demonic possession | Through the Shattered Lens

Found footage horror films have always been hit or miss with me. When done well they’re quite effective horror films that really pulls an audience in. When done as a way to exploit the current craze for it then one just gets nauseous both intellectually and physically (I think Lisa Marie would agree).

The [REC] found footage horror franchise by Jaume Balagueró has been leading the way of late, but a decision to switch from found footage to traditional filming halfway into the third film in the series was a disappointment to fans. With the fourth film now set for a U.S. release such fans may find themselves yearning for the franchises found footage roots as the fourth and final installment will dump the found footage technique altogether and just go for straight out traditional style.

REC 4: Apocalypse also sees the return of the franchises heroine from the first two films, Manuela Velasco, as the trailer shows her being on a ship out to sea for testing. Anyone who has watched the first two films in the franchise knows that she may or may not be a carrier of the demonic plague accidentally cooked up by Vatican researchers who wanted to find the biological source for demonic possession.

REC: Apocalypse is set for an early January 2015 release at selected theaters in the US.

This weekend we see the release of another horror remake. A remake of a film that’s considered a grindhouse and exploitation classic that’s sure to anger its legion of fans. Well, that anger seem to have dissipated as hype and buzz about the remake started to spread throughout the film blogging community with emphasis from those covering genre.

The Evil Dead by Sam Raimi still remains one of those horror films that horror fans love to talk about. It’s an exercise in the low-budget, guerrilla-style filmmaking that didn’t just introduce Raimi to the genre crowd, but also gave us all the greatest gift in the form of Bruce Campbell aka “God When He Takes Human Form”.

The franchise which grew around the original film may have morphed into classic horror slapstick, but nothing beats the original in being a truly brutal film. Yes, it’s a horror film that some find quite entertaining but it’s also a film that seems to relish in punishing its audience. There’s not much slapstick about this first film in the series and for some it continues to be one of the top horror films ever made.

So, for everyone who go out this weekend to watch the remake, Evil Dead, but who have never seen the original should go find a copy of the dvd (there’s like a bazillion different editions of it) and see why it remains a true horror and grindhouse classic.