Tag Archives: horror

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(little movie secrets) Lake of the Dead(1958) – Norwegian folk horror legend

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Folk horror is so much featured in today’s horror movie scene but this Norwegian jewel has been almost forgotten until recent documentary about folk horror called Woodlands Dark…where I saw this one and immediately got interested. Norwegian horror scene is little but they have solid horror movies like Skjult or Rovdyr falling to my mind almost instantly, but this one has in fact been only Norwegian horror movie for a long time.

The story evolves around eerie haunted lake in the middle of the woods where there is supposedly no bottom and it draws souls to its depths. There is also a story about a crazy man Tore Gravik who killed her sister’s lover and then she and he drowned in this lake, also his screams can be heard every year upon the date of his death. Fast forward to nowadays, group of friends travel to the remote cabin on that lake where Liljan’s brother Werner is about to meet them but he disappeared and his dog was shot in the head. Group shares the story that Tore’s ghost enters people, makes them kill and drown in the lake so the plot thickens and strange things start to happen, Liljan’s boyfriend Braten is killed and they start to wonder has Tore returned from the dead or is it something more sinister but not otherworldly here?

Well, I enjoyed this one very much, although it is black and white, it has that Scandinavian mystery feel and atmosphere with some plot twists that would make modern movies hide in shame. Characters are well written and acting is awesome, so it is a pleasure to watch this one. It also contains a movie scene which was for a long time most famous in Norwegian movie industry, where Liljan throws herself in the lake to drown(not a spoiler). There is also parts of Nordic humor which just fits perfectly in that parts of the movie. I recommend this one as history of folk horror mystery.

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(movies) Bodies Bodies Bodies(2022) starts as fun, but could have been so much more

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This started as your usual slasher movie with a group of friends inhabiting big house in the woods, bathing in pool, just having fun and enjoying themselves. Enter Sophie and Bee, gay couple who just arrived and Sophie was absent for a while with drug problems. We can see some tensions between the group, like especially between Sophie and Jordan. Storm rises and our heroes move inside and start to play a game called Bodies bodies bodies, with false murderer killing someone and others have to investigate the case. When their host David gets killed for real, they search for culprit, paranoia and tension, also body count rises….

Well, this one was directed by Halina Reijn, Dutch actress known for starring in Paul Verhoeven´s Black Book, also in Tom Cruise´s Valkyrie among other movies, also written by Sarah DeLappe and it was somewhere, I think it was on Bloody Disgusting page advertised as LGBTQ slasher horror. I don´t see why, because besides some bisexual storylines, besides main two characters being gay, there is absolutely nothing that indicates that. First half of the movie, as killings start it was fun to watch with characterization of protagonists evolving, discovering kept secrets, hatred, envy and other ugly feelings that came to the surface. It was also fun to think for me as a viewer who the killer might be, playing with thoughts although the ending twist is kind of disappointing with let down. I think that they wanted to make something different with this one than your typical slasher movie, but the direction they went could have been so much better explored. But, this is not bad movie indeed. But, could have been so much better.

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(movie) Horror In The High Desert(2021) – there is hope for mockumentary/found footage!

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Just when you think there is no more hope for found footage and mockumentaries, the vast sea of boring lookalikes and clones has expired its reign and there is a void. But, not anymore. This little movie, directed and written by Dutch Marich shows how can you make a good and creepy movie with little budget. Well, the movie is a mockumentary about disappearance of Gary Hinge(Eric Mencis), who was an experienced outdoor expert and vanished in the desert of Nevada. There are couple of interviewees like Gary´s sister Beverly, private investigator Salerno and couple of Gary´s friends who talk bout what could happen and we find out that Gary discovered something really creepy in the deep desert when he smelled smoke and stumbled upon a little cabin. Last third of the movie are videos of Gary´s last night and then movie turns into found footage run and scare action. The villain(s) look awesome that little minutes we see them on screen and overall atmosphere is ominous and hopeless, almost made me believe that really happened. The only illogical hole in the script for me was: someone drove Gary´s pickup truck on the other side of desert to fool authorities, but how did he or they get back to where they live, far in the desert? On foot? Anyway, this is a superb movie. Chilling and creepy. Recommendation.