Also known as “House III: The Horror Show” for—reasons, “The Horror Show” has a significant place in my collective memories. Back in the beginning of the nineties I vividly recall watching “The Horror Show” on late night HBO with my parents. It didn’t scare me like they thought it would, but it sure kept me watching with mouth agape and quite stunned. I don’t care what generation you’re from, Brion James is a terrifying son of a bitch even if “Meat Cleaver Max” isn’t a household name. Continue reading
Category Archives: Movie Reviews
You’re Next (2013)
It’s always funny when you consider studios are spending millions on remaking slasher films, when people like Adam Wingard are literally re-inventing the slasher film. And making it look damn easy, too. Director Adam Wingard’s “You’re Next” is a sick, scary, and exciting amalgam of “Fortress,” and “Straw Dogs,” with a hint of Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game.” It’s clear director Wingard is heavily influenced by late seventies and eighties survival horror films, and he shows off his innate talent for style and suspense with one of the most entertaining horror films of the year.
Puppet Master 5: The Final Chapter (1994)
“The Final Chapter” of the Puppet Master series isn’t the final Puppet Master movie, but it’s definitely the final installment of the true series for me. I consider the rest of the installments nothing but filler and greatest hit clip compilations. In the first two films, we watched the evil puppets and their master Toulon wreak havoc, part three was the origin of how Toulon became evil and how the puppets were once capable of good, and the final two installments are Toulon and his puppets redeeming themselves by saving the world from interdimensional demons.
Aftershock (2013)
Have we reached so low down the totem pole that we’re now ripping off Eli Roth movies? Is that the definition of desperation or what? “Aftershock” feels like one of those situations with “Poltergeist” where Eli Roth was ghost directing while Nicolas Lopez was credited as director. It’s a half hour of a lame tourist dramedy, followed by an hour of really silly gore and zero direction in its story, all leading in to a finale that shamelessly rips off the final scenes of “The Descent.” Thank goodness “Aftershock” is a merciful ninety minutes.
Exhumed (2011)
Director Richard Griffin’s horror thriller about a demented and warped family comprised of people that simply can not leave their home is an often enigmatic, perplexing, but excellent horror film. I often found “Exhumed” to be a brilliant spin on the “Spider Baby” with a Lynchian atmosphere that worked quite often. From the black and white palette, to the intricate play with shadows, “Exhumed” is constricted to one setting, but feels as if we’re in an entirely new and horrific world.
Choosing Sides (2013)
Director Lee Loechler’s comedy short is a hilarious and beautifully acted statement about the lengths parents will go through to bring their child over to their religion. And not as a sense of best intentions, but only for personal victory. As someone who spent his entire life being lured to Catholicism through any means necessary by many, “Choosing Sides” is a hilarious commentary on that moment where some parents begin trying to bring their children over to their faith.
Ruby and the Dragon (2013)
While I really like what “Ruby and the Dragon” seems to be setting out to do, I was never quite sure what director Phillip Jordan Brooks was hinting toward with his resolution. This makes “Ruby and the Dragon” a bit foggy in its intent, and what it’s all supposed to mean. “Ruby and the Dragon” is a short film about a young girl named Ruby who lives in a fantasy world. And why wouldn’t she? Her life is just one miserable event after the other.