Category: Horror

Movie Trailer #2: Prometheus (2012) »

A three-minute long spoilerish trailer for the sci-fi horror pic Prometheus has gone viral today. In it, the alien intelligence that beckoned us (meaning humans) to the farthest reaches of the universe prove to not be friendly. As a matter of fact, it seems they somehow want to use us to repopulate their species and [...]

Movie Review: Detention (2011) »

I do not know Joseph Kahn. I have no idea what kind of person he is. I would like to assume he’s a pretty square fellow and all, but if his ability to direct a feature-length motion picture were solely based upon what he did with Detention, I would strongly urge him to pursue another [...]

Movie Review: The Cabin in the Woods (2011) »

In his feature film directorial debut, Drew Goddard (a writer for “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Lost” TV series, and the film “Cloverfield“) has taken a tired film formula — the teen slasher flick — and turned it on its head. The Cabin in the Woods is “The Truman Show” meets “Friday the 13th” meets “The [...]

Movie Trailer: House at the End of the Street (2012) »

Be careful who your neighbors are. In House at the End of the Street, the neighbor is the survivor of a brutal axe murder — a parenticide, in which his sister killed their parents. In the bizarre trailer, mother and daughter (Elisabeth Shue, Jennifer Lawrence, respectively) are the “lucky” renters next door who are plagued [...]

Movie Review: The House of the Devil (2009) »

Ti West’s fourth motion picture undertaking, 2009′s The House of the Devil is an ’80s-style horror film clearly inspired by the classic shockers of yesteryear, and it even begins with a grindhouse-style opening title sequence that would make Quentin Tarantino smile. West wanted to emulate the likes of “The Amityville Horror” and “The Texas Chain [...]

Movie Review: Silent House (2011) »

Fear in real time. That’s the most tantalizing hook the horror genre has offered since “The Blair Witch Project” opened the “found footage” floodgates more than a dozen years ago. That genre reinvention eventually led to the 2007 Spanish horror masterpiece “[Rec],” my pick for the scariest movie of the past decade. That movie was [...]

Red Band Movie Trailer: Piranha 3DD (2012) »

You can’t keep a good prehistoric piranha down for long. After clearing Lake Victoria of them in “Piranha 3D,” the pesky flesh eaters have migrated to fun-in-the-sun summer destination: The Big Wet Water Park, in Piranha 3DD. The latest red-band trailer released today by Dimension Films makes it abundantly clear why the extra “D” is [...]

Movie Trailer: Chernobyl Diaries (2012) »

Nothing spells vacation like taking a tour of abandoned, radioactive towns in Russia. From the mind of Oren Peli (he brought you “Paranormal Activity“) comes his latest horror flick that, even though the title Chernobyl Diaries lends itself to a found footage flick, isn’t a found footage flick. It may as well be as it [...]

Movie Trailer: Dark Shadows (2012) »

There is but two guarantees in the movie business and both deal with Johnny Depp. One, he can always be counted on to play “interesting” characters. Two, he is attached to the hip of Tim Burton. Both of these certainties are in play in the Gothic-themed horror flick Dark Shadows. Based on a 1960′s cult [...]

Movie Trailer: ParaNorman (2012) »

What normally happens to weird kids who proclaim to see and talk to ghosts? They get ignored, ostracized and/or bullied. Which is exactly what happens to little Norman in Focus Features’ claymation pic ParaNorman, that is until the town needs his peculiar gift. For reasons unknown (the trailer hints to a 300th anniversary of a [...]

Movie Trailer #2: Intruders (2011) »

A second trailer for Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s Intruders has been released by Millennium Entertainment and it’s more jarring than the first that was released in May of 2011. This one somehow links a young girl and a young boy from two separate families with a ghoulish figure. What it wants and why it has locked [...]

Movie Trailer: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012) »

He wore a stovepipe hat, had an awesome beard, ended slavery and was ultimately assassinated. Can you think of a better way to make the 16th President of the United States any cooler? Well I suppose hunting vampires in between his ratifying the laws of the land would make him more awesome. This fantastical alternate [...]

Movie Review: The Innkeepers (2011) »

Alice is an unflattering name for a woman. It’s not, however, nearly as bad as Claire is. For me, Claire conjures up an image of a sad, homely girl whiling away the hours, in a rocker, crocheting a sweater. It is, therefore, a fitting name then for the boy-haircut having, wearing the same dull clothes [...]

Movie Review: The Woman in Black (2012) »

The Woman in Black, directed by James Watkins (“Eden Lake,” “My Little Eye“) and written by Jane Goldman, is a cinematic adaption of Susan Hill’s popular novel of the same name. Daniel ‘Harry Potter’ Radcliffe plays a young widowed Victorian lawyer named Arthur Kipps, who is forced to leave his young son in London with [...]

Movie Review: The Wicker Tree (2010) »

There are several factoids I learned after watching The Wicker Tree, the 39 years in the making sequel to cult favorite “The Wicker Man.” For one, nuclear power plants make all men who drink or bathe in its cooling source sterile (although on the flip side it also grants them the gift of being able [...]

Movie Review: Underworld: Awakening (2012) »

It is rare for a movie franchise to make it to a fourth film and be good. The Star Wars and Harry Potter franchises had it easy, hell, Star Wars technically started on its fourth installment and Harry Potter had its beloved stories directly handed to them. The Die Hard series had to work for [...]

Movie Trailer: Resident Evil: Retribution (2012) »

Jesus Christ. You’d think by now that damn T-virus and the Umbrella Corporation responsible for it would be out of commission. Neither are, and so Screen Gems has added a fifth installment to their video game cross-over cash cow — Resident Evil: Retribution. If you were wondering what happens this time around, stop. It’s basically [...]

Movie Review: The Devil Inside (2012) »

I always enjoy reviewing the first film of the year because, as many of you know, January is largely reserved for contractual releases and studio throwaways. Alas, it’s 2012 and we’ve only 11 months before utter chaos, so I’m savoring the opportunity to rip apart William Brent Bell’s The Devil Inside. A faux-documentary, it examines [...]

Movie Trailer: Prometheus (2012) »

In the hands of an ordinary director, the hype surrounding Prometheus would amount to nothing more than a blip on the radar screen. In the hands of Ridley Scott, the man responsible for one of the best sci-fi horror flicks made (Alien), there is a tsunami of interest. In his latest, he explores the origin [...]

Movie Trailer: The Wicker Tree (2010) »

A very eerier trailer for The Wicker Tree has surfaced today. Basically a reimaging of Robin Hardy’s The Wicker Man, the film follows two missionaries as they travel to Scotland to spread the word of Jesus Christ to the locals. Little do they realize the pagan townsfolk have been humoring them and really have other [...]

Movie Trailer: The Cabin in the Woods (2012) »

Few places spell horror like a secluded cabin in the woods does; so many things can — and will — go wrong. In The Cabin in the Woods, what goes wrong for five vacationing friends is a cross between being man-made and supernatural. The trap and guarantee of no escape comes from human hands. That [...]

Movie Review: Black Death (2010) »

Let’s get this out of the way first: Black Death is by no means an enjoyable movie due to its bleak and unflinching depiction of the 14th Century. Be that as it may, it is a riveting, dramatic horror picture that’s as brilliant as it is challenging. Coming from director Christopher Smith (Severance, Triangle), Black [...]

Movie Review: Lake Mungo (2008) »

A “found footage” mockumentary, Lake Mungo is not a typical horror movie in the vein of The Blair Witch Project or The Exorcist. Instead of a schlocky series of cheap scares, freshman writer-director Joel Anderson has crafted a low-key supernatural drama which examines the emotional repercussions of a family dealing with grief. With that said [...]

Movie Trailer #2: Underworld: Awakening (2012) »

The world has changed a great deal in 12 years. Humans have learned of the existence of werewolves and vampires and are on a crusade to eradicate them. In the second trailer for Underworld: Awakening, Screen Gems gives a closer look at the key to the war — a hybrid child. Selene must use her [...]

Movie Review: Grave Encounters (2011) »

Just as slasher films were done to death in the ’80s and ’90s, the “found footage” subgenre (made popular by 1999’s The Blair Witch Project) is now being exploited to the point of becoming tired. After films like Cloverfield, [Rec], Quarantine, The Last Exorcism, Diary of the Dead and countless other films, it’s becoming increasingly [...]

Movie Trailer: The Innkeepers (2011) »

Late last night Magnet Releasing (Magnolia Pictures) put out the trailer for their haunted hotel flick, The Innkeepers. It takes place in The Yankee Pedlar Hotel and poking its other-wordly inhabitants are two employees charged with boxing everything up and closing its doors forever. I’m not the biggest fan of Sara Paxton but the two [...]

Movie Trailer #2: 11-11-11 (2011) »

The second theatrical trailer for the supernatural induced Armageddon film 11-11-11 is now online. In it, an American widower begins to unveil clues to a coming invasion of demons to our Earthly realm. Finding himself alone and in a foreign land, he works feverishly to get believed and put together a plan to stop the [...]

Movie Review: Paranormal Activity 3 (2011) »

During my younger years, my mother would always tell me outlandish stories. Most of these tales involved animals spontaneously springing to life and adapting anthropomorphic qualities and inspired an overactive imagination, but one fable in particular would always scare me witless. As a superstitious woman, she’d look at me — her words marinated in conviction [...]

Movie Review: The Thing (2011) »

A shapeshifting creature from outer space. Interesting (and a bit campy) the first time it was introduced to movie going audiences in 1951’s The Thing from Another World (which was adapted from the short story “Who Goes There?”). Downright fucked up scary in 1982, when John Carpenter updated the scenario and released The Thing. Clunky [...]

Movie Trailer #2: Paranormal Activity 3 (2011) »

The second trailer for Paranormal Activity 3 is here and perhaps I misspoke when I described the first trailer saying “. . . what made the series special had left already.” Maybe it has something to do with the connection to children, but the demon presented to us in this trailer is much more violent [...]

Red Band Movie Trailer: The Thing (2011) »

I’m not entirely sure why this latest trailer for The Thing is red-band; it’s got some good shots of the shape shifting creature, shape shifting and killing a scientist or two, but there isn’t anything that should raise the ire of the MPAA. But anyways, if you recall the original The Thing, it started with [...]

Movie Trailer #2: The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence) (2011) »

The first trailer for The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence) was crap. The second trailer, released today by IFC Films, gets down and dirty. It introduces us to Martin, the man with the brilliant plan to build upon Dr. Heiter’s sickening experiment. Can you think of a better way to pay homage to the demented [...]

Movie Trailer: The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence) (2011) »

The Human Centipede (First Sequence) pushed the boundaries of all that is good and decent in the world. Apparently that boundary wasn’t pushed far enough as now The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence) is set to squirm into theaters in October. The trailer for it is obviously staged for viewer reactions, but I’m sure what [...]

Movie Review: Apollo 18 (2011) »

Gonzalo Là³pez-Gallego’s mockumentary Apollo 18 has been delayed five consecutive times. But that doesn’t mean that the director used the time wisely. NASA, which often works with filmmakers who are using space as a backdrop for their films, denounced the movie due to their minimal involvement (never even seeing a rough cut) and Bert Ulrich, [...]

Movie Review: Shark Night 3D (2011) »

When asked how many animal species exist, scientists estimate that the answer’s anywhere between 10 and 100 million. Now, that’s a whole lot of creatures running about. So then why has Hollywood limited itself to only a handful? Wouldn’t it be interesting to see a thriller revolving around genetically-altered giraffes or a monstrous salmon for [...]

Movie Review: Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (2010) »

In this economy, a bargain-priced mansion sounds like a dream. However, every film aficionado knows that when the place is called Blackwood Manor, has a history of mysterious disappearances, and hasn’t been bought in decades, it’s most likely a conduit for evil. But there’s always an oblivious family ready to set up shop and in [...]

Movie Review: Fright Night (2011) »

In the second remake to release this week, director Craig Gillespie (Mr. Woodcock) brings us Fright Night, which, penned by Marti Noxon, is loosely based on Tom Holland’s 1985 film of the same name. Fortunately, unlike the retelling of Conan the Barbarian, it’s an entertaining update of a cult-classic. On the outskirts of Las Vegas, [...]

Movie Trailer: Underworld: Awakening (2012) »

You can’t keep a good vampire down. Especially one that looks so good in a tight fitting leather outfit. In this installment, 12 years have passed and the battle has changed from vampire vs. vampire and vampire vs. werewolf to human vs. vampire and werewolf. The trailer for Underworld: Awakening, released by Screen Gems today, [...]

Movie Trailer: The Woman in Black (2012) »

Yes, Daniel Radcliffe can act in something other than a movie with Harry Potter in the title. You can see for yourself in the second teaser trailer for his latest, The Woman in Black. He portrays an English (of course!) lawyer who, upon arriving at a remote village, stumbles on a female ghost with vengeance [...]

Movie Review: Final Destination 5 (2011) »

I didn’t think it was possible, but apparently one can squeeze blood from a turnip. The vegetable in this case is the Final Destination series. The blood, well, that is Final Destination 5, the fifth movie in this one-note franchise sure to once again raise the heartbeat of moviegoers keen on watching the young and [...]

Movie Trailer: The Darkest Hour (2011) »

The second half of 2011 is seeing a resurgence of the alien invasion flick with Attack the Block and Cowboys & Aliens recently being released. Today Summit Entertainment presents to the web the trailer for the latest invasion movie, The Darkest Hour. And trust me when I tell you this one ain’t no joke. Breaking [...]

Red Band Movie Trailer: Red State (2011) »

No Jay or Silent Bob here. Red State breaks away from Kevin Smith’s comfort zone, representing his first foray into the horror genre. The hook? Extreme Christian fundamentalism in the heartland of America. Three teens find themselves captive of a Waco-like cult intent on changing the world they live in any way necessary. It’s not [...]

Movie Trailer: Paranormal Activity 3 (2011) »

If you ask me, I think what made the first Paranormal Activity special has left already left the series. Paramount thinks otherwise as the first taste of Paranormal Activity 3 has come online. This time around, it focuses on the beginning — when Katie and Kristi first summoned the demon to this world to wreak [...]

Movie Review: Outpost (2008) »

They say war is hell, and this age-old cliché has been exemplified in pretty much every war picture to date. 2008′s Outpost is a film which literalizes this adage, incorporating the horrors of war into a traditional horror picture. Every now and again, a small-time, low-budget horror film comes out of nowhere to catch genre [...]

Movie Trailer: The Thing (2011) »

Replacing Kurt Russell with Mary Elizabeth Winstead? That’s gotta be counted as a strike against the remake of The Thing. Then again, maybe she has an inner Sigourney Weaver she can channel. From the first theatrical trailer which has debuted today, we can’t be sure. Unfortunately, there aren’t any instances of her directly confronting the [...]

Movie Review: Tucker & Dale vs Evil (2010) »

Admit it, you, just like 87.7% of the civilized world, think all rednecks look and behave like those in Deliverance and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre . It’s a tough stereotype to dispel, so why not use it to one’s advantage? After all, it’s one that, in the right hands, can be molded into comedic gold. [...]

Movie Trailer: Final Destination 5 (2011) »

Fans of watching young kids die in bizarre fashion unite — the latest trailer for Final Destination 5 is here. While it too highlights several of the unorthodox methods by which one can die (LASIK, acupuncture), it differentiates itself from the previous trailer by showcasing more of the bridge collapse (which surprising is very well [...]

Movie Review: Troll Hunter (Trolljegeren) (2010) »

It wasn’t so long ago that Korean/Japanese horror was the fertile hunting grounds for studios looking to make a quick buck. The Ring, The Grudge, The Eye, Mirrors and countless others are all products of the Hollywood makeover spa. Today those hunting grounds have seemingly moved to Scandinavia. Let the Right One In was recently [...]

Movie Trailer: 11-11-11 (2011) »

Numerology is the study of the mystical relationship between numbers and existence. Some numbers are seen as good, others not so much. Samuel believes the number 11 has significance in his life in Darren Lynn Bousman’s (Saw III, Saw IV) new horror film 11-11-11, for which the first theatrical trailer has been made available. Invoking [...]

Movie Review: Priest (2011) »

The last time that former visual effects technician Scott Charles Stewart directed Paul Bettany in a motion picture, the result was 2010′s quite literally God-awful Legion. Loosely based on the South Korean comic series of the same name, 2011′s Priest is an improvement over Legion . . . but not by much. As befitting of [...]

Movie Trailer: Apollo 18 (2011) »

With all of our advances in engineering and science, why haven’t we been back to the moon? The upcoming movie Apollo 18 offers up a reason. Aliens. From the first theatrical trailer for the film we see there was a secret mission after Apollo 17, which ended . . . mysteriously. Pieced together from archival [...]

Movie Review: The Tunnel (2011) »

Filmmakers Carlo Ledesma, Enzo Tedeschi & Julian Harvey clearly took heed of the philosophies and techniques of renowned scare-meister Alfred Hitchcock for 2011′s The Tunnel, namely his mantra that less is more: It is not always what you see that scares you, but what you imagine. A low-budget horror pic filmed in 14 days and [...]

Movie Review: The Ward (2010) »

The mental institution is a great location for nearly all movie types, but none more so than the horror or thriller genre. Isolation, deeply disturbed patients and or a sadistic doctor are several cornerstones that can be explored. And using some of these staples, John Carpenter, emerging from a ten year hiatus from movie making, [...]

Movie Trailer: Fright Night (2011) »

Premiering during the MTV Movie Awards comes the second trailer for Fright Night, a decidedly darker and more violent telling of the 1985 cult hit of the same name. The premise remains the same, a vampire moves into the neighborhood and preys on the bountiful food source. Yet only Charlie and his best friend Ed [...]

Movie Trailer: Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (2010) »

The second and longer trailer for the horror movie Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark has been made available by Miramax. A remake of a movie of the same name (and one that gave me nightmares as a child) centers around a family that has moved into a big creepy 19th-century mansion (red flag #1). [...]

Movie Review: Attack the Block (2011) »

While there have been some great films of the alien invasion genre, many of the biggest have been the most lackluster — from the mediocre Independence Day to the horrid Battle: Los Angeles. Instead, the best invasion films that come to mind are usually those that depict isolated incidents in small towns or at remote [...]

Movie Trailer: Shark Night 3D (2011) »

You can’t claim that you didn’t see this coming after the surprising success that was Piranha 3D. I’m talking about Shark Night 3D. The first trailer has surfaced and it smells of fantastic grade-B, party-gone-wrong cheese (it’s what made the 80s so memorable). Seven college kids set upon a house on a small lake island [...]

Movie Trailer: The Ward (2010) »

Some may say the better days of horror pioneer John Carpenter (Halloween) are behind him. From the domestic trailer for The Ward it’s hard to say whether he’s returned to form or not (early festival reviews are a mixed bag) but it is good to at least see him in the director’s chair again, back [...]

Movie Review: The Silent House (La Casa Muda) (2010) »

Gimmick films always start at a disadvantage, and as such it’s not surprising that most films which are completely one shot (no editing) or try to be completely real-time (or, at the least, cheat to appear so) often fail. The most notable film to attempt this, Hitchock’s Rope, actually wasn’t one shot (due to a [...]

Movie Trailer: Final Destination 5 (2011) »

Looks like some teenagers have snubbed death once again, and he (assuming the reaper is actually male) wants to collect what is rightfully his. Don’t expect too much from the first trailer for Final Destination 5 — it doesn’t offer up much else other than to let you know some guys in a room have [...]

Movie Trailer: Intruders (2011) »

Something is amiss at the Farrow household. What it is, the creepy teaser trailer for Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s Intruders doesn’t definitively show us. What it does shed light on is the daughter is in tune with it somehow and it ain’t friendly. With any luck this movie will add some good frights to the Halloween [...]

Movie Review: Julia’s Eyes (2010) »

Legend has it that there’s a telepathic connection between twins, so when in Julia’s Eyes the titular Julia experiences a choking sensation, she knows something’s wrong with her sister Sara. She’s right — Sara is dead, hanged from a rope in her basement. The signs all point to suicide, at least as far as the [...]

Movie Review: Dylan Dog: Dead of Night (2010) »

An adaptation of Tiziano Sclavi’s Italian horror comic series and a spinoff of Michele Soavi’s horror-romance Cemetery Man, Kevin Munroe’s Dylan Dog: Dead of Night is no stranger to obscure source material. Bringing former Man of Steel, Brandon Routh, back into a leading role, the film (penned by Thomas Dean Donnelley and Joshua Oppenheimer), is [...]

Movie Review: Scream 4 (2011) »

The first three Scream films are pretty vital to the horror genre. The original movie shot this extra dose of adrenaline into slasher flicks, bringing a new found interest when most were beginning to think it was a tired genre. Truth be told, it probably is (most conceptions about the horror genre being terrible are [...]

Movie Trailer: Priest (2011) »

Judging from this second trailer for Priest, no expense has been sparred for the action and look of this post-apocalyptic thriller loosely based on a popular Korean comic. In it, a warrior priest, acting against the Church’s wishes, tracks down a group of vampires that have kidnapped his niece. Helping with his endeavor is a [...]

Movie Review: Let Me In (2010) »

Most of those who came into contact with the 2008 Swedish masterpiece Let the Right One In were immediately captivated and hypnotized by its brilliance, especially in the wake of the insipid Twilight phenomenon. It committed an unforgivable sin, though: It was foreign and subtitle-laden, meaning the movie never existed in Hollywood’s eyes. Thus, now [...]

Movie Review: The Loved Ones (2009) »

2009′s The Loved Ones is a delirious Australian mash-up of various movies, including Carrie, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and Prom Night. Several critics have also dubbed the film as “Pretty in Pink meets Wolf Creek“, and that’s another fairly accurate analogy of this frightening yet resonant exercise in genre dramatics — it represents an [...]

Movie Review: Insidious (2010) »

Why, oh why, do people move into those big Victorian-style homes; you know, the ones with too many rooms and too few lights to illuminate them? It can’t be for the coziness and charm! You’d think by now people would know that 90% of those houses, according to the Horror Convention Law, are conduits for [...]

Movie Review: The Reef (2010) »

When was the last time you remember seeing a genuinely good shark movie? Steven Spielberg’s Jaws from 1975 is likely the most popular choice, and it’s perhaps the only good shark film in existence. In subsequent years, a few subpar Jaws sequels entered cinemas along with films like Deep Blue Sea, and then a few [...]

Movie Review: Red Riding Hood (2011) »

Just judging on the fact that the story has been interpreted to be an allegory for sexual awakening, Little Red Riding Hood was just asking to be dumbed down and reimaged into a romance for teeny-boppers. So eat your heart out kids, here’s Catherine Hardwicke’s Red Riding Hood, a film that might have been decent [...]

Movie Review: The Resident (2011) »

Sometimes movie critics will re-evaluate a film years later to determine if there was something better or worse that they missed during the first viewing. That happened to me for the horror film, The Shining (during round two, I clued in on more of the nuances and thus liked the film much more than I [...]

Movie Review: Halloween II (2009) »

That fateful night in Haddonfield, Laurie Strode shot and killed Michael Myers or so she thought. As the ambulance pulled away with what was thought to be the corpse of the world’s most notorious serial killer, Michael Myers made sure everyone knew he was still alive the best way he could: By slaughtering everyone who [...]

Movie Review: Dream Home (2010) »

“In a crazy city, if one is to survive, he’s got to be more crazy.” So starts this story set in Hong Kong where the price of an apartment overlooking the sea is somewhere around $5 Million. This movie is supposedly based on a true story, and it is in some timely aspects, as the [...]

Movie Review: I Saw the Devil (2010) »

I am developing a huge love of Korean cinema. Of course, when I say Korea, I mean South Korea (I doubt anything of value is coming out of North Korea). With me, it all started with the devastating film, Oldboy, which at the time, I counted as a one off and never really looked further [...]

Movie Review: Rubber (2010) »

Having already killed the trucker who saved the girl from his murderous ways, the psychopath tire turned its attentions to the girl herself. After watching her in the shower, the tire checks into a motel room, watches keep-fit programs on TV, and takes a shower, only to be discovered by a maid, who he promptly [...]

Movie Review: The Human Centipede (First Sequence) (2009) »

The jury is still out for me because I can’t quite make up my mind, but it may be that The Human Centipede (First Sequence) will go down in my book as the most disturbing movie I’ve ever seen. Director Tom Six boldly goes with his bio-horror feature — deemed “100% Medically Accurate” — where [...]

Movie Review: The Rite (2011) »

Set in a Sartrean representation of present-day Italy, The Rite is a satirical look at exorcism and the individuals who perform them. With similarities to Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit and his belief that “Hell is other people,” Mikael Hà¥fström’s (1408, Derailed) latest chronicles two clergymen — Michael Kovak (Colin O’ Donoghue) and his seasoned counterpart, [...]

Movie Review: Saw 3D (2010) »

If you think about it, the annual batch of torture porn (i.e., the Saw franchise) is the most harmless aspect of Halloween; I mean, there’s poisoned candy, pedophiles galore, and just general creepiness (and I don’t mean that in the jolly ol’ fun way, more like forty-year old fathers in bikinis weird — I’ve seen [...]

Movie Review: Paranormal Activity 2 (2010) »

We’ve seen it before with The Blair Witch Project; a horror flick, made on a shoestring budget, becomes a sleeper hit and ultimately warrants itself a sequel. The “Holywoodized” sequel, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 turned out to be a lame attempt to recapture the lightning of its predecessor and thus was pandered by [...]

Movie Review: My Soul to Take (2010) »

Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray Thee, Lord, my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray Thee, Lord, my soul to take. If I should live to future days, I pray Thee, Lord, to guide my ways. Amen. There’s something very unsettling about this one particular evening [...]

Movie Review: Case 39 (2009) »

Christian Alvart’s Case 39 is basically what happens when you turn the Franklin D. Roosevelt quote, “. . . the only thing we have to fear is fear itself . . . ,” into a broader statement and use that to make a horror film. Furthermore, the film, penned by Ray Wright, who also wrote [...]

Movie Review: Devil (2010) »

If I had to choose three people that I’d hate to be stuck in an elevator with, they’d be O.J. Simpson, Phil Spector, and Justin Bieber. However, M. Night Shyamalan would be a close fourth. Coincidentally, Shyamalan translates the horror of spending countless hours in such an enclosed space with the aforementioned names in Devil, [...]

Movie Review: Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010) »

If there’s anyone deserving of the electric chair, it’s Paul W.S. Anderson. Now I say this for a couple of reasons — most of which stem from a recent interview with the popular site, Rotten Tomatoes, however, a lot of my hatred also derives from his body of work which includes Soldier (bad), AVP: Alien [...]

Movie Review: The Last Exorcism (2010) »

I’ve never been one to believe in the hocus-pocus, piece of schlock that is the Bible. I’m sorry if this offends any fanatics, but it’s just how I feel. Although I was raised as a Catholic, even as a child I found the stories of Jesus’ resurrection and God’s seven-day creation plan to be just [...]

Movie Review: Survival of the Dead (2009) »

George A. Romero not only created the modern zombie horror genre, but he is still considered by many as the master of genre — even with mostly unsuccessful films like Land of the Dead and Diary of the Dead. Personally, I can’t call myself a huge Romero fan, but I am a horror film connoisseur [...]

Movie Review: Piranha 3D (2010) »

Spring break: Sun, water, ear-splitting hip hop music, booze-swilling horny guys, brazen bikini babes — and millions of razor-sharp teeth. Welcome to Lake Victoria, the fictional locale of Piranha 3D, the remake of Joe Dante’s 1978 movie of the same name. The film’s “coed rowdy-party” setting isn’t one you usually see in the work of [...]

Movie Review: The Final Storm (2010) »

At this point I’ll consider myself a masochist. With a bad taste in my mouth from my viewing of Stoic, I continued on my Uwe Boll obsession and decided to watch his latest film The Final Storm, an apocalyptic thriller which stars Lauren Holly and Steve Bacic as a suburban couple who invite Silas (Luke [...]

Movie Review: Splice (2009) »

Frankenstein author Mary Shelley could not have foretold that her gothic tale of an errant scientist who creates a man/monster out of the limbs of dead bodies would become a harbinger of things to come with the emergence in the 21st century of the science of genetic engineering. Instead of stitching together body parts, today’s [...]

Movie Review: A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) »

I know that remakes or jumper-cable reboots are a necessary, and inevitable evil in the movie business, but I do get so tired of these disproportionately disappointing efforts. Regardless, I do admit I was looking forward to this remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street but only because of the casting of Jackie Earle Haley, [...]

Movie Review: The Crazies (2010) »

The scene: Ogden Marsh, a peaceful Midwestern town of ~1,000 where everyone knows everyone and it is safe to keep the doors unlocked and windows open at night. Certainly not the place one would ever imagine a neighbor ruthlessly killing another. And that is what makes The Crazies all the more creepy. When a plane [...]

Movie Review: The Wolfman (2010) »

Even with the much publicized production upheavals (directorial changes, reshoots and pretty much everything else that could be altered at the most inopportune moment) plaguing The Wolfman, is it too much to ask to ask for a movie that, while drawing inspiration from its 1941 source, retools — in inventive ways, mind you — the [...]

Movie Review: Legion (2010) »

Legion is the second movie in so many weeks with a theme riddled with supposed religious overtones (The Book of Eli being the other). Instead, however, of delving into the way spiritual power can lift the hopes of the downtrodden, first time director Scott Stewart’s vehicle delves into how the power of God can be [...]

Movie Review: Daybreakers (2009) »

Ethical vampires practicing abstinence from human blood isn’t a premise I easily buy into. My attitude may be an unfortunate side effect from the entertaining, if silly Twilight films. But I can put aside my skepticism for a story with intriguing ideas and parallels to our own real-world challenges. On first impression, Daybreakers appears to [...]

Movie Review: The Final Destination (2009) »

The major difference in the fourth installment in the Final Destination series, The Final Destination is that it’s also available in 3D. Whilst the 3D is good, I’ve seen it done better. It follows exactly the same formula as the others, and it’s an entertaining way to spend an hour and a half, but assuming [...]

Movie Review: Livestock (2009) »

Blood. Sex. Demons. Director / writer Christopher Di Nunzio mixes these ingredients together and cooks up a curious blend of gangster film and supernatural horror in his first feature-length film, Livestock. If you are a horror fan with a healthy appetite for blood and gore, you just might enjoy Di Nunzio’s effort. It’s chicks’ night [...]

Movie Review: Antichrist (2009) »

This is the 30th revision of my review for Antichrist and if I thought any more about it, I’d probably revise it twenty more times. Lars von Trier has easily put forth the most deeply symbolic and deeply scarring “Hitchcockian-like” horror film in decades. He has literally slapped the face of convention and quite possibly [...]

Movie Review: Paranormal Activity (2007) »

Somebody up there likes me, and so I light a candle at the altar of the movie gods in thanks for delivering to this scare-starved horror buff a horror film worthy of the name. Written, produced, and directed by Oren Peli on a micro budget of $15,000, Paranormal Activity reinforces what The Blair Witch Project [...]

Movie Review: Let the Right One In (2008) »

Thomas Alfredson’s 2008 vampire film Let the Right One In isn’t so much a horror film as it is a coming of age drama which happens to have a vampire as one of the two leads. Strikingly beautiful, nicely written and perfectly executed, it probably won’t be well received by all horror fans, but as [...]

Movie Review: Pandorum (2009) »

Isolationism, claustrophobia and delirium are motherfuckers — especially when they’re mixed together with the darkness of space. Pandorum is word roughly devised to describe this scenario and director Christian Alvart hopes his movie of the same name can scare the shit out of you because of it. It can’t. Not for any reason other than [...]

Movie Review: Zombieland (2009) »

There are 32 rules, as of this writing, to ensure survival from a zombie infestation. That is of course if you want to believe what “Columbus” (Jesse Eisenberg), a young awkward kid who just so happens to find himself surviving a zombie plague in the latest undead flick Zombieland, has to say. Your best to [...]

Movie Review: Jennifer’s Body (2009) »

I swear, one can make a movie about absolutely anything, get Megan Fox to star in it and they can retire in the lap of luxury. Ordinary men, you see, don’t give a rat’s ass about whether the movie in question is any good; they just want to see a super hot chick in compromising [...]

Movie Review: Sorority Row (2009) »

2009 may well be remembered as the year of the remake or reinterpretation of classic B-film slasher movies. Sorority Row — an update of The House on Sorority Row — continues this trend. Regrettably, it appears new ideas may be a little thin on the ground. It’s disappointing because the genre is in serious need [...]

Movie Review: B.T.K. (2008) »

Michael Feifer’s B.T.K. describes itself as ‘a fictional film based on a real character’. That character is the serial killer Dennis L. Rader, who was arrested in March 2005 for the murder of ten people, in a killing spree that spanned two decades. Rader was known as B.T.K. because of his penchant for binding, torturing [...]

Movie Review: Severance (2006) »

Christopher Smith’s British, comedy-horror movie Severance is advertised as The Office meets Deliverance. I’m not really a fan of this mix of genres, as it’s almost impossible to get the mix right – the comedy dilutes the horror and vice versa. So as I expected, Severance is not as funny as the prior and not [...]

Movie Review: All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006) »

Jonathon Levine’s All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, starring Amber Heard (Alpha Dog, Pineapple Express) was released over a year ago in the UK, but horror fans in the U.S. are still waiting. So will it be worth the wait? Mandy Lane (Heard), is every teenage boy’s fantasy. She’s blonde, she’s beautiful, she’s innocent, and [...]

Movie Review: Drag Me to Hell (2009) »

Isn’t the fact that gypsies smell like cabbage and bring down the value of your house if they move into your neighborhood enough of a reason to hate them? Apparently not — Sam Raimi has given us another reason to dislike them: They’ll cast a hex on you if you shame them. Poor Christine Brown [...]

Movie Review: Lesbian Vampire Killers (2009) »

Leave it the Brits to throw a spot of humor into the realm of horror movies again. Shaun of the Dead relentlessly poked fun at zombies in 2004 and in doing so made Simon Pegg a star here in the states. Lesbian Vampire Killers isn’t going to make anyone a household name — not by [...]

Movie Review: The Uninvited (2009) »

Am I crazy or is Elizabeth Banks the new hot commodity in Hollywood? From where I sit, it seems as if she’s starring in nearly every movie made! Usually, however, she can be seen in some form of a comedy. Not in the The Uninvited. She sets aside the granny panties she made famous in [...]

Movie Review: Friday the 13th (2009) »

There are several reasons I don’t venture out to the woods for week long drunken camping trips. One, sleeping on the ground is not comfortable. We invented the box spring mattress for a reason. Two, I have an extreme dislike to the thought of becoming grizzly bear food. Three, well the original Friday the 13th [...]

Movie Review: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009) »

There are several kisses of death a movie franchise may experience, including, but not limited to: The original writing/directing team deciding to move on to other projects The main actor or actress in the franchise deciding to not be involved in the latest project The decision to make a prequel Casting Paris Hilton to star [...]

Movie Review: The Unborn (2009) »

It’s a bad sign when the predominant reactions to a horror movie are sarcastic shout outs and hysterical laughter. Contrary to expectations, The Unborn delivers the unintentional laughs but not the scares. It’s beginning to look like horror movies aren’t supposed to be scary anymore. Strange things are happening to teenager Casey Beldon (Odette Yustman). [...]

Movie Review: Tokyo Gore Police (2008) »

With a name like Tokyo Gore Police, it was simply impossible for me to not want to see this movie. And in some perverse way (locked away deep in the recesses of my mind), I’m glad that I did. The Japanese have singlehandedly fine tuned the art of making freakishly bizarre cult movies that defy [...]

Movie Review: Twilight (2008) »

Writing a book or screenplay with vampires in it has got to be one of the easiest gigs around. These mysterious and charming undead basically lend themselves to just about any scenario possible — generally making said scenario that much more intriguing (its got a vampire in it, duh!). Proof in point: Twilight. Catherine Hardwicke’s [...]

Movie Review: The Haunting of Molly Hartley (2008) »

If a “Ten Commandments” existed for horror films, then the first commandment would no doubt be, “Thou Shalt Be Scary”. It becomes clear from what transpires in the 15 minutes-or-so opening sequence that The Haunting of Molly Hartley breaks that commandment. From that point on, it’s downhill all the way. This movie is the latest [...]

Movie Review: Eden Lake (2008) »

Hope. Survival. Retribution. Happy endings. Years ago, these were the standard outcomes in the horror genre. Nowadays, we jaded human beings like things a bit edgier — and more unpredictable. James Watkins’ new movie, Eden Lake keeps to this new tradition. A movie about a romantic weekend gone horribly awry, the film’s title is a [...]

Movie Review: Saw V (2008) »

It may not be such a rarity these days for a premise with a central character to make its way to a sequel or even a trilogy. Something has to be said when a film franchise gets into the higher number of installments — a pentalogy is certainly worth some praise. That, however, is all [...]

Movie Review: Quarantine (2008) »

Shame on me for not doing a background check on the latest horror film out of Hollywood, Quarantine. If I had, I would have noticed it was a remake of the foreign horror film [Rec], which, incredibly, is still currently enjoying a cinematic release overseas. That’s right, they didn’t even wait until the film had [...]

Movie Review: Mirrors (2008) »

Six years ago the Hollywood remake of The Ring was one hell of an awakening to the freakish world of J-Horror (Japanese Horror) films. The Grudge, while not as good as the aforementioned, was pretty eerie as well. A semi-steady stream of crap like One Missed Call and the more recent The Eye followed. Today [...]

Movie Review: The Strangers (2008) »

I consider myself a very big horror buff, and many of my favorite movies are in the horror genre. Horror does something that no other types of movies can do – when they’re done right, they can make you feel for the characters that are being put through such emotions like fear and agonizing pain. [...]

Movie Review: Teeth (2007) »

To describe the premise of Teeth sort of spoils some of the fun of the movie but unfortunately some spoilers are needed to let anyone thinking of watching this movie (especially men) know what their getting into. This movie is graphic, shocking, and cringe-worthy at times, but also a great sex-ed commentary on abstinence. It [...]

Movie Review: Zombie Strippers! (2008) »

What do you get when you combine the living dead with exotic dancers? Zombie Strippers! of course! I must say, I’m amazed it took so long to make a film devoted to these two mainstays of American culture. I’ll also say, I wouldn’t have minded if it took a bit longer, because this movie was [...]

Movie Review: Doomsday (2008) »

Let me preface this by saying that Doomsday is, by no stretch of the imagination a good movie, but it is a shit load of fun and a hell of a ride. It’s messy, its inconsistent, and full of major plot holes but it does one thing many movies fail to do, and that is [...]

Movie Review: The Signal (2007) »

The Signal is a limited release horror movie that I had very high expectations for ever since I saw a trailer for it last year. It is directed by three different people (David Bruckner, Dan Bush and Jacob Gentry), who each do a separate segment of the story. This movie is absolutely fantastic and by [...]

Movie Review: The Eye (2008) »

Due to my extremely short attention span, I’m guessing the Hollywood raid into the Japanese horror genre started with The Ring. Next on the borrow list was The Grudge. The success of these movies inspired several uninspiring sequels and in 2008, two – yes, two – brand-spanking new copies hit the theaters: One Missed Call [...]

Movie Review: The Deaths of Ian Stone (2007) »

I figured before I sat down to watch the most hyped films of the winter, I’d schedule in one more low-budget, limited release flick. This film made its debut at the After Dark Horror Fest earlier this year and duly disappeared again. That’s a shame because the individuals I spoke with who attended the event [...]

Movie Review: Jack Ketchum’s The Girl Next Door (2007) »

There aren’t many movies that I’ve seen that have made me want to turn away or jump through the screen to change the outcome. I knew after reading the synopsis of Jack Ketchum’s The Girl Next Door, this was going to be one of those films – after all, nothing spells heartbreak and brutality like [...]

Movie Review: P2 (2007) »

Sadly, I missed P1 when it was released last year. But seeing as it was such a good horror movie, Summit Entertainment has been good enough to bring P2 to the theaters. Yes, I’m kidding. There was no film titled P1 that I am aware of and aside from a single advertisement last week, I [...]

Movie Review: Saw IV (2007) »

Ever get the sneaky suspicion that someone does something with less than admirable intentions? That’s what I felt when I sat down to watch and review Saw IV. After all, since the original Saw was released in 2004, Lionsgate has bankrolled sequels every year, each film still remarkably making a healthy profit while getting progressively [...]

Movie Review: 30 Days of Night (2007) »

There are a few things in this world that make me uncomfortable. Being stuck in a barren wasteland is one of them. And although I’m not a person who fears the dark, something about being stuck in it for and extended period of time sends shivers down my spine. I’m also not a big fan [...]

Movie Review: Resident Evil: Extinction (2007) »

I have to confess that until now, I’ve had the pleasure of avoiding this whole Resident Evil business; I haven’t seen either of the previous two films (Resident Evil and Resident Evil: Apocalypse) or played much of the Capcom games which, I gather, are only tangentially related to the premise at this point. So, my [...]

Movie Review: Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007) »

Question. Why does Hollywood think all the rural and desolate areas in the southern United States are filled with inbred, whacky rednecks who want to cause harm to the rest of society? I’ve met thousdands of southerners, many of whom I figured were the accidental offspring of close relatives (I used to work for NASCAR) [...]

Movie Review: Halloween (2007) »

Did I miss the memo outlining Hollywood needing to remake movies that didn’t need to be remade? Apparently so, because just a few weeks ago, Invasion of the Body Snatchers was remade for the third time with The Invasion. This weekend (not sure why it couldn’t wait for Halloween), the 1978 horror classic Halloween will [...]

Movie Review: The Invasion (2007) »

The Invasion. How many people knew this was being released? I didn’t. Seems Warner Bros. didn’t put a lot of stock into either; no premier and a limited amount of advertising basically ensured this movie would receive little to no fanfare. Makes a person wonder whether the movie is worth watching, if the studio that [...]

Movie Review: Beneath (2007) »

Last night in a moment weakness (also known as boredom) I sat down to watch Beneath. It’s an MTV production and even though they’ve had their hands in some relatively good movies lately like Blades of Glory and Jackass Number Two, I set my set my expectations low enough to not be upset if the [...]

Movie Review: Skinwalkers (2006) »

Werewolves seem to be enjoying a resurgence. The Underworld series and to a lesser extent, movies like Blood and Chocolate has made them cool again. And as of late there certainly appears to be a lot of buzz about Skinwalkers. I’m not entirely sure why, but whatever the reason, it was enough to pique my [...]

Movie Review: Wind Chill (2007) »

To be perfectly honest, I had no idea what to expect when the opportunity to watch Wind Chill presented itself the other day. I knew nothing of the story other than there were some ghosts harassing some stranded college kids. So like I do with all movies, I buttered my popcorn, sat back and prepared [...]

Movie Review: Captivity (2007) »

Many moons ago I heard some major rumblings about the upcoming movie Captivity. Apparently, there were a few movie posters plastered around that were extremely shocking and horrifying to passer-bys. This coupled with the fact that the very hot Elisha Cuthbert was starring in it caused a major buzz. Cuthbert being held in compromising positions [...]

Movie Review: 1408 (2007) »

Hotel rooms suck. No matter how gaudy or pretty they’re made up, they still suck. I know this because I travel nearly every week and spend way too much of my time in them. My problem with them is I simply never quite know what has happened in the room prior to my stay and [...]

Movie Review: Rise: Blood Hunter (2007) »

Vampires. I don’t think there is a cooler, monstrous entity imagined. They’re immortal. They’re tough as nails. They drink blood. Can they be any more awesome? It sure can — Lucy Liu can be cast as a bloodsucker. Now they’re smokin’ hot. Rise: Blood Hunter puts them all together; what’s not to love? Well, let’s [...]

Movie Review: Bloodlines (2007) »

It’s just one of those weeks. I don’t have much interest in going to the theaters to watch anything. If only I were important enough to get screeners to the summer blockbusters. Instead, I get access to the bottom of the barrel flicks — flicks like Bloodlines. I guess I can’t complain though, I managed [...]

Movie Review: Hostel: Part II (2007) »

Let me first start by saying, I never watched Hostel. There was something about glorifying the abject horror of torture made my stomach tense up and do a flip. Fast forwarding a few years and my stomach has gotten stronger on the inside (flabbier on the out). It’s probably a side effect of being married [...]

Movie Review: 28 Weeks Later (2007) »

In 2002, we were introduced to the rage virus in 28 Days Later…. At the end of the movie we were made to assume that all will be well after mainland Britain was quarantined. But guess what? The rage is back in 28 Weeks Later and it’s badder than ever. 28 Weeks Later starts with [...]

Movie Review: The Hills Have Eyes II (2007) »

I hate warm beer. I hate it almost as much as I hate wet farts. But what I hate even more than both of those, are movies that offer nothing of worth to the viewer. They’re simply pushed out of the studio to lift a few of our hard earned dollars from our pockets. It’s [...]

Movie Review: The Reaping (2007) »

From a religious perspective, I’ve never considered myself a non-believer but more of a sideline believer. I am fascinated by the Bible shows on the Discovery and History channels. So without question, I had to get out to the local cineplex to catch a viewing of The Reaping. It seemed to have all the good [...]

Movie Review: Fido (2007) »

It’s been awhile since a zombie movie offered us something different. Usually, the movie will focus on a band of people trying like hell to survive an onslaught of flesh hungry living dead. While still the same premise Dawn of the Dead reinvigorated the genre with updated special effects and surprisingly mobile zombies. Shaun of [...]

Movie Review: The Messengers (2007) »

Nothing gets the blood flowing better in the morning than a scary movie based on some freaky, paranormal shit. Then again, a good shot of whiskey coupled with a mind-numbing blowjob will do the trick too. Unfortunately, I don’t get much of the latter anymore, so The Messengers are going to have fulfill my need [...]

Movie Review: The Hitcher (2007) »

I’m going to begin this review by saying I’m no fan of remakes. To often they reek of shit and mean people are out of fresh ideas. However, due to a boring Saturday night, I decided against my better judgement and sat to watch The Hitcher. I hate myself for it. Let me first, get [...]

Movie Review: Scary Movie 4 (2006) »

With a moment to kill, I sat back with a cold Yuengling, a box of Wheat Thins and a jar of peanut butter and watched the latest Wayans brothers offering: Scary Movie 4. Now as always I try and be fair and watch all movies with an open mind – no preconceived notions here. There [...]

Movie Review: Underworld: Evolution (2006) »

Not sure about you, but I’ve always been a buff on the unknown, supernatural stuff. I’ve always been intrigued by vampire tales or ghost stories. The stranger and scarier the better. So without a doubt, I wanted to see the second installment of the Underworld series, Underworld: Evolution. Underworld: Evolution has a simple premise: vampires [...]

Movie Review: The Amityville Horror (2005) »

Why, oh why, do I do this to myself? I must be a glutton for punishment as that’s really the only way to explain my reasoning to watch the remake of The Amityville Horror. Where should I begin. I knew this movie had to suck ass before my wife and I sat down to watch [...]

Movie Review: The Ring Two (2005) »

Last night, the wife and I sat down expecting to get a good scare before going to bed. She had her popcorn. I had high hopes. Although, I wasn’t a huge fan of the first movie (it reminded me of the shitty scarefest FearDotCom), I figured The Ring Two would be better. After all, Hollywood [...]

Movie Review: Hide and Seek (2005) »

The basic premise of the movie: a family man takes his daughter from their city home where a tragedy had occurred, to a country cottage where all hell breaks loose. Hide and Seek has a great cast so I expected good things. Robert DeNiro still has some acting left in him. Dakota Fanning is an [...]

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