<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" > <channel> <title>Horror – Film Legacy </title> <atom:link href="https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/category/horror/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog</link> <description>Are movies better than ever?</description> <lastBuildDate>Fri, 26 Apr 2024 15:59:25 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2</generator> <image> <url>https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/cropped-MH-logo-2021-copy.jpg-32x32.png</url> <title>Horror – Film Legacy </title> <link>https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog</link> <width>32</width> <height>32</height> </image> <item> <title>Dancing Village: The Curse Begins—Horror from Indonesia</title> <link>https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/2024/04/26/dancing-village-the-curse-begins-horror-from-indonesia/</link> <comments>https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/2024/04/26/dancing-village-the-curse-begins-horror-from-indonesia/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[admin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 26 Apr 2024 15:59:25 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Asian]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Horror]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/?p=1150</guid> <description><![CDATA[Unfolding like a folk tale that’s only dimly remembered, Dancing Village: The Curse Begins is a prequel to KKN Di Desa Penari, an Indonesian blockbuster released in 2022. This slow-burn thriller sends cousins and friends to a remote jungle village … <a href="https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/2024/04/26/dancing-village-the-curse-begins-horror-from-indonesia/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <p class="has-text-align-center"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="600" height="400" class="wp-image-1152" style="width: 600px;" src="https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Photo-3-DANCING-VILLAGE-THE-CURSE-BEGINS-Credit-Lionsgate.jpg" alt="" srcset="https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Photo-3-DANCING-VILLAGE-THE-CURSE-BEGINS-Credit-Lionsgate.jpg 600w, https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Photo-3-DANCING-VILLAGE-THE-CURSE-BEGINS-Credit-Lionsgate-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /></p> <p>Unfolding like a folk tale that’s only dimly remembered, <em>Dancing Village: The Curse Begins</em> is a prequel to <em>KKN Di Desa Penari</em>, an Indonesian blockbuster released in 2022. This slow-burn thriller sends cousins and friends to a remote jungle village on Java. There they encounter ancient demons and curses.</p> <p>Director Kimo Stamboel draws on Eli Roth and Ari Aster as much as Indonesian traditions. His movie fits comfortably into Western horror conventions. <em>Dancing Village</em> is paced so deliberately that most viewers will see the shocks coming a mile off.</p> <p>That’s not to say Lele Laila’s script doesn’t build enough tension. The story exploits the contrast between its urban leads and their rural village counterparts while still finding ways to keep them on equal standing. Yes, it’s a different world in the jungle, but the people who live there have the same dreams and ambitions.</p> <p>A long prologue set in 1955 depicts a ritual in which drugged or hypnotized girls dance until one survives for a ritual sacrifice. But a girl manages to steal the demon Badarawuhi’s snake bracelet, disrupting the spell. She races off into the jungle, leaving the shaman Buyut to deal with the consequences.</p> <p>Twenty-five years later, Mila (Maudy Effrosina) brings her cousin Yuda (Jourdy Pranata) and their nerdy friend Jito (Moh. Iqbal Sulaiman) back to a nearby jungle village. A shaman has told her the only way to save her dying mother is to return the snake bracelet.</p> <p>Villagers are friendly but unhelpful. Buyut, now the elder, is “away.” No one else will tell them where the dancing village is. Yuda persuades Ratih (Claresta Taufan) to stay in her house with her mother—who’s also mysteriously ill.</p> <p>At night spirits glide by Yuda and Jito while they sleep on the porch of an abandoned house. Mila hears distant singing. Ratih’s mother spews blood from her mouth. When Mila and Ratih go to the women’s bath house, the demon approaches. Mila’s attacked by snakes, saved only when Ratih pulls her from the pool.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center"><img decoding="async" width="600" height="400" class="wp-image-1153" style="width: 600px;" src="https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Photo-6-DANCING-VILLAGE-THE-CURSE-BEGINS-Credit-Lionsgate.jpg" alt="" srcset="https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Photo-6-DANCING-VILLAGE-THE-CURSE-BEGINS-Credit-Lionsgate.jpg 600w, https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Photo-6-DANCING-VILLAGE-THE-CURSE-BEGINS-Credit-Lionsgate-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /></p> <p>Other encounters include a food stall serving butchered monkeys, flashbacks to Mila’s mother suffering in her bedroom, and various narrative red herrings and stings. Spoiler: Mila must enter the afterlife to free her mother from the demon’s grasp.</p> <p>What impresses most about <em>Dancing Village</em> is the superb cinematography by Patrick Tashadian. The camera glides through the village, swoops over houses, pulls viewers into intimate contact with the supernatural. Tashadian and Stamboel build incredible atmosphere with very little effort.</p> <p>Aulia Sarah plays the demon about as well as anyone could expect, given that her motives are obscure and her powers unexplained. Effrosina manages to look worried throughout the film, a one-note turn that lacks nuance. Claresta Taufan gives the best performance in the movie as a daughter who must betray to save her mother.</p> <p><em>Dancing Village</em> was planned and shot as an IMAX production, a first for Southeast Asia. Unfortunately Lionsgate won’t be offering that version in the US.</p> <p><strong>Credits:</strong> Directed by: Kimo Stamboel. Screenplay: Lele Laila. Produced by Manoj Punjabi. Director of photography: Patrick Tashadian. Edited by: Fachrun Daud. Music by Ricky Leonard. Sound designer: Hiro Ishizaka.<strong> Cast:</strong> Aulia Sarah, Maudy Effrosina, Jourdy Pranata, Moh. Iqbal Sulaiman, Ardit Erwandha, Claresta Taufan, Diding Boneng, Aming Sugandhi, Dinda Kanyadewi, Pipien Putri, Maryam Supraba, Bimasena, Putri Permata, Baiq Vania Estiningtyas Sagita, Baiq Nathania Elvaretta.</p> <p>Opening in theaters April 26, 2024.</p> <p>Photos: Top—(L-R) Aulia Sarah, Claresta Taufan Kusumarina and Maudy Effrosina in DANCING VILLAGE: THE CURSE BEGINS (Credit: Lionsgate). Center—Aulia Sarah in DANCING VILLAGE: THE CURSE BEGINS (Credit: Lionsgate).</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/2024/04/26/dancing-village-the-curse-begins-horror-from-indonesia/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>The Tank review: haunting on the Oregon coast</title> <link>https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/2023/04/17/the-tank-review-haunting-on-the-oregon-coast/</link> <comments>https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/2023/04/17/the-tank-review-haunting-on-the-oregon-coast/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[admin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 17 Apr 2023 16:14:00 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Horror]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/?p=984</guid> <description><![CDATA[A haunted house thriller set on the coast of Oregon, The Tank raises expectations it never quite delivers. Carefully written and shot, the movie features great production values and a strong performance by New Zealand-born Luciane Buchanan. It’s also slow, … <a href="https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/2023/04/17/the-tank-review-haunting-on-the-oregon-coast/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <p class="has-text-align-center"><img decoding="async" width="600" height="338" class="wp-image-985" style="width: 600px;" src="https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/TheTank-CreatureFeatureHorrorThriller-WellGoUSA-1340x754-3.jpg" alt="" srcset="https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/TheTank-CreatureFeatureHorrorThriller-WellGoUSA-1340x754-3.jpg 600w, https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/TheTank-CreatureFeatureHorrorThriller-WellGoUSA-1340x754-3-300x169.jpg 300w, https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/TheTank-CreatureFeatureHorrorThriller-WellGoUSA-1340x754-3-150x85.jpg 150w, https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/TheTank-CreatureFeatureHorrorThriller-WellGoUSA-1340x754-3-250x141.jpg 250w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /></p> <p>A haunted house thriller set on the coast of Oregon, <em>The Tank</em> raises expectations it never quite delivers. Carefully written and shot, the movie features great production values and a strong performance by New Zealand-born Luciane Buchanan. It’s also slow, obvious, and almost completely devoid of genuine thrills.</p> <p>Buchanan plays Jules, a wife, mother, and pet-shop owner who travels with husband Ben (Matt Whelan) and daughter Reia (Zara Nausbaum) to investigate a mysterious inheritance. Turns out Ben’s mother was institutionalized before she could let him know about a house and several oceanfront acres that his father purchased long ago.</p> <p>The dank, boarded-up house is isolated from roads and overgrown with weeds. Despite the lack of electricity and running water, Ben decides to fix up the property with the hopes of selling it. To do so requires ignoring a plethora of clues to run away as fast as possible.</p> <p>Locked doors leading to rickety basement stairs; bedroom windows nailed shut; a manilla envelope of newspaper clippings about earthquakes and unexplained deaths; sheds filled with rusty cans of bomb mixings; and most of all a concrete water tank whose lid keeps popping open — the omens pile up as Jules and Ben pretend nothing is wrong.</p> <p>Writer, producer and director Scott Walker throws in overexposed, blue-tinted 1940s flashbacks that spell out in greater detail the dangers facing Jules and her family. Plus Jules starts reading diary entries that describe in guarded detail what actually happened those decades earlier.</p> <p>I’m circling around <em>The Tank</em> the same way Walker’s script does. Everything is drawn out far too long: the stairway descents, the midnight forest walks, following the track of wet footprints across a hallway. It’s almost an hour into the movie before we get a good glance at what’s happening in the tank.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><a href="https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/TheTank-CreatureFeatureHorrorThriller-WellGoUSA-1340x754-2.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="600" height="338" src="https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/TheTank-CreatureFeatureHorrorThriller-WellGoUSA-1340x754-2.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-986" srcset="https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/TheTank-CreatureFeatureHorrorThriller-WellGoUSA-1340x754-2.jpg 600w, https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/TheTank-CreatureFeatureHorrorThriller-WellGoUSA-1340x754-2-300x169.jpg 300w, https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/TheTank-CreatureFeatureHorrorThriller-WellGoUSA-1340x754-2-150x85.jpg 150w, https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/TheTank-CreatureFeatureHorrorThriller-WellGoUSA-1340x754-2-250x141.jpg 250w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /></a></figure></div> <p>Until then Walker does a pretty good job evoking a sense of Oregon woods and beaches. The swaying pines, crashing surf, endless vistas of green are beautiful, but also help convey the family’s isolation and peril. You can imagine many different causes and reasons for the mysteries afflicting Jules and her family, that is until the monsters arrive.</p> <p>Wētā Workshop co-founder, CEO and creative director Richard Taylor takes credit as creative lead on <em>The Tank</em>, but the film’s effects are surprisingly derivative and disappointing. <em>Alien</em>-like creatures attack from the water tank, so slow and lumbering it takes seriously bad choices to get caught by them. Fire and bleach seem to be strong deterrents, so the only way Walker can build suspense is to have the characters run out of same and return to a creature-infested spot to get more.</p> <p>On the positive side, <em>The Tank</em> does what it sets out to do, so if you’re looking for a haunted house with monsters this will fit the bill. Just don’t expect much more. The surprise will be an extremely appealing turn by Luciane Buchanan.</p> <p><strong>Directed by</strong>: Scott Walker<br><strong>Written by</strong>: Scott Walker<br><strong>Produced by</strong>: Scott Walker<br><strong>Creature Effects by</strong>: Wētā Workshop – Richard Taylor<br><strong>Cast</strong>: Luciane Buchanan, Matt Whelan, Zara Nausbaum, Regina Hegemann, Jack Barry, Holly Shervey </p> <p>Well Go USA opens <em>The Tank</em> in select theaters on April 21 and digitally on April 25. https://wellgousa.com/films/tank</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/2023/04/17/the-tank-review-haunting-on-the-oregon-coast/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Body Cam: Horror with a Conscience</title> <link>https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/2020/05/20/body-cam-horror-with-a-conscience/</link> <comments>https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/2020/05/20/body-cam-horror-with-a-conscience/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[admin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 20 May 2020 20:47:51 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Horror]]></category> <category><![CDATA[New Releases]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Streaming]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/?p=655</guid> <description><![CDATA[All horror movies deal with social issues on some level, but few are as obstinate about it as Body Cam. Starring Mary J. Blige and Nat Wolff, the Paramount feature opened on streaming platforms May 19. Zeroing in on police … <a href="https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/2020/05/20/body-cam-horror-with-a-conscience/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <p>All horror movies deal with social issues on some level, but few are as obstinate about it as <em>Body Cam</em>. Starring Mary J. Blige and Nat Wolff, the Paramount feature opened on streaming platforms May 19.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="600" height="338" src="https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/sfondo-body-cam-1-1152x648.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-656" srcset="https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/sfondo-body-cam-1-1152x648.jpg 600w, https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/sfondo-body-cam-1-1152x648-300x169.jpg 300w, https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/sfondo-body-cam-1-1152x648-250x141.jpg 250w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /><figcaption>Mary J. Blige in Body Cam</figcaption></figure> <p>Zeroing in on police violence against people of color, <em>Body Cam</em> starts with LAPD Officer Ganning (Ian Casselberry) staring down animosity in a diner while the TV shows demonstrations over the latest cop shooting. Ganning is then killed during a routine traffic stop.</p> <p>Returning from a suspension for striking a civilian, Renee Lomito-Smith (Blige) is one of the first cops on the scene. She looks through Ganning’s body cam footage on the computer in his patrol car. Before the hard drive is erased in a technical glitch, she glimpses what looks like supernatural fury.</p> <p>No one believes her, not even her new partner Danny Holledge (Nat Wolff). As cops in her unit fall one by one, Renee is tormented by nightmares. She and her husband are still grieving over the death of their young son. </p> <p>Disobeying Kesper (David Zayas), her sergeant not to get involved in the case, she uncovers clues tying Ganning’s death to a previous incident in which a black youth named Demarco Branz (Mason Mackie) was killed by police.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="600" height="250" src="https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/body-cam-movie-review-2020.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-657" srcset="https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/body-cam-movie-review-2020.jpg 600w, https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/body-cam-movie-review-2020-300x125.jpg 300w, https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/body-cam-movie-review-2020-250x104.jpg 250w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /></figure> <p>Accompanied by a reluctant Holledge, Renee breaks into the apparently abandoned house owned by Demarco’s mother Taneesha (Anika Noni Rose), which is right when your patience with the script (by Richmond Riedel and Nicholas McCarthy) may wear thin.</p> <p>Up until this point <em>Body Cam</em> plays it relatively straight. Sure, the world is a dank, gloomy one lifted from <em>Se7en</em>, but the cops act as if they’re in <em>Training Day</em>, still the standard for a street-smart thriller. There’s a level of realism to the film that adds tension to each encounter, whether it’s a kid playing in the street or a junkie robbing a convenience store. These cops are in danger, and they’re seen as enemies by the very people they’re trying to help.</p> <p>But this is horror, not drama, which means director Malik Vitthal has to come up with scares without giving the game away. Like the found footage in Paramount’s <em>Paranormal</em> franchise, the personal body cameras the cops wear here let Vitthal suggest horror without explaining or even showing it.</p> <p>That’s okay until the script runs out of legitimate jolts. Then Vitthal is stuck with endless scenes of Renee and Holledge creeping into derelict warehouses, up and down dark stairs, poking into closets and dressers and boxes labeled with drawings of skulls. It’s a long slog to the denouement, which raises more questions than it answers.</p> <p><em>Body Cam</em> looks convincingly grimy, and apart from some terrible dialogue the cast is okay. Blige operates on a higher level. Wounded by loss, Renee is struggling with personal demons as well as the demands of her job. Blige gives a taut, unsentimental performance that captures her character’s confusion and doubts. She is the best reason to watch <em>Body Cam</em>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://www.filmlegacy.net/blog/2020/05/20/body-cam-horror-with-a-conscience/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> </channel> </rss>