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| Topic | Board 8 Ranks 2010s Horror Movies - *THE RANKINGS* |
| Snake5555555555 05/17/22 12:30:46 AM #292: | Thesmark - One of two non-English films in our rankings! I Like the look of it. Digital black and white usually looks terrible IMO (one of them was a best picture nominee this year in fact), but the cinematography here actually has some depth and the blacks look good. Sheila Vand says little as the vampire but has a great presence and the romantic elements work surprisingly well for how low-key they are. Doesnt do anything new with the genre per se, covering a lot of the same thematic ground that many other vampire films have before, but the style is unique, it looks great and has a good vampire character at the center. I didnt love it like some people do, but its still quite good. Lightning Strikes - Im bad. This film has one of perhaps the greatest genre descriptions of all time, it is an Iranian Vampire Western Romance. It lives up to this plenty with lots of western inspired atmosphere and more vampire romance than Twilight. Ironically the one part that would be not accurate is the Iranian tag, its an American film shot in American that the language of is Persian. All that aside, this is a really stylish film with beautiful cinematography. Its themes are very strong, and the girl reverses Irans oppressive state sexism by targetting brutal men. It also has a lot of imagery that is just plain cool - a skateboarding, hijab wearing vampire is not something that I have ever seen before. Most critically the romance works, they have a good chemistry and it shows a relationship between men and women in Bad City that isnt toxic, working as a pleasant contrast to the girls victims. That goes back to the power of the themes. It is not a subtle movie but it is an effective one. I will say, the movie is quite story-light with very few actual plot beats. You can sum the whole thing up in a sentence. This, despite the clear themes does leave the film sometimes feeling like an exercise in style rather than substance. I do feel that there is a better Iranian but not actually Iranian horror film missing from this list, and thats Under the Shadow which is a terrific piece of filmmaking I would recommend to anybody. With that said, this is still a really good film with scenes that will last long in my thoughts. 4/5 Biggest scare: The first appearance of the fangs is a memorably gory moment. Rockus - I wish I liked this more but I dont think it ever really came together for me. It does however look great and after the Eggers films is likely the best looking movie in this group. Perhaps I spent too much time trying to get something out of the allegorical aspects of the film and next time should just let myself roll with the vibes. One of the handful of films in the ranking here that I think another viewing could help me better dig into what the movie is doing. BetrayedTangy - What I find really interesting about AGWHAaN is how the true horror doesnt come from the skateboarding vampire, but from the harsh reality of the world we all live in. Characters like Saeed and Hossein all actually exist and are horrors that tons of people have to deal with in their daily lives. Which brings us to The Girl (Sheila Vand does a wonderful job by the way), she is the one bringing these people to their end. Despite being justified in doing so, she still has to carry the weight of her actions and it makes for a really interesting character. I find it especially interesting how even Arash can understand this after finding out she killed his father. He knew it was necessary if they were ever going to be free. Id also be pretty remiss if I didnt mention the technical aspects. The decision to make the movie black and white is just perfect for setting the depressing atmosphere of Bad City and I cant get over how good it looks. Now as for the low ranking Is it wrong that I think it's boring? I like that Im getting to a point where I can start having more respect and appreciation of film as a whole, but I'd be lying if I said I found this movie entertaining. Im glad I got to see and experience it, but I doubt its something Ill ever watch again. FFDragon - I'm not one for Vampire movies usually, but this one is unique enough to work. Johnbobb - Watched this just a few months ago for movie club, so just using my write-up for that. I'd meant to watch this one for years after hearing nothing but acclaim for it. It's definitely in the weird category of films that I can respect much more than I can enjoy, having an undeniably slow pace and dry demeanor. It reminds me a little of The Love Witch in the way its sleepy tone pairs with its absolute brutality. I'm always down for experimentation with horror tropes and the viewers perception of a movie monster, and the way the film flips its own title (which immediately brings in notions of a woman in danger) is pretty brilliant. I don't know that I would watch it again. I don't know that I even really enjoyed watching it this time? It's films like these that are the hardest to rate fairly, because it is objectively well-shot, well-acted, well-scripted and an excellent concept. Plasmabeam - Ill probably appreciate this one more after I read others thoughts on it, but AGWHAAN was too artsy for my tastes. That said, the ending (if I interpreted it correctly) is interesting with the protagonist knowing that that vampire killed his father and accepting her despite this. Tom Nook - This straight up feels like a Jean-Luc Godard film. Particularly Breathless or Band of Outsiders. It's just got all the style of Godard, and it's very obvious if you are familiar with more than a handful of his movies. Now, whether you are actually fond of Godard is another story. Much like every Godard movie, you have the man and woman who mope around in a vaguely criminal setting while eyeing each other for long periods of time. Sometimes something happens. I liked the vampire lady at least, especially when she was in the bathtub. And a lot of the music was good. Also loved a lot of the framing of these shots. It was a nice looking and sounding movie. I just wish I cared more about the story, because I only kind of cared. But that's the spirit of Godard. Fortybelowsummer - And now the tale of the skateboarding Persian feminist vampire. A lot of the scenes were drawn out and the whole thing felt kind of pretentious. I mean, theres a scene with a woman literally dancing around with a balloon. Sometimes that slow drawn-out effect did lend to some real emotion, though, Ill give it that. The scene where theyre in her room for example was actually pretty mesmerizing and I was really feeling it. The black and white along with some of the backdrops like the power plant gave it a cool atmosphere and the soundtrack was good, even great at times. It just didnt have enough that would allow me to rate it very high. jcgamer107 - Nothing especially wrong with it, I just found it flat. Im not usually too into vampire stories to begin with, and this didnt do much new with the genre. --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. https://www.instagram.com/horror_obscurities/ ... Copied to Clipboard! |
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