Nosferatu review

 Number 330 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 1920 silent, German expressionist horror film 'Nosferatu.'

Count Orlock (Max Shreck) has just moved into the fictional German town of Wisborg. He purchases a house from estate agent Thomas Hutter (Gustav Von Wangeheim.) However, Thomas and his wife Ellen (Greta Schroder) start to expect something more sinister is at work.

Like how Night of the Living Dead pioneered the zombie-horror genre, Nosferatu laid the groundwork for not only the vampire film, but also the horror film in general. Except, it wasn't horrific. Obviously, I'm not expecting the torture porn or excessive jump-scares that dominate modern horror, but I was expecting at least an unsettling atmosphere like you get in the Cabinet of Dr Caligari.

I thought that the atmosphere was too happy to qualify for a horror film. Happiness is fine if you can feel there is some dramatic tension building toward something, but I felt little tension. It didn't help that you had the subtitles saying "happy German music is playing."

I'm also not an expert on German expressionism, but this didn't seem very expressionistic. Unlike the likes of Metropolis, it stayed grounded in the real, rather than the abstract. Okay, I know that vampires aren't real, but I thought Nosferatu would be more surreal.

Nosferatu was a strange one. Considering its mighty reputation, I was expecting something more, but I was left disappointed.

Let the Right one in review

 Number 332 on the top top 1000 films of all time is the Swedish, romantic horror 'Let the Right One in.'

Oskar (Kare Hedebrant) is a twelve year-old who is being bullied in school. He also has a troubled home life. One wintry evening, he meets a mysterious child called Eli (Lina Leandersson) who is harbouring a dark secret. Eli is a two-hundred year old vampire who has the form of a twelve-year old child.

This film very much reminded me of Stephen King's Carrie. A troubled child is terribly bullied. They are then aided by supernatural forces to overcome their bullies. Whereas Carrie has special powers, Oskar has unknowingly fallen in love with a vampire. And it s this love story that drives the film. Despite being far from conventional, it was sweet seeing the story unfold.

Oskar meets Eli in a playground while it is snowing. This may seem like a suspicious and an unlikely place to begin a romance, it is believe as we see how isolated Oskar has become. As the film progresses, his and Eli's relationship develops further and even when Eli's true nature is revealed, Oskar isn't scared away. The two of them even use Morse code to secretly communicate with each other.

I also enjoyed how the 'horror' was underplayed. Modern horror film tend to over-rely on tacky CGI or a jumpscare every five seconds. Sure this is scary once or twice, but it becomes very tedious if it's done all the time. Much of the horror in 'Let the Right One in' happens off-camera making it even scarier. The creepy atmosphere is alluded to either with creepy music or clever angles rather than excess gore. And then this makes the on-screen horror moments truly terrifying. Whether this was a character bursting into flames or Eli's eyes bleeding, this film had its genuinely scary moments.

And a quick note on Kare and Lina. Both of them were great in the lead roles. I don't think all the child actors were great especially those bullying Oskar, but the two leads gave good performances.

Overall, I enjoyed this film. It worked as a romance and as a horror. It had some endearing moments, but some truly scary ones too.