TRAILERS: HALLOWEEN!!!

     It's Halloween and what better way to end the month of Wednesday's scary movie trailers with some of my favorites. Not too much talking or writing in this post, just pure thrills and scares. These are some of my favorite horror films, and not only that, they are just damn good films in general. Well, here are some trailers for at least five of them.

Trailers after the jump

SINISTER

Sinister

Directed by Scott Derrickson

Written by Scott Derrickson & C. Robert Cargill

     The horror film has been around for a long time, since the dawn of cinema. But lately, the genre has not been very fulfilling and has consistently been disappointing. To be honest, the last decent and thoroughly exciting and frightening horror film I remeber seeing was Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later. It was tense, it was one of the first films shot digitally and it was refreshing to see a magnificent director like Mr. Boyle pull out all the stops to reinvent the zombie film in a new an exciting way. That was great horror. I had high, but not ecstatic hopes for Scott Derrickson's Sinister hearing all of the positive buzz coming out of its premiere at the 2012 South by Southwest Festival in Austin. Unfortunately, the film was disappointing. Not a complete failure, but it just seemed like something I've seen before a dozen times and although the atmosphere and mood were good, the end result was unfulfilled.

     The film follows true-crime author Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) has he moves his family into a house where the previously family was murdered in the backyard with the intentions to uncover and research the events for his upcoming book. Oswalt puts his family at risk, by first moving them to a house with an awful past, but by not telling his wife or kids that this house was the place of an egregious act of murder. He discovers a box of dated Super 8 tapes and a projection machine and as he begins to watch these films he, with the help of a local police deputy (James Ransone) and later with the assistance of a college Professor (Vincent D'Onofrio) begins to unravel the connections and ritualistic murders of the previous families. It is a good set up and the story doesn't dwell in gore and high graphic nature, but becomes muddled in its own attempt at cheap scare tactics and a messy supernatural presence. Mr. Oswalt begins to go through strange occurrences and happenings at his house and through the found footage he sees a ghastly figure that is present in each film. The true-crime author should have avoided an attempt at the book at the residence, moved out and wrote it from a distance. Its ill-advised to continue his research at the former residence of one of the victims with these fearful acts being perpetrated on his family. Get out.
     Ethan Hawke's talent and fluid acting saves the movie from being a complete bore and the electro-techno music gives a fearful and industrial edge to the film. But when your sitting in the theater desperately waiting for the movie to end its a bad sign. The movie felt like a been-there done-that found footage film although the director Scott Derrickson definitely has good style and creates a creepy atmosphere. In the end though, the ghoulish figure that is murdering these families over the last half-decade turns out to be a disappointing attempt at the supernatural being present in the real.
     Sinister is with no reservations not one of the worst horror or supernatural horror films I've seen, but a prolonged script that tends to droll and become restlessly boring doesn't leave for a satisfying conclusion. The mood and technique is there, the music is there, but in the end, an unfulfilled and disappointing reason to why this is happening and more importantly to how this is happening hurts the overall results. The best thing going in horror cinema and production is the AMC series The Walking Dead. It's fresh, scary and full of complex characters and situations. I wouldn't say this is a terrible horror film, but its not something popping with new ideas either.

HAUSU JACK-O-LANTERN

Just for fun...

      

V/H/S

V/H/S

     The anthology film V/H/S is easily one of the better found footage horror films I've seen in awhile. The film is compiled of five different short found footage recordings that each delve into various fixations of cheap scare tactics and evil. The series of films reminds me of some extremely off the cuff episodes of The Twilight Zone or Tales from the Crypt. Usually the handheld, shaky as hell camera use can be nauseating for some, but in these shorts it makes the camera one of the main scare effects.
Whether it being Skype, mobile phone footage or VHS tapes, the handheld camera usage and varying types of film and digital footage create an eerie sense of unease, creepiness and nostalgia. V/H/S is worth your time if you enjoy these types of films and can make it through the handheld melange of footage. 

    V/H/S is an anthology of many micro-budget American Indie Filmmakers including Ti West, Joe Swanberg and David Bruckner, and was created by co-editor and editor-in-chief of Bloody- Disgusting.com Brad Miska. The film follows a group of misfits who are hired by an outside source to break-in to a house and steal an undisclosed videotape. Once in the house, which they realize contains a room with a dead old man and a various collection of VHS tapes in the basement and the dead man's room, they begin to have an unlikely and unsatisfying journey of there own. As they begin to watch the tapes they see a series of occurrences that are gravely graphic and disturbing murders that have happened to people that have taped vacations, conversations and parties. I will not spoil any of the story lines, surprises and suspense that are in each short but this film passed my expectations. I really enjoyed watching it and it proved to be one of the better chapters in the horror film library. It contained elements of the supernatural, monsters, graphic crime and murder, and without a doubt one of the best haunted house features to come around in a while. Visuals were fantastic in the all of the scenarios and showed the creativity of the filmmakers. What can I say but there was something authentic and nostalgic about seeing grainy VHS tape material.

     The best way to see V/H/S is at home, late at night with all the lights off. I love going to the movies, but with some of these On Demand films its nice to save a few bucks and watch it at home. The film flows fairly smooth with each story building on the suspense and fears from the next. The atmosphere is  

creepy and unsettling and creativity is fully alive and manifests a great feeling of uneasiness and dark humor. Horror can be tough and highly redundant in today's movie culture of cheap thrills and torture porn cinema, but with V/H/S, this group of low budget indie filmmakers have brought forth a twist on the found footage subgenre of horror cinema and a fun piece of escapist entertainment. 

Movie Watching Etiquette

    I truly love watching films and especially watching them in a movie theater. The amazing rush I get from seeing the big screen and the ability to have a loud surround sound system adds so much to the enjoyment and fulfillment of my movie watching experience. I like getting a bag popcorn and a soda now and then. Well, I really like going to my favorite theater, Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar in Austin, Texas. The place is great! It has classic movie posters and memorabilia hanging all over the theater and the walkways into the individuals theater rooms. It's a place that has a full dining experience with an inspired and creative menu and usually has themed entrees and drinks that go along with new releases and classic and offbeat repertory screenings. I love the fact that its a theater that you want to be there early for and see what previews are truly all about. If its a certain film with a cult following, or in a certain genre or sub-genre you get to see old (anywhere from 10 to 50 years old) clips, interviews commercials, trailers that might relate to that film that is playing or time period. I mean the place is enormously great, but one of the greatest things they do is put PSA's up right before the film starts. They'll have ex Governor Ann Richards and the fantastic Peter Bogdanovich, who have taped these announcements stating the audience needs TO BE QUIET DURING THE MOVIE!!!
     Movie watching etiquette is important to me. I love going to the movies and want to be able to enjoy it without the nuisance of annoying, disrespectful moviegoers that don't appreciate or have respect for the movie or the other people in the theater. The Drafthouse is so great about "kicking your ass out" if your being disruptive, talking too much or being just a plain, rude asshole during the movie. Here is a short list of my main pet peeves when watching a film:

1. BE QUIET!!! Do not talk. Do not even whisper. It is so annoying and you need to be quiet and not speak during the movie. It's the most distracting thing during a film at a theater, other than terrible sound and projection.
2. If you are eating at the theater do not chew all loud and smack your food. Have some respect and anyone that orders a nasty, disgusting, stinky ass hot dog needs to get kicked out right away. I do not want to smell that.
3. Really, why do people have to go to the bathroom three or four times during a two hour film. I hold it. I do not want to miss a single frame from the beginning of the trailers to the end credits.
4. Do not bring newborns and infants to a showing in the evening or late at night. Come on people. I'm sure you want to get out of the house but find a sitter or wait. We do not need little babies and young kids at violent films late at night or any films for that matter that late. 
5. DO NOT USE YOUR PHONE!!! No texting or talking on your phone. Pretty self explanatory why this is so annoying.
6. If your at an early showing or in a theater where there is only a few people in it don't choose to sit right next to me. Give some space please. We've got the whole theater to sit in and your going to sit right next too me. Please.
7. And last, but not least... SHUT UP!!! No talking during the movie. Its rude, disrespectful and extremely annoying.

     Going to the movies is very important too me. When I moved from Wisconsin to Texas in the early 2000s I didn't know a lot of people. It took time for me to make new friends being way too shy, a lot shier then I am now. I went to the movies every weekend and usually once during the week. It was an outlet and a way for me to learn not just about film but about perspectives from the world. My tastes in film have refined quite considerably since those days, but just the act of getting to go to the movies and smell the popcorn and be in that dark, cold movie theater was just everything too me. I love the movies and in that time in my life I found out what I was passionate about. Film and film history are my love, my hobby and writing about that has become very important in my life. So please, when you go to a movie, understand and have respect for everyone in the theater. Don't talk or text or eat food annoyingly loud. Going to the movies is a great experience and we need to have respect for everyone in the theater.

Trailers: Hammer Studios

    In continuing with Horror film trailers I want to bring up a couple of my favorite films from Great Britain. England's famed Hammer Studios created gothic horror films between the 1950s and 1970s. Starring the deep spoken and eerie Christopher Lee and the sophistication of Peter Cushing, the studio reinvented the classics:  Dracula, Frankenstein and the Mummy. These films were very campy, stylish and contained that suave, elite British sense of grammar and class. And that blood, with its almost bright reddish-organge tint that looks fabulous on celluloid. Here are two of my favorites with Horror of Dracula (1958) and The Curse of Frankenstein (1957). Enjoy.

ARGO

Argo

Directed by Ben Affleck

Written by Chris Terrio

    Argo is a dramatization and captivating thriller about the CIA and Canadian led rescue mission of six U.S. diplomats in Iran in the late 1970s, early 1980s. The film is clever, funny and proficiently  suspenseful in all the right parts. Some films try too hard with special effects or bullshit gaffes to bring the audience in and create tension. Not Argo. It creates excellent tension with perfect editing and timing, as well as great performances that leave the movie with no dull moments. Director and co-star Ben Affleck has proven again that he has got what it takes to be a poised and successful director. The films last twenty minutes are truly nail biting and a pure assurance of Affleck's ability to direct and tell a compelling story.

    After the Shah has been overrun and put into exile in the U.S., Iranian revolutionaries invade the U.S. embassy in Tehran and hold hostage several U.S. diplomats. The Iranians want the exiled Shah brought back to the homeland. Six Americans managed to walk out of the embassy and found a safe haven at the house of a Canadian diplomat Ken Taylor (Victor Garber). While the CIA and the State Department delve into various rescue scenarios including having them ride bikes 300 miles to the Turkish border or be agriculture workers, which neither will work due to the excessive bike travel and wintry conditions. The CIA chief Jack O'Donnell (Bryan Cranston) brings in extractor Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) to solve the quandary. With the help of hollywood make-up artist John Chambers (John Goodman) and a Hollywood producer Lester Seigel (Alan Arkin), they create a fake movie to shoot in Iran with the objective to get the six Americans out of Iran. Ridiculous, yes. Insane, yes. But its the best option they have and sets in motion the movie about the fake movie that got these diplomats out of Tehran.

    Argo is a captivating, spellbinding and intelligent thriller that at the same time has many elements of humor to mellow out the tension. It's part docudrama, part suspenseful thriller and part comedy. The performances are so exceptional, especially from Goodman and Arkin. They are extremely at ease and definitely bring the humor element throughout the whole film. They are both worthy of Academy Award recognition, even if there screen time is limited. Affleck is very subdued in his performance, being a separated father with a son that he doesn't get to see very often. Cranston as the CIA chief is brilliant and continues on this great acting streak of his, especially with his award winning role in the TV show Breaking Bad. And the six diplomats in hiding are well acted as well. Nervous, paranoid and one, played by the up-and-coming Scoot McNairy, seriously doubts the objective and possibility of this rescue mission. Who wouldn't? The idea is crazy. Walk six diplomats to the airport and fly out of Iran, that the Iranians eventually figure out are missing and are looking for, in broad daylight. 

    Ben Affleck has created a film that, while its not a masterpiece like some critics out of the Telluride and Toronto Film Festival's were claiming it to be, is a classic piece of film making. Affleck's directing is superb and his attention to detail is so important in this period piece. The costumes are dead on, especially the large framed glasses and hairstyles. The use of real newsreel footage adds to the quality and is important in setting the time and serious mood this hostage situation had on the U.S. and the world. The material, being declassified by President Clinton in 1997 and the article written by Joshuah Bearman in 2007 about how the U.S. created a fake sci-fi film to rescue these Americans. The one problem is the minimized importance placed on the Canadians themselves. Without the help of the Canadian diplomat in Tehran and the cooperation of the Canadian government, the rescue mission may not of taken place. But its doesn't take away from the quality of the film. It felt like a film out of the seventies. The great spy and paranoia thrillers like The Parallax View or Three Days of the Condor. The film focused on tension, a really exceptional script from Chris Terrio and an honest last twenty minutes that are no bullshit, some of the best suspense I've seen in years and really bring the movie to a fantastic and gripping close.

     Ben Affleck's Argo is a high caliber, highly joyous piece of Hollywood cinema. It's what a film should be: not pretentious and not all flashy and CGI driven. It focuses on the story and is directed with an excellent eye and profound suspense. This is the kind of film that should be coming out of Hollywood, but sadly doesn't always, so you have to enjoy it when you see it. Production value is great and the acting superb and experienced, but the real greatness is in the job Affleck has done directing. He's created a great little resume for himself with the dramas Gone Baby Gone and The Town, but with Argo he has proven himself to be an exceptional and truly gifted director. 

  

Holy Shit...

    I thoroughly enjoy films that are a little weird, highly challenging and purely express the joy of cinema and the limits that should not exist when testing the boundaries of what cinema can do and be. After skimming through some of the reviews from the Cannes and New York Film Festivals of Leos Carax's Holy Motors, I feel I've found my film for this year that will just be whacked out and an insane trip to watch. Check out this trailer and let me know what you think. The film looks demanding, but also enjoyable and open to unruly interpretation.

DON'T LOOK NOW (1973)

Don't Look Now

Directed by Nicolas Roeg

Written by Allan Scott & Chris Bryant

     Fear, paranoia, grief and love seep through every frame of Nicolas Roeg's brilliant and thrilling Don't Look Now. Personally, this film is one of my all time favorites and being a lover of thrillers, it ranks up as one of the greatest films in that genre. Well, any genre for the matter. It's scary, but not in the bogeyman, cheap thrills or grotesque scare tactics that plague most horror and scary films. The greatness is in the fear and horror of losing a child at such an early age and dealing with psychics that admit to seeing the girl through the afterlife. It is in how the impending doom that is suggested throughout the film brings the viewer into a stronghold of fear and paranoia for these grieving parents in Venice. The narrow streets and unoccupied canals at night bring forth a sense of agony and suspense that creates beautiful tension with limited relief. Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now is a profound example of not only exquisite filmmaking, but proof that scary movies can be sophisticated, thought provoking and create a finale that is worth every moment of time spent in this film's world.
    The film follows a grieving couple John and Laura Baxter (Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie) as they attempt to cope with the death of their young daughter Christine. The film opens with a chilly fall day in England where we witness the accidental drowning of Christine and then moves forward to the couple in Venice where John, an art curator, is working on a church restoration. The couple meets two sisters at a restaurant, in which one of them is blind and can see those who have died. Laura encounters the sisters in the bathroom and the blind one, Heather, states that she can see Laura's deceased daughter. Laura is overjoyed and through this overwhelming occurrence collapses at the dinner table where John waits. Laura feels she has found a way to keep in contact with there daughter, while John is highly skeptical and in a later scene states to Laura that "Christine is Dead! Dead, dead, dead!"
     Venice is captured beautifully by director Nicolas Roeg and its canals, streets and the gloomy, fall days enhance the haunted and compelling ambiance that suffocates the film with gusto and is a character on its own. The sense of being lost is captured in high form when the couple goes out to dinner away from their usual spot and hears a scream, distant footsteps and streets that are void of any people. The whole scene is filled with, as is most of the movie, an impending doom. John doesn't believe in the illusion that the two sisters are mediums and can speak or see Christine. Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie are truly mesmerizing in this film. They feed off each other beautifully and are constantly at odds with their differences in rational and irrational feelings. Feelings that will, if left unchecked, lead to the demise of one of them.
     The entire film suggests, through visions, that the unbelieving John is in constant peril. Is non-belief is tested when Laura, who has gone back to England to look after there son who was in an accident, is seen in all black with the sisters riding on a boat away from John. John is paranoid now and goes to the police. They don't truly buy into his insinuation or belief in Laura's appearance and since there is a killer on the loose in Venice, John is highly nervous and at unease since he feels Laura is on her own in Venice. The film also contains vibrant shades of red, in a scarf, circle at the bottom of a glass, paintings and raincoats that continue the suggestion of fear and death that resides around John.
     Nicolas Roeg brings to mysterious life Venice and to the grieving parents with his outstanding and detailed editing. In scenes of great suspense, one being where John is on a scaffolding restoring historic tiles on a picture, is cut so well that this viewer is on the edge of his seat constantly in fear for John's life. The cutting and direction of his rescue in that scene takes you to the edge with the fear of hanging on for one's life and Mr. Sutherland's brilliant acting. Another amazing scene is the highly provocative and realistic sex scene between John and Laura. In what can be assumed that this passion and love is realized with there first romantic encounter since the accident, the editing, going back and forth between the act of love making and the after of the couple getting dressed, creates sublime devotion. It also creates a compelling feeling of the past and the present being constant reminders of grief, agony, love and a unity that has lost its substance.
    Don't Look Now is a film of high caliber and dismal loss. The film can be ambiguous but in that ambiguity brings the viewer craving more. Not all is what it seems and much of that is what makes this film fantastic. The spooky and eerie visuals of Venice and the paranoia, denial and blind optimism that Laura and John imbue with their rational and spiritual thought brings to life the constant doom that resides around every corner. And the film contains in its last twenty minutes one of the best shot and edited endings in film history. Don't Look Now is a pure film. An honest film about love, loss and despair, and the psychological thrills and scares that go along with it.

Trailers: FOREIGN HORROR

    For trailer Wednesday I'll bring you two great horror films from outside the US. Japanese horror is wild with movies like Audition and the x marked thriller Cure. Italian horror is highly pictorial and grotesque with features from the horror legends Dario Argento:  Suspiria and Lucio Fulci:  Zombie. But two of my favorite foreign horror films are the recently restored Hausu (House) by Nobuhiko Obayashi from Japan and Georges Franju's legendary transplant of a horror film Eyes Without A Face. Both of these films are wildly imaginative and ghastly uncomfortable. Hausu (1977) is one of the most indescribable films I've ever seen. It's part fantasy, part horror, part teenage friendship and part straight up wild-as-shit movie that is definitely a must see for anyone who wants to see something completely whacked out and crazy. The French film Eyes Without A Face (1960) is a magnificent and menacing piece of art that chills at every turn. Its the mad doctor/scientist obsessed with transforming his patient, his daughter, and the results are chilling. The film contains one of my favorite opening scenes with an absolutely outstanding musical score. Break free from typical horror cinema and try these treasures from outside America.

ACL

 
     Posts are light this weekend due to the ongoing Austin City Limits Music Festival. Great time so far, albeit a wet one at that. Highlights have to be THE BLACK KEYS, NEIL YOUNG AND CRAZY HORSE, METRIC, THE WHIGS, FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE AND ALABAMA SHAKES. Just have one more day left and can't wait to see Gary Clark, Jr. and Iggy and the Stooges. Oh yeah! Also, the food is amazing here. Truffle Mac n cheese, crispy artichoke hearts and pork belly banh mi. Actually, you no what. The food is completely off the charts here. Its almost better than the music, but its fun to see a huge group of people, between 50,000 and 75,000, get together and have a great time.

Badass Mr. Django

"Adult supervision is required"

Trailer Wednesday

    To continue my horror/thriller film trailers of some of my favorites I bring two early films from one of my personal favorite directors David Cronenberg. Commonly known as the King of Venereal Horror or Body Horror master, Cronenberg directs films that are very unsettling and commonly focus on the fear of something or some disease taking over your body from the inside. That fear is portrayed exceptionally and gruesomely in Cronenberg's early fantastic horror films The Brood (1979) and Scanners (1981). These films from the Canadian master are just amazing horror films and show that brains and great suspenseful, horror, along with outstanding cinematography and makeup, can present films that are not only terrifying, but just fun to watch. Cronenberg's films have so much thought put into them and being that he writes most of his films as well, they never disappoint. His early films are just eerie and fun to rewatch over and over again. Enjoy the trailers and check out the movies too!!!

The elderly and beautiful in India

THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL

Directed by John Madden

Written by Ol Parker

     Seven British retirees travel and basically relocate to India to continue and restart their lives in John Madden's The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. The film consists of some of the best in British actors, including Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy and Tom Wilkinson, which are moving on with their lives to India, Jaipur to be exact, for various reasons. Some are for financial reasons, others for lost love and love hoped for, and also for quicker and cheaper surgeries. The film directed with experience and grace by John Madden, is a delightful look at aging and the ability seniors have at adapting and changing their hearts and views. No matter how old we are or where we are at in our life it is never too late be happy and enjoy what life as to offer. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel brings to life the lives of these British travelers and represents an attempt at fulfillment and excitement as life goes on.
     The cast is perfect. They are veterans of British theatre and film and exemplify the quality of there skills throughout the film. These actors are some of the cream of the crop of a long line of talented and exceptional British actors. Maggie Smith plays woman in need of a hip replacement but doesn't want to wait six months for surgery in England and she is not to accepting woman of non-British food and people. The Ainslie's, a couple played by Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton who do not want to retire into a small retirement community after a failed investment into their daughters Internet company and are coming to grips with their own relationship. Tom Wilkinson plays a judge that is seeking an old acquaintance and Judi Dench is a widowed housewife looking for a job and to see the world in a new light and understanding. There is also Celia Imrie and Ronald Pickup who are looking for a reinvigorated love life as well as not accepting that that love life is over or slowed down. They all converge at the hotel of the same name as the film, run by Sonny Kapoor, played by Dev Patel, who is desperately and ambitiously attempting to remodel the hotel into the images on the brochures the Brits saw before they left England and has his own love problems. The brochures show a fashionable hotel that is nothing like the falling apart one that is in India at the time of their arrival.
     The film is so beautiful in its depiction of these various lives, since it shows that growth and understanding doesn't just stop with age. We always have to be able to adapt to a changing world and it is enjoyable to see these individuals learning how to blog and make posts, but also grow away from cynicism and in one character, bigotry and xenophobia. Our lives grow older but the world around us is wild, crazy, full of excitement and chances, and is always evolving. The film shows these different people learning to accept these changes, but also face them head on, even if it is unexpected. India is a beautiful location for these changes to be confronted with in that its a country full of life, color, noise and spirituality. The country is a character on its own and represents a place where you can't just hide away from life and its beauty and history. Life is a struggle and its not always going to go the way you want it to, but you have to fight for your happiness and strive for enjoyment and fulfillment at all times, no matter where you are in life and especially no matter how old you are.
     The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel on its surface appears to be a movie for specific demographic, but is fully accessible for anyone. The film is about life and the changes that go along with it. The film is heartwarming and full of humor that makes it an enjoyable experience. It's odd for all of these people to end up in India at the same place, on the same day, but the beauty of the film lives in its grace and concrete understanding of life being a journey that never stops and is always winding down different paths that challenge us and aid in our growth as human beings.

   
   
     

Best Movie Posters of the Year

    I'm extremely excited for Andrew Dominik's Killing Them Softly. The film, starring Brad Pitt, Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini and Ray Liotta, got high praise coming out of the Cannes Film Festival and appears to be not only a great thriller, but a brutal critique on what its like to be and live in the United States these days. These posters have great style and a vintage 70s appeal that adds to the essence and cultural relevance that will hopefully be portrayed in the film.

A Great Thriller from the 70s

      It's October and the weather is getting cooler, well slowly here in central Texas, and its the perfect time with Halloween not too far away to get into horror and thriller films. Well, its a good time no matter what for a good psychological or crime thriller, murder mystery, gothic and classic horror and just anything a little off of center. But to start off a little theme I will begin doing every Wednesday of this month, I will recommend some different choices, as well as some of my favorite scary and thriller films. The first film I bring up is the classic psychological thriller from the magnificent Nicolas Roeg Don't Look Now. Director of such greats as the cult classic The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) with David Bowie, the superb and unsettling Australian outback film Walkabout (1971), and the Mick Jagger led Performance (1970). Don't Look Now (1973) is an insanely impressive thriller starring the wonderful actors Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie that have lost there young daughter and are going through difficult stages of remorse and grief. The meeting with two sisters that tell of an impending fear from the beyond and is also a deep study of a relationship that has been tested to the brink. The film contains elements of the supernatural, horror and a creepy red-hooded figure that might be their child haunting them through the streets and canals of Venice. The film contains one of the greatest endings in film history, as well as a provocative sex scene and gorgeous editing and cinematography. One of the best thrillers ever made!