Altered (2006)

I had anticipated seeing Altered ever since I heard that Eduardo Sanchez, one of the directors of The Blair Witch Project, was directing. I was one of the people who actually enjoyed The Blair Witch Project and I was excited to see what Sanchez would do next. He doesn't disappoint with Altered, a sci-fi/horror flick that kept me on the edge of my seat for its entire duration.

Three friends catch an alien in the woods with its mothership in hot pursuit, and take it to their friend Wyatt's house. Many years ago, when the men were just boys, the aliens abducted them, experimented on them and ended up killing their friend Timmy. Duke, Cody and Otis are out for revenge, but Wyatt warns that the end of the human race will ensue if they kill their hostage. Once the alien gets loose, the real terror and bloodshed begins...

This film begins with a bang, with Duke, Cody and Otis out in the woods hunting the alien and doesn't let up from there. I usually don't dig alien movies, but this one was quite enjoyable with its fast pace, well-developed characters and plentiful terrifying situations.

First off, the characters development is excellent and is achieved by showing the drama and tension within the group. Instead of telling us, this film really shows us who these guys are and gives us a reason to care about them. The only character I felt was unnecessary was Wyatt's wife. I felt like they just threw her in there just so they could have a chick in the movie.

The actors all do a fine job of portraying their respective characters. They were all well-portrayed and never for a second did I have to suspend belief. They talked, acted and had flaws like normal people. Again, the drama within the group as to what to do with the alien really helped achieve the high level of tension prevalent throughout the movie.

The story itself was very well-written, with loads of tension that kept me on the edge of my seat. There aren't any annoying, tacked on "twists" at the end, but there are some surprising moments, especially as to what the alien is capable of - who knew if an alien bit you that your skin would start to rot away in a matter of hours?!

Speaking of rotting skin and other such delicacies, there is some very cool and gross scenes throughout the movie, many of them involving spilled guts (including alien guts!). We also get a man nailed up to the wall, a throat ripped out, gooey alien blood, a gunshot wound and lottsa man-to-alien hand-to-hand combat. The alien itself is a vicious lil' sucker with a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth and long, wicked claws. For a change, it looks like they used a man in a suit and models instead of CGI bullshit. While some people might be put off by the "man-in-the-suit" phenomenon, I found it refreshing, much like Bigfoot in Abominable. I thought the alien looked realistic and pretty cool!

If you are looking for a tension-filled alien flick featuring superb acting, great gore and a fast-paced story, I recommend Altered!

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Anesthesia (2006)

After watching this 6 minute short, I never, ever want to go under the knife. Anesthesia is totally cringe-worthy and had me covering my eyes for most of it. It is not even gory, it just made me so uncomfortable that I literally was squirming in my seat!

A woman prays before going into surgery. Once on the operating table, she tells the nurse to keep her cross necklace close by. The nurse administers the anesthesia, but to the woman's horror she can still see, hear and feel what is going on. Her eyes are wide open, but she cannot cry out to the doctors or even move. The doctors prepare for surgery, taping her eyes shut and pulling a sheet over her head to expose the area to be operated on. The surgeon lifts the scalpel as the woman screams in her own head, pleading God to take her away from this agony...

This is definitely the most intense short film I've seen in a long time, and deserves much praise. The director, Adam Kargman, knows how to build tension to a fevered pitch until you don't want to watch what will happen next but have to, like when you pass a really horrendous accident on the freeway. Kargman makes you feel the horror and agony that the patient goes through. Coupled with the many "accidents" happening in hospitals all the time and based on the real-life phenomenon of "anesthesia awareness", this short sure makes me squeamish about being anesthetized.

Kargman wanted the film to be technically accurate, so in preparation he interviewed countless surgeons and anesthesiologists, read many medical texts and observed a surgery firsthand. The film was even filmed in a lab at a real hospital. Dorie Gray, the actress who plays the patient, portrays her role in a very realistic manner. Her performance really made me feel her pain and unbearable terror. The film is shot in black and white, adding to the very creepy, moody and timeless feel. All of this hard work definitely shows; Anesthesia looks and feels very real.

Anesthesia was an official selection for both the Newport Beach International Film Festival and the Phoenix International Film Festival. It was the winner of the Best Student Short at the San Fernando Valley International Film Festival and a nominee for Best Cinematography and Best Actress at the Terror Film Festival in Philadelphia.

Highly recommended if you get a chance to check it out!

Subject Two (2006)

I was turned onto this indie flick by a fellow intrepid horror viewer who highly recommended Subject Two. An updated version of the classic Frankenstein story, it tells the story of Adam, a medical student who accepts an offer from the mysterious Dr. Vick who lives up in the secluded and snowy mountains. After a long hike through the snow, Adam arrives at Dr. Vick's and learns that his experiments involve reanimating the dead. Adam quickly becomes Subject Two as the doctor kills him and brings him back to life with a serum. Adam still has his mental capabilities intact, but Doc repeatedly kills him, giving him different strengths and variations of the serum. With each new death and rebirth, Adam becomes stronger as Dr. Vick perfects his experiment. All is not well, though, as Adam becomes paranoid of being infectious and we wonder what happened to Subject One...

From the beginning, I was sucked into the story and the interaction between the two men. Since most of the film involves just the two lead characters, their chemistry is very important and both actors pull off their roles flawlessly.

The story is an intriguing one, but becomes repetitive after a while. While we are treated to various methods of death for Adam - a shooting, a stabbing, a wrist slitting, etc. - the last half of the film begins to drag. Some plot points are never fully developed, which is a shame because if this film introduced something besides the killings of Adam, I believe it could have been great! The surprise at the end was a treat, but it came a little too late to recover from the repetitiveness of the rest of the film.

Overall, a pretty unique movie with some stellar acting from Christian Oliver (Adam) and Dean Stapleton (Dr. Vick). Yet, it needed a little something extra to alleviate the story's repetitiveness and slow pacing. Still, I would recommend you check it out if it sounds like your bag, baby.

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Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

Yesterday I ventured to the theaters to see Pan's Labyrinth, and let me tell ya, it definitely lives up to the hype...stunning, touching, heartbreaking and beautiful are just a few words to describe it.

Ofelia travels with her pregnant mother to live with her stepfather, the Captain of Franco's army. He is a ruthless man who is intent on wiping out any resistance to Franco's cause. Ofelia is fascinated with her fairy tale books and uses these as an escape from the horrors happening around her. She discovers a labyrinth, where she encounters a faun who tells her she is the long-lost princess of the king of the underworld. Throughout the turmoil of her earthly life, she must complete three tasks to prove she is this long-lost princess.

Guillermo del Toro, who's The Devil's Backbone is a favorite of mine, creates two surreal worlds in this film. One is the war-ravaged Spain that Ofelia lives in, filled with violence, secrets and pain, the other is the spectacular fantasy realm she encounters. The visuals in both worlds are breathtaking while the story is at times heartbreaking.

Everything works in this film, from the well-developed characters, wonderful acting and a fairy-tale like story. While I do wish the fantasy realm was more the focus, it just would not have been the same film had it not also focused on the real world where Ofelia lives. The ugliness and pain that Ofelia faces in her world comes into sharp contrast with the fantasy world she wants to inhabit.

I know most of you have already seen this movie, or at least heard all the praise it is receiving, so I won't go into a full-fledged review. If you are unsure whether or not to check this film out, I highly recommend it, though it is not really a horror movie. Its otherworldly feel, as well as a powerful story and amazing visuals, make it a definite must-see film.

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Die and Let Live (2006)

Sometimes, an indie film comes along that makes you thank your lucky stars that you are a horror fan. This kind of film keeps you going, even if you have to dredge through hours and hours of crappy films just to find it. I search high and low for these types of movies, but they are sadly few and far between. Well, today I had the pleasure of viewing the independent Die and Let Live, a zombie horror comedy that succeeds on all fronts.

Maybe I loved this film so much because I'm a sucker for zombie flicks or films that feature some kind of high school party (which always leads to drama even before the zombies show up), but with Die and Let Live, I think the double-whammy of quick, witty dialogue and gore-filled action sold me.

Benny decides to throw a party (ahem, "private gathering") so he can hook up with his crush, Stephanie. His best bud, Smalls, decides to have it at his "summer house" (the guest house behind his mom's). Meanwhile, an outbreak has occurred at a local pharmaceutical company, causing the dead to reanimate. The walking dead cannot be stopped and are soon roaming the streets - not even a head wound will stop them, it only slows them down a bit. The zombies soon reach the now out-of-control rager at Smalls' place and a small group of friends bands together to stave off the zombie attack and retrieve their Bambino's pizza.

The first things that grabbed me about this movie were the likable characters and witty (yet realistic) dialogue. The high school characters were all believable and the acting was all spot on. Special props go to Zane Crosby as the hilarious sidekick Smalls and Josh Lively as Benny, but the rest of the cast does a great job in all their roles. Crosby, Lively and director Justin Channell all wrote the flick, doing a terrific job with characterization, dialogue and action.

Speaking of action, this film just doesn't let up! I was entertained and laughing out loud the entire length of the movie. When the zombies begin their attack on the party, the zingers and gore just don't stop. The film even features a cameo by Lloyd Kaufman (as news reporter Floyd Faukman...hehe). The gore is plentiful and well done, even featuring a victim getting not only his entrails but also his entire rip cage yanked out!

Die and Let Live is definitely an impressive and entertaining horror comedy by director/writer Channell. If you enjoyed the off-beat and absurdest humor of Return of the Living Dead along with a good heaping dose of gore, definitely check out Die and Let Live!

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Dark Remains (2005)

As mentioned in a previous post, Friday night I set out to watch Dark Remains, Brian Avenet-Bradley's new film. I had previously watched Ghost of the Needle, and had been blown away by the creepiness that film contained. I couldn't wait to watch his next one. Though I don't think Dark Remains surpassed the storyline or creepiness of Ghost of the Needle, it was still a well-done, scary ghost story.

Julie and her husband, Allen, retreat to an isolated cabin to mourn the loss of their young daughter, who was brutally murdered in their own home. Julie is severely depressed and Allen encourages her to take up photography again. Julie begrudgingly agrees, and finds an old prison that was shut down. She begins photographing the bleak building, but when she develops the photos Julie finds ghostly images of her child. She begins taking more and more photographs which lead to more and more ghosts showing up in the prints. Meanwhile, Allen does some research on their cabin and finds many people who have lived there committed suicide. Is their child trying to warn them to get out before it is too late? Why are the other ghosts tormenting them? What secrets lie in the cabin and the old prison?

With lots of ghosts popping up at unexpected times, this movie definitely succeeded in giving me the creeps. As usual, Avenet-Bradley definitely knows how to scare the audience with a disturbing images and a haunting score to compliment them. Yet, the flash-ghost scares (much like Japanese horror movies like Ringu or Ju-on) become overused as the film progresses and lessen its impact. Also, the last third of the movie tends to drag and the ending wasn't as powerful as I'd hoped.

The acting is pretty decent, especially from the actor playing Jim (Scott Hodges), Julie and Allen's hick neighbor that seems to know more about the ghosts than he lets on. Those familiar with Ghost of the Needle will recognize Cheri Christian (Julie) and Greg Thompson (Allen) as having been in that film as well. The story is well thought out and extremely engaging, though, as mentioned previously, it does lag a bit towards the end.

Avenet-Bradley succeeds again in crafting creepy shots, along with the help of his wife, Laurence Avenet-Bradley, who reprises her role as cinematographer. Some scenes will make you ask, did I just see that? Avenet-Bradley wisely keeps things slightly hidden or slightly out of frame to give the audience maximum jump scares.

While the film does have its problems, I would highly recommend Dark Remains as a chilling alternative to the typical hack 'n' slash movies that are so prevalent today. It is a well-crafted, engaging and scary ghost story.

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Backwoods (2006)

Backwoods is another indie addition to the city folk vs. country killer genre similar to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and its ilk. It borrows a little too heavily from the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre and also from its remake to truly deliver anything new. Its the same tiresome backwoods killer story we've seen a million times.

A group of friends take a trip to visit the grave of one of the girls' father, but end up getting lost on the backroads. They pull up to what appears to be an abandoned house and slowly drift their separate ways into the surrounding woods. A couple tries to find some alone time, one girl is dealing with an unwanted pregnancy, a guy is trying to express how he feels about another girl, and another girl drifts off with her videocamera. None of them know that a child-like, bloodthirsty killer lurks in the house and surrounding woods. Can a drunken sheriff, who seems to know more than he should, help the group before they all end up lost...alone...scared...and dead?!

The movie begins promising enough, with a visit to an isolated cemetery in the middle of nowhere. There seems to be a lot of drama within the group, which only gets worse as they get lost on the way back home. Yet, the action begins to lag and the characters become increasingly annoying once they reach the seemingly abandoned house in the middle of nowhere. The characters are annoying and are underdeveloped, which left me feeling nothing for them as they get butchered by the teddybear-toting killer. There is some pretty heavy overacting going on as well, which, for a low-budget movie is common but still aggravating.

The most disappointing thing, though, was the unoriginality of the story. It obviously took many cues from the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre, but failed to deliver a new spin on the story. The "twist" at the end of Backwoods doesn't help to liven up the story...but then it's far too late. It is just too predictable and slow moving, and by the time the twist showed up, I was half-way asleep.

Now, it's not all bad...there are some pretty cool camera shots throughout the film, which do liven things up a bit. The kills and gore aren't that bad either, though the killer looks like a rip-off of a cross between Leatherface and Jason Vorhees (pre-hockey mask).

Yet the bad acting, poorly developed characters and retreaded storyline ruined the good points of the film for me. Still, I would like to see what the director could do with a more original horror story since he obviously has talent. Better luck next time!