Creepy Stuff in a Cave

This weeks movie is The Descent, you should have gotten that from the title of the post. A good scary movie focuses on something that all people are scared of, a common fear. Darkness and claustrophobia are fears that most people have. Not to mention there are these creepy deformed monsters with point teeth trying to eat you. A movie will come across scarier and it will stick with a person a lot longer if the fear is one that is common to a lot of people.

Another thing the movie does well is it creates a certain suspense right from the start. It begins by skewering a guy to the seat of his car with a giant rod. The movie does not slow down after that. The movie also keeps a suspenseful nature about it, by only showing a little bit of the monsters at a time. The other thing that really keeps the suspense up is that surround area (the cave) is threatening all by itself, and on top of that there are these flesh eat monster running around.

This movie has a certain gore shock to it, but it does it at the right times, unlike most movies. The scene that comes to mind is when the monsters are chasing a character and she has to find a place to hide. The character stumbles into a giant pool of blood. She takes a deep breath and goes under. The really cool shot is when she comes up for air and she is just completely covered with blood. This is a great shot because of the thick liquid texture has a lot to do with how a shot works. The smooth red shiny texture is very appropriate, especially because so much of the movie was in complete darkness. This makes the red blood really pop.

This movie is also made better by the great acting. Except for the first couple minutes the entire movie is done with female actresses. It is really interesting to see a movie that has women as the strong central characters, for once. More and more women are being made strong character in movies, but this one exemplifies that. The sooner society can accept the heroine the better.

Lets sum it up. The movie focuses on common fears that people have and it creates a suspenseful environment. These two things help to create the scary atmosphere of the movie. Another good thing about this movie is it uses gore tastefully, which is rare in today’s horror movies. Not necessarily tasteful, but in a way that seems to work, it is hard to explain. The last thing this movie has going for it is its way of empowering women. This movie has a lot going for it and I think it will be one of those movies that kids down that line will watch with there parents. It is a memorable film that will last generations.

Obligatory Movie List

Every site, big or small, pertaining to movies in some way has one of these. Lists are easy to make and even easier to read. So, just to get it out of the way, I'll be listing three favorite horror films (out of a much larger number and in no particular order) and three films I want to see for some reason or another. These should be getting more in-depth entries later. Consider this as a preview.

Personal hits

Peeping Tom(1960): This ended director Michael Powell's career. It's about a murder who uses a sharpen tripod stand to kill his victims and record their final reactions. The film was panned on its release due to its unsettling subject matter. Now, however, it's highly regarded and rightfully so.

Dead Alive(1992): Again? Yeah, I know I can't shut up about it. You know the gist. Digestive tracts strangling the living, zombie intercourse, possibly the bloodiest movie ever if you're going by volume.

Mad Love(1935): Well, here's where my name and avatar are explained. Dr. Gogol is infatuated with an actress; too bad she's married. Lucky for Gogol, her hubby has his hands crushed. The husband asks Gogol to operate on them. What he does is just ingenious. He replaces the husband's hands with the hands of a knife thrower. Logically, this makes the husband able to throw anything at any target. It's all a part of Gogol's scheme to be with the woman by gradually eliminating her husband, making him go mad. How great is that?

Future hits

The Descent(2005): Sorry tsinoisulli, this is only one of the few recent horror films that interests me. It actually has some good reviews, unlike Saw and Hostel. I'm not saying that I only watch what critics agree on, but positive reviews can't hurt, right?

The Host(2006): The other new film to watch, this was a hit in Korea. Also, I'm a sucker for monsters. I'm on Bogleech every other day for discussion about fictional creatures and real world animals.

Eyes Without a Face(1960): It sounds similar to Mad Love but, from reading numerous summaries, is actually much more serious. Some of the stills look amazing.