To compensate for yesterday's disappointments, I decided to brave all five films today with a positive attitude. Well, that nearly worked:
H6: Diary of a Serial Killer (2006): I had originally planned to skip this Spanish entry on the grounds that one had seen sufficient similar films, but it was better than expected. After his release from gaol for killing his girlfriend in a fit of jealous rage, the now 40-something protagonist finds he has inherited a dilapidated boarding house-cum-brothel. After marriage for appearance's sake to a nurse who works nights and who has been carrying on an affair with a married doctor both before and after, he makes it his life's calling to "save" fallen women by strapping them to a table in room H6 and, after various deprivations, dispatching them with his trusty chainsaw. He is finally apprehended after eighteen such encounters (fortunately most not shown), but is clever enough to limit his incarceration on the grounds of assumed nuttiness and to presumably resume his vocation on his next release.
The Ghost of Mae Nak (2005): The next feature was meant to be the latest from the Bangkok-based Pang Brothers, but it was pulled at short notice to be replaced with this Thai film, based on a bit of traditional folklore. Written and directed by Brit Mark Duffield but with a Thai cast, it follows a newly-married couple's problems when the bridegroom has been possessed by the spirit of a vengeful ghost and how his bride and her friends manage to appease its wrath. There were a few OTT deaths of neighbourhood baddies, but otherwise a fairly unhorrific narrative and the expected happy ending.
Puritan (2005): Again, I didn't expect much from this British occult thriller starring Nick Moran as a writer/fake spiritualist dealing with a mysterious badly disfigured man who predicts his future and a treacherous femme (Georgina Rylance) who seems to be using their relationship for her own ends. We also have David Soul (what did we do to deserve this?) as her tycoon husband. Moodily photographed and determinedly puzzling, we are presented with a somewhat unexpected twist to reward our attention. We are also presented with the unnecessary appearance of Aleister Crowley in whose former home our hero now lives -- a complete irrelevance.
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006): I had higher hopes for this film which had a pretty high IMDb rating (obviously voted upon by people with less expectations than I). It was a so-called mockumentary on how a would-be serial killer plans to achieve his immortality a la Freddie Krueger et. al. So as in "Man Bites Dog" we have a film crew following his activities in what rapidly becomes an all-too-knowing and fey approach to the genre. However when it comes to the start of the blood-letting, they realise that they can not condone this and therefore find themselves part of the proposed victims. The kicker is that the killer's chosen "virgin" who is meant to survive turns out to be a full-blooded slut and it becomes necessary for the sole female on the film crew to assume the role. Very droll I'm sure, but just a little too tongue-in-cheek to work.
The Host (2006): The closing film was this Korean creature-feature which was a cross between monster mayhem and lowish humour. Deliberate pollution of Seoul's main river breeds a mutant monster -- a sort of ginormous lizardy fish that rapidly terrorizes the population and which American busybodies decide is spreading a horrible virus. The action takes place via one family -- an elderly food-stall owner, his sleepy son and another feckless son, his daughter who is a would-be archery champion, and his brave grand-daughter who is believed to be one of the first victims. When they get proof that she is still alive, despite being carried off by the thing, they break quarantine to try to save her. That they don't all survive proves something of a disappointment, but one can't really fault the non-stop action and clever special effects that serve to maintain the romp.
Well that's another FrightFest weekend until next year, but I understand some special Halloween celebrations are planned in the meantime -- and if I find out what these are, so will you.
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