Ancestor

Author: Scott Sigler

Synopsis:
A team of scientist try to splice DNA and create a creature to harvest human organs. Something goes wrong with the code and they create huge beasts instead who have only one thought - feed.

My Take:
Like all of Sigler's stories this one is packed full of colorful characters, good action sequences, gory descriptions, and disturbing creatures. This tale does not disappoint.

Rating: So Good




Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.seankimmel.com.

Dylan Dog: Dead of Night (2011)

Director: Kevin Munroe
Starring: Brandon Routh, Sam Huffington, Taye Diggs


Synopsis:
A supernatural peacekeeper/investigator is called out of retirement after his friend is murdered.

My Take:
I have never read any of the graphic novels. With that statement out of the way, the movie has some moments. I really liked Sam Huffington's performance as he rots away into zombie form, but nothing else really stands out. There are worse ways to kill a couple of hours.

Rating: In the middle




Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.seankimmel.com.

The Lonely Bones (2009)

Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Stanley Tucci


Synopsis:
A young girl is murdered and is trapped in the after life. She spends her days watching her loved one grieve while the murderer remains free.

My Take:
If this wasn't a Peter Jackson movie, I probably would have passed on watching. While the movie relies heavily on drama there are some frightening things. Stanley Tucci's performance is bone chilling. A refreshing take having the story be told through the point of view of the dead girl.
And no, I've never read the book either.

Rating: In the middle (with an upside)





Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.seankimmel.com.

Bio Zombie (1998)

Director: Wilson Yip


Synopsis:
A toxic serum made for bio warfare, and disguised in soda can, ends up in the hands of the civilians at a mall. A person mistakenly drinks the serum, dies, and turns into a zombie which in turns attacks the remaining people at the mall.

My Take:
A Chinese homage to many zombie films of the past. Bad make up is forgiven due to the great characters and levity in their performances. There's a lot of comedy in the daily happening of the characters and a slow build to when the proverbial shit hits the fan. A bleak ending smacks you in the face.
I liked this a lot more than anticipated.

Rating: So Good





Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.seankimmel.com.

The Silent Scream (1980)

Director: Denny Harris
Starring: Barbara Steele, Rebecca Balding


Synopsis:
A college student moves into a seaside mansion owned by a strange lady and her teenage son. The house boards other students. After one of the students is murdered, the family's secrets start coming out.

My Take:
I enjoyed watching Barbara Steele pay a compete whack job. She's just awesome and it makes the movie. The story is decent, if not a little predictable, but the movie drags in parts.

Rating: In the middle




Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.seankimmel.com.

Torchwood, Season 2 (2008)

Starring: John Barrowman, Eve Myles


Synopsis:
The season opens up with the return of Captain Jack Harkness from his mysterious disappearance. He finds the Torchwood team in tact and carrying on their duties. They quickly get over their anger and continue to fight aliens and supernatural beings. This season also delves a little deeper into the nature of The Rift and many of Jack's secrets including his long lost brother, which has ramification for the entire Torchwood team.

My Take:
Torchwood turned it up a notch in its second season. The last two episodes, "Fragments" and "Exit Wounds" are as brilliant as television gets. The season goes to dark places of human emotion and nearly ever episode is better than the previous, which provides for several stand out episodes.

Favorite Episode:
"From Out of the Rain" - In this episode a group of traveling carnival people escape their celluloid prison. The purpose is to steal people's last breath so the traveling show can be remembered forever.

My Take: So Good





Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.seankimmel.com.

House of Dark Shadows (1970)

Director: Dan Curtis
Starring: Jonathan Frid, Katherine Leigh Scott

Synopsis:
A vampire finds the reincarnation of his long lost love and with the help of a doctor tries to become human once again.

My Take:
I can see how this movie (and the TV series) was a huge hit in the late 60's. It seems to have a perfect amount of soap opera drama, horror, and mystery. However, watching it today, it all feels out dated. And the music score really bothered me too. I will look forward to the Tim Burton remake.

Rating: In the Middle





Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.seankimmel.com.

Shock (1977)

Director: Mario Bava


Synopsis:
A woman, her son, and new husband move into the house where her former husband committed suicide. Strange things begin to occur.

My Take:
The movie was all over the place not knowing if it wanted to a ghost tale, possession flick, or psychological thriller. Plus the kid actor was so damn annoying. I ended up being highly disappointed n this movie.

Rating: Warning





Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.seankimmel.com.

Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born [Vol. 1]

Writers: Peter David, Robin Furth
Artists: Jae Lee


Synopsis:
After passing the test to become a Gunslinger, a young Roland and his two friends, Cuthbert and Alain, are sent to a far off colony by their fathers. Once there Roland falls in love a girl named Susan and find much corruption against the Guild. The ka-tet enter a battle with supporters of Marten the Good, a henchmen of the Crimson King.

My Take:
The Dark Tower series by Stephen King is my all time favorite series of books. I was gitty with excitement upon hearing about a graphic novel based around the young Roland. This first volume covers the same backstory from Wizard and Glass, but it glosses over the key points from the novel and fills in even more of the story. It's a great first step in the battle between Roland and the Man In Black and I anticipate the other volumes.

Rating: So Good.




Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.seankimmel.com.

Flight of the Living Dead (2007)

Director: Scott Thomas
Starring: David Chisum, Kevin J. O'Connor, Raymond Berry

Synopsis:
A infected body is being transported on a plane. The body breaks out of its container and spreads the virus to the passengers turning people into zombies.

My Take:
I wanted to like it more for all of its B movie glory but just couldn't turn my mind off to the little holes in the script which tries throwing too much at the viewer. The movie does display a strong cast.

My Rating: Warning




Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.seankimmel.com.

Your Highness (2011)

Director: David Gordon Green
Starring: Danny McBride, James Franco, Natalie Portman, Zooey Deschanel


Synopsis:
After his bride is taken by an evil sorcerer, a Prince and his brother set off on a quest to rescue her.

My Take:
Yeah, I know, this is not a horror flick in any way. I must admit it, even if fantasy is the little brother of horror. This movie is a straight up crude comedy set in fantasy world of witches, warlocks, dragons, and other mid-evil beasts. Therefore it rests on the fringes of horror and I choose to review it.

Like I said, a crude comedy filled with juvenile humor. And I laughed my ass off the entire time. There's a little splatter and decent creatures too.

My Take: So Good




Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.seankimmel.com.

The Dollmaster (2004)

Director: Yong-ki Jeong


Synopsis:
A group of people go to a doll museum for the weekend. Strange occurrences begin to happen as they each die off.

My Take:
Souls taking over dolls and committing random acts of violence is creepy. Through in the strange doll maker and a guy chained up in a basement. There's too much going on in this movie. It throws in humor and weird times and some of the editing is out of place. I ended up more frustrated while watching then anything.

Rating: Warning




Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.seankimmel.com.

Lost Girl, Season 1 (2010)

Starring: Anna Silk


Synopsis:
A succubus who is just learning her powers tries to solve the mystery of why she is what she is and remain neutral in an age old battle between the Light and Dark Fae (supernatural creatures)

My Take:
It's a decent premise, especially with a succubus named Beau in the lead role, as she masquerades as private eye. Naturally all the cases end up having a connection to the secret Fae World. The show does a fine job creating its own mythos of fairytale and supernatural beings. Most of the secondary characters are intriguing and refreshing characters not normally seen in a horror style show.

The human sidekick, Kenzi, did tend to get on my nerves a bit. And poorly written one liners come fast and furious towards each episodes end. The writers should cut down on those.

Favorite Episode: "Vexed" (episode 8)
In this episode shit hits the fan as Beau tries to help a Fae on death row, who just happens to know something about her past. Both sides don't like her interfering as it breaks the old laws.

Review: In the Middle (but in a positive, take a chance kind of way)




Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.seankimmel.com.

Battlefield Baseball (2003)

Director: Yûdai Yamaguchi

Synopsis:
The tale of baseball team, where the league rules are little different. Namely you play until the other team is dead.

My Take: I wanted to enjoy this Japanese splatter flick more than I did. Instead found it to be boring. Strange, I usually enjoy the movies from this group.

Rating: Warning




Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.seankimmel.com.

Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965)

Director:
Starring: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Donald Sutherland


Synopsis:
A fortune teller reads Tarot Cards to five strangers while riding they ride a train.

My Take:
Anthology movies can be tricky. With the segments and the wrap around it's rare to find a complete film. This one holds its own and is excellent all around with a vampire tale, a werewolf tale, a voodoo tale, a revenge/ghost tale, and a tale with a mysterious plant.

Rating: So Good




Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.seankimmel.com.

Super (2011)

Director: James Gunn
Starring: Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Live Tyler, Kevin Bacon


Synopsis:
An average guy loses his wife to the local drug kingpin. He tries to save her and clean up the streets by transforming himself into a superhero called "The Crimson Bolt."

My Take:
You may think this is a strange film to review for a horror blog. However dark comedies are a cousin to horror. Plus there's enough splatter to appease gore hounds. I love that James Gunn is essentially still making Troma style movies only with a bigger budget.

The movie is terrific. Laugh out loud funny one moment, then uncomfortably funny the next, to downright sad at times. Rainn Wilson cranks out tremendous performance as Frank, the every man just trying to live life and get the only person he cares about back. Ellen Page is a spitfire with her delusional character. And plenty of cameos abound. The final scene is pure poetry. This movie has the feel of a cult classic that will gain popularity as time passes.

My Rating: Instant Classic




Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.seankimmel.com.

The Ward (2011)

Director: John Carpenter
Starring: Amber Heard


Synopsis:
A young woman wakes up in a mental institution with no memory as why she's there and who she is. Soon it becomes apparent the ward is haunted by a ghost wanting revenge on the patients.

My Take:
Like many horror fans I yearn for the John Carpenter of mid 70's to mid 80's. Unfortunately you don't get him here. The story is kind of typical. If you're paying attention, the ending shouldn't come as a surprise. Bu at least it's well executed. To be fair, I did jump in my seat a couple of times, so I give it some credit.

Rating: In the Middle




Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.seankimmel.com.