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Showing posts from October, 2015

Halloween 2 (1981) - Rick Rosenthal

This sequel always intrigued me. It followed the first movie directly. It followed so well that you could edit the two movies together successfully. Jamie Lee Curtis, Charles Cyphers, and Donald Pleasance all returned to their roles and that Myers boy is still up to no good. I personally love Halloween II. A lot of people hate it but I found it to be pretty interesting. I found out that a surprising number of people have not seen this movie as of yet. That's surprising because they play this all of the time on television. Anyway, I will be spoiling this film further down the article.  While the plot of the first movie continues,  Michael Myers had taken the shots that Doctor Loomis unloaded on him and walked away. Leaving a beaten and terrified Laurie Strode to be rushed to the hospital. Doctor Loomis and the Sheriff continue their manhunt leading eventually to Michael Myers tracking down Laurie to the hospital she was admitted to. This has a very dark brutality to it. The

Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) - Werner Herzog

This is a fuller and richer telling of the Nosferatu tale using the original Bram Stoker characters. Klaus Kinski does a wonderful job as Dracula, but the film compliments his performance almost too much. There was a mystery about Max Schreck that really made his performance. Something that couldn't be eclipsed or duplicated. Nevertheless, this is a fantastic film that has been on the playlist of many film students and cinema-lovers.  Following in the footsteps of Browning's  Dracula and F.W. Murnau's  Nosferatu before it, Werner Herzog's Nosferatu takes the source material loosely, but nearly completely. Dracula is interested in a home in Varna and has sent for an agent to go over properties with him. Jonathan Harker from Varna itself answers and, against the warning of just about everyone, takes a trip to Dracula's estate. This is where Dracula sees the lovely Lucy. Dracula leaves Harker as a prisoner in his home while he travels to Varna for Luc

Poltergeist (2015) - Gil Kenan

I was pretty intrigued with this remake of Poltergeist but disappointed in it being rated PG-13. The original was rated the same, but that was back when the rating wasn't abused. So, I was expecting this to be rated R but it didn't need it. This movie was frightening without.  Sam Rockwell and Rosemarie DeWitt gave me a good deal of hope.  The Bowen family moves into a new home to begin their new life. The only problem is that their home was built on top of a former cemetery and, unfortunately for the Bowens, the bodies were never removed just the headstones. This makes for a really scary place as they are haunted by terrible entity that is angry and mean and has kidnapped the youngest of the Bowen family. This movie has elements of Paranormal Activity and White Noise. It does a good job of setting the scene and making it eerie. This isn't a shot-for-shot remake, it pays homage to the original film with nods to certain scenes. But this movie expands on those

The Funhouse (1981) - Tobe Hooper

This is a movie that had been on my radar for a good while. I had seen it once or twice before but didn't think much of it apparently. The concept felt pretty good, I like the idea of setting this in a carnival. It reminds me that I have to watch  Santa Sangre sometime.  Teenagers sneak out and head to a carnival that has a bad reputation for being dangerous. They intend to break into the Funhouse and stay the night. However, while sneaking around, the group watches a strange masked man murder the fortune teller. They soon find out that this Carnival, like many, had a dark underbelly.  The story is fantastic. It builds the backstory for so many of its characters. You get a good look at what is lurking in the shadows of this carnival. It doesn't appear that all of the carnies were in on the villianry that had been taking place. That added a layer to the story that made you think about this Carnival and it's killer reputation.  Toby Hooper showed us h

Pet Sematary (1989) - Mary Lambert

This movie scared the crap out of me. I had nightmares for a long time. It literally ruined my sleep during my 8 year old summer. It was so effective, so scary. The story is so damn good. Stephen King is a master. He has been such a cornerstone of the genre for so many years. This story is a testament to that. Both the movie and book are amazing. I was more than excited to watch and review this one. The Creed family, Louis, Rachel, Ellie, and Gage, move into a small house that sits on a dangerous highway. Across that highway lives Jud. An elderly man that has lived in the area for the better part of a century. Shortly after moving into the house, the family discovers a strange path leading to a Pet Cemetery.  When Ellie's cat Church dies, Jud takes Louis into a secret part of the Cemetery to bury it. A bad part. The cat comes back but the cat is changed. Jud explains to Louis that the Cemetery is sour and anything buried there doesn't stay in the ground. T

Shaun of the Dead (2004) - Edgar Wright

Edgar Wright is a great director. He is so fresh and he has a style that identifies with today's culture. With Shaun of the Dead, Wright tackles the Zombie genre. Or, sorry, the Zed Word genre. If you are not familiar with this then I pity you. Do me a favor and watch it. You will not be disappointed .  Shaun is a mild mannered store clerk that lives a monotonous life with his friend Ed and roommate Pete in London. His girlfriend just broke up with him and the moment he decides to get her back the Zed Apocalypse breaks out! Hilarity ensues as Shaun and his band of friends try to make their way to safety at the local pub.  Everything about this production is amazing. It's hilarious. The soundtrack is stellar. The way the movie is structured and laid out is fantastic. I cannot sing this movies praises enough. Everyone I know that has watched this movie has a favorite scene. If you haven't seen this movie, give it a watch and you'll have a favorite scen

Maniac (1980) - William Lustig

I wanted to watch a gritty, brutal slasher and I think I found just what I was looking for with Maniac. You have guaranteed gore factor with Tom Savini providing the color for the more grotesque scenes. I had reviewed the remake with Elijah Wood previously and been pretty impressed with the realism. It's seriously stomach churning. This movie is no different. It still creates that pit in your stomach.  Frank Rizo is a troubled man with issues stemming from his mother's death. He misses her and it drives him over the edge. We watch his insanity eat him alive as he tries to cope while doing some really terrible things. His victims are a number of women in New York. He always retrieves the scalp of the victim and nails them to mannequins in his apartment. But he has attracted the attention of the police and now things are getting a bit too heated. You can relate this to a modern day telling of the old Jack the Ripper tales.  Rizo is a demented, tormented figu

Let the Right One In (2008) - Tomas Alfredson

From the beginning to end, this is a fantastic film. It feels so real. The director did such a great job of creating a believable universe with flushed out characters. This is on a number of top horror movie lists including my own. I found it really intriguing and weird.  Oskar is a twelve-year old with a few issues. He isn't very popular and he doesn't have very many friends. The kids that do pay attention to him just bully him and beat him up. Except for one strange girl. Eli. It's like Ellie. They live in a big brick tenement in Stockholm, Sweden. Eli has a strange secret and it has to do with consuming blood, staying out of the sun, not eating food, and not being able to enter a room without being invited in. I am sure you can put those things together. Let's just say that she has been 12 for about 200 years.  Gripping, intriguing. I have watched it a couple of times now and enjoyed it each time. It's like a book that you can't put down. The actin

Sinister (2012) - Scott Derrickson

While this movie is a bit slow moving, the depth and character speak volumes and actually make this a scary movie. The supernatural elements are questionable sometimes and the motivations of the movie seem weird. But overall this did really well. I didn't expect much. It had come out during a time when everyone was tossing a hat into the "subtle scary" ring. Insidious, Paranormal Activity, the Conjuring, and the Last Exorcism are all examples of movies that rely pretty heavily on this gimmick. It's not a bad thing, in fact it's pretty neat. It's literally that saying 'less is more.' A troubled writer, named Ellison, seems to be going through a tough-patch both professionally and personally. He moves his family into a strange house out in the middle of nowhere to focus on rebuilding his life. However, Ellison comes across a mysterious box of Super 8 reels all featuring a family being murdered.  He starts piecing together this freaky puzzle

Demons (1985) - Dario Argento

Right off the bat I am intrigued by the soundtrack featuring Motley CrĂ¼e, Rick Springfield, and Saxon among others. The story is neat. Dario Argento wrote and produced this and he hasn't disappointed me yet. This is the perfect midnight feature. It's gory and full of vintage flair and evil.  Demons spread like a disease in a strange little theater that traps it's visitors inside during a "special" showing. Slowly moviegoers start turning into Demons. Murdering each other in grotesque ways while speed metal provides the tunes. It's survival mode as a group of people fight for their lives. The survival part of the movie is really great. It's reminiscent of Romero's Dawn of the Dead film, just not as good. The characters are fun and original. The dubbing is horrible, but that's more of a charm. Lamberto Bava sets a good tone and keeps the movie interesting throughout. This was my first Brava feature. It helped that Argento wrote and

Paranormal Activity 4 (2012) - Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman

I had been skeptical about the series when I first heard about it. I thought it had looked intriguing but was just a cheap gimmick. I wasn't wrong. This entire franchise is a cheap gimmick. The stationary camera just watching is cheap but so damn effective. It's a necessity for the franchise and it works so well. This may have a convoluted storyline but it just makes me want to watch the next one.  This one shows you that no one is safe from the demon Toby's powers. A family starts to experience some strange occurrences when some new neighbors move in across the street. It just so happens that the neighbors are Katie and  her "son" Robbie. The movie focuses on the younger daughter Alex and her adopted brother Wyatt are the focal points. They do a decent job. This movie doesn't just take advantage of a camcorder. This time, anything with a Wi-Fi camera can be used. As long as they don't close their laptops and keep them open. This w

The Last House on the Left (1972) - Wes Craven

I don't know what it is about the seventies, they always have the most inappropriate music to accompany some graphic scenes. It's almost a tactic that makes the scenes that much creepier. I'm not complaining. I like an Axe Murder to Marvin Gaye anytime. I hadn't watched this one for a few years and finally picked it up to watch for the 31 Movies of Halloween. This feature has a pretty strong reputation of being hard to watch or almost too hard-hitting. So you know I was interested.  Phyllis and Mari go to a big concert unsupervised in the big city. Only thing is, they don't come home. They run into a group of psychopaths that kidnap they young ladies. The gang humiliates, rapes, and murders the girls in the forest, then seek refuge in Mari's own home. Clumsily dropping clues that they had killed the girls, leading to the Mari's parents plotting the gang's demise.  This low budget feature from Nightmare on Elm Street creator Wes Crav