William Friedkin’s adaptation of “Bug” is a clear and stark picture of how often it only takes a nudge to bring someone in to the deep pool of insanity and how they can drown in their own delusions. “Bug” is a slow burn horror thriller that pictures two people colliding in a perfect storm of misery and sadness that have convinced themselves that there are dark forces outside that have caused their sadness and misery. It’s not negligence, or ignorance, or just plain bad decision making, it’s “something else” entirely, and what’s haunting is how easy they are willing to bend to the notion that there is an elaborate force outside their door manipulating their lives, rather than own up to the fact that some of us can never truly learn from our mistakes and from our pasts.
Tag Archives: Horror
Saint Frankenstein (2015) [Horrible Imaginings Film Festival 2017]
Halloween night, a motel room, someone has requested a very specific call girl for very specific reason. As the client and provider get to know each other, a story of survival, betrayal, love, and life is woven.
Bestia (2017) [Horrible Imaginings Film Festival 2017]
A man wakes up lost and seemingly in an abandoned, desolate forest/lake location where something may be lurking.
Innocent Blood (1992)
I love John Landis, and I love that he at least tries to do something new whenever approaching the horror genre. No one else would try to bring together the mafia movie with the vampire movie. And while “Innocent Blood” stumbles in to a messy, dull, and silly horror comedy gangster picture, Landis is at least courageous enough to try to see where it’ll all take him. “Innocent Blood” suffers mainly from being so self congratulatory, to where Landis almost seems to be patting himself on the back at times. There are myriad scenes of characters in the movie watching classic horror movies on television, which is distracting considering the movie is set in Pittsburgh during the winter.
Creatures of Whitechapel (2016) [Horrible Imaginings Film Festival 2017]
London, 1888, someone is killing prostitutes. At the same time, a mad scientist is putting together a creature.
In this mash-up of Frankenstein and Jack the Ripper, Igor is now a woman and on the hunt for body parts. Frankenstein’s creature is a touch different and the film gains greatly from it. Co-written by Jonathan Martin and Rebecca Martin, with the former directing as well, Creatures of Whitechapel takes two well-known stories, mixes them, and creates a story that works perfectly. The changes to the characters work and their new ways bring these stories some fresh air. The characters created this way are fun to watch and layered in a way that feels non-gimmicky as opposed to most film that pull the gender-swap card. The stories work well once merged into one and the mysteries they create are interesting. The film makes good use of known characters, locations, and stories, creating a short film with a ton behind it and a lot of interest for most horror fans.
Jack Frost (1997)
In 1997, we really needed a movie like Michael Cooney’s “Jack Frost.” The decade was so serious and bereft of horror that “Jack Frost” was such a wacky and demented shot of horror comedy that baffled horror fans then and has rightfully become something of a cult classic. What’s unusual about “Jack Frost,” (a cocktail of “Child’s Play,” “The Blob” and “Sleepstalker”) is that something this ridiculous obviously had a lot of deliberate construction of its awfulness. Every shot is pointed from a weird angle, the odd color scheme for most shots are off, and a lot of the snow is so obviously fake or Styrofoam, and director Cooney doesn’t even try to hide that apparent fact.
Top 5 Family Friendly Horror Animated Shorts
If you’re looking for some great Halloween oriented or scary animated shorts with a classic flair, the folks at MGM, Disney, Hanna Barbera and Warner Bros. have a humongous library of classic cartoons that will fit your Halloween theme. These are only five of my favorite horror themed animated shorts that will make you laugh and spook you out at the same time. These can be purchased online or viewed on almost any video streaming website! Trick or Treat!