Natural Born Killers

Voted as one of the 25 most dangerous films of all times, Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers is one of the coolest, scariest, wildest movies I've ever seen. On face value, the movie is about two mass murderers, Mickey and Mallory, who are in love with each other and with killing. The movie shows their journey together. It shows how the meet, how they live, and then it shows a bit of their time spent in prison. But the movie isn't really about Mickey and Mallory. It isn't even really about murder. It's, almost too clearly, about violence in the media. We see the press coverage of Mickey and Mallory's killing, we see the fans they gain (a la Bonnie and Clyde), and we always see snippets of news reports covering the trial of a murderer, a murder at a wedding, and a forest fire ravaging a village. Oliver Stone weaved this tale of two murderous lovers to show how the media exploits the hardships of others for ratings.

The story of Natural Born Killers is just amazing. It's violent and gory and over-the-top and awesome. But the story is just the base of this movie. The story really isn't what's important. It's the characters. Mickey, played by Woody Harrelson, was just plain charming. Yes he's a murderer. Yes he's crazy. But you just can help but love him. And the more you listen to what he says, the more you understand his crazy. The more you feel for him and for his lover, Mallory, who is played by Juliette Lewis. You'll even find yourself rooting for Mallory when she lights her mother's bed on fire because of the life-long abuse she has faced from her father and mother. Both actors have a special ability. An ability to pull people into their characters, no matter how evil the character is. But, they weren't the only good actors in the movie. Tommy Lee Jones provides an astoundingly over-the-top performance as the manager of the prison housing Mickey and Mallory and Robert Downey Jr. delivers as a TV personality trying to get the best ratings by interviewing the notorious and well-loved Mickey.

Natural Born Killers best quality, however, was the editing. It was just astounding. There were nearly 7000 cuts throughout the film and everything blended together. There were different types of shots, some in black and white, some in color. And each shot, each cut, each color, meant something. The black and white meant that we were watching inside the head of the characters while color meant that everything was happening exactly as it happened with nothing changed or manipulated. And each cut showed a different demon, or dark side, that lived inside of Mickey. Every shot meant something.

Natural Born Killers is not a movie for everyone. There is very, very graphic violence that may disturb some people. There is a lot of blood and a lot of gore and the subject matter is deeply frightening. However, for people who don't mind a little, well a lot, of blood, Natural Born Killers is a must see commentary on the media.

-H

Shutter Island

Martin Scorsese's new film Shutter Island is number one at the box office right now and is well liked by viewer's and critics alike. It tells the story of a young detective who goes to investigate the disappearance of a young woman from an insane asylum on Shutter Island. Once there he realizes that there are some really strange things going on at Shutter Island. Including some medical experiments and dangerously insane inmates who are locked up in cell block C. The plot is a little strange but is very interesting and entertaining.

The young detective, Teddy Daniels, is played by Leonardo DiCaprio. This is DiCaprio's fourth movie with the famous director Martin Scorsese. Many say that this movie is one of Scorsese's worse. I cannot comment on that because I have only seen one other movie by Scorsese, The Aviator. But I do think that The Aviator was far worse than Shutter Island, because I actually liked Shutter Island. But anyway, Leonardo DiCaprio is an amazing actor as usual and plays the part perfectly, with extreme emotion and realism. The touching story also create a very emotional movie. DiCaprio, however, isn't the only great actor from the film. Ben Kingsly does an equally good job playing the lead doctor at the asylum.

Shutter Island is one part crime thriller and one part artistic statement. It teeters between mainstream thrills and drama and artistic flashbacks and dream sequences that are not only beautifully done, but are essential to the main plot, so pay close attention! There are also many shocking and thrilling scenes because, truly, there is nothing scarier than a crazy person. I wouldn't necessarily call Shutter Island a horror movie, but it does shock.

Since the movie is so new, I won't give away the ending. But I must say something. This movie is full of twists and turns that will keep the viewer on the edge of their seat and guessing till the very last shot. However, the ending is somewhat predictable. And when I say somewhat, I truly mean somewhat. While watching the movie I guessed part of the ending. However, J guessed another part of the ending. Together we figured out a good bit of the ending, but still not all. And that's one of the things that makes this movie good. You may be able to figure out part of the ending but I honestly doubt that anyone could figure out every last bit.

-H

True Blood (Season 1)

Okay, so I know that this is a movie review blog and we don't typically write reviews for television shows. However, this weekend I had the pleasure of watching the entire first season of the hit show True Blood. True Blood is about a young girl named Sookie who lives in a small Louisiana town. At this time, vampires are "coming out of the coffin" and trying to live among people and drink a type of synthetic blood called TruBlood to survive. One night, Sookie meets vampire Bill outside of the bar she works at and the two begin a magical relationship.

True Blood is the grown up Twilight. Only True Blood has one thing that Twilight doesn't: vampires. Some of you may be saying, "Isn't Twilight all about vampires?" And my answer to that is NO. Not by any means. The vampires in True Blood don't sparkle in sunlight, they burn to a crisp. The vampires in True Blood don't hide away from humans, they live among them no matter how dangerous that might be fore them. The vampires in True Blood don't play baseball in an open field when a bunch of evil vampires are after them, they play Wii Golf. Well, that last one isn't very intimidating but you get my point. True Blood has True vampires. However, the dialogue in True Blood does resemble that of Twilight, but it's just so much cooler when it comes out of the mouth of a REAL vampire.

Another reason True Blood is MILES better than Twilight is the acting. Anna Paquin, Sookie, and Stephen Moyer, who plays vampire Bill Compton, are absolutely incredible. Paquin is a delight to watch on screen. She seems to really enjoy her role and her fear and anger and joy just flies off the screen. Moyer is also an extreme delight. He seems to sincere and he plays the vampire perfectly. Robert Pattinson has nothing on this man. Moyer is incredibly suave and sexy and alluring, just like a vampire should be. Nelsan Ellis, who plays Layfayette, is also an absolute joy who brings the comic relief in every episode so far.

The plot of True Blood is also very exiting. It has everything an exciting drama should have sex, violence, drugs, and murder. And it's not only vampire fans who'll enjoy True Blood. The story arch of the first season is actually more about a murderer (a human, I might add) than vampires or anything supernatural. However, there are many supernatural aspects to the show that I won't address in the review so I won't give anything away. But if you like murder mysteries or supernatural thrillers True Blood is the show for you. However, don't go into this expecting it to be like the light-hearted Twilight. True Blood is an emotional and dark show that was not meant to be seen by children due to it's extremely violent and sexual content.

The only thing I didn't really like about True Blood is how likable the characters are. Because as soon as you start to really like a character, they're probably about to be killed off. Oh, and one more thing, if you're squeamish about blood, do not watch this show.

-H

Orphan

When I first saw the trailer for Orphan I was very excited to see it. Then I found out what the ending to the movie was and decided that I could wait to see it because all of the surprise had been taken out. But then I decided to go ahead and watch it and was actually very surprised out how good it really was.

Orphan tells the story of a young couple who are trying to adopt a child after losing their third child. The couple goes to a girls home where the meet the charming and brilliant Esther. They eventually decide to adopt the young girl and they do all that they can to make her feel like she is part of the family. Initially she gets along with all of them, but as time passes it becomes apparent that Esther doesn't want to become part of their family because, by the time she's threw with them, they won't have a family at all.

The plot of Orphan is actually very smart. I found out the "twist" ending before hand and thought that it was pretty stupid. However, after seeing the movie, I found that my initial thoughts were wrong. The ending proved to be very smart and worked well the entire film. Even though I knew it was coming, the way the character in the film reacted to the shocking twist still surprised me and I'm positive if I hadn't known the surprise ending that I would have been absolutely floored by the ending. The film is very emotional, but I wouldn't necessarily call it scary. The aspect of the plot dealing with the death of the couples child was sad enough that it almost made me cry and many of the parts with Esther are very frightening. Every time Esther came on camera the scene automatically became suspenseful. The writers made her character absolutely terrifying. Her actions are horrifying, especially for a child, and it will make your skin crawl to see just how evil this young girl can be.

The acting in this movie was very good. All of the actors did and incredible job, but I must say that there were two actresses who were absolutely brilliant: Isabelle Fuhrman and Aryana Engineer. At twelve years old, Fuhrman out-acted every other person in this film. The young actress played the terrifying Esther perfectly. Being a die-hard horror fan, I've always wanted a truly terrifying female killer, and I found that killer in Esther. Fuhrman used her facial expressions to make Esther appear charming and sweet in one scene and then absolutely evil and insane in another. And her ability to fake a Russian accent for the entire film was absolutely incredible. The accent seemed realistic and made the film even scarier. Eight year old Engineer was also an amazing actress. Engineer plays the hearing-impaired daughter of the couple who is tricked into helping Esther kill. Engineer is hearing impaired in real life so this role was perfect for her. Even at eight she was completely believable and played her part incredibly. Her portrayal of fear towards Esther was beautiful as was her portrayal of love toward Vera Farmiga who played her mother. All of the actors in the film did an exceptional job, but these two young girls were just incredible.

Orphan is a film that sounds stupid when you first hear about it, but it turned out to be an incredible film. It wasn't necessarily scary, but the idea of allowing a child into your home and then that child trying to hurt you and your family is terrifying. Orphan is one of the best American horror films that has come out this year and I would recommend it to anyone who loves horror films.

-H

The Box

Written and directed by Richard Kelly, director of my favorite movie Donnie Darko, The Box is an action-packed thrill ride that will make complete sense to some people and no sense to others. The Box tells the story of a young couple who are going through a rough patch financially. Then, early one morning, a strange box arrives on their doorstep. Later that day a man shows up at their house and tells them that if they press a button located on top of the box then they will receive one million dollars, but someone, who they don't know, will die. They are given 24 hours to make their decision and *SPOILER ALERT* they eventually decide to go ahead and push the button. The rest of the movie goes on the show the consequences of their actions. By pushing the button, they opened the door to a number of strange and dangerous encounters with employees of the man who delivered the box.
The Box markets itself as a nice psychological thriller. However, as the movie continues it becomes more and more science fiction. And I'm not complaining. Without the sci-fi influences in the plot, it would have been a cookie-cutter drama about a young couple facing hardships, but by having alien encounters and sci-fi references the movie becomes so unique it will be remembered for years to come.

The acting wasn't the best I've ever seen, but it wasn't bad at all. Cameron Diaz and James Marsden both perform beautifully. There is a real chemistry between the two on film and they both portray the fear and confusion of the characters realistically. However, the acting was nothing special. And the other actors were not as convincing as these two. Most of the performances given by the actors with smaller parts seemed either unrealistic or very forced.

The Box was not an amazing movie, but it was better than I expected. Donnie Darko is the best science fiction movie I have ever seen, but I still didn't think that this movie could possibly live up to it. And I was right, it didn't. But it still is worth the watch. There were a few pretty disturbing parts and even a few parts that may make a few of you jump out of your seats. However, my favorite thing about the movie has nothing do with the acting or even the plot. My favorite thing about the movie was it's portrayal of the famous Arthur C. Clarke quote: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

-H

Cruel Intentions

Cruel Intentions is a very interesting movie. Normally I don't like dramas but Cruel Intentions was an exception because it was very much a drama and I liked it very, very much. The plot was extremely intriguing and sexy. Cruel Intentions tells the story of Sebastian, played by Ryan Phillippe, who is extremely attracted to his step sister, Kathryn who is played by Sarah Michelle Gellar. The two come from a very wealthy family and they are very prominent figures in the New York social scene even though they are only seniors at a prep school. Sebastian is also very popular among the young ladies of New York and has quite a reputation of sleeping around then breaking the girls' hearts. Then Sebastian sees an article about a young virgin who wrote an essay saying that she plans to wait to have sex. Sebastian and his sister Kathryn then decide to make a bet: If Sebastian is able to sleep with this young virgin, then Kathryn will willingly give herself to him and if not she gets his Jaguar. This little bet turns into one of the most interesting movie plots that I have ever experienced.

Let me make this clear, the acting in Cruel Intentions was not amazing. The plot was incredible so the actors had a lot to work with. The dialogue, however, was not and therefore the actors had to work extra hard to make it come off as realistic. Which it never quite did. But that didn't really matter in the end. The entire plot was not very realistic, but both Gellar and Phillippe did a respectable job of being sexy and alluring. They portrayed their characters as realistically as possible and the insanity of everything just made the movie even more interesting. One thing that I must compliment Gellar and Phillippe on is their on-screen-chemistry. The two just play off of each other's strengths and create an amazingly sensual atmosphere.

The smaller roles in the movie are also played my well-known actresses. Annette, the young virgin, is played by Reese Witherspoon. While Cecile, another young woman that Sebastian is trying to seduce, is played by Selma Blair. Blair shows of a somewhat quirky side, while Witherspoon becomes a very romantic and down-to-earth young woman. Both actresses portraying their characters very convincingly and help to enhance the outrageous plot.

Cruel Intentions is a sexy thriller about betrayal and lust with an incredibly depressing and shocking ending. But it is incredibly fun to watch. However, I would only recommend this movie to mature audiences because of it's overtly sexual themes.

-H

Dawn of the Dead

Recently, J and I watched the remake of the horror classic Dawn of the Dead. Having never seen the original Dawn of the Dead I will not be able to compare the remake to the original. I will say this however, seeing the remake of Dawn of the Dead seriously makes me want to see the original.

Dawn of the Dead is about a young woman, Ana played by Sarah Polley, who wakes up to find that everyone in her town, including her husband who is sharing a room with her, have all turned into zombies. Ana runs out to her car and eventually runs into another group of survivors. All of the survivors gather together and decide that their best plan of action is to hide out inside a shopping mall where the zombies supposedly cannot get to them.

Dawn of the Dead was not what I would call a horror movie. It is suspenseful, yes, but not scary at all. Unless, you're scared of zombies, then you might not want to watch. But anyway, the movie is much more sad than it is, scary. The ending is completely depressing and yet extremely realistic, well as realistic as it can be with dealing with zombies. But you must, must, must watch the credits to see the full ending of the movie. If you turn off the movie before the credits you will completely miss the effect of the ending.

Dawn of the Dead is not the best horror movie I've ever seen. However, it is the best horror zombie flick I've ever seen. I specify horror zombie flick because Zombieland is the best zombie movie I've ever seen but it is no where close to being a horror movie. The gory costumes that the zombie wear in the movie are disgustingly realistic and amazing. The images of legless zombies with half of their faces gone is equally as disturbing and helped to create the tense and unnerving feeling in the movie. However, the scariest thing about the movie was actually one of the very first scenes. Ana wakes up to find that a little girl in her neighborhood has turned into a zombie then witnesses her husband transform into a crazed zombie. The idea that someone you love and care so much about could ultimately be the person who kills you is just too terrifying.

Sarah Polley who plays Ana was a very good actress. Her emotions of fear and sadness were both extremely believable. However, the best actor in the movie, who played one of my favorite characters, was Ving Rhames. Rhames played a tough cop who was the "leader" of the surviving group. He was an extremely believable actor. I could feel his pain when one of his friends was killed and I could also truly feel his anger towards and fear of the zombies.

I would recommend Dawn of the Dead to anyone who likes zombie movies. But you don't have to be a zombie fan or even a horror fan to enjoy the movie. Dawn of the Dead is a well-made, disturbing, and sad movie, but would be a good movie to watch on a rainy day.

-H

A Perfect Getaway

A Perfect Getaway is one of those rare horror movies that comes along every once in a while that is actually well thought out. J and I watched this a few days ago and I've had time to actually think about the movie and decide whether or not it was good. And I've decided that it truly was. It has a perfectly good plot, nice acting, and pretty amazing dialogue. A Perfect Getaway is about a newly wed couple who take their honeymoon in Hawaii. Once there, the find out about a murder that has taken place on one island and begin to fear for their own lives while hiking a trail on another island. On the trail the couple meets another couple who are also hiking. The two begin to hike together and both become increasingly suspicious of the other until one realizes a horrifying secret about the other couple.

The acting in the movie was actually surprisingly good. Steve Zahn and Milla Jovovich play the main newlywed couple and both are actually very convincing. The love the two characters share is obviously shown by the two actors and they share a chemistry that is usually only seen with real couples in love. The other actors in the movie were convincing but not as much as Zahn and Jovovich.

Another amazing aspect of the movie was the dialogue. Every little line was important to the plot. It was incredible! Upon figuring out that the dialogue was so important, I began to pay very close attention to every sentence and also to every picture on the screen. Every little thing gave some clue as to what the twist would be and it's just up to the audience to figure it out! J and I both figured out the twist before the end but it was still surprising. The dialogue and plot were both incredibly well thought out and made for a very good film.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes a thrilling film. It was an entertaining movie that had an extremely well written plot and dialogue. It may not have a lasting effect but it's a fun movie to watch and try to figure out who the real killers are!

-H

Let the Right One In

Let the Right One In is a Swedish film about a young boy,Oskar, and his love for his neighbor, Eli, who ends up being a vampire. The film is very interesting and different from most horror movies. In fact, I wouldn't even call it a horror film. Despite the violence and mild gore, there was nothing remotely scary about the film. It was more of a love story than a horror film. However, the lack of scariness doesn't make the film any less enjoyable.

The movie is one that many people may find boring. However, I feel that the way everything is drawn out really adds to the suspense of the film. Nothing is really in-your-face and nothing will make you jump, but seeing a young girl brutally attack a man and drink his blood is in itself completely terrifying. The scenery also adds a eeriness to the film. The movie is set is Sweden in the winter, so the entire film takes place in white snow. All the colors, especially the red of the blood Eli drinks, stand out brilliantly against the white background.

However, the blood, the murders, the woman bursting in to flames, and all of the other intense sequences are not what made the film. The acting was incredible. Not the acting of the adults in the film, but the acting of the children was incredible. Both of the children were around 13 when the film was released which means they were even younger during the making of the film. However, the acted as if they had been acting for years. The movie was so intense and passionate, the love between Oskar and Eli so deep and hard to portray, but the two children truly made the film believable. They both out acted the adults and I think if anyone else had been chosen to play either on of these roles the entire film would not have been as good. The bond between Eli and Oskar was shown beautifully by the children and the audience will truly believe that these children are in love.

Let the Right One In is a deeply moving movie. It is not only a film, however, it is a work of art. I would recommend this movie for horror fans but also for fans of romance movies. Just be prepared to witness a very unconventional romance.

-H

The Descent

I can only start by saying that horror movies usually don't scare me. They have made me jump, they have made me squirm, but I had never, never truly screamed during a horror movie...until I watched The Descent.

Written and directed by Neil Marshall, The Descent is a movie about death, friendship, and the will to survive. After the death of the main character, Sarah's, husband and daughter, five of her friends decide to take her on an adventure. The girls decide to go cave-diving. They plan on going to a tourist attraction like cave, but because of the adventurous spirit of one of the women, Juno, they end up going to a completely uncharted cave system. Down in the caves the girls experience pure terror. Creepy creature called Crawlers stalk the girls through the cave system forcing the them to push themselves to do things that they would not normally do.

My favorite thing about this movie had to be the building up of suspense. It starts slow, but it is truly worth the wait. The first forty minutes of the movie are all just a build up to the last half of the movie. That's not to say, however, that they weren't frightening. While there wasn't any in-your-face gore and terror, their is a suspense created that will cause viewers to be very nervous. I must admit, I am somewhat claustrophobic and seeing this group of women crawling through the tight cave systems terrified me. My palms got sweaty and my heart was racing and yet I was still waiting for the movie to get to the downright horror part. And then, without any warning, it happened. The suspense turned into complete chaos. And at that moment, I screamed. I have never reacted like that to any horror movie I've ever seen, but something about the white, corpse-like face of the Crawler looming over the woman's shoulder completely horrified me. And after that moment the movie became absolutely terrifying. Crawlers jumped around the screen, women were screaming, the camera was moving and it was just the most disturbing scene I have ever seen.

However, the disturbing images, blood, and gore are not the only things that made the movie outstanding. The underlying themes of overcoming death and heartache, of trusting friends and the bonds of friendship being destroyed, and of doing whatever you can to survive cause the film to have a much deeper meaning than most horror films of this time period.

If I had to rate this movie out of ten, I believe I would give it a 9. The Descent is one of the most incredible horror films I have ever seen. It is truly terrifying and after seeing this film you can count on one thing: you will never, ever want to go cave-diving.

-H

The Haunting

For being a horror movie made in 1963, The Haunting was a truly disturbing film. It tells about a haunted house, Hill House, that was said to have been "born evil." Everyone who had ever come in contact with the house had supposedly been killed by it's evil power. One woman passed in a carriage accident, a man died after briefly living in the house, and another woman passed away from an illness. While all of these things seem like coincidences, many people truly believed that the house was the cause of all the deaths. These beliefs inspired a young man to take a team of people into Hill House to explore the possibility of supernatural phenomenon. Upon arriving, the guests experience many strange activities and consequently are faced with the terror of an untimely death.

Obviously there is no blood or gore in this film. Like other horror films of this time, The Haunting relies more on an atmospheric terror than on visuals or the "shock factor." However, there was plenty of disturbing images that created a truly creepy and tense film. There are sequences of loud banging noises where the women are hiding in their rooms trying to stay quiet so the spirit doesn't know where they are. Julie Harris, who plays the main character Eleanor, and Claire Bloom, who played Eleanor's friend/roommate Theo, both do incredible jobs portraying true fear and terror. Their faces during many of the scenes created the mood of suspense and fear that is so essential to creating an atmospheric horror film. But not only does Harris portray fear amazingly, she also portrays insanity beautifully. Her character, Eleanor seems to slowly be going insane, however, because of Harris' acting skills it's hard to tell what is only in her mind and what is truly happening within Hill House.

The plot is also surprisingly original and interesting. Many scenes in the movie, including one where two women fall asleep holding hands and wake up holding hands, but not with each other and another where the door in the house is actually breathing, were shocking to see in a movie from that time period. The Haunting is a truly superior horror film. The script was written to keep the audience engaged and interested, the plot was shocking and original (especially for 1963) and the acting was superb! I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone who has an interest in horror films because not only is it beautifully done, but it has a surprise ending that will give today's "twist" ending a run for their money!

-H

Terminator: Salvation

Terminator: Salvation, the fourth Terminator movie, reminds me of another summer blockbuster featuring large robots. They’re both very big, very loud, and extraordinarily dumb. The film is set in the future, after the world has been taken over by the machines of Skynet. John Connor is a soldier in the human resistance. Contrary to what a fan of the Terminator series would think, John Connor is not the lead character in the movie, instead, most of the movie focuses on Marcus Wright, a man who wakes up in this strange future after being executed many years before.

I am a huge fan of the Terminator franchise, having seen the first three movies multiple times. I even watched the good, but just not Terminator good, tv show, The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I’m even one of the few fans that really loved the third movie, Rise of the Machines. Salvation if the first time that the franchise has really disappointed me. The fault mostly lies with the choice of McG as a director and a very weak script. The casting was excellent; I thought Christian Bale would have made an incredible John Connor, especially after seeing his Batman. Anton Yelchin is a very good actor, who I wish I could see more of. His portrayal of Pavel Chekov in this year’s Star Trek was perfect. Sam Worthington was the best actor in the movie however. I had never heard of the actor before seeing this movie, but what I did see of him here was worth making mention of. Moon Blodgood and Bryce Dallas Howard are both capable actresses, but were both underused in the movie, I barely even noticed they were there.

The actors, however hard they worked, could never have overcome the half-hearted script and directing that this movie received. While this movie was being made, I had two reactions to the news I received about it. The first was joy that Christian Bale had been chosen to play the role of John Connor, the other was disappointment that McG had been chosen as its director. McG was just too lightweight a director to handle something as respected or as serious as a franchise like Terminator. Through the entire movie, I kept thinking to myself, “What’s the point?” There are all these characters running around, doing what seems to be very important things, yet all of it comes across as rather pointless. The terminators themselves seem harmless in this movie. At one point, John Connor sneaks into the terminator headquarters and hides behind a corner as a “deadly” terminator walks past, pauses, looks around, and moves on. Is this the new terminators? Comic jerk-off guards of a useless base? Where’s the sense of dread that the sight of a terminator used to put in our hearts? Where’s the fear gone? It’s gone along with the respect the franchise used to receive. The only sense I got that the terminators were any kind of threat was when Arnold Schwarzenegger shows up, but that was quickly replaced by disgust again when he left and was replaced by a useless machine that appeared about as dangerous as a roomba. Hide the kids, the world has been taken over by roombas.

-J

Audition

So, lately my boyfriend and I have been watching quite a few foreign horror movies. Audition is a J-Horror movie that is a strange combination of romance and thriller and drama and horror and even a little bit of comedy. Released in 1999, it had a record number of walk-outs at the Rotterdam Film Festival and even caused one viewer to faint and be sent to the emergency room because of it's shocking images and ideas.

Audition tells the story of a widower, Shigeharu, who is looking to remarry. One of his colleagues sets up a fake movie audition where the two man are truly looking for a woman for the widower to marry. Upon reviewing the resumes and interviewing the girls, Shigeharu takes an instant liking to a young woman named Asami. The two begin dating, but after learning of the strange deaths and disappearances of everybody connected to Asami, Shigeharu starts to realize she isn't who he believes her to be.

This movie is truly one of the most shocking movies I have ever seen. At the beginning, my boyfriend and I weren't even sure that we had gotten the right movie. Going into it, I knew Audition was a horror movie, but the beginning felt like a drama or a nice romance movie. However, there was something creepy about it the entire time. Maybe it was because I went into the movie knowing what Asami truly is, but it was very disturbing to see how sweet and romantic she appears to be in the beginning of the film. Ehih Shiina does a brilliant job portraying the psychopathic Asami, starting the role as a friendly and angelic sweetheart and transforming into the most merciless and terrifying killer to ever star in a horror film.

Because the movie is Japanese, I had to watch it using subtitles. I feel that I may have lost a little in translation, but the dialogue was still quite captivating. It truly works because it tells the terrifying story in bits in pieces that leave the viewer wondering what is really happening until the end of the film. And even now I'm still left wondering what the film actually means. I'm sure it all means something. And I believe it has to do with caging your emotions inside of you and how freeing it is to release them. I say this because of one key plot point: as a child Asami was sexually assaulted by her step father. *(Spoiler)*This abuse led to her losing her sanity which caused her to decapitate him with a piano string. And many of her other acts of violence were also caused by provocation. However, this does not excuse her from being considered a complete psychopath for many reasons, mainly the final scene.

When I read about the person who fainted at the screening of Audition I was positive that it happened during the final scene of the film. It was described by Rob Zombie as being one of the hardest things he's ever had to watch and made me, a gore-hound, flinch and close my eyes. I have never seen such raw and terrifying evil in a movie. Sweet, gentle Asami, with her angelic voice becomes a demonic evil who will terrify viewers for years to come. This may be a spoiler but because it has been ten years since the release of this film I feel that I can discuss the final scene. The final scene of the movie is a disgusting torture scene. Asami takes acupuncture needles and says that it has taken her forever to learn to make it hurt. Then she sticks the needles into Shigeharu's stomach and eye sockets. Then she takes a piano wire, and with the biggest smile on her face, she saws off Shigeharu's foot. It was the most terrifying, disturbing, and disgusting scene I have ever seen.

It took Audition a while to get good. To be honest, my boyfriend and I almost turned it off. But for some reason we decided to keep watching and I'm so glad that we did. The ending of Audition makes up for the boring hour and a half you have to watch before you get there. But be warned, this movie is NOT for the squeamish.

-H

Shutter

Let me begin by saying I'm not a very big fan of remakes of Japanese horror films. However, Shutter was surprisingly good. While not the scariest movie I've ever seen, it did offer some frightening scenes. By relying more on lighting than gore to create fear, Shutter allows for the viewer to feel true fear rather than disgust. The movie follows a recently married couple as they move to Japan for work. One their first night in Japan, they are driving along the road when the run into a young Japanese woman standing in the road. This accident is only the beginning of many frightening accidents and experiences that happen throughout the movie. I was truly surprised by the depth of this movie. The plot was not some superficial love story gone wrong, but a story of confusion and lies that leaves the viewer wondering what really caused all of the young couples problems. With a shocking twist ending, Shutter will shock and surprise many viewers.

The story, however, is not all that makes this movie so scary. The visuals are stunningly scary for a horror movie remake. There is one scene in particular that was very creative with the visuals. The young man is in his photo studio and the lights turn out. It's completely black in the studio but then his camera begins to go off. And by the light of the camera we can see the ghost of a young woman crawling around the room. The creative lighting in this scene causes it to be very suspenseful.

I was very surprised that I enjoyed this film because as I have said before, I'm not a big fan of American remakes of foreign horror films but this movie was very creative and shockingly disturbing.

-H

Haute Tension (High Tension)

Released in 2003, this German psychological thriller is full of shockingly gory images such as the decapitation of a man by a piece of furniture to a woman's arm, gushing blood because her hand had just been severed by a crazed killer. This movie tells the story of Marie and Alexis, two best friends who travel to Alexis's family's home. During their first night there, a crazed man breaks into the house murdering the family and kidnapping one of the girls. After this, the story seems to drift off making less sense as it goes along.
The first half of the movie is packed with scares, mainly due to the extremely gory images. However, as the movie progresses, the plot seems to get stranger and stranger. The scariness level goes down and the confusion level goes way up.
Then, there is the twist ending. I'm not sure exactly what to say about the twist ending. I knew the ending going into this movie and I'm not sure whether that affected my view of it or not. To be honest, I couldn't pay attention to what was going on in the movie for thinking about how the ending makes absolutely no sense with what was going on at that time. At some points it was even so absurd that it made me laugh out loud. But in the end the only thing I do know is that this movie is not for those with a weak stomach and most people will be highly disappointed in the ending.

-H