AUDITION – Such a great film, still as wince inducing as ever. Will need no introduction, but just in case it does, a lonely studio executive hits on a sleazy way of meeting the perfect partner and exploits his role in the movie business to host a fake audition. He's beguiled by a charming lady who happens to have a dark past. 'Audition' plays out like a kind of alienated romance for its first hour, and, even before the film blossoms into full on horror, it feels like there's a shadow lurking behind everything. When it finally pops, well, its the crazy torture driven delirium everyone says it is. Very affecting, a modern day classic. Well done Mr TM!
THE ORPHAN – I'd forgotten about this little number from 2009 or thereabouts. It's a good film, surprisingly plush and stacked with nice performances, whereas I was expecting something a bit more 'B'. 'The Orphan' is pretty much classic 'Bad Seed' territory, with a ferocious little mite playing evil and quite often fatal games with her adopted family. Maybe she looks like butter wouldn't melt, but make no mistake, this orphan is a total arsehole, as attested to by the corpses of the good citizens she leaves in her wake and the film's eerie climax with its creeped out undercurrent. Recommended.
DREAM HOME – Interesting latter day HK horror thriller which distinguishes itself by blaming the Hong Kong property market for the innards it spills. We're in the 'economy and social factors push psycho over the edge' genre bracket, which is a bit underpopulated. Who else lives there? 'Driller Killer'? 'K Shop'? Anyway, it makes a nice change from someone getting humiliated on St Swithin's day and then butchering a load of college students twenty years later. So 'Dream Home' follows the plight of a woman who's so obsessed with getting her foot on the property ladder she's prepared to (wait for it) kill to make that happen. And kill she does, in a pretty gory fashion. Maybe it doesn't entirely gel, but the combination of tacked-on social realist drama and excessive bloodletting is pretty attractive. Give it a go, definitely.
JESSABELLE – Latter day horror set in New Orleans, where wheelchair bound Sarah Snook discovers the secret of her upbringing and finds that her life and destiny are intertwined with a local murder. 'Jessabelle' doesn't break any new ground or blaze any trails necessarily, but it's well made and entertaining, and carries some interesting themes along with strong performances. The first hour or so, when Snook discovers old video tapes from her mother in the decrepit ancestral home, is quite atmospheric, and the gradual unfolding of the mystery surrounding her childhood is done well. Doesn't really top 'Skeleton Key' in the New Orleans voodoo / supernatural stakes, but quite enjoyable for all that.
LIGHTS OUT – About a family's attempts to deal with their violent spiritual guest, a being which appears in darkness and recoils from light. We get a back story which involves a young kid with a skin condition who died at a research institute back in the day, now after some revenge from beyond the grave etc etc. 'Lighs Out' is pretty much the descendent of the recentish tendency towards jump-scares at the multiplex. It's not up there with 'The Conjuring', 'Insidious' etc in terms of budget and studio muscle, but it kind of cops the same moves. I do get tired of that whole 'sudden movement accompanied by loud noise' approach, it's more of a challenge to lay down good atmosphere (failing that, I'll take graphic dismemberment). That said, 'Lights Out's attempts to startle are pretty well done, so despite the faint whiff of retread, it's a diverting enough concoction.
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