Oculus (2014)

Starring: Karen Gillan, Katee Sackhoff, Rory Cochrane, Brenton Thwaites
Director: Mike Flanagan


Premise:
A honorific incident happened to a brother and sister that resulted in the death of their parents. Years later when the brother is released from a mental institution, his sister makes him keep the promise to find out what happened and to prove an old mirror is the real evil.

My Take:
A slick movie which seamlessly blends the situation of the past with the current situation as the two siblings try to recall what happened and what is currently going on. Is this old mirror actually cursed and responsible for the deaths or is it all there heads. The editing is superb and makes the viewer focus on every frame to figure out what is going on. Another solid effort from a talented movie making team.

Rating: So Good

Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
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The Battery (2013)

Starring: Jeremy Gardner, Adam Cronheim
Director: Jeremy Gardner


Premise:
Two minor league baseball players wonder around the backwoods trying to stay alive from zombies.

My Take:
A good portion of the movie about the two men fighting boredom and figuring out how to stay alive. All they really want is a safe place. The bickering between each other leads up to a good third act and ending. Really the it's a minimalist zombie movie and slow paced but I found it to be a refreshing tale.

Rating: So Good

Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
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Cold In July (2014)

Starring: Michael C. Hall, Sam Shepard, Don Johnson, Nick Damici, Vinessa Shaw
Director: Jim Mickle


Premise:
After a man shoots a burglar to protect his family, the burglars ex-con father comes seeking revenge. Soon the two men discover they are both pawns in a much bigger police cover up and come together to find the answers.

My Take:
Tight direction and a great cast take this tale down paths I never saw coming (ones I wont reveal). There's enough grittiness, blood shed, and adult themes to please many horror hounds.

Rating: So Good

Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
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Womb (2011)

AKA: Clone

Starring: Eva Green, Matt Smith
Director: Benedek Fliegauf


Premise:
A woman returns home and rekindles a relationship with a childhood friend. After he accidentally dies, she decides to birth a clone of him.

My Take:
Creepy and disturbing scenes made my skin crawl, but not in the good way. I guess it tries to force the viewer to think how far would they go to bring back the person they love. But I just couldn't get into the movie.

Rating: Warning

Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
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Apocalypse of the Dead (2010)

AKA: Zone of the Dead

Starring: Ken Foree, Kristina Klebe
Director: Milan Konjevic, Milan Todorovic


Premise:
During a routine military exercise and chemical is accidentally released with kills people and reanimates them as zombies. An Interpol team transporting a fugitive gets caught in the middle.

My Take:
A typical zombie flick which doesn't add much to the genre. And the subplot with the Interpol team feels out of place. There are decent special effects though.

Rating: Warning

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Yakuza Weapon (2011)

AKA: Gokudo Heiki

Director: Tak Sakguchi, Yudai Yamaguchi


Premise:
A man seeks revenge on those who killed his father.

My Take:
I personally love this types of extreme and outlandish movies from Japan. Plus I would expect nothing tame from the team that brought us Meatball Machine and Battlefield Baseball. The movie doesn't take much seriously, which is why it works. Weapons fused onto body parts and over the top characters are the norm in this flick.

Rating: In the middle (but fun)

Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
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Hazmat (2013)

Starring: Todd Bruno, Gema Calero, Aniela McGuinness, Giordan Diaz
Director: Lou Simon


Premise:
A group of friends sign up for a television show in order to pull a prank on one of their friends. Once the show begins, the friend snaps and goes on a killing spree.

My Take:
This is really just a bad flick with dumb people doing dumb things. And is fairly unoriginal. Not really much else to say.

Rating: Steaming Pile

Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
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Septic Man (2014)

Starring: Jason David Brown, Robert Maillet, Stephen McHattie, Julian Richings
Director: Jesse Thomas Cook


Premise:
A town has a contaminated water supply which evacuates its residents. A sewage worker is offered a large sum of money to help figure out what is work. While exploring the sewage systems he runs into a pair of brothers who are responsible for local murders and gets trapped in the tainted water.

My Take:
While the over all story isn't fully fleshed out, the strength of the movie is in the strong characters and great effects and disgusting situations. Sewage just isn't a clean subject.

Rating: So Good

Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
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Defiance, Season 2 (2014)

Starring: Julie Benz, Grant Bowler, Jaime Murray, Tony Curran, Stephanie Leonidas, Graham Greene, Nicole Munoz, Jesse Rath, Trenna Keating


Premise:
In the future, aliens live side by side with humans on a new, terraformed Earth.

Season two season sees ex-Lawkeeper Nolan and his daughter Irisa return to Defiance because a strange force is drawing her there, Amanda is grieving for her sister's death, Datak and Stahma have power issues on who is running the family business, and a new Mayor goes to bizarre lengths trying to win over Amanda.

My Take:
This season gets a little darker than the first. At times it feels rushed in the story telling, especially the final few episodes to complete the season arc. There is not a good base for it's mythology.  However, this still remains an interesting show and concept. It just needs a few kinks worked out in order to be must watch TV.

Rating: In the middle

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Love Camp 7 (1969)

Director: Lee Frost


Premise:
A trio of female soldiers infiltrate a notorious Nazi camp, where the woman are used as prostitutes for the officers, in order to retrieve information from a scientist.

My Take:
Sort of the standard, run of the mill, Nazi explotation film full of nudity, torture, and depravity.

Rating: Steaming Pile

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Mutantis (2014)

A few weeks ago Mark Leake of Dire Wit Films reached out to me and asked for a review of their latest film, one which he wrote. The trailer is below.

Director: Kelly Fitzgerald


Premise:
A scientists attempts to find a Bigfoot and instead comes across a different kind of monster. He enlists the help of several odd characters to help capture the creature before it procreates.

My Take:
This ultra low budget flick isn't without it's charm. At times it's hard to determine if the "flubs" are done on purpose or in hopes no one is paying attention (like wigs starting to fall off). At least the cast looks like they are having fun with the crazy material, including the monster penis.

Rating: Warning (but watchable)


The movie is now available on DVD at Amazon, and digital copies are available for purchase or rental at our website,www.direwitfilms.com





Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
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Taste The Blood of Dracula (1970)

Starring: Christopher Lee, Ralph Bates,
Director: Peter Sasdy


Premise:
A group of wealthy men who dabble in the occult are contacted by one of Dracula's servants, who they kill prompting Dracula for revenge.

My Take:
One of the later Dracula flicks of the Hammer Studios era. It's one with a thin premise and not a lot of substance or atomosphere.

Rating: Warning

Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
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The Ghastly Love of Johnny X (2012)

Starring: Will Keenan, Creed Bratton, Reggie Bannister, Paul Williams, Kevin McCarthy, Kate Maberly, De Anna Joy Brooks
Director: Paul Bunnell


Premise:
A man in banned from his planet to Earth (during the 1950's) to live out his days with his gang.

My Take:
A unique blend of genres thrown in with a a bunch of songs. It's a throwback to era of films it is set during. Not for every person's taste but there was enough to keep me watching.

Rating: In the middle

Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
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Discopathe (2013)

Starring:
Director: Renaud Gautheier


Premise:
A man flees New York City for Montreal after a killing a girl, due to a past trauma with music. He tries to go on with his life but finds it difficult with so many triggers around him, like beautiful girls and disco music.

My Take:
A silly tale is made better by the copious amounts of viscera displayed at times. And the characters play their parts well.

Rating: Warning (but one can sit through it)

Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
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The Frankenstein Theory (2013)

Starring: Kris Lemche, Timothy V. Murphy,
Director: Andrew Weiner


Premise:
A professor believes the novel Frankenstein was based on true events. He claims to have proof and hires a documentary crew to follow him to the Arctic Circle in order to find the monster.

My Take:
I thought the concept of the tale was fairly interesting and well thought out. However, once again the found footage style seems to hamper the story as it's a lot of talking into the camera until the final act when all hell breaks loose.

Rating: In the middle (barely)

Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
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The Strain, Season 1 (2014)

Starring: David Bradley, Corey Stoll, Kevin Durand, Mia Maestro, Jonathan Hyde, Natalie Brown, Miguel Gomez, Sean Astin


Premise:
A plane mysterious lands in New York with all the passengers dead. The Center of Disease Control is called in to investigate. The find a viral strain which turns the dead into a form of vampires, which is quickly taking over the city.With the help of an old antiques dealer, who has battled this plague before, an exterminator, and others they wage battle on the ancient force responsible.


My Take:
I have only read the first book in the Guilermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan trilogy and was fascinated by it. The series I am sort of split on. Yes, it has moments but is also big chunks of episodes lacked... something. Perhaps I just expected or wanted more.

Favorite Episode:
"Night Zero" - The series debuts packs a lot of dread and mystery into it, while giving the viewer a taste of things to come. A solid way to start off the tale.

Rating: In the middle

Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
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The Raid 2: Berandal (2014)

Starring: Iko Uwais, Arifin Putra
Director: Gareth Evans


Premise:
Rama if forced to go undercover to bring down a crime syndicate in order reveal police corruption.

My Take:
Much like the first movie, this one is full of gritty vicerea and violence. There is lots of action too. If you enjoyed the first flick then you will like this one too.

Rating: So Good

 




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Bone Sickness (2004)

Starring: Rich George, Runy Larocca, Daray Zabinski, Brain Paulin
Director: Brain Paulin

Premise:
A woman is caring for his terminally ill husband. The man's best friend stumble upon a way to help cure him by a potion made from bones of the dead. The potion has side effects and leads to a unimaginable conclusion.

My Take:
The story goes from one of simple means to a massive apocalyptic tale in the final act. It was a way too ambition for it's low budget. The acting isn't great, the movie needs trimmed down, and the story doesn't explain much of anything. Still the solid make up and practical effects can keep you entertained.

Rating: In the Middle (barely)






Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
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