The “Slumber Party Massacre” movie series has never really been too much of a straight faced horror movie franchise. The original film is a dark, silly bit of slasher fodder that is famous mainly for its title. The sequel from Deborah Brock basically takes the whole series in a direction that’s bizarre, completely unusual, and borrows very much from 1985’s “Freddy’s Revenge” with its strong and blatant LGBTQ overtones.
Tag Archives: Halloween
Murder in the Woods (2020)
I love the fact that with the accessibility of filmmaking with modern technology, that more filmmakers are trying to give us different perspectives. With “Murder in the Woods” it’s one in many efforts to give us the classic genre horror fixes with different kinds of characters. This time around the Latinx characters aren’t tokens, but the actual protagonists fighting against the film’s villain.
Get The Hell Out (2020)
Wang Yo-Wei works as a security guard at parliament and is regarded as a loser by others. One day during a Parliament session, as a fatal virus is spreading inside the parliament, the MPs are infected and become zombies. Strangely, Wang proves to be only one immune to the virus. Together with his girlfriend Xiong, they not only fight their way out but also save many lives.
“The Lost Boys” and the Allegory of the Male Role Model
1987’s “The Lost Boys” is often examined as a film with heavy overtones of homoeroticism, and the idea of embracing the vampire mythology in a broader scope. It somewhat re-invented vampires, and even influenced many a creator in modern vampire fare. One of the reasons why I absolutely adore “The Lost Boys,” among many others, is because of its commentary on male models and debasing the antiquated idea of the nuclear family. While “The Lost Boys” is a play on the term from “Peter Pan” about a group of boys that never age, the title is also a play on the recurring theme of male role models and lack thereof.
Candy Corn (2019)
The odd thing about Josh Hasty’s “Candy Corn” is that it feels like the first chapter in an anthology or movie series. I don’t know how far they’ll take this concept, but I’d love to see more Halloween based tales of revenge as coordinated by this traveling carnival and its vindictive ring master. I’m not going to say that “Candy Corn” is a masterpiece, but as far as Halloween movie treats, it’s a very good horror film soaked in the Halloween aesthetic.
For The Sake of Vicious (2019) [Fantasia Festival 2020]
The visceral raw energy and violence of Gabriel Carrer and Reese Eveneshen’s “For the sake of Vicious” is bound to be compared to the masterpieces like “The Green Room” very soon. The set up at least conjures up memories of “Assault on Precinct 13” except in a smaller scale. In either case, it’s a classic white knuckle home invasion siege thriller that spares no one, even when it successfully builds on empathetic and fascinating protagonists.
TV On DVD: Creepshow: Season 1 [Blu-Ray]
After many, many years in limbo, “Creepshow” is finally revived by Shudder/AMC Networks for a modern generation bringing the love child of George Romero, Tom Savini, and Stephen King back for more terror. Premiering exclusively on the Shudder streaming service (then later on AMC), “Creepshow” is led by legendary Gregory Nicotero, doing everything to pay tribute to the EC Comics and the 1982 horror masterpiece. With six episodes featuring stories by Joe Hill (NOS4A2), Joe Lansdale (Bubba Ho-Tep), Josh Malerman (Bird Box), and Paul Dini et al., “Creepshow” is a great companion to the original pair of classic anthology films.