Monday Movie Review - TROLL HUNTER

If you don't get HD-NET TV, then do.  Once a month they spotlight an upcoming horror movie before it hits theaters.  And in June I got to see TROLL HUNTER.

It takes place in Norway, and features three college movie makers who are investigating (and filming) the recent rash of bear attacks on the general population.  They track down one old, grizzled man whom they believe is responsible for killing the bears, which are a protected species in their country.

Instead what they discover is far more appalling and mind-blowing.  The man is really a governmental appointed Troll Hunter (papers to be filled out and all!), and he's busy tracking down the enormous creatures who have escaped their usual habitat.

To say that the effects in this movie are phenomenal are understated.  There's not a lot of gore, but the film goes after you psychologically.  What really sold this movie to me is that I didn't know the actors, which makes the "seeing what they're seeing through their camera's eye" all that more believable.  Note there are some slow spots, but that's because the high action scenes leave you with your adrenaline pumping.

My recommendation? 

Monday Movie Review - GROTESQUE

From France I went to Japan, and a movie I've read a lot about but just now got around to watching. GROTESQUE is a torture film, pure and unadulterated.  The movie is so graphic, it's banned in Britain.

It's the story of a young man and woman going out on their very first date.  Except they're interrupted on their way back from the restaurant by a maniac (with surgical skills) who kidnaps them and keeps them locked up some place that's unspecific.

Before he starts torturing them, he explains that if they manage to "excite" him, he will let them go free.  Please note that the torture itself is a conglomerate of sexual and physical violence, including dismemberment, etc.  This movie is not for the squeamish.  The gore is believable, and the very cold attitude from the "doctor" will send chills down your spine.

Again, this movie managed to surprise me in both the way the plot develops and how it ends.  Which is why my recommendation is that you

Horror 4 Sale

I was given these two movies.  They're brand new, still in their original package, and never been opened.

Each is $3, which includes postage.

To order, go to my secured website.
****

FACE

A serial killer is burning away the flesh of his victims with acid, leaving only the bones behind. The police turn to Hyun-min, a former forensic sculptor adept in reconstructing faces by examining and interpreting skulls. With the victim's bones in his house, Hyun-min's daughter begins to experience disturbing visions. As he races against time to find the answers and save his daughter, the deadly truth behind these victims reveals a sinister conspiracy that threatens everyone involved.

SILK

Armed with a newly invented material called the Menger Sponge, a paranormal investigative scientist, Hashimoto, and his team investigate a crime scene.  He captures the energy of a ghost: an unidentified 13-year-old boy.  Who is this ghost?  Why does it kill people? As they get closer to solving the riddle of the boy's past, he learns the horrifying truth.  Fearing that the ghost child is dangerous, the team decides to isolate him, but in doing so they unknowingly unleash a mysterious force, a much more powerful and ferocious energy to which the boy somehow seems connected.

 

Monday Movie Review - REC 2

Thanks to a friend's notification, I was able to catch this on HD cable for its one-night-only showing.  Unlike the original REC, which I watched dubbed, this one was in Spanish with subtitles.  I didn't mind, though. It got to the point where I was too busy watching the screen to pay any attention to what they were saying anyway.  After all, it was pretty much the same thing:  Hurry!  Run!  We've got to get out of here!  Ahhh!  (And, of course, the frequent f-bomb.)

This story could legitimately be called REC, Part 2, since it takes place 15 minutes after the first film ends.  The horror and gore have been cranked up, but the story heads down a path I really wished it hadn't.  (Not a real spoiler here, folks:)  A priest is brought into the building, and he convinces everyone that the "infected" aren't really infected with anything manmade.  They're possessed.  We even see a few tight scenes of attempted exorcism.

But other than that one minor quibble, this movie is unabashedly in your face frightening.  And the ending will leave you with a sick, vomitus feeling in your stomach - I promise!

My recommendation? 

In fact, get them both!

(Psst!  Side note, as of this blog, yes, there will be a QUARANTINE 2, the American version to follow this Spanish release!)