The Final Girls (2015)

Posted on November 23, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

Todd Strauss-Schulson‘s “The Final Girls” is probably the best coming of age film of the year. Hiding beneath the veneer of a slasher horror comedy beats a touching and heartbreaking dramedy about letting go, and accepting that sometimes nature has to take its course. Taissa Farmiga is wonderful as young Max, the daughter of Amanda, a once popular actress who has unfortunately been typecast for her role as Nancy in a famous slasher movie named “Camp Bloodbath.” Max keeps the hope in her mom alive, despite Amanda completely losing faith in herself, and in the hope of becoming a popular actress once again. Tragically the pair gets in to a horrible car crash killing Amanda and leaving Max orphaned. Three years later, Max is still clinging to memories, and is convinced by friend Duncan to attend a double screening of mom Amanda’s “Camp Bloodbath” movies, in hopes of indulging hardcore fans of the movie series.

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Ghost Town (1988) [Blu-Ray]

Posted on November 20, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

Empire and Charles Band always had a knack for creating Westerns, but the type of Westerns that just were not as traditional as you might think. They had every opportunity to deliver us a normal western, and yet they went the odd route delivering creative amalgams like 1994’s “Oblivion,” and mediocre fare like “Ghost Town.” Richard Governor’s “Ghost Town” watches more like an extended episode of a mediocre anthology horror show, and when you get right past the whole supernatural tropes, it’s another ordinary western that we’ve seen a thousand times over. It’s not a gem of the Empire/Band library, but it’s a unique diversion.

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John Fallon, Director of “The Shelter”

Posted on November 19, 2015 by Emilie Black

Q. Please tell us a bit about the subject of The Shelter. What are some of the themes approached in the film and why?
The Shelter is about a widower named Thomas Jacob (Michael Pare) who returns to his hometown after 5 years of absence. He eventually gets trapped in a house that won’t let him leave. Self-loathing, faith (and lack of), guilt, regret, betrayal and forgiveness are all themes the film deals with. All universal themes in my opinion and they were close to my heart when I wrote the film.

Q. Guilt, forgiveness and redemption. It is clear they are themes that fascinate you from viewing other films you wrote (Deaden, American Muscle) as well as The Shelter. Can you elaborate on why?
They interest me because I lived them. I had difficult early years, carried a lot of demons with me for a long time, made lots of bad decisions and it’s only with time that I figured out how to conquer said demons, to take responsibility for my mistakes, to forgive myself and move forward while trying to be a good person. But not everybody manages to face themselves in an honest way or find “peaceful” redemption, and yes, that psychological/emotional purgatory fascinates me. I guess because it could have been me.

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The Visit (2015)

Posted on November 16, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

After a considerable slump with “The Last Airbender,” and “After Earth,” Shyamalan gives us yet another humanistic, demented, mystery that is filled with his trademark themes about life and coming of age. In this case, it’s young Becca and Tyler, both of whom are still healing from a broken marriage that saw their father leave them years before we meet them. Cut like a mock documentary, Shyamalan tailors the film to give us more of a personal view in to the dilemma Becca and Tyler find themselves in, and what it ultimately means in their development as adults.

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The Green Inferno (2015)

Posted on November 16, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

You’d assume ten years in to one’s career that a filmmaker would begin to mature as a storyteller. But here we are in 2015, and Eli Roth is still telling the same story. A bunch of inept Americans go in to a foreign country and get brutally massacred. It’s the same xenophobic, sophomoric, silly slop that Roth’s been feeding audiences since “Hostel,” and he doesn’t seem intent on changing the formula any time soon. Roth at heart is still a fan boy stealing from his favorite horror movies, while directing tonally uneven and ridiculous schlock with the intent to shock first and foremost. Really, the intent is to shock and nothing else.

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Puppet Master 4: When Bad Puppets Turn Good (1993) [Blu-ray]

Posted on November 13, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

As we saw from the chronological mythology that unfolded in the first half of the “Puppet Master” series, the puppets owned by Toulon were once kind and heroic. The puppets were the products of a man kind at heart, whose own lust for vengeance and hatred for the Nazis turned him evil. And in effect, he transformed his puppets in to evil beings that did his bidding. Toulon was once a nice man, and evil transformed him in to the villain we eventually met in “Puppet Master 2.” The third film, which is my favorite by far, features the origin of the puppets and how they were just beings living and doing their own thing until they found an inherent purpose in snuffing out the ugliness in humanity.

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#Horror (2015)

Posted on November 13, 2015 by Emilie Black

Bullying is horrible, we all agree on this, at times it can lead to terrible consequences. In #horror, a story based on true events, first time writer and director Tara Subkoff shows what happens when the bullying of one girl by her rich friends goes too far. Here we are shown teen girls mercilessly taunting and verbally abusing each other over and over again. But it’s ok, because you laughed…

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