LATEST OBSSESSIONS (5)

The Baby's Room (spanish: La habitación del niño) (2006)

In Spain, the sports journalist Juan has a perfect life with his wife Sonia: they have just had a baby and moved to an old house that needs to be repaired in a fancy neighborhood. When Juan's sister and her husband visit the couple, they give them an electronic nanny to monitor the baby's room. During the night, Juan and Sonia hear voices in the room but they do not find anybody. On the next day, Juan hires an alarm system for the house and a monitor to observe the baby's room. When Juan sees a man in the room, he gets a knife to protect his son. However, Sonia believes her husband is insane and moves to her mother's house. Juan investigates the happening with the former journalist Domingo, who explains him the paradoxical experiment Schrodinger's Cat and the existence of parallel worlds...

Director: Álex de la Iglesia
Producer: Estudios Picasso, Filmax, Telecinco, Castelao Producciones
Writter: Jorge Guerricaechevarría, Álex de la Iglesia
Starring: Javier Gutiérrez, Leonor Watling, Sancho Gracia, María Asquerino,
Running Time: 77min

Rating: 9/10

CALVAIRE (2004)

Marc Stevens is a suave but arrogant up-and-coming pop singer, who makes his living performing light pop ballads and easy listening tunes at retirement homes and other small venues around Belgium. En route to perform on a Christmas special, he wrecks his van-- which doubles as his home-during a thunderstorm and is stranded deep in the woods. Lost, cold, and succumbing to the elements, Marc is rescued by a local, an emaciated young man named Boris, who takes Marc to a nearby abandoned inn and then deserts him there.
Marc quickly discovers that the sole occupant of the inn is its former proprietor, Mr. Bartel, an amiable old man who now lives there as a hermit of sorts. Claiming to be a retired standup comedian, Mr. Bartel welcomes Marc to stay as long as he likes, even offering to tow and repair Marc's van as a sign of brotherhood between professional entertainers. Marc accepts the offer, but retains his arrogant demeanor, refusing to speak with Mr. Bartel about his own career or personal life. The next morning, Mr. Bartel tows Marc's van into the front yard of the inn. Marc informs Mr. Bartel that he is going for a walk, at which point Mr. Bartel suddenly becomes paranoid and aggressive, warning Marc not to travel into the nearby village. Marc agrees, but nevertheless pays a visit to a nearby farm, where he witnesses a family voyeuristically watching a teenage boy have intercourse with a calf, calling the experience "so tender". Meanwhile, rather than repairing Marc's van, Mr. Bartel begins snooping through the portion of it in which Marc lives, stealing an envelope of amateur pornography presented to Marc by one of his fans.
That night, Mr. Bartel becomes even more aggressive, working himself into a frenzy while recalling his adulterous wife who abandoned him years before...

Director: Fabrice Du Welz
Producer: Michael Gentile, Eddy Géradon-Luyckx,. Vincent Tavier
Writter: Fabrice Du Welz, Romain Protat
Starring: Laurent Lucas, Jackie Berroyer, Philippe Nahon
Running Time: 88min

Rating: 7/10

REC II (2007)

Dr. Owen, an official from the Ministry of Health and a Grupo Especial de Operaciones (GEO) team, equipped with helmet-mounted video cameras, are sent into a quarantined apartment building to control the situation. After encountering some of the infected, Owen uses religious mantra and rosary to fight them off. It turns out that Owen is actually a priest sent by the church to get a blood sample from the Medeiros girl and aid the other priest in charge of her. When they get to the penthouse, they find out that the infected can travel all around the building through the air ducts. The Medeiros girl is nowhere to be found. Larra, one of the GEO officers goes into the air duct and finds a sample of her blood – the only one that the original priest took from her. Owen then performs a religious rite, and the blood spontaneously combusts, confirming that it is the blood he's looking for; however, the rest of the blood also sets on fire and Larra drops it, rendering it useless. They must then get a blood sample from the Medeiros girl. Jennifer's father, who was outside getting medicine for his daughter (the infected girl from REC), manages to convince a firefighter to take him into the building. Moments before the building is quarantined, three teenagers named Tito, Mire and Ori are messing around on a roof. When the police quarantine the building, they find them and escort them out to the street. The teenagers gain access to the sealed building through the sewage system; however, police have seen them and seal their exit...

Director: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza
Producer: Julio Fernández
Writter: Jaume Balagueró, Manu Díez, Paco Plaza
Starring: Manuela Velasco, Jonathan Mellor, Óscar Sánchez Zafra, Ariel Casas, Alejandro Casaseca, Pablo Rosso
Running Time: 85min

Rating: 9/10

LATEST OBSSESSIONS (2)

DRAG ME TO HELL (2009)

In 1969 Pasadena, California, a young couple seek aid of the medium Shaun San Dena (Flor de Maria Chahua) as their son claims to see and hear monsters. San Dena aids the family with a seance, but they are attacked by an unseen force which pulls the boy into a fiery pit.

In 2009 Los Angeles, California, bank loan officer Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) hopes to be promoted to assistant manager over her co-worker Stu Rubin (Reggie Lee). Her boss, Jim Jacks (David Paymer), advises her to demonstrate that she can make tough decisions to get a promotion. Christine is visited by an elderly woman, Sylvia Ganush (Lorna Raver), who asks for an extension on her mortgage payment. Christine decides to deny Ganush an extension to prove herself to Mr. Jacks. Jacks compliments Christine on how she handled the situation.

In the bank parking lot, Christine is attacked in her car by Ganush. After a violent struggle, Ganush removes a button from Christine's coat and uses it to place a curse on Christine. Later, with her boyfriend Clay Dalton (Justin Long), they meet the fortune teller Rham Jas (Dileep Rao), who tells Christine that she is being haunted by a spirit. At her home, Christine is attacked by the spirit and has nightmares about Ganush. At work the next day, Christine has a projectile nosebleed that soaks a horrified Mr. Jacks in blood. Christine then tries to meet Ganush at her granddaughter's home and finds that Ganush died the previous night and a memorial service is being held. Christine returns to Rham Jas, who explains that she is being haunted by a powerful demon called the Lamia that will torment her for three days before taking her to Hell. Rham Jas suggests a sacrifice to appease the demon. The next day, the Lamia returns and thrashes Christine around her bedroom. Desperate to stop the attacks, Christine sacrifices her pet kitten. At a dinner party with Clay and his parents, Christine is still tormented by the Lamia, which frightens the Daltons.

Director: Sam Raimi
Producer: Grant Curtis, Sam Raimi, Robert G. Tapert
Writter: Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi
Starring: Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Lorna Raver, David Paymer, Dileep Rao
Running Time: 108min

Rating: 9/10


THEM (french:ILS) (2006)

The film opens with a mother and daughter driving along a deserted country road at night. During an argument the mother swerves to avoid a figure in the road and crashes into a wooden post. She gets out to check the engine, as the car will not start, while her daughter waits in the car. After a period of silence the daughter calls to her mother. Receiving no reply, she gets out. Her mother is gone. She calls for her mother and her call is repeated from the surrounding woods by a whispery voice. Scared, she gets back into the car. Suddenly, noises come from the woods around her and mud is thrown against the windows. The young girl tries desperately to contact the police using a cell phone but she is strangled to death from behind.

The next day, Clementine, driving home from work, passes the crashed car, unaware of the previous night's events. She is greeted at home by her lover, Lucas. The two settle in for the night, enjoying dinner and watching television. After the two go to bed, Clementine is awakened by music from downstairs. Lucas goes down to investigate. He finds the TV back on. He reactively swings a poker at a sudden movement and shatters the glass in a French door. The door is then pushed from behind, causing a large fragment of glass to bury itself in his leg. Frantically, he escapes back up to Clementine in the bedroom above, and the two lock the door and try to formulate an escape plan. Clementine then climbs into the attic to find an escape route. As Clementine searches the attic, one of the intruders grabs her from behind, she fights him off and pushes him off her third story balcony. The intruder's body is soon surrounded by several other people. The couple find themselves surrounded and make a desperate attempt to escape the house.

Director: David Moreau, Xavier Palud
Producer: Richard Grandpierre
Writter: David Moreau, Xavier Palud
Starring: Olivia Bonamy, Michael Cohen
Running Time: 74min

Rating: 8/10


JACOB'S LADDER (1990)

Jacob Singer (Robbins) is a U.S. soldier deployed in the Mekong Delta during the Vietnam War. When the story begins, helicopters are passing overhead, carrying supplies for what seems to be preparations for a big Viet Cong offensive. Without any warning, Jacob's unit comes under heavy fire. The soldiers try to take cover but begin to exhibit strange behavior for no apparent reason. Jacob attempts to escape the unexplained insanity, only to be stabbed with a bayonet by an unseen person.

The film then shifts back and forth from Vietnam to Jacob's memories (and hallucinations) of his son Gabe (Culkin, uncredited) and former wife Sarah (Kalember), and to his present (set in 1975 Brooklyn) relationship with a woman named Jezebel (Peña) in New York City. During this latter period, Jacob faces several threats to his life and has severe hallucinatory experiences. It is subsequently revealed that his son Gabe was hit by a car and killed before Jacob went to Vietnam.

As the hallucinations become increasingly bizarre, one of his old army buddies contacts Jacob to tell him about his hallucinations and is killed in a car ignition explosion. At the funeral, his surviving platoon-mates confess to Jacob they too have been seeing horrible hallucinations.

Director: Adrian Lyne
Producer: Mario Kassar, Alan Marshall, Bruce Joel Rubin, Andrew G. Vajna
Writter: Bruce Joel Rubin
Starring: Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Peña, Danny Aiello, Jason Alexander, Ving Rhames
Running Time: 115min

Rating: 9.5/10

LATEST OBSSESSIONS (1)

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (2008)

(Swedish: Låt den rätte komma in)

Oskar is a 12-year-old-boy who is being bullied at school. He lives with his mother, who is loving and with whom he initially seems to have a good connection. His father is an alcoholic who lives out in the countryside. Oskar seems intelligent, has morbid interests including crime and forensics and keeps a scrap book filled with newspaper cuttings about murders. He befriends who he thinks is a new girl who moved in next door - Eli. Eli lives with an older man Håkan, a former teacher who was fired and became a homeless vagrant when he was discovered to be a paedophile. Eli is revealed to be a vampire, but the two children develop a close relationship and Eli helps Oskar fight back against his tormentors. Throughout the book their relationship gradually becomes closer and they reveal more of themselves and in particular Eli's lengthy history.

Håkan serves Eli, whom he loves, by procuring blood from the living, fighting against his conscience and choosing victims who he can physically trap, but who are not too young. Eli gives him money for doing this, though Håkan makes it clear he would do it for nothing if Eli allowed them to be physically intimate. Eli keeps the money in several boxes, along with a variety of different puzzles. These, apart from a few items of clothing and food, are all that fill the apartment. After several failures to acquire enough blood for Eli, Håkan offers to go out one last time if they can spend the night together. With the caveat that he may only touch Eli, they agree, but it is stipulated that Håkan must get the blood first.

Håkan's attempt to get blood from the last victim fails, and he disfigures himself on purpose with acid to avoid the police tracing Eli through him. When Eli finds Håkan in the hospital, he offers his own blood and is drunk dry while sitting on the window ledge. A guard interrupts them and Eli fails to kill him (so that he will not end up becoming a vampire such as Eli) before Håkan throws himself out of the window, bursting upon the ground below. The fall kills him, but he is later resurrected as a vampire himself, though one that is mindless and seeks only to find Eli. Eli is trapped briefly in a basement, but manages to escape. Håkan is later beaten to death. Meanwhile Lacke suspects a child is responsible for the murder of his best friend, Jocke (whom Eli murdered for blood before snapping his neck). Later, he sees Eli as a small, shapeless creature who lunges from the trees at his sometimes girlfriend, Virginia. Eli attempts to drink her blood, but is interrupted by Lacke's interference. Virginia succumbs to vampirism, but does not realize her "infection" until after she attempts to prolong her life by drinking her own blood and avoiding the sun, which turns her skin into boils upon exposure. In the hospital Virginia deliberately exposes herself to daylight and bursts into flames...

Let Me In (2010). An English language film adaptation is scheduled to be released on October 1, 2010. The main characters names have been changed to Owen and Abby in order to make the film more American.

Director: Tomas Alfredson

Producer: Carl Molinder, John Nordling

Writter: John Ajvide Lindqvist

Starring: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar

Running Time: 114min

Rating: 9/10

REC (2007)

REC follows a television reporter, Ángela Vidal, and her cameraman, Pablo, who cover the night shift in one of Barcelona's local fire stations for the fictional documentary television series While You're Asleep. The firehouse receives a call about a woman who is trapped in her apartment. When they arrive, Ángela and Pablo film the police breaking down the door. The woman becomes extraordinarily aggressive and bites one of the policemen. Meanwhile, the terrified residents gather in the entrance hall and look on as the police and military seal off the building. A firefighter who remained in the old woman's apartment is bitten and plummets through the stairwell to the lobby floor. The camera crew, remaining police officer and the second firefighter go up again and are attacked. The officer shoots the old woman. The camera crew remains trapped inside the building with the residents and continue recording in spite of police pressure. Ángela interviews a little girl named Jennifer who lives in the building. Jennifer is ill with what her mother claims is tonsillitis. She says her dog, Max, is at the veterinarian because he appeared to be sick as well.

A health inspector wearing a hazmat suit arrives and attempts to treat the injured, who become suddenly and fiercely violent despite their critical injuries. The health inspector explains that the time frame in which the disease takes effect varies by blood type. The health inspector also reveals that sometime during the previous day, a dog with the illness was taken to the veterinarian; the dog became violent and attacked and killed other pets at the clinic. The dog was euthanized, and was traced back to the apartment building. Jennifer, the girl who owned the dog, then suddenly attacks her mother. The inspector tells the distraught residents that this unknown but virulent disease is infecting people, causing them to turn into bloodthirsty savages. More and more people in the building become infected, and Ángela and Pablo are forced to fight them off. Eventually they learn that there is a key to a door in the apartment building workshop, which leads to an exit via the sewer system. However, the key is located on the third floor in the manager's apartment.

Director: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza

Producer:  Julio Fernández

Writter:  Jaume Balagueró, Luis A. Berdejo, Paco Plaza

Starring: Manuela Velasco, Javier Botet, Manuel Bronchud, Martha Carbonell, Claudia Font, Vicente Gil

Running Time: 75min.

Rating: 8/10

MARTYRS (2008)

The film begins with a young girl, Lucie, as she escapes from a disused abattoir where she has been imprisoned and physically abused for a lengthy period of time. She is then placed in an orphanage, where she is befriended by a young girl named Anna. Anna soon discovers that Lucie is constantly being attacked by a ghoulish "creature."

Fifteen years later, Lucie bursts into a seemingly normal family's home and kills them all, claiming that the two adults of the family were the ones responsible for her childhood trauma. She is periodically attacked by the "creature."

Lucie calls Anna, who comes to the house to help her bury the bodies. Anna discovers the mother is still alive and tries to help her escape, but is discovered by Lucie who kills the woman. Having realized her vengeance, the "creature" - in actuality, a psychological manifestation of Lucie's guilt over not being able to save another girl who was also imprisoned and tortured with her all those years ago - drives Lucie to kill herself. As Anna is cleaning up the house, she discovers a secret underground chamber and imprisoned within is a horribly tortured woman. While Anna attempts to care for her, strangers arrive and shoot the woman dead.

Director: Pascal Laugier

Writter: Pascal Laugier

Starring: Morjana Alaoui, Mylène Jampanoï

Running Time: 100min.

Rating: 8.5/10