Pinocchio’s Revenge (1996)

Posted on October 18, 2013 by Felix Vasquez

With “Pinocchio’s Revenge,” it feels as if Director and Writer Kevin Tenney concocted an entire script based on a serial killer whose spirit inhabits his beloved Pinocchio doll and begins wreaking havoc on a hot mom and her daughter. And then mid-way he thought that perhaps it’d skirt legal issues, and then he suddenly transformed it in to a dull whodunit dramatic thriller. That’s the only way I can figure the logic for the title, at all. There’s no actual revenge, and in the end there’s not a lot of reasoning for Pinocchio to commit these crimes. But at least there’s still the hot mom.

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Good Conduct (2014)

Posted on October 15, 2013 by Felix Vasquez

Director Patrick Rea and writer Michelle Davidson offer audiences a complex and deep narrative that only spans a little under ten minutes. In such a short time, director Patrick Rea is able to convey so many emotions by sheer body language alone. He films intricate moments involving human contact and gestures that often times manage to speak waves about these characters without suffering through clunky exposition.

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The Battery (2012)

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Felix Vasquez

I wish more zombie movies could be like Jeremy Gardner’s “The Battery.” The problem with most modern zombie films is that the writers forget that the humans should be the centerpiece of the film, and not the zombies. Director Jeremy Gardner’s “The Battery” is the prime example of how to handle this kind of genre entertainment with a low budget. Rather than flood the screen with zombies, the monsters are used sparingly and for great moments of terror and memorable scenes, while Gardner focuses primarily on character, building two complex and unique people we can love and hate, in many ways.

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Best Friends Forever (2013)

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Felix Vasquez

I’ll be honest, I’ve been crushing hard on Brea Grant since her days on “Heroes,” so when I heard she had a movie out where she starred, I made it my mission to watch it. Thankfully, “Best Friends Forever” is a low budget but incredibly well realized apocalyptic horror drama with a geek edge that Grant is now known for. Grant is so adorable in “Best Friends Forever,” she may garner a few more fans. “Best Friends Forever” is basically “Harry & Tonto” meets “A Boy and His Dog.” Except with two beautiful women. To boot, it garners immense heart and rather fantastic performances by Director/co-star/co-writer Grant and co-writer/co-star Vera Miao, both of whom play friends uncertain of their future that realize the world around them has no future.

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Carrie (1976)

Posted on October 10, 2013 by Felix Vasquez

Upon first glance, you’d think Brian DePalma directing a Stephen King Adaptation would be something disastrous. DePalma has spent most of his early career emulating Hitchcock, and delivering cerebral gems like “Sisters.” It’s a treat though that he ends up becoming one of the most crucial elements of “Carrie” and its adaptation. Because what the director can’t convey through special effects, he conveys through some amazing camera work and editing that still wows me to this day. “Carrie” is easily one of the best horror films, and revenge films ever made. It’s a brilliantly cast and deeply tragic story of a girl whose powers became the judgment day for many cruel individuals who preyed on the innocent.

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The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999)

Posted on October 10, 2013 by Felix Vasquez

It’s a remake! It’s a sequel! It’s a remake! It’s a sequel! No, it’s an homage! Who knows what “The Rage: Carrie 2” is. Like most “sequels” in the late nineties and early aughts, I imagine this was originally just called “The Rage,” and the studios decided to plug in a lot of continuity from Brian DePalma’s “Carrie.” A few quick fixes, and voila! We have a sequel to “Carrie” that no one wanted. “Carrie 2” is actually a solid dramatic thriller when all is said and done, the problem is it’s really not necessary. We don’t need to know what happened once Carrie White destroyed her entire student body.

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Carrie (2002)

Posted on October 10, 2013 by Felix Vasquez

Back in the early aughts, remake fever was hitting pop culture like a mad rush, and even major television networks were getting in on remaking classic horror films. From “Helter Skelter,” to “Salem’s Lot,” no classic horror movie was off limits. 2002’s “Carrie” doesn’t just remake the Briand DePalma movie for a contemporary audience, but attempts to spin the entire story in to a potential television series for NBC. I’m not too sure what direction they would have taken Carrie in her own series. Perhaps she’d be an anti-hero, or someone who helped other troubled supernatural beings while traveling on the road with Sue Snell. Who knows?

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