Aparecidos - The Appeared

Aparecidos - The Appeared
Argentina (2007)
Starring:  Ruth Diaz, Javier Pereira, Pablo Cedron

On the wake of a difficult decision Pablo convinces his sister to go on a road trip to discover more about their father.  After discovering a diary that recants a grim tale two decades old many strange things begin to happen.

Aparecidos wasn't particularly scary, but it was kind of different.  Of course you should expect a little of the precursor to being a ghost, blood and gore.  There are a few parts that are a bit twisted too.

Bajo Aguas Tranquilas - Beneath Still Waters

Bajo Aguas Tranquilas - Beneath Still Waters
Spain (2005)
Starring:  Michael McKell, Raquel Merono, Charlotte Salt

Beneath still waters was...

There were some parts where you could tell some great imagination came into play during the script writing.  There were some parts that were kind of, semi, maybe partially a little creepy.  That's about it.  By the time this movie was over with I felt like it was a complete waste of time.  If you are snowed in with no alcohol, no internet, a pen, a dvd player, and a TV that get's no network channels, and this DVD - take the pen and use the DVD as a surface for some artistic outlet and doodle on it.

Huang cun gong yu - Curse of the Deserted

Huang cun gong yu - Curse of the Deserted
Singapore (2010)
Starring:  Shawn Yue, Kitty Zhang Yuqi, Zefeng Li

I was kind of hoping and expecting more from Curse of the Deserted.  The movie was filmed well and the actors did good, but the story wasn't quite what I was hoping.  From all of the trailers I was hoping that this would be scary enough to keep me on the edge of my seat.  Sadly it wasn't really scary.  The story was okay though.  I think the writer and director were going for a psychological thriller that didn't quite pan out the way they expected.

With that said, for a ghost story that isn't super freaky with some slight mind bending story behind it it is worth a couple hours on a boring night.

Daybreakers

DayBreakers
USA
2009
Starring:  Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, and Sam Neill

Daybreakers is a modern day vampire movie.  Some of the concepts it tackles and the way the movie is presented it is not your average teen vampire flick.  This movie touches on global catastrophe, greed, corruption at the highest level, extremely twisted population control methodologies, and then of course vampires creating some action.

Daybreaks starts out by describing what the human race went through and how vampires rose to power.  With their food supply dwindling and having farmed nearly all the humans left in existence the vampire race is facing a widespread change coupled with near extinction after a decade or two in complete power.  The surviving groups of humans aren't about to give in without a fight.

All in all the movie was pretty cool.  The story was unique and the effects were fairly decent.  I would recommend this one for vampire movie lovers.

Quote: "Living in a world where vampires are the dominant species is about as safe as barebacking a $5 whore."

La Herencia Valdemar - The Valdemar Legacy

La Herencia Valdemar - The Valdemar Legacy
Spain
2010
Starring:  Daniele Liotti, Oscar Jaenada, Silvia Abscal, and Laia Marull

The Valdemar Legacy was a decent horror movie.  There's a twist or two that I didn't expect.  The dark style Spanish movies are known for is also present, Jose Aleman uses contrast between shadow and light well throughout the movie as a means to help create the scene and convey the story.

La Herencia Valdemar begins with a well respected property appraiser being given the opportunity to appraise an old remote estate, the Valdemar mansion.  What she finds there will change her life.  When she is out of contact for a few days her boss hires Nicolas to locate her and ensure that she completes her appraisal.  Nicolas soon discovers the legend of the Valdemar properties.  Through the movie there is a story within a story that is very well placed and played out.  There are also appearances by at least two of history's infamously evil figures.  

In this movie the cinematography is pretty good, the acting is alright, the plot is somewhat unique, and the flow of the story is well enough to keep you watching.  The Valdemar Legacy is just part one of a story.  Part two, La Sombra Prohibida, should be releasing on DVD some time in the next few months.

The Haunting - No-Do

The Haunting (aka No-Do)
Spain
2009
Starring:  Ana Torrent, Francisco Boira, and Hector Colome

No-Do is a horror movie from Spain.  In its own rights it is unique.  There are some heavily borrowed parts of this movie, but it did still contain some originality.  I found the beginning a little hard to follow, yet towards the end it all fell into place.

This movie wasn't overly gory, but did of course contain some gore.  It also had a number of spirit hauntings and one bad ass demon.  The church is featured heavily throughout the movie and plays a multi-sided stereotypical role.  Who else is going to try and expel your demons though?

All in all it wasn't a horrible movie, not terribly scary either.  There were times when the level of fright portrayed by the actors wasn't quite in line with the story, but I think that's where many horror movies go wrong anyway. It did have that famous Spanish dark overtone that you'll find in movies like Pan's Labyrinth or The Orphanage.


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Strigoi

Strigoi
UK
2009
Starring: Constantin Barbulescu, camelia Maxim, and Catalin Paraschiv

I have to give it up for originality.  I was expecting something that didn't wow me too much, something that wasn't really exceptional, and that is exactly what I got.  I actually thought it was a Romanian movie till I did the research on it.  With that said, it is a vampire movie and maybe it's vampire lore somewhere that they behave in the manner depicted in the movie.  If not then these vampires are completely different then those I've grown old with on film.  There is some humor in this movie that's kinda funny.  There are also a lot of things that just don't seem to connect properly, but hey I still gave it the length of the movie.  It was enjoyable on some level, and probably what I'd recommend as a stormy Sunday afternoon flick.

La Hora Fria - The Cold Hour

La Hora Fria - The Cold Hour (AKA The Dark Hour)
Spain
2006
Starring:  Silke, Omar Munoz, and Pepo Oliva

La Hora Fria is dubbed a horror, mystery, sci-fi movie.  It fits the sci-fi category; works with the mystery category; yet, I wouldn't call it a horror.

I keep an eye out and continue to look for new sci-fi and horror movies from Spain because there is something just a little different about them that I like.  Maybe I'll figure it out in the next 5 or 10 of them that I come across.  It could be that I understand about 85% of Spanish movies in their native language so a little less is lost in translation.

La Hora Fria is no exception.  The movie followed suite with a post apocalyptic theme, a little creepiness, and a plot that I couldn't figure out till the movie was over.  Then this one kept me pondering the situations presented throughout the plot.  The movie twists all the way through the plot and has an ending that I didn't guess or predict.  I recommend this move for anyone that enjoy's  slower moving sci-fi and mystery movies that keep you wondering all the way through.

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Soon to come

I have unfortunately been lax in my reviews, however I have not been so in watching the movies. Soon to come (next few days) will be reviews of Cargo, Zeitgeist, Het Leven Uit Een Dat, Strigoi, Action Replay, Ip Man 2 & 3, Black Death, Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame.... amongst a couple of others. Check back soon ;)

Die Verlassenen - The Abandoned

Die Verlassenen - The Abandoned
Spain, Germany, UK, Bulgaria
2006
Starring:  Anastasia Hille, Karel Roden and Valentin Goshev


The Abandoned is a unique horror film.  Much of what I've watched in the past 10 years for horror is simply gore and boring or teen humor and kind of funny.  This movie puts a bit of suspense and some freaky moments back into the horror category.  I wasn't overly impressed with the cinematography, but it served its purpose in this movie.  The story alone was unique and what I truly appreciated of this movie.  


The movie begins with Marie on her way to claim her father's will back in Russia.  From there the mystery just gets deeper and deeper till...   


I would recommend The Abandoned for anyone who enjoys a good chilling horror flick.  

Aragami

Aragami
2003
Japan
Starring:  Takao Ohsawa, Massaya Kato, Kanae Uotani

Have you ever seen a movie that takes place in 1 room?  This whole movie takes place inside a remote mountain temple.  You will certainly not have a problem following the cast in this movie.  There are only 3 main characters and 1 or 2 others.

Aragami, for those sword and weapon loving martial arts fans, is a movie that one should see.  I don't recall it being overly impressive, however, the story is decent - even though it can be understood very early on in the movie.  It's a movie I wouldn't rush out and try to buy, but it's a nice reserve when you just feel like a little action with few other complications.  Check it out.  Alcohol plays a funny part in this movie too.

Quote:  Now this liquor is from a land called Russia.  They call it vodka.  It's pretty strong.