I agree with the zombies. Maggie Carr is incredibly charming, and very funny, which is a lethal combination. “Maggie vs. Evil Dead” is a hilarious and very good horror comedy starring Maggie Carr who plays herself. She is pitching herself for the new series “Ash vs. The Evil Dead” and uses this opportunity to show what she’s capable of.
One of my top ten films of 2013, it’s so refreshing to see indie filmmakers actually try to challenge the conventions of not just horror but of fiction altogether. A film like “Resolution” would easily be a terrible effort in the wrong hands, but the combined genius of Justin Benson, and Aaron Moorhead make it a success on every conceivable level. This is a more cerebral take on 2012’s “Cabin in the Woods,” where in the world visited by the viewer is very self-aware. In fact, “Resolution” is so much more aware of the audience and yet it still comes out a winner in the end.
If you needed any clarification of what the end result of “Contracted” was, then “Phase II” pretty much shows all of its cards for its audience. That may either be a plus for the audience returning to see how the narrative unfolds, or a major missed opportunity for folks that appreciate some ambiguity. True, both films are in essence body horror movies, but they also transform in to brutally creepy and unique zombie films that rely on the grotesque nature of transforming in to the undead. Basically, “Contracted” builds on a more morbid and damaging form of disease transferred through bodily fluids that begin to take massive tolls on its victims.
One of my favorite qualities of “Munster Go Home!” is that it advances the mythology the Munsters, and extends their family bloodline. Unlike the Addams family, the Munsters aren’t all monsters. And Herman is actually the Frankenstein monster, except he was adopted by the Munster family and given their last name, hence his namesake. That doesn’t explain why grandpa is called Grandpa Munster, but hey, this is a family with a vampire mom and werewolf son, so you have to suspend some kind of disbelief here and there. “Munster, Go Home!” was a flop initially, which is sad considering the film really lends merit to the original series. It improves on its universe while keeping everything that made the original series so lovable.
Rowan Blanchard and Paris Berelc are two of the most interesting Disney personalities to come around in a while. So it’s pretty disappointing when they’re teamed up to star in a DCOM that’s pretty limp from the get go. Aside from barely being about Halloween at all, the entire notion of the movie never plays out effectively. The movie struggles really hard to find stuff for characters to do, and when it’s failing at that, it somewhat concoct subtle religious commentary. When it’s not doing that, it creates a series of plot holes that just leave the movie feeling incomplete and incredibly far fetched even for a kids movie.
The nineties were filled with superheroes created by lab accidents or green ooze, and Toxie was one of the better ones. You figure turning one of the most gruesome cult movies of all time in to a PG rated cartoon would be disastrous, but “Toxic Crusaders” actually works well. It’s a fun and funny take on the original source material that embraces all the madness and absurdity of the Troma movie series, and I find it to be a great little companion piece to the original film.
“The Gallows” watches like a really bad “Fear Street” novel. If it were written by RL Stine at gun point. It’s beyond me that “The Gallows” managed to achieve a wide North American theatrical release with a pretty good ad campaign all around. Meanwhile, “It Follows,” a brilliant horror offering, had to rely on word of mouth. Beneath the hype “The Gallows” is a brutally boring and unscary attempt to cash in on the found footage fad that reaches the scares you’d find in a normal young adult novel. And I am being kind, since even young adult novels can often achieve some semblance of suspense and tension when they want to. “The Gallows” however is a forgettable and downright stupid effort that lacks in brains, common sense, and general creativity.