Memory of the Dead (2013) Rated R

Director: Valentin Javier Diment
Writers: Martin Blousson, Valentin Javier Diment, Nicanor Loreti, German Val

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While recently visiting the local library, I decided to take a quick peek at the movie section, see if there were any horror movie surprises waiting to be discovered. There was. My introduction to Argentinean horror: Memory of the Dead.

What I was expecting: Gore gore gore galore. Maybe even a little something along the lines of giallo horror.

What I got: A twisted, gortastic spookfest with a delightfully disturbing and perverted take on giallo horror.

IMDB is telling me that this is a comedy-horror. I wouldn't go so far as to say there is comedy here. I never really laughed. There were just a few times where I smiled uncomfortably for a few seconds and then waited expectantly for something terrible to happen.

The story opens with a grieving wife who gathers her husband's best friends over to their mansion for a memorial service. The love poured out here is tear-jerking, to say the least. There are dedications said that will likely bring on some buckets of happy/sad tears.

And yet, and yet...something is not right. Something is terribly wrong. Just as you are wiping away the tear remnants, you are promptly catapulted into a surreal night terror of epic proportions. I use the word "catapulted" specifically because that is exactly how it felt. The movie begins and continues with no explanation. It just moves fast, furious, and takes no prisoners.

The first half of the story takes place inside the mansion. Viewers are provided with the false allusion that all the angry ghosts, hungry ghouls, never-ending darkness, and all-consuming madness are outside. The second half moves inside - into each of the individual guests' greatest fears - fears that also happen to come to life and be littered throughout the menacing mansion.

The majority of the movie plays out like a cold-sweat nightmare with few answers as to why. Don't worry! Answers will come in the last few minutes of the film.

Like giallo horror, Memory of the Dead, is visually stunning. It is also jam-packed with mystery and murder. Of course there is also sex. No good sex; e.g., rape, incest. Viewer discretion is advised. That said, I'm happy to report that these scenes, albeit striking, are scarce.

Derogatory slurs are thrown around, people are absolutely brutal to each other, blood and guts EVERYWHERE, monsters, witchcraft, and crippling, crippling love. Because don't forget! This movie is also a love story.

I enjoyed this film for its visuals, creativity, the unfolding of each character, and for the rather brilliant twist at the end. A must see for fans of supernatural horror, Latin horror, and of course anyone looking for an absolute gore fest.

This film should be seen in a small group of your closest friends. If someone is harboring a nasty secret, all the better. Pairs with wine, a little whiskey, a big bowl of pomegranates and mangos, steaks (rare), and if you can get your hands on some home-made empanadas with a mystery filling, even better.

Jolie
@HorrorHabitBlog

One of the newest contributors to The Bloodlust website, horror movies have always played a significant role in Jolie's life. Since her introduction to Gremilns at the tender age of 5, growing up with four horror movie-loving brothers - all who managed to memorized the entire script of John Carpenter's The Thing at a young age - and a father who still delights in frightening them all at the dinner table with scary stories, it's safe to say watching horror movies is, in essence, her comfort food. A research health scientist for the government by day and a devotee to horror movies (particularly ghost and werewolf stories) by night, Jolie lives in Seattle with her artist husband, two cats, and created her blog, Horror Habit, to keep her out of trouble.

Entity

2012 / NR

Director: Steve Stone

Writer: Steve Stone

Stars: Dervla Kirwan, Charlotte Riley, Branko Tomovic

 

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Let it be known that this movie is not to be confused with The Entity, the "true" story of a woman who is sexually assaulted by a poltergeist. Entity  is far less interesting. Let's begin, shall we?

Entity centers around a small, British TV crew from the fictional show "Darkest Secrets" and their coverage of an event which took place in 1998, when 34 unidentified bodies were found in shallow graves in a remote Siberian forest (never a good sign, btw). There is little to no information surrounding the circumstances of these deaths and the Russian authorities refuse to give any insight. The "Darkest Secrets" crew is made up of two camera/sound guys, a psychic medium, and a local who is acting as their guide. It's one of those "this is our last contact with the crew and they were never heard from again" movies.

It's a pretty vague plot and could lead to either an interesting movie or a total dud. I'm sad to say this movie was definitely the latter for me. They try to build upon the the plot a bit by making vague references to experiments that were conducted on the "special" people who were kept in the weird asylum they eventually come across, but it all seems very labored. We do learn, at some point, that they (the Russians?) kept people who had psychic powers locked up so they could run tests on them. I was very uninterested in the story because the story is very uninteresting.

This movie couldn't be saved by the acting, either. The cast was mostly made up of names I wasn't familiar with - with the exception of Charlotte Riley. I know her due to her fairly recent marriage to Tom Hardy (le sigh). I've actually seen her in a few things and she wasn't half bad so I'm blaming the material. There was also a lot of unnecessary cutting and camera-work that made some of the more "intense" scenes too busy and almost difficult to watch.

TL;DR It wasn't great and actually took a lot for me to resist turning it off.

Would I recommend it? Нет (that's a "no" in Russian) 

Sinister

Now it's Karen's turn...We've recently talked about watching Sinister 2 for the podcast and so, being the only one who hadn't seen the first one, it seemed like a good opportunity to take a crack at writing a review.

First of all, I love Ethan Hawke. I know it defies logic, but I've loved him since I saw Before Sunrise. I was really worried we were going to get into a "Dermot Mulroney in Insidious Chapter 3" situation. Luckily, that was not the case. 

Ethan Hawke plays a true crime writer who moves his family into a home where the previous tenants were hung from a tree in the backyard. Conveniently, this is the subject of his new book. Creepy things start to happen around the house and he finds a box of films in the attic that document the previous family's murder.

This movie is a nice combination of found footage and jump scares. It has a perfectly reasonable explanation for why the footage exists and the videos themselves are the best part. I know I'm the wimp of the group, but I had to pause the movie at certain points because I was getting too amped up. 

I'm usually pretty oblivious when it comes to movie plots, but even I could tell how this movie would end. That really didn't take away from it because the exciting part was waiting to see how it would happen. 

Bottom line: Check it out! Then watch Sinister 2 with us.