Oriphiel

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Justthefacts

Extreme French horror almost seems like a thing of the past at this point. Films like High Tension or Inside aren't made anymore, at least by the French. They really seemed to have had a grasp on the genre and pumped out a few unforgettable films in the mid to late naughts. To to get away from that for a second, The Night Eats The World is a french zombie horror film. That's just an irrefutable fact. Is it extreme in it's depiction of gore and fingers through your eyes horror? Depends on who you are I suppose. I for one am very impressed with this film, despite the fact that I enjoy my French horror with disgusting amounts of blood shed. What sets this film apart is exactly what I admire about it. To deviate for a minute, this film is fairly simple. Man goes to ex-girlfriends flat during a party to pick up some mixtapes he left behind. I presume while they were living together and he happens to fall asleep in a locked room to avoid anymore party-goers. He stumbles the next morning to find out the world has befallen bedlam. No one's in the blood splattered apartment anymore and it's only him and the window looking down the street where he realizes his world now consists of surviving whatever is going on. Zombies are parading the streets of Paris looking for their next brain. At this point zombie films are a dime a dozen (thank you almighty George A. Romero) but what this film does differently is actually give an atmosphere that seems unrivaled in modern zombie fare. It takes place in one location and rarely gets anywhere else. It's grounded in realism that felt very refreshing. The lead protagonists was a sympathetic enough character that handles the situation with a stoic enough approach until the moment he doesn't. Obviously the film doesn't end in the same place it began but getting to that point I really felt for the lead character and his method of staying alive. Back to the atmosphere for a second, the zombies in this film are quieter than a mouse. They rarely gargle and grunt their way to flesh, they're more ghostly and their presence is felt more because of it. They're running zombies though, not the zombie of the old that walks their way to murder. For the most part they stand around to look menacing, and it truly works. The Night Eats The World is a great telling title because it's exactly how the film starts. Overnight, this apocalypse of our worst nightmare becomes true and no amount of military help or aid is anywhere in sight. It never feels stringed along either. It never hobbles to the finish line so to speak. It's perfectly paced and lean and mean when it needs to be. A few zombie heads get popped here and there but the focus of the film is the main character doing what he can to gather food and clean water and to maintain his sanity. With all great horror films, the sanity of this man completely depletes by the end but everything he did up until that point are noteworthy. There's also a great scene where he opens up the window to this 5 story apartment he broke into for supplies and finds this young punks drum kit and shreds for a few minutes. The noise attracts hundreds of walking dead and it brings a wee bit of levity to this story. The film isn't like Shaun Of The Dead in that it's trying to exploit us for laughs, which I think perhaps brings my score down a bit. It takes itself a little too seriously and for that I think a few more laughs would've been great. Although I admit there's a paintball scene and I was nearly in tears.

All In All, The Night Eats The World is a low enough budget film where getting away with a premise like this is extremely admirable. The French might've gotten far enough away from extreme horror, but if this is the alternative, I'll be okay with another French revolution. B+

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Oriphiel

Oh, hey, you're back from jail

Now watch Ninja Scroll

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The Batlord

Did you toss the salad?

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Justthefacts

I watched it. It sucked.

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Oriphiel

Yeah, right. Now stop being a bitch and just go watch it already.

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Justthefacts

Did anyone ever suspect that the director who created such shimmering films as Call Me By Your Name and I Am Love had such this inkling that he insisted on unleashing this beast upon us? The openly gay Italian man that drenched us in summer sweat with A Bigger Splash? Evidently the guy's been kicking around this very idea in his head for sometime now and here we have arrived. A reimagining of the Giallo classic directed by the beloved Dario Argento. A decent horror remake usually consists of taking mediocre to good quality source material and fattening it up, injecting a modern flair not only to try and appeal to a newer generation, but compliment the original film in the process as well.

Shitty remakes a dime a dozen thus far but every here and now something slips through the cracks. Suspiria is not one of them. Before I explain any further, I wouldn't consider Suspiria anymore a remake of the original than I would consider Funny Games a complete reimagining of the first one. It's simply and emphatically not true. The way I see it is that they might share the same title and may or may not contain a plotline involving a coven of witches at a dance academy. That's about it. Aside from that nothing about this version is creatively in line with anything the first film succeeded in conveying. So because of I consider this a reimagining. I do believe these terms are mutually exclusive and you'll see why once you watch it. The main component that sets these films apart is absolutely the look and atmosphere. The feel of these two pictures couldn't be more black and white. The original film famously is known for being an incredible tapestry of light and color. Without a doubt one of the few authentic arthouse horror films of the past 50 years. Nevertheless it does feel dated because sure, it is dated. Like all great art, it holds up still as one of the best to this day. This reimagining was determined to utilize nearly all natural lighting throughout its very decidedly dim 152 minute runtime. I never once checked my watch though. What it lacks in vivaciousness it easily makes up for in exquisite cinematography. This is a wondrous fairy tale to behold. Logic is yes, sometimes thrown out the 4th story balcony and just when it seems like it can't delve any deeper into hell, we get to the final act of the film (the one before the epilogue). It stars Dakota Johnson as an American from Ohio coming to Berlin to study and dance for this prestigious academy run by a woman named Helena Markos. A woman you don't see until the end of the film. That's all I'm willing to mention. Each performance was perfectly fine, aside from Johnson who felt pretty stiff for reasons beyond her control (I'll discuss why later on). The absolute standout was Tilda Swinton. She continuously proves time and time again she is one of the best actresses of our generation. She apparently plays three roles in this film but her lead character is a madame named Blanc who is also the lead dance instructor of the academy. The way she moves her head and gauzes indirectly and smokes her cigarettes, Swinton brings an incredibly complex multi-faceted performance to a character that could've otherwise been completely hacked apart. She really brings this film together more often than not.

My biggest complaint with this film (unfortunately too big) is the stiffness between some characters due to a very weak script marred by some absolutely dreadful dialogue. Particularly a scene involving Johnson's character and Madame Blanc where they're in a room together talking about something or other and the exchange of words not only hardly make any sense, but it's just not written well at all. A complete devoid of any coherence which could've been mysterious and creepy only ends up being cringey and produced a yawn as well. Had the screenplay decided to take itself as seriously as it does until those certain moments, I could've easily looked past one or two scenes, but it's very sporadic throughout the film. To go back to the lighting again for a second, yeah I'm not sure who decided that was a good idea. The lighting is way to dark in certain scenes and I might as well have been closing my eyes for Christ's sake. The cinematography as I mentioned is all there, but I was completely taken out of this film when moments of pure darkness consumed the screen and even more frustrating when it seemed to only take place when I was really delving into it.

All In All, Suspiria is a flawed film, possibly even deeply flawed. Certainly not the masterpiece more than a few critics have been calling it. The best way to view Suspiria 2018 is through the lens of style over substance. The screenplay decides to give us only questions and not many an answer which I'm fine with in many cases, it's just that Suspiria hardly makes up for that ambiguity with anything other than looking pretty and giving the horror cinephiles a gonzo third act they waited over 2 hours to see. What's got me more excited is awaiting what Guadagnino has in store for another horror outing in the future. As for Suspiria, I'll just stick to watching the classic. B-

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Justthefacts

The end of the year is nearly kaput. Adios 2018! It's only fair we maybe start discussing the best films of the year. Off the top of my dome, I'll name off the best films I've seen this year and predict what the oscars might nominate for best picture. And periodically predict other categories, or maybe not I honestly don't care. Off the top here we go personal favorites:

Large List of Honorable Mentions: Mandy, Mom And Dad, A Prayer Before Dawn, Isle Of Dogs, The Rider, Hold The Dark, Halloween, Blindspotting, Searching, Beast, Sweet Country, Ready Player One, Overlord, Borg Vs. McEnroe, Upgrade, American Animals, Annihilation, The Night Eats The World, The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs

5.) Hereditary. The Exorcist is the best horror film ever made. Until now

4.) The Death Of Stalen. If there's one person who could pull a film like this off, it's Ianucci. I didn't think anything got funnier than In The Loop, but Ianucci seemed to have topped his own bar.

3.) Blackkklansman. Spike Lee hasn't been this black since Do The Right Thing. He's finally created his masterpiece. Lee's always been a fine director, but the labor of love is so deeply felt, not to mention Denzel Washington's son.

2.) You Were Never Really Here. Joaquín Phoenix might over act a bit here and there, but this is a near perfect film. The chick who directed We Need To Talk About Kevin finally follows up with her interpretation of a Travis Bickle like character, and it's a completely understated masterpiece.

1.) First Reformed. This. This is a film. The best performance of the year still goes to Ethan Hawke. Not to mention his beautiful narration throughout parts of the film. And the story, and the writing, and the direction, and cinematography. The most well made film that absolutely deserves to win best picture. Not just be nominated, but win.

The films I predict to be nominated for best picture are as follows:
Blackkklansman
First Reformed
Roma
Hereditary
Vice
Green Book
First Man

If Hereditary isn't nominated for Best Pic, I'll never have faith in the academy. Horror has encroached our society and lifestyle that maybe, just maybe the Academy can consider such a wild card and continue to spice things up year after year.

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OccultHawk

The only movie I’ve seen in a theater in probably the last five years but goddamn if it wasn’t a winner.

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Member of the Year & Journal of the Year Champion

Behold the Writing of THE LEGEND:

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Justthefacts

You can't keep me away from a movie theater. Much less 5 fucking years dude. Gotta get out more.

I Saw Widows tonight. It might be too soon to include it on all the lists, but gosh damn it was incredibly exceptional.

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