If you’re willing to ignore the obligatory self-aware jabs at slasher films in the first half hour that derails the story for a good portion of the prologue, “The Hills Run Red” is actually quite an entertaining slasher film, and one that dabbles in that classic formula of teens wanting to uncover a legend and meeting pure evil and chaos face to face. If you keep knocking on the devil’s door, eventually he’s going to answer, and two aspiring filmmakers learn that lesson when they team up to find the mythical grindhouse flick “The Hills Run Red” a controversial gory film in the vein of Ruggero Deodato’s classic that mysteriously went missing along with its director and co-stars.
Category Archives: Halloween Horror Month
A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010): DVD/Blu-Ray Combo Pack
While scouring reviews for “Nightmare,” I read a comment online that suggested the reason why Samuel Bayer’s absolutely lethargic lazy remake of the horror classic is so bad is because he wasn’t recruited by Platinum Dunes to re-imagine this world, but to simply lens it for them. And that’s an apt observation when you’ve managed to sit down and actually watch Platinum Dunes latest cinematic slap to the face of movie goers and horror lovers everywhere. “A Nightmare on Elm Street” 2010 is possibly one of the worst remakes of all time, it’s a lazy, unimaginative, nonsensical, and absolutely tedious piece of hogwash that doesn’t try to do anything new with the material before it, nor does it re- invent much, but instead merely goes through the motions as a routine horror affair focused on squeezing in as much shocks as possible and moving on to the next scene.
Rammbock: Berlin Undead (2011)
Fans of the zombie sub-genre are ensconced in the walking dead these days as Hollywood and filmmakers all over the world in every corner have found taking to the living dead to be a source of creativity and an unlimited audience who want to see who can take the belt from Romero. “Rammbock” has an hour long to tell multiple stories and screenwriter Benjamin Kressler is up to the challenge staging the end of the world in modern Germany at the hands of raging infectious monsters, all of whom have a taste for blood and are relentless.
Community of the Dead
If you’re one of the many TV viewers right now being disappointed, you’re not alone. Most of the returning shows are horrible this year, and FOX Television has been pulled from Cablevision subscribers thus most of the television now is a drab affair. Every year Halloween comes down on our doors, and every year many shows are up to the task to create something inventive. Sometimes they ignore it altogether (Shame on you “The Big Bang Theory”) and sometimes they’re up for some fun.
The Walking Dead: Episode One, Season One – Days Gone Bye
I think AMC has expressed an enormous amount of faith in Robert Kirkman’s award winning critically acclaimed comic book series “The Walking Dead” by taking it seriously and investing in to it as they would a normal drama or thriller series. Kirkman’s black and white horror comic about the zombie apocalypse and the man trying to find his wife and son in the middle of it is possibly my favorite comic book series ever made, and AMC has treated it with dignity and respect. Any other network may have toned down the violence, and made it much sleeker and action oriented, but director Frank Darabont manages to treat this series with the same character study and emotion as he has with masterpieces like “The Green Mile,” and “The Shawshank Redemption” where the supernatural element is much more secondary to the human story. Deep down “The Walking Dead” is actually a human story with much of the tone from the series transplanted on to a full color epic television scope and while it is different from the series it is also very loyal to Kirkman’s original concept and even lifts some scenes from the original first issue.
Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998)
When it comes to hardcore well versed Scooby Doo Fans… we’re not one of them. But for a brief (oh so brief) period in the late nineties, Hanna Barbera thought it’d be a good idea before the live action movie to feature the Scoobies solving actual paranormal cases that they presumed were originally just scams and con jobs. “Zombie Island” is one of the best (and few) examples of Scooby-Doo done well and correctly with a case the entire gang gets in on that is creepy and actually risks their lives, in the end. With animation I’m never above being experimental, and my faith in “Zombie Island” was rewarded with a wicked and creepy little yarn about the Mystery Machine group re-uniting after a long stretch on their own.
Wolf (1994)
In 2000, the Canadian low budget horror movie entitled “Ginger Snaps” was a bonafide metaphor for coming of age and a girl getting her period. Expanding on Red Riding Hood, “Ginger Snaps” was a full on series of metaphors about a young girl blossoming in to adult hood with lycanthropy acting as a symbol for her becoming a predatory sexual being that was brought out from her wolf-like tendencies after surviving a mauling from a vicious werewolf. 1994’s “Wolf” however is a tongue in cheek social commentary that examines almost the same themes except acts as a metaphor for male dominance in a youth obsessed consuming society.