The big hook for “Catfish” has been the tagline “Don’t let anyone tell you what it is,” and this has had audiences providing theories since the trailer was released what the big hook is to the story. What is the big surprise in the climax? I won’t spoil it for you. At least I’ll try not to. I’ll leave it up to you. Nevertheless, “Catfish” is not a movie that you will expect going in and leaving and it will assuredly have you re-thinking your life and your overall view on personal relationships.
Tag Archives: Mystery
Trilogy of Terror (1975)
It’s not at all surprising that “Trilogy of Terror” has risen to cult status based solely on the success of Richard Matheson’s “Amelia” segment involving the murderous Zuni Fetish Doll as it is sadly the only remotely entertaining and spooky sequence in the 1975 anthology of three mixed tales. While the film has managed to become a bonafide horror classic I found myself wondering when the terror actually was set to begin, primarily because “Trilogy of Terror” is less centered around invoking terror and more on exploring the psyche of the mind and nothing else. The first two stories are just mere psychological thrillers, while the third story entitled “Amelia” is a straight forward monster in the house cat and mouse story but with a psychological twist setting in to question the mind set of its protagonist. “Trilogy of Terror” is one of the most underwhelming anthology horror films I’ve ever seen and one that’s based around a sense of self-importance that keeps it from sticking true to its nature of television movie horror.
Curiosity (2009)
While initially I feared the ending would be a fake out or a “Gotcha!” I was very pleased to find that Toby Spanton’s horror thriller short is really just a straight forward horror film with a take on the “Curiosity killed the cat” adage that means more than anything to two young folks living in a flat. Golden Globe winning actress Emily Blunt stars with Tom Riley as a young couple catching up with their elderly neighbor gossiping about the rash of disappearances around the neighborhood and she insists they must meet her nephew.
Psycho Shark (2009)
At only a little over an hour long, “Psycho Shark” (or as it’s being called in some circles “Jaws in Japan”) is probably one of the zaniest most deliriously bad movies I’ve ever come across mainly for its wacky directing style. Not much in this movie makes sense and director Hijiri John is such a fan of holding takes, that some shots are awkward. Any competent director will cringe at his knack for shooting people only below the waist and at one point holds a shot in the sand for over a minute after his actresses have left the frame. But take my advice, wait a while, be patient because I guarantee you by the second half… absolutely nothing will have happened. Don’t get me wrong, I love movies about frolicking Japanese girls, but if it’s a horror movie only a little bit over an hour, then you have to have some sense of forward progression in plot and this has none of it.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
“A Nightmare on Elm Street” remains Wes Craven’s master opus, a film that is his most creative and most visually appealing. There aren’t many horror films that dabble in the iconology and symbolism of dreams and end up being truly horrifying, but Wes Craven’s film continues to be something of a crowd pleaser to this day. While it hasn’t aged too well since its initial release (which is the case with all of Craven’s films, I’ve found), it remains one of the most influential films of all time considering its primary character is a dream demon who plays more of a supporting role than taking center stage.
Circle (2010)
I held out almost little hope for Michael W. Watkins crime thriller slasher film about a Greek mythology obsessed serial killer who has a penchant for gathering and murdering his victims on the basis of fulfilling some need within him to manifest some Greek legend, but “Circle” gradually proved me wrong as it progressed. While it’s not a masterpiece by any definition, it definitely is a solid horror film with some roots in the formula cop sub-genre in which we’re following two mismatched hard boiled cops on the track of the vicious Bennett, a mastermind and genius psychopath who manages to break free from his asylum after ritualistically killing off a group therapy session he was engaging in.
Case 39 (2009)
Floundering in movie purgatory for a few years, “Case 39” is a supernatural thriller that has managed to be not only an indicator of its star status and how far its performers have come, but it’s also a statement that sometimes, just sometimes, studios can be on to something when they shelve or keep movies back in production. Held back for four years only released in the UK and now just being introduced to American theaters (maybe due to Bradley Cooper’s rising star status), “Case 39” is about as horrible a movie as you can imagine. It’s a movie that should have just been given a DVD release instead of a theatrical release as a movie starring Cooper pre-“The Hangover” fame. Hint: During filming he clearly wasn’t a big enough star to live through the whole movie.