Today brings us to my one and only foreign language film in the Top 25, well I say one and only but there is another yet to come that has large parts not in English. This film proves that great cinema, strong story-telling and indeed good old-fashioned scares are not subject to the constraints of language.
A true fright at 9 is…
12 year-old Oskar is a victim, a fragile, anxious boy he is regularly bullied by his stronger classmates but never strikes back. He finally finds friendship when a young girl and an older guardian move in next door. Pale and silent, the young girl only seems to appear at night and the cold does not affect her. When bodies turn up with bitten necks the trail leads back to this strange girl and locals go on the march to seek out the vampire.
Why it is worthy: This film is scary to be sure, but it’s also somewhat heart-warming. The movie takes a quiet, pensive and unerring approach to a somewhat violent subject matter. It’s a movie about the relationships rather than an out-and-out horror flick. Strip away the horror elements and it’s a story of two young children on the brink of adolescence. Both equally capable of doing bad things and feeling no remorse, simply kids in the very depths of despair. The two leads are simply brilliant, belying their ages to give full emotional and draining performances. The cinematography is exquisite, all cold, pale and serene. The underwater scene in particular is a case of how did they do that, just incredible. In a world obsessed with goth vampires, torture porn and cheap thrills it is refreshing that someone can take a measured, thoughtful and loving horror movie.
Fatal flaws: It’s in Swedish, it’s set in Sweden and it’s all as Scandinavian as flat-pack furniture, so that will alienate some people. A lot of the plot doesn’t hold up to closer scrutiny, like why for example does the killer perform his gruesome task in public places? It’s a movie of two contrasting halves, the moodiness of the first and the jarring set-pieces of the second. Both work equally well but it’s a strange juxtaposition. Horror fans might well be put off by the fact that it’s not true horror, but rather a tale of morality cast in a horror cloak. They shouldn’t be.
Verdict: The anti-Twilight this is the best movie featuring vampires this year and the best horror themed movie of the decade.
25. This Is It
24. Adventureland
23. Drag Me To Hell
22. Anvil
21. In the Loop
20. Watchmen
19. The Hangover
18. Coraline
17. Public Enemies
16. (500) Days of Summer
15. Harry Brown
14. The Wrestler
13. Fantastic Mr. Fox
12. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
11. The Hurt Locker
10. A Serious Man
Anti-Twilight? I’m sold!
Love, love, love, love this film. Without a doubt in my Top Five of 2009.
Amazing movie! Amazing!
(For the pedants amongst us this was only on *world wide* cinema release in 2009)