Attack of the Mini Reviews!

 I've been busy/lazy as of late, so now I present to you a flurry of mini reviews!!

Pumpkinhead (1988) - Call it blasphemy if you want, but I just did not enjoy this movie. Had I seen it when it was released, in 1988, sure, it would have been something new (maybe), but at this point it it just a bore.

Halloween II (1981) - Starts up just where the first one left off - Halloween night in Haddonfield. I love this movie...you gotta watch it back to back with Halloween. "He's not human!"

Creepshow 2 (1987)- Though not as good as the first one, this is still a fun flick to watch with your friends while drinking. It features 3 stories, the best of which is probably "The Raft." Check it out if you are having a fun '80s horror night and you can't find any other movies...

Whew...that's all for now...I gotta go watch another movie!

Eaten Alive (1977)

Tobe Hooper made Eaten Alive soon after The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, but it certainly doesn't possess any of the horror that TCM does.

It is about hotel owner Judd, who likes to kill people that aren't as morally up to par as he is. His first kill is a prostitute, who seeks refuge from her line of work in his hotel. As soon as he finds out what she does, he feeds her to his pet crocodile. Others who get too close to his secret (or his crocodile) soon follow suit, including a traveling family, a few young locals, the family who comes looking for the prostitute and others.

Robert Englund plays a horny local boy and Marilyn Burns returns as my favorite scream queen. Englund and Burns are about the only good things in this movie...the rest is just stupid and boring. The pacing is horrible, the character of Judd isn't menacing and it just drags on and on...

Skip it unless you want to see a very young Robert Englund.

Find it on Amazon!

Halloween: 25 Years of Terror (2006)

Halloween: 25 Years of Terror is a great 2 disc documentary chock full of interviews, on-set footage and tons of other goodies. I'm not even a hardcore Halloween fan (check out the hardcore fans in the convention footage included on the disc) and I still found this immensely enjoyable.

My fave was P.J. Soles interview as she takes viewers on a walking tour of Pasadena, where Halloween was filmed! After all these years, she is still adorable and one of my favorites.

A must for horror-lovers!

Find it on Amazon!

Headspace (2005)

This little indie flick started out strong, with a young guy who has amazing, above genius brain power, though he pays the price with wicked headaches. He starts having flashbacks of his violent childhood...soon, brutal killings start. He soon realizes there are demons on the loose, released from his nightmares...This was an above average indie film, with decent acting, especially by the lead, played by Christopher Denham. Director Andrew van den Houten has definitely seen a monster movie or two, and knows to keep the monsters out of sight for most of the film. Unfortunately, the end of the film was only so-so for me. Also, the tone and pace of the first half of the film is vastly different from the last half, which kinda bugged me. However, I do recommend you check this movie out, because it's better than most of the crap out there now. Also it features the fabulous Olivia Hussey, among many other recognizable faces.

Find it on Amazon!

The Descent (2006)

I saw this movie when it first came out, which was a while ago, and I apologize for not reviewing it sooner...This movie was amazing! A group of women go spelunking in an undiscovered cave system. They become trapped after a cave-in occurs with no way out. Soon they discover they are not alone...

After getting out of the theater and returning home to an empty house, I had to turn on all the lights and call my good friend Josh to talk to as I was so scared! The claustrophobia, the element of being trapped underground, not to mention the creepy creatures the women faced all scared me darn good!! It is still hard to talk about without shivering a little...which is why The Descent is one of my new favorite horror films!

Go see this if you already hadn't...

Buy it on Amazon!

2001 Maniacs (2005)

2001 Maniacs is a remake of the Herschell Gordon Lewis' 2000 Maniacs where a group of college kids set for spring break end up in Pleasant Valley, a tiny Southern town in the sticks. They are invited to be the guests of honor at the annual "Guts 'n' Glory Jamboree."

I was very surprised at this movie - I enjoyed it immensely! It had the perfect blend of horror and comedy, with great characters all around! Campy and crude, I highly recommend it, as this is probably my favorite horror film I've seen in a long time!

Order it on Amazon!

Return of the Evil Dead (1973)

The Templar Knights are back in this second installment of Amando de Ossorio's four-part horror series. This time, they arise to seek revenge on the town that burned them alive hundreds of years ago. Fans of Tombs of the Blind Dead won't be disappointed. I love this 1970 Spanish masterpiece, as the eyeless Templar Knights always give me the chills. Check out Tombs of the Blind Dead first, and if you enjoy it, you will enjoy the rest of Ossorio's films.

Blind Dead Box Set on Amazon!

Masters of Horror - Jenifer (2005)

In Jenifer, directed by Dario Argento, a cop becomes attached to Jenifer, a deformed girl whom he rescues from a man about to kill her. Giving up his family and career, he does anything to protect her...

I was sorely disappointed in this movie. I am an Argento fan and was expecting so much more than this...throughout the 51 minute movie there are far too many sex scenes which lend nothing to the story. The story is weak and I could see the ending coming from a mile away...

On Amazon!

Summer of Fear (1978)

Summer of Fear was worth watching just to see Linda Blair with a huge 'fro! This 1978 made-for-TV movie (I wish they had movies like this on TV nowadays!) concerns a cousin who comes to live with Rachel's (Blair) family on their ranch due to a family tragedy. Soon, Rachel comes to suspect that her cousin Julia is an evil witch! This is a fun movie to watch that has no real scares. Nonetheless, it did keep me entertained! Pure fluff...

Order it on Amazon!

Man Bites Dog (1992)

Man Bites Dog - A French satire film made in documentary style. A camera crew is following around a serial killer, but soon they become involved in his killings. I was expecting a lot more satire from this film, but most of it falls flat. Perhaps it got lost in translation, but I believe this is just a weak satire. The killings are realistic and frightening in their brutality, but the rest of the film drags and goes no where.

Bottom line: I can appreciate its social commentary and shocking violence, but its artsy pretentiousness got in the way of me liking it.

Check it out on Amazon!

Masters of Horror - Incident On and Off a Mountain Road (2005)

From the director of Phantasm and Bubba Ho-Tep, Don Coscarelli, comes this entry into the Masters of Horror series. A seemingly helpless girl is captured by serial killer Moonface, but she is intent on surviving. I enjoyed this movie very much - we are told Ellen's story in flashbacks as she tries to escape from Moonface...seems like she had lots of issues at home. I highly recommend this movie...it has great set design, a cringe-inducing torture machine (watch yer eyeballs!), and good character development.

Order it on Amazon!

Creep (2005)

Creep stars Franka Potente as Kate, who dozes off on a subway platform and wakes up to find she is locked in for the night...but she's not alone. A deformed killer begins to stalk her and a few homeless people living underground whom she befriends. The killer is creepy, especially his screams, but they show too much for him to be truly scary. This film reminded me of The Descent with its claustrophobic and dark atmosphere. It leaves a lot unexplained, which is fine with me. Overall, a pretty decent film!

On Amazon!

Frightmare (1974)

Frightmare - A pretty decent British movie from 1974 about a cannabalistic mother and those in her family trying to protect her. I enjoyed the realistic ending, but the rest of the film is a little slow with minimal gore. Perfect for a lazy Sunday, though.

Check it out on Amazon!

Summertime Slacking

I've got a pile of horror flicks to review...yesterday I was recovering at home from my trip to Kentucky so I watched Dead End and The Prophecy.

The Prophecy (1995) was pretty good (of course, it had Christopher Walken in it), but it left something to be desired. Viggo Mortensen as Lucifer was a delightful little treat at the end, though.

Dead End (2003) was quite a surprise. While it didn't blow me away, it had some excellent dark humor in it, and some pretty twisted images.

The documentary Wisconsin Death Trip (1999) was eerie, mixing old photographs with re-creations of fatal crimes that occurred in the 1890's town of Black River Falls. It left me feeling very unsettled.

I also saw Cemetery Man, but I watched it while packing, so I will view it again before reviewing it.

Hopefully ya'll get some better (longer, more detailed) reviews next time!

April Fool's Day (1986)

April Fool's Day - another group of crazy college kids decide to stay at their friend's isolated island mansion for the weekend, only to be butchered left and right. Is it all a big joke or for real?

Wow - I had low hopes for this beauty. Its pacing was a bit slow, but it made up for it in the many deaths. I loved when they fell down the well and found the bodies at the bottom! Then there is the whole Muffy/Buffy mystery. Muffy (who invited all her friends to her mansion for the weekend) seems to be behaving oddly, dressing differently and keeping to herself. Has her twin sister Buffy come back for revenge by pretending to be Muffy? Is it all an April Fool's joke? You'll have to watch it to see what happens!

Order it on Amazon!

Originally posted on Fatally-Yours.com.

The Happiness of Horror

I've seen a slew of horror films of late (and no, I'm not sick of the horror genre yet) and I've neglected my duties of reviewing, or at least mentioning them here.

The past month has included the old (by old i mean like from the 1980s-old) - The Hills Have Eyes, the new - High Tension, the Exorcism of Emily Rose, Cube and the Skeleton Key, and the more obscure - the Happiness of the Katakuris and Dog Soldiers.

I didn't like The Hills Have Eyes (Amazon), directed by Wes Craven. I had high hopes for this one, but again, I thought it was plain dumb...though it could have been really scary! I am interested to see what they will do for the remake...the trailer for it looked half-decent.

High Tension (Amazon) and the Skeleton Key (Amazon) were ok...I think High Tension would have been better if they did away with the stupid "twist" ending. It felt like they just tacked it on cuz they didn't know what else to do with the ending...psh...but it must get props for some bloody good deaths. The Skeleton Key, which i didn't have high hopes for, was mediocre but not horrible. It was not scary, but definitely had creepy elements and I liked the ending. I had a hard time looking at mirrors after watching it, so it definitely creeped me out to an extent.

A little higher on my rating scale were Cube (Amazon) and Dog Soldiers (Amazon). Cube was pretty cool, but the ending left more desired. It also dragged in places, but was overall pretty engaging. Dog Soldiers was a big surprise! It's a werewolf movie set in Scotland that had me actually caring what happened to the protagonists. Wonderfully shot, though not frightening...more like an action-thriller but I still loved it.

The highest marks go to The Exorcism of Emily Rose (Amazon) and The Happiness of the Katakuris (Amazon). Emily Rose was well-crafted, with creepy flashback moments throughout the trial. It was pretty heavy on the courtroom drama, but I liked it nonetheless...it posed some pretty important faith questions to the audience. The Happiness of the Katakuris is film by Japanese shock director Takashi Miike, but it is very different from other movies I've seen from him! There are wonderful song and dance numbers throughout this quirky little film which add some balance to the grisly deaths that occur...heck, there's even some claymation! Wooooot!

So, there you have it! That's my round up of horror movies, or at least the ones that came from Netflix; I haven't even begun on the ones I ordered on Amazon.

Originally posted on Fatally-Yours.com.