Thirty One Days of Horror Days 6-9: Dead Snow, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, Audtition, I Saw The Devil

Day 6: Dead Snow

This is a movie that knows EXACTLY what it is and what it wants to do an delivers perfectly. We've got Nazi Zombies, attractive people in a cabin, makeshift weapons, self amputation, and some of the best brush off lines I've seen in a while. The creators on this have made a love letter to Zombie horror and if you're a fan of the sub-genre then check it out. Definitely Recommended.

Day 7: Don't be Afraid of the Dark

Guillermo Del Torro loves two things: Faeries and putting eyes where they don't belong. As he was only a writer and producer on this movie he couldn't force creepy eyes into it but if you're looking faeries then this is the place for you. We've also got all the stock characters for a child against evil movie, from the oblivious dad to the gruff older man who's really looking out for the child, to the mother figure, in this case a girlfriend, who eventually believes the child's story after some research and a trip to the most awesome library ever.

I couldn't find a picture of it so this will have to do.

Despite being a bit paint by numbers it was nicely moody and did everything well. It was a quality film with an unexpected part at the end. I'd recommend it.

Day 8: Audition

This is one fucked up movie. I mean really, really fucked up. It starts pretty innocently with a man whose son thinks he should get remarried. The only problem is that he's not sure how to go about finding his new bride to be. His buddy offers a suggestion: Hold and audition. He'll dig out an old script and they'll audition actresses for the lead, he can try and date the one he likes and hell, if they get financing they can even make the movie. So far it sounds like the set up for a Kate Hudson/Matthew McConaughey romantic comedy. He starts dating her and, spoiler alert, she's insanely fucked up. I mean this woman is the gold medal winner in the what the fuck Olympics.  She was tortured by her dance instructor as a child and now goes around mutilating and killing men. Except for the one she keeps in a bag in her apartment. I don't even want to think about how she feeds him but it does help her keep her figure. The end of the movie cuts between hallucinations and a torture scene in which the widower has his feet cut off. Why his feet? Hell if I know. I don't know if I can recommend this one. I expect you already know if its for you or not.

Day 9: I Saw The Devil

I was torn over wither or not I should include this movie because dispite having a serial rapist/killer, cannibals, torture, and a man hunting another man it never felt like a horror movie to me. But it seems to fit broadly so I decided it counted. Oh, and I god damned loved it. This movie is fantastic. Now I'm the first to admit that I'm a sucker for a good revenge flick and South Korea seems to put out the best of them for a while now. The plot is fairly simple. A man's wife is killed and he hunts down the killer who did it. The killer is played by the fantastic Min-Sik Choi, who you might remember from Oldboy. The man is just built to be abused. No one suffers quite as well as he does or has that perfect look of manic glee when he retaliates. The hunter is played by Byung-Hun Lee. He's nearly emotionless for most of the film, deadened inside by the death of his wife. He's the picture of intensity. I can't recommend this movie enough.