When the goal is building perfect and deadliest mousetrap, time and money are of no concern. Neither, apparently, is a fatal illness and a willing suspension of disbelief. And if you need a dirty cop to help you out in the execution of your plan, that, too, is easier done than said. It's all part of the very unreal, but nonetheless thrilling world of the "Saw" movies, and even though the producers are crankin' out at least one a year and are already up to "Saw V" (Lionsgate), there seems to be no shortage of ideas for slicing, crushing, beheading and incinerating hapless victims.
The film, which takes place some time before Jigsaw dies in "Saw 3" is a thrill ride of plot twists and splattery deaths. There's hardly any suspense since we all know who the killer is and pretty much who his accomplices are, but it barely matters. It's all about what crazy contraptions Jigsaw and his acolytes can devise to off their prey. One of the highlights is a razor-sharp pendulum that lowers towards a murderer tied to a table, leaving him to option of being cut in half or placing his hands in two compartments that will crush his bones to chalk.
Later in the film, five selfish folks involved in a deadly real estate scam are taught an ugly lesson that involves beheadings, electrocution, exploding nail bombs, stabbings, and a machine that drains blood drop by precious drop. When the surprise ending comes, sure it's a surprise, but it hardly matters. All that's important is that the stage is set for "Saw VI"
Repo! The Genetic Opera (Lionsgate) -- Who says there's no room for originality left in mainstream Hollywood? Director Darren Lynn Bousman, who masterminded Saw "II," "3" and "IV," but passed on "V" to direct "Repo! The Genetic Opera" seems to have made a sound decision. The movie is visually stunning, surprisingly creative and undeniably entertaining. Crossing elements of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," "Blade Runner" and Takashi Miike's "Ichi the Killer," "Repo!" is about a future ravaged by disease and vanity, in which a corporation called Geneco funds transplants and operations the way banks used to give out mortgages. But if a client misses a payment, Geneco sends out the Repo Man to "repossess" the organ, usually at the cost of the the person's life. Throw in a love triangle between the Founder of Geneco (Paul Sorvino), a doctor who becomes head Repo Man (Anthony Head) and the dying wife he's unable to save (Sarah Power), add the daughter of said Repo Man (Alexa Vega), who thinks she's dying of a blood disease and turns to Geneco for salvation and three spatting sibblings played by Paris Hilton, Skinny Puppy's Ogre and Bill Mosely, and you've got an Italian opera bulldozed by gore and nihilism and tickled silly by black humor.
Visits: Hungry Ghost Anthology (Bonehouse Asia) -- Japan and Korea aren't the only go to nations for Asian Horror. Here, four of Malaysia's most cutting edge directors join forces for a creepy anthology set during the Chinese Hungry Ghosts Festival in cosmopolitan Kuala Lumpur. "1413" is about a teenage suicide pact that goes wrong. "Waiting For Them" depicts friends who let a ghost come between them. "Nodding Scoop" comes to life with a ritual that conjures a prophetic spirit and "Anybody Home" details a morbid obsession that turns deadly. This stuff will haunt your dreams for days.
Cold Prey (Anchor Bay) -- From Malaysia, we move to Norway, which has long been a welcome location for metal, but not such a common site for horror films (until recently). "Fritt Vilt" as it was originally called, is a slasher flick about four friends on a snowboarding trip who get stranded in an abandoned hotel after one of them breaks his leg and cannot move. Of course, they soon discover the hotel was closed in the '70s after the manager's son disappeared, and that someone is still lurking around the place and he's hungry for blood. The plot my be a cliche, but the execution is as enjoyable as the executions in the story. Other recent Norwegian horror movies worth checking out: "Naboer," "Rovdyr" and "Villmark."
Mirrors (20th Century Fox) -- Alexandre Aja, the French director of the remake of "The Hills Have Eyes" and the excellent "High Tension," turns what could have been a humdrum tale of the supernatural into a nailbiting rollercoaster of terror. The story follows the misfortunes of a former policeman (Keifer Sutherland), who takes what he thinks is a cush job as the night watchman of a department store. But while he's working, an evil spirit stalks him through a mirror and bounces from one location to another until it's inside his home threatening his and his family's lives. Paula Patton, Cameron Boyce, Erica Gluck and Amy Smart support.
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