DECEMBER 4 — As we approach the end of the year, I’ve been pretty busy trying to catch up with all the 2022 movies that I feel might just have a shot at making one of my end-of-the-year lists, just to make sure that I don’t miss too much of the essential stuff.
Like in previous years, these lists will be arriving in the next few weeks; comprising a general/overall favourite films of 2022 list and another one exclusively devoted to genre/horror flicks.
A little too much arthouse can make one crave for some horror/genre fun as a palate cleanser, hence my never-ending love and search for genre movies of all shapes and budgets.
So here are a few more under the radar new ones that I want to share with all of you.
V/H/S/99
By now a pretty well-known and long running anthology film franchise in the found footage sub-genre, the latest installment in the V/H/S series features five directors/directing teams that run the gamut from being a wee bit famous like Johannes Roberts (who directed 47 Meters Down and The Strangers: Prey At Night) and Flying Lotus to more obscure but up and coming ones like Maggie Levin (Into The Dark), Tyler MacIntyre (Tragedy Girls) and this year’s breakout directing stars Vanessa & Joseph Winter (directors of the excellent Deadstream).
Clearly not the best film in the franchise but also not its worst, it possesses at least three segments (the ones directed by Roberts, the Winters and Flying Lotus) that can proudly stand just as tall as the segment highlights from previous installments like the ones directed by Radio Silence and the Timo Tjahjanto & Gareth Evans directing team.
Involving such fantastical sights like an actual journey into Hell, a real-life Medusa, a game show with a mystical prize and a buried alive hazing ritual gone horribly wrong, if you’re already a fan of the V/H/S franchise then this one’s a no-brainer, but even if you’re new to the series, this one’s still worth your time.
The Possessed
The very definition of middling yet entertaining horror, The Possessed is Australian director Chris Sun’s (of Charlie’s Farm and Boar fame) first attempt at a supernatural horror flick, and believe it or not, it’s based on the allegedly true exploits of a guy named Mark Gardener, who despite not being a priest, claims to be able to perform exorcisms, a process which he calls “clearings.”
It’s only after finishing the movie that I looked Gardener up on the internet and found that he does indeed exist, and does indeed claim to be able to do these clearings, which makes all the fantastical (and damn entertaining) things happening on screen in the movie even more unforgettable.
I’ve always been game for any possession movie, so when a movie starts straight away with an exorcism, with the main character (now named Jacob) performing a clearing on his wife (a process which involves the “exciting” act of waving his arms over the body of the possessed and asking the victim “whose body is this?”), and keeps on repeating this clearing process for various victims throughout the film, you know you’re in for a fast-paced ride.
Yes, the budget’s low and the make-up/CGI can be a bit dodgy, but an eager underdog is always very easy to like, and despite its many faults, I quite liked this one.
Saloum
A wonderfully slick genre-bender set in Senegal, Saloum at first appears to be a gangster movie, armed with obviously clear nods to the camera movements, editing rhythms and stylish banter that both Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie have made their trademark.
Focusing on a trio of mercenaries hired by a Mexican drug-dealer to extract him (and his gold bullion) out of Guinea-Bissau, the group of men had to take shelter near the coastal region of Sine-Saloum in Senegal after their plane ran out of fuel because of a leakage, hence putting a spanner into their original plan to fly their client to Dakar for a hefty fee.
There they come across a sort of camp/sanctuary for vacationers/tourists, in which the proprietor Omar doesn’t ask its occupants for a fee, but instead asks them to help him with the daily tasks needed to keep the place running, a bit like a hippie commune.
Congolese director Jean Luc Herbulot (who made the TV series Sakho & Mangane, available on Netflix) keeps a pretty masterful control on things, with plenty of surprises in store, especially when the film’s supernatural elements come into play during the second half of the film.
Admittedly, the CGI/effects are a bit underwhelming, which might hamper your enjoyment of the film’s horror bits, but this being an African film made by serious filmmakers, there’s more to this film than just gangsters and horror, as there’s a strong mystical and philosophical element to the proceedings with the filmmakers musing on things like child soldiers and the toll that kind of pain can inflict on a person’s psyche, and whether a person can ever move on from this vicious cycle.
Tragic and visually beautiful, this one will linger in your mind for quite a bit afterwards.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
