Slasher Movies - An Introduction

Of all the film genres the “Slasher Movie” is often viewed (especially by mainstream critics) as one of the most disposable sub-genres of Horror, their critics viewing them often as nothing but fuel for the next would be serial killer while despising the genre’s focus and general embracement of gratuitous death scenes often served with a side dish equally gratuitous nudity. However those able to look past the often disposable nature of these films with their often shoestring budgets and ropey plotting but then this is after all the genre which gave us the strong female heroine or as is better known here “The Final Girl”.

While many would view Slasher movies as being a product of the late 70’s and 80’s horror scene following the release of John Carpenter’s now legendary “Halloween” which inturn gave us the now iconic masked madman Michael Myers whose serial killer club would soon be joined by the likes of Jason from “Friday the 13th” and the killer doll Chucky from “Child’s Play” aswell as a mixed bag of one shot creations being churned out to cash in on the success of Carpenter’s film but the blood soaked roots of the genre can really be traced back further still to Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” which with Norman Bates who when broken down into his basic character components can be easily compared to one of his more modern counterparts as sex and his own sexual frustrations seemingly provide the trigger for his own murders, while he also dons a disguise to carry out his murder and his is devoted love for his mother really any different than Jason and his own love for his mother’s severed head?

Go further back still into the history of horror still and you will only continue to find examples of the genre such as Maurice Tourneur’s “The Lunatics” from 1912, itself a silent film adaptation of the Grand Guignol play which in the United States lead to the public outcry over films of this nature which paved the way for the introduction of the Hays code in 1930. In the lead up to the release of “Psycho” further examples of the genres tropes such as jump scares, the black gloved killer so synonymous with the Italian Giallo films and shots from the Killer’s POV can be found in films such as the 1953 version of “House of Wax”, “The Bad Seed” and “Cover Girl Killer”. Alongside the release of Hitchcock’s “Psycho” 1960 also saw the release of Michael Powell’s “Peeping Tom” which shot from the killer’s POV making the audience questioning their role in the violence unfolding on the screen, while later providing the inspiration for the likes of “Man Bites Dog” and “Maniac” (2012).

In the wake of these two films the slasher genre would slowly begin to take form as later films all added elements to the mixing pot starting with William Castle’s “Psycho” cash in “Homicidal” which in typical Castle fashion he sold with the gimmick of a “Fright break” which allowed movie goers to get a refund if they were too scared to stay for the climax though it would come at the cost of being made to stand in “Cowards Corner” until everyone had left before being given their refund. The intrest in serial killers though would roll on with the likes of Dementia 13, Berserk and Night Must Fall which also drew inspiration from the violent Itallian thrillers of the giallo genre. The craze soon also being picked up by the legendary Hammer Studios who contributed their own twist on the burgeoning genre with the likes of Hysteria, Nightmare and Maniac.

With the Giallo films proving such a massive draw for the European market, both Britian and the United States especially began to look at ways they could also cash in with their own versions, throwing out the old well worn plot devices as they made way for the crazed maniac which required only the most basic of motives to justify their bloody rampages with Robert Fuest’s low budget shocker “And Soon The Darkness” (1970) bringing the horror out of the darkness and into the daylight though it would be a year later that the template for the slasher movie in particular the babysitter in peril was established with “Fright” which saw Susan George’s babysitter being terrorised by the child’s father who in true campfire tradition has just escaped from a mental institution.

This new breed of thriller shared the love of sex and violence that was so synonymous with the Giallo movies while removing the police procedural element as these films soon entered into competition with each other to provide bigger and better shocks and kills. One of the key figures of these early films was the English director Pete Walker who advertised his film “Frightmare” with its own negative reviews to sell more tickets as his film making philosophy revolved making headlines with the controversy of his films which he saw translating into larger box office revenues. Meanwhile in the states controversy also followed their own productions though perhaps with a dash more hysteria to them as “Blood and Lace” was dubbed the “sickest PG-rated movie ever made! By the “Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film” while Marc B. Ray’s “Scream Bloody Murder” proudly advertised its label of “Gore-nography”.

By 1974 despite the release of both the notorious “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “Black Christmas” these early slasher movies had overall become too familiar with their themes and ideas to audiences and attendance numbers began to severely dip until 1978 and the release of John Carpenter’s “Halloween” ushering in with it a period cited by many as being the Golden Age of Slasher films which was only further fuelled by the huge success of Sean S. Cunningham’s “Friday the 13th” which in their wake saw a slew of imitators and general rip-off’s being produced so that by 1984 over 100 slasher films had been released. The appeal of these films for the studio being that they where cheap to make and only needed an semi attractive cast to play fodder for your movie’s slasher especially as these films started to become more about the kill and its build up than the actual plot. Surprisingly it was a model which worked leading film makers to exploit the formula further and further as they churned out films featuring higher body counts, more nudity and most key ever more inventive ways in which to kill off their disposable cast members.

As we enter the 80’s in an attempt to freshen up the genre we saw the first of the Supernatural slashers as Ulli Lommel who’d previously directed the acclaimed “The Tenderness of Wolves” unleashed “The Boogeyman” which four years after its release like so many slasher films from this era found itself on the Non-prosecuted list of the Video Nasties act until it was finally released missing 44 seconds in 1992 before finally being re-released uncut in 2000. Now these slashers wern’t just crazed lunatics but potentially of another realm altogether paving the way for the first film in Wes Craven’s now legendary “Nightmare On Elm Street” franchise and also arguably meaning that despite dying in “Friday the 13^th Part 4” Jason could still come back as a Zombie from parts 6 onwards.

The Bubble would finally burst in 1984 as the slashers moved to VHS as the audiences showed little interest in watching these movies in the theatre, meaning that films would often be given brief theatrical runs if at all. VHS provided these films with their audience still as they where hunted out by those still eager to get their gore soaked kicks, while some film makers such as David A. Prior even shot their films on tape with Prior’s “Sledgehammer” being the first of these questionable experiements, the poor quality of the film stock often matching the quality of the film being produced.

The final nail in coffin of this golden era of slashers would come via “Silent Night, Deadly Night” which see the mentally unstable Billy suffering a mental break and going on a bloody rampage dressed in a Santa suit. The film was heavily protested by many who saw its iconic poster of an axe welding Santa going down a chimney and assumed it was a movie about a killer Santa and led to the film being pulled out of cinemas a week into its release. A year earlier though the genre had suffered its most devastating attack as moral panic lead by campaigning politicians, and religious groups while the tabloids where only more than happy to add further fuel to the fire by posting scandalous headlines as they called to “Ban this sick filth”. In total 39 films would be banned under the Obscene Publications Act which meant that many of these films wouldn’t be released until after 2001 while many would have to wait until much later to finally be released uncut while a few select titles such as “Forest of Fear” and “Gestapo’s Last Orgy” still remain banned in the UK.

By the late 80’s the slasher movie had all but become an international affair as Italian and Mexican studios attempted to replicate the films which the films which had been so popular in the first half of the 80’s many replicating themes or ideas such as the Mexican “Hell’s Trap” which felt like a throw back to “The Prowler” or the Swedish “Blood Tracks” which played like “The Hills Have Eyes”. The established franchises meanwhile began to collapse under their creaking foundations with “Jason Takes Manhattan” the 8^th film in the series proving such a flop that the rights to the series where sold to New Line Cinema, whose saw its own long running franchise “A Nightmare On Elm Street” failing to make half with it’s fifth film than the previous two films had made, while the genre’s grandfather Michael Myers came out worst still with the dire “Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers”. All three franchises would attempt a final stab at reviving their franchises only to all fail thanks to lack of intrest from the audiences who’d once hankered to see the next instalment.

While the end of the 80’s might have seemed to have also marked the end of the genre it was instead merely dormant as Bernard Rose unleashed “Candyman” in 1992 based on the short story by Clive Barker and more keyly gave the world its first black slasher icon. While it may have gone on to spawn two lesser sequels it wouldn’t be until the release of “Scream” in 1996. Prior to directing “Scream” Wes Craven had played around with the idea of a Meta horror with his unintentional reboot of the “Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise with “New Nightmare”. Scream though arrived feeling like a much needed breath of fresh air for the genre as it not only introduced the now iconic Ghostface killer but also self acknowledged with a knowing wink the tropes of the genres with its horror movie loving killers. While the sequel managed to recapture some of the magic of the original, it was clear the series was running on fumes by “Scream 3” especially when Jamie Kennedy’s Randy (posthumously) is laying out the rules for a part 3 which you have to wonder if there are actually any rules for a horror film past its first sequel other than perhaps find a way to set the film in Space or Hawaii. Unsurprisingly “Scream” would prove to be the film which launched numerous imitators such as Urban Legend, I Know What You Did Last Summer and Valentine many of these films landing with mixed results as none seemed to be able to recreate whatever it was that made Scream seem so fiercely original despite its origins coming from the pen of self-confessed Slasher obsessive Kevin Williamson who much like his creation also failed to reach the same heights again.

At the same time that the studios where rushing to put out their own slasher creations, this sudden revived intrest in the genre also saw the studios wanting to roll the dice once more on their established franchises as Michael Myers came back for “Halloween H20: 20 Years Later” in a sequel which ignored everything after the first film in a half baked attempt to reboot the series which even brought Jamie Lee Curtis back to reprise her role as Laurie Strode now stuggling to deal with the events of that eventful night. Michael of course would not be the only boogyman to return as Chucky also made a return with a new bride in tow in “Bride of Chucky” which following “Child’s Play 3” being cited as the influence for the murder of Jamie Bulger it had not only seen the film being unofficially banned but also served to kill the series despite continuing to maintain a cult following who were unsurprisingly over joyed to see the return of their favourite killer doll. Most exciting of these comebacks of course was Jason as “Friday the 13th” rolled out a staggering 10^th entry which saw Jason finally being sent to space and shortly afterwards facing off against Freddy Kruger in “Freddy Vs. Jason” giving the fans finally the grudge match they’d long hampered for, even if the version they got was slightly hampered by Kane Hodder (the fans Jason) not being brought back to play Jason.

The most surprising entry of this period though is the “Final Destination” in which Death himself is the killer and while it might shun the usual rules of what qualifies someone to be a victim, it soon established an easy to replicate template in which a group survive a horrible accident (plane crash, motorway pile up, Roller coaster crash etc) only to find themselves being stalked by death who seems to have a fixation with killing in only the most elaborate ways possible, often delightfully teasing out the kill for maximum effect, let alone posing the question of how you beat the slasher when its death itself?

By the 2002 interest in slasher films had faded once again and with studios not wanting to take a risk it would seem on original horror films especially as a loose remake of Tobe Hooper’s “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” turned into the surprise hit of the year as it grossed over $100 million while opening the floodgates to a host of remakes which would follow in its wake as House of Wax, My Bloody Valentine and Black Christmas all got the remake treatment but for decent one we got like Alexandre Aja’s brutal “The Hills have Eyes” we usually got another three duff ones such as Gus Van Sant’s baffling shot for shot remake of “Psycho” while as the key titles titles began to dry up the more grotesque and shocking titles such as “Last House On The Left” and “I Spit On Your Grave” also getting the remake treatment they really didn’t need.

While it might seem that the genre ends in a slurry pit of half baked remakes, there are still directors out there attempting to capture the magic of the slasher’s golden age as can be seen with the likes of Adam Green’s “Hatchet” trilogy while the shame being removed off the DTV market meant that it has become a new home for numerous indie and low budget slashers, while ensuring that the “Wrong Turn” series has managed to somehow churn out five sequels. So while the films might not once receive the kind of grand release they might have seen in the golden age, they are still there for those willing to venture into the darker recesses of their streaming services.

Starting Point – Five Slasher Movie Essentials

For this selection I’ve opted to avoid the obvious and well known additions to the genre such as Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13^th and Scream and instead opted to highlight five lesser known but still equally essentially additions to the genre worth hunting down.

The Burning – One of the few slasher movies to be banned as video nasty it wouldn’t get released until 1992 and even then it wasn’t until 2001 it was finally released uncut. This film also not only marked the first movie to be produced by the Weinstein’s but also one of the most graphic and brutal kill scenes which has yet to be beaten by any other film in the genre as our burned and mentally unhinged killer Cropsy gets very creative with his weapon of choice….a pair of garden shears.

Slumber Party Massacre - Despite the setup of a slumber party being invaded by a power drill welding murderer, the film has the distinction of being the only feminist slasher movie, despite the film being originally written by Rita Mae Brown as a parody of the slasher genre though thanks to the script being reworked into a serious film, it ends up creating a wonderfully unique experience which would go on to spawn two further sequels

Terror Train – featuring another killer seeking revenge for having a prank played on his years earlier, here the killer is revealed almost straight away as the tormented nerd Kenny boards the train where a fraternity are throwing a costume party. The perfect setup of course for Kenny to don a number of ever more random costumes to commit his murder, making it less about who the killer is but what costume he’s going to wear next.

Stage Fright – A slasher is usually best known by the outfit they don to commit their killing, be it a hockey mask or just a plain old sack which only makes the killers costume here possibly one of the most random as he dons a giant owl head to do his killing which makes this film no doubt standout more from the numerous slashers off this era, but the giant own head really adds something to watching the killer weld a chainsaw or stick someone with a pick-ax.

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon – Embracing the same mockumentary style of “Man Bites Dog” as a documentary film crew follow an aspiring slasher / serial killer as he prepares for his next big night of murder and mayhem. Interesting for being set in a world where the likes of Freddy and Jason actually exist, the film takes great fun poking fun at the genre tropes with a wonderfully dark sense of humour which makes it so easy to see why this has become such a cult favourite.

Ozploitation - An Introduction

It’s hard to imagine it now but at one point Australia was one of a small group of countries alongside Ethiopia and Iceland which didn’t have a film industry. Infact the only films being made were via studios outside of the country who came over to make classy pictures such as “Walkabout” or “Age of Consent”. Still thanks to the success of these films the Australian government’s eyes to the potential of Australia setting up its own film industry.

Australian cinema itself can be seen as falling into two categories with the mainstream cinema often coming across like a hybrid of both European and Hollywood cinema. Ozploitation meanwhile is a much more wilder and bawdy beast born out of the relaxing of censorship laws which had previously been some of the strictest by Don Chipp the minister for customs and excise who also brought in the “R” rating. With this simple change he unwittingly also opened the gate for a host of directors looking to make money off the drive in / grindhouse market both in Australia and more keyly in the states.

These early examples of the genre were largely bawdy sex comedies and skin flicks such as the hard drinking “Barry Mckenzie” films which not only featured rivers of vomit (a cinematic first for Australia) but also came with their own “NPA” Rating standing for “No Poofters Allowed”. Amusingly rather than being seen for their intended satire they were instead embraced by the same people whose lifestyles were being mocked and who instead saw it bizarrely as some kind of endorsement. By 1980 however interest in these films had severely declined though at the same the genre was still going strong thanks to the large number of genre films being produced, which embraced not only their exotic locale but also brought a distinctive style of splatter and vehicular carnage to the screen. The demand for these genre films soon providing a place for the likes of Brian Trenchard Smith who favouring a “laughs and gasps” style over traditional storytelling soon became a firm favourite amongst genre fans. At the same time other directors such as George Miller and Russell Mulcahy also made their debuts through the genre with Miller arguably crafting with “Mad Max” the definitive car smash movie and one which suprisingly didn’t usher in a host of imitators in his native Australia but Italy instead who churned out a host of post-apocalyptic car smash fantasies.



As the popularity of the films quickly increased productions started importing American actors such as Jamie Lee Curtis and Dennis Hopper to help boost their productions, though more often the so called stars being recruited had often fallen from fame due to age or personal issues making it always surprising who you find turning up in these films such as one time Bond George Lazenby who found a way out of his blacklist status through these genre films most noteworthy by appearing as the villainous gangster Jack Wilton in Australia’s only Kung fu movie “The Man From Hong Kong” staring Hong Kong Legend Jimmy Wang Yu.

These productions were often fraught with as many issues caused by these imported stars as they were the lack of general health and safety with Wang Yu seeing the production of “The Man From Hong Kong” as perhaps being beneath his legendary status, even beating up director Brian Trenchard Smith for real in the film where he appears as a thug during the elevator fight sequence, leading Roger Ward offering to give him “a slap”. Smith declined the offer stating that his “revenge would come in the box office” which it unquestionably did when the film out grossed all of Wang Yu’s own directed movies. Dennis Hopper meanwhile during the shooting of “Mad Dog Morgan” was at this point still every bit the Wildman as he proceeded to consume copious amounts of drugs and alcohol during the shoot, while rubbing many of the production the wrong way with his method acting. Unsurprisingly by the end of the production thanks to a series of offset incidents Hopper had added a ban from Australia to his list of felonies acuminated during the shoot. At the same time the influx of American actors caused tensions with “Actors Equity” who felt that jobs were being taken away from Australian actors.



By 1985 the genre was running on fumes as the quality of films being churned out severely lessened in quality with the occasional title such as “The Return of Captain Invincible”, “Turkey Shoot” and “Blood Moon” with its “fright break” appearing as standouts with “Dead In Drive In” being often touted as the last great movie of the genre, especially with stunt man Guy Norris setting a world record truck jump of 160 feet challenging the already impressive record set by "Survivor" for most gasoline exploded in one scene during its memorable plane crash sequence. Still while it might have seemed that the genre ended here, it was infact merly dormant as the spirit of these film lingered on within the next generation of film makers who'd been inspired to direct their own features having grown up with these movies.

Kicking off this new era of Ozploitation movies was the grimy and downright brutal “Wolf Creek” the debut feature by Greg McLean in which a trio of backpackers are hunted by the serial killer Mick Taylor played by Ozploitation regular John Jarratt, while not only essentially sold on it’s “Head on a Stick” scene but also marked a brutal and darker direction for horror, as it brought in elements which would be later embraced by the “New French Extremity” movement. It could be argued that this new era started earlier with the hit and miss zombie movie “Undead” but it was “Wolf Creek” which had us suddenly paying a lot more attention to what Australia was producing once more, even though it wouldn’t be until 2007 when these films really began to gain moment as McLean gave us his giant croc follow up “Rouge”, while the following year saw it being accompanied by the likes of Revenge thriller “The Horseman” which gave us a penis on the wrong end of a bicycle pump aswell as “The Loved Ones” which gave us a dark tale of high school obsession.



While these films all seemed to homage in one way or another back to the glory days of the genre while showcasing a love for shock and splatter while the popularity of these early films also inspired misguided remakes of genre favourites such “Long Weekend”, “Turkey Shoot” and “Patrick”, it would the 2015 release of “Mad Max: Fury Road” which truly made the world sit up and take notice as after 30 years of development hell and time away making delightful family fare about talking pigs and dancing penguins George Miller finally brought back his wasteland folk hero aswell as his fetishtic lens for shooting vehicular carnage as he reminded everyone how you truly make a car smash movie let alone proving he’d not lost his edge in the intervening years.

As of the time of writing Australia’s film production especially for horror films has only continued to grow marking a promising future for its genre cinema and ensuring that the Ozploitation spirit continues to live on, as it continually proves as it did during its golden years as a valuable source of inventive cinema for genre cinema fans.

Starting Point – Five Ozploitation Essentials

 

Long Weekend - Peter and Marcia decide to go camping for the weekend, at a remote beach in an attempt to save their marriage, only to find that nature isn’t in an accommodating mood. This is an eco-horror where nature itself runs amok or is it? The movie won’t confirm it either way, but to those outside of its native Australia the woods surrounding the couple have never seemed so menacing, while director Colin Eggleson teases us with what is happening to them and what is actually responsible which is a hard trick to pull off but one perfectly achieved here.

The Return of Captain Invincible – Released during the dying days of the Ozploitation boom, this random mishmash of Musical and superhero movie, sees the titular superhero who is essentially superman with the power of magnatism forced into retirement after being accused of being a communist. Now thirty years later he is hiding out in Australia and a raging alcoholic while called back into action by the US government to battle his nemesis “Mr. Midnight” played by a game Christopher Lee who is threatening the world with his hypno-ray.

A random film to say the least and one which while it might not work all the way through, still has enough randomness to make it worth a curious watch alongside some fun songs. Plus how many superheroes can cite Alcoholism as their weakness?

Roadgames – Playing like a road movie version of “Rear Window” as Patrick a truck driver traveling across the Australian outback finds himself tracking a serial killer praying on women along the highway. Director Richard Franklin is a self confessed Hitchcock obsessive and here it really shows in this unique road movie which had originally been penned for Sean Connery to play the lead role which eventually went to Stacy Keach instead after he couldn’t afford Connery’s salary. Still the film is noteworthy for featuring Jamie Lee Curtis on the end of her Horror starlet period which ended with her next role in “Halloween 2”.


Celia - Celia is a nine year old with an active imagination growing up in 1950s suburban Melbourne, who constantly escapes into a fantasy world to escape the ongoing troubles around her, while society deals with both the fear of communism and the rabbit plague. An obscure film which sits amongst the likes of “Lord of the Flies” and “War of the Buttons” with a playful dark side which at the same time left me wanting to compare this film to arguably Peter Jackson’s best film “Heavenly Creatures” plus how many films can boast of their child cast carrying out a mock hanging?

The Loved Ones - When Brent turns down Lola’s invitation to the school prom, she concocts a plan for her own prom instead. One of the most exciting entries in the Ozploitation revival this tale of the scorned wallflower with a dark side is grimly gripping viewing which plays better than being just another torture porn movie, especially as this one is packed with some truly jaw dropping surprises throughout.

Natural Horror - An Introduction

Eco-Horror, Natural Horror, Animals Gone Rogue, Animals Invading the Human Sphere (thanks Jenn), unquestionably it’s a genre which goes by almost as many names as it has found inventive ways to turn pretty much any animal into nightmare fuel.

While you might be mistaken for assuming that this sub-genre came out of the hysteria of the 1950’s where cinema from the time can be seen reflecting the fear of communist invasion or nuclear testing aswell as its share of movies such as “The Giant Gilia Monster”, “They” or “Tarantula” as radiation turned everyday animals into monster sized versions of themselves giving an already paranoid public something else to worry about. However the roots of the sub-genre run suprisingly deep as back in 1905 H.G Wells gave us the first animal lead offensive with “Empire of the Ants” in which the more organised society of insects would replace man as the true rulers of earth, a vision later accompanied by Arthur Machen’s “The Terror: A Fantasy” in 1917 as everything from cows to Butterfly joined in the offensive against mankind.

While the early entries into the genre where largely b-movie fare the Alfred Hitchcock classic “The Birds” hinted that the genre could be capable of classier fare aswell as moments of genuine horror and suspense such as the classic scene of Tippi Hedren sitting out the school while an ever increasing flock (or perhaps more fittingly a murder) of crows gather on the childrens climbing frame behind her as she unwittingly enjoys a smoke. Hitchcock teasing out the impending chaos he soon intends to unleash. Hitchcock himself terrified of Birds perhaps tapping into his own fears to really nail the tone of the film which while perhaps light on actual gore and violence still remains one of his most effective films. However despite its success it didn’t as you would have expected spawn a host of imitators outside of the abysmal 1994 direct to TV sequel “The Birds 2: Land’s End” which had nothing to do with the original film with director Rick Rosenthal opting to be listed under Alan Smithee than be associated with it.



With the arrival of the 70’s the natural horror movies really gained a foothold while at the same time largely following the theme of someone being responsible for the animals striking back with “Willard” kicking the decade off as Bruce Davidson trained a pack of rats to attack his bullish boss played by Ernest Borgnine. This theme of bad people finding ever more inventive ways of pissing off the local wildlife population would continue throughout the decade as “Squirm” saw a town of scuzzy rednecks found their comeuppance via a mass of worms driven into a feeding frenzy via a downed powerline while the would be rapist Roger gets a face full of worms, returning later to holla the memorable line “Now you get to be the worm face!”.

While most of these titles would restrain themselves to one member of the animal kingdom there are of course a handful of titles which really ran with the idea of nature revolting such as “Frogs” which despite the title saw polluting industrialist Jason Crockett (Ray Milland) and his family finding their home under siege by the local frog population who somehow manage to not only recruit a variety of snakes, turtles, spiders, Alligators leeches and birds to their cause but also show a strange ability to recognise those not responsible for endangering their homeland. On a similar tact is the Ozploitation entry “Long Weekend” in which a hideous couple find themselves being targeted by nature itself which is shown as a constantly lurking presence looking to claim back the land stolen by man with director Colin Eggleston throwing in a number of nice touches such as the scream of ants being killed or a seemingly abandoned neighbouring camp shown being reclaimed by the surrounding forests. Equally noteworthy for throwing the proverbial kitchen sink at the screen but much later is the 1984 Italian production “Wild Beasts” which sees a zoo’s worth of animals being driven into an insane frenzy when PCP finds its way into the water supply. Far from subtle it does however contain numerous standout moments for its animal attacks including a woman having her head squashed by an Elephant while another takes out a jumbo jet and this isn’t even taking in an ending which seemingly belongs to another film entirely.

Unquestionably though the most inspirational title in the sub-genre is Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece “Jaws” which for those who have actually read Peter Benchley’s novel will be able to confirm is nothing like the books which focused more on the town’s residents than the killer shark which for the most part is more of a background threat. Spielberg instead turned the novel into perfect summer popcorn fare as the residents of Amity Island suddenly find themselves on the menu of a gigantic great white shark. Here the savagery of nature is boiled down to the fact that all the shark wants to do is “Eat, keep moving and make little sharks” the simplicity of the situation ensuring that the plot can move quickly while Spielberg through test screenings tweaked the film’s jump scares to perfection with the sight of a severed head popping out from a hole in a hull still making audiences jump after numerous viewings. Peter Benchley meanwhile would following the shark hunting frenzy which followed the release of the film dedicate his life to shark conservation while still finding time to in the novels which followed to find new horrors in the depth to scare us with as he followed up “Jaws” with the giant squid “Beast” and man-shark hybrid “Creature” both which would later show up as Made for TV movies.



With “Jaws” being such a monster hit, it was of little surprise that a wave of imitators would soon start flooding cinemas such as “Mako: Jaws of Death”, “Up From The Depths” and “Barracuda” many not coming close to Spielberg’s film which itself would be followed up three years by the arguably superior “Jaws 2” which also included a scene of a mauled Orca in what could be assumed was a nod to “Orca: The Killer Whale” which saw the titular whale taking out a shark with the dead orca of “Jaws 2” being seen perhaps as a way to re-establish exactly who was the number one predator. Equally of note is the Joe Dante directorial debut and Roger Corman backed “Piranha” which despite having a budget which only stretched to a few plastic fish and bubbling red water still proved to be strangely effective, while its sequel “Piranha 2: The Spawning” featuring flying Piranha is probably more noteworthy for providing the launch pad for James Cameron’s career even if Corman would fire him before the production completed.

By the late 70’s studios began to look to the woods for their next big thrill picking up the path paved by a spate of Bigfoot movies in the early 70’s with “Grizzly” promising “Fourteen feet of gut crunching terror” and while later ripped off by the less than stellar “Claws” and perhaps to an extent “The Prophecy” which gave us its mutant cousin. At the same time its sequel “Grizzly 2: The Predator” shot in 1983 was never completed with its unfinished working print often being rediscovered by cult film fans intrigued by what could have been. Director William Girdler’s keen to follow up the success of “Grizzly” would take a second crack at natural horror with “Day of the Animals” a film often cited as its sequel though would fail to find the same success.

The 80’s saw the the sub-genre enter into a decline in popularity with the few noteworthy titles such as “White Dog” and “Cujo” taking great lengths to disassociate themselves from the idea of nature in revolt almost as if their directors saw it as being a negative thing to even risk being included with the films which had come before no doubt due to the saturation of films the previous decade had produced. That being said the “Jaws” franchise saw a further two entries being added with the forgettable “Jaws 3D” and the truly nonsensical “Jaws: The Revenge” despite the series very clearly going quickly belly up. In the years which followed this final entry numerous rumoured came and went about a reboot aswell as a prequel focusing on the character of “Quint” all which never got out of the planning stage. However in 1995 cult favourite Bruno Mattei, the Italian director who’d previously given us his own version of “Terminator 2” with “Bruno Matei’s Terminator 2” which suprisingly ripped off “Aliens” than its name shake franchise. His fifth unofficial entry “Jaws 5: Cruel Jaws” not only inserting itself into a franchise but also more brazenly used footage from the franchise aswell as “Deep Blood” and “Great White”.

Outside of a handful of b-grade direct to DVD features the 90’s were still a barren landscape for natural horror until 1999, which not only proved to be the best movie year ever but also gave us two heavy hitters released almost back to back as we got the Giant croc romp “Lake Placid” aswell as giving us Samuel L. Jackson’s most memorable film moment in “Deep Blue Sea” as he joined a group of scientists attempting to escape from the genetically modified sharks they’d created. Sadly despite making shark movies scary again, the much mooted sequel which would see the sharks being placed into a flooded town never got past the pre-production stage. What these films did however would be to breathe new life into the seemingly forgotten genre as they embraced their b-movie hookiness and aimed to be nothing deeper than popcorn fodder for the summer release schedule.



By 00’s and with the shame of the direct to DVD market suddenly vanishing as studios rushed offdirect to DVD sequels or the likes of “American Pie” and “Van Wilder”, this new market would be fully embraced by companies such as “The Asylum” who saw the natural horror movie as the perfect template to rush out films whose audience could easily be brought in on the strength of the animals being featured, outlandish titles such as “Snakes On A Train” or “Shark Swarm” and who could easily be created via bargain basement CGI for minimal costs while providing the “SyFy Channel” with plenty of filler for their schedule.

Despite the questionable quality of many of these productions they have unquestionably gained their following as can be seen by the fact that we now have four “Sharknado” movies. At the same time these studios finding constantly more outlandish premises to nail their films on such as “Sharktopus” and “ Mega Shark Versus Crocosaurus” ensuring that the genre for the moment atleast is set to remain firmly in z-grade territory.

Starting Point – Five Natural Horror Essentials

 

Phase IV – Cosmic rays mysteriously cause ants to evolve and develop a hive mind, leading a pair of scientists to set up a lab to study the ants in the Arizona desert who threaten to take over the local area.

The sole film to be directed by Saul Bass the acclaimed designer of countless film posters and title sequences and a curiosity to say the least, as here he teams up with wildlife photographer Ken Middleham who previously handled the insect sequence for the documentary “The Hellstrom Chronicles” to create a truly unique film and not only because he was using real ants!

Pig Hunt – A group of friends on the hunt for a mythical three thousand pound boar known as “The Ripper” find more trouble than they could imagine and not only from the giant pig! True this might start of as a giant pig movie in the same spirit as “Razorback” but here we also get crazed rednecks, a pig worshiping cult and naked hippy chicks in what is a truly crazy ride of genre mashing goodness.



Orca: The Killer Whale – Sharing a plot almost as random as “Jaws: The Revenge” as Richard Harris’s sea captain finds himself being stalked by the angry mate of the Orca he accidently kills.
While perhaps another film in a long line of “Jaws” knock offs this is still an enjoyable effort and one which has more than a few memorable moments including Bo Derek having her leg torn off by the titular Orca, which proves as intimidating a foe as any shark, especially with all the attacks being largely true to nature than any kind of “Free Willy” style attacks.

Deep Rising –A film which Roger Ebert proclaimed should have been titled “Eat The Titanic” as a luxury cruise ship is targeted by a group of thieves only to soon find themselves on the dinner menu for a monstrous squid like creature who is represented for the most part by creeping tentacles before giving us it’s big reveal at the finale. This is a fun ride from start to finish while teasing out a sequel which sadly was never to be. However packed with colourful characters and more than few surprises even for the hardened horror fan this is well worth giving a look.

Alligator – A truly bonkers movie which sees a tiny pet alligator flushed down the toilet turning into a monstrous sewer dweller that soon makes its way to the surface to feast on the local population.
Taking numerous ques from “Jaws” including a scene in a pool scene which is essentially a reworking of a scene from the “Jaws” climax. This film is a blast once it gets going including a wedding massacre which is worth checking it out for alone.

New Queer Cinema / LGBT Cinema - An Introduction

So what is "New Queer Cinema"? Simply put it's a genre coined by the academic  B. Ruby Rich in an issue of “Sight & Sound Magazine in 1992 as a way to encapsulate the rise in “queer-themed independent filmmaking” of the early 90’s and can be seen as an umbrella term for LGBT film making from 1990 to present.

To best explain the history of this era of LGBT cinema it no doubt best to look at LGBT cinema as a whole especially as LGBT cinema has unquestionably existed before the rise of this definition with film scholars citing both “The Fall of the House of Usher (1928) and “Lot in Sodom” amongst the earliest examples though the LGBT film making in this period was largely a closeted affair with films often being made to masquerade as hetrosexual fare for the mass-market while throwing in the occastional subtle wink to its true audience. Openly gay or lesbian characters meanwhile were used mainly as punchlines or characters destined for a tragic demise which would essentially continue to 1969 though examples can be found throughout the postwar American avant-garde cinema with directors such as Kenneth Anger, Gregory Markopoulos and the unquestionably most well-known Andy Warhol. At the same time European arthouse cinema was being populated by the likes of Jean Genet’s “Un Chant D’Amour which would prove to be a major influence for New Queer Cinema’s pioneer Todd Haynes whose “Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story” and more key “Poison” which would be responsible for essentially kick-starting the sub-genre.

The Stonewall Riots of June 27, 1969 not only provided the catalyst for the LGBT civil rights movement but also LGBT cinema aswell with a large number of film festivals dedicated to Gay and Lesbian cinema being established for films which were either largely experimental or documentary based such as Milton Miron’s “Tricia’s Wedding. At the same time European cinema continued to provide its own unique brand of film making such as Ron Peck’s “Night Hawks” and Stephen Frear’s double header of “My Beautiful Laundrette” and “Prick Up Your Ears brought forth a new era of frankness while addressing the climate of Margaret Thatcher’s Britain of the late 80’s.

Unsurprisingly “New Queer Cinema” would be born out of the rise of the same independent film making scene which via Steven Soderbergh’s “Sex, Lies and Videotape” had  started to see films from this scene starting to gain attention from the studios while for the film makers despite working with much smaller budgets than their studio counterparts found a freedom to express and create the films they wanted, making it the perfect breeding ground for the movement to take root with 1991 and 1992 being the key years in which LGBT film making really began to get noticed despite the likes of Gus Van Sant’s “Mala Noche” and Bill Sherwood’s “Parting Glances”. Sherwood’s film being especially notworthy for not only featuring the acting debut of Steve Buscemi as Nick a gay man living with aids in New York while being cared for by his ex-lover. The film sadly would be Sherwood’s only film due to losing his own battle with the disease but should be also noted as being one of the first to deal with the realities of aids in the face of the hysteria of the newspaper headlines and government propaganda.

Despite these films certainly making inroads in the mid 80’s thanks to their success with critics though were hampered by limited releases. They should however still be considered as being as important to the movement even if it wouldn’t be for another four years that the movement would really find its feet.  Amongst the first films to be cited under this new definition by Rich were “Poison” Todd Haynes which would win the 1991 Sundance festival Grand Jury Prize for Best Film followed by Tom Kalin’s “Swoon” and cinematic agitator Greg Araki’s “The Living End” all showcasing an exciting new and fresh voice for LGBT cinema.

The films which formed this new era of LGBT cinema were unapologetic in their approach to the portrayal of the LGBT lifestyle assuming that they their audience were members of this community and hence there was no need to “explain” either homosexuality or lesbianism to their audience. At the same time they cared little aswell for presenting the politically correct image of the community with the likes of “Poison” featuring pretty graphic depiction of sexual relationships between prision imates while Greg Araki reworked the chase movie to feature two young and HIV-positive men. These directors aiming not to push the sexuality of its characters but essentially demand that LGBT culture be acknowledged despite society at this period of time being keen to largely repress let alone acknowledge the community.

These films would open a gateway for not only similar films but also bringing forth a new openness which saw films such as Kimberly Peirce’s “Boys Don’t Cry” and Jamie Babbit’s “But I’m a Cheerleader” being produced which would likely not have happened had it not been for the success of their New Queer Cinema forefathers. By 2001 the Sundance Film Festival again would serve as marking the next evolution for the genre with the musical “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” wining the “Audience Award for Best Film” and the mainstream sucesss of “Brokeback Mountain” marking the genres merge with mainstream film making that we continue to see today with the likes of “Behind the Candelabra” and “Blue is the Warmest Colour” making it all those early films of this movement all the more relevant.

Starting Point – Five LGBT Cinema Essentials

Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story – Todd Haynes debut short film based on the final seventeen years of Karen Carpenter’s life with all the parts played by Dolls which Haynes modified to tell her story, including whittling the arms and face of the Karen doll to show her anorexia.

Banned due to a copyright lawsuit filed by Karen’s brother, the film still turns up on VHS as well as youtube leading to it regularly being named amongst the top 50 cult movies of all time.

C.R.A.Z.Y. – The legend goes that nearly everyone in Quebeck- a population of around five million – has seen this film and its easy to understand why as Jean-Marc Vallee crafts an entertaining and occastionally tale which is as much about family disfunction and the things which tie them together as it is about sexual awakening. Something which perhaps has put more people off seeing this sadly much overlooked film.

Paris Is Burning – Often referred to as being one of the most important documentaries in Queer cinema history as director Jennie Livingston chronicles the ball culture of New York City, where contestants are required to give catwalk style walks while being judged on their dancing and outfits. The documentary also explores many of the contestants deal with issues such as racism, homophobia, AIDS and poverty, making it an important snapshot of the period.

Nowhere – One of the more accessible films from Greg Araki but still retaining all his usual oversexed randomness as it follows a group of LA teens over the course of a frenzied 24 hour. A day made up of a volatile cocktail of sex, drugs, suicide, bizarre deaths and alien abduction

The final film in his “Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy” which includes “Totally Fucked Up” and “The Doom Generation”, a trilogy based on shared themes rather than reoccurring characters, while this film also boasts one of the most impressive before they were famous casts since “Clueless”.

Fox and His Friends aka Right Fist of Freedom – written and directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder who also stars as the titular Fox a working class gay man who falls for the older and wealthier Max who initially wants nothing to do with Fox until he wins the lottery. However it soon becomes clear that Max does not share Fox’s feelings as he plots to swindle him out of his newly gained fortune.

Fassbinder is unquestionably a key source of inspiration for many directors who contributed to the New Queer Cinema movement while equally been an important figure in New German Cinema aswell.  Here he goes against the film making norms by portraying his gay characters as being normal rather than being a problem while showcasing that his letcherous homosexuals were really no different than any other films lecherous hetrosexuals.

Authors Note: Originally posted as part of The LAMB "Cult Chops" feature

Biker Movies - An Introduction

 

If any aspect of cult cinema embodies the spirit of wild and carefree rebellion it’s the “Biker genre”. From its beginning in 1954 with the release of “The Wild One” staring a young (and less gelatinous and egotistic) Marlon Brando as the black leather jacket clad Johnny Stradler the leader of “The Black Rebels Motorcycle Club) who roll into Carbonville during a motorcycle race with the intention of stirring up trouble. While it might seem alittle twee to modern audiences the film was greeted with shock and hysteria by the press of the day, while the British Board of Film Censors (BBFC) banned the film till finally awarding it an ‘X’ certificate (the equivalent of today’s ‘15’ certificate) when they allowed it to be released fourteen years after its original release, the original letter of rejection for certification stating that they were of the opinion that the film presented a

“spectacle of unbridled hooliganism… with no more than a mild censure from a police office, would be likely to exert a harmful influence in that very quarter about which anxiety is felt and would expose the Board to justifiable criticism for certificating a film so potentially danger on social grounds”

Unsurprisingly all this controversy resonated with the alienated youth of the time who loved the idea of the motorcycle riding rebel. While in the UK the battles between Mods and Rockers did little to ease the fears of the censors and general public leaving them to hold out on the film till they felt that the film had become too dated to appeal to the potential delinquents of the film whose rebellious nature they felt the film would only fuel.

Despite the controversy which surrounded “The Wild One” it would take the exploitation cinema legend Roger Corman to really launch the genre with “The Wild Angels” as he saw biker films as a way to revive the flagging Western genre seeing the biker film as its modern day equivalent with bikes replacing the horses. At the same time the wild nature of these films made them perfect fodder for the audiences of Drive-in’s and Grindhouse theatres who made up much of Corman’s target audience for the films he was producing especially with their common themes of revenge and the desire to live free and without the oppression of “The Man” (popular themes for the Blaxploitation films of the 70’s) which played perfectly in a time when civil liberties was still a key subject with the classic “Easy Rider” truly providing the embodiment of these themes.

“Easy Rider” would prove to be another influential title not only for how films were made, but the genre as a whole which soon saw more focus on storytelling as well as more essentially the riding sequences as producers attempted to hold onto an audience that had evolved and now craved more from these films than thrilling scenes of adventure and wild delinquency. It’s would being during these finals years for the genre that we also saw some of the most interesting films being produced such as the Blaxploitation influenced “The Black Angels” and the bikers in Vietnam “Nam’s Angels” aka “The Losers”; a film inspired by head of the “Hells Angels” Sonny Barger sending a telegram to President Johnson offering the Angel services as “gorilla fighters” (sic) which Johnson might have turned down but it did end up making a pretty decent biker movies as well as one can also be seen being watched by Fabienne in “Pulp Fiction”.

While stateside the genre might have been winding down but at the same time it also began to attract international attention with Japan giving us the “Stray Cat Rock” series whose first entry “Delinquent Girl Boss” memorably gave us a motorcycle / beach buggy chase through the streets of Shinjuku, Tokyo. Coming towards the end of the golden age for the genre, its presence would in Australian cinema as Ozploitation memorably brought its own twist on things with Australian cinema at this point already renown for its love of car chases really pushed the action side of the genre with the likes of George Millers “Mad Max” and its sequel “Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior" both memorably featuring psychopath bikers aswell as some equally memorable stunt work often shot on roads unofficially closed down by the production team. We would also get with “Stone” arguably one of the most iconic moments to be featured in any biker movie as it featured a funeral procession complete with a motorcycle Hearse and hundreds of bikers thundering down the highway.

Not to be outdone Britain too would throw its gauntlet down with “Psychomania” which not only brought a horror element to the biker movie as a biker gang called “The Living Dead” make a pact with the devil to become immortal, while also being led by the frog loving Alex DeLarge clone Tom. Despite gaining a cult following in the years since its release, many consider the film to mark the end of the biker film genre as exploitation cinema moved onto other areas as the times changed. The bikers which had once been the focus now being pushed into the background or taking on the antagonist role especially with the increase of interest in post-apocalyptic movies of the 80’s were the marauding biker gang was a common sight.

Nowadays the biker movie is all but a forgotten concept outside of the occasional throwback that the Neo-grindhouse genre has given us such as the Quentin Tarantino produced “Hell Ride” aswell as the equally awful“Dear God No!” and its sequel “Frankenstein Created Bikers” leaving my genre fans with mixed feelings for the genre. At the same time it’s a genre which hides some great hidden classics especially during the 60’s and 70’s and while a lot of it can be seen as perhaps overly campy or grimy for some tastes for the more adventurous movie watcher there is still plenty to enjoy.

Starting Point – Five Biker Movie Essentials

Motorpsycho – Directed by Russ Meyer’s just before “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!” this film is not only noticeable for the lack of his Ultravixens, but also for being the first film to give a portrayal of the disturbed Vietnam veteran, many of which had returned from the war and drifted into motorcycle gangs unable to handle the return to civilian life.  The film has also inspired the name of the Norwegian Progressive rock band aswell as being refrenced by “White Zombie” in the song “Thunder Kiss ‘65’”

Born Losers – The first of the “Billy Jack” trilogy following the “Half-breed” American Navajo Indian, who is also a Green Beret Vietnam Veteran aswell as a hapkido master who has taken to living in the California mountains in his attempts to escape from society. Things don’t however go according to plan as he finds himself having to defend the town of Big Rock against the members o the Born Losers Motorcycle Club. A commercial success despite a negative critical response, the film would be followed by “The Trial of Billy Jack” and “Billy Jack Goes To Washington”.

Angel Unchained – Angel feels that his days as a biker are coming to an end and breaks away his gang “The Nomads” to try and find his own way in the world only to find himself caught up in a conflict between a hippie commune and the local rednecks leading him to call in his former gang to help provide protection for the commune.

Werewolves on Wheels – One of the few films to combine both biker and horror genres see also (Psychomania, I Bought A Vampire Motorcycle) and directed by Michel Levesque who had previously been the art designer for Russ Meyer. This film was largely used as double bill fodder but still has a fun hook as Adam the leader of “The Devil’s Advocates” is unwittingly cursed along with gang with Lycanthropy (the posh term for Werewolf) and its not long before they leave a bloody trail in their wake as they hit the open road.

The Hellcats – A film no doubt already known to fans of MST3K, here the gender roles are flipped as crime boss Adrian uses  the female motorcycle gang The Hellcats to carry out his drug runs. However when a detective is killed by one of Adrians henchmen leading to his army sergent brother and girlfriend to go undercover as bikers to infiltrate the Hellcats to get their revenge against Adrian.

 

Authors Note: Originally posted as part of The LAMB "Cult Chops" feature

An Introduction to Korean Cinema

In recent years Korea has become a cinema powerhouse, churning out a huge selection of quality films which has been something of a bonus for the established fans of Asian cinema, but can prove slightly bewildering to newcomers as to where to start.

So with today being the last day of “The Korean Cinema Blogathon”, a week long celebration of "Korean Cinema" currently being hosted by both “New Korean Cinema” and “cineAWSOME”, so here is my own introduction to Korean cinema aswell as possibly some of the most exciting cinema currently being produced today.

Brotherhood

Set in 1950 on the eve of the Korean war were two brothers are drafted to the frontlines, leading Jin-tae (Dong-gun Jang) on a desperate bid to win a medal of honor so that his younger brother Jin-seok (Bin Won) can be released from service, as the two brothers learn the true horrors of the war which has enveloped their country.

Frequently referred to as the Korean “Saving Private Ryan”, I actually preferred this over Spielberg’s war epic, especially as this tale of two brothers in the Korean war is none the less powerful, especially with it’s blood and snot finale which truly captures just how bloody a war it really was, while certainly not being afraid to run the audience through an emotional wringer. Needless to say director Je-kyu Kang is certainly one of the key directors of New Korean cinema, especially when he continue to craft Hollywood standard blockbusters like this and this film proves just why he is a director to watch.

I'm A Cyborg, But I'm Okay

Young-Goon (Su-Jeong Lim) believes she is cyborg, but after plugging herself into the mains, in a failed attempt to recharge her batteries, she finds herself committed to an Asylum, were she soon attracts the attentions of her fellow inmate Il-Sun (Rain) who believes that he can steal other people’s souls / attributes and with whom she soon forms an unusual bond.

Director Park Chan-wook supposedly made this for his eleven year old daughter and marked for the director a radical change in direction for this is the same director who brought us his dark and gripping “Vengeance Trilogy”, while proving here that he was capable of working in more than one genre as he would also prove with his follow up “Thirst” which also brought an interesting take to the overworked vampire genre. Still the idea of a watching a romantic and frequently surreal film set in a mental institution, let alone one without the prospect of anyone being beaten with a hammer, or eating live squid might prove to some not the most appealing of prospects, especially to the established fans and true while this offering from no doubt one of the most exciting and interesting directors currently working in modern Korean cinema, might not contain any of the shocking imagery of his earlier films which made them so memorable, there is still a lot to enjoy here even if this film is lighter in tone, he still allows for his darker side to seep into this film, I mean after all what other romantic comedy can you think of, which opens with the leading lady, wiring herself up to the mains?

Save the Green Planet!

Lee Byeong-gu (Shin Ha-Kyun), a man who believes that aliens are about to attack Earth and that more importantly that he is the only one who can prevent them, teams up with his childlike circus-performer girlfriend (Jeong-min Hwang) to kidnaps a powerful executive (Yun-shik Baek) whom he believes to be a top ranking extraterrestrial who can contact the prince of these aliens during the upcoming eclipse.

A masterpiece of genre bending antics from director Jang Jun-hwan as Comedy, Sci-fi, Thriller and Horror meet in a head on collision of styles, to create a truly unique viewing experience which constantly keeps the viewer guessing as to what is going to happen next, as the frequent switches between the genres makes it anything but predictable, while also featuring a punk rock version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” on the soundtrack, which is never a bad thing.

The Good, The Bad, The Weird

Set in the desert wilderness of 1930s Manchuria were The Bad (Lee Byung-hun) - a bandit and hitman - is hired to acquire a treasure map from a Japanese official traveling by train. Before he can get it however, The Weird (Song Kang-ho) - a thief - steals the map while invertibly being caught up in The Bad's derailment of the train. Meanwhile the Good (Jung Woo-sung) an eagle-eyed bounty hunter appears to claim the bounty on The Bad, while The Weird escapes hoping to uncover the map's secrets and recover what he believes is gold and riches buried by the Qing Dynasty.

Personally I’ve never been a fan of Westerns, but for some strange reason I can’t get enough of Asian Westerns and having adored Takashi Miike’s “Sukiyaki Western Django” this film captures the same fun energy, as it takes traditional western themes and ideas and gives them an Eastern twist, with thrilling shoot out’s and several spectacular set pieces including the finale which see’s the Japanese army, Manchurian bandits, The Good, The Bad and his gang all chasing The Weird while heavily artillery shells decimate the surrounding area. This is one western which constantly seems to be playing a game of one-upmanship with itself, creating one hell of a fun ride in the process, which is anything but boring.

Park Chan-Wook's Vengeance Trilogy

Park Chan-wook’s highly memorable trilogy of films comprised of “Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance”, the insanely popular “Oldboy” and the severely underrated “Lady Vengeance”. Three films linked by shared themes and ideas, rather than characters and plots, much like Miike Takashi’s “Triad Society Trilogy” whose trilogy also followed these same rules. As a result all three films can be watched on their own and in any order, but together form a devastating and beautifully shocking trilogy of movies, which not only helped mark out Chan-wook as a director to watch, but with "Oldboy" also helped launched the Korean movie invasion into the public conscious, while showing to established fans of Asian cinema that Korea was producing films just as exciting as those being produced by Japan and China who had dominated the Asian market at that point.

While all containing moments of shocking violence, it’s also safe to say that vengeance has never looked as good as Chan-Wook how chooses to portray it with surprising moments of tenderness scattered throughout the three films, to balance out the more shocking ones.

Death Bell

A group of top students are chosen to study over their vacation in order to take a test and impress a sister school. With the best students in the school chosen, it is soon to be an unfortunate fate, as a sadistic killer traps them in the school and starts kidnapping them one by one. Each kidnapped student is then threatened with a torturous death unless the rest of the students can solve the questions being given to them by the killer.

A recent discovery for myself this simple horror plays out in a similar style to “Saw”, a concept now firmly run into the ground, but with the refreshing lack of extreme gore and more of a focus on the mystery, makes it still a fun watch while also containing more than a few surreal shocks along the way to help it stand out from the numerous “Saw” clones which have flooded the market recently, especially as it has enough originality on show here to help it stand on it’s own.

H

Shin Hyun (Jo Seung-woo) a serial killer who preyed on pregnant women has been behind bars for 10 months when a copycat killer becomes active. Detectives Kim (Yeom Jeong-ah) and Kang (Ji Jin-hee) meet with the imprisoned killer and search for clues in an effort to head off the copy cat killer before he finishes.

Largely over looked since it’s release due to mixed opinion, it is still dark “Se7en” esq style thriller, which is still a good mystery with plenty of style while perhaps making several large leaps in plausibility, but certainly none as preposterous as M. Night Shyamalan has made with any of his recent films, though best not watched expecting high art to avoid any disappointment.

Pulgasari

An evil king (Yong-Hok Pak) aware of the peasant rebellion being planned, steals all the iron in the country, to make weapons for his own personal army. After discovering bandits in the local village he imprisons them along with their leaders grandfather (Gwon Ri), who staves himself to death, while creating a tiny figurine of the mythical creature Pulgasari, which comes to life when combined with the blood of his daughter. Growing bigger with the more Iron it consumes the creature helps the peasants to fight back against their corrupt king.

Pulgasari is a film most commonly known for the tales behind it’s making, rather than the film itself, seeing how its creation was the result of the former North Korean dictator and film fanatic Kim Jong-il Kim, who being a fan of South Korean director Sang-ok Shin and apparently not being content with perhaps an autograph, instead had Shin kidnapped, forcing him to direct seven films for him, which Kim Jong-il also acted as executive producer for. Shin eventually managed to escape back to the South, but out of those film, this is one is the most well known, no doubt a result of its ties to the Kaiju genre, which is no doubt the reason it hasn't been forgotten entirely.

While these films might just be scratching the surface, they will hopefully provide some of you with a starting fan, while maybe helping the more established fans amongst you find something new to watch and why not post your own recommendations in the comments section below.