A Serbian Film (2010) Dir: Srdjan Spasojevic

I think most people familiar with me, either through website, blog or real life, would safely assume that I am not easily rattled by controversial works of art, be it visual or aural. I can sit through the most stomach-churning gore the horror meisters have to offer with nerry a flinch, can listen to NSBM bands banging out their anti-Zionist, anti-Semitic nonsense without so much as a pause, can cast a curious eye over Marcus Harvey's remarkable piece, Myra, untainted by the vitriolic opinions of the naysayers.
So it was, with a confidence borne of experience, that I settled in for A Serbian Film, described variously as 'odious pornography' 'tragic, sickening, disturbing' and pure shock/novelty/boundary-pushing.'
Yeah, yeah, thought I.
Heard it all before.
Wasn't The Human Centipede meant to be so disgusting as to be barely watchable?
Well, watched that, found it be a surprisingly campy slice of nastiness.
What about Cronenberg's Crash from a few years back? Sickening, apparently. I rather liked it!
So the credits rolled and, as clichéd as it may sound, nothing could have prepared me for what was to follow.
The plot: Milos, a faded porn star, is reluctantly hired by a reclusive, yet highly regarded porn director. Not really sure what he is being hired for, but eager for the money, Milos is driven to the location for his scenes and is disturbed by the imagery being used: un-simulated violence, suggestions of rape, children in scenes.
Understandably Milos wants out, and attempts to flee, but is drugged and awakens covered in blood.
The director reveals that he has been 'unaware' for three days, during which time footage has been shot of Milos engaging in all manner of deviant acts; beating a woman to death as he is penetrating her; being anally raped, all carried out in a drug-infused rage.
In a miasma of confusion and revulsion, Milos pieces together the clues, filling in the missing days, leading to a finale so mind-bendingly shocking it genuinely left me reeling.
As powerful as cinema gets, this is profoundly disturbing and affecting.
Though the subject matter is repugnant, and some of the material put on screen veering into the obscene - a newborn baby being raped, a father raping his own young son, a mid-coital decapitation - this is nevertheless an important movie and, as promised, is truly boundary pushing.
Fans of extreme cinema only need apply, believe me, but those with the stomach will have to wait a long time for a movie as challenging as this.
Wow.

5 out of 5

Monsters (2010) Dir: Gareth Edwards

Quite, quite extraordinary.
The plot: Paris, 2028. A shower of meteorites hits the city one night, striking the ground with unearthly force.
The meteors remain intact, however, though incredibly hot.
As the locals gather, a sound is heard: the scrape of metal against metal and, one by one, the meteors disintegrate, breaking apart from within. From the earthy confines, tentacles emerge, seeking out anyone within range and ensnaring them, pulling them towards the alien menace with savage ease. As the helpless humans near the meteorite wreckage, the wielders of the tentacles are made manifest, gargantuan, multi-eyed beasts with snapping mandibles and heaving flesh......
This could be the plot of Monsters, and it could be a lot of fun.
But it ain't.
Instead, what we have here is effectively a road movie, as two desperate sorts attempt to extricate themselves from Mexico, a country now divided in two - infected and none-infected - to head for America.
The Infected Zone, you see, is now home to extra-terrestrial life, and few dare cross it but, through ill-fortune and desperate circumstance, our hapless heroes must make said crossing.
A movie called Monsters which barely features any monsters should be a cause for disdain, but no, instead this is a cause for riotous praise.
The dynamics between the two leads fires the whole movie and, crucially, the sci-fi backdrop lends an air of apocalyptic dread.
Beautifully shot, magnificently realised on a relatively tiny budget, this is a celebration of all that is excellent about cinema.
Without dropping a single beat, this film should captivate and, simply put, the last ten minutes is so evocative, I felt pretty damn sure my heart would burst. Magnificent.

5 out of 5