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Post by Fenril on Nov 9, 2010 14:51:59 GMT -5
"In the spirit of slayrrr's sister threads to the Mexican horror one, I'm starting threads about horror movies from assorted countries other than the US, UK, Italy or Japan (simply because those are the countries whose horror film productions are easier to find on a global scale, so they would be better known)."
Seen any horror movies from Russia or the former USRR and if so, what did you think of them?
NOTE: The incusion of the former USSR is because several film (and literary) productions from what are now individual countries like Ukraine, are still considered Russian in the present day.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Nov 10, 2010 11:07:50 GMT -5
Frostbitten, which is a Swedish/Russian vampire film, falls in here since I believe it was shot in Russia and uses their scenery to film in, but beyond that I'm not entirely sure of the extent to which they were involved.
I also have the Day Watch/Night Watch series to watch, but I haven't gotten there yet so I haven't seen them, but they are on the list.
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Post by Fenril on Nov 10, 2010 18:11:33 GMT -5
Frostbitten definitely counts.
My list:
- Viy (1967; aka Spirit of evil). A priest most hold watch over a witch's grave for three nights. Very good old-school horror with a slowly moving plot and a climax that brings every monster on the book and then some, including the titular creature. Based on a novella by Nikolai Gogol.
- Nochnoy dozor (2004; aka Night Watch). Modern-day Moscow is overrun with all kind of monsters and supernatural creatures --so overrun, in fact, than an allegiance has been established between two dueling groups. The night watch, fairly benevolent beings (even through some of them feast on human blood) and the the day watch, fairly malevolent (even through some of them are really very nice people). Impressive special effects on this one.
- Dnevnoy Dozor (2006; aka Day watch). The sequel is every bit as good, through slightly more humoristic.
Incidentally, make sure you have the Director's cut of these movies, because the american editions were badly mangled. (Also the director's cut has some Crazy subtitles, some of which actually interact with the movie itself).
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Post by slayrrr666 on Nov 11, 2010 10:58:40 GMT -5
I wouldn't know, my guide had them listed as subtitled and were aired on a channel that showcased films in that manner, so I would expect they were aired in that fashion.
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Post by Fenril on Nov 11, 2010 13:05:35 GMT -5
When you do get around to seeing them, if the subtitles are animated (in assorted colors and interacting with the scene) it's probably the original cut.
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Post by Bartwald on Nov 11, 2010 14:20:18 GMT -5
I liked Viy a lot even though it doesn't have so much horror in it and the title creature revealed near the ending looks pretty funny. The story itself is great, though.
Night Watch is enjoyable, too. I also have Day Watch sitting on my shelf but didn't yet get round to seeing it.
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Post by knightofcydonia on Nov 11, 2010 17:04:57 GMT -5
Night Watch is outstanding, though I found Day Watch a little dissapointing. Would highly recommend the books also.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Nov 12, 2010 11:35:44 GMT -5
Yeah, I don't read books at all, too much work and time I can use to watch another movie or three.
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Post by Bartwald on Nov 12, 2010 12:05:41 GMT -5
Would highly recommend the books also. Yeah, I'll have to get them... I've read the author's other book, but not these. Anyway, when I finally see Day Watch, I'll tell you if I was disappointed with it, too. |
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Post by slayrrr666 on Dec 6, 2010 11:16:12 GMT -5
Well, I got through the two Day Watch/Night Watch films, and I have to say, I don't really see the horror with these films. I saw them as fantasy films without horror, but whatever you want to call them, I just say they're utterly confusing and just plain weird. I was lost with the storyline and nothing at all helped me get over that, and frankly, as they went on, I found myself not even caring at all about the race between the two sides to get the son on their side, though I will concede that there were incredible special effects in the films. Again, I just didn't care at all.
As for which one was better, I'll go with Night Watch simply for the scene where they corner the male policeman who has been put inside the body of a female agent and in order to save him, they direct a bus to crash into the leader of the opposing side, who then wields about a live power line and begins flipping over cars and other objects while trying to stop the fleeing target. The birthday party is a close second, where all the miniature balls explode out of the yo-yo and begin flying around the room like bullets before going out and destroying half the city, and overall it was the more action-oriented of the two, but it wasn't much to get me involved in what went on.
Thankfully, the introduction to Russian horror was saved when one of the channels I have aired an unexpected entry over the weekend, Trackman. I don't know the Russian name, but it concerns a group of bankrobbers and their hostages who escape into the sewers to hide out until it's safe to split up the money, but are stalked and killed by a masked man supposedly deformed by the Chernobyl accident. This was just an awesome slasher, filled with atmosphere, suspense, a brutal killer, tons of shocks and plenty of action. It had it all, except for a convincing backstory about the killer since the line about the deformed madman isn't accurate, that's merely what they say about him in the film since he seems to fall into the realm of an urban legend, but a twist at the end alters his background significantly that makes very little sense. Still, it's creepy, it's tense and its highly impressive, far more so than the more complex Day Watch/Night Watch series.
So, still fairly early but I'll still rank them:
1. Trackman
2. Night Watch
3. Day Watch
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Post by Fenril on Dec 8, 2010 13:37:13 GMT -5
As for which one was better, I'll go with Night Watch simply for the scene where they corner the male policeman who has been put inside the body of a female agent and in order to save him, they direct a bus to crash into the leader of the opposing side, who then wields about a live power line and begins flipping over cars and other objects while trying to stop the fleeing target. The birthday party is a close second, where all the miniature balls explode out of the yo-yo and begin flying around the room like bullets before going out and destroying half the city, and overall it was the more action-oriented of the two, but it wasn't much to get me involved in what went on. Both scenes are in Day Watch, not Night Watch. Never heard of Trackman before, I'll look out for it. |
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Post by slayrrr666 on Dec 9, 2010 11:01:04 GMT -5
Really? Then I think I might've goofed up the order accidentally, and that'll drastically alter how I feel about these since I never cared for them because I couldn't follow the plot, and if I goofed up and watched part 2 first, then that changes everything. That's the first one or the second one?
I just put the tape in on where I assumed I had them recorded, found some stuff in Russian and assumed I was watching the right one, but the title was so dark I couldn't safely say which one I was watching. But those are in the second or the first one?
I highly recommend Trackman, though I'd go for a subtitled release. The dubbed copy out there is fucking horrendous, and I'm swearing to emphasize that point.
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Post by Fenril on Dec 9, 2010 16:44:21 GMT -5
Really? Then I think I might've goofed up the order accidentally, and that'll drastically alter how I feel about these since I never cared for them because I couldn't follow the plot, and if I goofed up and watched part 2 first, then that changes everything. That's the first one or the second one? I just put the tape in on where I assumed I had them recorded, found some stuff in Russian and assumed I was watching the right one, but the title was so dark I couldn't safely say which one I was watching. But those are in the second or the first one? The scenes you mentioned are all on the second (that's Day watch), where the kid is on the bad guy's side. The first one, Night watch, sets up our main characters, the kid, the lead guy and the woman with the vortex. There's some time travelling on the second movie, too... I highly recommend Trackman, though I'd go for a subtitled release. The dubbed copy out there is fucking horrendous, and I'm swearing to emphasize that point. That's okay, I usually go for subtitled releases, anyway. Whenever possible I prefer to hear a movie's dialogue the way it's meant to be, even if I don't know the language. |
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Post by slayrrr666 on Dec 10, 2010 11:02:38 GMT -5
Okay, that's what I feared, I watched them out of order since I saw all those action scenes first. No wonder I was confused about everything. Guess I'll have to start all over on these.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Sept 17, 2012 12:10:45 GMT -5
Can finally add a new one here to the list, Spores, where a group of friends decide to investigate a supposedly abandoned stone mill only to find the area infested with vicious alien creatures who crash-landed on Earth in meteorites, and must find a way of stopping them before they can escape.
This was actually a far better effort than it should've been, and there's a lot to like about it. One of the more enjoyable aspects is the effective use of the location, which is quite thrilling and seems to be a perfect location to unleash such a film with lots of dark, creepy places to either lurk about in ambush or just a perfect place to spring out unexpectedly from the different hallways or hiding spots within, and by utilizing their surroundings nicely it gives it a little bit of chills from time-to-time. There's even some exciting confrontations spread throughout as well, with their attacks leading to some rather impressive action scenes as they either escape or barricade themselves within, and in doing so offer up some nice gore shots as this is surprisingly bloody at times. There's some dropped momentum with the inclusion of the police-officers on the scene as it drags out the film a little bit getting them introduced, but overall this one is a whole lot of fun and quite enjoyable.
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