Director Ryan Spindell’s short horror film is something of sheer brilliance if only for the fact that he perpetuates the horror of the dentist. Going to the dentist is something no one enjoys doing and “The Root of the Problem” plays upon that fear by taking a young woman and putting her in to the hot seat of delirium and what may or may not be a heinous plot to take her wisdom teeth.
You figure a pro like Adam Green would remember rule number one about film making: Never star in your own movie. Green isn’t exactly Woody Allen, and doesn’t take his advice opting instead for a starring role in a movie that’s thick with smug nods and pats on the back from Green to Green. I don’t mind a little self indulgence from filmmakers, but “Digging up the Marrow” focuses on a guy who’s barely in to his film career and wants to convince the world he has a hardcore rabid fan base. He advertises it as such.
I hope Blumhouse and James Wan quit while they’re ahead because so far, “Insidious” has been a strong trilogy of horror films. While the first is still the best, “Chapter 3” is a strong follow up that succeeds in creating its own level of terror and suspense, while also giving us the origin of Elise and her team of Tucker and Specs. Most prequels don’t normally work, but “Chapter 3” does, mainly because it doesn’t rely too strongly on foreshadowing to the first film. It includes a wink and a nod every now and then, but they’re thankfully used in moderation and with clever effect.
I’m enjoying the rush of Halloween themed movies coming to theaters thanks to talented and ambitious filmmakers. If there’s any holiday deserving of a sub-genre it’s Halloween. “Tales of Halloween” is a near perfect anthology horror film that embraces the holiday and uses it as fuel to tell some weird, wild, creepy tales all set around a small town celebrating the wicked holiday. Much like “Terror Tract” and “Trick r Treat,” the anthology is set around a small suburb where inexplicably terrifying and nasty things happen on the holiday. Like “Trick r Treat,” most of the stories connect with each other and garner references to the former tale. It assures that audiences will have to watch the film over and over to catch every Easter Egg thrown to us.
Exclusive image
FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL
10 tales, 11 filmmakers, tons of mayhem and fun, Tales of Halloween is set one Halloween night in a suburb where all kinds of scary, funny, spooky things go down. In this anthology, the near-perfection radio host talking us from story to story, played by Adrienne Barbeau in a part so close to her role in The Fog, one could think it was the very same character which is most likely very intentional. The 10 short stories contained here vary widely from urban legend come to life to revenge story to alien invasion to neighborhood battles and everything in between. The Decalogue of stories all connect at one point or another through characters passing into other stories or by location choices.
I think it’s because of the inherent madness and weirdness of “The People Under the Stairs” that it’s managed to age so much more than previous Wes Craven outings. On the surface it looks like a typical horror movie, but deep down it’s a wacky, darkly comic, and obscenely weird horror movie with some truly great performances. As is the case with most nineties movies it even has a touch of “Home Alone” sprinkled within its “Alice in Wonderland” themed narrative. I’m surprised that I really liked “The People Under the Stairs” since years ago when my dad bought it on VHS back in 1991, I thought it was absolutely terrible. Thankfully the movie has held up a great deal and is one of the most original films in Craven output of very unique horror offerings.
If I had to pick a cult film that I’d take with me on a deserted island, it’d either be “Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!”, or Jack Hill’s “Spider-Baby.” It’d probably be the latter if I was pressed. I fondly remember being introduced to “Spider-Baby” as a child, when I used to sit down to watch “Horrible Horror” with Zacharly. I always found the scene of Jill Banner slicing and dicing poor Mantan Moreland to be one of the sickest bits of horror cinema I’d ever witnessed. Years later, I was happy to watch the film in its entirety, and thankfully Jack Hill’s dark horror comedy hasn’t aged a single bit.