The Woman

In a Nutshell: A successful lawyer captures and tries to 'civilize' a feral woman, the last remaining member of a violent clan. Putting the lives of his entire family in jeopardy.



First of all, I started to watch 'The Woman' with my wife. She couldn't stomach it and she had to stop watching; It's dark and disturbing stuff, and I'd only recommend it to hardcore horror fans. I'm surprised to see a film this weird, shocking, and utterly insane come out of America! It's a ballsy film.

Directed by Lucky McKee (May) and written by controversial writer Jack Ketchum (The Girl Next Door), 'The Woman' is at times a quirky black comedy, and it switches to truly sinster and depraved in the blink of an eye. It's an odd tone, and it sets a pretty unsettling atmosphere. Pollyanna McIntosh (Offspring) is 'The Woman', a part she plays incredibly and with so much screen presence! I actually believed she was this feral beast that could rip me apart.

The father of the family, Lawyer Chris Cleek played by Sean Bridgers reminded me of a twisted and EVIL 'Will Ferrell', and the rest of the dysfunctional family are all played very well. My only minor complaint is that I found some of the music a little grating and I thought some of the sadistic stuff lingered a bit too long, but this is subjective.

NOW, when the violence comes in fully it hits you like a sledgehammer and it goes straight for the jugular! I think there's some intelligence behind it all though and it seems to be carrying a strong message, delivered in a rather brutal and thought-provoking way! Compared to most horror coming out of America it's really original too. If you're a fan of subversive horror, and if you can go in with an open-mind and you aren't easily offended, WATCH IT!

8/10

Bedevilled

When the pleas of an abused woman are ignored, things turn nasty on a Korean Island.



Bedevilled is a South Korean Drama come Slasher Horror film...that sentence alone should be enough to grab your attention! This is one of the most emotionally and often visually bleak films that I have ever seen and I've watched a lot of dark and extreme cinema. I wouldn't recommend it to just anyone; it's a slow burning film that gradually gets under your skin, the subject matter is very disturbing and it doesn't pull any punches. I can guarantee Hollywood won't be attempting to remake this one, and if they do I highly doubt they'll keep much of what makes it so brutal and disturbed. A strong and open-mind is needed to experience this film.

Talking about the films plot will spoil the experience and impact of the film, so I will keep details to a bare minimum (avoid IMDB until you've seen it too, there's spoilers in the films synopsis). Yeong-hie Seo who plays the abused Bok-Nam is absolutely phenomenal, perhaps the best performance I saw from an actress in 2011 (UK release)! The cinematography is beautiful, the story original, and the tone of the film is unsettling and realistic. Anyone looking for an all out Horror flick should look somewhere else, the drama comes first here. And the drama is solid, emotional and truly heart wrenching! When the shit hits the fan be ready for some intense, extreme and disturbing brutality! It's hard to 'recommend' it, it might be too much for some people. It's not something you 'enjoy' as such. But, I did like it very much so!

8/10

A Serbian Film

‘A Serbian Film’ leaves a bad aftertaste in your mouth. The debut film by 'Spasojevic' is growing in notoriety for its controversial scenes, banned in most places (including the USA) and released in the UK with over 4 minutes of cuts by the British Board of Film, the most cuts in 16 years.



The film follows an aging pornstar hired to star in a new 'art film', that descends into the dark, depraved world of underground pornography. I DO NOT recommend that anyone watch this film. But as a reviewer I will give my critique of what I watched; the film is actually pretty well made, there’s some great cinematography, camerawork and editing, and the acting, although dodgy in a few places is mostly solid by the main cast, it sustains threat and builds tension.

BUT, the films plot is constructed to allow shock tactic sequences for the sake of it, anyone looking for a deeper reasoning from the films horrid finale is giving the film more credit than it deserves. 'A Serbian film' is a repugnant piece of vile, hateful film making. The unnerving ending made me feel quite sickened, and I’m an open-minded fan of the weird and disturbing and I believe in freedom of expression. This is a nasty piece of exploitative work. It really is not brutal or sick (for lack of a better word) in an 'entertaining' way.

I've seen way more graphic films; I've seen films with more graphic sex (Baise-Moi) and violence (Inside), and I've seen films with more thought provoking impact (Irreversible). BUT, in the end, it's the tone, delivery and themes that make 'A Serbian Film' just plain nasty. Any deep message or moral hidden within does not give it artistic merit enough to redeem it.
If you still have some sort of morbid fascination about watching this film, remember; what has been seen, cannot be un-seen. Unless you are the most hardcore of horror fans, unless you aren't easily phased, or unless you just want to feel violated, do not watch it.

This is the hardest film I have ever tried to score. Like I've already stated; the actual quality of the production in general is solid, and based on that alone I'd possibly give it around a 7/10. Including the nasty stuff it becomes so repellent to me it drops right down to a 3/10.