Fortunate for me that I was born from parents who bought literally every VHS movie they could get their hands on in the heyday of the eighties. Fortunate for me that I was born from a woman who loves every horror movie ever made, and continues to love every horror movie ever made. Which is where my meeting with “The Dark” enters. Available on DVD and still pretty rare, “The Dark” is one of the most confusing hybrids of blaxploitation, science fiction, and horror I’ve ever seen with ambiguous plot devices, horrific performances, and the odd association with Dick Clark. Watching this on the same grainy discount VHS from Media Home Entertainment I first viewed it on fourteen years ago, “The Dark” has lost plenty of the oompf and suspense I remember it holding.
Tag Archives: Mystery
The Strangers (2008)
When people spout off about ridiculous nonsense declaring that Horror is dead, I often laugh at them, and then insist that there are still good horror movies out there. Great horror movies are still around, they’re just so much harder to find, with people still willing to scare us into submission. Take “The Strangers” a movie that’s garnered a rather excellent marketing campaign, but still suffers from being a virtual rip off of “Ils-Them,” a superior home invasion horror flick. Nevertheless, after watching great home invasion flicks like the aforementioned title, and “Inside,” I think “The Strangers” will carry along the rising fad with acute precision and some reasonable arguments for being one of the stronger horror films of the year.
Ms. 45 (1981)
If there’s anything that gets my goat more than apocalypse films, and superhero films, it’s revenge flicks. Revenge movies make up some of the best cinema I’ve ever seen, from Samurai epics, to Western tales, and Abel Ferrera’s “Ms. 45” is that revenge movie in the vein of “I Spite on your Grave” where a woman who has suffered the crime of rape, now strikes out against all men, instead of the men who hurt her. Anna is a meek mute girl who designs clothes during the day time. On the way home, she’s anally raped on the street, and then staggers home wounded to find that a man has broken into her home and, angered that she has no valuables, decides to rape her… again.
Anna can’t catch a break, as you can imagine.
Inside (À l'intérieur) (2007)
I don’t think I can named a modern horror film that’s come so close to classic Giallo as “Inside” has, and I don’t think you’ll really want to if you didn’t like “Inside.” Frankly, it’s one of the most vicious and cringe inducing horror thrillers made in years, and the fact it wasn’t given even a limited theatrical release, fills me with a thousand frowns and dark sunsets. Having kids is tough. It’s financially trying, stressful, and traumatizing. Especially when there’s a psychotic unstoppable killer who wants to tear it out of your stomach. “Inside” is a vicious slasher flick from minute one where we meet Sarah who has just had a car crash pretty much almost killing her baby, and that’s only a small moment of the torture this unborn child experiences, when Sarah goes on vacation to mourn her dead husband.
The Devil's Music (2008)
I’ve been interested in much of what Jinx Media has supplied horror geeks over the last few years. Say what you want about independent horror movies, but there are studios out there trying for originality, and Jinx Media seems to be accomplishing it for the most part. First there was “Killer Killer,” which I found to be an utter blast, and now the UK based studio brings “The Devil’s Music.” Pat Higgins’ mock documentary, a film that will completely bring down audiences guards presuming to be one thing and then progressively transforms into a horror movie. Surely, it’s one of the finest indies of 2008, with production values that are immaculate. Everything from the mock concert performances, to the talk show interviews is shockingly genuine, and the story of Erika Spawn is even better.
The Ruins (2008)
Relying more on psychological terror rather than CGI plant monsters, the reason “The Ruins” will get under the skin of most audiences is because Smith prefers to leave the plant terrors as silent sadistic predators that—well—get under the skin of its victims through cuts, and open wounds. These creatures are merciless in their pursuits to chomp on some thirty something college goers revealing some truly shocking abilities to lure prey, and breaking down the hunted through manipulation and classic torture methods.
The Obscure Brother (2007)
You have to appreciate the interesting new twist added on the tale of one of the more famous biblical figures of all time; Di Franco definitely has the right idea with this movie adding an entirely new perspective that not only made the final act of one character understandable, but also added some hint of dimensions behind his motivation in the grand scheme of the final events. The filming is beautiful with some gorgeous landscapes and wonderful set pieces. Di Franco definitely has an eye for breathtaking scenery and gives the film a flair it needs.