EijnarAmadeus

Erotic thriller with Nastassja Kinski starring as a young female who's gone searching for her own, inner self. In many ways a remake of the 1942 original, but also in many ways not a remake - a film that stands its own ground, this has a quality of sexual awakening and excitement that the original didn't have. Fabulous music by Giorgio Moroder (also featured is David Bowie's hit-single "Putting Out the Fire") accompanies many of the bloody and sexually occupied scenes that hammers on like they belonged in a artsy-fartsy porn flick. Kinskis performance at the center is typically her: odd, tactless, awkward, outlandish and sensual - in other words, highly enjoyable. She's fantastically beautiful, and she moves through a New Orleans during the fall, shot by John Bailey. And even though the level of thrills ain't always sky-high, the film has a charm and atmosphere that makes it a interesting, stylish and sexy cult picture.

Den Enfaldige Mördaren deserves to be better known. It's a fabulous film directed by Hans Alfredson and stars Stellan Skarsgård in one of his most memorable performances as the hare-lipped young man Sven, who's considered retarded by his surroundings. He seeks consolation and spiritual strength in his faith and visions as his life becomes difficult and tormenting as a worker for the vicious local factory owner Höglund (played by Alfredson himself).

Superbly played out in a slight retrospective manner, the film beholds a major heart. The emotional aspect is big as we witness Sven throughout the film; his childlike manners and his close relation to his guardian angels, the way he gets involved with the girl-next-door, and getting the opportunity to step up and being treated as an adult, receiving weekly salary and learning how to drive a motorcycle. It's a moving journey of a man who everyone around him seems to misunderstand and neglect. These bright and uplifting moments in the film works as a great counterbalance to the darkness it beholds, especially in the character of Höglund - he's first presented to us lurking into the stable where Sven sleeps among the animals, and he speaks violently and shows no affect for Sven, who's just lost his mother. Höglund treats Sven's sister as meat, shows no affection for his wife and kids, and uses gruesome actions to behold power in the local county.

Den Enfaldige Mördaren is packed with symbolism and ideas, and it flows carelessly in place and time (we sense both the Middle Ages and something futuristic, and everything in between) and tells a tale a multi-layered tale, shuffling so many elements of humor, romance, spirituality, society's mangles, vengeance and adventure. It's a film that makes one enthusiastic about European cinema.

A Twilight Zone movie divided into four chapters directed separately by John Landis, Joe Dante, Steven Spielberg and George Miller - how awesome sounds that? And yes it is awesome, or at least, occasionally it is. The opening prologue of the film is surely one of the great bits as we see Dan Aykroyd and Albert Brooks driving late at night singing along to CCR's "Midnight Special", what follows is both scary and funny. The quality of the four stories varies, but they all behold entertainment and easy fun. The best story is surely enough the last segment, "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet", directed by George Miller, starring a trembling and scared John Litghow. The film excels at certain points, and is a must-see for anyone who loves sci-fi / horror movies.