Movies
Sauna (Filth) (Finland) (V)
“The film is absolutely beautiful to watch with its absolutely striking visuals, stunning use of atmosphere, and absolutely eerie tension built up by the camera shots. The imagery is absolutely haunting and seeing a dead ghost girl without being riddled with CGI is something you learn to appreciate.”
An intelligent screenplay, let alone an intelligent horror screenplay is something that we don’t see too often; however when we do come across a scary flick with some brains behind it, it isn’t something that should be overlooked. AJ Annila’s Finnish film Sauna or “Filth” is one of the more unique films I’ve seen in a long while. Taking place after a brutal war in the 16th century, this historically fictitious horror is one part Kenneth Branaugh flick, one part classic horror. To be blunt, this is a horror film for those who may not be exactly…horror fans.
This is a psyche screwing horror film concentrating in the Finnish steam cleansing culture, while in the limbo land between Christianity and paganism. The film is the tale of two brothers, who commit a most terrible sin by leaving a young girl to die a gruesome death. It is then that they find themselves being haunted by her, as she follows them in a ghost-like form with her face pouring with endless filth. The brothers escape with a commission marking the border between Russia and Finland to a Russian-Orthodox village. In there they find a Sauna said to wash all sins away.
Sauna doesn’t contain a ton of gore, blood, or jump scares so if you’re into that whole ideal…this isn’t the film for you. What Sauna lacks in gore and blood it more than makes up for with tension, intensity, and even a tad bit of confusion. Annila definitely doesn’t hold your hand through the film and you actually have to use your mind to put the pieces together. While many people have the ability to do so, most of the world does not so I fear this film is going to be overlooked and blow over the heads of the average movie fan. There are layers upon layers of subtext that could be argued and interpreted which keeps me wanting to watch the film again, but I’m not sure I could say the same thing for your average movie go-er.
Annila has proven to us that you don’t need an overabundance of prosthetic limbs and blood to make a creepy flick. I’ll admit my heart raced a little more every time the piercing white visual of the very J-Horror appearing ghostly girl popped up on my screen. Then again, I have an unbridled problem with the long, stringy, wet haired pale chicks. The pacing is a bit slow for my liking, but the film isn’t supposed to be moving fast. It’s a ton of build up for a relatively nice pay-off that the die hards will love.
The film is absolutely beautiful to watch with its absolutely striking visuals, stunning use of atmosphere, and absolutely eerie tension built up by the camera shots. The imagery is absolutely haunting and seeing a dead ghost girl without being riddled with CGI is something you learn to appreciate. The acting is phenomenal and the fact they could turn a relatively simple swamp into something interesting to look at should be duly noted. Sauna is one of those films that may possibly never get the proper recognition that it deserves.
A contemporary reimagining of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story Herbert West: Reanimator is on the way, and Deadline has unveiled the first look at the new Herbert West and the pathologist drawn to his orbit.
Adam Simon (The Haunting in Connecticut, “Salem”) and Tim Metcalfe (The Haunting in Connecticut, Kalifornia) penned the script. The original screenplay and storyline come from Jade Sandberg Wallace.
Michael Grossman (“The Originals”, “Pretty Little Liars”) directs.
The new images introduce star Joseph Morgan (“Vampire Diaries“), who plays “brilliant surgeon and scientist Herbert West, who is obsessed with creating a serum to reanimate the dead.” Katie Cassidy (Speed Demon) stars opposite as the pathologist with a troubled past who joins his efforts.
Together, they prove that conquering death may be the ultimate sin against life itself.
The film’s official synopsis: “As a child, Herbert West watches his father Peter reanimate his dead mother Judith in a secret basement lab — only for Judith to mortally wound Peter and nearly kill Herbert before Peter shoots her. The trauma leaves its mark on Herbert, but so does one final image: his mother’s finger, twitching after death. Thirty years later, Herbert West is a brilliant, secretive surgeon still chasing his father’s obsession.
“Pathologist Kate Locke arrives in town and is drawn into his orbit — first through a spark at a hospital fundraiser, then through his secret lab, where he reveals a serum capable of reanimating severed tissue. Kate, hiding a dark past of her own, is thrilled rather than horrified, and moves into West’s mansion to work alongside him. Their early experiments on a cadaver succeed only briefly. West concludes that dead tissue is the problem — they need something fresher.”
Supporting cast includes Scott Aiello, Ira J Amyx, Randall Newsome, Emma Reinagal, James D. Bryce, Kathryn A Bentley, Jack Lancaster, Amy Holland Pennell, John Pierson, Mindy Shaw, Eric Dean White, Tristan Wilder Hallet, Adrienne Lamping, Aaron Crippen, and Drew Patterson.
Makeup artist Jeff Lewis (“Star Trek: Voyager,” “Star Trek: Enterprise”) and cousin Roger Lewis are heading the production via their newly established Woodlake Entertainment.
Lovecraft’s short story, first serialized in Home Brew magazine in 1922, is the first among his works to mention the fictional Miskatonic University. It was most famously adapted into a 1985 horror movie from Stuart Gordon, starring Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West.
Herbert West: Reanimator is set in Alton, Illinois, where production is now underway.
Herbert West: Reanimator. Photo credit: Matt Lief Anderson
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