{The Skin I Live In opened in Seattle on Friday, November 4, and is screening at The Egyptian Theater and Lincoln Square Cinemas}

Horror overtones, debatable black comedy, and maybe a fair amount of yuck/ewwww mash together to create a memorable -- if not altogether compelling -- mix in the latest film by Pedro Almodóvar. Starring Antonio Banderas and Elena Anaya, the visuals are as luscious and darkly seductive as ever. To some, Almodovar's latest will be a fascinating character study, stuffed with multiple interpretations ranging from sexual identity to how grief can drive you crazy. To others, maybe more a technically-gifted piece of filmmaking that's less emotionally engaging than it could be.

Personally I'm in that latter group. Still worth a look for Almodóvar fans - unless you really want to avoid films about doctors conducting immoral experiments on gorgeous people of indeterminate origin. In which case, stick with Harold & Kumar this weekend. Not that those tastes are mutually exclusive.

There are some people you should not cross, even accidentally. How many are plastic surgeons I won't venture to guess. The Skin I Live In certainly makes a compelling case that the overlap between those populations is particularly scary. The picture is difficult to talk about without spoiling some of the ups and downs, so I will do my best to be especially vague.

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Ghost stories with legitimate scares are hard to come by - but this one definitely does it up right. The Village of Shadows starts out by telling a story within a story as two carloads of friends are headed towards a secluded town called Ruiflec for a nice, relaxing vacation-- until they get there and discover it's totally abandoned and CREEPY AS HELL.

The film jumps right into the action when one group discovers the other's empty car in the middle of the road, doors open, and covered in mud. As if that weren't disturbing enough, the vacation house is a depressing pit of despair and a haven for spirits that seem to possess the power to kill. Ohheygreat.

With overtones of both El Orphanato and The Devil's Backbone, plus a ghosty kid that rivals both Sadako from Ringu and that creeptastic dead boy from Ju-on, this French/German horror flick has got it goin' on. Nice atmosphere, and nice job with the twists - not to mention some seriously scary protagonists (the makeup and wigs from the flashbacks will haunt me FOREVER). Go see it!

{The Village of Shadows screens at SIFF on Saturday, 6/11, midnight at The Egyptian, and again on Sunday, 6/12, 9:15pm at The Neptune}

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It's been a great year for documentaries at the 2011 Seattle International Film Festival. I just saw probably one of my favorites of the year, Errol Morris's Tabloid, which is a off the recent (brilliant) war train for the director, The Fog of War and Standard Operating Procedure, to focus on a narcissistic, psychopathic sex worker who enlisted a bunch of dupes to dominate a missionary in the 70s and then, well, I'll let Embracey take it from there.

Meanwhile, the two SIFF documentaries that have made the most impression on me otherwise are both playing tonight {Wednesday, 6/8}: Sushi: The Global Catch (USA, 2011, directed by Mark Hall, 75 minutes), at the Admiral Theatre, 7pm (and then Friday 6/10, 4:30pm at the Harvard Exit); and Revenge of the Electric Car (USA, 2011, directed by Chris Paine, 99 minutes), premiering in Kirkland at 8:30pm (and then 6/10, 7pm at the Egyptian, and 6/12 at 4:30pm at the Harvard Exit).

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Filmmakers Sean Branney and Andrew Lehman have kicked some serious ass once again with their stylish interpretation of HP Lovecraft's short story, The Whisperer in Darkness.

Their previous effort, The Call of Cthulu, was done as a classic silent film. This one is shot in B&W and set in the 30s, with the creators took this period piece one step further by making it look and feel like it was MADE in that era--complete with snappy noir-ish dialog, dramatic lighting and sets, and all the elements of an entertaining vintage sci-fi.

Professor Albert Wilmarth is onto something big, the discovery of an entire town caught up in a legendary myth about monsters inhabiting the hills behind them and abducting people who venture too close to their lair. After receiving a letter from one claiming there is proof that the beings exist, Albert is drawn into a sinister plot involving brains in jars, body snatching, and an ancient ritual to open the gates of hell!

I cannot express how absolutely RAD this movie is. And I can't really do it justice by describing it here. I just know it was some of the most fun I've had watching a film, and I recommend you get out to see it play at SIFF.

{The Whisperer in Darkness screens at SIFF tonight, Friday 6/3, midnight at The Egyptian, and again on Sunday, 6/5, 9pm at The Neptune}

I have two SIFF recommendations today at the complete opposite ends of the cinematic spectrum. Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame is a non-stop Chinese action fantasy involving spontaneously combusting diplomats, masters of disguise, a whip-weilding female warrior, and so much CGI it looks like the characters are walking around inside a video game. Still, watching how it all unfolds is nothing short of delightful - if this is the kind of thing you like, that is.

After a few dudes catch on fire (from the inside!) while building a giant buddha, the evil empress of China gets clued into the fact that someone is probably trying to kill her. Naturally she decides to let her greatest enemy out of prison - the formidable Detective Dee (yay, Andy Lau!) to help her solve the case. There are sword fights and horse chases and over-the-top battle scenes, but what's really thrilling is the way the plot twists and turns to throw your suspicion in a different direction every 5 minutes. LOVED this and highly recommend.

{Detective Dee screens at SIFF Wednesday 6/1, 7pm at the Neptune and again Monday 6/6, 9:30pm at the Egyptian}

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{Vampire screens at SIFF on Wednesday, June 1, 6:30pm and Thursday, June 2, 4pm at the Egyptian; and again on Sunday, June 5, 8:30pm at the Admiral Theatre}

I hereby claim Vampire as a fine example of modern psychological horror (for its own category, the Seattle International Film Festival 2011 puts it in its "To The Extreme" canon, which is a good way of telling people it's probably going to shock you but not necessarily scare you, and avoids being punchy with genre tags).

It's about a shy, scruffy, but charming high school biology teacher who has a brain-sick mom (Amanda Plummer! I was just watching her hold up the restaurant with Tim Roth again at the beginning of Pulp Fiction! Weird timing, where's she been in the meantime?) who has to be tied up with big white balloons by her offspring whilst he's working. She's a piping hot mess expresso! That's some creative home-care health solutions there, sonny boy, but then like most mother-son relationships in horror movies it's less than DSM-V ideal. That of course spills over into his dealings with the ladies.

Four words to blood-boil it down: First date suicide pact!

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{Karate-Robo Zaborgar screens at SIFF on May 27th, 11:59 pm at the Egyptian Theater, on May 30th, 8:30pm at the Admiral Theater, and once more on June 1st, 9:30 pm at the Neptune}

In the case of the latest film from the director of Mutant Girls Squad and RoboGeisha, the description from the SIFF guide is quite accurate:

Police officer Yutaka Daimon and his motorcycle-transforming karate robot partner Zaborgar fight the evil super-crime organization Sigma. But when Daimon meets Miss Borg, a sexy cybernetic agent, their love affair threatens not only his partnership with Zaborgar, but the entire free world as well.

I haven't seen any of his earlier films so I can't really compare this to those. This one did feature the cheesy visuals and ridiculousness I expected having seen the trailer from RoboGeisha last year - but what surprised me at times was the over-the-top soap opera melodrama at work. While I laughed at some of the characters (I'm looking at you Diarrhea Robot) and got into some of the action, I also felt suitably outraged at the gender discrimination face by Miss Borg.

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Sean Nelson fans, you may have been asking yourself - what the hell has that guy been up to lately? Well, here's your answer. Mr. Nelson co-directed a movie (with Humpday Producer Steven Schardt) that's getting all kinds of good buzz. It's about an LA filmmaker (played by Joshua Leonard) whose schemes lead him to faking a drug addiction in order to check himself into a fancy rehab clinic, befriend a sought-after actor there, and convince him to star in a movie - thus, of course, making  millions. Nelson plays his friend, so I'm not sure how big his part is since I haven't had a chance to see it yet, but hey! A co-directing credit is kind of a big deal, you know?

Anyway, throw in a soundtrack by Robyn Hitchcock, and duh. I am SO there. Nelson, Schardt, and some cast are scehduled to be at tonight's (!!!) screening, so you can give them all a big round of applause after it's over. Who's with me?

{Treatment screens at SIFF Thursday, 5/26, 9:30pm at the Egyptian, and again on Saturday 5/28, 11am at the Neptune}

*He also had a bit part in The Off Hours

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For whatever reason, this year has had some great films that use a science-fiction premise to tell a story mainly about the human experience. Think Moon, but with even smaller budgets. Thankfully two of them are playing at SIFF! Between May 21st and 24th, I’d strongly suggest trying to put together a double feature of Another Earth and Womb. You'd be investing time on some of the best low budget dramas with sci-fi themes in a while.  Plus, you’d get a chance to spend some time watching Brit Marling onscreen. The breakout star of this year’s Sundance (also staring in the amazing Sound of My Voice, which unfortunately is not at SIFF this year but will get a theatrical release) is quite simply amazing. Even without knowing she co-wrote both Another Earth and Sound of My Voice, she’s truly one to watch.

Womb - Solid execution of a marvelously fucked up premise. Girl meets a boy - then girl moves away in a heartbreaking fashion. Years later, she returns and the soulmates resume - this time with a physical relationship. Then he dies, so she clones him...and gives birth to him. Yep, as you would imagine everything goes totally fine. No, not exactly... Beautiful backdrops, limited dialog, and a story told without smashing your face into things. Womb screens at SIFF on May 22nd, 8:30 pm at the Admiral Theater and again on May 24th, 7pm at the Egyptian Theater.

Another Earth - One night brings the discovery of a parallel earth in our solar system and a horrific traffic accident. The “reality” of this mirror-image planet is revealed as the driver works to make amends. Does this new world pose a second chance for her or the father who survived the event? This fantastical device is used to explore bigger issues in what’s really a small, personal story. An extremely well executed one. Don’t miss it. Another Earth screens at SIFF on May 21st, 6:30pm at the Egyptian theater and again on May 23rd, 4:30pm at the Neptune.

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{Jane Eyre opened in Seattle on Friday, 3/18 and is playing at the Egyptian}

Not to be cliche about it, but this ain't your (great great grand)mother's Jane Eyre. Hipster director du jour Cary Fukunaga took this classic tale and spun it into a great big fat Gothic thriller complete with physical assault, fire, blood, and so much sexual tension I thought *I* might need smelling salts just to recover.

For those that might not be Charlotte Brontë nerds, the title character is a girl who's been punished for not being pretty enough and treated cruelly all her life. She's outspoken, headstrong, and bluntly NOT ladylike. In other words, Jane is ahead of her time.

Thank god she learns to speak French at her hellish boarding school, because that allows her to escape to a giant castle-like estate way out in the middle of nowhere called Thornfield Hall that was clearly made for ghosts - and indeed, it seems like broody man of the house Rochester has plenty to hide. I can't say much else without ruining the plot for anyone who doesn't know it, so I'll just skip ahead to the brilliance of the film as a whole.

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