*although I’m not sure if ‘blood soaked’ counts as ‘looking good’, but you get the drift.

Last year we had the fantastic Shaun of the Dead UK link US link which managed to be scary, gruesome, and absolutely hilarious at the same time. I rate it as the funniest thing that British cinema has managed for a very long time, and for comedy moments probably rates higher than Monty Python And The Holy Grail.

Earlier this year I eventually got around to watching the 2002 British horror film 28 Days Later UK link US link, a film about a viral outbreak that turns people into psychopathic cannibal killers, resembling zombies that can sprint. It features some very effective moments, a fun plot that rips along, and a great performance by Christopher Eccleston, better known now as the recent Doctor Who.

This weekend I saw Creep UK link US link. I’ve seen quite a few horror films these days, but this really had some moments that made me wince. Really, I don’t quite know how to describe it, but it definitely hits the fragile spots. It features Franke Potente, best known for the superb German film Run Lola Run UK link US link as well as for being the girlfriend in The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy. She misses the last underground train and wakes up to find that the station is now locked. This would be pretty annoying if it weren’t for a complete slime from a party having got down there with her, and things get worse when a barely-human killer comes out to play. Yep, it sounds daft, but the director/writer has gone to great lengths to try and avoid the obvious twists. If you compare this to something like the US movie Jeepers Creepers you can see how great the difference is between the way that the material is handled. Anyway, if you fancy something a bit nasty and a bit scary then you could do a lot worse than give Creep a look.

British horror really does seem to be doing very well at the moment. I’m looking forward to what happens next!

On a side-note: I can imagine approaching Franke Potente with a script-

Mata: Hi Franke, I’m making a film about a young woman who is struggling to regain her memories of the past.
Franke: Uh huh.
M: She meets people who all seem familiar, but they all pretend not to recognise her…
F: I’m not sure.
M: So she has to sprint between them against the clock to
F: I’M IN!

She certainly does like running in films, that lady.