Dir - Jore Michel Grau
Overall: MEH
Plot wise, Jore Michel Grau's We Are What We Are is a different beast from Jim Mickle's 2013, American remake; something that at least warrants the latter as having merit. Shot entirely in the slums of Mexico City, Jore Michel Grau maintains a dank, desperate atmosphere from beginning to end, with several acts of brutality that are staged disturbingly well. The mood goes a long way, which is fortunate since the script is poorly formulated and the characters underwritten. This becomes distracting within seriously-played scenes that are supposed to be emotionally intense as they never connect due to everything being rushed along with only the vaguest of story construction. There are also moments that come off comical in large part due to the imprecise writing, which clashes tone-wise with the rest of the film. The concept is macabre enough though and the cast strong though yet again, they would appear even more so if they were properly fleshed-out and the presentation was less aloof.
Dir - Eli Craig
Overall: MEH
There is clearly an agenda to send-up and severely tweak various tired and lazy slasher horror conventions in Eli Craig's Tucker & Dale vs. Evil; conventions that have run rampant for decades now and deserve the piss being taken out of them to some extent. Such cliched details are served up a plenty and the movie's overtly slapstick tone is kept consistent so that when the ridiculous repeatedly continues to happen, it works in its own wacky universe without any issues. Alan Tudyk is one of the title characters, so any self respecting Joss Whedon fan will be genuinely pleased to see him excel with such silliness. All that being said though, one could argue that what is being made fun of here are tropes that are better off left alone than once again lampooned. It is still difficult to stand the "stupid college kids venture into redneck territory + serial killer in the woods" premise, since nothing unique is brought to the table here and the story is at the mercy of so many other stories that both came before it and were played more seriously in the process. Still, the results are entertaining, the title characters are lovable, and the burn-out factor may be more forgivable to the less-jaded horror movie fan out there.
Dir - Kim Jee-woon
Overall: GOOD
Despite its relentless miserableness, Kim Jee-woon's revenge thriller I Saw the Devil is brutally satisfying for those who can stomach it. Lapsing a breath away from torture-porn territory on occasion, Jee-woon thankfully steers sheer of the most disturbing "I really don't wanna see this" moments while at the same time almost gleefully showing the less-disturbing yet just as eye-wincingly brutal "I also really don't wanna see this" moments. Meaning that it is easier to endure an unfathomably evil lunatic getting his Achilles tendon diced up as opposed to watching some poor, innocent, pretty Korean girl get done in with the same kind of gruesome detail. Nothing is performed or photographed anything shy of stellar though and even the relatively long running time and monotonous nature of the plot sits uncomfortably yet is necessary to allow for the audience to soak in the most vile aspects of human behavior. Good and evil are increasingly painted with the same colors here and the whole thing delivers the viscerally channeling chills that are impressive without being outright enjoyable, since "enjoyment" is hardly a thing that is on the menu here.
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