SIFF 2011 Horror

The Seattle Intl Film Festival ended earlier this month, and I’ve been meaning to make an update to ye ole’ splatter blog, but just haven’t had time until now. Anyway! Here’s a quick list of some great bloody & disturbing films I was lucky enough to see that will hopefully be released to theaters near your or on DVD soon’ish.

The Intruder: (pictured above) Think “Snakes in a Thai Apartment”, like thousands and thousands of them. Seems the residents of a certain low-rent apartment building – which happens to have been built upon an ancient mystical swap, oops – have been sinning WAY too much, and the snake gods, they are angry. So they send a legion of King cobras in to clean things up. There is an amazing amount of splatter in this, some ridiculously entertaining special F/X, and a very wince-worthy scene involving a pane of glass and a man’s leg. *shiver* 

Vampire: This one is a serial killer tale, wherein you kinda like the murderer – maybe not quite as much as Dexter, but still, you feel for him – this guy’s got problems. Due to his unsatisfying home life, he stalks suicidal girls on the internet, makes a death pact with them, but then drains their blood and drinks it, failing to carry through on his end of the bargain. It’s not super bloody (except for one jarring scene involving another killer and a graphically long rape scene), but it sure is disturbing. Even though it wasn’t fantastic overall and some experimental shots at the end didn’t jell for me, it’s worth seeing. Bonus points for casting Rachel Leigh Cook as crazy stalker girl.

The Village of Shadows: I loved this French/German ghost story so much more than I thought I would. Two carloads of friends head out to vacation in a country house, only to arrive and find it totally deserted – except for something that delights in drawing their deaths and showing it to them right before he kills them. Shades of The Devil’s Backbone and El Orphanto set the tone, with a supernatural child who could definitely hold his own against both The Ring’s Sadako (Samara in the US) and that creepy kid from Ju-On. Some splatter, lots of scares, and an appropriately bleak tone.

We Are the Night: Shake off the disappointment of those damn Twilight movies with a group of badass female vamps who run a rave in Berlin, drive expensive cars, and suck men dry. The leader of this little party spots a potential soul mate and turns her, but trouble ensues when the new recruit falls for a lowly human…who’s also MALE. And these ladies don’t want any boys around, if you know what I mean (and I think you do). Buckets of glorious splatter in this one, some pretty awesome F/X, and just a whole lot of fun. I hope it gets released so I can buy a copy.

The Whisperer in Darkness: Like Lovecraft? You’ll totally dig this – just know it’s wayyyyy different than the campy, over-the-top Stuart Gordon adaptations. Shot in the style of a 30s film noir with elements of B-movie Sci-Fi, this film is as faithful to the story as it gets. Lovely black & white and noir-esque dialog enhances the viewer’s enjoyment, as a professor gets drawn into danger when he visits a small mountain town to investigate the myths of mysterious, monstrous creatures. No blood, just disembodied heads in jars, winged aliens, and a whole lotta HPL geekery.