4) A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
Everyone keeps saying Jennifer Kent’s psychological thriller The Babadook is the best first feature of 2014, but there’s another filmmaker whose first effort deserves the title outright – and that’s Ana Lily Amirpour. There’s so much creative expressionism oozing out of A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, from a phenomenally engaging soundtrack to picturesque cinematography, that Amirpour instantly solidified her status as a promising up-and-coming talent with a vibrant, unique voice. In no way did I think Amirpour’s black-and-white Iranian vampire movie could possess such a colorful personality, but each scene is set with such a carful, attentive eye to perfectly-framed shots – a true perfectionist’s dream.
Sheila Vand, who plays Amirpour’s mysterious ‘The Girl,” delivers a strong female role in a time of male-dominated Hollywood blockbusters. Kristen Stewart will always be remembered as the actress who helped pussify vampires, and Vand’s performance couldn’t be farther from all the suckage that Twilight represents. A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night is indeed a romantic vampire film, but Amirpour’s effort has both a sweet heart and a vicious bite, blending beautifully with an indie rock soundtrack that grooves along with the filmmaker’s outrageous style.
I didn’t have the pleasure of reviewing Amirpour’s charming horror flick here on We Got This Covered, but I wasn’t letting this one slip through the cracks on me, and boy am I glad I caught it. Remember the name Ana Lily Amirpour – you’ll be hearing it a LOT more in the coming years.