Cenobites are people, too... I hate that I've started to need more out of my horror film viewing experience. I used to be fine with a movie only having gratuitous violence and nothing else. Recently, I've been needing a little more substance. I think it's because of the slow burn / less violent / well-written horror flicks that have come out lately such as It Follows, The Witch, A Quiet Place, The Conjuring, etc. Enter Hellbound. It's quite violent, but the story is very muddled. I would … [Read more...]
Chillerama – Quickie Review: 31 Nights Of Horror (2018) – Day 8
The last night of a drive-in theatre is the setting and the wraparound story for this horror/comedy anthology. This film starts with a man getting his wang bitten off by the corpse of his ex-wife, and then we're off... I'm a big fan of horror inspired anthologies such as Creepshow, Trick 'r Treat and Body Bags but this one just didn't do it for me. It is continuously, unnecessarily and overtly sexual. And the violence in the last act is shockingly over the top. This film and the films within … [Read more...]
Anatomy – Quickie Review: 31 Nights Of Horror (2018) – Day 4
This 2000 German release is about a medical student (Franka Potente) that gets awarded a place a prestigious med school only to uncover a secret society which is involved in questionable medical practices. Ok thriller with not many thrills. It shares many of the same themes as the 1996 film Extreme Measures starring Gene Hackman and Hugh Grant. Once the majority of the secrets had been revealed, the film tries too hard to continue the suspense with unnecessary attempts at story depth and … [Read more...]
Forbidden World – Quickie Review: 31 Nights Of Horror (2018) – Day 3
Have you ever wondered what Alien would have looked like if it had been produced by Roger Corman? Wonder no more. I present you, Forbidden World. After being awaken from a deep hyper-sleep to help fend off enemy ships, a federation marshal is summoned to a research space station where gene-splicing is practiced and the wearing of bras has been outlawed An experiment goes wrong and creates a mutant that starts to run amok throughout the space station. The mutant cocoons frequently yet they … [Read more...]
Drownsman, The – Quickie Review
The name is much better than the movie. The idea is cool and the killer is interesting enough, but it's kinda boring. Most horror films are built on gore and/or suspense. If it only has one, you depend on the other hopefully picking up the slack. However, this doesn't have suspense and the method of death is drowning so where's the gore? Disappointing. … [Read more...]
Baby Blues – Quickie Review: 31 Nights Of Horror – Day 29 / Film #2
A young couple buys a new home and they find that the previous owners have left a strange doll behind. This pretty much plays like a Child's Play/Annabelle hybrid, but not a good one. Many failed jump scares fill 90 wasted minutes. Go ahead and give it a miss. … [Read more...]
Man Who Laughs, The – Quickie Review: 31 Nights Of Horror – Day 29 / Film #1
I wanted to like this film because of the pop culture history that's attached. I just couldn't get into it. Perhaps silent films just aren't for me. However, the lead, Conrad Veidt, is exceptional. And his character's appearance was the real inspiration for the original design of The Joker. Some may see this as a horror, but for me the most horrific thing was how much people were enthusiastic about clowns. … [Read more...]
From A Whisper To A Scream – Quickie Review: 31 Nights Of Horror – Day 26 / Film #4
A weak anthology horror in the vein of the much superior Twilight Zone and Creepshow. The stories are tied together by a librarian telling a reporter about the town's horrid past. The third tale boasts some pretty graphic violence, but the story itself doesn't add up to much. Really, the only redeeming aspect of the film is Vincent Price as the librarian. … [Read more...]
Anthropophagus – Quickie Review: 31 Nights Of Horror – Day 17 / Film #2
Underwhelming Italian horror. Creepy killer, creepy locale, decent gore, but it's incredibly dull with a score that occasionally sounds like two cats fighting on a keyboard. The jump scares are mostly telegraphed or poorly choreographed. There's some f'd up stuff along the way such as the killer eating his own intestines, but nothing really to sustain one's interest. … [Read more...]
Annabelle – Quickie Review: 31 Nights Of Horror – Day 15 / Film #4
Thoroughly disappointing prequel to the vastly superior, The Conjuring. An attempted jump scare here, a contrived scare there. Eerie music here, manic screams there. It tries really hard to be something, but it just falls flat. … [Read more...]