Inside

            Leave it to the French. This has become my motto towards horror films lately. The 2000s were somewhat of a bleak era for American horror. America was caught up producing remake after remake of the genres greatest hits including: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, and The Hills Have Eyes just to name a few. There was a sever lack of creativity outside of Eli Roth and a few select others. So while this was going on here, the French were busy upping the ante with their own imprint of brutality. In 2003 the French unveiled Haute Tension (High Tension). High Tension was released in North America two years later. Its depiction of violence and depravity was something that hadn’t been seen since the golden years of horror in the 70s and 80s. This was a very good first impression of French horror that would only be outdone with future films, which leads us to Inside.           

            Inside, or À l'intérieur, found its way onto DVD in the states in 2007. The film starts our with a nasty car wreck in which we find our main character, Sarah. Sarah, our lone survivor of the wreck also happens to be pregnant. Fast forward to Christmas Eve, our heroine is due the next day. Visions of her deceased husband from the wreck haunt her through the night. Here is where things get awfully bad. Late in the evening, Sarah gets a ring at the doorbell. Santa, maybe? I wish. It turns out to be a mysterious woman who knows a lot about Sarah. Frightened, Sarah calls the police to report the incident. The police arrive to find nothing at all and wish our poor Sarah a safe and merry Christmas.

            What unfolds for the next hour is one of the greatest achievements of the horror genre in a few decades. I won’t get into great detail because I don’t want to spoil much of the surprises, but consider this: our villain’s choice of weapon is a large pair of scissors. The blood flows real quick as Sarah is stuck in a nasty game of cat and mouse in her home with this mysterious woman who wants to take her baby from the womb. A few poor guests meet a grim fate at the hands of a pair of scissors. Throw in a lobotomy, an incredible blown off head scene, and a human hand stabbed to the wall and you have yourself an ultraviolent French horror film.

            Although the film takes place entirely in Sarah’s home, the tension is nightmarish. The FX is some of the best I’ve seen, and doesn’t rely on CGI to get the job done. The last fifteen minutes of the film are pure carnage and chaos that won’t leave your mind for a few days. I’m sure everyone has heard that before in a horror film review, but you haven’t seen it like the French do. So does Sarah survive and keep the baby? This is one hell of a journey you’ll have to make for yourself to find out. Welcome to French horror 101, courtesy of Highbrow Horror. 

- Chris

Poster by Micah Moseby.

The Thing (1982)

           Director John Carpenter is known for creating arguably the scariest and most widely known horror icon of all time, Michael Myers. When Halloween was released in 1978, it changed the game for horror and created an entire new subgenre, the slasher film. There were many films leading up to this moment that helped shape the slasher film, Italy’s giallo film craze and Black Christmas mostly, but Halloween definitely blew the doors open for the genre. After this film, Carpenter would go on to make other big hits such as The Fog, Escape from New York, and Big Trouble in Little China. But in the midst of all that, he directed one of his best works that is still widely under appreciated and over looked.
           In 1982, Carpenter directed his take on The Thing, a loose remake of the 1952 film, The Thing From Another World. When it was initially released, it was shunned by critics and failed at the box office. It was labeled as “excessive” and “nauseas inducing” and panned by nearly everyone who saw it. Years later, in retrospect, it is considered a masterpiece of the sci-fi/horror genre and hailed for its pacing and atmosphere, performances, and FX work.
           The film is set deep in Antarctica and follows R.J. Macready (Kurt Russel) and his research team after they come in contact with an alien life form that can assimilate into other organisms and in turn imitate them. The film opens with a helicopter chasing after a dog through the snow. Upon the dog’s arrival to Macready’s camp, the helicopter touches down and the pilot begins shooting wildly at the animal. After a skirmish with the research team, the pilot is killed and his helicopter destroyed. The team decides to adopt the dog and place it with the others kept on the site. It isn’t long before everyone realizes that this dog isn’t really a dog anymore and they have granted access to a being far more sinister than any of them realized.
           The first thing about this movie that works is the atmosphere that is increased exponentially as the film progresses. The claustrophobia and feeling of isolation is made apparent at the very first few shots of the film. With wide sweeping shots of the frozen tundra, and narrow tracking shots through the teams research compound, the camera works to create this sense of tension and overbearing dread. As paranoia sets in among the crew, we as an audience begin to feel their bewilderment and fear of the unknown. There are moments where the person you would least expect to be the alien comes out of no where and suprises you with a jolt of violence that will send you flailing in your chair. It has been called a “slow burn” film and I agree. It takes its time and lets things spin out of control. It all spirals to a bombshell climax that is an explosion of fire and gore. It never eases off of the tension pedal and by the time it is over and the credits roll, you will still be holding your breath.
           This kind of atmosphere and paranoia would not be possible to depict without the performances to back them up. And while all of the actors, there are no women at all in this film, do a commendable job, my main praise goes to Kurt Russell. Has anyone seen a movie with Kurt Russell where he isn’t just a complete bad ass? He takes control of the team and leads an assault against the creature with a calm and collected sense of responsibilty. But as things get worse, his mental state begins to collapse. He balances this calm and cool with the manic paranoia and desperation that only an actor of Kurt’s caliber could pull off. Even though we never know who the alien may be imitating, we as an audience root for Kurt all the way.
           I would be leaving out quite possibly the best aspect of The Thing if I didn’t mention it’s wildly impressive gore FX work. This film came out in 1982, but if it were released today, it would still be impressive. Some of the things that happen in this movie are absolutley insane; including, but not limited to: a dogs face splitting in half to reveal a vicious monster, a man’s chest opening and turning into teeth that bite off another character’s arm that spews geysers of blood, and a characters head splitting in half to reveal another set of teeth that in turn eats another man. Insane right? That’s not even half of it. Mere words can’t describe the insanity that is committed to celluloid in this fantastic film. You simply have to see it to believe it.
           I’m not sure if I need to do anymore glowing and raving to get you to see this movie, but if I haven’t said enough, GO RENT IT TODAY! It is widely available on DVD and can probably be found in any video rental store. It is one of Carpenter’s masterpieces that is too good to not be seen.

- Dave

Survival of the Dead

            Master of the undead, George Romero is back with his latest installment to his “of the Dead” franchise.  Many complain that Romero is passed his prime. While Romero may not be redefining the horror genre with his later works, his “Dead” films consistently demonstrate clever wit, high tension, thought-provoking themes, and, of course, buckets of gore.  I, for one, have never seen a Romero film I wouldn’t recommend and Survival of the Dead is no exception.

            Like most Romero flicks, Survival takes place during the zombie apocalypse.  The dead have returned to life with a taste for human flesh and anyone who still has a pulse is struggling to survive.  A group of renegade soldiers seek refuge on a small island off the coast of North America.  They soon discover that the island is inhabited by two feuding families at war with each other because of their ideological differences concerning the undead.   One side believes the zombies should be disposed of while the other side believes their souls are still intact and humans and zombies will eventually be able to coexist.  Romero uses these families to provide interesting social commentary for the pro-choice/pro-life debate.  The soldiers must now settle the score between the two families and, at the same time, somehow manage not to be eaten by the ever-growing army of the undead.

            Say what you will about how the acting bad or how the plot is absurd, but you cannot deny that everything about Survival is completely deliberate.  Romero is fully conscious as a filmmaker and his work is unapologetically his own.  This film won’t win awards or be remembered for its innovation or artistic merit, but it is still a thrilling ride from start to finish.  While this may not be on par with Night of the Living Dead or Dawn of the Dead, a lesser Romero zombie movie is still better than 90% of the zombie movies out there and this is one that should not be missed.  Survival of the Dead is now available on DVD.  See it.

- Jonah

Poster by Charlie Adlard.