“Buried Alive” is one of the earliest Frank Darabont movies that indicates a lot of what Darabont would have coming for fans of his cinematic outputs. While it’s very much a TV movie, and feels a lot more like an episode of an anthology series than a movie, it’s still a pretty strong revenge thriller overall. “Buried Alive” is dark and bleak from minute one where Tim Matheson is great as an everyday working man and contractor who is a victim of a devious and greedy woman. There’s nothing particularly wrong with his character, he’s just so set in his ways and can’t notice that his wife is a gold digger who has sinister plans for him.
Born of Sin (2017) [Horrible Imaginings Film Festival 2017]
When an alcoholic father leaves his daughter in the car to go to a bar, things take a turn for her that is both dangerous and odd.
Written and directed by William Boodell, the short explores bad parenting and the risks of leaving your child unattended, but with a twist that changes things quite a bit at the end. His writing here leads the viewer in one direction for most of the film and then a twist changes things, which makes sense, and does not feel forced. The characters he creates here are strong and have their own direction and way of handling their situations. He uses these to a great effect and plays on some of society’s fears to bring his film together and make the audience react.
Susannah (2017)
Carlisle Floyd’s 1955 opera has long been a staple of regional opera companies, but it has only rarely been staged by the major urban companies – and, incredibly, this release marks the first time that has ever been presented on DVD. In this new release from the Naxos label, a 2014 version by Florida’s St. Petersburg Opera offers an intelligent interpretation that captures the raw emotional power of Floyd’s imaginative updating of the apocryphal Biblical tale of Susannah and the Elders into an early 20th century Appalachian setting.
Night of the Living Dead (1968): 50th Anniversary [Blu-ray/Digital]
With the unfortunate death of George A. Romero this year, now is the best time to re-visit “Night of the Living Dead.” It’s hard to believe what one small mistake could have done to alter history, as Romero’s accidental omission of the copyright sign for “Night of the Living Dead” allowed his horror masterpiece to become public domain, and for his idea of the zombie to become open game for anyone and everyone with an imagination. Just imagine if Romero had copyrighted the concept of the flesh eating zombie and we probably wouldn’t have about eighty percent of the zombie movies we have today.
Ruin Me (2017) [Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival 2017]
A non-fan joins a group going to Slasher Sleepout, a camp experienced based on slasher films, when a friend could not attend. As things take a turn for the worse and fake death becomes real, she must fight for her life and participate in this activity she definitely does not care for.
A Father’s Day (2016) [Horrible Imaginings Film Festival 2017]
A man meets a young girl as they both are zombies and shuffling through life. As they make new memories and make the day special, their father-daughter bond strengthens.
Written and directed by Mat Johns, A Father’s Day creates a relationship that shows how strong the bonds between a father and daughter can be in a gut-punch of a short film. He uses the zombie apocalypse as a backdrop to show family bonds and how people can relate to each other. It’s a simple set up, yet it contains so many layers and so much in terms of emotional baggage. The film shows different levels of zombies and different levels of human interactions and bonds.
Lost Rondout: A Story of Urban Renewal (2017)
Stephen Blauweiss and Lynn Woods’ documentary considers a 1960s urban renewal project that had the opposite effect on its intended target.