OMG Horror

After some well spent time exploring the depths of Italian giallo cinema, we’re pretty enthralled to spend a June in France.  That’s right, this time out for Foreign Fear Friday we’re bestowing a little love to a contemporary horror filmmaker, one Alexandre Aja.  Born in Paris on August 7, 1978 – the 30 year old writer/director was born into a family of film enthusiasts.  His father, Alexandre Arcady, is (still) a director of such French Nationalist films known as pied-noir (mainly subjected upon French invasion/colonialism in Algeria).  Aja’s mother, Marie Jo-Jouan, is/was a well known French film critic, so it comes as no real surprise that Aja would foster such an interest in the craft from an early age.  In fact, even his wife, Laila Marrakchi, is a Moroccan filmmaker with a handful of flicks under her belt (a few shorts and a full feature, albeit non-horror).  As you can see, it’s no real wonder why Aja became a Cannes Golden Palm Award winner for his short film Over the Rainbow at age 18.
 

Two years later, in 1999, Aja wrote and directed his feature length debut film entitled Furia, which was based on Julio Cortezar’s short story “Graffiti”.  Though it showed the grit and flare that would become largely recognizable in his later work, Furia is largely hailed for its casting of the gorgeous and talented Marion Cotillard, who would go on to win a Best Actress Oscar only a handful of years later (La Vie en Rose).  It really wouldn’t be until about 4 years later or so when Aja scribed and helmed his first true horror effort, the internationally acclaimed slasher effort Haute Tension (High Tension).  For those who’ve seen the film, aside from the stylized and unforgiving depiction of violence, most probably remember the film for its revelatory, prediction shattering conclusion.  Some loved it, some loathed it, but make no mistake – it’s an ending that damn near demands a second viewing of the film to see exactly how well set up the conceit actually is.  I know some felt cheated by such an ending, but I know a whole bunch of people who loved it and found it utterly original.

With the success of High Tension, Aja was overnight catapulted into the pantheon of contemporary horror filmmakers.  Tagged as a fellow “Splat Packer”, a term coined to describe a coterie of young up and coming horror writer/directors who revel in excessive onscreen carnage.  As such, Aja landed a high profile gig in 2006, overseeing an American remake of Wes Craven’s seminal desert terror The Hills Have Eyes.  And Aja took the job and ran with it, never showing much trepidation over such a potentially castrating studio film assignment.  In fact, Aja branded the film with his own sadistic touches, the back half of the film is an indiscriminant bloodbath where all kinds of crazy shit goes down.  Also, the casting of Ted Levine (Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs) was a nice touch of cinematic pastiche (Vinessa Shaw and Emily de Ravin we’re also a nice touch, but for other reasons).  With the success of Hills, both financially and critically, Aja became soon tagged as a competent remake director.  As a result, his next two projects would fall under such a heading, one came and went, the other currently filming.

Last August Aja remade the superior South Korean chiller Into the Mirror, known simply as Mirrors in America (the remake, that is).  It was a stilted, uneven piece of work, wading equally into silliness and true macabre in a way that left many agreeing it wasn’t the man’s finest hour.  Perhaps knowing this, Aja quickly signed a deal to remake Joe Dante’s 1978 b-movie Piranha, opting for a 3-D re-imagining.  The flick, currently filming, is about an uncouth school of prehistoric man-eating fish who threaten to subsume a Lake Victoria community after a tremor sets them loose.  Elisabeth Shue (one of my favorites) will play the lead sheriff hell-bent on saving her town.  Jerry O’Connell, Ving Rhames, Richard Dreyfuss, Jessica Szhor and Riley Scott are also onboard, with the likes of Kelly Brook, Dina Meyer and the great Christopher Lloyd rumored to take part.  Piranha 3-D is currently slated for a March 19, 2010 release date.  Scope some of the set stills below!