Dana Christina is a relative newcomer to the scene and the genre, but horror fans are already familiar with her thanks to Wynonna Earp. Extremity is sure to make her very familiar face and one horror fans will love more and more.
Tag Archives: Horror
Bram Stoker’s Shadowbuilder (1998): Special Edition [Blu-Ray]
Whether you know it as “Bram Stoker’s Shadowbuilder,” “Shadowbuilder,” “Bram Stoker’s Shadow Builder,” or jut “Shadow Builder,” Jamie Dixon’s 1998 horror fantasy is an okay genre entry. While stumbling here and there in visual effects, the STV horror flick makes for a neat diversion with genre vets at the helm. Dixon’s horror fantasy is one of the last remnants of the video store/Pay Per View age, where horror was mostly relegated to trenches. I never gave it much of a chance when it was heavily promoted on cable back in 1998, but watching it now, it’s aged considerably well, garnering the old fashioned late night cable flavor I miss so much.
28 Weeks Later (2007)
Danny Boyle’s “28 Days Later” was a big horror film that made a boom when it appeared in the states, so a sequel was a no brainer. As with most genre efforts, with a sequel you have to go bigger, louder, and faster. While I miss “28 Days Later’s” more subtle, quiet, and somber meditation on the end of the world, and a rapid fire virus, “28 Weeks Later” has its strong points. It’s a solid follow up with some very good ideas in its corner, it just fails in some elements, especially in how it breaks the rules of its own villainous disease.
Fifteen Years Ago, “28 Days Later” Altered Horror
It wasn’t until 2003 where I was truly introduced to Danny Boyle (I’d seen Shallow Grave in 1994, and admittedly greeted it with a very negative reaction. Hell I was eleven). I fondly recall going to the movies that spring and experience a teaser trailer to Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s “28 Days Later.” The trailer, like the film, was frantic and horrifying and it piqued my interest to where it was all I thought about for months. In the summer of 2003, I managed to see “28 Days Later” finally. It happened to be an even more interesting experience than I ever imagined because I’d seen it a week before I had to have mandatory open heart surgery. To say that I was in a rollercoaster of emotions while watching “28 Days Later” is an understatement of the highest degree.
Cinema Crazed’s 2018 Halloween Horror Month Has Begun!
Once upon a time, “Halloween Horror Month” was an idea. An idea bred from a goal to look for an excuse celebrate our love for horror for a whole month. In the past we’d post a glut of horror reviews for Halloween and only Halloween, but that didn’t quite feed our appetite. Now we aspire to celebrate not just Halloween, but October, and the horror genre as a whole. For “Halloween Horror Month” we celebrate thirty two days of horror, the occult, and the paranormal. Yes, we count Dio De Los Muertos. For thirty two days we’ll bring you reviews, articles, lists, and a lot more good stuff for what promises to be a very entertaining Halloween season.
We hope you join us for all of October, and to get in the mood, feel free to view some choice Halloween/Horror themed videos below!
Extremity (2018)
A traumatized young woman signs up to be a visitor/victim at an extreme haunt to overcome her fears, her anxieties, and her past.
Written by David Bond and Scott Swan and directed by Anthony DiBlasi, Extremity takes a look into extreme haunts, how some operate, why some people may be interested in running them and in going to them. The phenomenon was explored in the documentary Haunters: The Art of the Scare and here it’s dramatized to bring a compelling story that can easily fall into horror on multiple levels. The writing and directing for Extremity are well-done and the interest in the explored themes seems genuine and not solely done for shock effect. The film does have a few mostly shocking moments but it is much more about the characters and their motivations than about attempting Hostel-like levels of torture porn which works for some movies but would have felt wrong here. Extremity is not about the body count but about fear and trauma on a more psychological level.
Luciferina (2018) [Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival 2018]
A trainee nun, Natalia, goes home after an accident kills her mother and leaves her father dying. Once home, she discovers family secrets and goes on a self-discovery trip with friends. There she learns even more and puts her own soul at stake.
Writer/director Gonzalo Calzada takes the concepts of good versus bad, god versus evil, Catholic versus pagan, family, legacy, and destiny and plays with them in a dark realm tinged by demonic forces and curiosity. The story here is done in a way that works for its characters, letting them get exposed and built before throwing in the evil/demonic elements. Most of everything here works and goes towards creating a cohesive story and world. Some of the timeline and exposure may feel a bit off as it foes, but it all makes sense by the end. Calzada has a story here that he knows how to tell and he gets it out here on the screen in a way the viewer can easily watch, connect with, and be entertained by.