Skip to main content

Häxan (1922) - Benjamin Christensen

So this is more of a documentary than a actual horror film. In fact it is one hell of an amazing documentary done by a great director, Benjamin Christensen. The film shows us a history of witchcraft from the middle ages. It has strong religious imagery that documents the standings of the religious people against witchcraft and paganism. 

The film is divided by chapters using the first couple to give you a background. The next couple show different situations that may have arouse around that time. However, they do have a more exaggerated and scary twist. For example, there is a woman that is lured away from her sleeping husband to have relations with Satan played by Christensen himself.

The movie is a fine example of what could be accomplished with creative film making, even back in the silent era. I hear there is a version out there with William Burroughs doing the narration, that's one that i want to find. I really enjoyed most of this movie, although parts did drag out and it is very, very, long. It certainty didn't follow the hour and a half horror movie length. I did get bored with parts and some parts were rather dry.

If you are collecting horror movies along with me than this is a great movie to pick up. It is a very interesting take on the horror genre. The costumes and set design are amazing. Look at the satanic symbols and imagery. It looks amazing. The special effects are really ahead of its time and, although a bit dry, it can actually hold your attention. This is a great movie to get really serious about. Also, this film was released in a Criterion Collection so I am pretty sure its on Hulu+.

eye of neut

S!D


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ju-On (2000) - Takashi Shimizu

Watching Japanese horror is similar to watching British comedy. If you enjoy dry whit then you probably enjoy the boys of Monty Python in drag. That's the joke, they're dressed like women. Get it? Well, that's British humor. But if you're like most Americans you probably prefer Adam Sandler farting his way across a football field and hooking up with chicks that are way out of his league. Americans usually prefer this more in your face, crass brand of humor. My point is funny in England is different from funny in the US. The same goes for J-Horror. What the Japanese consider scary is very different from what Americans consider scary and it shows in this horror film. Japanese horror is generally slow (a little too slow sometimes), suspenseful and creepy. Ju-On is a creepy effing film. The movie has almost no soundtrack. It is incredibly suspenseful and the pay-offs are pretty awesome, but I think that it was done better in the American version (cultural t...

Humanoids From the Deep (1980) - Barbara Peeters and Jimmy T. Murakami

This is your standard old drive-in Creature Feature that has tons of gore and boobs. It's great if your in for a cheap thrill. This film goes right up along side any Roger Corman produced picture from the eighties. It's rumored that Joe Dante was approached to direct this movie but he turned it down. Humanoids from the Deep, also known as Monster, is a strange but forgettable piece of exploitation that failed to make it's notch in history. Don't let that detour you though. This is a really fun little film that doesn't fail to be entertaining.  A small sea town in California is terrorized by some mutated creatures from the deep. They look like some sort of mutated fish, merman-thing. They seem to have one goal in mind and that is raping and impregnating the females of the town. Also the town is being taken for a ride by a shifty businessman and his new corporate cannery. Could this evil cannery corporation be responsible for the Extreme Creatures of the B...

Escape From Tomorrow (2013) - Randy Moore

This review may contain spoilers. An American independent horror movie from filmmaker Randy Moore. It stars Roy Abramsohn, Elena Schuber, Katelynn Rodriguez, Jack Dalton, Annet Mahendru, and Alison Lees-Taylor. It premiered at the official selection of Roger Ebert, at the Sundance Film Festival on January 18th, 2013. Synopsis Jim is a depressed middle-aged man that despises his family life but wants to try to hold it together for a vacation to the Walt Disney World Resort. Jim receives a call before they leave and, unfortunately, Jim has lost his job as well. It proves too much to handle as this trip to the Magic Kingdom becomes a hellish nightmare. Jim’s mind cracks as we watch him deal with Disney’s seedy underbelly. Complete with elaborate corporate conspiracy, undercover sex workers, and demons. Oh and two very young French girls that Jim lusts over. It’s gross. Analysis The acting is amateurish. It’s nothing that’s going to win any awards or anything. The wri...