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Showing posts from October, 2016

31 (2016) - Rob Zombie

They can't all be winners. If you've seen one Rob Zombie movie then you've seen them all. They have the same cliche'd cuts and edits. They use the same type of soundtrack. They have the same actors and carry the same feeling. Some directors can pull it off really well. But Rob just feels like he is out of ideas. On October 30th, a group of carnival workers are abducted, tortured and held against their will at some weird compound called MurderWorld. They try to survive as their captors force them into a deadly game called 31. They are hunted and tested for the pleasure of some weird powdered wig wearing psychopaths. I feel as if Rob Zombie thinks that it's his duty to bring back sleazy grindhouse cinema. Its almost like these movies are exploitation-sploitation. Obscenity is commonplace. Mutilation, gore and dismemberment are merely filler moments in between thin layers of obscured normalcy. Grindhouse is less of a film style and more of a natural occurrence

Salem's Lot (1979) - Tobe Hooper

Halloween just wouldn't be the same without a good Stephen King picture. I had just finished reading Salem's Lot and thought that I would check out the television mini-series as well. It has actually been pretty hard to find. There are a lot of different versions of this movie too. Apparently, Stephen King himself loves the cut-down theatrical version. However, I found a near three and a half hour version. I think it is the actual Television version. It has fades for commercial breaks. Either way, I dug it. Ben Mears, a writer, returns home to Salem's Lot after many years away. He has had this fascination with this dirty old home in town, The Marsden House. Where, as a child, he had seen the owner decrepit and decaying, hanging by the neck. This image stays with him for a long time. It actually turns out that Ben is returning home when a mysterious old figure is moving into the house. Also people are going missing and being stricken ill all around 'the Lot'.

Scary Movie (2000) - Keenen Ivory Wayans

During the nineties, Keenan Ivory Wayans ran the parody comedy game. His hit television show In Living Color introduced key Wayans family members that have been a staple in his work for years. Namely, Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans. Both hilarious and both stars in the Keenan Ivory's Scream spoof Scary Movie.  Following the same narrative of Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. Teens are ending up murdered in a small California town. Cindy, Bobby, Shorty, Brenda, Ray, Buffy and Greg are all students together at B.A. Corpse High School, We join them just as they had learned that their friend was murdered and it might have something to do with the night that they hit and murdered some fisherman.   It's hilarious. Like the Animal House of horror. Scenes are memorable and quotable. It should have your sides splitting while simultaneously satisfying your horror thirst. It has so many callbacks to the genre, like our lead Cindy Campbell's name is a play on t

Sleepaway Camp (1983) - Robert Hiltzik

Really good horror movies need to leave an impression on you. Sleepaway Camp is definitely the type of movie that leaves it's mark. While being infamous for it's graphic ending. It's also a quintessential eighties horror film that captures the time in the style and fashion. It encompasses that summer camp style that was really popular during this time. It actually captures the camp feeling a whole lot better than most Friday the 13th films.  Angela Baker and her cousin Ricky attend Summer Camp. Ricky had been coming for a while, but this was Angela's first time. Needless to say, the adjustment doesn't go very well. The camp is full of creeps, assholes and jerkbags. And someone is running around trying to kill them all! This really doesn't help things for Angela.  This movie isn't afraid to go places that other movies don't. It explores all sorts of themes from gender bending to child molestation, while simultaneously being an entertaining

Stir of Echoes (1999) - David Koepp

This is a really cool movie that gets over looked a lot. Sure, A Sixth Sense came out before it and it may resemble that a bit too much. But who cares? Stir of Echoes has a really cool story that is supported by a solid cast. It has a great song as it's theme and it has some seriously scary scenes. I was more than happy to review it for the 31 Movies of Halloween.  Tom Witzky and his family have recently moved into this town. A nice small town that really has some great old pride. However, the town is holding back a deep dark secret. Tom and his son Jake are getting these visions of a dead young woman in their home. Tom becomes obsessed with it and starts driving a wedge in between reality and insanity. Kevin Bacon does a phenomenal job here. His work is some of the best in his career. I really liked the story too. The botched hypnosis thing is a really great device. I like that it opened up Toms mind to seeing these beings from the other side. I just wish we were able to