Los Bastardos - Amat Escalante - Mexico - (2008)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0841922/ 

Plot from Imdb: "A 24 hour period in the lives of Fausto and Jesus, two undocumented Mexican day-laborers in L.A. Each day another task, each day the same pressure to find money. They go about their daily routine, standing on the corner at the Home Improvement Store waiting for work to come. Today, the job they are given is well paid compared to their poor usual wages. Today, Jesus carries a shotgun inside his backpack."

Great movie ! Super bleak & haunting, this one will not leave you for some time. It really is a frightening view into the life of desperation amongst the Mexican illegal immigrants. But the very interesting thing is that the social context never comes has an excuse for the action of Jesus & Fausto.   I saw it in Spanish without subtitles (as I don't need any) but I think anyone can view it without subs, as they are almost no dialogues in the movie. There is a quality in this movie that made me think about Gaspard Noé 's movies. The actors are non professionals and apparently the production suffered many problems. The least I can say is that it doesn't show. At all. Everything is very well handled. The beginning is slow and might feel boring for some people but, as soon as Jesus is walking around with his shotgun, you know you're in for a complete tragedy. And the home invasion sequence is just revolting. Amazing murders, very brutal and realistic but much more revolting is the total incomprehension of two worlds, that lives together without ever mixing. And, like in any good tragedy, everybody ends up being a victim. A great great movie. Obviously not for everyone.

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

Trailer:

VAINCRE - François Rosso - Trailer

François is a friend of mine and his movie looks like it's gonna kick ASS !

Official blog (in French):

http://vaincre-le-film.blogspot.com/ 

Apocalypse Domani a.k.a Cannibal Apocalypse - Antonio Margheriti - Italia - (1980)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080379/ 

aka "Invasion of the Fleshhunters", aka "Cannibals in the Streets"

Plot from Imdb. "Giovanni Lambardo Radice and John Saxon are Vietman vets that bring back contagious virus that turn people into cannibals when bitten."

Another absolute gem ! What a great b-movie ! It has all and it works really well. With a title like "Cannibal Apocalypse", one might think this is going to be another of the "plastic jungle - gratuitous  animal cruelty - half naked savages - mondo movies" from our Italians friends. Hell no ! There is just a small Vietnam sequence at the beginning and the rest is an urban virus movie that's really gripping. Antonio Margheriti, working under the surname of "Anthony M. Dawson", was a director during the great exploitation era in Italy, the 70's. Like Mario Bava and others, he worked in almost every genre:  from Science Fiction to Peplum, from Giallo to Crime movies. In my opinion, this one is one of his best work. John Saxon ("Black Christmas" , "Enter the dragon", and zillions of others) has the main role and, as the rest of the cast, does a great job. No "over acting" and keeping it low tone, all the way. Some sequences are obviously very influenced by other movies, "Dawn of the Dead" during the sewer sequence and "A dog's day afternoon" in the "supermarket shooting" one. The story is simple but efficient. You find yourself  rooting for this odd group of Vietnam vets, condemned to try to survive by a virus, like they were condemned by society to try to survive at war. Society = war ? I'll let you be the judge of that. Really nice movie, would love to find a better copy somewhere.

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

Trailer

Martin - George Romero - USA - (1977)

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077914/

Plot by Imdb: "A young man, who believes himself to be a vampire, goes to live with his elderly and hostile cousin in a small Pennsylvania town where he tries to redeem his blood-craving urges."

Great & strangely unknown movie from a great director ! Even if I looooooooooooove the zombies movies from the master, I think Romero is at his best when it comes to his less known movies: "Season of the witch", "The Crazies", "Monkey shines" & "Martin". Maybe because they are all a bit experimental and contains a complex social message. In this one, an adolescent's puberty mixed with the delusion (or not ?) to be a vampire create an erratic behavior that leads to aggression and murders. A very cynical point is that Martin's own family thinks he is a creature of evil ! The mix between reality and fantasy is really nice : some sequences are obviously an homage to the genre. On the contrary, the "real" sequences leaves us with a more bitter taste, especially the attack of the couple in the house has something of " A Clockwork Orange" feeling to it. One of my favorite from Romero since I discovered it a few years ago.

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

Trailer: