Change Your Image
elenagapi
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Pontypool (2008)
Innovative and genuinely scary!
Pontypool is one of the most thrilling films I have ever seen. Its central conception of the peculiar virus that infects the citizens of the small town is so original, that no viewer will ever see it coming. Although this big surprise comes up during the second half of the movie, the narrative keeps the viewer at the edge of his/her seat right from the first second by its ingenious introduction as well as its exciting characters. Stephen MacHattie is actually giving an energetic and fully consistent performance.
Through the radio broadcast the characters and the audience can only guess what is going on outside. The contained radio station works in the beginning as a safe zone, but as the nature of the virus is gradually revealed and explained, the tension is being built up to the point where no one is safe!
Finally a horror film that has no need for CGI and explicit scenes of violence to make it work!
Watch the scene after the ending credits!
American Horror Story: Chapter 6 (2016)
This so far pointless story line of season 6 finally makes some sense
The so far pointless story line of season 6 finally gets some meaning. Episode 6, far from being true to the horror genre and more about drama, serves as an introduction to the "real" horror story to come, given that the 5 previous episodes allegedly belong to a TV- show, broadcast in 2015 and gained massive popularity. The new plot line concerns a new three-day special, in which the actors of the docudrama "My Roanoke Nightmare" and the "real" survivors return to the supposedly haunted house during the bloody full moon. This smartass twist gives an alibi to the unjustified actions of the flat and sketchy characters in a narrative without definite premise and straight direction. Despite the plot-holes thus far-an issue that will not be addressed in this review- the newly established conditions, the re-introduced characters and their intra- relationships create some instinctively high stakes.
A new dynamic, that can shortly described as antagonistic, is being developed between the characters of the production team and the "true" survivors. The cynic people of the media and the traumatized ones of the every-day life create also a double-layer of premises. For instance, Sydney's motive- the producer of the show- is of course all about the money, following the new trend of porn violence on reality TV. But much more is at issue for the viewers of the reality show as well as for the viewers of American horror story. The deeper objective of the show is to uncover the killer of Lee's husband- a mystery remained unsolved by the end of the previous show- and that's one of the reasons why the new plot is quite thickening and multidimensional; it is not only enlightening about the true nature of the broadcast episodes, but is also very promising about the scary story, that just begun. The greed of the production team and the ignorance of the participants are cooking a deadly recipe for the newly launched main plot. Moreover the characters gain some depth (at last!), since they are re-introduced as the directed personas of a TV-show, exposing their true identities and thus personalities. Their aims and desires are now much more clear, realistic and convincing, although they remain, without knowing it, the sheer puppets of a TV-production and the soon-to-be victims of the haunting spirits.
Ryan Murphy is creating once more a meta-narrative, manipulating our sense of reality, filtered by the mass media, reshaping the cliché narrative formula of the classic horror film and commenting on it. His main tool is self-reference, that exposes the means of a TV- production, because "people are interested in the process" of film- making- as Sydney aptly puts it. Furthermore he challenges our sense of morality, by giving away the tragic ending of the shooting. But if we were viewers of the reality sequel, we would still be watching it, right? Last but not least, the choice made to frame the main plot- meaning the gathering of the actors and the "real" survivors in the haunted house- into a reality TV-show production is an excellent comment on the American society, considering its obsession with the media, self-exposure and voyeurism. Whether the creators of the show agree with this principle or not, they surely project modern America's tagline: if you're on TV, you matter!
The Strain (2014)
The Strain will go viral!
The Strain is definitely a del Toro series, so it will be quite appealing to his numerous fans- as myself- no matter what! It belongs to the new hype of famous filmmakers doing TV-shows, so viewers will enjoy the high quality of cinematography and the rich color palette, typical of its creator. Among the series' other greatest merits is the captivating story, which is based on the fantasy novels of Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, and is actually an updated version of Bram Stoker's original vampire tale of Count Dracula. An ancient virus, unknown to the modern medicine, infects the passengers of an airplane traveling to Manhattan, carrying a bizarre wooden carved box filled with soil. Soon the head of CDC , Dr. Goodweather along with his medical team, will discover that the dead bodies of the infected passengers are disappearing and being transformed to blood-sucking zombies. He will join forces with an old Jew, who's fighting this evil for most of his life, only to find out that this new order of "citizens" is being supported by a corporate conspiracy. The plot line is intriguingly dense. Each episode has been constructed on a very intense and quickly-paced sequence of events following the story of each character and justifying his/her part in it. However the thick narrative has been expanded by the last episode of the first season, revealing the existence of a secret vampire cast, trying to retrieve its "fallen angel", the immigrated supreme vampire, who is responsible for the deaths in New York City. This narrative is quite realistic, as far as the portrayal of the modern society and its reaction towards a new virus-what would be once imposed as an ancient mystified curse - is concerned, so one could easily claim that the series correspond to other than horror genres, such as the mystery, drama, sci-fi, action, even gangster series. Furthermore the new-age vampire reminds us nothing of the Gothic, romantic figure of the vast majority of literature and cinema. On the contrary its depiction is obviously based on the genetically modified vampire species in the feature film Blade 2, which by the way was also directed by Guillermo del Toro. Unfortunately the series bares also some serious flaws, concerning mainly the characters. They are all quite sketchy and shallow. All female characters are sensitive, helpless and vastly sexualised, when male characters are heroic, yet deeply fragile. The acting is adding to the awkwardness of the series' population with some brilliant exceptions, such as the performances given by Jonathan Hyde, Richard Sammel and Miguel Gomez. In general I would strongly recommend The Strain to fellow viewers, since it's fresh, thrilling and horrifically beautiful!