The Beguiled (2017)

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Colin Farrell, Kirsten Dunst, Elle Fanning, Oona Laurence
Director: Sofia Coppla


Premise:
An injured soldier in taken in by a house full women to heal.

My Take:
Yet another remake that really did not need to be made. The story follows along the original very closely only without the extra weirdness of the original

Rating: In the middle

Watched: Netflix DVD

Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
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Lady Frankenstein (1973)

Starring: Rosalba neri, Paul Muller, Joseph Cotten, Peter Whiteman
Director: Mel Welles


Premise:
After Dr. Frankenstein is killed by his creation; his daughter picks up the experiments where he left off.

My Take:
A fun take on the Frankenstein story

Rating: So Good

Watched: Amazon Prime

Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
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Victor Frankenstein (2015)

Starring: Danielle Radcliffe, James McAvoy
Director: Paul McGuigan


Premise:
The tale of Frankenstein as told by his assistant Igor.

My Take:
While an interesting concept the main thing the movie has going for it our the performances by the lead actors.

Rating: In the middle (barely)

Watched: Cinemax

Fringes of Horror by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
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The Phantom of the Convent (1934)

AKA: Fantasma del Convento

Starring: Enrique del Campo,  Jorge Pezet
Director: Fernando De Fuentes


Premise:
Three friends get lost in the forest and seek shelter in a monastery. Once their the group of friends start to hallucinate.

My Take:
An eerie tale from the early days of  Mexican cinema. It does decent job keeping things interesting.

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 Blancheville Monster (1963)

AKA: Horror

Starring: Gerard Tichy, Ombretta Colli, Helga Line
Director: Alberto De Martino


Premise:
A girl returns to her family home to celebrate her 21st birthday only to find her thought to be dead father alive and burned and believing the family has a curse which can only be reversed by her dying before her birthday. 

My Take:
I was pleasantly surprised with this flick. Great atmosphere and setting combined with a decent story. Nice black and white cinemaphotography as well.

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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Dracula (2013)

AKA: Argento's Dracula 3D

Starring: Thomas Kretschmann, Asia Argento, Ruter Hauer, Marta Gastini, Miriam Giovaelli
Director: Dario Argento


Premise:
A vampire is taking over a small town and a vampire hunter must come save the day (come on, if you know the story of Dracula by now then something is wrong).

My Take:
I hate to say this as Dario Argento is one of my favorite directors, but this movie is a complete mess. It borders on melodrama with carbon acting. There is very little substance on this retelling of a classic and even less style. Top it off with utterly horrible computerize effects. This is one movie to avoid.

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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The Awakening (2012)

Starring: Rebecca Hall, Dominic West, Imelda Staunton
Director: Nick Murphy


Premise:
During the early 1920's in England, a woman becomes famous for exposing ghost hoaxes. She is hired by a boarding school to find out if the school is haunted.

My Take:
A nice movie with a lot of layers, most of which you probably wont see coming. Rebecca Hall is fantastic as the grief stricken exposer who wants to find a sign of the afterlife to help ease her own pain. Actually, the entire cast is excellent. And there is more than few eerie moments.

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.

Mill of the Stone Women (1960)

Starring: Pierre Brice, Scilla Gabel, Dany Carrel
Director: Giorgio Ferroni


Premise:
A reporter comes to a small town to write an article on a sculptor, who lives on an island in an old mill. He starts to develope feelings for the sculptor's daughter and an old flame. He then makes a connection between local disapperances and secret experiments by a local doctor.

My Take:
There is a lot of good atmosphere in this flick. The plot moves a bit slow and leans heavily on drama but mesh works well. The love triangle is interesting and drives the mystery behind the local disappearances. A well done movie with loads of positives.

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 Empty Acre (2007)

Starring: Jennifer Plas, John Wilson
Director: Patrick Rea


Premise:
A couple is dealing with their joys of a newborn baby while living on a farm in rural Kansas. The farm has a patch of ground where nothing grows and evil lurks. Things get strange after the couple's baby mysteriously disappears one night.

My Take:
The movie sort of reminded me of a Lovecraft tale set in middle America farming community. This is definitely a slow moving flick carried by the relationship of the couple and how they deal with their child's disappearance. It's pulled off admirably. For me, the ending could have been a bit better but its still a decent one to watch.

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 Woman In Black (2012)

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Ciaran Hinds
Director: James Watkins


Premise:
A lawyer is sent to a remote village to settle the estate of recently deceased recluse. Once there is finds out a spirit haunting the village and killing off the children

My Take:
A great cast performs well in this movie which is never short on atmosphere and scenery. It requires the viewer to pay attention with your eyes and ears.The villagers do a great job at making the lead character feel isolated and not wanted and keeping a shroud of mystery around their children's death. 
My big issue is too many jump scare attempts. The movie would have been far more effective if the makers held off on a few. Still, it's better than most mass marketed horror flicks.

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.

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.