SunnyHello
Nice effects though.
Gutsycurene
Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.
DipitySkillful
an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.
Watchful Eye
Watched this on Netflix, intrigued by the description about an old folktale. The film turned out to be somewhat contrary to my expectations, but actually in a good way.Without giving too much away, the film is a slow-burner that moves on multiple time levels. The flow feels natural, and adds to the mystery, so the chosen narrative approach was a good one. The film contains none of the modern Hollywoodian jump-scare crap - another top-notch decision by the director and writers. The main timeline's '70s setting helps to create the slightly skewered atmosphere of the film.The film can be interpreted on several metaphorical levels, but it works well even when just taken as a genre movie. All in all, I really liked the idea and its execution. Emotional stuff, really well played.Be warned though. As said, this is a real slow-burner, and the horror primarily comes from the atmosphere and -- well, you should check it out!
Jonathon Dabell
The Swiss are hardly noted for their thriving film industry, but viewers shouldn't let that affect their pre-conceptions about Sennentuntschi: Curse Of The Alps. This wonderfully atmospheric chiller from Swiss director Michael Steiner manages to be a real surprise. That is to say: creepy, mysterious and ingenious in equal measure. Steiner takes a piece of ancient Alpine folklore and fashions it into an absorbing 1970s-set thriller, boosted in no small part by its vast, lonely mountain locale, as well as a clutch of memorable performances by the main actors.The story moves – perhaps too ambitiously – along three fronts. It opens in the present with an intriguing sequence in which a young girl uncovers a long-lost corpse in alpine woodland, guided to its resting place by a ghostly apparition. The second segment shows a long flashback describing a series of unnerving events which brought fear and superstition to the region in 1975. Following the shocking suicide of a priest in a remote Swiss community, the villagers suddenly find their superstitions brought to a head when a young mute girl (Roxanne Mesquida) turns up. Everyone assumes that her inexplicable appearance is somehow connected to the priest's death, except for village cop Sebastian Reusch (Nicholas Ofczarek) who isn't prepared to explain away the puzzling mystery with talk of ghosts and ghouls. The locals express concern that something may also have happened to a trio of herdsmen who live and work high on the mountain behind their village, and urge Reusch to go up to make sure they are safe and well. He does, but when he reaches their high alpine farm there is no-one there. Reusch simply assumes they are out hunting and returns to the village. The third thread of the story, presented as a flashback within a flashback, recounts the story of the three shepherds (Carlos Leal, Andrea Zogg and Joel Basman). Drunk, lonely and frustrated, their decision to make a 'Sennentuntschi' (a woman of straw, given life by the devil) has grave consequences for everyone.Steiner skilfully blurs the chronology of his story, creating a fragmentary narrative which keeps audiences guessing right to the very end. This disjointed rearrangement of narrative and time threatens to become irritating in the early stages, but Steiner quickly wins over the audience with his uniquely unsettling style. Mystery is piled upon mystery, intrigue upon intrigue, drawing the viewer into a labyrinth of perverted fairy-tale and superstitious frenzy The performances are pitch-perfect, with Mesquida in particular giving a riveting turn as the titular creature. Is she a minion of the devil or just the innocent victim of irrational backwoods beliefs? Her wordless portrayal of the 'Sennentuntschi' is absolutely central to the success of the whole film, and she is, in a word, excellent. To convey such a range of emotion solely through eye contact and body language is no mean feat. Ofczarek, Leal, Zogg and Basman all add memorable characterisations of their own, while Ueli Jaeggi rounds things off impressively as a fanatical priest with murky ulterior motives. Sennentuntschi: Curse Of The Alps is a beautiful-looking, cleverly crafted horror film with much to admire. If it is indicative of the future of Swiss movie-making, then audiences have a lot of good stuff to look forward to!
QuirkyCat
...if this is rated so highly by viewers. I think this is a sick movie (and no, I am not a sensitive viewer) but really, if the exploitation of females must be portrayed, rather "imply" it, but don't show it - we see enough violence and crime and rape (especially where I live) so why do we need more of it for "entertainment" sake? Yes, it is reality, but part of society's degradation is from making it all so easy to see. On a more positive note, the movie was well made from a Swiss town and alp-life point of view - very realistic and I think it could have been brilliant if just portrayed in a slightly different light while still maintaining the impact.All in all, a disturbing movie. And a waste of time and money.
BloodyHellSunday
I went to see this movie in cinema yesterday. We didn't have high expectations because Swiss movies are usually not as good as I'd like them to be. This movie was different, all the actors did a great job, especially R. Mesquida and A. Zogg, who played some of the main parts were very convincing and the perfect cast for this role. The story was very mysterious in the beginning, the images of the mountains and landscapes were breathtaking and really stunning. Some scenes were quiet brutal and rude, but never tasteless or offending, and even though the movie had that mysterious touch in the beginning, even supernatural, it all turns out to be logical and not unreal in the ending. Also you could never say how the movie ends or where it goes, I like that a lot in movies, when you can't predict the end. The shooting location, a small village in the mountains of Grischuna was perfect, romantic but not kitsch, it shows the real Switzerland, outside of the big cities and everything about traditions and lifestyle of the people was really accurate. The only disadvantage was for me, that sometimes it wasn't quiet clear when certain things happened, like back-flashes or present shots, it wasn't pointed out when what happened. But all in all I am proud of my country, releasing such a great movie I've never expected, I can give it a 9 star rating. I can only recommend this movie to you out there, its worth it.
