It's the end of the year and time to make our list of favorite films of the year. So without further adieu....
10. The Void
It's Assault on Precinct 13 meets John Carpenter's The Thing, and to me that's a good thing (pun intended).
9. The Blackcoat's Daughter
From director Oz Perkins (the son of Anthony Perkins) comes this slow burn chiller. It takes a while to get where it's going, but it's worth the trip.
8. Better Watch Out
A home invasion film with a twist, this is a new holiday classic.
7. Annabelle Creation
I love director David Sandberg and this film cements him as an amazing director.
6. IT
This was probably the most anticipated horror movie of the decade. I can't say it's superior to the original because this is only the first part. I did enjoy this and I have high hopes for the sequel.
5. A Dark Song
An intimate and creepy film about loss and moving on it shows a side of mystical ceremonies we never see.
4. Mayhem
Director Joe Lynch shows us the ultimate hostile work environment and makes us kind of want to be there.
3.
Director Mike Flanagan continues his streak with a film many thought wasn't adaptable, he proved them wrong
2.
A horror film that broke into the mainstream and started people talking about the film and our country.
1.
This movie combined several of the things I love and was my favorite of the year. Heavy metal, ghosts and serial killers all add up to a great film.
Friday, December 15, 2017
Tuesday, December 12, 2017
Better Watch Out
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On a quiet suburban street, a babysitter must defend a twelve-year-old boy from intruders, only to discover it's far from a normal home invasion. |
I knew absolutely about this going in, and I think that is the best way to see it. Things are so easily spoiled now that it's good to be surprised.
I was expecting Home Alone meets The Strangers, but got so much more.
Co-writer and director Chris Peckover deliver a very unique holiday horror film that delivers on tension and surprises.
I wouldn't be surprised if this shows up in a lot of top 10 horror movie of the year lists.
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Never answer a call when you're isolated in a house. |
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Annabelle: Creation (mini-review)
This was a film that I missed in it's theatrical run, but finally caught it on Blu-Ray.
I have to say that I was impressed by the film. Director David Sandberg does a masterful job of delivering scares, with little or no CGI. The actors all deliver great performances and the script does a great job of connecting to the first Annabelle film.
All in all a great horror movie!
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
The Thing Homages
John Carpenter's The Thing is an undisputed horror classic. Being a classic the movie has had it's share of imitators. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery so here are two of my favorite imitators of The Thing.
The X-Files- Ice
Season One/Episode Eight
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Mulder and Scully are sent to an arctic research facility to investigate some bizarre deaths. |
The Ice episode written by Glen Morgan and James Wong is probably of the most famous imitators of The Thing.
If the sets and general look of the episode remind you of The Thing it could be because production designer Graeme Murray worked on both.
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The armed stand off! |
"Ice" does a great job of capturing the paranoia and isolation from The Thing. This episode is one of the breakout episodes from the first season of the X-Files.
Star Trek Deep Space Nine- The Adversary
Season Three/Episode 26
The third season finale of DS9 finds the crew confined on-board the Defiant with a shapeshifting alien called a Changeling. The Changeling sews confusion and paranoia among the crew.
This episode borrows liberally from The Thing in several scenes.
The crew scanning each other to try and determine who the Changeling is just the first.
When they do discover his identity he reverts to his natural shape and escapes.
The Changeling also has a fondness for using tentacles to murder crew members.
No Thing homage would be complete without an armed stand off.
This episode even features a blood test scene.
The Thing has influenced multiple generations of filmmakers and will probably continue to for years to come.
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
IT (2017)
Hurricane Irma slowed this down a bit, but I wanted to share my thoughts on IT.
First, everything you've heard is true, the movie is phenomenal.
Where the movie really succeeds is in the relationships between the kids.
All of the "Losers Club" deliver great performances. They all feel like real kids, they're probably the best ensemble of kids since The Monster Squad. Watching them takes you back to the 80's and really lets the nostalgia well up in you.
I can't say that I'm 100% on board with the new look of Pennywise, but I certainly can't find fault with Bill Skarsgård's performance. His Pennywise is every bit as creepy and disturbing as you would imagine.
The only complaint I have about the movie is that I want the second half now. The movie is great but having read the book, it feels a tad incomplete without the adult half of the story.
That said, it's still a milestone horror movie. I can only it's amazing box office will give us more top notch horror movies.
Thursday, September 07, 2017
Jackals (2017)
I saw this at the Popcorn Frights Film Festival and I went in knowing nothing about it. This was case where not having any info ahead of time made the movie more exciting.
Written by Jared Rivet and directed by Kevin Greutert Jackals is a tense thriller that doesn't overstay it's welcome.
I won't spoil the plot because I think going into this film blind really enhances the tension. I will say that I loved the Halloween homage at the beginning and that the "cat joke" was one of my favorite parts of the movie.
The cast includes genre vets Stephen Dorff, Johnathon Schaech, and Deborah Kara Unger. All the cast do a great job of conveying fear and tension. Schaech does a commendable job of showing just how far a father will go to protect his family.
Do yourself a favor and go see Jackals before someone spoils it for you!
Saturday, August 26, 2017
Terrifier
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Well I'm convinced he's scary |
Another film I saw at the Popcorn Film Frights Festival, was Terrifier. I have to say it lived up to it's name.
The plot is simple, an evil clown terrorizes three women on Halloween night. This is hands down one of the goriest and most violent slasher movies I have seen. It definitely veers into torture porn territory in some parts. That said, it is still a very effective and entertaining film.
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I'll take my food to go please |
Writer/director Damien Leone has created a film follows the slasher tropes, but also adds new twists to them. There is one scene that has the clown do something that I have never seen in a slasher movie before. That scene, which I won't spoil, got an amazing reaction from the crowd.
If clowns don't scare you and you can handle extreme gore, then check out Terrifier!
Wednesday, August 23, 2017
Die! Sitter! Die!: Rupert
Last week I attended the Popcorn Frights Film festival in Miami Florida. I saw several films, but I wanted to talk about a short I saw first.
Die! Sitter! Die!: Rupert was hands down one of the highlights of the festival for me. The story is simple, a girl takes a babysitting job and things go wrong. This is not a new concept in horror, but the twist the filmmakers drop on us is.
I was expecting an evil baby, or a slasher attacking the babysitter trying to kill her and the infant. What I got was something else entirely.
Directed by Sam and Lee Boxleiter and written by them along with Alex Holcomb, this short introduces a whole new kind of horror villain.
The short is now available online and you should definitely give it a watch.
by: Shad Youngblood
Tuesday, August 08, 2017
Star Trek horror
Near the end of it's first season Star Trek: The next Generation did something different, and something they haven't tried since.
In the episode "Conspiracy" Captain Picard and crew learn that a race of alien parasites has infiltrated the Federation. Picard and crew of course stop this invasion, no surprise there. This could have been standard Star Trek fare, but they managed to make one of the goriest episodes of TV to that point.
The episode is of note for horror fans for several reasons.
First of all, one of the people who tells Picard about the conspiracy is Captain Rixx, played by Michael Berryman. Berryman played a Bolian (named for the shows director Cliff Bole) and this race would be featured a lot in TNG and other Star Trek shows.
This was one of the few Star Trek episodes that featured non-humaniod aliens. The parasites were all puppets and were stop motion animated in some scenes.
We were also treated to this scene where the parasite infected officers eat live grub worms for dinner.
The mother creature of the parasites was a pretty gruesome creature.
What this episode is most remembered for hough is this scene.
Hands down this is one of the best head explosions ever. This is at least as good as the Scanners one.
Reaction to the episode was mixed and the show never did another gory episode like this again. It's a shame, I would have liked to seen more horror in Star Trek.
In the episode "Conspiracy" Captain Picard and crew learn that a race of alien parasites has infiltrated the Federation. Picard and crew of course stop this invasion, no surprise there. This could have been standard Star Trek fare, but they managed to make one of the goriest episodes of TV to that point.
The episode is of note for horror fans for several reasons.
First of all, one of the people who tells Picard about the conspiracy is Captain Rixx, played by Michael Berryman. Berryman played a Bolian (named for the shows director Cliff Bole) and this race would be featured a lot in TNG and other Star Trek shows.
This was one of the few Star Trek episodes that featured non-humaniod aliens. The parasites were all puppets and were stop motion animated in some scenes.
We were also treated to this scene where the parasite infected officers eat live grub worms for dinner.
The mother creature of the parasites was a pretty gruesome creature.
What this episode is most remembered for hough is this scene.
Hands down this is one of the best head explosions ever. This is at least as good as the Scanners one.
Reaction to the episode was mixed and the show never did another gory episode like this again. It's a shame, I would have liked to seen more horror in Star Trek.
Wednesday, August 02, 2017
Popcorn Frights Festival 2017
This Friday we will be attending the 3rd annual Popcorn Frights Film Festival. The festival will feature shorts and films of the horror genre. On Friday we will be viewing the following films, the first of which will be the sold film Jackals starring Stephen Dorff.
Synopsis
Set in the 1980s, an estranged family hires a cult deprogrammer to take back their teenage son from a murderous cult, but find themselves under siege when the cultists surround their cabin, demanding the boy back.
Watch the trailer
https://youtu.be/tI6xfJMDvjY
The next film might scar me for life. Terrifer looks like a film I normally would not watch, I consider it torture porn and I am not a fan of clowns. But it takes place on Halloween and there is a lot buzz around this one, so I am curious.
Synopsis
A maniacal clown named Art, terrorizes three young women on Halloween night and everyone else who stands in his way.
Watch the trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdnUVov_-eg
On Saturday we will be catching three features, First off is Game of Death.
Synopsis
Kill or be killed is the golden rule of the Game of Death. Sucks for seven millennials who ignored that rule. Now each one's head will explode unless they kill someone.
Synopsis
A virus breaks out in a law office and the infection is capable of making people act out their wildest impulses.
Mayhem stars Steven Yeun aka Glen of The Walking Dead.
The last film of the evening is the sequel to the Wolf Cop, if you haven't seen it do so. It's funny and downright ridiculous but we love it!
Synopsis
Alcoholic werewolf cop Lou Garou springs into action when an eccentric businessman with evil intentions seduces Woodhaven's residents with a new brewery and hockey team
Watch the trailer
Our last day of attendance of us is Sunday and I will be viewing two films before I have to head back to Orlando.
Synopsis
Two brothers return to the cult they fled from years ago to discover that the group's beliefs may be more sane than they once thought
Synopsis
Ashley travels to the suburban home of the Lerners to baby-sit their 12-year-old son Luke at Christmastime. She must soon defend herself and the young boy when unwelcome intruders announce their arrival.
There are many more films in this festival and we wish we could see them all. If you are in the area please check out some films and purchase tickets before they sell out.
We will mention however a film we wish we were viewing that we won't be able to view, The Hatred. We were honored to have interviewed the writer and director, Micheal Kehoe in our previous blog.
Synopsis
Four young women travel to their college professor's new country home for a weekend getaway, only to discover that the house has a malevolent past.
Watch the trailer here
Here is the link for the rest of the festival's line up.
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Zombeavers
For the longest time I scrolled by this movie on Netflix and just laughed at the name. Most of time movies whose whole premise is based on a pun, are not for me. The other night I decided to give Zombeavers a try, and I'm glad I did.
Zombeavers is a genuinely fun horror movie that takes itself seriously. Before seeing it I envisioned this a horor comedy or parody of monster animal movies. Zombeavers however is quite the opposite. While the idea is of course silly, it's played straight.
The movie very much reminds of a 1980's horror movie. It's filled with gratuitous sex, nudity and over the top violence.
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I have opened my door to worse |
The actors all do a great of selling you on the Zombeavers being viscous monsters. There are some pretty good twists later in the movie, I won't spoil them but they're amazing.
If you're looking for a fun movie, that takes you back to the 80's then Zombeavers is for you.
Tuesday, July 18, 2017
Two Evil Monkey Movies You May Have Missed
Whether there's a whole planet of them, or just one, monkeys are scary. They're funny to look at in the zoo, but when the walls between us come down, they have the advantage. Here are two movies about killer primates you may have missed.
Our first entry is SHAKMA from 1990. A LARP game in a medical school goes awry when a supposedly dead baboon starts killing the players. Part slasher movie, part nature gone wild movie SHAKMA has become a cult hit.
Our first entry is SHAKMA from 1990. A LARP game in a medical school goes awry when a supposedly dead baboon starts killing the players. Part slasher movie, part nature gone wild movie SHAKMA has become a cult hit.
I can definitely see why actress Amanda Wyss was reportedly terrified of the baboon on set. It was the 1990's no CGI monkeys here. SHAKMA is currently streaming on Shudder and Amazon video.
Next is LINK, from 1986. When zoology student Jane Chase (Elisabeth Shue) shows up at her professor's remote house she discovers he has a super intelligent orangutan as a butler. If this didn't clue her to get the hell out of there I don't know what would.
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I'm here to draw your bath, |
Things start to go bad when Link, develops feeling towards Chase. Yes, it's a story of unrequited ape love. The film was directed by Richard Franklin who also directed Psycho II and Road Games.
The evil ape Citizen Kane is of course Monkey Shines, but I think everyone has seen it. Hopefully this will point fans of Monkey Shines to other lesser known killer monkey movies.
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