Neuigkeiten

Left Bank

Stars: Eline Kuppens, Matthias Schoienaerts, Tom De Wispalaere, Marilou Mermans | Written by Christophe Dirickx, Dimitri Karakatsanis, Pieter Van Hees | Directed by Pieter Van Hees

Quite often I find the state of the modern horror movie intensely depressing, with far too many flaccid remakes, sequels and shiny nonsense that lack tension, pace and good scares. However once again a European film has restored my faith and brought a shiver of disquiet on a bright summer morning.

Left Bank (Linkeroever) is the first full length movie by Pieter Van Hees, which he intends to be part of a trilogy called Anatomy of Love and Pain, focuses on 22 year old aspiring athlete Marie (Eline Kuppens). Freshly qualified for a European championship event, she is devastated when a mystery virus stops her from training, but finds solace in the arms of a young archer, Bobby (Matthias Schoienaerts). He invites her to stay...

Chicago – “Left Bank” centers on` a woman whose apartment appears to be above a black hole, or a pit or something dark and deep like that. The Belgian horror outing (which has gone straight to DVD in the United States after playing in Chicago at the EU Film Fest) isn’t nearly as dumb as that synopsis makes it out to be, but in the end, that’s actually more of criticism than a compliment.

DVD Rating: 2.0/5.0

The laughably bad movies in the horror genre and even the “Saw”-inspired examples of torture porn at least succeed in provoking a reaction out of people. Pieter Van Hees’s film is too tasteful to breed disgust and too thin and slow-building to nurture suspense, let alone terror. At best, watching “Left Bank” is like riding on a bus late at night next to a mumbling drunk. You feel a little uncomfortable from time to time,...

Year: 2008

Release date: Unknown

Directors: Pieter Van Hees

Writers: Pieter Van Hees, Christophe Dirickx, Dimitri Karakatsanis and Bert Hamelinck

IMDb: link

Trailer: link

Review by: cyberhal

Rating: 7.7 out of 10

A dark movie from the dark country of Belgium. Pieter Van Hees's beautifully shot debut feature is a story of horror that draws its power from slow build and unsettling suggestion. You don't get terror or slasher horror FX, but you do get great suspense and a thought provoking story. Think Polanski's Rosemarys Baby. The dark tone of the story is reflected in the atmospheric cinematography, and really hats off to lens man Nicolas Karakatsanis, who was responsible for the equally dark Small Gods which we reviewed back in Spring 2008. Left Bank was premiered in the USA at Fantastic Fest last September.

Marie (Eline Kuppens) is a dedicated track athlete. One day, she suddenly collapses due to an infection in her immune system,...