let the right one in (2008)

possibly the most highly praised film of last years festival circuit, let the right one in arrives complete with the sort of hype and expectation usually reserved for the summer blockbuster period. having anticipated this film for what seems like an age i felt somewhat let down with the final product. what an interesting premise suggests is let down by an unwelcome running time. the story doesnt feel big enough to necessitate the epic running time it is given, an act which isnt disguised by the tagged on ending, which follows a perfectly adequate conclusion anyway.

negatives out of the way and we are left with a satisfying experience, courtesy largely to a staggering pair of central performances and some beautiful photography. kåre hedebrant and lina leandersson are great as the two friends that map out the films direction. the character of oskar (played by hedebrant) actually develops in a very complex manner for a child performance, and is the highlight of the overall piece. prior to seeing the picture myself, a friend described it as ''a kitchen sink drama crossed with a horror film", and by and large this is what i too took out of it. the central premise is accompanied by a rather touching subtext focussing on childhood alienation, which i found to be genuinely affecting, especially at the point where i expected the film to actually finish.

rosemary's baby (1968)

roman polanski's horror film of sorts is notable for containing what is considered by many to be the archetypal performance from actor john cassavetes. a personal favourite of mine, cassavetes worked within the hollywood studio system as an actor in order to fund his independent directorial efforts. rosemary's baby sees cassavetes playing guy woodhouse, a struggling actor, not much of a stretch theoretically, but in this reality our actor makes a pact with satanists in order to see his career flourish.

the film is told largely from the point of view of woodhouse's wife, the rosemary of the title, played by mia farrow. as a result of guy's selfishness she bears the brunt of the effects by giving birth to the spawn of satan himself, which on paper sounds absolutely ridiculous, but is played out beautifully and is incredibly effective. the subtlety of the pacing, and the emphasis on family-based paranoia combine to create a film that is more metaphor than direct assault. its with this in mind that it goes without saying when i claim that modern horror films like the saw series, or this years my bloody valentine 3D pale in comparison in terms of effectively scaring an audience. stylistically the film owes much to polanski's european origins. character, subtlety and symbolism are key when it comes to truly involving an audience, a fact that seems all but lost in modern american horror films.

the exorcist (1973)

watching william friedkin's seminal adaptation of william peter blatty's novel for the first time since i was a teenager, and off of the back of a screening of ''doubt'' proved a very positive experience. as a boy it was the overtly shocking moments of the film that i was attracted to, but as i have grown (and hopefully developed!) it is the thematic notions that strike the most fear. as an exploration into the themes of questioning ones faith rather bizarrely brought to mind scorsese's ''mean streets''.

i have every intention of returning to this review at some point, in the vain of a proper analysis.

a nightmare on elm street - part 5 : the dream child (1989)

the fifth film in the "elm street" series was released at the time when freddy krueger was a genuine pop culture icon, as shown by the inclusion of two absolutely freddy-starring music videos; one of which stars a group of overweight rappers (clad in stripes) faced with the enticing premise of spending the night in freddy's house (one of them is his nephew who stands to inherit the house - christ, i cant believe im explaining this in so much detail...). anyway the point of this explanation has more to do with the fact that it shows just how popular character freddy was at the time, and how this had a hugely negative effect on the film series. to take a horror character and actively promote him as a comedic or likeable character damages the credibility hugely. the second of the videos is another rap song (rap tie ins were de-rigeur towards the late eighties, when vanilla ice made it acceptable for middle class white kids to actively enjoy the genre).

to be fair to it, the fifth film does open with the first genuinely subversive moment in the entire series. and perhaps that is what the problem with the series is, theyre just so blatent and predictable and lazy.

a nightmare on elm street - part 4 : the dream master (1988)

perhaps a more apt subtitle would be "freddy becomes an obvious metaphor for aids", in what is basically a retread of the first film (girl discovers freddy, attempts to stop him killing her friends). one thing i will say, is that at least the camerawork is improving, with uber-hack renny harlin behind the camera. i also like the way that 80's fad aplenty, karate is shoehorned in, in as offensive and patronising a manner as i would expect. what i find most inexplicable about these films, is that despite the evidence proving otherwise, the authorities do nothing to at least attempt to control what is happening on and around elm street, despite the years and years of trouble.

to be fair to it, the last thirty minutes or so, in where one girl is transformed into a cockroach, much in the same manner as cronenbergs "the fly", and where the first genuinely disturbing death of freddy takes place are the highlight of thseries so far.

a nightmare on elm street - part 3 : dream warriors (1987)

woe is me, im quickly tiring of the task at hand.

the third in the "nightmare on elm street series" comes equiped with a bigger budget, more gruesome death sequences and an arquette (patricia). alas it lacks one thing above all else - dignity. while the effects are much better the soul of the original film seems lost. what really annoys me is that the subtitle; dream warriors, suggests that this entry into the series could have been what james cameron's ''aliens'' was to the original "alien", in the sense that i expected more. i wanted to see a group of "dream warriors" step into freddy's world and cause all manner of excitement, alas i was left with a more depressing "breakfast club"-band of ragtag misfits. theres also lots of patronising hugging and screeching idiots, its like a john hughes directed episode of scooby doo.

a nightmare on elm street - part 2 : freddy's revenge (1985)

part two of the franchise see's freddy krueger inhabiting the body of the teenage son belonging to the new family occupying 1428 elm street. with the exception of a genuinely disturbing opening nightmare, involving a schoolbus seeing the ground beneath it literally disappear, the film is fairly run of the mill in terms of the slasher genre. the brief running time meant that the film wasnt as arduous as its predecessor, but to be honest thats pretty much the only saving grace.

i really cannot wait to be through with the bloody (pun intended) slasher genre.

the silence of the lambs (1991)

for whatever reason i hadnt previously seen jonathan demme's seminal nineties horror classic, personally i blame the fact that the film has been spoofed to death in the years since its release.

upon release "the silence of the lambs" was considered to be a step away from the usual detective based crime drama, and its easy to see why it was given such a status. for a start it featured a woman in the usual male driven lead role. there are scenes wherein the viewer is led to believe, be it through their own expectations or those subtly suggested to them through various filmmaking techniques, that clarice, the stereotypical female of the piece will react to a specific event with a stereotypically "female" reaction, when in fact she will act in the opposite manner, pulling the proverbial rug from beneath our feet. its interesting to compare this to the previous alfred hitchcock films that i have looked at this week, in fact a very interesting comparison between the portrayal of women in "the silence of the lambs" and hitchcock's "shadow of a doubt" definately exists. obviously strong female characters existed way before clarice starling (the femme fetale of the 1940's en route to ellen ripley brought with it many an equal oppurtunity), but the emotional standpoint is definately a borderline unique one. whilst watching the film i noted that the way in which our emotions as a viewer are manipulated are very similiar to the way in which the character of hannibal lector manipulates clarice.

it goes without saying that anthony hopkins mesmerises as hannibal lector, and its a testiment to his creation that he is not only the one remembered for the film, but also that he won the best actor oscar for the role, strange considering that hopkins' role (timewise) amounts to little more than a cameo.

the technique on display in the film is much stronger than i expected, with the film displaying some genuinely innovative camerawork, well innovative in terms of commercial cinema, and while the film is fairly basic in terms of narrative structure demme wastes no opportunity for artistic flair when it comes to the aforementioned emotional connotation-interpretation provided through subjective editing.

the ending proves that the pastiche level sequels are pretty much the most pointless ever commited to celluloid, doing nothing but further the spoof-like portrayal of hannibal lector, once a truly terrifying character here in the silence of the lambs. as a sidenote, i found the film useful when applying the concepts set out in the work of alfred hitchcock to a modern day film. "the silence of the lambs" feels like a genuine (and very rare) extention to the work of alfred hitchcock, in that it is an intelligent horror film (not a thriller!!) that utilises pacing above cheap shocks.

a nightmare on elm street (1984)

as a child i was always fascinated with the concept of fred krueger, the paedophile janitor and former resident of elm street. im not sure why exactly, but in retrospect thats a tad concerning. my upcoming masters in film theory dictates that i need to know the slasher genre thoroughly, and as i have very little knowledge of the genre, aside from a slight childhood obsession amounting to no more than a film poster on my bedroom wall and the overactive imagination of a ten year old, i decided to check out a few of the key titles. with that in mind i picked up the entire 7 film elm street series, with a view to check out the friday the 13th series and the scream series when finished.

having never sat through an entire "a nightmare on elm street" film in its entirety i entered the first film with the following preconception; the first film is genuinely good, while the rest are pretty awful. post-screening, and taking that in mind i am absolutely dreading the remainder of the series. while wes craven's film wasnt particularly bad it was just deathly dull. there was a point around half way through where i suddenly regretted the task of watching all seven films that i had undertaken. alas for the sake of my studies i will endeaver onwards.

despite climaxing with the most ridiculous ending to a film iv seen in a long time, taking the minute budget at hand into account the film really isnt that bad, especially when compared to the rest of the post-"halloween" slasher counterfitting that was going on at the time.

the birds (1963)

what sounds like a ridiculous idea on paper actually works rather well in practice, in the shape of alfred hitchcock's ''the birds''. when the small town of bodega bay is flooded by a mass of birds, seemingly out for the kill mitch brenner and melanie daniels (rod taylor and "tipi" hedren respectively) must survive the onslaught.

with particular emphasis on the eyes, the most vulnerable spot for a bird attack, hitchcock creates an otherworldly atmosphere, and a contradictory tone that promises light (most of the film takes place outside, during the day) but delivers chills. the innovative electronic score only adds to this.

"the birds" is the first hitchcock film i have watched in a while. having never been a huge fan, i decided the time was right to get a grounding in his work. and while "the birds" impressed, from what i have been told its hardly one of his masterpieces, so i look forward to delving in properly.

i am legend (2007)

will smith's post-apocalyptic tale of the last man on earth occupies a deserved place on this viewers list of guilty pleasures. i watched it with the alternate ending, which is very different to that of the original and more than anything suggests that the filmmakers didnt really know which direction they wanted to take the film in, as is the nature of the difference between the two different endings. nevertheless the concept of the being the last man on earth will never get old.