In a year where Hollywood is trying very hard to resurrect the star studded Western once more, Ti West comes along and casts Ethan Hawke in one of the most simplistic love letters to the sub-genre ever filmed. “In a Valley of Violence” doesn’t so much have a narrative as it has a string of events that coincide with one another, leading in to a chain of revenge, violence, and death. Ethan Hawke’s character isn’t a hero, and John Travolta’s character isn’t entirely villainous, they’re both pushed in to unfortunate corners. It then becomes a bunch of scoundrels striking one another down thanks to the actions of one individual who sets up a huge string of events that slam in to one another in bloody chaos. Ethan Hawke stars as enigmatic Paul, a lone drifter who has only his side arms, his horse, and his loyal dog Abbey by his side.
Category Archives: Movie Reviews
Billy Club (2013)
Drew Rosas and Nick Sommer’s slasher movie is a mixture of “Slaughter High” and “Scream,” where the pressure of sports amounts to a triple murder one summer that scarred a group of friends forever. Said friends were all members of a team once, and now a killer dressed as an umpire is roaming the streets murdering various individuals. The pair of directors is able to keep the killer Billy an intriguing villain as the individual roams the darkness and spends a great amount of time craftily trapping his victims. His weapon is the icing on the cake as it’s a bat covered in rusty nails, and a small slot where a large knife can slide out. This allows for some interesting kills and follows through with the baseball gimmick.
31 (2016)
It’s amazing how a man like Rob Zombie who fancies himself a hardcore horror fan has done little to evolve since his first film “House of 1,000 Corpses.” Every film he’s made since that initial movie has repeated the same beats over and over, just re-arranged in various ways to look new and original. He fills the screen with genre veterans again. He inexplicably sets his movie in a mid-seventies gritty trailer park landscape. The opening of his film is directed by a goofy music video, padding the run time, and he even includes something of a montage with our characters, set to classic rock music as we saw in the finale of “The Devil’s Rejects.” Worst of all, he writes some of the clunkiest dialogue I’ve ever heard, and he is still dead set on placing wife Sheri Moon Zombie front and center.
Supernatural Horrors Shorts Block Part 2 [Horrible Imaginings Film Festival 2016]
Madre de Dios (Canada) (2015)
During a cult-like ceremony, two Brujos use a scared and hurt woman as a vessel to birth the Anti-Christ. Written by Luke Bramley, Shane McKenzie, and Gigi Saul Guerrero, based on a story by the latter, and directed by Gigi Saul Guerrero, Madre de Dios is a quick glance into a deranged couple’s cult and how far they will go to bring forth the one they praise. The cast of three composed of Luis Javier and Gabriela Zimmerman as the couple and Tristan Risk as their victim, their Santa Muerte, give interesting performances.
Head Trip: Alternative Shorts [Brooklyn Horror Film Festival 2016]
Shorty (USA) (2016)
A being that is definitely not human wants to be one but needs to kill humans to feed on them in a manner that is different than the usual in horror movies. As she longs to belong, she meets a man who may be more than sustenance. Writer/director Anna Zlokovic creates a lead character whose origins are unclear but who the audience can care about. The film explores visions/dreams the lead has as well as her life as she tries to survive, something relatable whether she is human or not. This is shot in a manner where some of the scenes have overlaid images on top of basic scenes happening which gives the film a rather striking look.
The Granny (1995)
“The Granny” is the definition of late night cable movie fodder. I saw it twenty years ago very late at night on cable television here in America, and it kind of burned itself in to my brain ever since. Granted, it’s not a masterpiece of horror comedy; in fact it’s so furiously stupid and ridiculous, it’s a film that’ll inspire more eye rolls than laughter. It’s at least worthy of one viewing for folks that enjoy pain with their cinema, though, and years later it’s about as silly as I remember. Star Stella Stevens chews the scenery, adjoining buildings and most of the wildlife up with her role as Granny, a bitter and angry old woman who lives in immense wealth. Unfortunately she was cursed with a vile and greedy family, all of whom are obsessed with counting the days until she finally dies leaving her fortune to them.
Lookouts (2016)
I’m very surprised by how great “Lookouts” ended up being, as often times fantasy films from independent directors never really change my idea about the genre in general. “Lookouts” is thankfully a very unique and heartfelt fantasy thriller centered on a young boy who has to grow up to become a man, and face down a monster that’s stolen almost everything in his life that he cherished. I think if “Lookouts” is ever financed as a major motion picture, we could have a wonderful epic on our hands. Based on the popular Penny Arcade comic series “May we Die in the Forest, directors David and Kristin Bousquet do a bang up job realizing a world that’s both awe inspiring and teeming with menace.