VisualCrack

Dir.  Kåre Bergstrøm

Cast:  Henki Kolstad, Henny Moan, Bjørg Engh, Georg Richter, André Bjerke

Norway hasn't produced many horror films over the years. A few cross-over hits, such as DARK WOODS, NEXT DOOR, and more recently DEAD SNOW and the COLD PREY series, have seen some global recognition, but before that Norway's genre output was nearly nonexistent. As a matter of fact, a Norwegian Horror keyword search on IMDb results in only three genre titles being made before 1990, LAKE OF THE DEAD (also released as THE LAKE OF THE DAMNED) is one of these. In fact, it's the earliest Norwegian horror film listed and may actually have the claim on being first horror film produced in that country (to add to it's claim of being the first Norwegian film shot in CinemaScope). While well regarded on its home turf, the film isn't much known outside it's native land, but believe me when I say, it really deserves to be.  

Lake is a well-made, intelligently-written and stunningly photographed dark mystery that keeps you guessing and makes unnerving use of its picturesque outdoor locations.

Dir. Jed Weintrob

Cast: Angela Bettis, Kirby Bliss Blanton, Devon Graye, Ben Cotton, Christopher Titus

Scar 3D can only be described as a stab-by-numbers slasher movie, and be warned, that is the first (and last) positive remark I'll probably be able to make in this review. This cinematic abomination is supposedly the first movie to be created in HD-3D, which for all its fancy numbers and letters, basically appears to translate as 'we know the movie's crap, but how cool is this?' answer ... Not Cool!

Dir. Christopher Smith

Cast: Franka Potente, Sean Harris, Vas Blackwood, Jeremy Sheffield, Ken Campbell, Paul Rattray, Kelly Scot

A cross between a slasher flick and a folklore horror, Creep is a British horror movie from writer and director Christopher Smith, taking place in the network of stations, tunnels and sewers that make up the London underground where Kate (German actress Franka Potente) is trapped after falling asleep on the platform on her way out for further carousing after a booze and drug fuelled party with her pretentious friends. The movie excels at creating a claustrophobic and forlorn atmosphere as the strong-willed yet desperate Kate tries to escape the 400 miles of track whilst the misfits that inhabit the depths of London at night are being slaughtered by an unknown killer. The main cast is minimal and the very Kate-centric movie is fodder-padded with only a couple of bums, station workers and her short-lived chauvinistic man-friend plus, of course, the deranged mutant-gynaecologist that has spent his life underground practising surgery on those who accidentally enter his lair.

So if you're here, you've already seen a few reviews an editorial and our first article, but I just wanted to introduce our blog to you officially.

VisualCrack is an offshoot of our sister site Absolutely Random, the reason we are here is that we felt the need for a site that allowed us to talk more and be focussed primarily on genre movies (horror, sci-fi, cult, psychotronic... you get the idea!). So with that said, I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome you and tell you what we have coming up as we head into 2010...

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.

Dir. Dario Argento

Cast: Michael Brandon, Mimsy Farmer, Bud Spencer, Daria Nicolodi

Roberto Tobias (Michael Brandon) is a drummer in a rock band who has noticed a man following him for the last several days. Angered by this, he confronts the stranger in an abandoned theater to find out what he wants. The man claims he does not know what Roberto is talking about, and pulls a switchblade. The two struggle, and Roberto accidentally stabs the man, who falls into an orchestra pit, lifeless.

Dir. Steve Anderson 

Cast: Jon Favreau, Joey Lauren Adams, Kelsey Grammer, Sean Bean, Daryl Hannah, Rachael Leigh Cook

JOHN PERSON (Jon Favreau) is a 30-something struggling actor living alone and facing eviction from his unfurnished apartment in Hollywood. Behind on his rent and heavily in debt, he goes against the better judgment of his pretty neighbor GRACE (Joey Lauren Adams) and accepts an unsolicited offer from his strange neighbor NEELY (Bud Cort) to courier a blue suitcase up to the desert truck stop of Baker, California.