The 11 best foreign horror films.

If you know me at all, you will know my love of horror movies.  But, I can't just do a "best horror movies" list, that would leave off too many movies.  So, I'll be breaking them down into different categories, starting with foreign horror movies. WARNING: Some of these have clips, and some of those clips will be very bloody or disturbing.  Also, the clips will have spoilers.

11. El Orfanato / The Orphanage (Spain, 2007)
Directed by: Juan Antonio Bayona
Stars: Belen Rueda, Fernando Cayo
Plot: A woman brings her family back to her childhood home, where she opens an orphanage for handicapped children. Before long, her son starts to communicate with an invisible new friend.
Best part:  Laura, in attempt to speak with the ghosts about her son, decides to play the game the children at the orphanage used to play.  Since I couldn't find the clip, here's the trailer.  Which actually shows part of that scene.



P.S.  This movie is being remade in an American version, but has no information other than a release date of 2013.

10. Severance (United Kingdom, 2006)
Directed by: Christopher Smith
Stars: Laura Harris, Danny Dyer, Toby Stephens
Plot: A team-building weekend in the mountains of Eastern Europe goes horribly wrong for the sales division of the multi-national weapons company Palisade Defence when they become the victims of a group of crazed killers who will stop at nothing to see them dead.
Best part:



P.S. This is the only movie on the list that is actually a comedy / horror.  It is described as The Office meets Deliverance.

9. Ils / Them (France, 2006)
Directed by: David Moreau, Xavier Palud
Stars: Olivia Bonamy, Michael Cohen
Plot: Lucas and Clementine live peacefully in their isolated country house, but one night they wake up to strange noise... they're not alone... and a group of hooded assailants begin to terrorize them throughout the night.
Best part: Lucas is searching downstairs for whatever is making noises.  After he gets hurt, he runs back upstairs to the bedroom to meet Clementine.  As they close the door, you get the first glimpse of the killers.  (if you look closely, you will see it quickly in the trailer.)



P.S. This movie is pretty much The Strangers with a slight twist.  But it's still awesome anyway.

8. Funny Games (Austria, 1997)
Directed by: Michael Haneke
Stars: Susanne Lothar, Ulrich Muhe, Arno Frisch, Frank Giering
Plot: Two psychotic young men take a mother, father, and son hostage in their vacation cabin and force them to play sadistic "games" with one another for their own amusement.
Best part: I'm gonig to give you an extra warning right here...this clip is pretty disturbing.  DO NOT watch it, unless you are prepared. Also, it's in German, but you'll get the idea.



P.S. As much as this movie rocks, there has been an English remake with Naomi Watts and Tim Roth.  It has been done shot-for-shot and it was even directed by the same person.  So, you might as well watch the English version so you don't have to read subtitles.

7. Wolf Creek (Australia, 2005)
Directed by: Greg Mclean
Stars: John Jarratt, Cassandra Magrath, Kestie Morassi, Nathan Phillips
Plot: Stranded backpackers in remote Australia fall prey to a murderous bushman who offers to fix their car, then takes them captive
Best part:



P.S. This movie is shot entirely hand-held (a la Blair Witch Project,) but you would not know it from watching it.

6. [Rec] (Spain, 2007)
Directed by: Jaume Balaguero, Paco Plaza
Stars: Manuela Velasco, Ferran Terraza, Jorge-Yamam Serrano
Plot: The film follows a Spanish late-night television reporter,Ángela Vidal, through the lens of her cameraman, Pablo. During one report of the happenings in a local fire station in Barcelona, the duo follow a team of firefighters who get a call from an apartment building nearby about a trapped woman. When they arrive, they find the apartment's residents huddled in the lobby. They go upstairs to find a woman who is obviously distressed. What follows is a night that none of them will ever forget.
Best part:



P.S. This is another one that has been remade in English with Jennifer Carpenter.  The English version is called Quarantine and is again shot-for-shot.  So again, if you've seen Quarantine, it's the exact movie.

5. A l'Interieur / Inside (France, 2007)
Directed by: Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury
Stars: Alysson Paradis, Beatrice Dalle
Plot: Four months after the death of her husband, a woman on the brink of motherhood is tormented in her home by a strange woman who wants her unborn baby.
Best part: A simple, but creepy scene where Sarah is sitting on her couch, and you vaguely see "la Femme" standing behind her.  But, Sarah doesn't know she's there.  Since I couldn't find the clip, here's the trailer.



P.S. Most people will hate this movie.  It is extremely disturbing, and extremely bloody.  I would absolutely not recommend this for anyone who is even slightly squeamish, or if you don't like the idea of a woman wanting to cut a baby out of a pregnant woman's stomach.

4. Haute Tension / High Tension (France, 2003)
Directed by: Alexandre Aja
Stars: Cecile de France, Maiwenn le Besco, Philippe Nahon
Plot:Two college friends, Marie and Alexa, encounter loads of trouble (and blood) while on vacation at Alexa's parents' country home when a mysterious killer invades their quiet getaway.
Best part: (Sorry the quality is pretty bad)



P.S. This movie has a few plot holes that knocked it down a few notches.  But nothing that really upsets the rest of the movie.  It is also extremely bloody and violent, as you can tell by the clip above.

3. Eden Lake (United Kingdom, 2008)
Directed by: James Watkins
Stars: Kelly Reilly, Michael Fassbender
Plot: Refusing to let anything spoil their romantic weekend break, a young couple confront a gang of loutish youths with terrifyingly brutal consequences.
Best part: I don't want to give anything away, but the ending to this movie is probably one of the most frustrating, anger-inspiring, yet perfect ending to a movie that most people will hate.  Since I don't want to show the whole ending, here's the trailer.



P.S. This is a great movie to talk about with people who have seen it. It is one of the few great horror movies that makes you think.

2.  Lat Den Ratte Komma In / Let The Right One In (Sweden, 2008)
Directed by: Tomas Alfredson
Stars: Kare Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson
Plot: Oscar, an overlooked and bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl who turns out to be a vampire.
Best part: It won't let me embed it, but it is a must-see scene.  Click here for a link to the youtube page.
P.S. The English remake of this movie, called Let Me In, comes out October 1.  It stars Kodi Smit-McPhee (of The Road) and Chloe Moretz (from Kick Ass).  It is directed by Matt Reeves, but is apparently not so much a remake of Let The Right One In, but a different adaptation of the book it was based on.

1. Martyrs (France, 2008)
Directed by: Pascal Laugier
Stars: Morjana Alaoui, Mylene Jampanoi, Catherine Begin
Plot: A young woman's quest for revenge against the people who kidnapped and tormented her as a child leads her and a friend, who is also a victim of child abuse, on a terrifying journey into a living hell of depravity.
Best part: The last half of this movie is the most intense, brutal, terrifying, insane thing I've ever seen in a movie.  You will need to just watch this movie to see what I mean.  Here's the trailer.



P.S. This is absolutely one of my favorite horror movies ever.  But, I warn you, it is very hard to watch.  It is another movie that is supposed to be remade in English, although as of this point, there is no information about it.