Uncaged (AKA Prey) – Netherlands – (2016)

We are introduced to Lizzy (Sophie van Winden) with her hand down a crocodile’s gullet, trying to retrieve a cellphone. This tells us a couple of things; she’s fearless, and she’s okay working with large animal puppets. This will come in useful. Lizzy is called in by the police as an expert after some folks turn up mangled, having been mauled to death by something big. Following another attack on a golf course, a rogue lion is confirmed, and it seems to have set its sights on Amsterdam.

After a series of botched and bloody attempts to trap the beast, Lizzy teams up with her dodgy boyfriend, cameraman Dave (Julian Looman), and her old flame, British hunter Jack De La Rue (Mark Frost), who is confined to an impressive wheelchair due to the last lion he hunted biting his leg off. After much larking around, the final confrontation takes place in Amsterdam University, and things get messy for a fun climax.

I love creature features in urban settings, so you would think this would totally be my cup of tea (or glass of Chocomel), and I had most certainly built this one up in my brain’s expectation closet. Unfortunately though, a couple of factors didn’t make this film a slam-dunk for me. Firstly, it was impossible to find an undubbed version streaming for free anywhere, and even though the original actors dubbed their own lines, the dialogue was clunky and, I suspect, far from the original Dutch subtlety.

Secondly, I get that this was billed as a horror comedy, but much of the humor fell flat (possibly the dubbing issue), and too many of the side characters were over-the-top caricatures. The lion itself was fun, a blend of impressive animatronics and CG, and the gore was top notch.

Lots to enjoy, but I would urge you to find an undubbed version.

I watched this on Prime.

6/10

Exhuma – Korea – (2024)

I’d seen this title pop up in ‘Best Horror of 2024’ lists on several accounts that I respect, so going in I knew I was in for something special.

A pair of shamans, Hwa-rim (Kim Go-eun (Little Women)) and Bong-gil (Lee Do-hyun (Sweet Home)), are called in by an affluent Korean-American family whose newborn is overly distressed. Hwa-rim senses a connection to a deceased grandfather, and a grave relocation is recommended. The pair call upon a ‘geomancer’, Kim Sang-deok (Choi Min-sik (Oldboy)) who, along with his companion, Yeong-geun (Yoo Hae-jin), agrees that there is something strange about the gravesite, and agrees to help.

The lucrative payout doesn’t hurt either.

Once the interment is carried out however, warnings are not heeded, and we have a solid Korean ghost story on our hands. Ah, but like some other recent films I’ve just watched, this is a game of two halves, and just when we think the story is resolved, Sang-deok unearths a second, improbably large, coffin, and soon our protagonists are up to their muddy armpits in a Japanese demon kerfuffle.

Like The Wailing before it, this is a wonderful examination of Korean superstition and shamanistic rituals, and like The Wailing, the ritual in this film is a powerful thing to watch. Interestingly, in both films there is a negative Japanese element, and I must admit that my geopolitical history knowledge is a bit crap, so I’m assuming there was some quality beef going on. Wagyu levels.

The film is beautifully shot by Jang Jae-hyun, and the cast is amazing — solid performances all round, and it was especially lovely to see Choi Min-sik again after all the genre classics he’s been in.

A brilliant film — heartily recommended. Catch it on Prime.

10/10

Infested – France – (2023)

Kaleb, a rascal with a good heart, buys a pair of earrings for one of his elderly neighbors, Claudia, who is about to move out of his apartment block. To sweeten the deal, the pawnshop owner throws in a menacing-looking spider all the way from Dubai, a creepy-crawly that Kalen can’t resist as he is an avid collector of rare creatures.

Following a goodbye party for Claudia, he is horrified to find that his new spider has escaped its shoebox, and it isn’t long before his neighbors start dropping like flies, as the spider was pregnant, and her babies have multiplied and grown to enormous size overnight. Ghastliness ensues as Kaleb struggles to escape the building with his estranged sister and a gaggle of pals in tow.

A pretty simple concept for a horror bug flick, and Infested shares much of its DNA with Attack the Block, Arachnophobia, and REC. That said, it shares it beautifully, all credit going to the stellar cast and writer/director Sébastien Vaniček, knocking it out of the park with his debut feature.

The script is smart, with some thoughtful callbacks, the dialogue feels grounded, and the actors keep their performances straight, despite the campy B-movie influences. In fact, there are some touches of humor dotted about that had me howling — a welcome tension release.

I had a blast, thoroughly recommend it, and have positive feelings about Vaniček taking on the next Evil Dead film.

You can find it on Prime.

9/10

Tastes of Horror – Korea – (2023)

Billed as ‘ten horrific short films from five of Korea’s most celebrated directors,’ imagine my surprise when it was all over after six stories.

Apparently, these six were chosen from the original ten that made up a Korean TV series in the vein of Masters of Horror, or Black Mirror. Indeed, a couple of the shorts reminded me of Black Mirror-style stories, and the rest were about as scary as R.L. Stine in a bad mood.

Here’s a brief run-down:

Ding Dong Challenge — The first of a pair of influencer-led stories that frame the anthology, this one is about a group of friends who hear about a spooky video that grants the viewer a wish if they copy the dance on screen. Naturally, this comes at a price. Not very scary.

Prey — A girl is abused by her mom for her low grades and asks God for help. It seems if she kills four-legged creatures, she will find success. Her murder spree ramps up as her life improves, until the wholly predictable ending. Not very scary either.

Jackpot — An interesting tale about a slots winner (huge win), who slowly loses his grip on reality and thinks everyone is after his winnings. A series of terrible decisions seals his fate. Again, not very scary, but a more interesting idea than the first two.

Resident-Only Fitness Center — An attempt on the old favorite, a long-haired ghost causing kerfuffles. It’s all a bit slight, and, dare I say it, not very scary.

Rehabilitation — The most Black Mirrory of the bunch. A woman rescued from a terrible accident finds herself in a strange, grey concrete room. She is told she has to teach herself to walk again in a set number of hours, or else she will die. The payoff is rather fun, and I think I liked it the most. Wasn’t scary though.

Gluttony — The final story returns to the world of YouTube and the world of mukbang videos. For those of you over 20, mukbang is where the host eats a load of food while chatting with their viewers. Yeah, I’m too old to understand or care why this is a thing too.

Anyhoo, this one is all about a rivalry between two noshers, and we basically get to watch two pretty girls stuffing their faces, with a (non-scary) twist ending.

My suggestion — call this film ‘Tastes of Horror-Adjacent’.

5/10

MadS – France – (2024)

Crikey, what a ride.

I was a big fan of director David Moreau’s bleak horror Ils (Them) from 2006, and had heard good things about this new film. The critics at RogerEbert.com even called it “George Romero’s Run Lola Run“!

Intrigued, I plunged in, and I really wish I’d watched it last year so I could have added it to my best of 2024 list. MadS is a taut, frantic film that starts as a realistically bad trip for initial protagonist Romain, and ends up as a full-on infection flick that put me in mind of the 28 Days Later films, or the brilliant The Sadness from 2021.

The story takes place during one early evening, exactly 89 minutes of an early evening in fact, because this film is one take. I’m not talking a fake one take like Rope, but a true oner, and it’s technically marvelous.

Some of the early horror comes from Romain’s seriously bad trip after snorting an unknown drug, and the sense of not knowing what is real or hallucinatory is really well conveyed. Then the full-on terror ramps up and things get very manic and very bloody in the second half. The cast are all superb, with Lucille Guillaume, Milton Riche, and Laurie Pavy knocking it out of the park with what must have been extremely physical roles.

Easily one of the best horrors of last year, and criminally overlooked — if you like the sort of stuff I like, or are just a fan of well-crafted movies, I urge you to see it.

You can find it on Prime (Shudder).

10/10

Rift – Iceland – (2017)

After receiving a cryptic phone call from his ex-boyfriend, Gunnar (Björn Stefánsson), drives to the remote family retreat where he thinks Einar (Sigurður Þór Óskarsson) must be staying. He finds him there, wallowing in the misery of the break up with only a bottle of vodka for company. Einar talks about strange feelings, both emotional and physical, and so begins a (very) slow descent into a psychologically murky tale.

Now, I have no problem with a slow-burn film, and the cinematography really highlighted the stark beauty of the Icelandic landscape, but by thunder, this one put me to sleep. Billed as a ‘gay, psychological horror,’ it was extremely light on the horror (virtually non-existent), and was way too ambiguous for its own good.

Splashes of red in an otherwise steely-grey palette reminded me of the color’s symbolic use in The Sixth Sense, and you might say there are other slight similarities, but that’s as close to being scary as it comes. Not recommending this one. However, if you’re curious to see if they rekindle their love, you can find it on Plex, Tubi, and Prime.

5/10

Previous Murky Movie surveys from Neil Baker include:

Foreign Bodies, Part I
Mummy Issues
Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
Monster Mayhem
It’s All Rather Hit-or-Mythos
You Can’t Handle the Tooth
Tubi Dive
What Possessed You?
Fan of the Cave Bear
There, Wolves
What a Croc
Prehistrionics
Jumping the Shark

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Neil Baker’s last article for us was Part I of Foreign Bodies. Neil spends his days watching dodgy movies, most of them terrible, in the hope that you might be inspired to watch them too. He is often asked why he doesn’t watch ‘proper’ films, and he honestly doesn’t have a good answer. He is an author, illustrator, teacher, and sculptor of turtle exhibits. (AprilMoonBooks.com).