YOU EUROPEAN WEIRDOS...

TROLLHUNTER (2010)

(Norwegian: Trolljegeren)

A group of students investigate a series of mysterious bear killings, but learns that there are much more dangerous things going on. They start to follow a mysterious hunter, learning that he is actually a troll hunter...

Trollhunter is made in the form of a mockumentary and it features a mixed cast of relatively unknown actors and well-known Norwegian comedians, including Otto Jespersen. According to director André Øvredal, the team tried to maintain maximum secrecy around the project. They kept both the title and cast secret until shortly before the première; instead dropping cryptic teasers to create a viral effect. Producers Sveinung Golimo and John M. Jacobsen reported great international attention around the film. Already before the première, several American companies had expressed interest in doing a remake.
The day the movie opened in the United States, Deadline.com announced that director Chris Columbus's company, 1492, along with CJ Entertainment & Media had acquired remake rights to the film.
The song “Mjød” by Kvelertak, a six-piece metal band from Stavanger, Norway, appears over the closing credits and at the end of the final credits, there is a notice in English, claiming that:
"No trolls were harmed during the making of this movie"

Director: André Øvredal
Writter: André Øvredal
Starring: Otto Jespersen, Hans Morten Hansen, Tomas Alf Larsen, Johanna Mørck, Knut Nærum
Running Time: 90min
Country: Norway
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLEo7H9tqSM

Rating: 9/10


THE BROKEN (2008)

In London, the radiologist Gina McVey organizes a surprise birthday party to her father John McVey with her boyfriend Stefan Chambers, her brother Daniel McVey and his girlfriend Kate Coleman. On the next day, she sees herself driving a car on the street and she follows the woman to her apartment, where she finds a picture of her father and her. While driving back, she has a car crash and loses parts of her memory...

The inventive spelling of the title reads somewhat silly in Norwegian and Danish since the Ø in broken is a letter in the alphabet in these languages and sounds like the "u" in "burden". In addition "brøken" is a Norwegian word meaning "the fraction".
The film premiered on 18 January 2008 as part of the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. It also was the first choice in Horrorfest 2009 and was part of Sitges Film Festival 2008, where Angus Hudson won the award for Best Cinematography.
Sean Ellis is British film director, writer, and producer and he is best known for his film Cashback (2004). For the same film in 2006, he was nominated for an Oscar Award in the category "Best Short Film, Live Action".

Director: Sean Ellis
Writter: Sean Ellis
Starring: Lena Headey, Asier Newman, Michelle Duncan, Melvil Poupaud, Richard Jenkins
Running Time: 88min
Country: UK
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0nKZd9UxuI

Rating: 8/10


OUTCAST (2010)

Cathal (Nesbitt) is a killer who is pursuing his former lover Mary (Dickie). Mary, a woman who comes from an ancient and magicalceltic race, and her son Fergal (Bruton), hide in an outlying district of Edinburgh and use magic to protect themselves, but Cathal is determined to outsmart them...

Director: Colm McCarthy
Writter: Colm McCarthy, Tom McCarthy

Starring: James Nesbitt, Kate Dickie, James Cosmo, Niall Bruton, Hannah Stanbridge, Karen Gillan

Running Time: 98min
Country: UK, Ireland
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH5bbbn3vZs

Rating: 7/10

THE KIDS ARE ALLRIGHT

THE OMEN (1976)

Robert and Katherine Thorn seem to have it all. They are happily married and he is the US Ambassador to Italy, but they want more than to have children. When Katharine has a stillborn child, Robert is approached by a priest at the hospital who suggests that they take a healthy newborn whose mother has just died in childbirth. Without telling his wife he agrees. After relocating to London, strange events - and the ominous warnings of a priest - lead him to believe that the child he took from that Italian hospital is evil incarnate...

Two endings were filmed. The original ending featured a child's casket with Robert and Katherine's, indicating Damien was also killed. But the studio head, Alan Ladd, Jr., said whilst The Omen was a great movie the first ending was a mistake: you cannot kill the devil! He gave Donner additional funds to refilm the ending. The site used for the Megiddo archaeological dig is a real dig, just not in Megiddo. It is located in the Old City of Jerusalem, on the southern end of the Temple Mount. An original score for the film was composed by Jerry Goldsmith, for which he received the only Oscar of his long career.
A remake, The Omen, was released on June 6, 2006.

Director: Richard Donner
Writter: David Seltzer
Starring: Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Billie Whitelaw
Running Time: 111min
Country: United States
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PuIBNLOeEU

Rating: 10/10


THE ORPHANAGE (2007)
(Spanish: El Orfanato)

Laura, a former orphan, raises her adopted son Simón together with her husband Carlos in an old house and former orphanage where she was raised. While at the orphanage Simón tells Laura that he has five invisible friends which she believes are a product of his active imagination. Laura decides to reopen the orphanage to cater for disabled children and throws a party. During the party Simón tries to persuade Laura to go and take a look at his friends cabin but she's too busy. Later on she sees a mysterious masked boy and realizes that Simón has also disappeared...

The film's script was written by Sergio G. Sánchez in 1996 and brought to the attention of Bayona in 2004. Bayona asked his long-time friend, director Guillermo del Toro, to help produce the film and to double its budget and filming time. Bayona wanted the film to capture the feel of 1970s Spanish cinema; he cast Geraldine Chaplin and Belén Rueda, who were later praised for their roles in the film.
It received critical acclaim from audiences in its native Spain, winning seven Goya awards. New Line Cinema bought the rights to the film for an American remake.

Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
Writter: Sergio G. Sánchez
Starring: Belén Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Roger Príncep, Geraldine Chaplin, Montserrat Carulla
Running Time: 105min
Country: Spain - Mexico
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUZQgqxIZ6s

Rating: 9/10


HANSEL AND GRETEL (2007)

When Eun-soo gets lost in a country road, he meets a mysterious girl and is led to her fairytale ike house in the middle of the forest. There, Eun-soo is trapped with the girl and her siblings who never age. Eun-soo finally discovers a way out which is written on a fairy tale book. But the book tells a story of none other than himself!

Director: Yim Pil-Sung
Writter: Kim Min Suk
Starring: Cheon Jeong-myeong, Eun Won-jae, Shim Eun-kyeong, Jin Ji-hye
Running Time: 117min
Country: South Korea
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlfnhVsbyeQ&playnext=1&list=PL8E4BCAB3B615465E

Rating: 7/10


THE OTHER (1972)

In the summer of 1935, 9-year-old twins Niles and Holland Perry live with their family on a Connecticut farm. Their loving grandmother Ada has taught them something called "the game." A number of accidents begin happening, and it seems to Niles that Holland is responsible. It is Ada who begins to see the truth, and she is the only one who can stop this macabre game of murder...

Adapted for film by Tom Tryon, from his bestselling novel. This is the only movie appearance by the twins Chris and Martin Udvarnoky, the featured stars. Despite the grotesque nature of the plot, composer Jerry Goldsmith elected to give the film a mostly upbeat score to reflect the childish innocence of its main character. More often than not, the film's darker scenes feature no music at all. Goldsmith's compositions for the film can be heard in a 22 minute suite found on the soundtrack album of The Mephisto Waltz. This CD was released 25 years after the release of the film.

Director: Robert Mulligan
Writter: Tom Tryon (also novel)
Starring: Uta Hagen, Diana Muldaur, Chris Udvarnoky, Martin Udvarnoky
Running Time: 108min
Country: United States
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMmMqWkudgA

Rating: 8/10

POOR POOR GIRL...

ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968)

A young couple move into a new apartment, only to be surrounded by peculiar neighbors and occurrences. When the wife becomes mysteriously pregnant, paranoia over the safety of her unborn child begins controlling her life...

Based on the bestselling 1967 novel by Ira Levin. The film received mostly positive reviews and earned numerous nominations and awards. The American Film Institute ranked the film 9th in their 100 Years…100 Thrills list. The official tagline of the film is "Pray for Rosemary's Baby."
For the scene where Rosemary is raped by Satan, Rosemary's Baby ranked #23 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments. Contrary to an urban legend, Anton LaVey did not play the role of Satan in the rape scene of Rosemary's Baby. In fact it was actor Clay Tanner, and no technical advisor was used.
Thirty years after he wrote Rosemary's Baby, Ira Levin wrote Son of Rosemary, a sequel which he dedicated to the film's star, Mia Farrow.
A 2009-2010 remake of Rosemary's Baby was briefly considered. The intended producers were Michael Bay, Andrew Form, and Brad Fuller.
The remake fell through in 2008.

Director: Roman Polanski
Writter: Roman Polanski, Book: Ira Levin
Starring: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer, Maurice Evans, Ralph Bellamy
Running Time: 136min
Country: United States
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otPyEsObI1M

Rating: 10/10


THE GIRL NEXT DOOR (2007)

Inspired by true events, the film is set in 1958 and follows the story of two adolescent girls (Blythe Auffarth and Madeline Taylor) who, upon losing their parents in an accident, are sent to live with their Aunt Ruth (Blanche Baker), a sadistic psychopath. Unbeknownst to the residents of the small New Jersey suburb, the girls endure brutal punishment and torture at the hands of their aunt and three cousins.

Film adaptation of the 1989 novel of the same name by Jack Ketchum. It is loosely based on the true story of the murder of Sylvia Likens.
See also:
"An American Crime", which leans more in the direction of a documentary telling of the Likens story was scheduled for release at roughly the same time, but not released until a Showtime premiere in mid-2008.

Director: Gregory Wilson
Writter: Screenplay: Daniel Farrands, Philip Nutman, Novel: Jack Ketchum
Starring: Daniel Manche, Blanche Baker, Blythe Auffarth, Madeline Taylor
Running Time: 97min
Country: United States
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=typY725pjZ4

Rating: 7/10


I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE (2010)

New York short story writer Jennifer Hills (Camille Keaton) rents an isolated cottage by a lake in the countryside to write her first novel. The arrival in town of the attractive and independent young woman attracts the attention of Johnny (Eron Tabor), the gas station manager, and Stanley (Anthony Nichols) and Andy (Gunter Kleemann), two unemployed youths who hang around the gas station. Jennifer receives a grocery delivery from Matthew (Richard Pace), who is shy and apparently mildly mentally retarded, and befriends him. Matthew is friends with the other three men and reports back to them about the beautiful woman he met, claiming he saw her breasts...

A remake of the controversial 1978 cult classic of the same name.

Director: Steven R. Monroe
Writter: Jeffrey Reddick
Starring: Sarah Butler, Chad Lindberg, Daniel Franzese, Rodney Eastman, Jeff Branson
Running Time: 107min
Country: United States
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3zDSzULMqM

Rating: 6/10


ORPHAN (2009)

Kate and John Coleman are rebuilding their troubled marriage. Kate had a drinking problem, but is in therapy and is doing well. She has been sober for one year. The couple decides to adopt a child. When they meet the nine-year-old Russian girl, Esther, at the St. Marina Orphanage, they immediately fall in love with the well-educated orphan...

The film's content, depicting a murderous adopted person, was not well received by the adoption community. The controversy caused filmmakers to change a line in one of their trailers from "It must be difficult to love an adopted child as much as your own," to "I don’t think Mommy likes me very much."

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Writter: David Leslie Johnson, Story: Alex Mace
Starring: Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle Fuhrman, CCH Pounder, Jimmy Bennett
Running Time: 123min
Country: United States
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ywOPNNii9w

Rating: 8/10

LATEST OBSSESSIONS (6)

A TALE OF TWO SISTERS (2003)

A girl, Su-Mi, is brought to a psychiatrist. She is unresponsive until shown a picture of her family. She is taken home by her father (Moo-Hyeon) along with her timid sister, Su-Yeon, where they are met by their difficult stepmother (Eun-Joo). That night Su-Yeon awakes to find somebody in her room and she flees to her sister. Su-Mi promises Su-Yeon that she will always be there for her and they fall asleep. Su-Mi awakens after a nightmare to find that Su-Yeon has begun her period, as has her stepmother, on the very same day. The girls look at some old photos, which reveal that Eun-Joo was a doctor and a coworker of their father. Su-Mi sees bruises on Su-Yeong's arms and accuses Eun-Joo. At dinner with guests - Sun-Kyu (Eun-Joo's brother) and his wife - Eun-Joo acts strangely. During dinner, Sun-Kyu's wife begins to choke and convulse on the floor. After they leave, Eun Joo investigates around, only to be startled by a hand that reaches out as she tries to pick up a pin...

Director: Ji-woon Kim
Writter: Ji-woon Kim
Starring: Im Soo Jung, Moon Geun-young, Yeom Jeong-ah, Kim Kap-su
Running Time: 115min
Country: Korea
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anF5XiN8QY8

Rating: 9/10

LAKE MUNGO (2008)

Sixteen-year-old ALICE PALMER drowns while swimming in the local dam. When her body is recovered and a verdict of accidental death returned, her grieving family buries her. The family then experiences a series of strange and inexplicable events centered in and around their home. Profoundly unsettled, the Palmers seek the help of psychic and parapsychologist, RAY KEMENY. Ray discovers that Alice led a secret, double life. A series of clues lead the family to Lake Mungo where Alice's secret past emerges...

Director: Joel Anderson
Writter: Joel Anderson
Starring: Talia Zucker, Rosie Traynor, David Pledger
Running Time: 89min
Country: Australia
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2ISuVvP-XI

Rating: 8/10

TIMECRIMES (2007)
(Spanish: Los Cronocrímenes)

The protagonist Hector (Karra Elejalde) sits on a lawn chair outside his new country home, surveying the nearby wooded hillside through a set of binoculars, after receiving a strange phone call. Nearby his wife has just assembled a new coffee table, and, banteringly, he bets he will buy the groceries if the table fits through the front door. Then as his wife (Candela Fernández) returns to take out the car to buy groceries, having lost the bet, he catches sight of a woman removing her shirt amidst the trees and curious, goes to investigate. Finding the woman-but supine, naked and senseless he approaches but is attacked and stabbed in the arm with a pair of scissors by a sinister figure wrapped in a grotesque pink head bandage...

TimeCrimes director Nacho Vigalondo revealed that David Cronenberg is in the running to direct the upcoming English language remake of the popular Fantastic Fest award winner.

Director: Nacho Vigalondo
Writter: Nacho Vigalondo
Starring: Karra Elejalde, Bárbara Goenaga, Nacho Vigalondo, Candela Fernández
Running Time: 88min
Country: Spain
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcGj9waK3u4

Rating: 8,5/10

THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL (2009)

The film opens on a voyeuristic shot of college student Samantha Hughes (Jocelin Donahue) as she looks at an apartment. She cannot afford the security deposit, but the landlady agrees to accept the first month's rent instead. Samantha needs the apartment because her roommate is a slob who frequently has sex with her boyfriend all night long. When she sees a flyer advertising a babysitting job, Samantha calls the number and leaves a voice mail. The pay phone rings after she has hung up, and Mr. Ullman (Tom Noonan) arranges to pick her up outside the Student Affairs office. However, he never shows up. Ullman leaves a message with Samantha's roommate, and when Samantha calls him back, he apologizes for standing her up and offers her $100 to babysit that night. Seeing the money as the only way to afford her first month's rent, Samantha agrees, and her friend Megan (Greta Gerwig) drives her to the house which is in the country. Megan is very skeptical, and begs Samantha to let her stay with her. When they get to the house, Ullman is very evasive when Megan asks him basic questions about who he is. He mentions the evening's lunar eclipse and how the town is the best place on Earth to see it. Eventually, he confesses that there is no child to babysit, only his mother...

The film attempts to recreate the 1970s and 1980s style of horror films, using filming techniques and technology similar to those used in that era.

Director: Ti West
Writter: Ti West
Starring: Jocelin Donahue, Tom Noonan, Mary Woronov
Running Time: 95min
Country: United States
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SOur3WwZvM

Rating: 7,5/10