Boo! Horror Movie Marathon!

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i’m a fan of horror books. i LOVE reading horror stories. but when it comes to horror MOVIES, i’m iffy! haha. you see, i love visualizing what i read and trying to draw a picture in my head – but when the scary image is right there in the big screen with blasting sound effects that scare you, i’d rather close my eyes or look at it between the cracks of my fingers!

however, i was on a horror-movie marathon last week, no thanks to my mr. khairul. he kept piling them up in our ‘movie folder’! haha. i watched a couple of movies but these are my favs. one is a swedish 2008 horror movie ‘let the right one in. the others are all from thailand, and you know these thai people can make REALLY GOOD horror movies!

‘coming soon’, ‘ladda land’ and the most seriously scary ‘phobia 2’.

be afraid. be very afraid.

 

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it would be double scary to have watched this at the cinema, because ‘coming soon’ is about a ghost that appears from a movie screened at the cinema…

as the tagline from the movie suggests : ‘the most frightening movies are the ones that follow you home…’ – creepy! this dude chen works at the projector room in the cinema, and also films the movies for a pirated copy. but something went really wrong when he tried to film this particular horror movie – and the scary scenes begin…

this movie has an interesting storyline with a few twists in the end. just when you thought you got everything figured out, the movie surprises you with a new twist. i like horror movies like this – the ones that don’t simply scare you, but also entertain you with a clever plot and well-written script.

‘coming soon’ is a must-see!

 

 

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girls, if you’ve been watching ‘twilight’ just for edward cullen, i can’t help you. but if you’re watching ‘twilight’ for the lack-of-emotion bad-scripted love story, then you better ditch edward-bella romance and watch this swedish horror romance ‘let the right one in’. best vampire love story since the tom cruise-brad pitt bromance in ‘interview with the vampire’.

oscar is a bullied kid who befriended his mysterious neighbour-girl elsa, not knowing that she really is, a vampire who stopped aging at 12. if this plot sounds familiar, it’s because there’s an american remake of this movie called ‘let me in’, which was highly criticized for being too similar to this original swedish movie.

i love that they kept the bloody-gory scenes at a down-low, yet we know that there’s some sick stuff going on since she’s a vampire and all. the art director needs full credit here, for shooting scenes in a way that is so subtle that we know there’s violence taking place, but we’re shown only a little bit of it here and there – beautifully executed.

‘let the right one in’ is NOT a scary horror movie, but it is a unique vampire tale; of love and innocence. it’s a must-see, at least for its well-shot artful cinematography.

 

 

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‘laddaland’. when a horror movie is made by the thai people, you know it’s gonna be good. remember ‘nang nak’? this movie is seriously creepy. and scares you when you least expect it.

when you think about horror movies set in a housing area or village, i’m sure you imagine abandoned bungalow, or old neighbourhood with worn-down houses with broken windows and creaking floors – but ‘laddaland’ takes away all those horror movies cliches, and tells a story of a ghost in a squeaky clean, well-lit housing area, with gorgeous homes, new paints, fresh green lawn, and perfectly paved roads.

to top it all, a perfect family had just moved into the lovely neighbourhood. loving father who personally hand-painted the walls of his daughter’s room, plus a beautiful wife and two children. the opening of the film looks like it’s gonna be just another family drama.

everything seemed perfect – but it’s not. after the grisly murder of a burmese maid in one of the houses in the neighbourhood, strange things start to take place around the once-perfect housing area. watch the trailer, and let the horror creeps through your veins…

 

 

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i absolutely LOVE being scared by this movie.

there are 5 fantastically terrifying tales in ‘phobia 2’, giving us different kinds of ‘phobia’ in every short story. even when reading, i really love short stories because it gives me the chance to read more stories in shorter time. also, it takes a good writer to write an interesting story in just so many words.

so goes this movie – the 5 stories are all well-written, great acting talents and cinematography. never boring. the 5 stories are :

novice : REALLY scary. a troubled teenage boy was sent away by his mom to a sort of ‘boot camp’ with the monks. they bertapa in the woods where they give food offering to a supernatural being in the woods…one day he has to go bertapa alone…

ward : a quiet hospital floor. the silent night. death around the corner. always a good premise for a ghost story. a guy just had an accident, and had to share a room with a terminally ill patient in a coma. a person who’s in a coma cannot move, and walk. or can he?

backpackers : two japanese backpackers hitched a ride on a truck. while on the way, there were banging sounds coming from the back. what was it? to me, this is the least scary of the 5 – but that’s just because i’m not much of a fan of zombies…

salvage : i could never imagine that a used car shop can be a scary place especially at night, and when the night guard is away. ever wonder what happened to cars that has been in an accident?

in the end : this is TOTALLY MY FAVORITE! something went really wrong during the filming of a horror movie. what, who, when, why? i won’t spoil this best part of the movie, so i’ll just say this movie is a MUST-WATCH for all you horror movie fans, if only for THIS last part alone.

 

 

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after watching these horror movies, i had to switch on ‘toy story’ or ‘monster inc’ – or any silly strictly fun movie just to have some laughs and forget the scary scenes! i think i’ll draw the line here on the horror movie marathon. we sambung some other time!

(but i think you know that it’s just nice and warm to watch a horror movie with your husband or wife, kan? *wink wink*)