Cast aside all PG-13 biases folks, you’ll be glad to know that even with the rating, “Drag Me to Hell” is one of the finer horror movies released this year. It marks a come back for Sam Raimi who finally returns to the genre that made him and reminds us why he’s one of the greats. While gore is always fun, most times horror excels because of good storytelling and Raimi doesn’t dole out the gore, instead opting to tell a very good horror story that hearkens back to “Thinner.” It’s a classic horror comeuppance tale with themes of karma and revenge that takes advantage of old horror tricks without ever really trying too hard to scare us.
Tag Archives: Drama
Marley & Me (2008)
What director David Frankel accomplishes with “Marley and Me” is what was basically a winning formula with “My Dog Skip,” a dog lovers movie about the life that revolves around man’s best friend, that life long companion who disappears much too early to allow unconditional love. “Marley and Me” is a genuine dog lovers movie, one of many that takes the life of a dog owner and plants it on screen with as much realism as writers Scott Frank and Don Roos would allow. And I think what connected audiences to this is that most of what main characters John and Jennifer go through is what we have been through with man’s best friend at one time or another.
Northville Cemetery Massacre (1976)
With a bigger budget, a better cast of actors, and higher production qualities, “Northville Cemetery Massacre” could have been one hell of a movie. But the catch is that it would have never achieved its status as a cult classic if it did have all the perks listed above. Based on a real biker gang, directors/writers William Dear and Thomas L. Dyke’s action thriller set down on the Spirits (known as the Scorpions Biker Club in real life) a kind band of pious cycle riding nomads who peruse the road for something to do. They’re so kind in fact that they stop mid travel to help an old couple whose car has been run off the road. Dyke and Dear’s story set out to educate people on the good biker clubs actually try to do and how stereotyping is the very essence of ignorance.
Race With the Devil (1975)
The seventies were all about fascination with Satanism and with the curiosity it begat movies with themes of satanism one of the most famous being “Rosemary’s Baby.” Probably one of the more underrated satanic films, “Race with the Devil” is about being at the wrong place at the wrong time and what ensues is a claustrophobic cult classic that stars Peter Fonda as one of a group of innocent bystanders who witness a satanic ritual and are pulled in to the world of satanic worship for witnessing something they were never meant to see.
True Blood: The Complete First Season (DVD)
Maybe it’s because I’m just plain sick of vampires or maybe it’s just that I want them to go back to being feral vicious monsters but “True Blood” always bordered on “Twilight” for me to properly enjoy it and as hard as I wanted to enjoy it, I just couldn’t come around toward liking it as much as my family who found the show to be a breath of fresh air. Sure, the ad campaign was genius, but that’s just about where we end it.
Everwood: The Complete Second Season (DVD)
I loved Everwood and I think it was a show that was a rare family outing that didn’t rely on the religious overtones “Seventh Heaven” did and didn’t sink down to teen sleaze like “The OC.” Instead it was a firmly balanced family dramedy that took the Midwest tundra and showed off a cast of character who, with the narration of Everwood’s kindly bus driver/observer, brought to us genuine emotions and dramatic momentum that stuck with the series until the very end. Take the opening of the long awaited “Everwood” Season Two DVD where our love interest Amy envisions an Everwood that’s picturesque and filled with simplistic complications that revolve around an outing with the core characters of the series celebrating a nice summer day.
Star Wars Clone Wars (Season 1, Volume 1): A Galaxy Divided (DVD)
Sure its film counterpart got a lot of bad reviews at the movie theaters, but guess what kids. “The Clone Wars” does not suck. In fact as a series is a damn good dramatic science fiction opera that works its way through arcs instead of providing self contained stories, which kids shows usually consist of. “A Galaxy Divided” consists of four episodes of “The Clone Wars” and starts off strong. “Ambush” is a fine beginner to an already strong premise and probably the best of the foursome as Master Yoda takes to aggressive negotiations that bring him and three clone soldiers to the mercy of an endless army of robot drones and the empire’s worst warrior: Asaj Ventress.