I love slasher films, I go ape shit for them, and when I read about “Haute Tension” I went nuts especially after watching the trailer when I went to see “Saw” in theaters last year. Modern slasher films have been incredibly watered down with very little gore, and just nonsensical casting, hiring young hip actors to portray the victims. I always say that these days the best films are the foreign films, and the best horror films are indeed the foreign ones, and “Haute Tension” is no exception. This is a great film that was just so reminiscent of Argento’s gory style, with a killer that is awfully scary.
Tag Archives: Slasher
Toolbox Murders (2004)
I’ll admit “The Toolbox Murders” will never win any awards in the horror field, but as a piece of pure mindless horror with gore galore, I dug it a lot simply for its schlock value, and so-stupid-it’s-good fun. When Nell and Steven move to Hollywood after Steven, a doctor gets a job at the local hospital, their apartment building is less than luxurious, and Nell has an instant uneasy feeling about the vibe of the building and has no idea there are murders going on all around her. She can hear and feel its bad atmosphere despite the landlord’s boasting that it’s just a Hollywood landmark, but once she begins suspecting her friends being murdered around her she delves into the shocking underbelly of the landmark and discovers its grizzly secret.
Saw (2004)
Ripper (2001)
Director John Eyres does manage to capture the appropriate mood for a film with a concept such as this. The set pieces range from grim, to bleak, to bright, to sometimes very sleek, plus he manages to take an old tired horror device: a dark and stormy forest and manages to make it a bit tense with some suspense clearly evident to the audience awaiting the identity of the killer. Jack the Ripper, the famous or infamous serial killer has been fodder for horror movies for decades, and as always is the case, every new movie attempts to put a different spin on the serial killer, attempts to turn and twist, and flip the serial killer into a new movie, but alas, there are very few movies that can take the most interesting serial killer of all time and turn him into a good film.
House of 1,000 Corpses (2003)
“House of a 1,000 Corpses” is a throwback and dedication to the old seventies horror films; a decade which is arguably the best decade to churn out some of the horror genre’s best. Zombie knows his material and uses it in this with the good ol’ tale of a group of teens who enter into the countryside to discover the land and end up getting more than they bargained for. This set up is tired and has been done to death, but do any of us really tired of watching teens get hacked, sliced, cut, tortured, tormented, stabbed, and tied? No! And that’s why I got such a kick out of this groovy horror homage.
Christina's House (2001)
A young girl named Christina (the insanely hot Allison Lange) has just moved into her new home with her father and brother and begins to re-adjust to life while their mother remains in an insane asylum. Suddenly, odd things begin to happen: people get killed near the home, half eaten cookies and freshly made sandwiches are discovered lying around the house, and windows and doors lock by themselves while strange notes are found. Christina soon begins to wonder if the incidents are real, or if she’s losing her mind like her mother.
Jason X (2002)
In the movie we fast- forward to 2008 where we see Jason whose finally been caught by The Crystal Lake Research Facility. Scientists have decided to freeze him forever until they find out a way to kill him. Scientists decide that instead of freezing Jason and storing him, they want to research his regenerating power for the good of mankind. Rowan played by Lexia Doig disagrees and urges them to freeze him. Mistakenly, Jason breaks free from his shackles and slaughters all the scientists and now begins chasing Rowan. She is cornered in the cryogenic freezing room and lures Jason into the chamber and freezes him. But when she think she’s safe, Jason stabs her through the chamber and accidentally makes the chamber leak, freezing them both. Fast- forward 455 years into the future where space researchers go on a field trip into the now abandoned facility where they discover the frozen Jason and Rowan.