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Original title: Una Sull'Altra
Alternate title: One on Top of the Other
Italy/Spain/France: Lucio Fulci, 1969

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USA/Germany: Rob Marshall, 2002

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USA: Robert Rodriguez/Frank Miller/Quentin Tarantino, 2005

(Watched with commentary by Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino and Bruce Willis)

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USA/Canada: Dario Argento, 2006

(Watched with commentary by Matt Venne)

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USA/Canada: Mary Harron, 2000

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USA/Mexico/France: Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2006

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UK/USA: Ridley Scott, 2005/2006

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USA: Robert Schwentke, 2005

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USA: Eli Roth, 2005

Eli Roth's follow-up to the inconsistent but enjoyable Cabin Fever is part of the recent wave of exploitation horror movies originating from the US, such as Saw and The Passion of the Christ, which have no actual purpose beyond repulsing the viewer with as much mindless gore as possible. In these films, there is no real plot to speak of, and the violence takes the form of sadistic torture carried out against defenceless prisoners with no justification. I have a feeling that this type of film is going to come to define the horror genre in the early 2000s, just as the late 90s were characterised by self-referential, "post-modern" Scream rip-offs, and the 80s became known for their Halloween-inspired teen slashers. For the first 70 minutes, it's frankly tedious, a sort of bizarre look at an imaginary, squalid, barbaric Eastern Europe populated by skinhead ogres and busty, sex-crazed sirens who lure innocent young American boys to their deaths. If it's meant to be ironic, it doesn't come across, with the two aforementioned Americans neither annoying enough to give cause for cheer when they finally started getting hacked up, nor likeable enough to care what happens to them. The final 20 minutes do constitute something of a reversal of fortunes, with the sole survivor turning the tables against his torturers and staging a dramatic escape attempt, but it's too little, too late.

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UK: Neil Marshall, 2005

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