Recommend a foreign horror movie.

Eric - Bloody Good Horror

Italy

There’s been so much great stuff from Italy that it’s kind of hard to choose, but I thought I would pick one that maybe not everyone has seen. “The New York Ripper” from Lucio Fulci is one of those that a lot of people are aware of, but not everyone has had the chance to check out.

History has been kind to Fulci, especially in America, but most people forget that he was looked at as a pariah in his native Italy for most of his life. Not sure if you know, but Jesus is HUGE over there :) Understandably, the country that plays host to the Pope wasn’t exactly enamored with his brand of sick sexualized violence.

And as far as that goes, “The New York Ripper” is one of his most twisted films. It’s a take on the Italian Giallo that Argento made so famous, but with Fulci’s own twisted sensibilities. It’s got it all, red herrings, floating hands, and some of the nastiest violence ever put to celluloid. He takes great pains to let his camera linger as the killer literally tears the flesh of his victims asunder with his knife. There’s also this awful ripping sound that he insists on using over and over. There are also a lot of sexual undertones (and overtones) to the film that cause the violence to be even more uncomfortable to watch.

So if you’re looking for some twisted Italian cinema, it’s hard to not like “The New York Ripper.” It may not be the best the country has to offer, but I certainly consider it a hidden gem.

Don May, Jr. - Synapse

Spain

Well, one of my all-time fav horror films is the Spanish classic TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD from Amando De Ossorio. I love this movie so much… what a great concept for a zombie film.

Jeff O’Brien

South Korea.

Phone - GREAT film!

Nathan - MicroHorror

Germany

When described in certain carefully picked terms, “Anatomie” (2000) can be made to sound downright dull. After all, it’s a slasher movie. A lot of good-looking young people get gruesomely murdered by a mysterious killer. It’s very much in-genre, and could even be called formulaic in the debt it owes to “Scream” and the rest of the ’90s-’00s neo-slasher movement. But for all the weaknesses in its origins, “Anatomie” succeeds where it counts: in the execution.

You see, “Anatomie” is smart. Very smart. The writers are smart, and all the characters are smart. The characters have to be smart, because they’re all students at Heidelberg, the most prestigious medical school in Germany. Our heroine, Paula Henning (played by no less an actress than Franka Potente of “Run Lola Run”), qualified for admission by getting the second-highest entrance exam score in the entire country. Clearly we’re not dealing with the typical clueless teens here.

The premises just keep getting better. What Paula discovers at Heidelberg is nothing less than a conspiracy dating back centuries. It seems that, for hundreds of years, a secret society of doctors has rejected the Hippocratic Oath, and specifically the principal rule, “First do no harm.” Sometimes curing an individual patient just isn’t the best thing to do, not when he or she would be more valuable to the science of medicine as a specimen for study. Kidnapping? Murder? Torture? It’s all good if it’s in the name of science. The writers even tie this in with the “experiments” of Josef Mengele, a remarkably bold step for a German horror movie.

I won’t spoil any more specific plot points, but suffice it to say that “Anatomie” gives you a full dose of sadistic psychopaths, plot twists and gruesome special effects. It’s an American-style slasher film through and through, but with much more intelligence than Hollywood thinks horror fans can handle. I think you’ll enjoy it.

(Note: It has come to my attention that a sequel, “Anatomie 2″ has been released. I have not seen it, but all reports indicate that it is abominable. Consider yourself warned.)

Red Hawk - Happy Horror

Japan

After being notified that I was okay to recommend a Japanese movie, I had one major task… figuring out which one. I wanted to stay away from some of the more mainstream movies, like Ringu or Ju-On… as good as they are, anybody can recommend those, and I wanted to go with something a little different. After giving it alot of thought, I decided to recommend 1999’s Shikoku. Starring Kill Bill’s Chiaki Kuriyama, the movie’s about a young woman who goes back to the island of Shikoku where she grew up to reunite with her two friends, only to discover that one of them has died. Coinciding with her return is increased occurences of people seeing the spirits of their departed loved ones. Looking into things, she finds that her deceased friend’s mother has started traveling a traditional pilgrimage through the Shikoku shrines backwards, hoping to open the gates to the land of the dead to bring her daughter back.

I picked this movie not only because it’s a good thriller, but also because of the cultural content to it. Not only does it look at the spiritual side of the Japanese, but also features an actual ritual: the Shikoku 88-temple pilgrimage said to be originated by a Buddhist monk. The pilgrimage still exists today, of course, though most people undertaking it will take modern transportation, rather than the traditional walk (which would take between 30 and 60 days).

Sean T. Collins - Attentiondeficitdisorderly Too Flat

Canada

I recommend David Cronenberg’s Shivers. If you’re reading this you probably come from good horror stock and are already familiar with it, but just in case, imagine 28 Days Later with the blood-transmitted virus replaced with parasitic slugs, “rage” replaced with “lust,” the U.K. replaced with Canada, and Alex Garland replaced with J.G. Ballard. And the unbelievably gorgeous Lynn Lowry delivers one of the hottest monologues in movie history just before barfing up a slug and getting punched in the face. It’s probably my favorite Cronenberg.

Tim - Mondo Schlocko

Mexico

Mexico is my pick because of the 1973 flick EL CASTILLO DE LAS MOMIAS DE GUANAJUATO. Like Turkish movies, I have no idea what is being said or anything else plotwise. Alls I knows is that it has three luchadores, dwarves, a cult, fake cardboard “stone” walls, and hulking mummies in suits.

I just love the style of it and the energy behind it. It sorta reminds me of the indie backyard flicks that I dig so much.

Kimberly - Cinebeats

France

France isn’t the first country that comes to mind when most people think about modern horror films, but that country has been releasing a steady stream of impressive thrillers in recent years that really deserve more attention and are often much more creative than anything being produced in the U.S. lately. One of my current favorite French directors is Gaspar Noe, but critics often refuse to call his films “horror.” He’s most well known in the U.S. for his disturbing revenge film Irreversible that shocked critics and left audiences reeling, but before he made Irreversible, Noe created another film that is just as disturbing and that was I Stand Alone (1998). I Stand Alone follows the troubled life of one of French cinema’s most nasty and unforgettable characters known only as The Butcher. The film mixes elements of Taxi Driver and Henry Portrait of a Serial, but it has an urgency and darkness that I think will surprise some of the most jaded horror fans. The kind of horrors that director Gaspar Noe conjures up are based in reality and can be hard to watch, but I Stand Alone is well worth the effort. Vive La France!

Dave - Rue Morgue’s The Abbatoir

Australia

Cars That Ate Paris – I discovered this one last year when I rented it on a whim from a local video store. I’d seen it around for years, but, like most horror fans, assumed it was a campy killer car flick, due to that title and the spiky VW bug on the cover. It’s not like that at all, though. It’s the debut feature from Peter Weir (Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Last Wave, Master and Commander: Far Side of the World) and it’s one of the most wonderfully weird movies I’ve ever seen, especially if you don’t know anything about it going in.

Basically (and sort-of), it’s about milquetoast of a man who gets stranded is this nutzoid tiny town that’s up to all kinds of no good, and also has a problem with their youth, who turn their cars into strange Mad Max-style vehicles and tear up the place. And the place in question is Paris, hence the title, which Weir imbues with an off-kilter atmosphere that reminded me of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre – but is also very Australian.

The setting and characters of this movie are so unique and the plot so unconventional, it’s clearly the work of a major film talent-in-the-making. I love when filmmakers create entire worlds, spit on convention and still keep you entertained, despite obvious budgetary restraints. In other words, it still really is an undiscovered gem amongst North American genre fans. It’s a great one to spring on open-minded friends who need to have their opinion of Australian permanently scarred by some kick-ass cinematic dementia.

Bill Cunningham - DisContent

The Philippines

My movie choice is a film from the proud land known for its outrageous cinema - The Philippines!

Now when I say “outrageous cinema” let me put this in context. The Philippines is long known for its romances, its action and its jungle pictures. What it is not known for (and should be) are its horror pictures, which unlike many countries also contain elements of action, romance, and yes - the jungle. Nothing exemplifies the twisted hybrid of jungle, action, romance and horror like the frenetic movie ZUMA.
Zuma is the tale of a man who is the son of a snake god and is imprisoned in a pyramid in the middle of the filippino jungle. When archeologists open the tomb, they unleash Zuma - a green skinned man with two live snakes growing out of his shoulders. Zuma slaughters the archeologists and escapes into the jungle only to find a couple camping. He kills the man (giving his snakes a workout) and rapes the woman making her his slave.

They try to escape the authorities (Zuma wears a trenchcoat and straw hat), but Zuma is captured and the now-pregnant woman is put in prison. This occurs only after the bodies have piled higher than cordwood for winter.

I won’t spoil the rest for you other than to say there’s a daughter involved and Zuma has a sequel: Anak ni Zuma.

Note, Zuma is the big green guy in the center of all these filippino comics characters… and no, he’s not a hero.

A profile of the character is here.

Thanks to all this week’s contributors for taking us on a trip around the world! For next week’s Roundtable I thought I’d try something a little different. The theme of foreign Horror will continue, but this time I’ll be accepting contributions from anyone interested in participating. The following rules apply.

1) You cannot choose a movie from your country of origin.

2) You cannot choose a movie from a country that someone else has already chosen.

Send the names of two countries, your primary and secondary choices, to steven@thehorrorblog.com. I will let you know which of your choices is still available and from there you can write your recommendation to be included in next week’s Roundtable. To start you off, countries not mentioned in this week’s Roundtable include New Zealand, Brazil, India, the United Kingdoms, Ireland, South Africa, Turkey, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and many more. Have fun!

This entry was posted on Friday, August 17th, 2007 at 11:03 pm and is filed under Roundtable. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.