When left under their grandma’s care while their parents go on vacation, a brother and sister find themselves without electronic devices. When they meet two local kids and find a mysterious book, they work together and awaken a Kratt who is hellbent on causing mayhem if not kept occupied with a job at all times.
In a small French town, an elderly couple enters in a dance competition in the hopes to win enough money to get themselves out of debt. Meanwhile, a teen girl prepares for her first time, a politician makes budget cuts, and a creep awaits his next victim.
After a lull for many, many years, the horror anthology has made a roaring comeback and is once again a common place for the horror movie genre. Television has embraced the anthology for short form storytelling, while modern horror filmmakers have utilized the format to give a platform and exposure to indie filmmakers around the world anxious for an audience.
With new anthologies premiering this year (10/31 Part II, V/H/S/94, Fear Street, et al.), be sure to look for these five great anthology horror films deserving of a big audience and fan following.
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.
Part of director Jack Shanks’ “Mini-Nightmares” short horror series, “Man on a Train” is a beautifully timed, well paced, and excellently edited scary film. It’s short, it’s sweet, and delivers on a fright that’s completely unexpected.
“V/H/S/94” comes at just the right time in just the right climate. Right now the found footage sub-genre is experiencing a small resurgence, while Analog Horror/ARG’s is all the rage on Youtube right now (e.g. “Local 58”). Horror fans love being immersed in to alternate realities and “V/H/S/94” offers up a bevy of original, creepy, bizarre, and damn scary tales that re-introduces us to a horrifying world where the darkest demons can only be found on VHS. It keeps true to its roots though, bringing back Simon Barrett and Timo Tjahjanto for another great go around.
Back in the golden age of video stores, a lot of times when you weren’t informed on certain video releases, you’d pretty much have to rent something out of the blue. Sometimes you came home with a lemon, and sometimes you ended up renting something amazing. “The Last Matinee” feels like that lost video store gem, that movie inhabiting the corner of the horror section of the video store that is waiting to be discovered. And when it’s discovered it’s bound to blow you out of your seat.