The surreal reality horror of [Rec]

Spanish director Jaume Balagueró's [Rec] makes liberal use of the "reality horror" approach showcased most recently in Diary of the Dead and Cloverfield, which may be a been-there-done-that technique, but that's absolutely no reason to dismiss this film. The style adds to the relentless tension that builds in this claustrophobic zombie thriller. Only at the end will you notice the person next to you was digging their fingers into your arm during the entire last reel.

Speaking of shaky-cams, Blair Witch director Daniel Myrick shapes the enemy in ghostly triangles in The Objective, using a vaguely similar plotline as his debut feature, but with the war on terror as backdrop.

Slow, deliberate build-up is a favoured and past-proven approach for Audition writer Daisuke Tengan, though in his direction of The Most Beautiful Night in the World, he allows the foreplay to go on longer than necessary in tracing a town's sexual odyssey towards the film's, um, climax.

Who's That Knocking at My Door? shares only its title with Scorsese's first feature (this is not a remake), but it also happens to be a debut film - and the beginning of a promising career - for director Yang Hae-hoon. Though I'd turn the lights off if any of his characters came a-knocking, this film, about lonely Je-hwi and his desire to turn the tables on his childhood bully, is a very welcome entry among this year's Korean selection.

If animation is your bag, the dialogue-free and nicely scored Idiots and Angels by the always unique Bill Plympton is a fantastic choice. As well, there's the anime short compilation Genius Party, made of up wide-ranging styles. The best is the weirdly cute Deathtic 4 featuring zombie police with cow-sound voice boxes.

The Substitute is a very entertaining Danish adolescent sci-fi comedy about a replacement teacher who's definitely not from this planet. Typically for this genre, the students are aware of the aberration, but their parents don't believe them and chalk up their behaviour to mischief. The award for most notable performance goes to Paprika Steen as the chicken-eating alien educator. (Meghan Hicks)

SIDEBAR:

The most original take on vampirism I've ever seen, Let the Right One In, is a plainly, gorgeously shot Swedish love story about a troubled tween and his relationship with a vampire girl his own age who lives near him in an apartment complex. Those Swedes tap human blood like we Québécois tap maple syrup.

As addictive as the massively multiplayer online games themselves, Second Skin is a festival-favoured doc about three gamers who have shuffled off their mortal coils (or not) in favour of their characters on World of Warcraft, Second Life etc.

What We Do Is Secret, about the life and death of Darby Crash, lead singer of the seminal (and seminal) L.A. punk band The Germs, is not just another rock biopic -director Rodger Grossman unearthed new info about the kid's death wish while doing extensive interviews for his film. Includes non-lip-synched musical numbers to make you pee your pants! (Melora Koepke)
 
 

		Write your comment on this article!

Ø     Ok, since I probably know more than most of the monkeys that do these write-ups on Fantasia I'll tell you flat out that Tales to Keep You Awake, Before the Fall and Let the Right One In are easily the sublime hits to be remembered thus far. Just watch Hollywood try to adapt that last one. Let the Right One In is everything a great movie ought to be scriptwise but it just so happens to be a genre film so it'll slip under most people's radars. Buy it when it comes out on DVD. Accuracy of Death also deserves a mention but seeing as this subject has been mined before there might be an issue of viewer fatigue when it comes to the buzz it generates. Genius Party and Bill Plympton's Idiots and Angels are some of the few standout bits of animation this year so if you weren't there to see them you missed out on some really cool stuff. Epitaph and Punch Lady also provided some much needed zest to the fest.
Pedro Eggers		July 10th, 2008

Write your comment! please follow these guidelines

Information requested in blue will remain confidential   [privacy policy] Please indicate your real first and last names.

First name :

Last name :

Your email :

Confirm your email :

Title of your comment (max. 150 characters)   Your comment (max. 2000 characters)  characters remaining       LIMIT PER PERSON : one comment per article per member. Thank you. Your comment will be read by our approval team and, if it is approved, will be posted on the website within 24 hours. It could also be published, along with your name, in the printed version of Hour magazine and on any of our partner websites. In order to present the highest quality of comments, Hour reserves the right to refuse certain submissions. Any plagiarism will entail the entire removal of the member’s profile. Hour is not responsible for the opinions expressed by the members.