Entertainment Earth

7/14/2014

7/08/2014

7/07/2014

CHIMERES (Review)

  1:23 PM            No comments
Title: Chimeres
Director: Oliver Beguin
Writers: Oliver Beguin and Colin Vettier
Cast: Yasna Kohoutova, Yannick Rosset, and Catriona Maccoll 

On vacation in Romania, Alexandre (Yannick Rosset), a photographer, and his pretty girlfriend Livia (Yasna Koehoutova) enjoy the beauty of the city. After getting drunk at a bar, they leave only to have him get hit by a car. At the hospital, he gets transfused with contaminated blood.  He only notices this when he reads an article in the paper (well she reads it to him, as he can't read Romanian). He begins to get paranoid. But, what seemed to be all in his mind at first turns into reality, as he saves himself and her from getting mugged by a gang of thugs. Soon, he must quench his blood thirst, while she, being the loving GF that she is, gives him a hand.

I had the pleasure of catching Chimeres two weeks ago at TromaDance in Brooklyn, NY. It features some excellent acting by the whole cast. Particularly good are our two leads who make the movie work even if at first it seems like the premise might be silly (though it ends it up not being so, thankfully). The transformation of Alexandre is handled very nicely by Rosset. He does a fine job of going from nice to paranoid to killing machine. The gorgeous Koehoustova is also her role. She's so good in her performance that I fully accept her staying with him. And, the film makes you cheer her on as the it progresses all the way to the end. In many ways, her character is a us, as she is the most rateable person in the movie. She also gets naked and shows her wondrous, small boobies on camera. She even takes a literal bloodbath. Score! Euro horror fans will be super pleased that the gorgeous Italian scream queen Catriona (The Beyond) Maccoll has a small but well done role in it as well.

While, this is certainly great, there is one thing that people might have a problem with at first. It's really slow. And, I admit I kinda struggled with it at times. I also wasn't fully sold at first with the vampiric disease. But, the last third of the film I was sold on and was completely into it. From here on it becomes a full throttle action film and kicks major fucking ass! It turns super exciting and ultra-violent.

During the film's climax, the action itself hits a 10 on the meter. You will end up cheering your ass off and really loving it just the way I did. The fight choreography is excellent. And, what I really ove about these scenes, is that you see all the action. It doesn't cut away or has that annoying MTV style editing that American action filmmakers seem to jerk-off to and spray on the camera lens. It all leads to a beautifully done and perfectly handled and ending the proceedings.

The excellent makeup FX is bloody well done. Among the gore included are literal bloodbaths, splattering blood, throat rippings, bludgeonings, bitings, and more. Another highlight is Beguin's directing. This may be his first film, but you know he has a stellar future in the genre ahead of him. The movie is gorgeous looking and proves to be another well-made hit from France. Combine this with the editing and you have one of the best looking vampire films, along with Byzantium, in recent memory.

Chimeres is well worth you giving it your time and patience. Sure you may think it drags at first and you might not even really get into it, but stick with it. Because the payoff is just to fucking badass for you to stop it or, even worse, miss completely. This one ain't on DVD yet, but when it comes out be sure to see it. Causes it really is a stylish loving tribute to European horror by way of a Crazies/ 28 Days Later spin on bloodsuckers, with a good mix of drama and killer action.

*** out of ****

7/05/2014

The 175 Greatest Heavy Metal Album Covers of all Time Pt. 10: 80-71

  2:03 PM            No comments
80. Astarte- Demonized- The fifth album by this criminally underrated Greek black metal band had a suitably demonized rendering of the band's beautiful lead signer and multiple instrument player, Tristessa.







79. Anthrax- Persistence of Time- The fifth, and my favorite, studio album by NY's thrash metal masters has a desolate place with a clock that uses death to show time. 








78. Dio- Lock Up the Wolves- The fifth studio album (jeez, lots of fifth albums in this part of the list!) by this heavy metal act has a gorgeous and cool cover with some sort of fantastical/ supernatural character and his two pissed off and bloodthirsty looking wolves.






77. Whitechapel- A New Era of Corruption- The third studio album by this deathcore act has a truly amazing cover! Portrayed on it are some cybernetic men. It's quite simply one of the best covers, if not the best cover, of the entire sub-genre!







76. Venom- Welcome to Hell- The debut album by this super influential group is a pure classic!! Also a classic is it's genre defying artwork of a pentagram/ baphomet cover. It is one of the most iconic and important covers in all of metal!!!!







75. Iron Maiden- Killers- Speaking of iconic, that description also goes to the second album from Maiden, with this classic Derek Riggs cover. In it Eddie is killing someone who seems to be almost begging for his life. The blood dripping hatchet is a cool addition. 






74. Overkill- The Years of Decay- The fourth studio album by New Jersey's Overkill has a cool as hell cover, as their winged skull mascot looks to be the entrance to some sort of ancient temple.








73. Kreator- Coma of Souls- The fifth (back to that number huh?) by the German thrashers is my favorite of theirs and their cover where we seem to look into the mind of their mascot is one of their best looking ones!!







72. Dissection- Storm of the Light's Bane- Like the first album Kristian Whalin did the cover for this release by these Swedish black metallers. In it, the grim reaper rides a black steed on a frozen and desolate place.







71. Slayer- Reign in Blood- Larry Carroll designed the cover to the third studio release by Slayer. The album, itself, is one of the most important and influential thrash metal albums of all time. The cover has a plethora of satanic and evil imagery. It's as iconic as the album itself. Sort of like Picasso goes to hell, this hits a 10 on both amazing art and the devil meter. A fucking classic all the way!!




The 175 Greatest Heavy Metal Album Covers of all Time Pt. 9: 90-81 

The 175 Greatest Heavy Metal Album Covers of all Time Pt. 7: 110-101 

The 175 Greatest Heavy Metal Album Covers of all Time Pt. 6: 120-111 


The 175 Greatest Heavy Metal Album Covers of all Time Pt. 5: 130-121


The 175 Greatest Heavy Metal Album Covers of all Time Pt. 4: 140-131 


The 175 Greatest Heavy Metal Album Covers of all Time Pt. 3: 150-141


The 175 Greatest Heavy Metal Album Covers of all Time Pt. 2: 160-151


The 175 Greatest Heavy Metal Album Covers of all Time Pt. 1: 175-16

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