Tag Archives: Horror

The Devil Inside (2012)

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404Tell me if this exchange sounds idiotic to you:
“I think I might have AIDS someday, doctor.”
“We may never know. I know one solution.”
“What is that?”
“Let’s give you AIDS and see if you have it.”
“I’m in!”

So if a girl is afraid she may be possessed one day like her mother, why on Earth do you bring her along on a dangerous possession ritual that may take the lives of all involved? What does that even prove? “But Felix, we wouldn’t have a movie if she didn’t go along.” Then why even call this a found footage film? Why not just stage it as a feature film?

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Hansel & Gretel (2013)

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123123123The rationale behind the villain Lilith in “Hansel and Gretel” makes no sense. She traps Hansel and Gretel in a bear trap and lures them to her house, she feeds Hansel a meat pie, and traps him in her basement to make him in to her pie, and then asks Gretel to take control of the shop and run it for her, in spite of the fact she’s about to turn her brother in to a meat pastry. She then gets angry when Gretel refuses? Turning her relative in to food is not exactly incentive for her to stay and help you in the shop. And did she continue to intend turning kids in to meat pies if Gretel took hold of the shop?

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The Aggression Scale (2012)

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Director Steven C. Miller is quickly becoming one of my favorite genre directors of late. Premiering with the solid zombie film “Automaton Transfusion,” his films seem to have a grit and guerilla style that often add a sense of urgency. His treatment of “Silent Night” skirted the edges of camp and slasher, while his latest “The Aggression Scale” is a definite step up. Though the film can sometimes show its low budget, director Miller makes great use of marvelous editing along with limited scenery to create an intense and absolutely excellent home invasion thriller.

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Spellcaster (1988)

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spellcaster

Director Rafal Zielinski’s “Spellcaster” is so damn good, I want to hug it, and love it, and cuddle it to pieces. An unabashed childhood favorite, “Spellcaster” originally began life in my household as a VHS purchase from a closing video store in our neighborhood. Soon enough my brother and I enjoyed it so much it became a favorite on VHS, on constant rotation whenever we wanted to have a blast with a goofy eighties horror film. And rest assured, “Spellcaster” is about as goofy an eighties horror film as it gets.

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Cujo (1983)

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Cujo_(quad)What I love about Lewis Teague’s “Cujo,” is that while it is a story about a rabid dog mercilessly ravaging a mother and son in their car, the movie seems to be more about karma gone awry. Dee Wallace as Donna Trenton is a woman who is devoted to her son, but is also very committed to the affairs she’s currently having on her husband. The first half of “Cujo” is spent on familial discord and how Donna’s misdeeds with a colleague seems to be rotting this unit from the inside out.

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Cult

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The premise of “Cult” feels like a new age serial version of John Carpenter’s “In the Mouth of Madness.” Wherein the former title examined the rabid fandom of literary fans with author Sutter Cane who was an amalgamation of HP Lovecraft and Stephen King, the new “Cult” examines the sheer lunacy that can arise from the fandom of television shows. The series so far isn’t an indictment on the dangers of fandom, but it does explore how passionate fans can be, and how they can often breed a cult-like following that’ll do anything to honor the spirit of their favorite series.

What’s interesting is that much of the pilot of “Cult” is constructed like the aforementioned Carpenter horror film, where the episode is so absolutely meta and self-contained, that we can never be sure what is reality, nor can we be certain what is a clue for our audience, or what is merely a red herring. What we think is the prologue of the show is something else entirely, the dialogue is often cryptic in delivery, and there are many subtle subliminal clues peppered throughout the episode that could lead the fictional and actual audience to decode the mystery of “Cult.”

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Tag (2011)

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TAGSTILL2This is a side of director Shane Ryan that I’ve never seen before. Intended to be in competition for the winning slot in the highly publicized 2013 horror film “The ABCs of Death,” Shane Ryan gives us “T for Tag.” Now known as “Tag,” Ryan’s short film is a spooky, unnerving, and gruesome bit of revenge cinema that channels the likes of Takashi Shimizu for a short that’s based heavily on violence, murders, and the ever merciless demon of guilt that plagues our young protagonist.

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