All Hallows’ Eve 2 (2015)

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I don’t go in to movies wanting to dislike them, which pleases me when a movie manages to surprise me the way “All Hallows’ Eve 2” did. It’s still a mixed bag of horror, but when you get down to it, it’s still a solid anthology film that corrects a lot of the original film’s errors. Plus the mascot is just so much more appealing this time around. I won’t say “All Hallows’ Eve 2” is a masterpiece, but it’s strong enough to recommend to horror fans looking for a good time. Director Jessie Baget recruits a group of really interesting indie filmmakers to lend their shorts for this sequel, and while some of them are mere tricks, others are absolutely wonderful treats.

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The Shelter (2015)

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A homeless man who used to have everything and lost it all wanders until he finds an unlocked house which beckons to him. This house is perfect, food and booze waiting for him in the fridge, a warm place to stay, a nice bath … However, soon he realizes that the house will not let him leave. As he explored the house and spends some time thinking, he starts to question why he is there, what brought him to this point in his life, what he could have done differently? To give away more would be to do the film and the viewers a disservice.

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“Fear The Walking Dead”: Our Thoughts on Season One

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“When civilization ends, it ends fast.”

In a letter addressed to Robert Kirkman in an issue of “The Walking Dead,” a reader asked if we were ever going to see zombies use tools. Kirkman replied that the zombies would never evolve. The only thing keeping man from winning is man. That’s essentially the thought process behind the apocalypse in “Fear the Walking Dead.” Surely, the walking dead are horrifying and major contributors to the downfall of mankind, but what basically destroys civilization is the horror of mankind: Our selfishness, our greed, and our inability to look out for one another.

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Magic Mike XXL (2015) [Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital]

magicmikexxlAfter the pop culture explosion that Steven Soderbergh brought to screens with 2012’s “Magic Mike,” director Gregory Jacobs does a bang up job of carrying the torch. “Magic Mike XXL” is a mixed bag that sags in the middle but is overall a very entertaining road film. After three years retired from the erotic dance business, Mike receives word that former boss “Dallas” is dead. Shocked to learn that he is very alive and abandoned his former group of dancers, Mike is inspired to rejoin his old team after a serendipitous airing of the song “Pony” reminds him of his old days.

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Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996)

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Melissa Joan Hart is really good casting as Sabrina, the young witch who discovers that she has magical powers on her sixteenth birthday. Hart was always able to convey the girl next door charm and otherworldly beauty well, and she is able to transform Sabrina in to an admirable silver screen heroine. Much like the comics that spawned her, Joan Hart plays Sabrina a transfer student from Massachusetts who goes to live with her aunts at Riverdale. She’s fairly new to her school and dreams of becoming one of the senior elite. On the day of her sixteenth birthday, she discovers that she comes from a long line of witches and that her aunts are her witch mentors.

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R.L. Stine’s Monsterville: Cabinet of Souls (2015)

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I don’t know how they keep recruiting these Disney stars to headline the RL Stine movies. Disney always seems to have such a tight grasp on them. In either case, “Cabinet of Souls” is the very definition of an RL Stine story, except with a much longer format. It surely sports the same mold and aesthetic with a small town, teen protagonists, and evil villains that seek to ruin their innocence somehow. It stumbles on occasion, and there’s a clear lack of wit that you can usually find with Stine’s yarns, but it’s a pleasing movie; especially if you’re a fan of Dove Cameron, Katherine McNamara, or Ryan McCartan.

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Insidious Chapter 3 (2015)

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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.

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