I’m all for more horror movies that are set on or around Halloween, but there should be more behind it. Despite the inclusion of Celtic folklore and Halloween mythology, Paul Ernest’s horror thriller is a bust. There’s a good concept behind “Archaon: The Halloween Summoning.” It’s just that the movie itself does absolutely nothing with it. It’s a horror movie that basks in its glacial pacing and paper thin, unlikable characters.
Tag Archives: Mystery
Run, Sweetheart, Run (2020)
Subtlety is not one of Shana Feste’s strong suits and that’s probably why I loved “Run Sweet heart Run.” It’s not subtle at all. It, in fact, clubs us over the head with its message about the dangers of being a woman in modern society. It’s a horror movie in every sense of the word that takes every probable situation that a woman can find herself in, and then amplifies it with a villain that is absolutely more human than human. It’s so blatant in fact with its message about the predatory society women are stuck in, that director Feste even breaks the fourth wall on multiple occasions.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021)
It’s surprising that “Welcome to Raccoon City” wasn’t very well received in 2021, as I think it’s about as good a movie as I’d have expected for a “Resident Evil” feature film. Surely, it’s by no means a perfect adaptation but I had a great time with it, and enjoyed it so much more than what Paul WS Anderson served up in the aughts. Johannes Roberts injects a lot of life in to this feature film visit to Raccoon City, and his reboot is filled with some great scares, genuinely good zombie carnage, and classic mystery on par with the video games.
Night of The Hunted (2023)
Director Franck Khalfoun is not above delivering horror fans disturbing movies centered in one setting with films like “P2” in his repertoire. With “Night of the Hunted,” Khalfoun remakes the 2015 film “La Noche Del Ratón” and transforms it in to a survival thriller that’s three parts “Phone Booth” and one part “Inside.” The film is mostly a chamber piece centered on a large gas station where our central protagonist Alice is being held hostage. “Night of the Hunted” depends a lot on the performance by Camille Rowe and she carries what is a solid survival thriller, all things considered.
Unveiled (2023)
Director Ryan Graff’s horror short is about as microscopic a short you can get at only two minutes in length. That doesn’t lessen the impact it has on the viewer, though. Graff touches down on our core fears of being alone and perhaps noticing something out on the corner of our eye that simply doesn’t belong there.
Scare Attraction (2019)
It’s not often I see a horror movie with such a paper thin script that it blatantly pads the run time. And even when it pads the run time with filler, it still only amounts to a seventy two minute film. And it’s barely seventy two minutes when you don’t factor in the closing credits, and long opening credits. Filmed on a $150,000 budget, what I imagine happened was director/writer Steven M. Smith wanted to film a movie in the vein of “Saw.” He got a hold of a primo haunted house and decided to build his script around the house. That’s likely why the movie’s entire narrative begins and ends in this haunted house, and nothing ever feels organic.
The Wicker Man (1973) [The Final Cut, 4K Re-Release by Lionsgate]
After a girl goes missing, a police sergeant is sent to an island in Scottland when people do not cooperate in his search and seem more interested in their Pagan rituals than in assisting him in helping a missing child.