Nicole and I watched Exte (2007), which was frickin wild. It was not nearly as cheesy as we expected it to be, for a movie about haunted hair extensions! Yes, some stuff was OTT, but many of the effects were really awesome, creepy, body horror stuff. There was also some super dark stuff (CW: child abuse) which made the weird silly moments even weirder. A strange exploration of trauma which leads to murderous rage, versus trauma that can be healed through love and affection... all wrapped up in long black hair. Also, I think this goes without saying for fans of Asian horror, but this film is clever and amusing in that it treats the "creepy long black hair" trope so literally. Another strange but gripping Sion Sono film (creator of Suicide Circle).
The Guyver (1991) was awesome! Highly recommended if, like me, you enjoy tokusatsu -- ridiculously over-the-top, campy sci-fi with great makeup/prosthetics, props, and practical effects. It was very silly, but I loved it. It reminded me of the stuff I watched as a kid -- Power Rangers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Xena Warrior Princess, etc. -- with a gnarly, Cronenbergian flavor. I wouldn't call it horror, but it didn't feel too out of place in the lineup. A more aggressive editor could have taken out like 15 minutes of superfluous monster fights, but then it wouldn't be what it is!
Also enjoyed the deliciously OTT dialogue like:
"I killed you once! I can kill you again!"
"You can't kill me! I've been rejected by death!"
Megan, Mark and I watched Pulse (回路, Kairo), a Japanese technology horror film directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. This movie had some truly freaky/creepy scenes, but the plot felt all over the place... maybe something was lost in translation. Enjoyed watching it though. And it's interesting to think of this film coming out in 2001 -- idk about yall, but that was pretty much the start of my personal computing, the days of AIM, etc.... so a movie about the horrors of the internet was ahead of the curve, and probably pretty electrifying at that time.
Uzumaki / Spiral (2000) was pretty bad. Some of the scenes were neat, and it's a cool premise - a town driven mad by spirals - but weak acting, bad effects, and really bad editing doom this film. The way it's cut now, it ends up just feeling silly, but I think a clever editor could actually take this existing film and re-cut it to be more effective and actually frightening... or maybe it just needs a remake.
Damn. Suicide Circle aka Jisatsu sâkuru (2001) was a brilliant but brutal watch.
** ❗Content warning, there was a scene at ~1:05:00 that was too horrible/disturbing for me, I had to stop watching and turn it off last night. The movie up to that point was really awesome and creative, so I came back to it today, just fast-forwarded through that scene. Truly awful subject matter and felt so real that it really disturbed me. On the balance, I still liked/respected the movie. But if you choose to watch, please be ready (I was not).❗**
Anyway, there were some super iconic moments, I'm really shocked I had never heard of or seen this movie before. (Mark said he saw it like 15 years ago.) I have seen a great deal of American horror by now, but one of my goals for this year is to expand my knowledge of international horror. HMU if you want in on that! 🇯🇵👺👹👻
Mark and I watched Kamera o Tomeru na! (lit., don't stop the camera!), English title "One Cut of the Dead." It was great! 😁 And fun meta take on zombie movie production. Altho solidly on the side of comedy, rather than horror.
Audition (1999) was awesome, altho parts were nearly impossible to watch. I'm not a fan of torture porn, but this had depth... like a much darker and more brutal Fatal Attraction. Thanks for braving it with me, Nicole!
About to rewatch Ringu.. Mark has never seen it... opening credits and I'm already so scared!!
