Daughters of Darkness (1971)

            When I first noticed Harry Kümel’s “Daughters of Darkness,” and read the summary about the film, I became intrigued due to a particular character.  I have always entertained a fascination with Elizabeth Bathory, and for those of you who are unfamiliar with her, she thought that blood possessed the power to bestow upon the skin and organs eternal youth, and believing thus, she slaughtered many virgin girls so that she could bathe in their blood. “She pierced their veins with rusty nails, and then slit their throats.”  Of fucking corpse that is my kind of lady, one of the most vicious and insane women of history, in my humble opinion.  So naturally when I read that Countess Bathory would make an appearance in the film, I wanted to see it.  I am pleased to say I was not entirely disappointed.    

            The movie begins by getting viewers acquainted with a young couple, Stefan and Valerie (portrayed by John Karlen and Danielle Ouimet) who have just been married.  The couple passes through a vacation resort and winds up running into the mysterious and enchanting Countess Bathory (portrayed by Delphine Syerig), who right away takes a fancy to the couple.  The Countess, however, also has a companion with her already, a woman named Ilona (portrayed by Andrea Rau) who is in love with lady Bathory, and she professes jealousy that her companion’s attention is elsewhere.  For some reason, I never pictured Bathory as a blonde, but it seems to work well for Syerig and she plays a most convincing Bathory.  Her performance is cold, intense, and provocative.

            One criticism I have is of the horrid orange robe Karlen is forced to don for part of the film.  Everyone else looks stylish, and he is in this robe and nothing else (which makes him look somewhat insane).  Not that he didn’t already look insane when he beat his wife with a belt for no apparent reason.  That would be my second criticism…not quite sure why Stefan’s character had the dark streak when he intends to be a hero in saving Valerie from Bathory later on in the film.  His characterization, I felt, was the weakest link in this film.  He acts very shady at first about talking to his mother and telling her of the wedding, and then calls home and some guy answers, but viewers never figure out who this dude is or why ‘it would be bad if she found out about them.’  When Bathory and Valerie wind up killing him and drinking blood out of his slit wrists, I was amused because his character was annoying. 

            Though this is an older film and has a somewhat slow pace to the action, I have to say it was a good movie that I enjoyed watching.  Syerig delivers a wicked performance and there are parts of the plot that are particularly intriguing.  Number of killers?  Four.  Body Count? Five.  Boob Count?  Three.  Cheap Thrills? Zero.  Actual Spooks Endured: One.  Entertainment?  For sure.  Raven’s Scream Meter Says: 3 out of 5 Screams.  Another enjoyable foreign flick, with a moderate amount of gore to satiate the horror fiend's appetite.           

Suspiria (1977)

"Suzy, do you know anything about witches?"  Ok, so I may be a tad biased when it comes to the review of this movie, as it is one of my all time favorites and in my opinion a true horror classic.  Dario Argento’s Suspiria is downright awesome: from the set, to the costumes, to the murder scenes, to the score, to the lighting, the entire film is like candy for the eyes and ears of the horror-inclined.  For those of you who have not yet seen this film, I will indulge you with a synopsis:  Suzy Bannion, as portrayed by Jessica Harper, heads to Germany to attend a school of dance there.  She arrives, and immediately murders begin occurring all over the school.  Viewers eventually become aware that the school is instructed by a coven of wicked witches, and I mean that in the most literal sense.  This is the first of the Three Mothers Argento trilogy, and they are all exquisite films.       

Though I have heard the original concept was supposed to be young girls (ages six or seven), the actors in the film do a fine job with their roles.  Because it is an older film, some of the gore looks slightly stiff, but there is plenty of it to go around in this film.  The score was written by Goblin, a personal favorite of mine (horror movie score wise), and it compliments the tone that Argento sets with the red and blue lighting and intriguing setting that is full of bold architecture and unique furnishings.  Actually the setting is so gorgeous and unique that it adds an otherworldly element to the eerie feeling about the movie in a way not many other movies have pulled off (if any). 

This film is unique in many ways, but conceptually it is far superior to others of its kind.  I have never seen witches portrayed in quite the same fashion as Argento’s; they are very shadowy in his films and operate largely behind the scenes while the protagonists scramble for clues to explain the inexplicable events that keep occurring around them.  It is seriously a brilliant concept made even better by the acting, lighting, gore, set, and sound.  The murder scenes in this movie are inspiring – one girl is pulled through a window, stabbed repeatedly and choked with an electrical cord over a stained glass window/skylight, and when the window inevitably breaks underneath her she is hung by the cord.  Genius.  There is another scene in which one of the characters winds up trapped by the killer in a room full of barbed wire.  She gets caught in the wire and then, just as she is about to reach the door to this steel room of doom (still entangled in the hateful wire), her throat is brutally slashed.  The scene is one of those where the viewer also feels stuck in the wire, and it might make one’s heart race with the hope she gets free…well…unless one has already read this review and knows she doesn’t.  Bahaha!

For my friends that detest subtitles – no worries here, it is dubbed into English, and the dubbing was done well.  In a movie like this, it would be hard to focus on subtitles anyway with all of the lush scenery viewers will be taking in!  Anyone who has heard of Argento but hasn’t managed to catch any of his flicks yet – this is a great starter film that will show you exactly why Argento is a master of horror.  Often referred to as “the new Hitchcock,” Argento takes horror to a different place than most other directors.  Watch it now and thank me later.  Number of killers?  Somewhat unclear.  We know for sure that there is at least one, but many of the staff are part of the coven of witches, so I’m going with 1+  Body Count? Five +.  Boob Count?  Zero.  Cheap Thrills? Zero.  Actual Spooks Endured: Four.  Entertainment?  Oh hell yes.  Raven’s Scream Meter Says: 5 out of 5 Screams.  A true classic that will continue to be an inspiration to horror directors for years to come.        

Muoi - The Legend of a Portrait (2007)

“Death begins the curse…”  Intense is the first word that comes to mind when attempting to describe Tae-kyeong Kim’s Muoi: The Legend of a Portrait.  Vietnam’s first addition to the horror genre, and first rated film ever, is an excellent ghost story that has a great pace, intriguing plot, and a believable ensemble that all serve to draw viewers in and keep them interested.  Essentially the plot revolves around a young Korean author, Yun-hui (convincingly portrayed by An Jo), who is writing a piece on a local legend about a ghost named Muoi.  There were all kinds of different stories surrounding the death and curse of Muoi, and Yun-hui was trying to find the true story so that she could write a book about it.  The movie begins with a mysterious, ghost-y death, and then cuts to clips that Yun-hui has taken of people describing what they had heard about the curse of Muoi.  Viewers soon learn that Yun-hui is about to travel to Vietnam to meet up with an old friend, Seo-yeon (portrayed by Ye-ryeon Cha).  The catch here is that Yun-hui’s first novel contained some rather scathing remarks about Seo-yeon, and Yun-hui had no idea whether or not Seo-yeon had read the book.    

When the two girls do meet up, the uncomfortable feeling between the two girls easily translates to the audience through body language and tone of voice.  Though through much of the film it is unclear as to whether or not Seo-yeon has read Yun-hui’s book, as the two seem to be getting along fairly well.  Seo-yeon begins to tell Yun-hui everything she knows about the curse of Muoi, and takes her to Muoi’s house.  From this point on, there are plenty of ghostly antics for everyone – and, might I add, a ton of cheap thrills for those that like jump-out-of-your-skin moments.   The cinematography in this film was done beautifully, and there are some particularly stunning shots and interesting angles during the temple scenes.  And, on a girly note, I personally enjoyed the wardrobe of the film as well.  There is a particular coat that Yun-hui wears that has teeny round buttons on it that I thought was simple and elegant looking, particularly on that character.

I actually expected a lot more blood when I first settled down to watch this flick, but the spook factor was still pretty high so I can’t complain about the lack of blood.  Viewers do get to see Muoi as she has her face doused in acid (or something like acid) which is awesomely gruesome, but viewers don’t get to see the mangled face except for in quick flash shots that were mostly too quick to see anything truly gore-y.  I thoroughly enjoyed most of Yun-hui’s dream sequences, as they tended to be dark and edgy.  From what I have discovered of Asian film, my opinion is that no one else can film a dream sequence in quite the same fashion: I believe the Asian culture truly has a grasp on the subconscious and dream world.  But I digress.

The ending of the film might be the only part that could be criticized, as after the curse plays out, viewers do not get to see what happens to Yun-hui.  Does she die, does she live…we don’t know.  The only closure viewers get from this film is that the revenge that was sought after was attained.  A fair warning for those who do not like subtitles, this movie is indeed a subtitled film, so I thought it my duty to let you know prior to your search for it.  I am unsure as to whether or not there is a dubbed version of this film (or a remake in another language), so if you find out any of this please let me know!  Number of killers?  Four.  Body Count? Six.  Boob Count?  Zero.  Cheap Thrills? Five.  Actual Spooks Endured: Three.  Entertainment?  Oh hell yes.  Raven’s Scream Meter Says: 4 out of 5 Screams.  A wonderful addition to anyone’s foreign horror collection.       

We Are the Night (2010)

            “Wouldn’t you grab onto them with both arms and never, never let them go,” the narrator questions the audience in the beginning sequence of We Are the Night.  Essentially the story revolves around a girl named Lena (portrayed by Karoline Herfurth) and a group of vampires led by Louise (portrayed by Nina Hoss).  I am always delighted to find vampire movies that somewhat keep to the original idea of vampires – lots of blood, no sunlight, no sparkles.  This movie kicks off with an entire airplane full of victims.  In fact, most of the body count in this movie is actually found in the first ten minutes.  But I digress.  Viewers see the airplane full of victims, and the three lady vamps (interesting concept in this move, there are no male vampires) as they prepare to jump out of the doomed vessel.  Then the movie cuts to Lena and running from Tom the cop (portrayed by Max Riemelt) – and she is giving him quite the chase.  She even manages to grasp (and then continues to hang on to) a barbed wire fence, which bloodied up her hands pretty bad. Lena runs into the group of vamps at one of Louise’s clubs, and Louise immediately has an attraction to Lena because of her eyes.  Louise bites Lena and there is an excellent sequence in which Lena is beginning to become a vampire.  At one point, Lena runs to the fridge and grabs some hamburger meat and sucks the blood out of it, even grabbing the meat tray and drinking the blood off of that when she was done.  Beautiful.

            The gore in this film is done well, and there is plenty of blood to satiate the horror fiend’s appetite.  At one point Charlotte (portrayed by Jennifer Ulrich, and coincidently my favorite character in the film) is getting barked at by a guy in a restaurant about her cigarette, so she puts the smoke out in her eye and winks at him.  It was cute, and provided viewers with a unique portrayal of the regeneration abilities vampires generally are gifted with.   Nora (portrayed by Anna Fischer and my other fave character in this movie) also proved to be a fun addition to the film; when the security guard gets sliced and is bleeding, her hungry facial expressions make the scene all the more compelling and fang-tastic.  I do have one negative critique, when Lena is given her new whip (super fancy car) to drive around; she keys the car before getting into it.  I wasn’t really sure what kind of statement this was intended to make, and it didn’t fit with the rest of the scene. 

            We Are the Night was originally written/filmed in Germany, but for those who do not enjoy subtitled films this movie is dubbed into English (and decently dubbed, I might add).  That being said, I’d like to see the same film in German with subtitles, so I could hear the original actors inflections and such.  I personally prefer to hear the language and read subtitles than watched a dubbed film.  I think the film is geared more toward Ann Rice style vampires and not Stephanie Meyers works…so I would not call this film ‘an answer to’ or ‘a creation because of’ Twilight.  The vamps in this film note that the blood of evil men tastes sweeter, and that is most definitely a throw back to Rice’s fanged ones, as well as the rich way in which the immortal characters live (Lestat, anyone?).  I would call this film a must-see for those that like a little drama mixed in with their horror, and for people who dig vamps that don’t sparkle.  Number of killers?  Basically four, but there are a few more than the main four mixed in there.  Body count?  About fifteen.  Boob count?  Zero.  Cheap thrills?  Zero.  Actual creeps given?  Zero.  Entertainment: Loads.  Raven’s Scream Meter Says: 3.5 out of 5 screams – a delightfully fun fang fest! Bonus points for both the creepy carnival scenes, as well as VAST playing during the ending credits.  Love.