Proud to admit that I am a horror junkie.
However, my definition of what falls under the realm of horror entertainment is fairly wide. Horror is an emotion experienced differently by individuals.
These are short reviews of the movies, television series, novels, comics, albums, and any thing else which crosses my path if I feel like falls into the wide world of horror entertainment.
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The Rating System
All opinions are my own. We are all different. What I may think is great, you may this terrible. Don't let my opinios stop you from exploring the vast world of horror in all media.
~Mind Blowing: Search for this movie immediately. It can only be described as pure greatness and possible an instant classic.
~So Good: Highly recommended because for one reason or another it stands out above the usual fair. Put the movie on your radar as it wont disappoint.
~In the Middle: The movie is a nothing special, average affair. It may entertain in the short term but it will be easily forgettable in the long haul.
~Warning: This movie is a cliched driven slop of familiar territory. Only watch if you're really of fan of this type of material.
~Steaming Pile: The movie is absolute garbage, a complete bore, and not worth the time or effort.
Premise:
A woman stays in her apartment, writes in her diary, and makes dolls fter her boyfriend leaves her. Eventually she finds another man but keeps getting their relationship confused with the previous. Then she relies on her diary to reveal the truth.
My Take:
This is an engrossing movie that deals with mental illness and ends in horrific fashion. The fragmented editing of the story helps with the delusions of the main character. So does the dark atmosphere and excellent cinemaphotgraphy. One of the directors best films.
Starring: McKenzie Westmore, Ve Neil, Glen Hetrick, Neville Page
Premise:
A competition between special effects artists.
My Take:
The contestants this season may have been the most talented over all. I thought there were about six people who had a legitimate shot at winning the competition. And the challenges are getting tougher as each season passes by. But I do have to wonder if the network is over doing it a bit with the seasons running so close to gether. I am afraid burn out and repetition may set in for the viewers.
Premise:
A hit man gets contracted by a mob boss to take out a vampire clan.
My Take:
This is definitely a low budget movie and it shows on every level. It may have been more tolerable if about twenty minutes were chopped. There are lots of long and ultimately unnecessary scenes. The acting is bad and most of the story is too.
Premise:
A young man falls off the deep end after his controlling and abusive mother dies.
My Take:
This slasher takes a big nod from Psycho and ramps it up with its own violence. This time a flamethrower is used because the killer was burned by his mother as a child for being bad. The whole story is kind of boring and typical. And not to be missed is smooth sounds of disco!
Starring: Jared Padalecki,
Jensen Ackles,
Misha Collins
Premise:
Season 8 starts with Dean returning from Purgatory only to find Sam has walked away from life as a hunter. They find out Kevin, the prophet of the Lord, is in need of help and search for him. They discover two God tablets; one for the banishment of demons and the other for the banishment of angles. The King of Hell, Crowley and the Arc Angels are not pleased with the findings. Both want to stop the Winchesters.
My Take:
This season covered so much stuff that it often felt like the writers were just throwing things out to see what sticks. The first half dealt a lot with how Dean got out of Purgatory and why Sam decided to live a normal life. Then they find out about the demon tablet and Cass miraculously gets pulled from Purgatory. The second half has the brothers start the trials to rid the demons, find out their grandfather was part of a secret society called "The Men of Letters, they discover an angel tablet which Cass steals in order to protect it from the arc angels, and the appearance from the "Scribe of God" who has been in hiding. There is a lot crammed into the season and it doesn't work all the time. But once again the season finale pulls out all the stops and actually does a good job wrapping up all the loose ends and creating much intrigue for season 9.
Favorite Episode:
"LARP and The Real Girl" - Sam and Dean investigate strange deaths involved with a group of roll players and find an old friend leading the group. This is a classic Supernatural episode with all the staples the series is known for. Plus the lovely Felica Day returns.
Starring: Ray Barrett, Noel Willman, Jennifer Daniel
Director: John Gilling
Premise:
After his brother's death mysteriously, a man and his wife inherit his house located in a small the British village. They villagers do not want them around, especially after another mysterious death occurs.
My Take:
A decent effort by Hammer Studios with a solid acting and atmosphere. Plus there is a unique monster based on Hindu lore.
Premise:
Two teenage girle meet. They start up a budding romance. One learns the other will be leaving the country and
My Take:
I think the movie was attempting to use horror as a metaphor for the unknowns of young love but the ideas seem forced. There's a lot of talking and then wacky sequences thrown in but nothing much is explained or at least explored. The movie seems like it's not able to decide on what type of story to tell. Also, I am fairly sure the scenes are disjointed and not in a linear time line which makes it's really difficult to figure out. The two leads do have chemistry and perform well with what was given.
Premise:
A loner from a strict, religious household makes friends with a popular rich kid, who has a secret and wants to mentor the new freind in his unusal ways.
My Take:
A well written tale of a spoiled kid with little guidance. He takes the school loser under his wing because he feels they are similar individuals. He exposes the loser to his views of the world and shows him a world of women and drugs. Slowly he manipulates the loser until he is ready for the final test. Killing another human. The two main character are fleshed out to great details as the point of view changes with each chapter. The ending felt a bit rushed and the outcome was clearly seen early.
Premise:
An Israeli special ops team is sent to Lebanon to extract an scientist known to make bio weapons for his terrorist organization. Upon arrival the team finds the area over ran with infected people and they are forced to change their objective in order to survive.
My Take:
The movie has a familiar take on zombies with a viral outbreak scenario. It still kept me engaged until the last few minutes when the remaining team members miraclously returned to Tel Aviv for one last stand against the man who set them up and a city over thrown with zombies. It became too much, too quick. Persoanlly if it would have ended when the team escaped Lebabon, it would have been a darker and tad stronger of a finish.
The practical effects are fantastic. There is more than one scene which remind me of some classic zombie flicks. The computer generated effects are not nearly as good and get distracting (especially in the big finale).
I always enjoy watching films from other countries. It allows you to see different takes on classic horror themes or lore, how current situations are being interpreted through the horror medium, and find out about different legends or myths. The makers of this film definitely put their cultural stamp down and come out with a decent effort.
Rating: In the middle
From Eitan Gafny
Cannon Fodder, the new
Israeli Independent Horror Film, just won the "Best Foreign Film" Award
at the Indie Film Festival "Bare Bones", and a special "Jury Prize" at
Moscow's "Detective Fest".
Cannon Fodder began it's
festival tour at the "Bloody Hero" Film Festival on February, and will
be screened at the "Cape Fear" Film Festival, Hoboken Film Festival and
"Fright Night" con & Film Festival in the Us, as well as at the
"Pineapple Underground Film Festival" in Hong Kong and "Cinema South"
Film Festival in Israel.
The official website has been launched Cannon Fodder
Starring: Paul Naschy, Emma Cohen
Director:
Carlos Aured
Premise:
A group of people on an island find the buried head of a warlock. The head comes back to life and possesses others to find his body.
My Take:
The movie definitely has the 70's Euro-Horor feel as it drips sexiness and mystery. Not everything makes sense and in fact, most of is rather outlandish, but the cast plays it straight and it adds to the dread (or what little there is).
Premise:
After a teenage girl's best friend commits suicide after being bullied, she locks herself inside her room becoming a recluse. Her uncle's fiancee, a psychiatrist, digs deep into the situation to find family secrets and a supernatural force.
My Take:
The movie does a good job at showing bullying and it's rammifacations. Plus there is a decent mystery surrounding the family. Strong acting by the young leads help add to the subject matter.
Rating: In the middle (but better than most of its type)
Premise:
At a resort, a potion reanimates sushi which goes on a killing spree and only the daughter of a great sushi chef can save the guests.
My Take:
Killer pieces of sushicopious amounts of blood splatter, and odd ball comedy...sign me up. And I'd expect nothing else from the director. Plus there's plenty of martial arts, zombies, and a mutated fish creature. It campy ridiculousness and a fine way to kill a little time.
Starring: Sam Huntington, Sam Witwer, Meaghan Rath, Kristen Hager
Premise:
A werewolf, a vampire, and a ghost share resident in a Boston house.
Season 3 has Josh and Nora battling another werewolf seeking revenge for his missing children, Aiden awakening from a year long burial to find out a flu bug has wiped out most of the vampires, and Salley makes a pact with a witch to become human, but it backfires and she starts showing zombie tendacies.
My Take:
By now the series has spun into something unqiue and completely different than it's UK counterpart, which is good. In fact, I think when one compare the two complete works side by side, the SyFy series is the better of the two. The theme for the characters this season is change and accepting resonsibility for actions.
Premise:
A young director gets involved in making porno movies. He gets in financial trouble with the producers and goes on the run. He gathers a troupe and decides to open a theater to perform adult stage plays. They get shut down and decide to take the show to small villages. Along they way they are propostioned by a German to make snuff films.
My Take:
The movie is graphic and a bit shocking, but not for the sake of mere shock value. It all fits within the story of this group abandoning their morals in order for a pay day in a poverty stricken country.
Rating: In the middle (should be required viewing by all genre fans)
Starring: Corri English, Sandra McCoy
Director: Ryan Little
Premise:
A grop of friends sneak into a haunted house only to find a demon has awaken to start killing each of them by their biggest fear.
My Take:
The idea behind the movie is good but the execuation has a lot of set up, failed laughs, and not much in the scare department. The demon is rather lame too. The cast is decent though and the movie does looks great.
I started a Fringes of Horror Facebook Page a few weeks ago. I forgot to post anything about here. I put different content on the page. Not reviews so much, just random comments on horror stuff. Be sure to "like" it in order to get the updates.
Also, in case you forgot the Twitter feed @fringesofhorror gets both the Facebook Page and the Blog automatically updated.
Premise:
A behind the scenes look at the making of An American Werewolf in London.
My Take:
A thorough documentary which uncovers a lot cool information about the movie. If you have the BluRay edition of the flick, then do yourself a favor and watch this little gem.
Starring: Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Eva Green, Johnny Lee Miller, Helena Bonham Carter, Jackie Earl Haley, Chloë Grace Moretz, Bella Heathcote
Director: Tim Burton
Premise:
A vampire is imprisoned by a vengeful witch. Over two hundred years later he is released and returns to the family mansion, where his ancestors now live. He discovers the witch now runs the town his family built and he must find a way to get destroy her.
My Take:
I'm usually a fan of Tim Burton. This is definitely a Burton film. His style is in every frame. There's a fine cast too. But the movie just did not click with me as it seemed to have trouble deciding if it should be a comedy, drama, love story, or horror flick. It would go through sections when it was each of those things but it wasn't seemless and felt forced. And the final act simply didn't work for me. Maybe others will think differently.
Starring: Willaim Smith, Michael Pataki
Director: John Hayes
Premise:
A vampire is unleashed from his grave and rapes a women who gives birth to a half blooded vampire son. Years later the son searches for his father so he can kill the it.
My Take:
The movie is wacked out, but not in a good way. It's all over the place and oozes the '70's from its very core. There is nothing really worth spending your time on here.
