Let The Right One In

Let The Right One In (2008) by Tomas Alfredson was a dark and romantic horror movie about a boy (Oskar) who had a close relationship with a girl (Eli) that happened to be a vampire. At first I thought it would be the typical vampire storyline as what we have seen in movies like Twilight. However, Let The Right One In turned out to be darker and more interesting to horror film enthusiasts like me. What I disliked about most vampire movies today was how they often lacked depth, unlike this one.

I loved how they made use of children as the main characters. It was cute, yet it also added to the strange feeling that the movie gave to its viewers. Upon watching this film, the first initial thought that came into my head was that these characters are too young to develop a serious kind of relationship. However, having young kids as the main characters were actually pretty effective on what the film was trying to do.

Both Eli and Oskar had a difficult time to gain acceptance in the world they were in. This was because Eli was a vampire. Oskar, on the other hand, was constantly bullied. I think the movie was called Let the Right One In because it represented how Eli and Oskar’s experiences seemed to match each other’s (given that we could both consider them as outcasts), even if they had not met before. They understood each other’s sentiments and found a friend in each other. Most importantly, they let each other in.

Let The Right One In veered away from the typical horror films where males are often the heroes while the females are the victims.

“Whenever the movie screen holds a particular effective image of terror, little boys and grown men make it a point of honor to look, while little girls and grown women cover their eyes or hide behind the shoulders of their dates” (Williams).

Likewise, in Rhona Barenstein’s Horror for Sale: The Marketing and Reception of Horror Film Cinema reading, she talked about how in most cases, “women are terrified and men are called upon to be brave” (Barenstein).

We have this notion that women are often the ones that need to be saved. In Let the Right One In, Eli was the hero of the story and was Oskar’s savior in more ways than one. I liked this movie because apart from being able to scare me, it proved stereotypes wrong.

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Evil Dead

Evil Dead (2013) by Fede Alvarez was certainly one of the best horror movies I have seen in our class. Some horror movies would start out as dragging (ex. Pontypool) and would only begin to scare you once the monstrous characters started to appear in the picture (ex. The Inn Keepers). Evil Dead, was one of those remarkably made horror movies, which started out as scary and ended up being even more terrifying as it progressed, given the whole new level of brutal horror it served its viewers. I felt like I was riding a rollercoaster, just like how I felt upon watching Martyrs. Evil Dead easily climbed up the charts! This movie was my second favorite in our class, next to Martyrs.

Evil Dead was about a group of friends who wanted to help Mia deal with her drug addiction. However, instead of helping her, they made the situation a lot worse by refusing to believe her when she said they had to leave the place. Mia started to get possessed by a demonic entity that was unleashed by one of her friends through a book that was cursed.

This movie really made me scared because it gave out such a realistic tone to its story. Almost all of the scenes in the movie were scary because of the overall brutality the film had. Violence was definitely one of the central themes in the movie, given the morbid turn out of events in the place where the group stayed in.

Two of the creepiest scenes that disturbed me the most was when Mia cut her tongue into two and when she sang dark tunes while maintaining eye contact with her friends. It was very spine chilling. I think Jane Levy did a fantastic job as Mia.

In Carol J. Clover’s Her Body Himself: Gender in the Shasher Film reading, she talked about how in movies, “victims are mostly women” (Clover). An example of this was Mia’s character in Evil Dead. She was possessed by a an evil entity that made her turn into a monster. In class, we also talked about how in horror movies, the viewers tend to sympathize more with a female character as the victim rather than a male.

However, this is not always the case. I remember watching one of the episodes from The Walking Dead, my favorite zombie show. There was this female character I did not sympathize with when she got killed, because she was annoying. However, when my favorite character, Dale, died, I got very upset. It does not depend on the victim’s gender whether the viewers will sympathize with him or her.

The way Evil Dead was made worked perfectly with its storyline and set of characters. I would totally recommend this film to anyone looking for great horror movies to watch!

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Ginger Snaps II: UNLEASHED

Ginger Snaps II: Unleashed (2004), the sequel to Ginger Snaps, was a pretty good film, considering how there were new and interesting characters to analyze. Ginger Snaps II reminded me so much of the Twilight series given the setting they used towards the latter part of the movie. They used a big house and outside of this house was a forest, where a werewolf lingered.

I loved how they used a young lady through Ghost’s character to accompany Brigitte on her own werewolf journey. Ghost reminded me so much of Ginger, in a way that Brigitte was always looking out for her, and treated her like how she treated Ginger.

Brigitte was not scary at all, even when she started transforming into a werewolf because we knew that underneath that monstrous figure was a girl with a big heart who did not want to harm anyone. We can see how the characters of Ginger and Brigitte were so different with the way they handled the werewolf transformation that happened to them. Ginger just let it take over her, which caused her to do ridiculously violent acts during the first Ginger Snaps movie. Brigitte, on the other hand, as what we have seen in Ginger Snaps II, handled it better by exercising some form of control. Also, Brigitte did not want to harm anyone and kept herself away from situations that could lead her to do so. Seeing how her deceased sister went through the same thing before could be the reason why she was able to exercise some form of control over it.

In Mark Jancovich’s Genre and the Audience: Genre Classifications and Cultural Distinctions in the Mediation of the Silence of the Lambs, he explained how important defining the genre is because it is not simply “an academic interest” (Jancovich). According to Jancovich, “genre definitions are produced more by the ways in which films are understood by those who produce, mediate and consume them, than they are by the internal properties of the film themselves” (Jancovich). It is important to critically consider the aspects of the film such as the way it was produced and how we “consume” them as viewers to be able to arrive at a good analysis of it for our own thorough understanding.

If I were to judge the two movies on its level of horror, I would recommend the first one for it had more horrifying scenes compared to the sequel. To be able to appreciate Ginger Snaps II, just like most sequels, one must take the time to watch the first film beforehand. I do not think I would appreciate the second movie if I had not seen the first one. It definitely gave me a better understanding and depth of what the characters dealt with.

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The Martys and Their Sacrifices for the living

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The movie Martyrs directed by Pascal Laugier is my favorite of all the films that were shown in this class. It might even be my favorite movie of all time. It took on all the possible ideas of “scary” or “terrifying” in a horror movie because it encompassed all elements of the horror genre. It brushed through the gore, blood, paranormal, unknown and the realistic aspect of a horror film. It totally destroyed all the impressions I had in a horror movie and even gave me so much deeper to think about.

The movie started with showing a girl running away for her life. Later on we would eventually find out that she’s a victim of an organized crime trying to go to on the unknown which is “life” after death.

What was most interesting about the movie was its open ending. It truly prompted me into deep reflection and philosophizing about the meaning of life and what lies beyond. The open ending could have suggested many things. First, possibly, the Madame, upon finding out her life’s quest of discovering what was in the unknown, or death in particular, chose to end her life for her purpose to be realized. We don’t know what she found, or what she thought of it, but it definitely showed us that she was past her human life and existence that she believed it was about time to end it. Second, even upon finally knowing this “unknown”, she still did not share this with anyone, more particularly the butler. Why? Perhaps this was because she knew that life would be meaningless if the human person stopped searching, stopped seeking, and stopped dreaming. She must have believed that it was important for people to find out on their own – live their own journey that life reveals to them and constantly try to find the answers that they might never even find. This is what makes life meaningful. This is what human life and capacity allows. Third, it was notable that at the moment before her death, she was smiling or grinning. This may be interpreted as a moment of peace. In taking her own life, she knew what she was doing. She finally found what it was that she was seeking for. With this, it was evident that she knew that her goal was different from other people, that even though this organization that she headed were united with the mission to know what lies beyond, she believed that every person’s ultimate goal or end is different.

I would most definitely recommend this movie to the kinds of people who are afraid of delving into the idea of death. It would definitely give them a new perspective and would allow them to give thoughtful reflection on the matter. It will make them come to the realization that death can be meaningful in itself; death may even be the sole characteristic of life – without death, you will not feel alive. Without death, human existence will not continue to constantly work towards any goal, or any meaning.

Ginger Snaps

Ginger Snaps (2000) by John Fawcett was not really my kind of horror movie simply because the storyline did not seem realistic enough to happen in real life. Although there were gory and creepy scenes in the film that made it an effective horror story, for me, it appeared to be too fictitious. However, it still exhibited an element of surprise and suspense that would keep you watching.

During the start of the film, the sisters, Ginger and Bridggit Fitzgerald, showed their love for bloody and violent things, which explained the gruesome pictures of themselves that they took just for fun. One night, a dog-like creature attacked and bit Ginger. Since the incident, Ginger started to feel different and she slowly transformed into an aggressive werewolf as the story progressed.

I admired how Bridggit, no matter how many times she was pushed away, never left Ginger even after all the crazy things that had happened and her sister had put her through. Her love and loyalty for Ginger was evident all throughout the film, even when she indirectly told Sam about the situation. Bridggit only wanted to help Ginger be normal again by finding a cure. When Bridggit saw how violent Ginger could get, she tried to lock her up, but still managed to escape and perform dreadful acts of violence.

I guess the title of the movie already gave us a clue about how the story would be. Snap, as defined in the dictionary, means to “break suddenly and completely” which was evident in Ginger’s character as she aggressively turned into the scariest werewolf that had absolutely no self-control.

In John Fawcett’s The American Nightmare: Horror in the 70s article, he talked about the “repression of sexuality of children, taking different forms from infancy, through latency and puberty and into adolescence” (Fawcett). We can see from Ginger’s character how she already started to develop sexual feelings during her puberty, given her sexual involvement with Jason.

Sam was easily my favorite character in Ginger Snaps. I loved how he genuinely wanted to help. At first I thought he was just the typical bad boy/stoner that would not really play a significant role. However, as what we have seen in the movie, he turned out to be a really great friend to Bridggit. He was caring and sincere and he was the one who discovered the cure. Certainly the type of friend you would love to have around.

The movie was more of a funny one than the type that would leave you scared. One of the scenes I really found funny was when the sisters were buying napkins in the grocery store and Ginger expressed her sentiments about how the words just and cramps do not go together. This movie showed us the different transformations young girls go through during puberty, how a sibling’s love could be powerful and the value of friendship.

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Deadgirl

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Deadgirl created by Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel is definitely the most horrible movie I have ever watched. It went on and destroyed all of my views about females and or feminism. Being part of an organization that caters to sexually abused and abandoned children, I felt extremely disturbed in this movie.

This movie, like most of the movies that we encountered in this class, targeted the teenage audience. It took on the sexual desires of young teenage boys and their curiosity on the unknown (sex and possibly the unknown). It is not heavy on blood and gore but rather “rape’ that was going on on the entirety of the movie. “Rape’ as the act itself and “rape” on the situation itself.

Unlike the typical “monster” movies, this film revolved on the “monster” or deadgirl being chained almost all throughout the movie. The boys discovered this repulsive and sexually attractive “monster” when they explored the abandoned area of a hospital. It was not clear what or where the girl came from but it was sure evident that this girl was immortal and very dangerous. The boys found her chained and covered with plastic seemingly dead but it then breathed to life when they entered the chamber. It shocked to the bone and even went back to try to shoot the girl with a pistol but to no avail, IT WAS STILL ALIVE!!

After the shock that overcame them when they first discovered the girl, their sexual desires overcame them. They started experimenting with their sexual desires and acted on their hunger. The film also took on the outcasts of the society and moved on on the point of view of those considered as outcasts. They grabbed the opportunity to reach only what could imagine in real life that is why even though they were the ones whom I would consider as the “real monsters” of the film, I felt bad and pity for them. These boys were the ones whom, without doing anything, got played by life and placed them in a situation where they are on the bottom of the food chain.

All the possible inhumane acts were administered by the boys on the “lifeless” girl. They treated the girl as a thing instead of a person. Though this is debatable if this “monster” can even be considered as a person or not. But still, they went against the call of being a human person. I liked this movie because it took on the morality aspect of life. Given something that will not harm them (but we would then discover otherwise) they acted on their instinct instead of what is right. This tripped me over being as someone who grew up in a Jesuit community, it went against all that were taught to be by my great teachers. This aspect added to the uncomfort that this film evoked for me. (That is why I consider this as the most disturbing movie ever…. And I wont even consider showing this to my children in the future)

Overall, this movie was exceptionally well done because it stayed true to its objectives and tested the point of view of the person. I would recommend this to those who think they know themselves already, especially for young adolescent boys, because it will surely test their view on the “real world” and give them a glimpse or a taste of the ability to act upon what was given to them.

I Would Definitely Let Eli In!

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no not really…. HAHAHAHA

Although, Let The Right One In is easily what I would consider to be one of my favorites. The puppy love, bullying and the feeling of being out of place made me love this movie. The love aspect and the puppy love theme in this movie balanced out the horror and gore.

The Swedish film by Thomas Alfredson is about a boy named Oskar who is a young tweener who was tackling on the issues of bullying and fitting in. The shift of the normal life to the abnormal was the theme of this movie. Oskar’s life, though normal can easily be considered to be troubled because of the bullies that were hounding him in school. He does not have someone whom he would consider to be his best friend that is why when he was approached or had a conversation with Eli, he, though subtly and secretly, considered her to be his only friend.

Their meeting was unconventional and what I would even consider to be embarrassing because Eli saw him practicing on what he would do with the people who would bully him. He even showed unwillingly his fixation with murder and knives. He showed Eli his weakness. This prompted Eli to help Oskar and have a backnbone.

Though blood and gore are mostly used in horror movies, these were not used as much although the blood and gore were pretty much placed correctly and efficiently. The scene at the start wherein Eli’s care taker hanged a young innocent boy upside down and slit his throat was effective that it gave me the notion that someone out there is a vampire and would need the sustenance of blood. Also the last part of the movie wherein Eli have had enough with Oskar’s bullies and tore them all to pieces made me cringe cause who would have thought to do this animalistic activity to a child.

The movie’s take on love and friendship helped on the movie’s beauty. It started out with the care taker’s love on Eli. His willingness to do whatever and anything for her encompasses and even transcends the meaning of unconditional love. His willingness to give her his blood consummates and ultimately ends his life summarizes his love for Eli in one touching (but of course and especially scary) scene. Oskar’s love and care for Eli balanced out the movie. Because of the pubescent take on love or even puppy love made this movie even cute and likable.

Eli, as all of us thought, was apparently a boy who was castrated. This made me sympathize with the “monster” of the film, instead of seeing her as the monster and solely as A MONSTER. I sympathize with her because again, of the unknown circumstances that made her into what she is now. Her wrestle with survival made her, for me, a character who deserves pity and help.

On a serious note, it is good to take on the role reversal of the film. Instead of showing the female as the victim and solely as a victim, Eli can even be considered as the “hero” by saving Oskar from his bullies.

Overall, I would consider this movie as more of a romantic movie rather than a horror. Its kid-like aspect and playfulness made this movie a happy type of film.

Curiosity killed the cat

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The Innkeepers by Ti West, started off slow and full of somewhat useless type of information that contributed to the overall eerie vibe of the inn, a.k.a. boring but actually useful! Hehe! This type of horror movie is that one that I fear the most because of the paranormal side of it. The use of a curious normal adolescent girl did not help at all even though I am guy a because I can see myself in her that if there’s something I am really curious about, I would definitely go out of my way to know more about it. This movie really freaked me out even after class because I often have my house on my own without other people and I actually like it when I go to other places on my own.

The movie revolved around proving and most importantly confirming the existence of this entity in the form of a ghost named Madeline O’Maley. The movie postponed the discovery of the monster up to the last part of the film and this evoked fear to the audience, it kept them on their toes. It did not give in to the liking of the audience to know what is going to happen next because as we all know by now, it will give away the horror!

The character of Lee, an actress who can see and feel spirits added to the overall fright of the movie. It gave the audience a peek into what is in the unknown. Because of Lee and the piano playing by itself, confirmed for Claire the existence of this entity and it fueled up her curiosity. This same curiosity is also the one that make the audience of the horror genre fall and stay in love with it.

Cinematography of the movie also helped instill the scare to the audience. The slow start, the slow approach of the camera, music and numerous startle scenes all contributed to this film. It is also notable that there were a lot of “cheap” startle scenes and these were the ones that I would consider as fake startle scenes. Even though the scare is “fake” it still made me jump of my seat or even close my eyes. Sometimes even biting my own hand just so I will not scream. Haha! The Innkeepers was one of those films that were scary because of the “realistic” even though paranormal kind of monsters.

In the end, curiosity killed that…. As other people would say it. Claire, even if she’s the main character of the movie, was in the end became the victim. We can not actually blame her for this because she put this all to herself but we cant help but feel for Claire because she was the one that we see ourselves into. Here curiosity, her wanting to know more and her being so naïve and clueless made us one with her.

I liked the movie because I had this direct connection with the main character and this basically placed myself in the movie.

Triangle? or Circle?

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Unlike the “usual” Horror films, The Triangle is more of a Sci-Fi Bermuda triangle type of movie. The style of the movie that goes on and on in circles keeps the audience on their toes added the fact that almost all the character will die in one way or another.

The horror aspect in this movie is that even if one character survived, he or she will definitely going to die on the next cycle. To add to that, the main character will definitely be on this loop until how long this will go.

The appearance and the history of the name of the ship gave me an idea that this will going to be in cycles and the thing that got me thinking in this movie is that how can the main character break the cycle. It sparked a lot of “what ifs” for me like “what if she kills herself? Will it end the cycle?” or “what if the cycle is not really about her? How can she then get out of it?”. Aside from the “kill everyone that moves” thriller, the fact that everyone is clueless sparked the fear inside me. As someone who loves to be in control, the part of the unknown scares me to the bones. The movie made me feel like I can do anything but everything will be to no avail at the end. This really got my bones tingling.

At the beginning, I sympathized with the mother because she was raising her child alone and that she has to do almost anything and everything in the house. When she got invited to the yacht, it somewhat gave me the relief that at least she was going to have some rest, her time to unwind. But little did I know that this will complicate her life even more. The film showed the audience how it is like to do whatever they can but they can not actually do anything about the situation. When she somehow managed to go back to her home, we found out that she was abusing her child and that she even killed someone. This just shows how far a person will go to get back to his or her own sanity.

No monsters or evil creatures popped up in the movie but the craziness of it all sufficed. Guns, axes and masks were enough to instill horror and discomfort for the audience. Circumstance, situation and a mysterious greater being were the monster in this movie and it was enough to engulf the main character whole. The “immortality” of the monster caused the fear for me.

Overall I liked the movie and it is a great movie to start of this class. It deviated from the normal type of horror movie but instead gave “horror” another type of meaning. This movie is the type that will certainly mash up your head and will your brain churning. For as long as you hold on to that notion that this movie will end happily will surely haunt you the rest of the way.

[Rec]

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[REC] for me is a hybrid of horror and comedic films. The kind similar to the music video of Michael Jackson’s Thriller—after watching both of these you become undoubtedly completely confused on whether it was a comedy or a horror. Being the kind amused by zombies, I viewed it as a fulfilling snack at the end of a stressful Thursday. It wasn’t a heavy kind of film. It was not the kind to give you a lingering paranoia when alone in the bathroom. With the way the camera in the movie was manned, it gave out a feel that it was unprofessional. It was like a film directed by you and your friends. However, this also makes it scary for this kind of style makes everything seem real.

In Juame Balaguero’s [REC], the audience is automatically “tagged along” with Angela Vidal and her cameraman Pablo as they try to document the lives of firemen on a regular day. When the department receives a distress call, Angela and Pablo goes with them and they cover a story which was more than what they bargained for. Apparently, the building is infected with some kind of a deadly disease, and they are all trapped inside.

It starts with what seemed like an aspiring host, the main character so eager, forcing her partner and cameraman to record even the most uninviting events just to let a voice be heard. Being locked down in an apartment with a monstrous lonesome lady with no hint why they are held captive, the characters in the film start to become angry, worried and fearful altogether, with a million questions in their heads going unanswered: Why can’t we go out? Will we ever be set free? Why are the police outside throwing plastic over the building? What is happening? Why is no one sending a doctor to heal all the seriously injured? –and of course all these happen prior to them realizing that the scary old lady biting everyone viciously has a sickness and it is contagious. It is before they know that everyone who was bit and hurt does not deserve even the tiniest bit of care for they will soon turn into zombie-like cannibals too. A dramatic pause is always present when a heroic voice shouts “Go away! Leave me here! I was bit!”

The irony of only the main characters (TV host and cameraman) surviving shows the nearing of a probable coming of salvation. Before the film ends they reach a supposed safe room at the topmost floor of the building, until they discover that there is an even scarier creature inside. Recordings and newspaper clippings on a little girl’s unlikely behavior similar to what they were experiencing terrifies them, and they are demeaned by its actual presence. The creature was someone who was little by little filled with angst for being locked up for so long, one who was left to die but only felt wrath. The worst part: there were no lights. Using the camera’s night vision as a tool to see the shrieking beast, both characters obviously have no power over the said monster.

Other than the film being carried by the brilliant acting, the overall feel of the movie itself was good enough to invoke a few screams from the audience. Having the same point of view with that of Pablo’s, the audience share the same restrictions in terms of sight. Unlike watching a horror film in the conventional third person point of view, wherein sometimes we are aware when the head is about to be hacked off, or when the suspense builds up as Norman Bates is about to stab the girl in the shower, bodies just fall off and old ladies just start biting necks in the movie [REC].

Overall, [REC] was consistent in terrifying audiences and keeping them at the edge of their seats the whole time, which for me, is enough to constitute for a good Horror movie.