Saturday, October 1, 2011

Creep (2007)

Creep is a tired, cliche film. It is hard to follow and does little to inspire one to bother trying to follow it. Where is the vision of today's genre film makers?

The Legend of Hell House (1973)

A bunch of psychics are hired to "exorcise" (for lack of a better term) a house of its "ghosts." Two of the psychics are mediums, a spiritual medium and physical medium. The third psychic is a paranormal physicist who doesn't believe in spirits, just electromagnetic influence. Along for the ride is the physicist's wife. In classic haunted house fashion, things start going wrong and the house starts to fight back. Fun fact: the malevolent spirit Belasco who haunts Hell House shares his name with the demon who kidnapped Illyana Rasputin in 1980s Uncanny X-Men! Thanks, Chris Claremont!

The Omen (1976)

The Omen is another horror classic.
A couple's child is switched at birth with the antichrist. Its a really good satanic thriller and, much like the Shining, though obviously to a lesser extent, deserves its spot in not only horror and genre canon but american filmic canon itself.

Them (2006)

First of all, this movie doesn't have any giant ants.
Second of all, this movie is pretty solid. A couple is terrorized in their house by a terrifying unseen force and there is a twist at the end. It sure is a French horror film from the mid-00s. Better than Haute Tension, worse than Irreversible. Definitely worth watching, maybe not a must-see. In a phrase, "tense but shallow."
Third of all, French is probably my favorite romance language.