If “Ginger Snaps” was a hard flaming shot of vodka in a neighborhood bar, Nickelodeon’s counterpart “The Boy Who Cried Werewolf” is a Virgin Fruit Colada in an outdoor cafe. While this movie is meant as mere Halloween filler while simultaneously working as a vehicle for Nickelodeon’s key star Victoria Justice, “The Boy Who Cried Werewolf” ends up being a surprisingly solid family horror comedy that isn’t as soapy or girly as I originally assumed it would be. Within the pandering to preteens salivating after Justice, there is also a solid however flawed and derivative story and some wicked special effects. Sure the flick rips off of “Spider-Man,” and “Young Frankenstein,” but it’s still an entertaining time filler with potential to be a franchise or new series, which Nick seems to be going for in the goofy final scene.
Category Archives: Movie Reviews
The Crazies (2010)
Breck Eisner’s high tension remake of the practically obscure George Romero horror film is much less biological horror film and much more Southern fried “28 Days Later,” with a small town being taken siege by an ambiguous and horrifying infection that turns people in to crazy people. What makes “The Crazies” such an entertaining slice of horror escapism is that it’s about as politically important as the “Dawn” remake was, but still manages to make an impression by being an awfully uneasy horror thriller. The disease that feeds upon the seemingly mild mannered people of Ogden Marsh is spontaneous, confusing, and almost completely unexplained. We never get a full idea of what the disease entails and when it can start to show signs and this allows for two elements among the story. It guarantees the element of surprise and mystery, while also allowing the writers to pop monsters up whenever they please chalking it up to the erratic effects of this disease.
The Landlord (2009)
I guess on paper, “The Landlord” seemed like a great concept for a horror comedy. Emil Hyde’s movie starts off simply enough with a sitcom premise with a horror twist about a man living with two demons. The man has to rent out an apartment to keep the demons fed. The demons who reside in his flat have a knack for possessing and devouring the tenants and he has to go back to renting the flat all over again. This can be set up for some raucous laughs and clever twists on the concept, but sadly “The Landlord” is a lethargic and brutally tedious horror comedy that never scary or funny.
E-Pigs (2009)
I don’t know what I finished watching after seeing “E-Pigs,” but I know that the director makes a great effort in creating as much whimsy as humanly possible in fifteen minutes and it fails spectacularly. I sat in front of my computer throughout the entirety of this fantasy thriller wondering what the whole point of it was and what it meant, and decided in the end that it was just being quirky for the sake of being quirky. It’s a bizarre and surreal little fantasy thriller that is just a fifteen minute filler of pointless ridiculous imagery for no purpose or statement.
Feeding Frenzy (2010) (DVD Review)
“It’s very likely the tomato paste has AIDS in it.”
Red Letter Media, the production company behind all of the classic internet movie reviews of the “Star Wars” prequels that even garnered Simon Pegg’s unabashed endorsement releases their first feature film entitled “Feeding Frenzy” a trashy horror film very much in line with the company’s humor and even features their company mascot Mr. Plinkett as an ominous villain as a nod to fans who followed their brilliant video reviews so adamantly every year.
United Monster Talent Agency (2010)
Spending all of his time providing limbs and blood for directors, Gregory Nicotero is trying his hand behind the camera offering up a sneak peek at his abilities with the short horror comedy “United Monster Talent Agency.” As with many first outings, his is a dedication to the monster movies of old with cameos from some of the greatest monsters as well as cameos from some of the greatest directors (…and Eli Roth), all of which is set to the tune of the classic fifties news reels.
The Wolfman (2010)
Universal’s “The Wolfman” has always been another of the great horror movies that fans have secretly wanted to see remade for the modern era but only for morbid curiosity. We’re a fickle bunch, but the fact is that “The Wolfman” has been a long time coming mainly because we’ve seen countless adaptations of Universals banner monsters but never the Wolfman. We came close with the stellar “Wolf,” but that wasn’t an actual remake. Joe Johnston creates what I can define as a rather above par remake, one that really pays respect to the classic monster movies and horror movie tropes while also cutting its own path in to the mythos. While I’ll agree with many that the movie isn’t a masterpiece, it certainly is a cut above all the rest of the remakes in the market and dabbles in excellence more often than not.