One of the interesting aspects of “Sleepaway Camp” that’s managed to keep it legendary is that, despite not being a very good horror movie, it garners a shocking surprise ending that no one saw coming. Even during its initial release. Though it’s mostly common knowledge among horror buffs, if you’ve never been aware of the closer to “Sleepaway Camp,” you’re in store for a pretty haunting final scene that will boggle your mind. Despite the low tech approach, it still warrants a gasp from me to this day and is a worthy turn of the screw that earns the entire film a place on any horror fans’ collection. Scream Factory gives the new Collector’s Edition the absolute best treatment possible, and it’s nothing short of an impressive re-release for horror fans both old and new.
Category Archives: Movie Reviews
We’re the Millers (2013)
One of the main things I really liked about “We’re the Millers” is that there really is no sudden change of tone or heart by the end of the film. While it isn’t a laugh out loud comedy, it certainly makes for a very entertaining one that relies solely on getting us to empathize with the four degenerates that star. Surely, the four characters that head the narrative aren’t upstanding or even that likable, but the writers succeed in at least making them relatable in the sense that they’re all lacking one thing in their lives and never really admit it to themselves or each other what it is. Family.
Three O’ Clock High (1987)
It’s surprising how “Three O’ Clock High” is about much more than a kid who gets himself in deep with a bully in high school. Deep down while it’s definitely a dark comedy about high school, it’s also about facing your problems. What “Three O’ Clock High” is ultimately about is that bad day that everyone has, and that horrific revelation that if something bad is going to happen to you, it’s going to happen to you, and most times you can really do nothing but try to get through the storm as neatly as possible.
Three O’Clock High (1987)
It’s surprising how “Three O’ Clock High” is about much more than a kid who gets himself in deep with a bully in high school. Deep down while it’s definitely a dark comedy about high school, it’s also about facing your problems. What “Three O’ Clock High” is ultimately about is that bad day that everyone has, and that horrific revelation that if something bad is going to happen to you, it’s going to happen to you, and most times you can really do nothing but try to get through the storm as neatly as possible.
Rifftrax: Cool as Ice (1991)
Full Disclosure: A screener for “Rifftrax: Cool as Ice” was sent to us legally for review purposes.
Mocking “Cool as Ice” is a Herculean task even for the guys at Rifftrax. The movie is such a straight faced movie filled with inexplicable montages and horrific writing, not to mention star Vanilla Ice is such an empty void, it’s a challenge to ridicule him when the occasion calls for it. “Cool as Ice” is still as awful as ever, and while the episode from the Riff Trax gang isn’t their best, it’s still filled with a ton of one liners that will inspire raucous laughter.
Willow Creek (2013) (DVD)
What director Bobcat Goldthwait sets out to do with “Willow Creek” is deliver a found footage movie that gives the viewers every answer nagging at them. Except, he provides the answers through foreshadowing, subtlety, and a lot of ambiguity paired with clarification in the final moments of his film. Truthfully, “Willow Creek” is the anti-“Blair Witch,” in that it leaves so much to the imagination, but garners a very slick tongue in cheek toward its subject matter. There’s no prologue about sheriff’s finding this footage, there’s no epilogue about what happened when the camera shut off. Goldthwait doesn’t want us to believe that this might have happened. It merely begins on a mysterious shot, and Goldthwait takes us on his own version of a found footage horror film.
Don’t Let the Riverbeast Get You! (2012)
You know a movie fails to hold your attention when you’re spending more time marveling at the setting of the film than the film itself. I really should move to New Hampshire, it looks like a beautiful place to live in. And there is no shortage of scenes depicting suburbs and town halls that look incredible when filmed. In either case, “Don’t Let the Riverbeast Get You!” is a giant missed opportunity of a horror comedy that seems to have tacked on the monster called the Riverbeast in to a dramedy about a tutor, and a woman he’s trying to impress. I was never sure on the specifics of the story, since it’s a pretty tedious movie.