Creepy cults and the disintegration of humanity are on the agenda for this edition of What I’ve Been Watching…

MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE (2011) Subtle terror best describes this brooding thriller. The movie opens with a young girl calmly walking through a home, quietly so she doesn’t disturb the others. Once she’s outside, she begins running. Through sound design and camera work, you know this girl is running to escape. A dread immediately falls over the story. The girl is Martha played to perfection by newcomer Elizabeth Olsen. Martha contacts her sister and brother-in-law and they both take her in. There’s a distance between them and they are curious as to what Martha has been up to for the past couple of years. Martha is haunted by dreams…memories which we see in flashback. These flashbacks reveal her life as Marcy May and living with a cult run by the ultra-creepy Patrick (John Hawkes). As the movie progresses we learn more about the cult and their philosophies and that’s when the terror creeps in. Elizabeth Olsen is fantastic. John Hawkes’ performance is chilling; a kind and gentle person one minute, a seriously scary dude the next. I saw him last in “Winter’s Bone” and he was great in that movie, too. Martha Marcy May Marlene is filled with a tension and terror that runs below the surface, keeping you uneasy. This is not in-your-face terror, just quiet moments that are very creepy and unsettling. I loved a lot of the cinematography in the movie. Some scenes and their color schemes look like they leapt right out of a 70’s flick. I bet after one viewing of this you’ll be locking your doors at night for sure.

THE DIVIDE (2011) Starring Michael Biehn, Milo Ventimiglia, Lauren German, Rosanna Arquette, Michael Eklund. “The lucky ones died in the blast.” The movie opens with a bang as nuclear warheads shower down onto Manhattan. The camera slowly dives down an apartment stairwell as groups of people flee the building in panic. Nine people barricade themselves into a basement that’s been turned into a bunker by the superintendent. Are they the lucky ones to escape the fiery blast? I think not, because The Divide shows us the slow disintegration of humanity as the trapped people lose their hope and sanity, become sick and evolve into sexual deviants and violent savages. The director Xavier Gens takes the bleak material and creates visually stunning imagery, all within the claustrophobic confines of the bunker. The whole cast turns in brave performances, going deep into dark places. Michael Eklund made my skin crawl. The music is made up of beautiful pieces of piano that evoke feelings of sadness. There are a few twists that I won’t reveal that take the story down a different path than you’d expect. There were parts that made me angry and there were parts that saddened me as I watched the characters fall apart. This movie delivers some intense moments.

Check this out:
Xavier Gens also directed “Frontier(s)” (2007) which is an awesome French horror movie. It’s an insane and gory masterpiece that should not be missed by any horror fiend.

I met Michael Biehn at a movie convention and he was one cool dude. He was real friendly and gave me a signed Planet Terror lobby card for free. He’s a class act!

Besides the strange and bizarre movies I like to watch, I have caught a few other movies that are must sees for movie fans: Hugo, Cowboys and Aliens, and Immortals. I loved all three of them, especially Hugo which was brilliant! Till next time…