Author Archives: Felix Vasquez

“The Haunting of Hill House” is the Best Horror Series of 2018

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Warning: Mild Spoilers to the Series Included.

Take a look at any and all supernatural tales, and you’ll find that they are deep down about three things: They’re either about family, about death, or about mental illness. From “The Babadook,” and “The Conjuring,” to “The Haunting” or “Rebecca,” every great ghost story deep down is about those core themes. “The Haunting of Hill House” is the most riveting ghost story and horror series I’ve seen all year, and I say that as someone who has seen the supernatural sub-genre reduced to nothing but a series of shocks and bumps on the wall when films like “The Ring” and “Grudge” were popularized in the early aughts. To their credit, they are fine ghost films, but I missed the more humanistic elements.

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Five Great Horror Movie Sidekicks

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Horror Movie Sidekicks can be some of the best aspects of a horror movie. Sometimes the can be the last thread of redemption for our hero, sometimes they help the final girl see the end, sometimes they can cause a big realization, and sometimes they can simply sacrifice themselves to help our hero or heroine battle the villain. On rare occasions they can even be more memorable than the heroes. In the end, a good side kick is everything, and these are five particularly good ones.

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Shorts Round Up of the Week: Halloween Horror Month Edition

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It’s the Halloween Horror Month Edition of “Shorts Round Up” as I review some of the short films that have hit our inbox from some of the most interesting up and coming filmmakers in cinema. These are five horror short films that you should be on the look out when they premiere in festivals or online very soon.

If you’d like to submit your short film for review consideration, submissions are always opened.  Continue reading →

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956): Olive Signature Collection [Blu-Ray]

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In 1953, “War of the Worlds” brought American audiences an alien foe that crash landed on Earth, and destroyed every inch of the world before it, before finally being defeated by irony. Don Siegel’s 1956 “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” has managed to garner as much influence, and some argue even more influence, mainly for creating an alien invader that’s so much more personal, private, and perverse. Not to mention so much cleverer than any human can outwit in the long run.

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Creepshow (1982): Collector’s Edition [Blu-Ray]

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“Creepshow” isn’t just a horror movie, but it’s also the gold standard for what most anthology horror movies strive to be. While there have been anthology horror films before it, “Creepshow” popularized the genre for a new decade and helped redefine the idea of the sub-genre. Not just that, but “Creepshow” is also a rebuttal to the golden age of horror comic from EC. Once upon a time the comics label that produced violent horror based comics were shut down due to their controversial nature. “Creepshow” is a movie that combines immense talents from folks like George Romero, Stephen King, and Tom Savini to provide something of a rebellious middle finger and show a new audience that these tales were as fun as they were violent.

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Halloween (2018)

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It’s been a very long time since Michael Myers was such an imposing or scary horror figure. After many years where he became a reality star getting his ass handed to him by a hip hop star, and being turned in to a hillbilly, it’s good to see Michael Myers once again return to the form he arrived in as “The Shape.” Directed by David Gordon Green, “Halloween” (or “H40,” if you want to get very technical) won’t be for everyone, as it is a mixed bag that makes a controversial decision with its narrative and the mythos. In the end, though, I had a great time, and would recommend it, especially for the horror base looking for a good return to the universe Carpenter specifically established.

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Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (2018)

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The first “Goosebumps” movie was a big surprise for me. While I was against it being a fluid narrative and not an anthology or adaptation of one of the books, it ended up being a great, heartfelt, and genuinely fun horror comedy. And Jack Black as RL Stine was such a nice little addition that helped what was essentially a love letter to RL Stine’s imagination. It pains me to say that, like a lot of others, I just did not like “Goosebumps 2.” It’s not only the fact that it tosses out a lot of what made the original film so much fun, but it also completely recycles the premise from the first film with a monster apocalypse… except, you know, on Halloween.

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