(2000)
Dir - Jan Švankmajer
Overall: MEH
As far as Jan Švankmajer's horror-adjacent works are concerned, Little Otik, (Otesánek, Greedy Guts), is comparatively more streamlined, yet it overstays its welcome at over a hundred and thirty minutes with a plot that quickly and permanently settles into monotony. That said, it is also still demented and off-putting in a quirky way, featuring a continuous stream of disgusting close-ups of peoples mouths while slurping up their food, pedophilia played for laughs, baby dolls with full genitalia, and most of the humor revolving around the sharp editing and WTF story line. Based on the Czech fable of an anthropomorphized tree stump with a ravenous appetite called an Otesánek, such a creature does in fact come to life once a comically disturbed woman has a mental breakdown after realizing that she can never birth her own children, leading to a bizarre stream of events where she pretends to be pregnant with different sized pillows and gets congratulated on her miracle baby that no one but her rightfully aggravated husband is allowed to see. Such a charade is played out far longer than any sane couple would permit and it only gets weirder and more structurally repetitive as the folk tale infant monster eats anything and everyone, grows larger and larger, and the rest of the oddball apartment tenants get involved.
(2004)
Dir - Fabrice Du Welz
Overall: MEH
Equal parts French New Extremity and Texas Chainsaw Massacre knockoff, Belgian filmmaker Fabrice Du Welz' Calvaire, (The Ordeal), comes across as a whole lot of pointless nothing. It is not as deplorably obnoxious as it easily could have been given the modern films it closely resembles, but in a way it is even more disappointing since there appears to be potential on display here. Having a protagonist trapped in a scenario where everyone he comes across is different levels of disturbingly odd, there are a few genuine, peculiar scenes that normally would be a little creepy if not for the fact that the movie does not seem to have any agenda whatsoever. With no mystery or even really a plot, crazy people just do crazy things and then the end credits hit. If there was supposed to be a point to it all, it could not possibly be more blurred. If there was NOT a point, well then what IS the point in watching? This of course is not to say that everything needs to be wrapped up in a way that movie-going dum-dums can readily understand it, but with the lack of purpose beyond just making the viewer feel uncomfortable with a very familiar set-up, Calvaire ends up not having anything noteworthy to say.
(2008)
Dir - Antti-Jussi Annila
Overall: GOOD
Known very little outside of his native Finland, director Antti-Jussi Annila has made very few films in his two decades working, Sauna being the only horror one in the lot. Yet given his small cinematic output, his ability to work within this genre and create something viscerally exciting is mighty impressive. As far as atmosphere and tone are concerned, (two companion elements that are essential to pretty much any successful horror movie), Sauna is about as strong as you can get. It is beautifully shot and never once loses its nearly intoxicating, dreadful qualities. Though its themes of forgiveness are heavily intact as well, unfortunately the narrative is almost impenetrably confusing. Utilizing a backdrop at the end of the Russo-Swedish War, only the most well-read history scholars will fully understand the set-up. But on top of this, there is also a wealth of folklore that whether made up by the screenwriter or based off actual legend, is only scarcely discussed through all of the dialog. There are so many interesting and sinister things accruing throughout that are just as equally baffling that by the finale, it is hard to even know where to start when coming up with questions that beg answers. It easily does enough very well to praise it, but it is also a missed opportunity to truly connect as well as it could with an audience.
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