Henge (2011)

Yoshiaki and his wife, Keiko, are a young couple living an ostensibly quiet and happy life when Yoshiaki is repeatedly seized by inexplicable fits, complete with spasmodic jerks and demonic howls. They call in Sakashita, a pudgy, well-meaning junior of Yoshiaki’s at medical school, but he proves to have different plans for Yoshi and wants to keep him internal to the hospital. When the last one escapes from there, things are getting messy and his transformation to a mutant starts with terrible results to everyone. A good film with some bits of suspense, some other funny scenes and a cliche plot that turns into a crazy story. Expect the unexpected but remember always it is still a Japanese film.

 

Brake (2012)

Gabe Torres directs an interesting film at the same style of the successful 'Buried' that have been on the screens two years ago. The story is about the same but it develops at a different environment this time. A man is captivated in a glass box and tries to survive and defend his country, his family and his president from an act of terrorism. He can communicate with the outer world through an old radio receiver but he soon understands that many more people and colleagues are also held and used by force to give information about state department issues and national defense secrets. His ex wife is also a part of this horrible game as also a friend from the agency. Will he make it and what is all about actually?

 

Chernobyl diaries (2012)

When Chernobyl can be a touristic destination, everything can get bad. Especially at the case of a group of American youngsters who decide to end their holidays in Europe in an alternative way. Two brothers whose relationship is at critical levels, two girls and another couple who participates at the same excursion will witness the absolute terror at the abandoned city of Pripyat, the former home to the workers of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor. When Uri, their operator vanishes, they found themselves alone in the dark as no one else knows their visit there. Maybe the best film with mutants I have seen after the last remake of' 'The hills have eyes'. The dialogs are not winning any Oscar prize, but the action is here, the suspense also. I can't understand why the fans of the crappy 'Paranormal activity' franchise have different opinion at some forums. The work can be done even without paranormal entities.

Intouchables (2011)

Philipe is a very rich man. But a very unlucky too as he is a person with special needs. He can't move his body except his head. He spends his time sending letters to an unknown woman and as he believes in love with his unique old fashion way. Driss is an immigrant, a guy from the ghetto who tries hard to help his poor family. When he visits Philipe in order to get some papers signed, the last one tries to help him and hires him as an assistant. A strong friendship between these two different characters grows slowly day by day and they are going to share a lot of experiences and moments together. A stunning story based on real events with excellent performances from François Cluzet and Omar Sy, as also from the rest cast. French cinema at its best, I could say.

Mientras duermes aka Sleep tight (2011)

Cesar is a lone man who works as a concierge. He spends time chatting with people who live at the building and help them fixing their apartments. He is in love with Clara, a beautiful young woman who lives alone but he has an unorthodox way to approach her. Ursula, a little naughty girl knows about his secrets and blackmails him in order to serve her wills. But there are more things hidden behind Cesar. His obsession with Clara leads him to a bloody trip to hell and when Marcos, Clara's boyfriend arrives there, the events go wrong. Cesar has a few aces left in his pocket and he is ready to use them and make his plan true. He wants to destroy Clara's happiness because he is incapable of happiness himself. A thrilling story with sociology matters that can give you the creeps. We don't have to deal with ghosts, monsters, or evil because there can be dark souls out there for real.

The cabin in the woods (2011)

Imagine a place you could rest and find peace but instead of that being a member of something bigger and find death. Five youngsters decide to have some days off at a place far away from civilization. When they arrive, they find a peaceful place in  the woods and they enjoy that. But they don't know they are just puppets at a game between humans and gods. They discover an old assortment of strange antiques and relics but they don't know that their decisions are going to affect their lives. And when a girl reads from a book, she awakens a family of deadly zombie killers. They try to escape from this nightmare but it's pointless when a full studio of a secret organization lead them to the hands of the demonic creatures again and again. And there are not only zombies there but a whole world of magic that exists in cages, ready to be released and vanish everything on his way. A great idea that could be more completed with a better cinematography that shouldn't follow the easy path of the cliches.