Invasion of the Scream Queens (1992): 20th Anniversary Edition

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Director Donald Farmer’s “Invasion of the Scream Queens” is an interesting memento of the horror world that should be preserved for posterity. Film lovers in general seem to have a very low opinion of the scream queen and how crucial they are to horror films, while they’re a mostly undocumented period of the horror and video era. “Invasion of the Scream Queen” centers on almost a dozen beautiful scream queens, all of whom sit down with director Donald Farmer to discuss their experience in the business of horror filmmaking, and their thoughts on acting.

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Scare Zone (A Conjuring Halloween Tale) (2013)

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I wasn’t expecting to like “Scarezone.” I didn’t go in to it wanting to hate it, but I was not looking for anything resembling something watchable, either. In the end, “Scarezone” surprises as a solid horror effort that mixes comedy, horror, and a slasher whodunit in to a charming indie genre installment. It’s also nice to see an indie film take a horror attraction and use it to the advantage of the film to induce suspense and tension. “Scarezone” has its faults, but I’d definitely recommend it for experimental fans that appreciate films like “Popcorn,” and “Scream.”

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Away (2014)

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Director Damien Colboc’s short animated film is a bittersweet tale of how far we’re willing to go for our loved ones. Though there’s no dialogue and not a lot of set up, “Away” pretty much sets up the exposition through actions and sights. There’s also a lot of ambiguity that the viewer is capable of putting together by the time the film comes to a sad close.

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Envoy (2014)

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For now, David Weinstein’s “Envoy” is really just “Iron Giant” meets “Predator,” but I think with a wider scope and feature length, “Envoy” could be so much more. The short film from director Weinstein acts simultaneously as a spec film for a more fully realized follow-up and I’m anxious to see where he takes this premise. “Envoy” feels like Weinstein took Spielberg, “Iron Giant,” and The Zeta Project for one really good, but menacing science fiction adventure.

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Similo (2014)

In a dying world how far would you go to keep the environment you loved? And more importantly, in a world where you’ve lost the only person you’ve loved, can you ever really get them back? Is it worth trying to pretend you’re still where you were decades ago, or isn’t it just easier to let go and accept your fate? “Similo” is a brilliant and beautifully directed science fiction short that uses the world our character Heve lives in as an allegory for the relationship she lost a long time ago.

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L3.0 (2014)

l30The directing team of Alexis Decelle, Cyril Declercq, Vincent Defour, and Pierre Jury at Isart Digital really turn the whole lonely robot formula on its head. The five minute silent short entitled “L3.0” is filled with heavy implication and immense back story, based solely on what we see, and not what we’re told. L3.0 is a lonely robot that spends most of its days looking for other beings, and sending out paper airplanes in to Paris. When he finds a butterfly, he might have found a new friend.

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The Battery (2012) [Blu-ray]

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After a zombie apocalypse has overtaken most of the country including New England, former baseball players Ben and Mickey have found themselves stuck together. They’re too frightened to be alone, and yet don’t like one another enough to stay together. Thus they form an uneasy pact with one another, roaming the more desolate landscape of New England looking for food, shelter, and new means to keep themselves from going absolutely stir crazy. With the rising population of the dead, and the lack of human contact, it’s becoming a task that’s increasingly difficult to conquer day by day.

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