ploy to escape defeat. 

Frankenstein's Army really comes into its own when the disappointing first half gets capped with a very good and very funny second half. A lot of that has to do with the Frankenstein character appearing, a fantastic Karel Roden who seems wasted in the role until he suddenly starts to shine with an evil glee.

In fact, the finale comes closest to what we've been waiting for all these years: a creature-fest with an insane maniac in a Gothic laboratory. It takes a bit of a wait to get there, but at the end the icky gore goes through the roof, the monsters rock and the jokes connect.

ERRORS OF THE HUMAN BODY - Eron Sheean

U.S.A./Germany

Seeking a new laboratory to pursue his controversial genetic research, Dr Geoff Burton takes up a position at the world-renowned Institute for Molecular Cell Biology & Genetics in wintry Dresden, Germany. His contribution to their most top-secret project - a human regeneration gene - has the potential to make something extraordinary out of a personal tragedy that has haunted him for years. But when he uncovers a conspiracy amongst his colleagues, he finds instead something quite different: a terrifying new virus, with potentially both devastating and miraculous consequences for humanity - and for Geoff, who is not only its first victim, but its unwitting source. Perhaps best known as the writer of Xavier Gens' The Divide, Sheean makes his feature debut here. Michael Eklund stars.

Helmer Eron Sheean generates considerable suspense and sustains a sense of mounting dread throughout much of his debut feature, "Errors of the Human Body." So it's all the more disappointing when this sci-fi thriller starts to run out of steam somewhere around the three-quarter mark, and slowly sputters toward a confusing, unsatisfying conclusion. Michael Eklund's subtly drawn performance as a scientist seeking a cure for the rare malady that killed his infant son is undeniably impressive, but it's doubtful that will be enough for genre fans who'll be left scratching their heads.

GHOST GRADUATION - Javier Ruiz Caldera

(Promoción fantasma)

Spain

Imagine if Haley Joel Osment's Sixth Sense character grew up and became a sad-sack high school teacher? And that the Breakfast Club ends with them all dying in a giant explosion, and that said sad-sack teacher ends up working in that school? Then, provided you're imagining it in Spanish, you're imagining GHOST GRADUATION.

A group of teens die in a fire that started during a school dance in 1987, and have been haunting the school since. There’s a jock, a bad boy, a pregnant girl, a nerdy girl and a dude who’s been permanently drunk since he died that way. When the school’s principal, Tina (Alexandra Jimenez) meets Modesto (Rail Aravalo), an unsuccesful teacher who’s got an unusual gift for seeing ghosts, she realizes he may be her only hope for ridding her school of the pesky spirits and restoring peace. Working under the assumption that the teens have unfinished business to take care of before they can move on, Modesto embarks on a plan to help them pass senior year and graduate. From this simple and ingenious premise, a genuinely funny and endearing comedy blossoms.

Već se sprema američki rimejk...

WHITE EPILEPSY - Philippe Grandrieux

France 

In faint light, a body slowly moves, breaking out from total darkness. Then a second body, a woman. Dream or nightmare? Archaic or essential? Desire or struggle? A journey through the night and the light to the confines of sense and vision.

They are ghosts - do they really exist? A film like a dream or a nightmare. In the middle of a forest, two naked bodies, those of a man and a woman, perform a very slow and hideous choreography. It looks like an age-old ritual about domination and submission. The male ghost withdraws, but the woman doesn’t let him go: she throws herself at him.

Philippe Grandrieux, the maker of Sombre (1999) and countless other films, often experimental, shows the ceremonial wrestling in slow motion, with the bodies sometimes seeming no more than a collection of muscles, tendons and pale flesh, as in paintings by Francis Bacon. Apart from being terrifying and violent, the dance occasionally looks sensual.

White Epilepsy, created in collaboration with dancer Hélène Rocheteau, is the first part of the trilogy Unrest. The theme linking the three films/installations is fear, with the viewer watching from a safe position - as if through a slit in a castle wall.

HALLEY - Sebastián Hofmann

Mexico

Beto is dead and can no longer hide this with make-up and perfume. Life stops. For zombies too, at some stage. But before we get that far, Beto experiences a special friendship with the vivacious Luly. Contemporary Gothic story with an unusual twist.

Comets that circle the sun in less than 200 years have a sell-by date. That also applies for Halley’s Comet, the best-known in our solar system, which was first described in 466 BC and which appears every 76 years. Until the sun swallows it up and its seemingly eternal life comes to an end.
Just like Halley, Alberto’s days are numbered. He has been dead for years, but can no longer hide the fact. Perfume and make-up don’t help to mask his physical decline; the end is now final for this silent zombie. He decides to withdraw from life, which for him primarily consists of working as a night watchman in a 24-hour gym and gazing at the TV in a cheerless flat. His manager Luly, however, takes an interest in him and takes him out. The rather stiff friendship that emerges ensures an unexpected upturn in Alberto's condition in the autumn of his undead existence.
At a fitting pace, Sebastián Hofmann shows us the world through the eyes of a zombie in decline, like a dislocating echoing-well filled with fading Christmas lights. There is not much contact between Alberto and his living neighbour. Yet Hofmann has no trouble in bridging the gap with the viewer. Halley is a contemporary Gothic story without spectacle, but with plenty of compassion.

You need to be very patient to get accustomed to the glacial pace set in Halley. While there is a difference between boring, sedate and meditative, director Sebastián Hofmann definitely takes his chances here.

POST TENEBRAS LUX - Carlos Reygadas

Mexico

Dreamlike, extremely personal and visually surprising film by the Mexican master. Also puzzling. Because what do these rugby playing kids have to do with that illuminated devil? And how is the relationship crisis related to the horses filmed distorted leg. Led to fierce debates in Cannes and won the prize for the best director.

Mexican master Carlos Reygadas juxtaposes computer-generated images of a fiery red devil moving like the Pink Panther with B-film horror (a man pulls off his own head); group sex in a sauna with fairytale-like, slightly distorted images of a young girl pacing through a majestic landscape; and an affluent man and his stunningly beautiful wife having existential discussions about their relationship(s) with shots of a junior rugby team.

Reygadas, whose feature debut Japón had its world premiere at the IFFR in 2002, compares the rough, associative and instinctive Post tenebras lux (‘light after darkness’) with an Expressionist painting in which he makes room for his deepest feelings, his memories, dreams, desires and fears.
At the Cannes festival the film was booed, but Reygadas took home the prize for best direction.

THE APOSTLE - Dirk Simon

(O apostolo)

Animated -- Spain

A convict who escaped from jail takes off to a remote village to recover an old loot that was hidden years earlier. But what he finds there involves him in a fate much worse than the one he had been doomed to. Sinister old people, odd disappearances, spirits, a strange parish priest and even the archpriest of Santiago de Compostela will all meet in a tale full of terror, humour, and fantasy.

Spain's first stop-motion feature, "The Apostle," mixes local folklore and time-honored horror into a distinctive, truly haunting whole. Fernando Cortizo's compelling debut is let down slightly by a storyline that cleaves too closely to the expected, but it's a small sacrifice for such wonderfully sinister characters and creepy atmospherics. Dark and troubling in the way that unexpurgated Grimm tales are, "The Apostle" may be unsuitable for the very young, but deserves exposure beyond the fest circuit, where its gospel is already spreading. Philip Glass gets a music credit.