“V/H/S/94” is finally out and streaming on Shudder, and it’s a fantastic reboot. It comes at a great time where Analog and found footage horror has garnered a small resurgence that promises to grow once everyone’s seen the found footage reboot. Analog Horror is trending on Youtube these days with visual artists and animators of all kinds delivering scary, weird, or bizarre videos that unfold for us a spooky alternate universe horror story.
With so many out there, these are my five favorite.
A famous online prankster goes on a trip with his girlfriend and a friend where he intents on proposing. As things go on, something definitely not right is going on. As things escalate, the party responsible may not be who they expect.
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.
The “Friday the 13th” property is still in legal limbo, and the odds of us seeing a sequel or reboot any time soon are slim. All we the fans have for now are fan films. Thankfully, the delivery from filmmakers that respect the property has been fantastic, and James Sweet’s own fan film is no exception. It’s a little rough around the edges in regards to the narrative, but he offers some new fodder that I hope is made in to canon someday.
On Demand and Digital for the First Time Ever on October 19th, “Smoke and Mirrors” is one of the many documentaries exploring the life and work of Tom Savini. For those unaware, Savini is a legendary make up artist that’s contributed to some of the most iconic horror movies of all time. Behind the man and his make up is the story of a man who has spent most of his life second guessing himself and considering himself the black sheep among his talented group of siblings.
The last time “Night of the Living Dead” was animated was in 2009’s “Re-Animated” where director Mike Schneider enlisted a slew of animators to offer their own interpretations of various scenes from George A. Romero’s masterpiece. That wasn’t so much a remake, as it felt more like an art installation, or a cinematic experiment that allowed us to view the classic film through various lenses and scopes, giving us unique peek in to the terrifying narrative. “Night of the Animated Dead” has a chance to feel like a unique re-imagining. Instead it picks off the corpse of George A. Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead.” Continue reading