Inside (“À l’intérieur” 2007, France)


Recommended by Dave … I just had to check out “Inside,” a movie I hadn’t heard about until I read his blog.

Still grieving over her recently deceased husband, a pregnant woman becomes haunted (and hunted) by a mysterious woman.

Watching this movie made me feel like I had been hit in the stomach … really hard. The violence is brutal (probably even more brutal than “High Tension,” another excellent French horror film). By the time the movie hit its climax I was curled on the sofa in a ball like I was at the end of “Audition.” I would think that women would have a hard time with “Inside” as the whole plot revolves around a woman literally wanting to rip the baby out of another. Hell … I had a hard time with it and I’m a guy. “Inside” is dark, brutal and very (and I mean VERY) disturbing.

Black Sheep (2006, New Zealand)


“Black Sheep” is just straight up horror/comedy silliness!

An experiment in genetic engineering turns harmless sheep into blood-thirsty killers that terrorize a sprawling New Zealand farm.

Yes … Killer Sheep!!! I don’t think I really need to say anything more than that. Ya gotta love those wacky Kiwi’s. “Black Sheep” gets bonus points for having the super cute Nathan Meister (see above) as the hero.

While not the greatest horror movie ever made, “The Ruins” is quite a nice little thrill ride. I read the book in 2006 and really dug it. The movie holds up very well against the book even though some of the events and characters have been switched around somewhat. I don’t guess we can really complain since the author of the book (Scott Smith) also wrote the screenplay. My main complaint would be the new ending that was added for the movie. It just really didn’t work for me. Otherwise, we get to enjoy a fun roller coaster of traditional scares and some pretty intense gore sequences. I think that Carter Smith has done a fine job with his first time major motion picture. The cast is really solid as well. I really bought into the characters and actually cared what was happening to them. Plus … who would have guessed that Jonathan Tucker was so freakin’ hot?!?!~

Stephen King stories very rarely adapt well into major motion pictures. The man with the most success has been Frank Darabont (“The Shawshank Redemption and “The Green Mile”). And now he has tackled “The Mist,” a favorite novella amongst King fans.

Well, he has pulled it off in spades … in my humble opinion.

Darabont’s screenplay sticks very close to the source material up until the final moments. We are given a movie that has equal parts nasty monsters and nasty human monsters. I am not even gonna touch the plot here. I don’t want to spoil anything for those not familiar with the original novella. Let’s just say there are some great, great set pieces … the loading dock, outside exploration, the first night, the pharmacy and the escape. There are so many tense and scary moments in this movie. The tension is helped by Darabont’s decision to shoot the film in a hand-held documentary style. It just keeps building and building until you hit a resolution (added to the story by Darabont with King’s blessing) that is so incredibly bleak you really have to see it to believe it. I suspect that the resolution is gonna be the make or break for most people watching “The Mist.”

Marcia Gay Harden rocks the movie with her portrayal of religious nut Mrs. Carmody. Thomas Jane does a pretty nice job as the story’s protagonist David Drayton. The rest of the cast is rounded out by some really solid performances by Laurie Holden, Nathan Gamble, Frances Sternhagen (yes!), Andre Braugher, Toby Jones and William Sadler.

I really do regret that I didn’t see this one on the big screen last year. I can only imagine that it was even scarier in a darkened theater … as opposed to my living room couch with my 42″ flat panel. Oh well.

I highly recommend that you get wrapped up in “The Mist.”

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