Posts Tagged ‘Horror’
Well, no more slacking off for your Favorite Catgirl Movie Reviewer… I’m back at it once again, and this time out it’s off to Indonesia for the new DVD release of the first film by Brian Yuzna’s Komodo Films project, “Takut: Faces of Fear“.
Synopsis? It goes something like this: “7 directors, 6 stories, 1 emotion – FEAR!
“Show Unit“: A man investigates an intruder in his house only to become the victim of a deadly game of extortion and murder.
“Titisan Naya” aka “Incarnation of Naya“: During her family’s traditional sacred-kris cleansing-ritual a skeptical teenager discovers that her ancestors are not just an old memory.
“Peeper“: A Peeping Tom finds his comeuppance in the backstage of a Wayang Orang dance theater. An exploration of the other meaning of ‘love blinds’ by Ray Nayoan.
“The List“: Boy meets girl. Boy dumps girl. It’s magic, with a twist. A scorned woman engages a “dukun” to use black magic to satisfy her appetites for revenge.
“The Rescue”: The Rescue is a fast-paced chase through an apocalyptic Jakarta inhabited with cannibalistic “sub-humans”. A patrol of mobile brigadier Gegana Special Forces must lead civilian survivors to safety before they are all infected.
“Dara“: One woman, three men. Let the feast begin… Dara is a story about haute cuisine and the lengths to which a beautiful chef will go to in order to satisfy her customers.”
Seems anthology horror is all the rage in Asia these days with plenty of examples from Thailand, HK, Malaysia, and Indonesia to choose from. So why grab this particular film? Well, Brian Yuzna certainly holds a special place in Neko’s heart for his earlier Lovecraft inspired horror efforts “Reanimator” and it’s sequels as well as “From Beyond” so it’s a given that this one could be a slice above the usual Indonesian effort. Add to that the inclusion of the Mo Brothers short “Dara” which I’d been on the lookout for and there was no way I could pass this up.
So what the heck are you waitin’ for? It’s time to “Read On”, o’ Gentle Visitors!
I know it’s been a while… but yes…. I’m still very much alive, Gentle Visitors, and so I guess it’s time to put my sadness behind me and just move forward… and that means it’s also time for another “Nekolishous” review for you all to help shake out the last of my lingering blues.
This time…. it’s all about a movie I’ve been trying hard to find for quite some time. You see…. every once in a while, your Favorite Catgirl manages to snag a long searched for treasure… A film that somehow resists my every effort to track down despite my sometimes obsessive (and some might say crazy) efforts to make it my own. Occasionally it’s simply finding the DVD itself… (maybe forcing me to settle for a VCD or even a brittle old VHS tape just to see it at last) and other times it’s the subtitles which vex and elude me (And we all know how cranky THAT can make me, Hehehehe!!), but then there are those rare and inexplicable times the entire film seems to just drop right off the edge of the planet itself never seeming to come to light despite my best efforts to unearth it. When I finally find one of these, it’s always a thing to celebrate, and, as luck would have it, this time out my ceaseless efforts have brought me a copy of the 2006 Malay horror film “Susuk”. At last!! Just about when I’d about given up hope of ever encountering it….
Synopsis? Well here it goes: “Beauty & Fame has a price. Soraya is a young trainee nurse who is starting to feel dissatisfied by her mediocre and unremarkable life. A chance introduction to the world of glamour piques her earlier ambition to be a star. She does not succeed at first. But then she is told the forbidden practice of Susuk can help. She has to make a choice then whether to remain the way she is or cross the line into forbidden sins to realize her dreams.”
Naturally… as soon as it arrived in my mailbox, I just had to give it a watch and share my impressions with all you here at the ol’ Litterbox, o’ Gentle Visitors. As always, such a find carries with it certain expectations…. and this time is no different. But will I luck out and score a true gem, or be disappointed by a film that just doesn’t reach for those lofty levels of horror goodness?
Only one real way to find out… and that’s right, time to give it a look, so what are you waitin’ for? It’s time to “Read On!”
Yeah, yeah….. I just know this girl’s gonna have bad dreams for a few nights…. but even so, I still couldn’t resist the siren call of the latest Indonesian horror goodie to reach my mailbox, “Rumah Dara” or as it’s known practically everywhere else, “Macabre”. Well…. Except for Singapore where your Favorite Catgirl finally managed to snag myself a copy… There it’s simply called, “Darah”. Confused yet? Don’t worry… it gets easier.
Our synopsis for it goes like this: “Adjie (Ario Bayu) and Astrid (Sigi Wimala) will leave for Australia the very next day but before that Adjie wants to meet with his rebel sister, Ladya (Julie Estelle). Their meeting does not run smoothly in the beginning as Ladya keeps blaming Adjie for his past mistakes. After persuasion from Astrid, Ladya agrees to send Adjie off in the airport.
The next day on the way to the airport their journey are interrupted when a beautiful woman called Maya (Imelda Therinne) approached them for help as she has just been robbed and she needed their help to bring her home.
After reaching at her home they are introduced by an elegant and mysterious woman called Dara (Shareefa Daanish). And the sincere and good intentions of Dara is only the beginning of a disastrous outcome. Who is Dara actually? And…. will they be able to escape from this “House of Blood” alive?”
This one promised to be a bit more extreme than the usual Indonesian horror effort, and given that I was a little hesitant at first….. You all know what a timid and tender heart lurks inside this lil’ horror movie lovin’ Catgirl, but I told myself: “Awww… C’mon…..It’s Indonesian for goodness sake…. How truly nasty could it really be?”
Ummmm… errrr…. well… pretty darn bloody, nasty and downright mean in a true “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” meets “The Hills Have Eyes” sorta way as it turns out….. So, do ya wanna know if it’s your cup of tea as well? Then all you gotta do is “Read On!!” and find out…..
Oooohhh!! Those naughty, evil, flesh eating Philippine monsters, the Aswang, are back… and so is pretty Cristine Reyes…. but this time there’s no romance or comedy on hand in the latest Philippine Horror DVD to find it’s way to your Favorite Catgirl’s mailbox. This time out it’s full-on horror in the latest Philippine DVD, “Patient X”.
The synopsis goes sorta like this: “Dr. Lukas Esguerra comes home to his rural hometown and finds that one of the suspects in the brutal murder of his brother and his family was caught by the police and was able to sustain multiple gunshot wounds. But then this suspect is still alive, and apparently cannot die. The police locked up this suspect in the basement section of a hospital, because of the suspect’s involvement in the recent massacre that resulted to the deaths of the family of the police chief. On the evening of Dr. Esguerra’s visit, the sinister and mysterious companions of the suspect has come knocking on the hospital doors and is bent on freeing their companion locked up inside, even if it kills everybody on the way.”
Sounds like this particular one certainly isn’t going to be a sweet romantic comedy…. even though Cristine Reyes is again on hand doing her best to be as cute and adorable a cannibal monster girl as she possibly can. But scary can be good too, and so I’m really lookin’ forward to seeing if the Aswang are as creepy and horrible as all the folklore suggests they are. Well…. only one way to find out…. and that’s to get in there, curl up on the couch with the wine coolers and popcorn and give it a watch, right?
But don’t worry… Your Favorite Catgirl will let you in on all the details… all you have to do Gentle Visitor, is “Read On!!”
Well… this time out, your Favorite Catgirl’s back in more familiar territory, with the new DVD for the Indonesian Horror film “Air Terjun Pengantin”. Looks to me at first glance to be sorta “Friday the 13th” meets “Cannibal Apocalypse”…. with a dash of the ol’ Indonesian ghost story goodness thrown in for extra added flavor. I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while now, and finally got my chance to grab a copy…. I’d have watched it long before now, but you all know what a busy, busy lady I’ve been these days…. Thank goodness some free time open up an let me get to it! Mmmmm!! Crazy cannibals…. Carolyn is just gonna soooo freak out when I set up this one for Movie Nite!! Hehehehe!!
Our synopsis goes like this here: “Tiara (Tamara Bleszynski) wants to get over with her traumatic past and is planning to visit Bride’s Waterfall to release her tension. She invites few of her cousins to join her in this trip. Her boyfriend, Lilo (Kieran Sidhu) and the rest seven people are joining this trip.
Upon arrival the group falls in love with its pristine beach and Tiara is delighted and looking forward to have a good time there. However, their joy does not last very long as few strange incidents occurred in the island. Finally, Lilo reveals that the inhabitants of the island have been massacred by a mysterious person.
Then a mysterious masked man starts to terrorize the island. One by one the trip members are killed with their blood being consumed. What is the motive of the murder? Will Tiara escape for safety from the masked man?”
Oh yeah…. sounds like a slasher film alright… but Neko’s hoping that they went a new direction here and at least tried to put their own mark on the genre…. It’s certainly been a good long time since I saw an original take on that old “teens gone wild, teens get dead” story idea. Will they succeed? Or will this one just remind me of the smell of over-ripe bananas gone waaaay bad?
Let’s all find out! Yep… It’s time to “Read On!!”
The Walking Dead… Flesh-eating Cannibal Corpses….. the “Living Deprived”… or as we all lovingly like to call them, Zombies….
What’s so darn compellingly universal about them? Seems that they manage to lurch their way into the most unexpected places…. this time out it’s the exotic land of Turkey suffering the ravages of the “Zombie Apocalypse” in the new DVD release “Ada Zombilerin Düğünü” or, as I’ve been told it translates: “The Island: Wedding of the Zombies”. This one sorta snuck up on your Favorite Movie Lovin’ Catgirl and I only recently caught wind of it during one of my quests through the Internet in search of yet another Turkish horror delight. That one managed to escape me… but I was rewarded by encountering this bit of Zombie horror goodness. One quick search later found me a copy and now it’s mine to watch and review or all of you here at the ol’ Litterbox.
Synopsis? Well… I can give you this one, translated and cleaned up a bit from the Turkish original: “Erhan, together with five long time friends, is off to the island of Büyükada’ya to attend the wedding of a distant acquaintance. To commemorate the event, he can record their happy moments with a video camera he brought along on the trip. Viewed throughout the entire film, this camera captures the horrors that unfold in a most personal fashion. All seems normal at first, yet later the wedding guests become the victims of an unexpected zombie attack, and the whole scene turns into a horrifying lake of blood.”
Looks to this lil’ Catgirl like some sort of cross between “Cloverfield” and “Blair Witch” with more than a little “Diary of the Dead” thrown in for good measure. Still…. I don’t get many Turkish Zombies in my neck of the woods, so I’m not about to turn down a chance to munch my popcorn, cuddle with my sweetie, and get my zombie movie fix, Turkish style.
Wanna know if it’s worth a look-see for yourself? Then by all means, you’d better “Read On”!
Nothing seems to creep out Asians more than dead babies…. Neko’s not certain exactly just why that is (I’ve always found the living ones can be creepy enough most days, Hehehe!!), but anyway, this time out your Favorite Catgirl has for you a look at the recent HK horror effort, “Womb Ghosts”.
Synopsis? Do you really need one with a title like this? Well… OK, here’s how it goes: “Life after death of a fetus inside a woman’s body exists as a Womb Ghost. Unnatural termination of such life will turn the baby into the evilest and most vicious kind of spirit.
A mental hospital is haunted by spirits, the mysterious miscarriage of a young and beautiful inmate causes authorities to investigate. Only one answer can be given to the existence of such an ungodly creature… Womb Ghost.”
Sounds trashy? Well I certainly hope so…. Your Favorite Catgirl could use some gooey nasty horror to make me squirm just a wee bit….. and it’s been a while since the Chinese managed to reach the level of some of the over-the-top gore fests of the old Shaw studios, like “Black Magic”, or “Bewitched”. Of late it’s been Thailand to which I’ve turned when I want to be grossed out in that “so bad, it’s good” way. Just why I like that sort of thing sometimes seems to escape those who love and know me well, but I like to think it’s all part of my whimsical undefinable charm….. (And it certainly sounds better than being known as “that creepy Asian girl who likes THOSE nasty sorts of movies….” Hehehehe!!)
But you, o’ Gentle Visitors, know deep in your hearts, that you too like those naughty, gory movies as much as I do…. and so you’ll definitely want to “Read On” and see if “Womb Ghosts” is up to the task of both delighting and grossing you out as well.
This time out, it’s a quick look at the recent Thai horror offering “6:66 Death Happens”. It’s another of those Thai goodies released to their domestic DVD market sans English subtitle, but your Favorite Catgirl has never… ever… let that stand in her way of getting her Thai horror fix before, now has she? Nope…
Our synopsis goes like this: “Bangkok based Crime reporter Dao (Susie-Susira Angelina Nanna) has to uncover strange and unexplainable incidents in the next 24 hours. She received news from the hospital that her father (Yodchai Meksuwan) has been miraculously resurrected from the death after being dead for more than 15 consecutive years since the departure of her mother.
She experiences few incidents that are related to death such as feeling wanting to die and is determined to find out the truth about it. Joining her is an old-time police friend, Wut (Jason Young) who is interested to discover the truth about her father’s resurrection story. Both are battling the power of death and she may as well become the next victim…”
Yep…. this one most certainly sounds like one of those films your Favorite Catgirl can’t get enough of…. Weird supernatural hauntings… the dead refusing to stay dead…. babies refusing to be born…. old family secrets that lurk in the closet like skeletons….. Naturally I’m all for snugglin’ in to make a night of movie watchin’ bliss. Not to worry though, I’ll tell ya all about it.
Psssst!! That means it’s time to “Read On”, you silly lil’ doofus!!
Time for a different sort of film for us here at the ol’ Litterbox (Just to prove your Favorite Catgirl isn’t just all about Asian movies….), so this time out we have the UK Region 2 release “Salvage”.
Our synopsis goes like this: “Christmas Eve, and the residents of a quiet British cul-de-sac are suddenly plunged into a world of violence, terror and paranoia when a group of heavily armed military personnel storm their road ordering them at gunpoint to retreat inside their homes. Unsure if this is the sign of a terrorist attack, or something much worse, one local mother finds it in herself to desperately fight to save her estranged daughter stranded across the street. However, with growing dread, the residents soon discover that the threat is more monstrous than any of them could possibly imagine, and survival is no longer a guarantee.”
When I ran across this one, I was thinking it’s going to be some sort of Zombie movie…. Mmmmmm!!! Zombies are always good for an evening’s movie watchin’ entertainment and the Trailer makes me think that’s not too far from the mark, but horror movies often have a way of going differently than you think they might sometimes, and once in a while…. if it quacks like a duck it might just really turn out to be an animal of an all too different sort.
But…. as always, your Favorite Catgirl is game for about any creepy goings on and I’ll let you all in on the juicy bits if only you just “Read On”!!
Hehehehe!!! Yep…. I can just hear Carolyn now…. “Miyuki? Where in heck did you manage to find another killer pig movie?”
Surprisingly…. for an American made horror film that’s nearly 2 years old, your Favorite Catgirl only managed to run across this on on it’s Region 2 UK DVD release just a week or so ago. I’ve been unable to confirm it was even ever released here in the good ol’ US of A… but it’s certainly found it’s way everywhere else lately, from Germany, the UK, and even in a Region 3 release in Thailand.
Our synopsis goes like this: “When rugged country boy John takes his city raised friends on a weekend trip back to his deceased uncle’s remote ranch to hunt wild pigs, it seems like a typical “guys getaway with guns” – despite the presence of John’s sexy girlfriend Brooks. But as John and his crew trek deeper into the marijuana filled hills of Northern California, they find a wilderness laced with rednecks, lots of high powered weaponry, and a killer cult of machete toting hippie beauties, only to learn the awful truth about his late uncle’s death and the truth behind the local legend of “The Ripper” — a murderous 3000 pound man-eating wild boar!”
Now Neko’s seen killer Aussie piggies….. killer Korean pork on a rampage….. so am I ready for some good ol’ American “Pig-foot” action? More importantly…. is Carolyn? (Hehehehe!! At least this one is in English….)
Since all you gentle visitors here at the Litterbox probably are “Killer Pig movie” fans too, you best not waste any more time them. Let’s “Read On”, shall we?