The new “Evil Dead” sequel “Evil Dead Rise” has become the newest horror hit, taking the deadites and warping them in to the inner city. There the book of the dead is cracked open and the deadites emerge to wreak havoc in a run down apartment building. While the setting of the apartment building isn’t often used, when it is implemented, it can be very effective. Here are five Apartment centered horror films you should watch after “Evil Dead Rise.”
Tag Archives: Demons
Evil Dead Rise (2023)
Sam Raimi perfected the cabin in the woods formula with “The Evil Dead” and as a series it’s managed to grow and evolve in to something different but just as good. The new sequel to the “Evil Dead” series places us in to an urban setting now, turning a dilapidated apartment complex in to pure hell. It’s amazing what Lee Cronin pulls off, carrying the torch for Sam Raimi and turning this new setting in to an absolute hellscape for the Deadites. You can seriously sense Sam Raimi’s company had their hands in the development of “Evil Dead Rise,” as this sequel is everything we’ve come to expect from the franchise, only with just a little more spice added in.
V/H/S/ 99 (2022)
The newest installment of the “V/H/S/” series was a welcome treat for me back in 2022, as I have always been a fan of the film series. With the popularity of lo-fi analog horror, “V/H/S/” can still have some good shelf life, and spin some damn good horror segments down the line. “V/H/S/ 99” sadly stumbles here and there in what is probably the weakest entry of the movie series to date. The great segments outweigh the weaker entries, but that’s not saying too much when even the better segments aren’t really as spectacular as something like “Safe Haven” from “V/H/S/ 2.” Even the framing device for the segments never quite comes full circle, in the end.
Sorry About the Demon (2023)
There’s a realty good film desperate to break free tom “Sorry About the Demon.” While it’s not what I’d call a bad movie, it’s a movie that director Emily Hagins kind of loses grip over in its final half. It’s overlong for such a paper thin premise, and most times it feels like the movie can never decide if it’s horror rom-com or rom-com with a touch of horror. It’s a shame because the ingredients are there, but “Sorry About the Demon” never adds up to much of a genre film.
Krampus (2015): The Naughty Cut (Collector’s Edition) [4K UHD/Blu-Ray]
The big trend this year has been Director’s Cuts as filmmakers like Zack Snyder and Sylvester Stallone have managed to go over past missteps in film and corrected course. Or at the very least, offer movie buffs a different look at a classic. This year Michael Dougherty, the mind behind “Trick r Treat,” teams with Shout! Factory to deliver loyal fans the “Director’s Cut” (or “Unrated Cut”) of his Christmas horror film “Krampus.” While I’d be hard pressed to call this a true director’s cut, I have no problem insisting it’s a great horror film, and a fantastic holiday film about family and appreciating the smaller things in life.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)
Fans have long awaited the proper third film in the “Ghostbusters” series, and while it’s become very apparent that the original cast is much too old to carry the series further, “Afterlife” is a great step in to a new world. Like most legacy sequels of beloved movie series, “Afterlife” pays great reverence to the original, while also carving out a path for a new direction and brand new cast of ghost fighting heroes. While “Afterlife” is very light in laughs and levity, it stills comes out in the end as a fantastic follow up that clicks right in to the first two films beautifully.
Demons I & II: Special Limited Edition [Blu-ray]
Regarded by many horror fans as one of the greatest horror movies of the eighties, and one of the greatest Italian splatterfests, “Demons” has carved a larger than life reputation in horror cinema, even in spite of its messy sequel line up. Lamberto Bava’s “Demons” is the essence of punk rock horror, a movie so unabashedly chaotic, violent, and gruesome, but one also packing a sense of mysticism. Its sequel is a pretty awesome follow up that repeats the original’s formula, but brings it in to a new arena where humans are hopelessly trapped.
Earwig and the Witch (2020) [Blu-Ray/DVD]
I’m one of the traditionalists that think Studio Ghibli should have stuck to hand drawn animation, but sometimes there’s just no fighting change. With “Earwig and the Witch” there’s so much new, that you’re almost tricked in to forgetting that the movie almost has no real narrative. At all. This is one of Studio Ghibli’s more aimless movies that doesn’t have a whole lot to it. Substantially, the movie packs in some great animation, and it’s quite startling how some of the motion for some scenes looks so realistic. I’m not going to say that the movie is an accomplishment in regards to Ghibli because Pixar has pulled off so much better.
Hell, Dreamworks has accomplished so much more with this medium.