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This review may contain spoilers.

This film resonates with a certain demographic - Romanian emigrants, Romanian wives, Romanian mothers, daughters, sisters, who left abroad only to have a figure in their life wanting to bring them back, not realising that certain things abroad can change you on a fundamental level, while they themselves remain unchanged.

And when they meet again, after months or years... what then, the movie asks.

I know these people. I am a child of these people - on a deeply personal level, as my father once ambushed my mother, who was working abroad, and I wondered many times what that uncomfortable couple of days must have been like. I imagine it must not have been too dissimilar to this short.

I relate deeply to Angela, and I know that many other Romanians do, and many left at home relate deeply to Tavi, whether they want to it it or not.

I applaud this short film about the experience of Romanian emigrants.

Available to watch for free on CINEPUB and on Youtube, again courtesy of CINEPUB!

The quality and cinematography of Romanian films in the early 2010's is not the best, and this can be clearly seen.

However, Gabriel Spahiu is amazing as the main actor, and he does a wonderful job in transporting you to the time period. Everyone, in fact, is doing a wonderful job in portraying the regular life of romanians in the '80s. The plot is simple, you can easily understand it even if you only have a basic understanding of Romanian history, and while it does get a bit long at times, it all pays off at the end.

The final scene took my breath away, literally, and not many Romanian films managed that.

Available to watch for free on CINEPUB and on Youtube, again courtesy of CINEPUB.

I rarely get to see '60s Romania on screen, and while of course this was filmed through rose-tinted cameras, it's quite an interesting study. For example. what percentage of the female population in early 1960s Romania wore such elaborate, brightly-coloured petticoated dresses, especially when working in a factory?

The film is cheesy, the dialogue is not the best, the comedy is ok-ish, the music is surprisingly (!) catchy, the plot is god-awful and the misunderstandings almost made me bang my head against a wall.

However, if you have some tasks, housework, or whathever boring tasks laying around and need something to watch while doing them, this is certainly the movie for it.

I don't feel comfortable rating this, as it is a documentary dealing with a very sensitive subject matter, in which a lot of fervor and ion has been poured in order to bring this to light, to make the interviews possible, and show them to the public.

However, it's uneven as a documentary and almost amateurish, painstakingly pulling at a lot of threads and introducing many characters who only knew their little bit, and seemed unaware of the entire purpose and aim of the documentary itself.

The two stories, of the journalist's journey to interview the terrorists who took his friend's life, and of the surviving photographer and his negociator, would have worked out even better and be more effective if they were fully divided, as opposed to intertwined and merged.

Available to watch for free on CINEPUB and on Youtube, again courtesy of CINEPUB!

This is a surprisingly wonderful movie, considering I have never heard of it before deciding to watch as many Romanian movies available for free as I can. The acting is understated and moving, the plot is very interesting, especially as I, for one, am a sucker for Romanian foklore. The high-cheekbones and eyes of the main actor are entracing, and I would watch 3 hours of him just eyeing the camera.

It's cute in parts, however the allegory is at times on the nose, and at times a bit too far-fetched.

The high moral principles seem to be simply summed up as his zero-tolerance of bribes, which, sure, I mean this is Romania, I kind of get that refusing to give a bribe is such a high moral principle that it leaves the Devil flummoxed. Well, hm, not really.

There is an idea in there. One that is unfortunarely not executed too well, and the movie has unfortunately become one of an ever-growing unofficial list of 'did not manage to finish it' movies.

I try to avoid director names when I watch horror movies, especially on Netflix, as I don't want to be influenced by it. I couldn't finish the movie - I couldn't get more than 20 minutes into it, and upon closing and logging it, I saw it was an Andrew Jones one.

After seeing this one, I'm certainly going to have a little peek at the director, as I have not seen a single Andrew Jones movie that made me not want to close it 20 minutes into it (most even 10). I don't know what it is - it's really a mix of everything, and I really can't figure what audience or market these are made for.

Look, any Romanian movie that portrays healthcare is almost a must-watch for me, having been a kid that had to hang a lot in Romanian hospitals, and wants to get foreigners to understand it a bit better.

The 'moving first-person' narrative/camerawork is very interesting, making you feel indeed like you are there. Now in the train, now in the hospital room, now in an uncomfortable talk in the elevator.

The characters and dialogue feel realistic, and to just throw it in as I really have a bone to pick with the Gopo Awards (name of the Romanian film awards) I feel it was certainly a much better film than Aurora. 'Best Intentions' doesn't drag, it knows where it's going, it knows what it's doing with its characters.

Unfortunately, this movie is so forgetful I had to go through a couple of reviews to remind myself what happened in it. It's dull, it's boring, it's too long, and drama-horror is a boring genre. If you want to make me care about the family drama, hit me with those thrills and those stakes! Kids in comas just doesn't hit, not when you're not doing a good enough job to make me get attached to those kids and that family.

Oh, this is a hidden gem alright. Of course, 'foreigners/westerners delving into Eastern European folklore/mythology' is very hit or miss, (if I'm being honest, mostly miss), so an Albanian may find this movie more sacrilegious than I have.

What you must know about me is that when it comes to horror, I am a sucker for found footage/mockumentaries/'the recorded' medium. Plus, they are generally very forgiving to low budgets.

I would describe it beloning to the atmospheric horror genre, not a movie to be seen while doing other things, or on a bright summer day, squinting to see the screen. I found the beginnng a bit choppy, and it took a good while to warm up to it. As I found this film on Netflix, I was knitting at the time, however, 20 minutes in, I dropped my needles and played it again, from the beginning, to catch all the little details I may have missed when flipping my work.

My only gripe with this is that Julien is not the most likable protagonist-narrator - he comes off as annoying, superior and full of himself. If anything, the movie would have had 5 stars from me if only they would have found someone else. And having a narrator less like Julien would not even change the plot! If anything, the poor character narration is what may have turned me away and make me miss the rest of the slow-building, delicious madness that unfolds.

Three actors, three characters, three great performance. One balcony and a constant, palpable tension between the three. The recipe certainly works for this movie.

It resembles a theatre play, each act pulling you in more and more as it reveals itself, to both the audience and the characters involved in it. And Romanians have done amazing theatre for a long time - small films, taking advantage of great performances rather than grandoise plots that fall flat, are few and far between, yet amazing when they are found.

Loved it, and would love to see Romanian cinema offering more of this.

British indie horror flicks are either

- gorgeous hidden gems, scary, subversive pieces making your skin crawl

-movies that you want to give a chance to, wanting to be ive, yet are unable to finish

Unfortunately, Simon is the latter. It looks 'cheap', the acting is not much better than the first impression you get, and it became et another movie I was unable to finish, even in several sits.

Oh, there's an idea behind this, an interesting one, but the protagonist is deeply unlikeable, her boyfriend even more so, the villain is extremely annoying, and the comedy can be... very 'eyeroll-y' and sigh-worthy.

I was not able to finish it, unfortunately - the acting, the plot, nothing happening for what seemed like an endless amount of time, yet apparently only 30 minutes or so.

A forgettable movie in the haunted house genre - at least, I think it was a haunted house, I haven't made it that far, nor do I have any kind of curiosity to. And that's the sad thing, a good horror movie is supposed to make you curious, make you wonder what happens next, root for someone, make you stick to the screen

Oh, I feel bad trying to rate this, because in all honesty, it would have quite a low rating - the acting, the plot, the editing, it's all quite low quality, quite forgetful, without many redeeming qualities, but I do feel there was a little love put into this.

Oh, I feel bad trying to rate this, because in all honesty, it would have quite a low rating - the acting, the plot, the editing, it's all quite low quality, quite forgetful, without many redeeming qualities, but I do feel there was a little love put into this.

A bit slow at times, a bit unsteady in its characterisation, a bit unsure of itself, Carturan explores common themes when faced with the prospect of dying soon.

For our quiet and stern old man, it's ensuring his grandson will be taken care of, and ensuring the eternal life of his soul - in the form of a little-known (if even real) 'living wake'.

The living wake, in my opinion, is an aspect which I found very interesting, that elevated the movie from a simple, run-of-the-mill 'dying person has to put affairs in order' type of movie. For our protagonist, he must fulfill a tradition which must happen to ensure eternal life, for the village priest, the old man is preparing a sacrilege that ensures eternal damnation.

Also, I'm a bit of a sucker for Adrian Titieni and his 'mai, omule' (come on, man) attitude.

Loved it. As someone who largely speaks in another language, one not my own, and as someone learning French, I loved this.

I loved listening to snippets of people's conversations and debates in a language not their own. How you model yourself to debate, to argue, to converse, to make your point in another language, making it your own, giving yourself the same ownership you have when speaking in your native tongue - a marvelous exploration of language and people.

Oh boy, coming from a lower class/poor Romanian background, I found this funny, in the 'oh, I love watching other people's problems unfold'. Yes, it is ridiculous and predictable in parts, but I also know a dozen more stories about Romanian families just as ridiculous and predictable.

This movie appeals to the the Eastern European pasttime of 'having cigarettes and coffee while gossiping about the neighbours' in me. The 'Did you hear that X-' vibes are immaculate.

I wished this was good, as I love and adore foreign horror movies, but unfortunately Netflix has this thing where they fish out unwatchable horror flicks from the bottom of the barrel.

Yes, the title is related to that alleged 'blue whale' challenge, yes, it's just what you think. You can probably make and imagine a better movie in your head.

Yes, I know about the 'plot twist'/reveal, so let's just add an extra half star for the 'what the hell' factor.

Very skippable.

If you are looking for 'artistic Romanian New Wave' films, this is certainly not for you - this is a cute little flick about scams, lotteries, chance meetings and happenings, and relationships that could have been.

Some scenes drag, some are endearing, and some may annoy you, the viewer of 2023, who will certainly cringe as old people clumsily discover and use computers and the Internet for the first time, and then promptly fall for scams.

Nobody wins, but friendships are made along the way :)

A hidden gem about a hidden subject - not many people know about the Communist deportations in other areas of the country, not even many Romanian people!

Of course, that is due to the school curriculum not changing much since Communism - with anti-communist books never being mentioned in textbooks or exams, and barely mentioned by teachers. 'Romanian history' isn't any better - history largely at the aftermath of WWII, wit the Ceasescu regime being taught in a very laissez-faire 'well, you can ask your parents about this, they lived through it' manner.

The subject of the film is treated with the sobriety and seriousness it needs, having a bit of ridiculousness injected in it as well - after all, the deportations, the decisions, the ruling dictatorship, it all has an inherent ridiculousness which is impossible to not acknowledge.

Yes, the sound isn't great, and there are other aspects that, changed, would have been able to elevate this to a masterpiece, however, considering Romanian movies and funding, I think they have done a wonderful job, and this is certainly a movie I'd recommend to friends and others who wish to delve more into Romanian history and Romanian communist history.

Oh, nothing more dreaful than a boring, dull horror movie! Well, one thing is more dreaful - a boring, dull, horror movie that sticks with you in how bad it is.

The characters are caricatures that are not even funny, the dialogue sounds painfully scripted in a 'oh, no, bro, don't go there' YouTube vid kind of way, the weird Nazi fascist brother is just painfully awkward, and the plot just... drags on and on and on.

I wanted to love it, I went in really wanting to love it, and came out wishing I would have seen a different documentary. What is d as 'thrilling and unorthodox' is in fact 'soothing and artful' - not bad, however... those words signal different atmospheres and expectations.

The title, synopsis, trailer and images publicised are different from the actual documentary - not in a bad way, however in a way that made me feel like I was d a documentary focused on Vietnamese bikes, Vietnamese travel, Vietnamese 'metal that leaves dust in its way', with an original soundtrack.

The documentary is not bad however, it is an artful experience on Vietnam's past and present, with a poetic voiceover guiding you in a lulling voice throughout. It is a wonderfully calm experience, leaving you medidating on many aspects of Vietnam's past throughout. I just wish I was d that from the beginning, instead of hoping 'well it's fine, I'm sure it will change at some point '.

A lovingly crafted short film, about the interpersonal connections we form and can form. It's short and sweet, and certainly worth a watch, if you can find it!

Yes, it's full of cliches, but they are the cliches we love, those that make us go back again and again to the cinema, to the movies, to this wonderful medium of storytelling.

Ths film is an unapologetic ultra-melodramatic tear-jerker that combines the true story of a maternity ward burning down due to, well, ultimately, corruption, and the fictional story of teenage pregnancy to attempt to give the story a 'personal' touch.

However, the personal touch of having to see several families come to with the tragedy is honestly enough, and the juxtaposition of a teenage pregnancy and dsfunctional family is another story to tell, a story which takes away from the tragedy.

I really enjoyed Back Home. It's a Romanian New Wave movie that doesn't delve into Communism, wich I am more than thankful for. It's also a well-crafted '24-hours-or-less' movie, which I personally adore!

Please be advised that the title is a bit changed in English - it's not back home, it's back his dad, which is important, as it's not about the house as much as it is about the father, the family dynamics.

More than the family dynamics, 'Back Home' is a film about unresolved trauma. Each of the characters has a dark cloud behind them, that they drag around. It clouds their judgment and words, it makes them unable to ever be truly happy.

Each smile, each laugh, is never one of only joy. However, they would never be resolved. And they are carrying not only their trauma, but those of their families - Papadopol's character is clearer as we are introduced to his father, however his friends are not exempt, because this is something cultural. Keep it inside, shove it in, and drag it around with you as it keeps being added and added.

Eventually, just as the light comes back after a night of despair, so are the issues coming to surface.

Wonderful.

A film about life, death, family, money, and a trip to when you barely got out of your village.

It's a lovely little gem - nothing too grandoise, apart from the larger-than-life-donkey that has a very tragicomic use. It is a bit long and doesn't tie all threads presented in the beginning, but I have enjoyed the presentation of life in early 2000s Romania outside of Bucharest. With people leaving or dying, with barely any possibilities to fly your wings and escape to greener pastures - but then what about your past?

This is such a weird one - see, it's so... how to put this. From its first moments it looks cheap, it has eye-rolling moments, but has such a wonderfully bizzare idea behind it, executed at times quite bad, and at other times, amazingly weird.

I rate this 2/5 as compared to other films - see, I compare this with everything else I've seen. But if someone were to propose to watch this little shindig of a thrill, I'd get my popcorn ready and be down for a rewatch.

This movie made me read plots for small horror movies for months, because I fear ever accidentally stumbling into something like this again, with the wide-eyed innocent gaze of someone who just wanted to be spooked a little bit.

God, the horror- I hoped at least it would be something more of a parodyy, but no, it really is taking itself seriously.

I kinda feel bad rating this, because it has heart in it, but uselessly so, because heart alone can't make a film good without... dialogue, a good plot, chemistry, or anything that makes a good movie a good movie.

I mean, yeah, I loved this kind of stuff normally, and I watched it and finished it, but it's so... easily forgettable and has no rewatch value.

This is actually way better than I expected once it really delved into the character of the 'psycho'. I avoided this for a long time, thinking it was some kind of Hitchcok's Psycho - as it came on Netflix almost at the same time as a Psycho-Vince-Vaughn-remake.

I was afraid it was some kind of international remake - and I was so happy to be so wrong!

The only thing I would have against it is its main hero, which took 2 points from me. Its blind main hero who is a stalker not taking no for an answer. Yeah, it saved the girl's life I guess, but is this the best message? Out of all character relationships that could have been conceived, 'well-meaning stalker' is the one that won the lottery? And it's not even relevant, that's what grind my gears.

I gave it one full star for the idea alone, and the fact that someone thought that yes - this works. Unless this is a social experiment of 'what will people watch', or a prank, or money laundering. In which case - you know what, yeah, sure, star from me.

Half a star for everything else, along with a place on the pedestal of 'films I could not only not finish, but couldn't the first act even with the movie playing in the background'

I adore the poster. I adore the idea. I adore movies from this area of Europe - such an undiscovered trove when it comes to cinema.

But the cinematography is clunky, and in my opinion appears oddly zoomed in. Now, a bigger issue I'd like to raise is that the dialogue is clunky - now, is it the dialogue itself, the way of the language, or are there the subtitles that are failing to do their job? This aspect has been so puzzling, that my partner simply left the cinema. He simply could not understand the dialogue- it seemed disted, sentences worded oddly, or answers not answering questions.

The sound editing - the kissing noises, I still . The sloppy kissing is loder than actual dialogue at times.

I am wondering if I have seen the same movie as everyone else, but I ave tried twice - once in a cinema, and another time on mubi, and have had the same experience both times.

Now this, this is one of the movies I wished I could appreciate, understand, and enjoy.

And mabe one day I will, and I am looking forward to that day.

Maybe it's fun or scary for kids?

It seems pretty much to be a scary kids/teen movie rather than a horror movie with kids. But for me, this was neither fun nor scary, and was one of the few films that I couldn't keep watching towards the end, as it lost my interest in the first third of it.

Wishes. Hopes. Capitalism. Mental illness. Promises of better futures and broken dreams.

The documentary encomes best the American dream and its failures, the needs of the people at the time, and on a more individual level, delivers the most punching twists in regards to poor Brody as well as the letter-writers.

Filmed and edited in 'a Netflix-style doc', the documentary could have suited a full 'Netlix' look and done something of a mini-series/mini-parter. After all, it touches on many treads: Brody, the society and background of the time, the difference between both the societies in which Brody and the letter-writers lived, the letter-writers, the people around Brody (his wife, his friends, his family), as well as keeping a chronological thread.

I am also looking forward to any sort of follow-up regarding the letters, for there are far too many not to be able to get some extremely interesting data or analyses.

I literally nothing - nothing! I thought this was like 5 films until I started piecing the plot together from pictures, comments and reviews. Holy mackerely, I do not a single thing from this movie. Which isn't... well it ain't good. But I guess it's not so bad as to make me it negatively at least, so you know...

In a nutshell, I trust my past self and stand by my 1 star!

This was my actual first foray into 'cinema', after someone recommended I watch Inglorious Basterds, and I developed a teenage crush on Mr. Waltz.

Which led me to finding this little gem, and as a kid used to watching TV shows in 5 parts on Youtube, I accepted that I had to watch it on a dubious website that was unable to go full-screen without fully losing its integrity.

I haven't been able to find it since in a good quality, but despite the many years - I think 10 maybe? - I the film clearly, I its hospital scenes better than I other comparable films (One Flew..., etc.), the portrait of the character blew me away when I barely was film-literate, and only the memory of it still blows me away now, 10 or so years later!

Reminds me of the Dabbe series - found footage is an easy and somewhat cheap format, albeit by this point very formulaic. And by this point, I mean by 2014 as well.

However, I have a very soft spot for found footage and supernatural mixes. Throw in some possession and I'm more often than not sold if the plot and dialogue holds - and in the case of Warda, at least for me, it sure does!

Altogether, I wouldn't shy from recommending Warda to a horror fan that wants to explore other 'destinations', so to say, other than Western or East-Asian horror movies.

Why is everyone mentioning Veronica and 'Maria Mirabela' when we have THIS fever dream on our hands!

I can only assume it's because it feels like something you dream up when your mom puts vinegar socks on your feet and a bunch of warm shredded potatoes on your chest while you're all tucked in bed under the plapumaTM, so you feel like this film is part of your flu-delirium.

Surely your mom read you a bedtime story before she left, and it was your little mind that imagined the big bad wolf as a gay icon, a say, Dr. Frank'N'Further before his time.

But let me tell you - Mama (or Rock'n'Roll Wolf) is real. It always has been

Look, it's a sequel starring Danny Trejo by the guy who made 'The Scorpion King 3', whose poster quality speaks for itself movie-wise.

Do you get excited by Danny Trejo and his stuntmen riding horses and shootings things and doing Danny Trejo things? Did you enjoy the Scorpion King Part 3? Did you enjoy the first movie - then this one won't be a letdown.

Did you just look at the director's cinematography right now and decided you don't think this film is for you? Yeah, I should've done that research myself before attempting to watch this.

Look, I know I rated this as one and a half, but that's me. It's actually not that bad! You derive pleasure from horror films where kids are terrible? Need another reason to stay childfree? Pre-teens/teens freaking you the fuck out? Not too picky in your horrors and enjoy your run-of-the-mill Netflix horror? This is the film for you!

Now, this Peter kid is sure terrible and cruel, and if the premise already sounds like a good ride for you, you may find yourself somewhat enjoying it, my rating be damned.

Ah, my rating seems to match the one offered perfectly - a clear 2.0. I didn't like it, but then again, I am very pick with my zombie movies.

There's a dime a dozen of them- it takes quite a lot for one to stand out, and unfortunately, this dime gets lost in the dozen by being unremarkable - zombies in Reno, Las Vegas? Colour me snoozing, for that's what I was doing towards the middle.

To all teens watching this instead of reading the book - try the book out at another point in your life. The book isn't to be enjoyed at the age we are taught it, and neither will the film mean much to you at this stage in your life. Furthermore, the film goes through the lenses of 1987.

It's a film from the late '80s (2 years before the Revolution), about a book written in mid'50s, about a family that lived in the Depression of the '30s.

Now, everyone. Don't worry about the film being too far from the book in regards to censorship or propaganda - in fact, it took around a year or so for censors to decide if they could actually screen it. Overall, they didn't like it. The peasant life is too grim, the houses desolate, the village life harsh.

Furthermore, there is no propaganda. The film follows the book exactly, and Preda was not a communist/socialist (in fact, his second volume of Morometii, which is staunchly anti-communist, is still not studied in Romanin high-schools, as Romanian schools still follow to an extent the old communist curriculum).

Gulea allegedly didn't change anything from his movie, declaring later that he just postponed things as the objections were silly and dumb. Now, for a fun fact, the film was eventually approved after a certain Popescu, known also as 'God' and described as the equivalent of Hitler's Goebbels for Ceausescu, saw it and called the director saying it was an amazingly accurate portrayal of true pasant life.

I dearly recommend it if you are interested in viewing the peasant life of an interwar Romania.

Unfortunately, this works best as either a film, a much shorter miniseries, or released on a weekly basis. Released at once, it gets exhausting about halfway in. The premise is promising - it's great! - the tension holds in the beginning, but it gets exhausting and drops the ball around midway.

It tries a revival of the schoolgirl horror-thriller trend of the '90s-'00s, which as a concept works wonderfully! Nothing worse than a bunch of schoolgirl cliques - put them together in a stressful situation and boom, chance of magic.

Unfortunately, combine a premise that gets old quickly with a final act that is somewhat of a letdown, and it becomes forgettable.

This film isn't as bad as it is simply forgetable - I watched it some... what 3 weeks ago? And I vaguely how it started. What I is that I did not really enjoy it, didn't find any value, and kind of snoozed off at some point. God, I couldn't tell you at which point.

Another Negoescu feature that I found unable to enjoy. Breaking up with his 'nagging non-sporadic' girlfriend, this ' wanna-be lovable loser' protagonist of Negoescu's, a man too old to be this immature and certainly too old for this plot looks for an ex of his, despite several characters throughout the film dissuating him to do so.

All of this for him in the end to realise that he jumped in the exact relationship type that he ran away from.

I get it, I just don't care enough for Romanian men.

One of the most -if not the most- polarising films Romania ever gave us. It's either homophobic, or pro-LGBT before its time by making the central relationship one between women.

It's either a love story where unfortunately one half is a manipulative, sick person taking advantage of another's innocence, or a denunciation of lesbianism.

It could be an allegory of morality when it comes to 'mild, mannered, middle-class' families. They can't see what's happpening in front of their own eyes, and would rather live in their own calm and mild environment rather than see the world around them - be it the incestuous relationship between their children, their son being a sugar baby, or their daughter a lesbian. Be that as it may however, the central conflict is not the family itself, it's the relationship and how it must be hidden.

It could be the coming-of-age story of a student moving to the capital to study and falling in love with the wrong person from the wrong family, but feeling the right feelings.

It could be simply a looting-for-awards rip-off of a Pawlikowski movie that came out 2 years earlier, meanings thrown aside and uncared for, although that seems a bit far-fetched for Giurgiu.

But perhaps he meant for it to be polarising. Pehaps he wanted the audience to form its own opinions, and perhaps it's not a homophobic take as much as one with the ignorance of a Eastern European director in the '00s, in a country where homosexuality had barely entered legality, who was not aware that the film may be damaging its freshly emerging Romanian LGBT population.

Perhaps I am thinking too much about it in of Romanian cinema and Romanian cinema-goers, while Giurgiu did not care for its Romanian audience, and meant to make by make simply an award-winning film for foreign cinema goers, much in the style of what is now known as Romanian New Wave.

Look, I love me a horror nun movie, I'm a sucker for stigmata and possessions, but I scoffed at the first mention of evil-born-in-eastern-europe. And from then on, it just go progresivelly worse.

The Latvia bit did nothing for me. A useless plot point that means nothing, unless you're terrified by default of orthodoxy or anything foreign. Sure, makes sense in the '80s, but 2018? Come on man, y'all are better than that.

Now, sure, 'Eastern Europe scary creepy' can be successful and done right, but not in your usual, a-dime-a-dozen run-of-the-mill horror movie. Which this is.

CONTINUOUS UPDATING

Hope it will help anyone with any projects or watchlists!

Please let me know if I missed anything, or if you have any questions, criticisms or . A massive thank you to everyone that has been contributing to this list!

It's definitely something I myself wish to analyze more in depth later - even with only the empirical data, there's so much to explore!

1. Walking Troubles of Organic Hemiplegy
2. Un caz de hemiplegie isterica vindecat prin sugestie hipnotica
3. Paralizia pseudo-hipertrofica sau miosclerozica, din cadrul miopatiilor
4. Tulburarile mersului in ataxia locomotrice progresiva
5. In Night and Ice
6. The Independence of Romania
7. Nuntă la Arad
8. Eminescu. Veronica, Creanga
9. Of the World's Horrors
10. Tigancusa de la iatac

...plus 2119 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Continuous updating!

Depending on where you are, some of these films may be geographically restricted in your area

• Beyond the Sands
• The Return of King Lapusneanu
• A Midsummer Day's Smile
• Fleeting Loves
• Through the Ashes of the Empire
• The Mona Lisa Without a Smile
• Veronica
• Life Doesn't Spare
• Memories of My Childhood
• The Enchanted Grove

...plus 228 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Four Lions
• Saint Maud
• Boiling Point
• Limbo
• How to Have Sex
• Ray & Liz
• Moon
• His House
• Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
• Shaun of the Dead

*Updating Closed Jan 2025.*

This has been a wonderful journey, however, with the decisions taken over the past years by streaming platforms, Netflix included, this stopped being fun and enjoyable. I haven't found a single gem since 'His House', and most of the films were just... scraping the bottom of the barrel, no diamonds in the rough, just forgettable movies.

It has been fun while it lasted and I will hopefully see you around other lists!

Last update: 23rd of November 2024
Ranked best to worst, taking into the horror factor as well as the entertainment factor.
Horror comedy, its own genre that cannot be compared easily with 'horror', can be found at the end after the film 'Splatter' (yes, that is my 'worst film'.), again in order of best to worst.

I tried to be as objective as possible, but my personal taste got the best of me sometimes.

Great prep for a spooktakular 2025 Halloween!

Films not included (not seen yet):

Agak Laen
Asvins
Baby Ruby
Bayi Ajaib
The Bridge Curse: Ritual
Cobweb
Conjuring Kannappan
Death Whispers
The Deliverance
Deep Blue Sea
Disappear Completely
Do You See What I See
Grave Torture
The Haunted Hotel
Home for rent
The Hunt
Ile Owo
Indigo
Janji Darah
Jurnal Risa by Risa Saraswati
Killer Book Club
Kuyang
M3gan
Mallari
Margaux
Monster (2024)
Mr. Harrigan's Phone
My Boo
The Origin: Madam Koi-Koi - Chapter 1: The Awakening
The Origin: Madam Koi-Koi - Chapter 2: The Spirit of Vengeance
Outside
Para Betina Pengikut Iblis
Para Betina Pengikut Iblis 2
Possession: Kerasukan
The Rope Curse 3
Shake, Rattle & Roll Extreme
Siksa Neraka
Sister Death
Spirited
Sting
Suzzanna: Kliwon Friday Night
The Crazies
Temurun
Time Cut
Trinil
Unusual Tales
Valley of the Dead
Virupaksha
Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead

1. His House
2. The Autopsy of Jane Doe
3. The Babadook
4. Sinister
5. The Wailing
6. Get Out
7. Goedam
8. Split
9. Apostle
10. Creep

...plus 225 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

*Updating Closed Jan 2025.*

This has been a wonderful journey, however, with the decisions taken over the past years by streaming platforms, Netflix included, this stopped being fun and enjoyable. I haven't found a single gem since 'His House', and most of the films were just... scraping the bottom of the barrel, no diamonds in the rough, just forgettable movies.

It has been fun while it lasted and I will hopefully see you around other lists!

Updated 23rd of November 2024

Ranked best to worst, taking into the horror factor as well as the entertainment factor.
Horror comedy, its own genre that cannot be compared easily with 'horror', can be found at the end after the film 'Splatter' (yes, that is my 'worst film'.), again in order of best to worst.

I tried to be as objective as possible, but my personal taste got the best of me sometimes.

Films not included (not seen yet):

Abandoned
Agak Laen
Asvins
Bayi Ajaib
The Bridge Curse: Ritual
Conjuring Kannappan
Death Whispers
The Deliverance
Disappear Completely
Do You See What I See
Grave Torture
The Haunted Hotel
Home for Rent
Ile Owo
Indigo
Janji Darah
Jurnal Risa by Risa Saraswati
Killer Book Club
Kuyang
Mallari
Monster
Mr. Harrigan's Phone
My Boo
The Origin: Madam Koi-Koi - Chapter 1: The Awakening
The Origin: Madam Koi-Koi - Chapter 2: The Spirit of Vengeance
Outside
Para Betina Pengikut Iblis
Para Betina Pengikut Iblis Part 2
Possession Kresukan
The Rope Curse 3
Shake, Rattle and Roll Extreme
The Sentinel
Sister Death
Siksa Neraka
Spirited
Susuk
Suzzanna: Kliwon Friday Night
Tarot
Temurun
Time Cut
Tin & Tina
Trinil
Valley of the Dead
Viral
Virupaksha
You're next
Zom 100: Bucket list of the dead

1. His House
2. The Autopsy of Jane Doe
3. The Babadook
4. The Ritual
5. The Wailing
6. Apostle
7. Incantation
8. Creep
9. Goedam
10. Ouija: Origin of Evil

...plus 157 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Top 10, newest to oldest, with some liberties taken for 2 of the films :)

• Layla
• Anora
• Pamfir
• Adam
• Saint Maud
• Happy as Lazzaro
• Terri
• Paprika
• Kikujiro
• Tampopo

‘Extreme’ is used in the same sense as ‘Extreme Sports’, in comparison with ‘conventional’/mainstream.

There is no star power or actual genre classification in ‘Tartan Asia Extreme’- the only “classification” is by auteur, and even then there is barely one. “Asia Extreme Film Festival” started categorizing “Asia Extreme” as genre, even if it lumps together action and horror flicks from several countries. By all means, ‘Asia Extreme’ should be categorized more as a distribution category rather than a production category.

As the films that piqued the interest of the UK public were ‘Audition’ and ‘Battle Royale’ one can see the differences between the US and UK branches of Tartan 'Asia Extreme'. As a comparison, only 21 titles are in common between the branches (for reference the UK branch has 69 titles and the US branch 48 titles).

There are several characteristics of movies that are picked up by Tartan ‘Asia Extreme’: a lot were flops at home, had gimmicky premises or narrative hooks, were exploitation flops, were removed from national context, had graphic violence and many were copying the success of 'Ringu', with 'The Eye' and 'Inner Senses' copying its soundtrack.

Apart from the soundtrack, there are plenty of similarities when it comes to themes as well (especially when it comes to Ringu):

For example, technology. Reincarnation and Ringu both have themes centered around recordings (VCR and film), Ringu and Phone have a mysterious, evil voice communicating through phones.

While excused as both have the same director, Ringu and Dark Water, both Hideo Nakata's films, have emotional scenes relating to the main female character embracing the spirit that has been tormenting her and those around around, in an attempt to appease the malevolent presence, and also feature altered photos- another mark of the 'technology is evil' trope present in 90's and 00's Asian films.

As a note, the movies distributed by Tartan 'Asia Extreme' are more representative of how the West consumes the cinema of East Asia rather than the supply. Why the hype surrounding ‘Asia Extreme’?

Well, mainstream Western publication usually ‘blame it’ on the supply - the ‘extreme-ness’ is integral to Japanese and East Asian culture but rare elsewhere, apparently. But the supply does not explain the hype; no, it is the British demand.
For one, the target of Tartan ‘Asia Extreme’ is at the intersection of foreign-language films and ‘cult’ genre, and also has the element of 'bro-ness' and 'see if you dare'.

How does the audience present itself? Well, according to Tartan, most people buying DVDs are 18 to 30-year old males. These young male consumers form a ‘fratiarchy‘, with a “See it if you dare!” attitude in order to demonstrate their unshockability and compete for social standing. One could argue such viewers in general have some sort of borderline masochistic urge.

Of course, Asia is presented as the other, as shown by this quote on their (now defunct) website: “If the weird, the wonderful and the dangerous is your thing, then you really don’t want to miss this chance to take a walk on the wild side”. We can see there are promises of danger, mystery, and the unexpected, marketed as the “Other” or the wild side, and horror, sadism, sexual violence and cruelty are ed off as integral to this “Asian Other”.

Without doubt, there are themes of Orientalism.

Tartan's 'Asia Extreme' films are never compared to American horror (Sixth Sense/Blair Witch Project) but always culturally (Kabuki/Noh) so the public knows it has to “think”. Why “think”? Well, american cinema needs clear signs for audiences, while Japanese cinema is ambiguous and open to plural readings -> here we have the usual Orientalist discourse that Japan is externally inscrutable, internally violent, amoral, etc.

Western audiences can “condemn while enjoying” and confirms their prejudices. Tartan feeds into the discourse, marketing the movies as “exotic and dangerous thrills”, in a “This is what they like, not us.” For example, in 'Audition', instead of general male chauvinism, it’s “Japanese attitudes” and in 'Dark Water' instead of commentary on capitalist world, it’s commentary on harsh, soul-sapping “Japanese architecture”

The discourse for ‘Asia Extreme’ presents itself as such: it is an outlaw to ‘mainstream’, it is able to inspire copycat behaviour, it is able to introduce ing out and vomiting, it is “Revolting”, “a new look in cinematic torture”, “grimmest exploitation of sadistic violence” and Miike is dubbed as the “most dangerous filmmaker” (Empire, 2003)

Generally, stand-alone successful movies were marketed on their own, less known were included in ‘Asia Extreme Roadshow’. Notably, the films were not shown in usual art-house places, but rather in multiplexes. The movies “represented” East Asia because Tartan was the most prominent and dominant, but most movies did not top “box-office” in their native countries

To throw some empirical data in the dust for all wondering, in the UK branch, we have 30 Japanese titles, 24 Korean titles, 16 Hong Kong titles, 5 Thai titles, 1 Singapore title (which is also a co-production).

We also have 4 co-productions: Thai/HK/Korea, Korea/HK/Japan, HK/Singapore, Thai/HK

By year, we can arrange them as such: from 2000 - 9 titles, 2001 - 8 titles, 2002 - 10 titles, 2003 - 11 titles, 2004 - 11 titles, 2005 - 6 titles, showing us clearly the peak and decline until its closure.

The UK branch relied a lot on names and directors when choosing titles, showing that they knew their audience and how to appease them . Most common directors are, in descending order: Takashi Miike- 12,Pang Brothers- 7, Park Chan-wook- 5, Shinya Tsukamoto -4, Hideo Nakata-4. Only 20 titles have directors that are only featured once.

We can also see some trends in themes: supernatural - 24, plot twist - 22, suicide&suicide attempt - 18, gangster films - 15, gore&sadism - 14

Furthermore, we can see some trends in remakes and sequels, which goes to show that the titles distributed were popular enough to warrant such treatment - respectively, 13 Hollywood remakes and sequels.

• A Bittersweet Life
• Ab-normal Beauty
• Acacia
• Agitator
• Another Public Enemy
• Audition
• Bad Guy
• Bangkok Dangerous
• Bangkok Haunted
• Battle Royale

...plus 58 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Here, ‘Extreme’ is used in the same sense as ‘Extreme Sports’, in comparison with ‘conventional’/mainstream.

There is no star power or actual genre classification in ‘Tartan Asia Extreme’- the only “classification” could be considered to be by auteur, and even then there is barely one. “Asia Extreme Film Festival” started categorizing “Asia Extreme” as genre, even if it lumps together action, thriller and horror flicks from several countries. By all means, ‘Asia Extreme’ should be categorized more as a distribution category rather than a production category or genre.

As the films that piqued the interest of the UK public were ‘Oldboy’ and ‘A Tale of Two Sisters’ (compared to 'Audition' and 'Battle Royale' for the UK public) one can see the differences between the US and UK branches of Tartan 'Asia Extreme'. As a comparison, only 21 titles are in common between the branches (for reference the UK branch has 69 titles and the US branch 48 titles).

There are several characteristics of movies that are picked up by Tartan ‘Asia Extreme’: a lot were flops at home, had gimmicky premises or narrative hooks, were exploitation flops, were removed from national context, had graphic violence and many were copying the success of 'Ringu', with 'The Eye' and 'Inner Senses' copying its soundtrack.

Apart from the soundtrack, there are plenty of similarities when it comes to themes as well (especially when it comes to Ringu):

For example, technology. Reincarnation and Ringu both have themes centered around recordings (VCR and film), Ringu and Phone have a mysterious, evil voice communicating through phones.

While excused as both have the same director, Ringu and Dark Water, both Hideo Nakata's films, have emotional scenes relating to the main female character embracing the spirit that has been tormenting her and those around around, in an attempt to appease the malevolent presence, and also feature altered photos- another mark of the 'technology is evil' trope present in 90's and 00's Asian films.

As a note, the movies distributed by Tartan 'Asia Extreme' are more representative of how the West consumes the cinema of East Asia rather than the supply.

Well, why the hype surrounding ‘Asia Extreme’?

Mainstream Western publication usually ‘blame it’ on the supply - the ‘extreme-ness’ is integral to Japanese and East Asian culture but rare elsewhere, apparently. But the supply does not explain the hype; no, it is the British demand.
For one, the target of Tartan ‘Asia Extreme’ is at the intersection of foreign-language films and ‘cult’ genre, and also has the element of 'bro-ness' and 'see if you dare'.

How does the audience present itself? Well, according to Tartan, most people buying DVDs are 18 to 30-year old males. These young male consumers form a ‘fratiarchy‘, with a “See it if you dare!” attitude in order to demonstrate their unshockability and compete for social standing. One could argue such viewers in general have some sort of borderline masochistic urge.

Of course, Asia is (required to be) presented as the other, as shown by this quote on their (now defunct) website: “If the weird, the wonderful and the dangerous is your thing, then you really don’t want to miss this chance to take a walk on the wild side”. We can see there are promises of danger, mystery, and the unexpected, marketed as the “Other” or the wild side, and horror, sadism, sexual violence and cruelty are ed off as integral to this “Asian Other”.

Without doubt, there are themes of Orientalism.

Tartan's 'Asia Extreme' films are never compared to American horror (Sixth Sense/Blair Witch Project) but always culturally (Kabuki/Noh) so the public knows it has to “think”. Why “think”? Well, american cinema needs clear signs for audiences, while Japanese cinema is ambiguous and open to plural readings -> here we have the usual Orientalist discourse that Japan is externally inscrutable, internally violent, amoral, etc.

Western audiences can “condemn while enjoying” and confirms their prejudices. Tartan feeds into the discourse, marketing the movies as “exotic and dangerous thrills”, in a “This is what they like, not us.” For example, in 'Audition', instead of general male chauvinism, it’s “Japanese attitudes” and in 'Dark Water' instead of commentary on capitalist world, it’s commentary on harsh, soul-sapping “Japanese architecture”

The discourse for ‘Asia Extreme’ presents itself as such: it is an outlaw to ‘mainstream’, it is able to inspire copycat behaviour, it is able to introduce ing out and vomiting, it is “Revolting”, “a new look in cinematic torture”, “grimmest exploitation of sadistic violence” and Miike is dubbed as the “most dangerous filmmaker” (Empire, 2003)

Generally, stand-alone successful movies were marketed on their own, less known were included in ‘Asia Extreme Roadshow’. Notably, the films were not shown in usual art-house places, but rather in multiplexes. The movies “represented” East Asia because Tartan was the most prominent and dominant, but most movies did not top box-office in their native countries

To throw some empirical data in the dust for all wondering, in the US branch, we have 10 Japanese titles, 26 Korean titles, 5 Hong Kong titles, 5 Thai titles, 2 Singaporean titles and 2 Taiwanese titles.

By year, we can arrange them as such:from 2004 - 11 titles, 2005 - 11 titles, 2006 - 8 titles and 2007 - 2 titles, showing us clearly the peak and decline until its closure.

In opposition to the UK branch, the US branch did not rely on the power of names or directors when choosing titles - their most common directors are Park Chan-wook and Shinya Tsukamoto with 3 titles each, and 34 titles have directors that are only featured once.

We can also see some trends in themes: supernatural - 26, plot twist - 21, suicide&suicide attempt - 16, gore&sadism - 14, sexual violence - 7 , malevolent spirit - 7, and only around 4 gangster films, compared to the UK branch.

Furthermore, we can see some trends in remakes and sequels, showing that the titles distributed were popular enough to warrant such treatment: when it comes to Tartan US, there are at least 4 titles with Hollywood remakes.

• A Bittersweet Life
• Ab-normal Beauty
• Acacia
• Apartment 1303
• Arang
• Bloody Reunion
• Bloody Tie
• The Booth
• Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman
• Cello

...plus 37 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.