Mexico Barbaro (2014) [Horrible Imaginings 2015]

Posted on September 16, 2015 by Emilie Black

[Horrible Imaginings Film Festival San Diego 2015]

Mexico Barbaro is an anthology film containing 8 short films by Mexican filmmakers all based on traditions and legends. It is however more like a collection of shorts as the movies are not interwoven and there is no wrap around story. Each of the shorts here can stand on their own and the only thread connecting them is the theme. As with any anthology, some of the shorts are much stronger than the others. Here the best three are the opener Tzompantli, the second one Jaral de Berrios, and the closing short Dia de los Muertos.

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Bloodsucking Bastards (2015) [Film4 FrightFest 2015]

Posted on September 15, 2015 by Emilie Black

Film4 FrightFest 2015

Office work can be soul sucking, it can be deathly boring. Evan works in such an office where there is very low morale and sales are not going well. To help this situation, his boss Ted hires Max, Evan’s old nemesis. Shortly after this, odd things start happening and eventually Evan believes something is very, very wrong in the office. After the first dead body turns up, he tries to get help from the HR person, his ex-girlfriend who think he must have gone crazy. Eventually, a second incident gets Evan to reach out to his best friend Tim for help. They eventually round up their rag tag three musketeers with Frank, the office security guard who knows more than he lets on. Together, they take on Max and his vampire minions.

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Shocker (1989): Collector’s Edition [Blu-Ray]

Posted on September 10, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

It baffles me to this day that “Shocker” is still considered one of Wes Craven’s best films. It’s especially baffling considering Craven has not only pulled off much better genre films, but because “Shocker” is really just a remake of “Nightmare on Elm Street.” A vicious serial killer wreaks revenge on his pursuers through supernatural means which allow him to shift through his own dimensions, can contact our protagonist through dreams, and does battle with a lone teenager who enters his realm in the finale and confronts him. It’s the exact same film from beginning to end, except it has a much more prevalent self awareness than “Nightmare” did.

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Stung (2015) [FrightFest 2015]

Posted on September 10, 2015 by Emilie Black

FrightFest 2015

Julia has inherited her father’s catering company and has a big event to work at Mrs. Perch’s estate. This is a yearly event and is attended by the most affluent people in town; it could make or break her. To help her out, she has hired bartender Paul who has a less than subtle crush on her. Mrs. Perch and her son Sydney are what some might call a bit eccentric and their mansion also has a beautiful greenhouse filled with very lush plants and flowers. As Julia, Paul, and a stoner musician hired for entertainment prepare for the event, slightly bigger than usual wasps come out of an in ground nest quickly becoming a pest but no more than regular bugs. After the dinner guests arrive and start mingling, more and more wasps show up. Soon the mayhem starts as really big wasps take over and attack the guests, implanting their eggs in them which eventually burst out of their human hosts as even bigger wasps looking to attack anything that moves.

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We Are Still Here (2015) [FrightFest 2015]

Posted on September 9, 2015 by Emilie Black

FrightFest 2015

Anne and Paul Sacchetti lost their son to a car accident. In an effort to move on, they relocate to New England, to a quaint looking house made for a family. No sooner have they arrived do odd things start happening. Higher than normal heat in the basement, frames falling over, possible apparitions, … A few weeks into their living there, the Sacchettis are visited by the McCabe and are told that the house needs a family. As the phenomena multiply, Anne becomes certain it’s their dead son letting them know he’s there with them. To get to the bottom of this, she invites her friend May who is a medium to come spend a weekend and possibly try to reach her son. Once May and her husband Jacob arrive, something is clearly not right. One day, while May and Anne are out shopping, the men have a séance which turns very bad and is followed by all hell breaking loose.

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Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) [Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital]

Posted on September 7, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

It’s been thirty years since George Miller made his visit to Mad Max’s apocalyptic tundra, and with “Fury Road,” it’s almost as if he never left. The newest “Mad Max” is a spectacle of pure raw filmmaking, while also brilliantly carving out a new chapter in the world of Mad Max. In a time where most post apocalyptic films are more dread soaked than anything, Mad Max storms the gates once again as the hero of the end of the world that we need, and the man who unwittingly plays a huge role in a massive war, once again. “Fury Road” is an accomplishment on the part of Miller from beginning to end, exploring a world where Mad Max is a hero whose entire persona is carved out by his character and less by the person playing him. This makes it very easy for Tom Hardy to take on the role that Mel Gibson once made iconic.

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Cosmodrama (2015) [Fantasia Film Festival]

Posted on September 4, 2015 by Emilie Black

FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL

A group of people wake up on a giant starship and wonder why they are there, what their purpose id, where they are going, and why. This group is composed of widely different people including an astronomer, a physiologist, a biologist, a reporter, etc. The film follows their activities and interactions as they question everything and as they wonder the meaning of everything. Not a lot happens besides conversations that do not go anywhere really. Even the apparition of a women on television screens who is not part of the crew on the ship or the multiplication of one character are not explored or taken anywhere, they only bring more questions and very few answers. This is a film about the meaning of live in a way, but it brings no information, just questions through a rather lackluster story.

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