Howling III – The Marsupials (1987)

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It’s really tough to make sense of “The Marsupials,” but much like the second film, it has a good idea but a terrible execution. It wants to be a psychological thriller, a horror romance, a satire of horror movies, and a werewolf picture all in one and fails to deliver on these aspects two fold. “The Marsupials” garners too much of a narrative for one picture, and should have been spread out in to another film, altogether. One thing is for certain: The connection to the Joe Dante film stops at the fact that it has werewolves in it.

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Return of the Horror Anthology

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Anthologies have always been a favorite of mine. They’re usually a very entertaining source of storytelling that works more toward the horror genre, providing films like “Black Sabbath” and the series “The Twilight Zone.” Both genre fixtures changed my view of horror and storytelling altogether. After the eighties boom of anthology series and films, the anthology unfortunately peaked after “Tales from the Crypt” ended and suffered a sad death. The occasional gem like “Campfire Tales” popped up directly to video, while shows like “Night Visions” and “Ghost Stories” brought excellent horror entertainment only to be cancelled and tucked away in to obscurity.

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Fright Night (1985)

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If you’re going to be a derivative movie, don’t hide it. Flaunt it, own it, and be able to take the premise you’re deriving from and twist in to something excellent. “Fright Night” does the very thing. What if, instead of a murderer, the next door neighbor was a vampire? And what if, instead of a disabled man, we featured a young high school boy with a bad habit for snooping? And what if, instead of a photographer, this character was a horror fan whose imagination may or may not be playing tricks on him?

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Fright Night Part 2 (1988)

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Apparently Jerry Dandridge from “Fright Night” had a sister. And she’s pissed that Charlie Brewster killed him. She plans to get revenge on him by tracking him down, taking residence in the same building he resides in, and staging one of the most convoluted revenge plans ever written. She wants to turn Charlie in to a vampire, but then she also wants him to believe that he’s going crazy. She shows him that she’s a vampire quite often, but also wants him to think that she’s merely just a stage performer and Charlie is going nuts because–well–going crazy makes the blood sweeter?

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Chilling Visions: 5 Senses of Fear [Blu-ray]

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After the last few outputs from Chiller Films, I had almost no confidence in “Chilling Visions” as an anthology compilation. Surprisingly, as a display of talented filmmakers, “Chilling Visions” really offers five tales based around the human senses that are unique, entertaining, and often creepy. While the whole lot isn’t perfect, three out of five of the tales are really good genre entries. I’m always open to a new basis for an anthology movie series, and I’d love to see Chiller release a new five senses movie anthology every year to see what filmmakers can do with the ideas.

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Chastity Bites (2013)

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Surely, “Chastity Bites” is a horror comedy you’ll either really enjoy, or very much loathe. And for the same reasons. It’s incredibly niche, and overbearing in its commentary about women, consumerism, and materialism in our society. How far are women willing to go to stay young? Would they even make a pact with the devil and murder those around them? “Chastity Bites” is a combination of “Stepford Wives,” “Dracula,” and bit of “Mean Girls” without any of the inherent genius behind the aforementioned tales.

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