In just a few days South Korea’s Park Chan-wook will finally make his warped mark on US audiences with his disturbing family drama Stoker. But before his Hollywood debut shuffles into limited release, we’ve rounded up a few films that would make for a beneficial watch before heading into theaters. Including coming-of-age tales in a similar vein, the most dysfunctional of families and a refresher on the director’s backlog, most readers will have plenty of time to catch up as the film expands throughout the month. Check out the rundown below and read our review of Stoker from Sundance Film Festival.
Carrie (Brian De Palma, 1976)
In adapting Stephen King‘s debut novel, Brian De Palma abandoned a disjointed, epistolary structure to craft an experience that could only be deemed his own. I think this, alone, is enough to make Carrie worthy of full time and due consideration, but there’s more humanity than almost anything he made thereafter: a psychological probing that, at once, isn’t afraid to have some fun with itself — not unlike Park Chan-wook‘s latest. Most importantly, the fact notwithstanding that certain period elements date it in one way or the other, a central conflict in Carrie is sadly one that can resonate with many viewers today. (Someone figured this out and decided a remake would be a good idea.) The De Palma touches, dizzying and dazzling, are what elevate this to an authentic blend of pathos and scares, a perfect primer for Stoker. – Nick N.
Dogtooth (Giorgos Lanthimos, 2009)
This scarring film, which put Greek writer-director Giorgos Lanthimos on most people’s international-cinema radar (and even led to an unexpected Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film), shares a couple of on-paper similarities with Stoker: both are skewed coming-of-age tales about a girl growing up in a dysfunctional family, and both explore the notion of an outsider force of sorts (a prostitute in Dogtooth, Matthew Goode in Stoker) corrupting and invading a family unit’s domestic sphere. There are, too, some likely points of comparison between the styles of Lanthimos and Park Chan-wook: sudden, shocking bursts of violence when you least expect them, as well as recurring instances of morbidly-dark deadpan humor. The relationship between the two filmmakers is even interesting in terms of how they differ: while Lanthimos’s sequences are often mounted with a crafty minimalism, Park has consistently shown that he’s never afraid to implement a go-for-broke maximalism. – Danny K.
The Loved Ones (Sean Byrne, 2009)
While the Stoker family has its fair share of dysfunction, this Aussie horror film takes the cake for the most demented family on screen in recent years. Sadly, Sean Byrne‘s latest film took nearly three years to hit screens in the US, where it promptly went virtually unnoticed, but it’s bound to become a cult hit in no time. Also a coming-of-age tale of sorts, the film follows a prom invitation denial that turns into one of the most horrific ordeals one could imagine. If Stoker leaves you lusting for more gore, track down this little gem immediately. – Jordan R.
Shadow of a Doubt (Alfred Hitchcock, 1943)
For the sake of going in fresh, I haven’t spent much time watching the pre-release footage for Stoker or even skimming more than a select few of the reviews that came out of the film’s Sundance premiere. But a quick two-second glance at the film’s IMDb page — which includes such phrases as “Uncle Charlie,” “mysterious, charming man,” and “ulterior motives” — immediately brings to mind Alfred Hitchcock’s 1943 small-town thriller, starring an unforgettably cynical Joseph Cotten as a potentially evil cipher of the same name. Intriguingly, the teenage-niece role in the Hitchcock film (played by Teresa Wright) was herself named Charlie, further underlining the film’s examination of blood-related ties. That Mia Wasikowska’s character in Park Chan-wook’s film is given a name as distinctly different as India Stoker suggests that the Wentworth Miller-scripted story has unique intentions in mind, but there’s no questioning that Shadow of a Doubt — which, to my mind, is among the Master of Suspense’s finest works — served as a point of overarching influence. – Danny K.
The Vengeance Trilogy (Park Chan-wook, 2002-2005)
This list wouldn’t be complete with some films that helped Park Chan-wook reach global recognition, and while it’s a bit of a cheat, his entire Vengeance trilogy is necessary viewing if you want a introductory course to his themes and style. While the middle film, Oldboy, has clearly become a cult hit (even getting the remake treatment from Spike Lee later this year), Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance complete a dark, twisted revenge triptych with images, characters and sequences that will leave a permanent dent in your mind. – Jordan R.
Stoker hits limited release on March 1st and will expand throughout the month.
What films do you plan seeing before Stoker? Are any of the above among your favorites?