Feast, 2005

This film is hilarious! Not a serious horror by any means so don't watch this if you are looking for a genuinely scary film. It's all the little touches that it make it so funny. As each character is introduced, a mini Bio appears saying thinks like -
Name: Bozo
Life expectancy: not good!
The monsters are utterly disgusting and there is one bit where a certain part of the monster's anatomy gets trapped in a door - eeeeeew! Not a film I would want to watch a second time but certainly good for a few laughs.

Paradise Lost, 2007

Set in Brazil, a group of backpackers take a dodgy bus ride to their holiday destination but things go seriously down hill when... well... when the bus goes down a big hill and crashes! It's your typical thriller in many ways - group of young people getting into trouble, bad guys with guns chasing them etc but the bit I enjoyed most about this film was definitely the under water chase. I have never seen anything like this before and I was almost gasping for breath myself as I watched our herione swimming frantically through the under-water caves to try and get away from the baddies, stopping only take in tiny pockets of air as she went. Tense doesn't even cover it.

Dead Snow, 2009

Set in beautiful snowy Sweden, a gang of friends take a holiday to a remote wood cabin in the mountains. Unfortunately for them, they find themselves with some right nasty neighbours - nazi zombies! This is a fantastic horror with genuine laughs, BIG jumps, lots of gore and some absolutely fantastic costumes. A really different idea well executed, absolutely worth a watch.

Switchblade Romance, 2003

The French title for this film was Haute Tension and tension there was...the whole way through the film! I didn't relax until the credits rolled. There are some pretty gory deaths and the usual bucket loads of blood but this is not your run-of-the-mill slasher. This has a fantastic plot, superb acting and absolutely shedloads of terrifying moments. You must watch this film, but get yourself a strong drink first!

Drag Me to Hell, 2009

Ever since getting into horror films (quite a recent thing for me) I have employed a strict WAHO (Watch At Home Only) policy. There's a very good reason for this. Many years ago I accidentally saw a scary movie at the cinema and spent the whole journey home looking over my shoulder and checking the back seat of my car for psychotic axe-murderers!!!
However, this film came up and I decided to take the plunge and give it a go on the big screen. What a mistake! After about 10 mins of jump-out-of-your-seat terror, I turned to Matt and said "I've messed up, I can't cope!". He laughed and told me that was the whole point, to get scared. Top-notch acting, PLENTY of frights and not too bad a story line. Although I was utterly exhausted at the end the film, I did have a big smile on my face as my first WOBS (Watch On Big Screen) experience has been a great one. Highly recommend you all go out and scare yourself silly with this one!

Dead in 3 days, 2006

A German horror this week, for a change. A gang of college students have just graduated and head off to a party to celebrate. During the day, they each receive a text saying, 'You'll be dead in 3 days'. They put it down to someone playing a prank...until one of gang goes missing! Tense, spooky, pretty gruesome and bloody in places. All round a solid horror. One thing bugged me the whole way through the film though, who does this blonde chick remind me of? And then it hit me, it's Elijah Wood AKA Frodo from Lord of the Rings...

SECOND OPINION: There are two types of low-concept horror in my eyes. Those that are simple, yet effective; and those that are just plain simple. All the Boys Love Mandy Lane is an example of the latter, but Dead in 3 Days just sneaks under the wire. Just. On the upside the deaths are imaginative and the characters suitably engaging. The story is believable and the perpetrator of the nastyness doesn't turn into Jason or Michael at anytime, which is refreshing for a what is ostensibly a slasher movie. On the downside the gang of merry victims do fall into the "let's do the dumbest thing we can think of" trap a little too often. Correct me if I'm incorrect, but when you only have 1 day left of your "3 days" and you're safe in a house with the police, you don't go looking for the killer. I don't anyway. They do. Duh!

We watched the dubbed version, which is a shame. I'm not keen on dubbed films because they change the words to fit the mouth movements, which seems like a vicious trade-off for the sake of learning how to read simple English. Anyway, the voice acting was very good on the whole and everything gelled very well. 

So a solid slasher movie with some inspired killings, but a few dodgy plot decisions too. Worth a watch all the same.

Jack Brookes, Monster Slayer, 2007

This film is actually really good fun. I had pretty low expectations because it's a 'comedy horror' which usually means - not very funny and not at all scary. This, however, was genuinely entertaining. The plot is wonderfully ridiculous – Jack the plumber/student has serious anger management issues ever since he witnessed his family get brutally killed by a monster troll (oh yes, this is good stuff!) when he was a child. His tutor – Robert Englund – lives in a big old house in the sticks, with a secret buried in the garden. Englund totally steals the show (depsite the plumber being pretty darn hot), and although it's low budget, the 'monster effects' are really quite charming in a silly sort of way. Overall, very good fun (and not at all scary).

SECOND OPINION: Well, I think Rach has summed this up perfectly and there's not much more to be said. Think Bad Taste, Army of Darkness et al but with charm. Or, to put it another way, if they make part II, I'm first in the queue to see it. Great fun.