The Innkeepers - Things That Go Bump In The Night

Ti West is a film-maker that you can count on. He loves to place characterisation first, and when making horror movies, this ensures you care about the characters. He loves to play it old school too, and never needs to cheat when developing his scares, like when some directors have things jump from just out of shot when the characters would have been able to see them already. The Innkeepers ticks all the right boxes.

Claire (Sara Paxton) and Luke (Pat Healy) are the two remaining employees of a hotel about to be shut down - the Yankee Pedlar Inn, reported site of Madeline O'Malley's suicide in the 1800s after her husband abandoned her on their wedding day. Both ghost hunting enthusiasts, they spend their last few days trying to contact O'Malley's spirit with only a couple of guests still staying in the inn. Unexpectedly, Claire begins to yield some results when the piano starts playing itself at night, but a clairvoyant guest warns her to steer clear of the basement where they supposedly stashed Madeline's body to save the reputation of the inn. Naturally, the haunting builds in intensity, and when something happens to one of the two remaining guests, it all spirals out of control culminating in a trip to the very same basement that they were warned about so vehemently...



Kudos must go to Eliot Rocket the cinematographer, whose camera swoops and dollies energetically to create some properly thrilling moments, almost like an action-horror hybrid. Sara Paxton too does a brilliantly natural job as Claire - we care about her as a character because she seems genuinely likeable and curious, and always eager to help out her mate Luke. The cast are helped by West's very flowing dialogue, which builds from light-hearted comedy in the first half to some intense arguments throughout the second. Final props must go to Jeff Grace, the composer. From the opening strings over the credits to the eerie piano rolls throughout the initial haunting and the final orchestra explosion, the 'avant-garde' musician nails the tone of the film beautifully.

Here's what Esteban had to say about this 2011 effort:
I want to tell you of a story of a family I once be haved in. It was many a year ago, back in my hometown of Peru. We once went on a holiday, and walked to the next village to enjoy the lovely tree and coffee beans. We stayed inside an inn. In the in we were staying in was a man who had grey hair and overalls. He would carry bread roll in his pockets which was a scary theme. The story is about this because he still was not as scary as the movie film which was pretty scary in my frankly opinion. My least favourite part was when the character drank the beer. Thank you.

Okay, so some modern viewers may consider the film a little generic or even a little slow - but I liked that about it. It's an homage to earlier days of horror when gore wasn't the first priority, and it serves this purpose pretty well. As always, I hope the West can return to this form after the slight misstep that was his segment in V/H/S - I'm giving it 3 out of 4 hanged brides.

One To Watch - Stoker

Simply put, Stoker boasts one of the best trailers that I have seen in my entire life - it's attention grabbing, informative plot-wise, stylish as hell, stunningly paced and what's more, the crew behind the lens appear to be more than qualified for the job.

The English debut of Korean film-maker Park Chan-Wook (who also directed the reportedly phenomenal Oldboy, soon to be remade by Spike Lee), Stoker is allegedly a horror film, family drama and psychological thriller. The writer - Wentworth Miller III (that's right, one of the two bald guys from Prison Break) - has attracted some major talent, from Chan-Wook in the director's chair and the Scott brothers producing to Clint Mansell scoring (probably my favourite film composer) and Nicole Kidman, Mia Wasikowska, Matthew Goode and Jacki Weaver acting up a storm (great to see 3 out of the top 4 billings are Aussie exports!).

I am super excited for Stoker, and I hope you are too (make sure you watch the trailer in at least 720p - it really packs a punch right from Kidman's brilliant opening line to the frenetic montages of gorgeous images throughout).

Updates - Carrie, Evil Dead

As some of you may have seen, this last couple of weeks have seen the release of some serious teasers for two of the films I have labelled as ones to watch. First of all is Carrie, which is impressive in its ambitious scope, and let's be honest - who doesn't love a bit of an extended dolly through a ravaged town...

Next, we have the initial teaser for Evil Dead. And it looks demonic. Utterly devoid of the humour that so marked the original trilogy, the remake looks downright gory and pretty filthy. That said, I'm glad to see flashes of the ol' 'Rape Tree' and rushes through the woods - but be warned, it's not a trailer for the faint of heart, and the last shot is one of the most disgusting I have honestly ever encountered.

So take a look, but prepare for some graphic graphics. Personally, these teasers really hit the spot, and I'm even more hopeful now that these films are going to blow some minds.

The Mist - You'd Better Not Go In The Mist Today...

I'd read the Stephen King novella that this was based on before watching the film, so I had some idea of the events to come. However, seeing them played out like this is an incredibly different experience to reading words on page, and while The Mist could certainly have benefited from a budget deserved of its 'unspeakable terrors in the mist' premise, writer/director Frank Darabont examines the human side of the apocalypse with tact and genuine emotion.

After a vicious thunderstorm damages his home, David Drayton leaves his wife to head into town with his son and pick up some supplies. While in the local supermarket with many other grocery seeking residents, an all-encompassing mist rolls over the town, and when a man runs in terrified and shouting about 'things in the mist', people get a little tense. When it's established beyond a reasonable doubt that there are indeed deadly, other-worldy creatures hidden in the dense fog with a knack for butchering the human race, relationships in the supermarket get strained. Camps develop, representing the extreme religious response to the end of days, our more realistic protagonist and his survival focused friends and finally those in utter denial of their reality. As the body count rises, those in the supermarket begin losing their minds and our hero has to find a way to survive the ordeal with his family together.


Thomas Jane owns the show here as Drayton - a man out of his depth who has to maintain appearances for his son, and somewhat for his own sanity. He's fiercely protective but incredibly tender towards his son, and his role is written particularly well. Darabont's script is spot on in its characters and their development - the political camps that form play off each other nicely, and particularly affecting is the local mechanic Jim's transformation from hard man to religious convert following his traumatic experiences. The camera is another highlight - the movement seems to pre-guess everything that the viewer wants and adapt to it, and also manages to capture some properly horrifying stuff, like the overhead tracking of the military Private as he's dragged out into the mist by the fanatics.

With everything in the film considered, it's the ending that still manages to haunt most of all. While very different to the book, it's so damn bleak that you can't help but decay inside at the horrors displayed. While yes, a little more of the old studio monies wouldn't have hurt, Darabont and Co. have crafted an effective and thought-provoking horror film - 3 out of 4 tentacles.

Take Shelter - The Perfect Storm

I’m not sure if I can truthfully call this a horror film. I can definitely label it a psychological thriller. And I can definitely label it a brilliant, brilliant movie with a creeping sense of dread that permeates every frame right up to the electrifying conclusion. So to hell with explicit ‘horror’ labels, because this modern American masterpiece is a hell of a lot more scary than Hellraiser.

Curtis LaForche (Michael Shannon) begins to have apocalyptic visions of huge maelstroms, destructive tornadoes, flocks of birds flying in bizarre patterns, oily raindrops that render people insane - he fears for his own sanity and the safety of his wife (Jessica Chastain) and young, hearing impaired child (Tova Stewart). His mother (Kathy Baker) has a history of paranoid schizophrenia, and Curtis struggles with his desire to protect his family from his dreams and save his own mind. We watch his life fall apart as he spends thousands of dollars trying to prepare for the ultimate storm he's sure is coming - losing his job, his insurance, his friends - but no one else seems convinced. As the community begins turning against him, it's just Curtis and his family against a small town, and perhaps the elements too...



I absolutely loved this film. Everything about it, from Michael Shannon's incredibly subtle yet explosive powerhouse performance as a man questioning his reality to the slowly advancing camera that constantly and threateningly inches towards its subjects, absolutely gripped me from start to finish. Indie writer/director Jeff Nichols creates a masterful slow-burn of tension that literally never ends - the film's final sequence (and no spoilers here - it's mind-blowing) is a summation of the film's principle tension that is at once thrilling, heart-breaking and astonishingly epic; I literally get tingles thinking about it now. The music (by David Wingo) has a lovely, string backing that builds up the emotion perfectly with occasional piano led moments in the quieter scenes. Shot on a pretty small $5 million budget, the effects in this film never threaten to steal the focus from the human element, but are perfectly integrated in the aesthetic of the whole piece. For a man in his early 30s, Nichols has much to offer cinema, and I have every faith that he will continue to deliver quality like this for decades to come.

In short, I can't quite recommend this as a pure horror, despite its taut construction and difficult subject matter. However, I can and will recommend this as a brilliant film, and easily one of the best I have seen in the past year. It's masterful film-making and takes viewers on a most brilliant journey into the depths of the human person - 96 out of 100 disorientated starlings.

One to Watch - Evil Dead

Yet another remake in the pipes, but it looks like fans needn't worry about the sacred cow of Sam Raimi's original being desecrated. While the original trilogy is best known for the slapstick of Evil Dead II and the iconography of Bruce Campbell's character Ash, the early look at this April 2013 release at New York Comic Con seemed to be incredibly stripped back and grimy - a full-blown horror with lashings of extreme violence amongst homages to the original films.

You're sure you don't want to come in?

Young Uruguayan director Fede Álvarez was chosen by Sam Raimi (who's producing the remake) off the strength of his short 2009 film Ataque de Pánico! (which can be found on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dadPWhEhVk - made for only $300!). Early reports say that he's managed to make the film very much his own while maintaining some of the visual cues of the 1981 film e.g. the kinetic rush through the woods surrounding the cabin, so his selection seems positive. With the script developed by Álvarez and revised by Diablo Cody (Juno), we can expect a very authentic mix of teen dialogue and a hopefully cliché free film, especially given how recent films like The Cabin in the Woods have so successfully warped said clichés. The cast is a list of several young up and comers, including Jane Levy from TV's Suburgatory, Lou Taylor Pucci, Elizabeth Blackmore and Jessica Lucas, who I have no doubt will benefit from Álvarez's proximity to their ages and the seasoned production team of Raimi, Bruce Campbell and Rob Tapert.

Anyway, always the optimist, I have a strong belief that this will be a good one. As The Evil Dead trilogy really sparked my current passion for binging on horror films, it may be blind hope that's firing my faith for this remake, but only time will tell. Evil Dead is scheduled to hit the US on April 12, 2013, and will likely drop in Australia a month or two after that.

The Blair Witch Project - Hungry and Cold and Hunted

The Blair Witch Project revitalised an entire genre when it hit the horror scene in 1999. Extremely low budget horror has always been a staple, but the found footage twist established in no uncertain way a sub-class of terror that is here to stay. Their approach to filming was lean, mean and efficient, and the finished product proudly reflects this approach.

It's a story that most people know - the three student film-makers (Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams and Joshua Leonard) heading into Burkittsville, Maryland to film a documentary about the legend of the Blair Witch. Locals tell them of Rustin Parr, the hermit who murdered seven children at the behest of the spirit of Elly Kedward and others spin tales of the hair-covered witch figure in the woods. They logically decide to enter said woods and go filming at some locations from the legend, finding some odd rock formations and hearing odd sounds at night. After losing the map and admitting that they too are seriously lost, tempers begin to fray, and the woods seem to turn against them. When one of their party goes missing, terror reaches fever pitch and pretty much stays there.

My God it's effective. Shot on two cameras (a colour camcorder usually held by Heather and a black and white 16-mm camera operated by Josh), the footage is edited between the two in a way that both develops multiple perspectives and unsettles the viewers. Conversely, the gorgeous old-school of the 16-mm occasionally punctuates the colour footage with the bleak and threatening beauty of the forest slowly swallowing our trio. The filming locations are almost our film's fourth lead, and the autumn colours hide our deepest fears behind a washed-out palette. But that's the primary thrust of this film - we never see the titular witch nor Parr, it's the descent into psychosis with the students that truly terrifies us. Reading up on the filming process is incredibly interesting - the cast was hounded through the woods and deprived of food and sleep for eight days, receiving instruction left in milk crates and improvising much of the dialogue. The directors - Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez - ought to be congratulated for their unusual and highly effective approach. Finally, the cast - they're very solid, as can be expected given the calculatedly harsh treatment that they received from the crew. Heather's teary apology to the camcorder must receive a special mention - the acknowledgement that they're going to perish in those woods will still chill me for weeks to come.

Unbelievably profitable at the box office and well-received by critics, The Blair Witch Project could be called a classic of modern horror. Well-made, acted and with an incomparably dark and haunting ending, this has to be one of the better horrors I've reviewed yet. I'm now properly scared of going camping ever again - 6 out of 7 straw dolls hanging ominously from the forest's canopy...