Trick ‘r Treat (2008)

by Stuart Conover on March 22, 2010

Trick ‘r Treat (2008)

Trick ‘r Treat has an interesting release date. The film was actually ready to go much earlier than that but never got any real wide releases on the big screen or DVD until 2009. Somehow though it retains a 2008 release so we’re going to have to go with that instead of the 2009 one which would make more sense. The film is the creation of Michael Dougherty and he put in his own blood, sweat, and tears to get this film out and everyone who sees it can instantly agree it was worth it. This was his first movie fully directed (aside from the 1996 animated short Season’s Greetings which it is based off of) though he did write X-Men 2, Urban Legends: Bloody Mary, and part of Superman Returns prior. Don’t let that Superman reference throw you (with how many hated that movie I can see why it may be difficult to do) as Trick ‘r Treat is a homage to horror and anthology based fully upon Halloween – the only holiday that can be claimed by the horror community and has never had a movie to truly stand behind that celebrates it.

What we see within Trick ‘r Treat is an entity known as “Sam” who is both watching and participating in the Halloween festivals. There are traditions that are followed on Halloween but what we are shown is that many of these traditions are in fact rituals that need to be followed for if they are broken on this night it can mean certain death. The story is told during the course of a single night on Halloween and is being held in a small town that is meant to reflect any number of towns from around the world giving a “it could happen anywhere” vibe.

Sam links four stories that occur within the town and each one is more entertaining than the last. I really can’t give you a summary in order as multiple of these stories are partially spread out throughout the entire film. We open with a short of Sam being very unhappy with a woman who is anti-Halloween and takes down her decorations a little early. Following this we are told a tale that involves a principal (Dylan Baker) who starts his scene by teaching someone who is not following the “rules” of Halloween by giving him a taste of his own medicine and is shown to be teaching his son valuable lessons as well. We are let in to follow a group of young women who are getting ready for a Halloween party and see one of them (Anna Paquin pre-True Blood) being stalked. There are a group of kids who are stealing pumpkins as a way to terrify someone they aren’t close friends with but what happens when the urban legend they are using turns out to be partially real? Finally we end with an old man (Brian Cox) who is taught a lesson about both Halloween and not being able to run from his past.

I could honestly write for pages on various reasons on why this film is a must own. Trick ‘r Treat is the decisive Halloween treat for any Horror fan out there so all I will say is that if you haven’t picked this one up you are doing yourself a disservice.

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Zombieland (2009)

by Stuart Conover on March 20, 2010

Zombieland (2009)

Zombieland was the definitive horror themed comedy of 2009 and not only was it surrounded by a LOT of hype on the release date it was able to live up to all expectations AND surpass them. The first real zombie themed comedy since Shaun of the Dead stole the spotlight on horror comedies and what we see in this one is able to surpass it. Directed by relative new director Ruben Fleischer anyone can tell you this is a director to keep your eyes on. It was written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick who have both worked in a few movies and television. They came together at one point to be a writing team and actually pitched Zombieland as a television show (which is convenient for us seeing a few follow up movies as they have a plot in place to follow through with a few.) With their success on Zombieland they of course are both signed up for a sequel, the Deadpool movie spinoff from Wolverine, and a sequel to the first G.I. Joe film. They are two writers who are going to be huge if they can keep up the momentum in these next three films!

We open the movie with an amazing cinematic showing off what has happened to the world being narrated by Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) as he explains how the world has come to an end. After that he quickly goes over the ‘rules’ he lives by (which is a comedic part that follows through the entire movie) and why he ends up on the move. Soon after beginning his journey to his parent’s house he stumbled across Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson.) Tallahassee is a very resourceful if high strung man and one of his quotes says it all, “My moma always told me, someday I'd be good at something. Who'd have guessed that something would be zombie killing?” This is a fact he has endless fun proving over and over again.

While on the search for supplies (and more importantly for Tallahassee, a Twinkie) they come across two other survivors. A pair of sisters who go by Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) who quickly prove to be much more devious and resourceful than our two leads as they steal Tallahassee’s pickup and gun. As they leave our two Tallahassee stumble across a redneck’s H2 full of weapons and are on their way again only to end up coming across the pickup now broken down. Clearly a trap they are once again tricked by the two girls but at this point are able to put together a truce because, let’s face it the world is covered in the undead and there are more important things to do than worry about each other.

The film can be taken as a horror (great gore), comedy (absolutely hilarious at every turn specifically with Harrelson stealing most of the scenes he’s in), a romance (Anyone who doesn’t see that Columbus and Wichita are going to get together is blind), an action flick (guns guns and guns), and a post apocalyptic film (seriously everything is destroyed) and even with mixing all of these genres together pulls it off. It’s one of the funniest and just plain fun films that were released in 2009 and well worth the watch. While the scare factor and suspense aren’t that high you still won’t regret putting this one on.

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House Of 1000 Corpses (2003)

by Stuart Conover on March 20, 2010

House Of 1000 Corpses (2003)

Written and directed by the iconic metal singer Rob Zombie, this film marked his debut into the horror movie genre. Since it's release he has come out with a multitude of films though for the most part most people agree that he should be coming up with original material. Once he started making remakes fans everywhere where at first excited but now for the most part cringe with what he has done with the Halloween franchise. While not everyone agrees with that statement enough do to make you sit up and worry if you hear him working on a project - at least a remake. Thankfully though House of 1000 Corpses is from a simpler time of fresh ideas on how hillbillies from the southern portion of America really are the most frightening people to have to deal with.

We open the movie with 4 kids who are taking a road trip and are on an apparently deserted back road. Like the introduction to so many other horror movies that take place in the South they don't stumble across a single soul with real intelligence. They do however come across at Captain Spaulding's which is run be a demonic looking clown who sets the stage for what is to happen. At Spaulding's you can buy gas, fried chicken, and take a death ride! The death ride tells us about Doctor Satan who was apparently a local serial killer who was hung years prior. They go to look into where he was hung and on the way there pickup a hitchhiker - the ever luscious "Baby" (Sheri Moon.)

From this point it all goes downhill for the 4 kids who are drawn to where Sheri lives which is when the true "fun" begins as her entire family is basically a group of insane, cannibalistic, serial killers. Zombie knows how to craft a visually gritty film from top to bottom and it’s a shame that the plot isn’t half as good as the sequel (how often does that happen?) It’s a fun ride of sheer gore and violence though is rather weak on the suspense itself. The entire family is a top notch cast of insanity as we have Sid Haig playing the previously mentioned Captain Spaulding. Sheri Moon Zombie as the daughter mentioned. Karen Black (who was in countless classic B horror films) playing her mother and finally her brother Otis is being played by Bill Moseley.

The entire family (aside from Sheri) immediately comes off both visually and mentally as a group of cannibalistic rednecks who truly are just insane and that have never heard of morals. While Sheri herself is just as mentally twisted as her entire family she at least has the looks to pass as a normal member of society and they are clearly intelligent enough to use this to their advantage. As we all know sex sells and what better wait for a group of cannibals than to use it to sell safety right before everything goes to hell for their unsuspecting pray. As I mentioned the plot on the first one is kind of weak but if you are looking for a splatter fest than this is the film for you.

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Friday the 13th (2009)

by Stuart Conover on March 18, 2010

Friday the 13th (2009)

Directed by Marcus Nispel (Familiar with remakes from directing The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in 2003 and is currently working on the reboot of the Conan series that is due out next year.) While some movies have a single writer, to properly bring the new Friday the 13th they had Damian Shannon and Mark Swift for the screenplay and story as well as Mark Wheaton on the story as well. Shannon and Swift both have experience with the Friday the 13th universe as they co-wrote Freddy vs Jason together. Knowing this will turn some people away immediately as this was one of the more ill received movies of both of these franchises (I'll admit it having hated it when it came out but having re-watched it recently it wasn't nearly as bad as I remembered.) The final writer has done a couple movies previously though is his first entry into the Slasher genre.

This film is kind of a tough one to really go over because for as much as they got right with the reintroduction to the franchise there was so much that was wrong. The movie feels like it is a short movie at the introduction followed by the main feature that both involve the same characters (much as Rob Zombie’s Halloween 2 felt like.) The only difference is all of it is “real” in the realm of Jason Voorhees and the first part of the movie actually takes classic moments from the first couple and remakes them to give us a kind of prologue for anyone who hasn’t seen the originals. This does not feel like a waste of time though. Just like Halloween 2 the introduction was the best part of the film. It had the classic moments that all felt just right while showing how little actually happened in the first few movies.

While the movie was able to follow the formula of a Jason movie “decently” after the introduction there was a slew of problems that brought everything great to a drag. Jason’s kills in the past all had that huge build up and pay off to each and everyone. This new entry into the franchise has the buildup down pat but each and every kill felt as if it lacked the payoff. While some of the styled in killing weren’t predictable this was due to them lacking the true strength of previous kills.

While it holds up as an OK watch and I highly enjoyed the introduction to catch anyone up on the series it kind of falls apart after that. There were modern day additions to a classically proven formula that just should not have made the cut: torture, traps, prolonged kills, abduction, a high level of gore, and Jason actually taking the time to run. Jason doesn’t run the entire point is a pepe le pew styled slow walk that would always catch up to the person running due to a mistake on their part or just getting tired. I really wanted this movie to work since the originals were all full of campy fun (and not something you should take as a serious slasher flick) but it just never seemed to reach the fun level and that’s a shame for all Friday the 13th fans.

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My Bloody Valentine (1981)

by Stuart Conover on March 18, 2010

My Bloody Valentine (1981)

My Bloody Valentine is a true classic that was created in 1981 as a slasher flick with a slightly different setting from most of the films of its time and that were created after. This film was directed by George Mihalka and amazingly was only his second film. Sadly though it would appear to be his masterpiece as while he has had many films under his belt in the years since its release - he did not have any major horror films after this point. The film was written by Stephen A. Miller (Who has sadly mainly worked in Television and not graving us with further horror greatness) and John Beaird (who unfortunately passed away in 1993.) It was early in the career for all three of these men and sadly none further pursued the horror genre in their careers as it's one that has been a fan favorite (if partially underground favorite until the re-make) of slasher films for decades at least when they were able to get their hands on the full movie. What surprising is how well the movie was received by horror fans even with the amazing kills and gore stripped from it as the entire movie was a masterpiece in horror as the acting, directing, score, everything was top notch.

When it originally came out it was horribly stripped of countless of the kills that were previewed that had horror fans everywhere clamoring for its release. What we ended up with was a stripped down film that did not provide the proper slasher feel that was both previewed and promised. It was a movie that could have become a franchise to outshine many there were out there and was cut short from horrible editing on the part of the studio. Today this isn’t an issue as every release of it you can find contains the full footage thanks to Lionsgate.

The story begins with a combination of a Valentines party in a mining community where 20 years prior a horrible accident in the mines occurred trapping one Harry Warden in the mines. He was trapped there for quite some time and after a bit of cannibalism with his friends who had died finally snapped. When he managed to escape he ended up being committed but was able to constantly escape to go on a killing spree. As I mentioned 20 years had passed since this horrible date and Harry has been long since confined in the institute. Clearly it’s time to let the guard down and re-open the doors for a Valentine’s Day festival for all of those who want to celebrate.

I’ll let you take one guess on who appears to escape and go on a killing spree when the younger minders start their party to celebrate. What I have to say is that we actually get a lot of great character development and interaction in the movie and a ton of creative kills on top of it. The Valentine’s Day 3D released in 2009, while a fun film and is attempting to turn it into a franchise, fails to properly delivery on the characters in the way the original did. It’s still a fun film but the original let’s you get excited on what could have been if it hadn’t been so mutilated by editors before going onto the big screen.

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Vacancy 2: The First Cut (2009)

by Stuart Conover on March 16, 2010

Vacancy 2: The First Cut (2009)

This film was directed by Eric Bross (mostly with a history in TV but is now working on The Boy Who Cried Werewolf so this must have somehow gotten him some attention) and Written by Mark L. Smith (Who wrote the original Vacancy and The Hole.)

While I enjoyed the first Vacancy in a slasher film with a twist kind of way it didn't lend itself too well for a sequel. It made it clear that it was a story that took place at the end of an era of horror where people were being killed at the hotel where the killings occurred. Clearly with so much history the film left itself open for a series of anti-climactic sequels with knowing how it would end. Picking up on this without wanting to ruin the feel of the film Mark wrote the one prequel that would make sense - an origin story that still had a slight twist in it. Ideally he will stop here as it still plays out decently enough without ruining the idea of Vacancy though turning it into a franchise between the origin and end of the film would kill what he's put together so far.

I'm going to start by saying if you enjoyed the first Vacancy you will probably have a good time watching this one, if you haven't though you are going to hate it. I say this because the film mirrors the story of the first one in many aspects even while being an origin story.

SpoilersWhat we get is how the owner of the hotel because involved in making snuff films of anyone who comes alone to the hotel as well as how they end up picking their victims. After this point it's pretty stable that it follows the concept of the original movie with the change of 3 victims instead of 2. You do have to give the director credit for making the three friends both likable and believable as people who have known each other and been friends together for years. Knowing how the movie has to end (with the fact that this is exactly what happens in the first movie) kind of lowers the suspense level. We know the patrons of the hotel are destined to be killed just as we know that there will continue to be people who are killed in the hotel for years.

I have to admit the premise for this prequel was a pretty weak thought in the fact that we know the bad guys win and the innocents are killed by the end. It was however almost as entertaining as the original and easily is a fun romp for the slasher flicks who want something a little bit different to watch. It is by no means groundbreaking but it’s not a bad film in the slightest. The directing, acting, and script are all standard horror film quality though you have to give it credit for having high production value. Honestly where it falls short is anyone who has seen the original knows who the bad guys in the film are. The not knowing for part of the first film on who the killer was is what gave it suspense where in this one the end was a given and the suspense factor wasn’t able to keep me drawn in.

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Quarantine (2008)

by Stuart Conover on March 15, 2010

Quarantine (2008)

Before I type anything else I need to put that Quarantine is a remake of the Spanish film [rec] and as amazing as this movie is - [rec] was was an even better film. The American remake was directed by John Erick Dowdle and written by both he and his brother. While the two brothers don't have a long history in film what they have shown us so far says one – watch these two. I only hope that in the future their next movie is able to match Quarantine in quality. I’ve heard a people complain that the remake is bad because it wasn’t as good as the original film. In all honestly I have no idea where to begin to disagree with that point of view because in all honesty it still is a great film.

OK. There is another complaint and I’ll address that right about now. Quarantine suffers from that wonderful movie going experience known simply as “The Shakey Cam.” We are following a news reporter who was shafted with doing a public piece on firefighters and are watching the entire film unfold point of view style through the eyes of the cameraman who is assigned to film her story. After a ridiculous interview process (that almost seems too long) the alarm goes off and our reporters go out on the call.

While a fire seems like a great way for the story to progress we arrive at the scene and find absolutely nothing. After establishing that there is in fact no fire to be put out it’s suddenly made clear that there is no way out of the building. While they were searching for the reason they were called in the entire building has been sealed off by “the government” without giving a single reason whatsoever.

Suddenly they find that one of the inhabitants of the condo building they are in is sick. Not just sick but apparently delusional as they attack our news crew as well as the firefighters that they are with. It quickly becomes clear that what everyone has been locked inside with is an infection that resembles the walking (or in this case) running dead. After they realize partially what is happening the first thought is of course to try to both survive and escape as no one believes that they can be infected. The clear thought that happens in every infection movie. Escaping where the infection is won’t infect others it’ll keep those there at ground zero safe.

I am usually the first person to argue against a remake as the vast majority fall far short of the original. This is a case where the movie is made to truly emulate the original and not try to take too many liberties. While I’ve stated it is not as good as [rec] if you are someone who hates subtitles or just in general want to see a decent horror film and don’t have the ability to track down the movie it’s based off this is a must pickup. For any who are so stuck on the original that they cannot accept the remake? I know I’ll get slack on this but just remember I agree with you that the original is better.

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Blood Creek (2009)

by Stuart Conover on March 14, 2010

Blood Creek (2009)

Its original UK release had the film known as Town Creek but the name was changed to Blood Creek when it was released in the United States. The film was directed by Joel Schumacher who has quite a few amazing films under his belt (including a personal favorite of mine 8MM) though also quite a few that fell short. While not all of his work falls into horror he does have a few key films set in both horror and suspense and knows how to put a film together. The writing credit falls to David Kajganich who is a little newer having only one screenplay written before it. The quality of his work shows through quite well through this one and he has 3 more movies being written. My only worry is that two of them are remakes of classics and I hope he writes the screenplays for It and Pet Cemetery in a way to do them justice as pissing off the Stephen King fans, with remakes of 2 classic films, will surely hurt his chances for much after that.

Now going into this film I had heard mixed reviews. After seeing the film I ultimately believe it was a bias against Schumacher for a few of his films that were utterly painful to watch. If you can put those thoughts aside while watching the film as I did I believe you'll have a great time. We open with a German family on a farm in the middle of nowhere in the World War 2 era who receive a letter that a scholar is coming to stay on their farm. While the mother is against the idea initially the check they are offered to keep the scholar up swayed any decision against finding out more away and they agreed to do it. His first night there he points out that Germany will soon rule the world and we find out he is on a mission for the Nazi regime to recover ancient artifacts that can provide immortality. Apparently there were multiple artifacts left in the United States when ancient Vikings first found the continent and the Nazi's want them. The scholar that comes to town, Professor Wirth (Michael Fassbender), finds the first relic and ends the introduction apparently cutting the daughter and fading out of scene.

We cut to modern day as the modern day as a man, Evan Marshall (Henry Cavill), is being lectured by his father that his older brother, Victor (Dominic Purcell), has been missing for over two years and blames him for it happening. That night out of the blue the older brother reappears and insists there is no time and they need to go out immediately to have revenge on the family that has kept him captive and tortured him for the past 2 years. While his brother is at first hesitant just happy his brother is back when he sees the scars on his back he agrees to go with him. We see them sneak up on the house where the family is at (which is the same house shown in the introduction) and once we have the family rounded up appear to be seeing the same family from nearly 60 years before -un ravaged by the passage of time. Soon after the Nazi shown in the introduction reappears, infused with power making him stronger than a normal man and quite angry for the situation he is described to be in.

This movie was a true shock on how well it was portrayed. When you combine a lower budget film (even with amazing production value) with a Nazi mastermind who is nearly immortal and went straight to DVD you expect nothing great. When you keep in mind that a large slew of his films haven’t been great you will further be worried. Don’t be. If it at all sounds like something you may enjoy watching I recommend picking it up immediately as I was truly surprised at how enjoyable and worth watching this film was.

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Pandorum (2009)

by Stuart Conover on March 13, 2010

Pandorum (2009)

Pandorum was directed by Christian Alvart (who previously directed Case 39) who also co-wrote the story with Travis Milloy. While both of these names are lightweights when it comes to a large history in the film industry Christian's previously reviewed horror film, Case 39, makes a decent argument on why it is worth watching for that reason alone! It's fitting that the film was produced by Paul W.S. Anderson as it has the complete feel of Event Horizon on humanity's turn to evil while out in space.

To be honest science fiction horror is what initially got me into horror. Alien is the first movie that completely sold me on the idea of not only watching a horror movie but completely enjoying it. It's slowly become an addiction consuming my life and it's good to know that it all started back in a movie that was marketed to me exactly how Pandorum was - using science fiction.

The movie starts as we see Bower (Ben Foster) awaken from cryosleep and apparently has no idea what is going on. Soon after Payton (Dennis Quaid) awakens from the tube next to his and we soon discover that extended use of being put into a forced sleep and frozen tends to eat away at your memories and takes time for them to be restored. We spend the introduction of the movie with the two trapped in a room and there clearly being an issue with the power aboard the ship. Bower uses a ventilation and cable shaft in the ceiling to get out of the room and we soon discover even more of the ship is not what they are expecting.

The ship is covered in both traps an what appears to be an alien race that is hunting any humans that are awakened early as pray, think Predator without the cloaking technology. Back in the room Payton is stuck waiting and another crew member, Eden, comes into the room from the same shaft that Bower had left through. While Bower is running for his life trying to avoid the aliens we are given hints at the back story of the ship which roughly translate into Earth being ruined from overpopulation and the ship we are currently watching is an early colonization ship to attempt to colonize a livable planet for mass transport of populations to. At this same time Eden tell us that he is the last member of the previous crew as his two commanding officers ended up suffering from "Pandorum" (a space madness that manifests itself in the form of paranoia.)

While the plot itself keeps it from being as well done as either of the first two Alien movies or Event Horizon it is a fun film to watch. If you are a fan of science fiction being mixed in with your horror you won’t be disappointed in this one. You may not enjoy it as much as the films I had just mentioned but with how few truly come out this one goes up as one of the better ones. I do have to say that Dennis Quaid absolutely has to be in more horror films after seeing this one. I don’t know if it’s the ability to look tense or the voice but he can pull off the creepy factor perfectly.

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Deadgirl (2008)

by Stuart Conover on March 12, 2010

Deadgirl (2008)

Deadgirl was a horror film that came out in 2008 that pretty much fell under the radar, and thats a shame since it's creepy as hell. The film was directed by Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel who both had a couple films under their belts and came up with a masterpiece with this one. (They are also currently in the works on a movie called Murk.) It was written though by Trent Haaga who not only written a few movies but has acted in quite a few as well.

The film opens with two best friends (who happen to be quickly shown as the unpopular kids) deciding to skip class. These two, J.T. (Noah Segan) and Rickie (Shiloh Fernandez) end up going to a mental asylum to explore and when they are getting ready to leave stumble across the dead body of a woman. She is strapped to the bed, naked, and suddenly opens her eyes. Dead isn't the exact word for what she is after all though living doesn't describe it either.

While Rickie wants to let the girl go, J.T. talks him into keeping her tied down. Accidentally it's found out that she cannot die though clearly does not have enough intelligence to communicate with them as she acts more like a wild animal than anything else. While they both agree to keep the secret of what they have, and Rickie doesn't say anything, it is clear that a few other people end up finding out about the dead girl. As J.T. has been talking to others about what he has a few others have been paying him to get a piece of her as well.

This is where we mix in the fact that Rickie has a girl that he is in love with. While he is trying to woo the woman he loves we flash to seeing J.T. ever increasing what he does with his undead captive. J.T. clearly has more issues than originally thought as he starts to mix violence with sex and keeps pushing the boundaries wondering what he can get away with. As their opinions on women divide them even further between each other it leads to a climax of the film that is unfortunately predictable. While the ending is actually filmed extremely well it was hard to not see it coming from a mile away.

While the premise is clearly something to creep anyone out (multiple guys deciding to have sex with an undead girl) the film tries to mix humor with the horror. When it comes to trying to tackle a subject of tackling raping the undead, a coming of age story, a teen romance, and a sex comedy? It just doesn't work. The premise if it stuck to just the horror aspect may have been too much for more audiences but would have kept the film from being lowered into something that wasn't fully enjoyable for a failed mixing of genres instead of going "too far. Deadgirl had a lot of potential with a plot that could have pushed the limits of what we feel comfortable watching but instead turned what should have been a graphically and mentally twisted film into something that, while graphic, fell short. It’s hard for me to decide how I feel on this one as I loved the actual premise but felt the side-plots ruined the film.

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