alex_van_beek

I'm really quite shocked that no one besides myself has taken the trouble to spend a few minutes ranting about this wonderfully dark and weird comedy. If you are reading this review then I highly recommend you track down and watch this gem.

This film was on television a couple of days ago and being a German film about a bunker I had foregone the conclusion that this would certainly be something to do with the war- not even close. I was further enticed by the mention in the description of perversity because it was late at night and I'm a guy that had no plans that particular evening.

All that aside, there was no perversity. There were one or two comical sexual scenes but this film is a brilliantly awkward comedy based around the strange characters that make up this secluded family, the student who comes to stay with them and the mysterious "Heinrich", who I shall offer no further description of lest it somehow depreciate his mystery.

I cannot claim to have seem many funny German films, I'm sure they must exist but I can't think of any other ones that have made it as far as for me to find on English television. Usually anything in German on English television will in some way reference the war, something that this doesn't. So in that context it's special.

I almost missed this film, but I was unable to find it to download anywhere so stayed up and watched it and am very thankful I did. I'm not sure why it isn't more widely known because it's really great and stayed with me for quite some time. I think I saw it about a week or two ago and it keeps popping back into my mind. Anyway, enjoy it if you can find it.

So to start off with, this film is amazing and I can't imagine there being a demographic that couldn't enjoy it. You should see it if you haven't because as I just said, it's amazing.

Before the film has even begun you draw assumptions about it based on its name and the previous film relating to that title. Abandon all that as much as you can, this film takes on so many forms and keeps changing direction so as to shake the audience out of those preconceptions and force you to enjoy the film for the fantastically unpredictable beast that it is. At one point it seems to be a hostage film, then horror, then briefly a buddy film, then horror again and then ends on a seemingly completely unrelated twist that will have every muscle in your body invested in the conclusion to the story.

Cloverfield was a fairly good alien horror film and an OK film overall, whereas 10 Cloverfield Lane squarely surpasses any ambition and story telling skill displayed by the film it shares a semblance of its name with. This film is superior in every way and is such a roller-coaster ride of ever-changing direction that I fail to think of anything close to what it accomplishes that I could compare it to.

Go. Watch. Enjoy.

Any film which scares Stephen King (which this one reportedly did) has got to be worth a look- and this one is so rewarding in ways that most horror films just aren't these days. Most horror films, especially ones with as much publicity as this one, are reliant on the usual mix of jump-scares and over the top gore with not much substance at their core other than a bit of exhilarating blood-splattering fun. This film draws you into its world brilliantly through simple and effective devices like dim candlelight, claustrophobic rooms and thoroughly believable acting. It builds wonderfully and each of the horrific and eerie moments come at just the right time and aren't overdone. You become entrenched in the world of a small farm house by a big spooky woods through the eyes of the religious fervour and fears of an ordinary family in 1630. It is mesmerising, hypnotic and eerily thrilling and the faithfulness of the research done by its creators to portray the time as historically accurate is impressive. This is a film that I believe will be regarded as a classic in years to come, much in the vein of films like The Wicker Man. It is a timeless horror that will resound as much in ten or twenty years as it would have done twenty years ago. The essential elements of good filmmaking and horror story are all accounted for here. I heavily recommend this film to anyone interested in horror, history or drama.