Behind the Couch

2012 Dir. Monthon Arayangkoon A recent emergence of striking fright flicks from Thailand has included a number of memorable titles such as Shutter, 4bia , Meat Grinder , Sick Nurses and The Victim – not forgetting of course the moody The Eye films. The House is the latest edition to this strikingly eclectic fold and it boasts the same unique tone and idiosyncrasies as its creepy peers.  The serpentine story coils around investigative journalist Shalinee (Inthira Chaloenpura) who is commissioned to make a documentary about several doctors who brutally murdered their wives. As her investigation continues, she uncovers some odd connections and similarities between the killings, including the sinister fact that throughout the years, all the murderous doctors had at one time or another lived in the same house near the hospital. Despite warnings from spooked (and spooky) neighbours, Shalinee enters the house in search of further clues. What she finds there plunges her and her hu...

Opening with the words ‘David Lynch presents a film by Werner Herzog’; words that automatically instilled fluttering in this particular writer’s heart, My Son My Son What Have Ye Done? is a film that instantly suggests boundless possibilities, high expectations and the promise of something memorable, provocative and left of centre. The question is, does it live up to the promise? Of course it does. However, in true Lynch/Herzog fashion, it does so in unexpected ways that manage to surprise and delight. Head over to Eye for Film to check out my full review...

1976 Dir. Charles B. Pierce Loosely based on the true story of the ‘Moonlight Murders’, this often unnerving creeper follows a gruff Texas Ranger as he attempts to track down the hooded maniac terrorising the residents of a small town in Arkansas, 1946. Director Pierce adopts a documentary style approach to lend proceedings an air of authority and realism. Throughout, a narrator puts things in context for us, and paints a wonderfully vivid picture of post-war American small town life. Newspaper headlines also flash up on screen to keep us abreast of the grisly goings-on. Just after WWII, the predominantly working class community of Texarkana have welcomed home their soldiers who are trying to return to normalcy and find work. Just as they thought that things couldn’t get anymore downtrodden, a lunatic wearing a sack over his head begins to menace couples on Lover’s Lane, attacking several people and leaving them traumatised. Later on, another unfortunate couple are beaten to deat...