Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 25th, 2014
Sometimes a horror movie comes along that is rich in originality and ideas. Dark House certainly fits into that category. There are some truly scary moments and seriously frightening images to be found here. For a low-budget affair, the movie sports pretty solid acting and an atmospheric production design. Writer/director Victor Salva knows how to get the most out of the resources at his command. That doesn't mean there isn't a serious flaw to be found here. This is a movie that is often a little too clever and more than a little enigmatic at times. It won't allow itself to be contained into any particular style or sub-genre, and that's a good thing. If only all of this didn't also get in the way of telling a tight story, this could have become the next cult classic. If wishes were horses....
Nick (Kleintank) is searching for answers about who he is. His mother has spent the last several years in an insane asylum, and he's visiting her for the first time in years. He's hoping she'll tell him who his father was. It's his 23rd birthday, and apparently that's a magical number in nature. As it turns out, Mom's promised to tell him this day. No, she hadn't promised Nick. She's talking to something inside the walls. Unfortunately, a breakdown nixes the big reveal, and a disastrous fire at the asylum later that night forever seals Mom's lips.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on March 20th, 2014
Remember the first film that kept you awake at night? The film that had you keeping the light on, when every strange noise you heard was that of some monster you were all but certain was lurking in the darkness waiting for your eyes to finally close? For me it was that thrill that got me excited about horror films, where every Saturday I’d watch Creature Feature, and in the evening I’d channel-surf till I found some horror film to keep me up into the late hours of the night. Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Exorcist, The Beyond and many others were the films that I would grow up and hold up on a pedestal as the modern classics of horror. As I watch the new wave of horror coming out, sure, there are plenty of titles that are really fun, but the films that leave a mark, the ones we’ll be talking about 10 to 20 years from now, where are they?
Here Comes the Devil is one of those films.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on March 11th, 2014
When you are first getting into a relationship those first few weeks can be pretty awkward at times as the two of you get to know one another. The decision to go on a road trip early on in a relationship is simply one of those gambles that can go either way, but if the trip goes well, then of course the future of this budding romance is all the more promising. In Fear follows a couple that bravely decides to take a road trip together so they can see a concert; unfortunately for them, it’s the road trip from hell.
Tom (Iain De Caestecker) and Lucy (Alice Englert) are the young budding couple that have decided to take the scenic route to the concert after experiencing an off-screen confrontation inside a small town pub. Since the altercation is never seen and only hinted at by our leads, it doesn’t take long be submersed in the suspense that follows. Once the two decide on staying overnight at a hotel, it’s not long before they get turned around and lost along the backwoods roads.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 25th, 2014
"Don't mess with a man of God."
It has been said that an old vaudevillian was on his deathbed and was asked how he was doing. He replied, "Dying is easy. Comedy is hard". And no, it wasn't Shia LaBeof. The fact is that comedy is easy. Horror comedy is hard...very hard. One needs only to look at the lame attempts each year to make us laugh at the carnage. For every Shaun Of The Dead there are 100 Vampire In Brooklyn's Let's not even talk about the last Scream entry. Needless to say I was quite a bit overwhelmed when I received Hellbenders 3D. Not only was this some cheap Exorcist knockoff, but it was going to be low-budget 3D. I watched it the night before a surgery figuring it was the most likely film to make me actually look forward to the surgery. Let's face it. You see this stuff coming from a mile away. What I never saw coming was that I had one hell of a good time watching. I'm not going to call it a classic by any means. But Hellbenders delivers like few horror comedies I've seen in a very long time.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on February 19th, 2014
“Zombies…killer robots…nice town you got here.”
If nothing else, filmmaker Christopher Hatton definitely thought outside the box in his attempt to spice up the lumbering zombie genre. The random appearance of killer robots about halfway through the film is such an out-of-leftfield move — assuming you started watching this movie without looking at its Blu-ray cover (and, no…Dolph Lundgren is *not* one of the robots) — that I actually found it to be inspired. It’s a good thing too because the rest of Battle of the Damned is essentially a low-budget, paint splatter-by-numbers survival flick.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 29th, 2014
"This evening I finally met Count Dracula. He is younger than I expected, although his behavior and his demeanor seem to somehow contradict his appearance."
Dracula and vampires in general have taken on many appearances and personalities over the years. He has been portrayed as the suave European gentleman and a vicious gaunt creature best left to the shadows. Lately vampires have taken on the angst and yearnings of adolescence. Dracula has been around since 1897 when Bram Stoker wrote his groundbreaking novel. The evolution of the genre continues today and will likely produce stranger forms of the character in the future. But leave it to Spaghetti Nightmare maestro Dario Argento to return the man and the movie to its classic roots. Argento does so in grand gothic style that channels the spirit of both Universal's classic creations and Hammer's atmospheric bloody nightmares with Argento's Dracula.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on January 16th, 2014
“They’re gonna laugh at you. They’re all gonna laugh at you.”
The idea of remaking/reimagining/refurbishing a horror classic may have been laughable at one point, but now it’s just business as usual. Then again, I happen to think this is an especially good time to revisit 1976’s Carrie. With all the attention bullying has gotten in the media these last few years, the supernatural story of a high school outsider pushed to her violent breaking point seems particularly timely. I just wish the new movie had more going for it beyond decent timing and a pair of impressive leading ladies.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on January 13th, 2014
“Getting what you want comes with a price.”
Much has changed in the world of Being Human this season. However, let’s recap for a moment just to make sure everyone is on the same page. Sally (Meaghan Rath), after shredding her own spirit to get to limbo so she can rescue Scottie and Nick, has bitten off more than she can chew as she finds herself stranded in limbo with the very people she sent to limbo. Aidan (Sam Witwer), after losing his lover Suren and his failed attempt to assassinate her murderer, the vampire matriarch known as “Mother”, is buried alive for his transgression. As for Josh (Sam Huntington), after deciding to kill his maker Ray before the full moon in order to free him and Nora (Kristen Hager) from the curse inflicted on the both of them, finds himself in a standoff that includes Ray, Nora, and himself.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on January 13th, 2014
Within the first few minutes of We Are What We Are, the Parker family suffers an immense loss. The death doesn't exactly come as a shock because the film opens with a series of arresting and foreboding images doused by a torrential rain that fails to wash away the family's worries (or incriminating evidence). This atmospheric, thoroughly creepy horror movie winds up going to a number of grisly places, but, in a lot of ways, it's really just the story of how the reclusive clan deals with that loss.
We Are What We Are is technically a remake of the 2010 Mexican film Somos Lo Que Hay. I say “technically” because the new film — directed stylishly and confidently by Jim Mickle (Stake Land) — is more of a companion piece to the original. The two films share a basic premise about families who experience a sudden death and struggle to carry on their gruesome traditions, but Mickle and writer/actor/frequent collaborator Nick Damici have transplanted the action from inner-city Mexico to upstate New York.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on January 7th, 2014
We all know looks can be deceiving, but Voodoo Possession takes that notion to the extreme. Almost nothing about the film’s DVD cover art correlates to what you’ll actually see on screen. Cult favorite Danny Trejo gets top billing despite playing a largely inconsequential role in the story. (You know a movie’s in trouble when it’s banking on Trejo’s star power; even the Machete movies relied mostly on stunt casting.) The cover is dominated by someone who looks like Samara from The Ring standing in front of Shutter Island. (Naturally, the girl has nothing to do with this movie.) At least there is, in fact, voodoo in this occasionally intriguing, ultimately lousy low-budget horror flick.
The film follows Aiden (Ryan Caltagirone), a troubled young man who travels to Haiti with his on-again/off-again tabloid reporter girlfriend Bree (Kerry Knuppe) to search for his missing brother Cody (David Thomas Jenkins). Cody is a doctor who had set up shop in an abandoned hospital, where he was exploring the medical effects of voodoo before he went missing. How does Danny Trejo play into all of this? Well, he really doesn’t. Trejo “stars” as Kross, the dubious hospital administrator/exposition machine we see working alongside Dr. Cody in video files discovered by Aiden and Co.
