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A Guide to
International Horror Films
Take a stroll around the globe to see best that the international world has to offer.
Although I will try to avoid specific details, be advised that I may spoil the impact of these movies if you haven't seen them yet. Fortunately, these movies are becoming easier to find, and western remakes of Japanese horror films has become the norm in the early 2000's.
For additional foreign titles, please visit the Disturbing Film List section of Spookyland, where international horror holds sway.
Belgium
Wow, first huge waffles, then corpses for breakfast. What won't the Belgian's eat?
Lucker the Necrophagous(1986)
Johan Vandewoestijne's infamous film of necrophelia and necrophagia was so suppressed that it only existed in whispers of legends for almost 20 years. Some grainy, incomplete bootlegs were rumored at horror conventions, but nobody had actually seen one. Finally, a restored DVD release lets people in on the first film to deal directly with these gooey subjects. Slow meandering pacing sets up for the actual 'unspeakable acts' themselves. Maybe this film just needed some chicken and waffles.
Brazil
In a few deft strokes, Coffin Joe put Brazillian horror on the map.
At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul (1964)
Top hat, cape, long fingernails and an epic monobrow - I honestly can't believe that Coffin Joe isn't more popular or well known. Aspiring film maker José Mojica Marins (better known as Coffin Joe) pieced together scraps of unused fim and borrowed heavily from his parents to create the idiosyncratic Ŕ Meia-Noite Levarei Sua Alma. As writer/director/actor, he he plays the feared undertaker Zé do Caixăo, an unashamed hedonist who believes that his continued bloodline is the key to his mastery of the weak world. Wonderfully stylish, the film works despite the untrained cast (including friends and family members). All the night scenes were studio shot in a tight space, but it creates a rich world for Zé to babble his manifesto to all those he oppresses. Fun and unique.
This Night I Will Possess Your Corpse (1967)
Never one to mince a good title, Coffin Joe returns as Zé do Caixăo in Esta Noite Encarnarei no Teu Cadáver with a bigger budget, more bloodline obsessive rants, and a surreal depiction of hell that has become legendary. Listen closely for soundbytes appropriated into songs by Rob Zombie. Fingernails are longer, monobrow is thicker, and the tophat is... toppier. A fine film, and much stronger than the disappointing anti-drug political rant that completes the Coffin Joe trilogy, Awakening of the Beast (Ritual dos Sádicos, O) (1970).
Canada
Although films made in Canada became the norm in the 1990s when American studios were looking for ways to contain production costs, films made by Canadians are harder to pick out, but often worth the hunt.
Cube (1997)
Cube is an interesting movie. It feels more like a science fiction short story, but plays out like a horror film. It has a constrained budget (one set was built, and they changed the lights to create the illusion of many cells in the vast titular cube), but it displays no constraint. It is character driven and has fun violent effects, but the plot is dominated by the environment of the cube. In short, it is an effective, indie-feeling horror exercise. The acting and effects sell the plot, which seems like a deep metaphor worth unravelling. The film spawned several sequels, and some of them work well for different reasons (like the external viewpoint of Cube Zero (2004), for instance.)It's nice to see something original for a change.
China and Hong Kong
Chinese horror films tend to be genre-crossers, often blending elements of horror, fantasy, comedy and action with uncharacteristic ease. Often sumptuously visual, they tend to be period pieces, romanticizing China's past and incorporating themes from legend and folklore. Earlier films like Mister Vampire are considered classics, putting the hopping undead on the map.
A Chinese Ghost Story (1987)
Mixing the best of horror, humor, magic and martial arts, this 1987 film is one of the most artistically rendered films I have ever seen. Pretty ghosts, spooky zombies and lots of kung fu have made this a classic, and fairly easy to find these days. Because of it's eclectic nature, it has much of the charm of the Evil Dead movies, mixing horror with humor. Some stop-motion animation that might otherwise come across as clumsy melds well with the kitchy charm and humor of this film. Western audiences are becoming more aware of Chinese aesthetics which makes this film even more approachable. It must have been popular overseas, as it spawned at least two sequels.
England
Hammer and its imitators, like anthology house Amicus. Later, The Descent and Dog Soldiers.
Movie Goes Here (196x)
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Germany
High expressionism from the silent era to morbid arthouse with a pastiche of caberet. Cool.
Nosferatu (1922)
I know, I keep yammering on about this movie. Murnau's Nosferatu established nearly everything, exploiting the power of silent, black-and-white movies into a nightmarish (and unauthorized) treatment of Dracula with all of the shadow-play found in German expressionism. Location shots and sets anchored the film, which distinguishes it from the stagey artiness of Metropolis and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, which makes the sense of dread more accessible. Fine casting overcomes the limitations of early filmmaking.
Italy
Italian horror generally falls into two categories. The artistic, suspenseful Giallo films (characterized by the works of Dario Argento) are akin to murder mysteries turned inside-out, and are frequently compared to the works of Hitchcock. On the other hand, the full-on cannibal gorefests of Fulci and DeOdato embody the in-your-face approach to Italian horror that became predominant in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Zombi 2 (1979)
Lucio Fulci's 1979 response to George Romero's Living Dead series features some really cool zombie effects. Any movie that mixes wooden splinters with eyeballs can't be all bad. This was Fulchi's self-styled sequel to Dawn of the Dead, which was released overseas as Zombi - hence the title. It tries to be very American, but has a style that only an Italian could bring.
Cemetary Man (1994)
Originally released as Della Morte, Della Amor, this stylish mishmash includes a novel plot and well drawn characters. Most interesting, is that the film does not really posture itself as a horror movie, although the plot centers around the watchman of a cemetery where the interred return after 3 days. Lots of action, gore, humor, and it's also a love story. A friend recently told me that this entire film has an alternative interpretation based on the previous misdeeds of the protagonist, which recasts this film as a symbolic immersion into one man's purgatory. I must re-watch this film.
Japan
Japanese horror takes two distinctive paths. Firstly are the stylish, haunting folkloric films like Ringu and Ju On that have been so popularly remade for western audiencs. Often dealing with inexplicable and relentless hauntings, they incorporate legends familiar to Japanese audiences, such as the hybrid boy-cat spirit of Ju On. On the other hand, a body of violent, abberant torture films suggests that the island is a powderkeg of cultural repression waiting to pop.
Movie Goes Here (20xx)
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Spain
Who doesn't like blind dusty zombies? Or the wacky monsters of Paul Naschy? And what about Jess Franco, who put smut horror on the map>
Tombs of the Blind Dead (1971)
Jump starting an entire film franchise based on slow action and re-using the good clips over and over, La Noche del terror ciego kicked off the saga of the blind, vengeful, dusty-robed and pissed-off zombies of murdered Templar Knights. Slow moving with a deliberate force, but clearly blind - they are zombies, but at the same time utterly alien. If you are very quiet, you just might survive, but that hardly ever seems to happen. The sequels continued to 1975, and despite re-using some of the most effective shots, are still interesting and fun. They include zombie horses and a cool zombie ship - all appropriately dusty, of course.
