Slumber Party Massacre (1982)

Slumber Party Massacre is a fun popcorn flick with a premise that is straightforward, simple and very entertaining. A murderous maniac escapes from a mental institution and from his crazy eyes we can tell that all he wants to do is kill kill kill! He soon spies high school basketball player Trish and her sexy teammates. Trish is having a slumber party later that night while her parents are out of town. She invites over all the girls on the team, except for newbie Valerie (who happens to live next door to Trish). Perfect! Now Mr. Killer man needs to just go to one place to get his kill on...

The party starts and the girls begin smoking weed, chugging a few beers and losing some clothes. The girls get scared by their boyfriends playing a trick on them and the creepy guy next door. Meanwhile, Val is home alone with her boy crazy, 13-year old little sister, staring wistfully over at Trish's house. After the pizza delivery boy drops dead on Trish's doorstep, the girls know something isn't right...

From here on out it's all about the killer running after the girls with a large power drill while the girls scream and try to hide. Valerie and her little sister get involved after they hear some funny noises next door, as does the girls' coach who gets a call from Trish and her gal pals before the phone line goes dead.

This movie is not to be taken seriously...it's got a high body count, some gory death scenes, some funny dialogue and more silly jump scares than you can shake a stick at!! It also features plenty of boobs for those interested out there...

An interesting aspect of this movie is that it was both penned and directed by women. They provide few feminist views in this film, though, as most of the female cast bares their breasts, but it is interesting that the killer's weapon of choice is a drill, which is subsequently "castrated" at the end of the film. It would have been a lot more interesting (for me anyway) had they used a more feminist slant, but all-in-all this is just a fun slasher flick.

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Rabid (1977)

If you've ever watched a David Cronenberg film, you know it usually deals with a horrific transformation of the human body and psyche (see The Brood, The Fly, Shivers, Videodrome, Scanners, etc.). I love Cronenberg's "thinking horror" that has a deeper meaning that most horror films.

Rabid stars Marilyn Chambers, probably most famous for her porn career, as Rose. Rose and her boyfriend get into a nasty motorcycle accident that leaves her severely burned. She is cared for at a nearby plastic surgery hospital, where she is treated with an experimental skin graph procedure. Upon waking, she has completely recovered but realizes she has an incredible appetite for human blood! She kills her victims with a sharp stinger that protrudes from her armpit. Her victims don't stay down for long, and soon they are walking around thirsting for blood as well. They kill their victims the old-fashioned, zombie way - by biting them! Soon, medical officials are declaring an epidemic of a new strain of rabies. Martial law is declared and those who have been vaccinated are given ID tags, while those without are manhandled and/or killed by the military. All the while, Rose must come to terms with the fact that she is the original carrier of the disease.

Upon first viewing, I took Rabid as a critique of the government/authority in an emergency situation, a critique on our fear of each other and a look at the "monstrous feminine" or the fear of women. Also, I think Cronenberg was trying to point out that it is hard to trust anyone, even yourself. The feeling of panic and paranoia that sets in after the epidemic begins was very realistic - there was some serious tension going on as people in the film tried to escape the rabies outbreak. Cronenberg doesn't shy away from the gore or violence either - one of my favorite scenes (for its social commentary alone) was a military officer mistakenly gunning down a Santa Claus in the mall.

Don't let the "deeper meaning" fool you, though. This movie is still entertaining, though it does get a little slow in parts. The actors do a pretty good job, and I was surprised to learn that this was a low-budget film. Bleak, grim and disturbing, Rabid is a deeper and more meaningful film than your usual blood 'n' guts, slash 'em up fest.

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Abominable (2006)

With all the great reviews this flick has been getting, I had to check it out for myself. For an independent creature feature, Abominable succeeds in telling a suspenseful Bigfoot story with enough humor, gore and T 'n' A to keep most horror fans happy.

After a tragic climbing accident that killed his wife and left him in a wheelchair, Preston Rogers returns to his isolated cabin retreat with his physical therapist, Otis (a real asshole), to hopefully help heal his emotional wounds. As soon as they are barely settled in, Otis runs back into town to fetch Preston his soy milk. While he is gone, Preston is trapped inside the house, only able to gaze out the windows. Soon, a group of giggly girls shows up for a fun weekend in the adjacent cabin. While Preston is looking outside through a window, he spies a downed phone line. He grabs his binoculars to get a closer look and sees two evil red eyes in the forest that appear to be staring into the girls' cabin! He tries to get the attention of the girls, but only succeeds in getting called a pervert. When one of the girls ventures out of the cabin to try and get better cell reception, he sees his chance...but not before something abducts the girl into the woods. When Otis finally returns, he doesn't believe Preston's story. Stuck in his wheelchair, Preston can only watch in horror as one by one each of the girls is attacked by what appears to be Bigfoot! Can he get help before it is too late or will he be the creature's next meal?

Abominable is a fun ride and horror fans will love seeing such genre greats as Jeffrey Combs, Lance Henriksen, Rex Linn, Dee Wallace-Stone and Tiffany Shepis. Though their screen time is short, Combs and Henriksen's characters are hilarious and easily steal the show. Matt McCoy's performance as Preston is equally strong but played with more of a straight face. My only complaint is the lack of character development with the girls. Sure, most of them die quickly, but a little character development would have made me care a whole lot more about their wicked demises.

This movie has a very cool Rear Window feel to it which adds to the feelings of helplessness and isolation already created by the middle-of-nowhere forest setting. You sure as heck won't find me in the middle of a forest anytime soon! There are also clever nods to other creature movies tucked away in the movie which will delight horror fans.

As for the creature, it is nice to see something that hasn't been CGI'ed to death. No, this creature is an actual man in a monster suit like the good ol' days. Sure, Bigfoot's eyes looked a little cross-eyed at times, but I'll take a man in a flawed monster suit over crappy CGI anyday. Bigfoot's glowing red eyes are also very creepy, especially when Preston first spies him hiding in the forest. That scene definitely gave me a little pleasant shock. I also enjoyed how we were only given small glimpses of Bigfoot at the beginning of the film, but toward the end we got complete full frontal of the beast!

The gore is decent, if a little fake looking, but who cares when the front of a guy's face gets bitten clean off?! It's definitely Bigfoot gone wild in this flick, as he stomps, crushes, bends and rips open enough people to satisfy you goremongers out there. Also, for all of those who care about T & A, you get a shower scene that showcases Tiffany Shepis, in case you haven't seen enough of her.

All in all, a fun, B-movie romp through the creature films of yesterday, though with a bit more gore and nudity. You can do a lot worse than this movie, and if you want to satisfy your Bigfoot cravings, this is probably one of the best flicks to do it.

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Unrest (2006)

Morgues are supposed to be creepy...pale, stiff cadavers and the foul stench of formaldehyde and death can give anyone the heebie jeebies. Somehow, though, Unrest manages to make cadaver labs both boring and completely not scary. It's a dumbed down, boring, meandering movie that goes no where.

Alison is a medical student, who, until her financial aid comes through, is sleeping in the hospital's unused wing. One of her first classes is gross anatomy, where on the first day her and her group are to dissect a cadaver. Her group, which includes Rick, Carlos and Brian, uncovers their cadaver and discovers that it is a young woman who has been mutilated. After upchucking all over herself and passing out, Alison senses something isn't right with her cadaver. Murders and strange deaths begin to occur, and Alison thinks it's linked to her cadaver. The group proceeds with hacking the cadaver open, affectionately naming her "Norma," while Alison tries to find out why she feels the spirit of the woman is trying to communicate with her.

I was really hoping this movie would be creepy and scary, but no such luck here. There are so many different opportunities that this movie could have taken to make things more interesting, but most of its storylines go no where. Why not develop the Aztec storyline? Why not show more of what happened to "Norma?" Why not show what happens to each of "Norma's" victims? There are so many plot holes that it becomes a big mess...For example, if so many people died, why aren't the police more involved? If everyone that touches the body becomes cursed, why weren't Alison, Rick, Carlos or Brian the first to die?

Ugh...this movie was aggravating to sit through! I felt no suspense, there was hardly any action, it felt like it showed the same scenes over and over again and I just kept waiting for something to happen (it never did)!! This movie would have worked much better as a short if the script was beefed up. As a feature it just drags on too long and it is aggravatingly repetitive. The only good things about the movie were the male actors whose abs we got a good peek of, the cadaver dissection (just catch it on the Discovery Channel instead of sitting through this movie) and the scene in which Alison and Brian take a dip in the cadaver tank to retrieve "Norma's" body.

Unrest is a plodding, rambling, repetitive mess of a movie that's never sure enough of itself to evoke any scares. If you like dumbed-down movies that hold your hand all the way through, that hold no surprises and no scares and have gaping plot holes, Unrest is for you. For the intelligent ones out there, I say skip it!

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Reincarnation (Rinne) (2005)

Reincarnation is one of the few new Asian horror films that is actually good. It is directed by Takashi Shimizu, who also gave us Ju-On, but don't expect any Ju-On-like scares...the terror here is more psychological than anything else.

In 1970, a doctor massacred 11 people (including his two small children) at an isolated hotel before killing himself. The motive for the murders was never discovered. In present day there have been a rash of mysterious disappearances coinciding with the filming of a movie about the massacre. Two seemingly unconnected girls, a college student and an actress in the film, begin having nightmares and visions about the hotel and the massacre that took place there, and when they visit the hotel, they discover that they, and those that have disappeared, may be the reincarnations of those that were murdered there so many years ago.

This film held me rapt from the first scene to the end credits...I was transfixed to the screen for the whole hour and a half, never even checking my watch (always a good thing). The storyline is interesting and is reminiscent of Kubrick's The Shining. The 8mm footage that the doctor took of the massacre is chilling and adds a real, documentary feel to the film. The first appearance of the ghosts of the murdered people is truly creepy and had me gripping the seat for the rest of the movie. I loved the whole premise of a movie-within-a-movie that gave us an accurate re-creation of the massacre.

The acting was wonderful, and I especially loved the actor who played the director and the expressive actress playing an actress in the film-within-a-film. The cinematography was great as well with beautifully ominous shots of the hotel and the eerie massacre shot all on 8mm by the doctor.

The build up to the climax had perfect pacing and the climax had a jaw-dropping moment. Reincarnation is one of the best Asian horror films I've seen in a while. It is suspenseful, has an interesting story, has some shocking parts (the on-screen death of the children, especially) and makes the viewer think. I am waiting for it to be available on DVD because I definitely want to add it to my collection.

If you love Asian horror movies, I highly recommend this film. Even if you aren't into the Asian horror genre but want something different from your typical hack-and-slash American horror that is more intelligent and engaging, go see Reincarnation!

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Cello (2005)

Another entry into the Asian horror genre, the South Korean Cello tries to distance itself from the pack by focusing more on the story than predictable scares. Unfortunately, this only half-works. We are treated to a rich drama involving a former cellist-turned-music instructor, her family, her tragic past and her seemingly slipping sanity, but the scares are almost non-existent.

Mi-Ju is a part-time music professor with a tragic past. When she was younger, she was an up-and-coming cellist, until she was in a car accident with her rival/best friend, Tae-yeon. After Tae-yeon died, Mi-Ju gave up playing the cello and decided just to teach. One day, one of her students threatens her after receiving a bad grade and so begin Mi-Ju's problems. She is sent a mysterious cassette tape that contains a haunting cello duet that dredges up some painful memories of Tae-yeon and almost causes her to get into a car accident. She is distant from her loving family which includes her two daughters, husband and sister-in-law. Her older daughter is mentally disabled and mute, but falls in love with a cello she spies in a window. Mi-Ju buys it for her and begins to teach her how to play it. Meanwhile, a new maid moves into the house. She is creepy as hell and is also mute. It seems as though her family was killed in a car crash and she tried to commit suicide numerous times, once by swallowing acid. No more vocal cords there! Anyways, things start to get creepy slowly but surely...the family's golden lab, Sunny, begins barking all the time until one morning he is found dead. Mi-Ju starts seeing things, her daughter begins playing that haunting song on the cello, the sister-in-law goes crazy after her fiance breaks up with her and "accidents" befall the household. Is Tae-yeon out for revenge or is Mi-Ju's guilt driving her crazy?

I found this different than most typical Asian horror films. The story is much more rich, with well-developed characters but it doesn't focus much on typical Ju-On or Ringu-type scares. The terror doesn't really begin until the last 20 minutes of the film, giving only glimpses of what or who is terrorizing Mi-Ju and her family. Like most Asian films, it does focus on building tension through the atmosphere. The atmosphere is nicely complemented by the gorgeous cinematography and the soundtrack (heavy on the use of the cello, of course). This is a slow film, but if you can live without the wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am speed of most films today, I recommend Cello. Some claim the film is slow and redundant, but unlike most films where repetitiveness is a time-filler, the repeating themes throughout Cello actually stand for something; in this case, the nightmare that Mi-Ju relives over and over through the different tragedies she suffers. This theme also plays flawlessly into the twist ending.

Cello does have its flaws and I wouldn't be so quick to add it to my collection, but it is definitely worth your time if you appreciate this type of cinema.

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Population 436 (2006)

The idyllic town of Rockwell Falls is a place you wouldn't want to leave - the townsfolk are friendly and welcoming, the countryside is lush and verdant, there is never any crime and, of course, their apple pies are scrumptious! If you'd want to leave, you must be crazy!

Which is what the townspeople believe...they lobotomize anyone who decides to leave the town, thinking they must be crazy to leave! They call this "the fever," and characterize it by a certain look in someone's eye. If someone is suspected of having the fever, they are hauled off to be "treated" at Doctor Greaver's. If anyone does escape, they are killed, not by the townsfolk, but by "divine intervention."

The population stays at 436, and has for the last hundred years. Steve Kady (super sexy Jeremy Sisto) with the U.S. Census Bureau is sent on assignment to investigate the town and it's odd population. He arrives outside of Rockwell with some car trouble, but Deputy Bobbie (Fred Durst! I didn't even recognize him until I saw his name in the end credits!!) gives him a ride into town. News of the newcomer travels fast, and soon Kady is the talk of the town. While his car is in the shop, he begins investigating the population of the town and interviewing people for the census. He can't seem to find one particular family and no one wants to give him a straight answer. As the town prepares for a big festival, Kady uncovers more and more of the truth, as he simultaneously grows closer to Deputy Bobbie and the woman Bobbie plans to marry, Courtney. Can Kady find out the truth before he too is struck with "the fever" and treated by Doctor Greaver? Is it already too late for him to leave?

Watching this movie I was immediately reminded of the Shirley Jackson short story "The Lottery," as well as the films The Wicker Man (minus the nude musical numbers) and 2001 Maniacs (minus the blood, sex and the hilarious Robert Englund). It was an effective thriller, but I wish the story had been a bit more developed. I think, like Sisto's character Kady, that we should have been left in the dark about the town's beliefs. It would have been much more suspenseful if I hadn't figured out the townspeople were evil before the opening credits ran. Nonetheless, that plot point was never meant to be hidden from the audience (heck, the blurb on the DVD box says, "The residents of Rockwell Falls are dying for you to visit...").

The acting is great...Jeremy Sisto looks hot as usual, and puts on a wonderful performance as Kady. Fred Durst is the big surprise in all this - I loved his character of the conflicted Deputy and he did a really stellar job. Dude, quit your day job and pursue acting! The rest of the cast is well developed and enjoyable to watch as well.

The direction and cinematography are top notch. The film takes in all the gorgeous countryside...man, I just wanted to jump right in and roll around in that green, green grass! The director, Michelle Maxwell MacLaren, definitely knows what she is doing and frames her shots with care and attention to detail.

Still, this movie didn't quite thrill me as much as I wanted to be thrilled. Believe me, I did enjoy watching Jeremy Sisto run around for an hour and a half, but it was just lacking something, even for being so well-made. I suppose I wanted something less predictable with a little more surprise to it.

Overall, a very well-done movie but unfortunately, unmemorable.

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