30 Days of Horror | Day 25

Excellent Use Of Soundtrack
Sinister

In a bid to try and retain some level of originality in my film choices for this series I have decided not to talk about Halloween today, despite the fact that it has probably the most iconic, brilliant and memorable soundtrack of any horror film. This decision meant that I spent a good deal of time racking my brain for another film that has an impressive soundtrack, and then I remembered Sinister.

I recently watched Sinister for the first time since I saw it in the cinema last year, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the films score. It was probably due to getting caught up in the story and scares during my initial viewing, but I had no recollection of the soundtrack for Sinister at all and so I was pleasantly impressed by how effective it was. I think that I liked Sinister quite a bit more than the majority of others, I felt that the story was wonderfully dark, featured a great villain/boogeyman and used found-footage techniques really well considering the recent over-exposure the style suffered.

The film's score, from Hellraiser, The Grudge and Drag Me To Hells' composer Christopher Young, befits it's namesake as a blend of unnerving soundbites and chilling music. Each track plays out as a mish-mash of different styles and sounds and so don't always work as whole pieces of music but used in moderation throughout the film they perfectly influence the dark tone of the film. At times the music sounds almost tribal and this is where the soundtrack really excels, working well to capture the chaotic nature of Baghul, the demonic villain.

While it's certainly not the greatest soundtrack to a horror film, Sinister's use of music is something that I really enjoyed and impressively original in comparison to the majority of recent horror films.

30 Days of Horror | Day 13

A Formidable Antagonist
Hellraiser

Like so many of the other posts in this series today's topic could have been based around any number of films, because many of the sub-genres within horror require a well-crafted antagonist in order to be successful. The chain of 80s slashers in particular were the breeding ground for murderous villains that have each become iconic in their own right, spawning long lasting franchises. Today I want to talk about one of the lesser recognised of these heavy-hitters, the Cenobites of the Hellraiser series.

The Cenobites are essentially the Devils handymen, a group of bondage inspired, leather-clade demons who are all the subjects of extreme body modification. They are summoned if somebody solves the Lament Configuration puzzle box, which is surprisingly easy, and proceed to torture said puzzle solver in order to give them pleasure. Obviously their perception of what level of pain is pleasurable greatly differs from the majority of users and so conflicts regularly arise.

Hellraiser is one of the few big horror franchises of its time that has remained untouched by the remake wagon (however one is supposedly in the works) and this is probably due to it also being one of the longest lasting franchises, with the latest addition being  Hellriaser: Revelations from 2011. The issue is that with each subsequent film the quality and production values naturally lessen and so the Cenobites become less original and visually exciting, which is problematic as their appearances were integral in making them a staple of the series, taking centre stage in the later films as opposed to their original role as minor supporting characters.

Sequels aside, the Cenobites presence in the original film is what makes them so intimidating. Though they have to be summoned their presence is always the cause of great anticipation and fear. They look horrific and the actions that they carry out on other characters in the story are horrific. The design, costuming and make-up is all fantastic and they are without a doubt some of the most original antagonists of any horror film. The use of practical effects during the torture sequences, though dated, is still extremely affecting and makes me wince every time. It's obvious why they became so popular with audiences and dominated the plots of the later films, but the prolonged exposure they recieve in these films lessens their impact. These demons, or angels, are so much more formidable when they only briefly show up to cause all kinds of trouble.

30 Days of Horror | Day 7

An Incredibly Twisted Movie

Inside

It's worrying that we now live in a time where there is a sub-genre of horror that is called 'torture-porn', where if a film doesn't show extreme bodily mutilation it is considered tame. The number of films that could meet the criteria of 'incredibly twisted' is a lot longer than it really should be, and so in choosing a film for today it had to be something really disturbing.

Inside is a 2007 French horror and the debut film directing duo Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury. The film, set on Christmas Eve, follows Sarah (Alysson Paradis) a heavily pregnant woman whose home is invaded by a woman (Beatrice Dalle) who intends to forcibly take the unborn baby from Sarah's stomach. The concept alone is disturbing enough to put many off the film an I myself only watched it based on the countless positive reviews that praised it as the best horror film of recent years. While I wouldn't place such a prestigious title on the film, it certainly lived up to it's reputation, it is one of the most brutal and sickening films I have ever seen.

The horror genre seems to have developed a fascination with body horror, probably due to the fact that as extreme as they may be, the actions being depicted are entirely possible. Watching a family being terrorised by ghosts or a group of teenagers running from an undead murderer is escapism; by all accounts that couldn't happen to us. Watching a woman attempt to cut a baby out of another woman with nothing but a pair of rusty scissors, that will strike a nerve with a viewer. That could happen.

The film itself is a prime example of horror at its most effective, setting an impressive tone that stands strong throughout and featuring some great scares and frightening images. But the main attraction to this film is the body horror, and it is some of the most gruesome that I have seen. The problem with this is that the story suffers greatly as it becomes secondary to the visuals, and by the end the is really nothing to take away from the film besides a new found knowledge of how strong your stomach truly is. The directors were, at a time, pegged to direct the remake of Hellraiser that Dimension is planning, and after watching Inside it is clear why they were approached. They know how to handle pain on film.