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The Horror! The Horror!

Well, we’re back – with the clock ticking determinedly towards Frightfest; it is almost possible to taste the excitement in the air. I don’t know about you, but I have some very solid hopes for some of the films whose pictures have been adorning the banner for the past few weeks. Let’s hope that a lot of them are not ‘red herrings’ as Ian and Paul keep talking about.

As it’s Euro 2008 on our airwaves at the moment (even though I am not a big fan of football at all) , I decided to dedicate this and the next edition of The Horror! The Horror to a tour of Europe. Let’s see if I can pass you some genre news major European players...

Our first stop: Portugal. Last year, Manuel De Oliviera delivered a magnificent sequel to Bunuel’s ‘Belle Du Jour’ titled ‘Belle Toujours’. Set 38 years after the original story, the film sees actor Michel Piccoli return to his role as Henri Husson, who one night runs into Severine. What happens then is a tale of revenge and sadism as brutal as any you’re likely to see on the screen. It’s a shame director Oliviera could not get back Catherine Deneuve to reprise the role that defined her but Bulle Ogier gives it her best shot and makes the role hers. The film was also on the Oscar List but got knocked off before the finals. Watch the beautiful trailer here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=0KP8kLSDaOk

Next up: Espana. Spain has one of the busiest film industries and for the past few years their horror genre output has been nothing less than spectacular: So in this spirit, for this week’s column, I give you: La Habitacion De Fermat! A sexy virtuoso Galois (Alejo Sauras) is invited by the mysterious Fermat (Federico Luppi) to attend a gathering of math experts to solve an enigma. Accompanying him is the hardnosed, attractive Oliva (Elena Ballesteros), a doleful drinker Pascual (Santi Millan), and the jovial middleaged Hilbert (Lluis Homar). Their names are pseudonyms supplied by Fermat, who after greeting the guests, suddenly disappears. And now they must solve their most profound equation yet: why is someone trying to kill them. And although the film falls short of all its’ ambitions in the end , it’s definitely well worth watching: Catch the trailer here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=5O4RpFjipCI and what’s even better is go see the film at The London Spanish Film Festival next week on the 20th of June: http://www.londonspanishfilmfestival.com/calendar.html

France – possibly the easiest country on the list – it’s more a matter of what to choose, seeing as I’m spoilt for it. Well, let’s go with something unusual, something odd: how about a gloomy noir with two parallel stories that just might meet? Here’ s La Clef starring Vanessa Paradis, Jean Rochefort and Maria Schneieder. The plot of La Clef focuses on Eric (Canet), a young man in his 30s whose lovely wife (Marie Gillain) wants a baby. As he never knew his father, Eric is reluctant to become one. But it just happens that his father enters his life unexpectedly when a man calls to announce his death. The voice also asks Eric to come by and collect his father's ashes. It's the beginning of a nightmare for the young man, drawn into a situation involving thieves, a network of drug dealers and untold secrets going back to his father's youth and his own birth. You can watch the trailer for this good looking noir here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=S7rZWiQs1FE

Next up is Germany – now I don’t know how many of you watched last years In 3 Tagen Du Bist Tot but there is already a sequel in the works. Although the original was nothing special, it seemed to strike chord within its’ native country and now a second tale picking up a year after the first one has been commissioned. At the moment the details are thin on the ground except to say that some of the characters from the first film will be making an appearance. Funnily enough the sequel seems to be set in some kind of ski resort , making this closer to Fritt Vilt than anything else. You can look at some production photos here: http://www.in3tagen.com/fotos_0602.html

The final country that I’ll be looking at in this edition of ‘The Horror’ is Russia. Russia seems to be having a real blast at the moment, with genre titles coming up left, right and centre. However it is still quite problematic in the sense that nearly none of these titles will make it over here. I’m hoping that ‘Viy’ will not be one of these films. Remake of a fantastic 1967 Russian film and based on a novel by Nikolai Gogol, Viy promises to be an atmospheric and interesting title. The plot concerns a young priest who is ordered to preside over the wake of witch in a small old wooden church of a remote village. This means spending three nights alone with the corpse with only his faith to protect him. Obviously things are not what they seem and his three nights in the village become a fight for his survival. As a virgin witch and her army of undead corpses try to lure him out of the safety of his holy circle, the priest has nothing but his belief to fight them back with.

You can catch the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3_H596gLuY

And that’s it from me for this week. Hopefully there’ll even more joyful genre news I can pass along to you all next week.

Until then I remain;

Sincerely yours

Evrim ‘The Duke Ersoy’

P.s.: I really, really want to see Martyrs. Even more so after that trailer. Oh and did everyone see the Russian ‘Wanted’ trailer? Cause if you thought, like me, the movie looked weak – this will change your mind utterly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9TCatiYnmk&feature=related