Full disclosure: I didn’t read this when it was on the web, before it was published. But I saw the film at Midnight Madness TIFF in 2012. I don’t really remember the movie much any more but my review suggested I enjoyed it except for two things: 1) the CGI (which I remember being awful) …
Tag: Horror
The War of the Worlds (1898) by H.G. Wells
This is a landmark novel which manages to still be pretty entertaining but has dated in a few ways which make it kind of hard to appreciate how important it probably was when it came out.
Escape Room (2017, Will Wernick)
This is a stupid horror movie that is reasonably enjoyable for most of its run but which is utterly ruined by the ridiculous characterizations and its nonsensical ending. SPOILERS! By the way, this is not to be confused with the 2019 Escape Room.
A Christmas Horror Story (2015, Grant Harvey, Steven Hoban, Brett Sullivan)
This should really be called Christmas Horror Stories as it’s sort of an omnibus film, featuring four different stories, which take place in the same town but not in the same universe. That sounds confusing, doesn’t, it? SPOILERS
Rare Exports (2010, Jalmari Helander)
This is a strange, but certainly unique Christmas “horror” film. I use the term horror loosely because there isn’t a lot of horror in it by our standards, it’s more of a Christmas fantasy film. SPOILERS
I Still See You (2018, Scott Speer)
This is a PG-13 thriller with horror/science fiction elements which steals ideas from other movies and books, and which cannot even come up with its own vocabulary for its internal world. Had I been less tired when I watched it, I no doubt would have figured out who the main bad guy was immediately, simply …
Children of the Damned (1964, Anton Leader)
A long time ago I read something which told me to add this film, and not the earlier film, to my list. Watching this movie now, I have no idea why someone thinks this is the better movie. Because this film is worse in basically every way.
Village of the Damned (1960, Wolf Rilla)
This is one of those horror classics which has aged pretty poorly, with both the script and the effects having dated kind of horribly. But the production values outside of the effects are otherwise excellent and it really is on the good side of horror films of the period.
Terrifier (2016, Damien Leone)
This one is something. We found it on Netflix.
Apostle (2018, Gareth Evans)
This is a very Wicker Man-esque horror film, with a much bigger touch of the supernatural and a 28 Days Later feel to its final act. But aside from the “religious cult on an island in the British Isles” sense of deja vu, there is a lot to like about the movies, though I ended …
The Changeling (1980, Peter Medak)
This is an atmospheric but dated haunted house film, which features some decent moments but not enough chills or scares to truly recommend it. SPOILERS
Cat People (1942, Jacques Tourneur)
Times have changed. And whatever effect this movie had on audiences in 1942 – my dad long insisted it was the scariest movie he had ever seen – has long dissipated. Watching it over 75 years later, it’s really hard to understand what was so unique and terrifying about it.
Winchester (2018, Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig)
This movie exists because somebody found out about the Winchester Mystery House and decided that a movie should be made about it, and then they wrote a script to try to explain why this house is creepy. If you haven’t been to the house, or you didn’t find it creepy, I suspect this movie does …
Carnival of Souls (1962, Herk Harvey)
This is one of those movies where, if you cast your mind back, you can imagine it would have been scary, as there wasn’t much like it in 1962. But now, with fifty plus years in between, it’s hard to look at it as much more than an eerie curiosity, full of great lighting and …
Silent Hill (2006, Christopher Gans)
This is a video game adaptation which, like so many video game adaptations, does not translate very well to the screen. I played a Silent Hill game years ago and remember being pretty creeped out. (I didn’t get very far, and I honestly don’t remember anything except that it was creepy.) So if you think it’s …
Reptilicus [American Version] (1961, Sidney W. Pink)
Note: I watched this as a Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode so I technically didn’t watch the whole movie. Note 2: There are at least three different versions of this movie. I believe I watched the second American version but I’m not 100% sure.
New Year’s Evil (1980, Emmett Alston)
I live tweet this one, though I didn’t do a very good job. I was kind of hoping more people would be doing the same, but only 5 people were into it, it seems. Anyway: as far as I know, this is the only New Year’s Eve horror film. It was the only one we …
As Above, So Below (2014, John Erick Dowdle)
This is yet another found-footage horror film, number 300 and something at this point. (I have no idea whether that’s high or low.) When this was made, it was 15 years since Blair Witch. At some point, shouldn’t low-budget horror filmmakers realize this gimmick is a little tired?
RIP George A. Romero
Apparently Romero died. I was once a pretty big fan of his work. Romero, as I’m sure you know, pretty much invented the “zombie plague” movie. (This is as opposed to the old fashioned zombie movie, where there would be, like, one zombie chasing our heroes.)
The Witch (2015, Robert Eggers)
Overrated. SPOILERS
BloodRayne: The Third Reich (2011, Uwe Boll)
This is a pretty awful film that seems intent on reviving the Naziploitation films of the ’70s that everyone fondly remembers. (Oh, you don’t fondly remember them? You think they’re offensive? That’s weird.) I can’t say whether or not this is a fond tribute to those films, as I’ve only ever seen one of them, …
Birdemic: Shock and Terror (2010, James Nguyen)
I have seen a lot of bad movies in my life (though fewer recently) so I have pretty high (low?) standards for my “Worst Movies of All Time” list. For me, a film has to be have zero redeeming qualities about it for me to consider it one of the worst films ever made. Most …
Backcountry (2014, Adam MacDonald)
This review contains SPOILERS.
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006, Scott Glosserman)
The Purge (2013, James DeMonaco)
The opening text this movie displays, explaining what ‘the purge’ is, is basically the pitch meeting for this movie. The filmmaker likely walked into an office, said those exact words, mentioned some actors for the key roles, and got this green-lit. This film is a perfect symbol of what is wrong with “high concept” films …
The Babadook (2014, Jennifer Kent)
Hype is a dangerous thing, as I have noted more than a few times in the past. Hearing too much about a movie ahead of time can unwillingly alter your expectations, even without your knowledge. And so I find myself watching yet another movie I’ve heard too much about, with out-sized expectations. Maybe if I …
Antichrist (2009, Lars von Trier)
I struggle with Von Trier’s movies – and megalomania – for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the ridiculous Dogme 95 statement that he has gone back on so thoroughly in his later films. (It’s not that I object to Dogme 95 in itself but it’s the brashness of youth I …
TIFF 2015: Demon (2015, Marcin Wrona)
This is the most unique horror comedy I’ve seen in some time. Whereas most horror comedies are ready to notify their intention to get you to laugh early on (and usually to laugh instead of scream or to laugh and only occasionally scream) this movie’s humour is rooted in the absurd dramedy of a cast …
Angel Heart (1987, Alan Parker)
This is an over-stylized but interesting attempt at reviving American Film Noir in a decade in which it could be presumed dead and it’s combined with an interesting genre-mashing twist.
All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006, Jonathan Levine)
I watched the first 30-35 minutes of this maybe a year ago (in pieces) while someone else was watching it. I figured I should watch it all the way through, even given my reservations. My reservations were a few: I didn’t go to a school like this. I guess there were one or two girls …