#gwledd

[cinematicjourney]

The Feast (2021) | dir. Lee Haven Jones

[dailyworldcinema]

THE FEAST / GWLEDD (2021) dir. Lee Haven Jones

[bodyhorrorbeatdown]

Body Horror Beatdown, Match 21, Round 1

Vote for your favorite:

Gwledd [The Feast] (2021, dir. Lee Haven Jones) vs. Jacob's Ladder (1990, dir. Adrian Lyne)

Gwledd (The Feast)

Jacob's Ladder

I know neither of these

Voting ended onSep 25, 2023

Propaganda under the cut. (spoilers)

Gwledd (The Feast) "It's an indi Welsh horror movie about the dangers of capitalism but that doesn't matter. The body horror bit is with one of the guys who accidentally drops an axe head on his foot and cuts himself, and over the course of the movie the cut gets worse and bleeds more and gets infected until his entire leg is read and raw and full of holes and maggots which the main character licks off and eats. At one point he shoots up wild foraged mushrooms through his foot and that doesn't kill him. What does kill him is his brother cutting off his leg to stop the infection which causes him to bleed out <3 there's also a scene where the main character shoves a skewer in the dad's ear until the ringing driving him mad stops (does that count as body horror?) And my favourite (not) bit where the main character puts a huge shard of glad inside her vagina so that an hour of runtime later when the brother fucks her his dick gets shredded as comeuppance for all those girls he raped in the hospital he used to work at. It's a great movie highly recommended it ends with a Welsh pop song from the 60's that never leaves my brain"

Jacob's Ladder

The most frightening thing about Jacob Singer's nightmare is that he isn't dreaming. "This movie was an inspiration for silent hill and it shows ! The creature are very disturbing and even more than we never really know where they come from and they can arrive everywhere from a party to the window of the subway. And the threat of the protagonist becoming like them is present even if it isn't the main threat of the movie. I also really appreciate that they're not use just to be gross and repulsive but to actually be eery and disturbing. Also this movie is just an incredible gem to be watched"

[finitevariety]

I think my favourite thing about Gwledd was its treatment of the mother.

She is frantic about making sure everything is perfect. There is not a spare moment—yet she and Cadi begin to sing. She didn't say anything about flowers!! and yet she won't tell Cadi to remove them from the table; she stares at them instead, uneasy, flint-eyed. She knows what her husband is. She knows what the black room is too, but she calls it a retreat from the city and makes a point of seeming to luxuriate in it.

She will not look at the disquiet she feels: she has shut herself off from instinct as much as she has joy, or love. Which is to say—it slides in through the bars all the time. She does not believe in fairytales any longer. Still, she has always told her children to avoid The Rise. Her mother would be ashamed.

[sesiondemadrugada]

The Feast (Lee Haven Jones, 2021).

[billybutcher]

Gwledd

[twenty-words-or-less]

Top 5 Best Films of 2022

After the bitter screed that was my Worst list, now comes my Best list! Told you I wanted to end the year on a positive note. Well, end January 2023, since that's when I ended up making this list. OK! Let's go!

5. Good Luck To You, Leo Grande

One of two 2022 films in which a middle-aged white lady and half-naked black man sit in a hotel room talking about everything, weirdly. This one is a nuanced take on sex, age, and sex work, topics typically considered taboo. It could have easily slipped into stereotypes and/or being mean-spirited, but is a heartwarming two-hander that flies by.

4. Barbarian

One of two mind-fucking 2022 horror films in which the basic message is 'men are Terrible', weirdly. Unlike the other one (Alex Garland's Men), Barbarian is enjoyable, elaborates on that message more, and gives more work to Bill Skarsgard, which is something I'm always up for. Plus, the end credits song is the best one since Edge of Tomorrow's. Fight me.

3. The Northman

An intense slow-burner that is absolutely NOT for everyone (and I'm still waiting on the BBFC's justification for giving it a 15 and not an 18). Gutted that it bombed, but fair play to everyone involved for giving it their all. A passion project for director Robert Eggers and lead Alexander Skarsgard, and a scene-stealing Bjork, whose lines were also probably advice she gave to her son before he started university.

2. X

The first film from Ti "I See What's Going On Over There, And I Am Absolutely Going To Make It My Business" West that I can genuinely say I liked. Really liked, in fact. Far more than I expected to. The editing is brilliant, and the gore is not restricted, which is the kind of thing I'd want from a '70s slasher throwback. This is how you do homage.

Honourable Mentions

Scream V: Honestly, this is mostly here because it used an Alkaline Trio song, and as a fan of the band, that's not something I'm used to and would like more of. Also, between this and X, Jenna Ortega has a promising career in film, and I look forward to seeing her in more things.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: Yeah, this surprised me too. The music fight is great, the body horror (when it gets there) is insane, and I overall enjoyed it. It was a blast.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent: Don't look at me like that.

The Feast (Gwledd): Always happy to support local talent, always happy to watch a folk horror. Social commentary and an 18 rating also helps. And how often do you see a Welsh-language film being shown in largely-English-speaking metropolitan areas??

And now, my top pick of the year...

1. Hatching (Pahanhautoja)

I was very lucky in that I didn't grow up with a fraction of the shit poor Tinja endures from her family, especially at an age where puberty is just around the corner. Still, this one hit me on a deeply personal level, and I still can't explain why. Maybe I don't need to explain why. What I do know is that this is a tight ninety-minute coming-of-age horror with a satirical take on influencer culture that is way better than any directorial debut has any right to be. And again, it's in a language that isn't widely spoken in Anglophone countries, so it being shown near me was a miracle, to be frank.

Thank you for reading and for your support this year! To read up on everything I've seen this year, click here. If you want to support me monetarily, there's the option to tip me or there's a Ko-fi link in my bio. If not, thank you for supporting me anyway!

Here's to the rest of 2023.

Love,

Mikey

[antimonyantigone]

i dunno call me cautious but if i were living in an isolated house in the middle of the welsh countryside...i simply wouldn’t follow a strange woman into the woods and accept the mushrooms she plucked from a strange hollow tree