VisualCrack

Dir. Jaume Balagueró & Paco Plaza

Cast: Manuela Velasco, Pablo Rosso, Ferran Terraza, Carlos Vicente, María Teresa Ortega

Sadly [●REC] is interminably and unjustly likened by reviewers to The Blair Witch Project, understandable given its plot, cast of characters and the cinematic mechanisms utilised, but that is undeniably where any similarity ends. Although The Blair Witch Project was a ground breaking film, particularly if we take into account it's pervasively cogent viral marketing campaign, if we were to assess the two movies essentially on their horror genre credentials then [●REC] is by far the exemplary title – if anything [●REC] is the film that Blair Witch should have been.

Dir. Tommy Wirkola

Cast:  Vegar Hoel, Stig Frode Henrikse, Charlotte Frogner, Lasse Valdal

Dead Snow is a film that every self-respecting horror fan should yearn desperately to love, with its miniscule budget, genre referencing, Norwegian roots and it's poetic, snow-blasted mountain locations. Oh, and did I forget to mention... Nazi Zombies. That's right, it's been a long time since we had Nazi Zombies on screen with the turgid Zombie Lake, and sadly Dead Snow doesn't really rescue the genre, but it's not for want of trying.

A Brief History of French Horror Cinema

France's tradition of filmmaking is as long and as rich as any country's, if not more so. Although more renowned for high drama, edgy experimentalism and art house existentialism, France also has an eclectic, poetic and important history within the horror genre, that continues quietly and steadily to this day.

Even before it ever had a real movie industry, France displayed an obsession with macabre mainly through the popularity of the Grand Guignol Theater in Paris, a forum dedicated to horrific plays that climaxed in gruesome violence. Naturally with the birth of film it didn't take long for the country to adapt its dark curiosity to the fledgling cinema.