The Invoking 2 (2015) (DVD)

Posted on October 14, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

It’s unusual that a sequel to a horror film would suddenly switch formats to an anthology, but horror anthologies are all the rage these days. What were once reserved for horror heavyweights like Romero, Savini, and Zemeckis, are now platforms for rising up and comers of the indie film world. I’m glad that these movies are allowing indie filmmakers to show off their short films, as there is a treasure trove of short horror films out there that almost never get seen by a wide audience. Thankfully you don’t have to see the first film to enjoy the sequel, since it basically bears no connections to the original narrative. This time, it’s an anthology of short horror segments with the recurring theme of ghosts and demons.

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In the Dark (2015)

Posted on October 13, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

David Buchert and Chris St. Croix’s “In the Dark” is definitely one of the most tonally inconsistent anthology horror films I’ve seen in a long time. While it’s not a terrible trio of horror stories, it shifting tones and mediocre scares won’t elicit a huge fan base. That’s a shame, since “In the Dark” sports a really good opening introduction and wrap around sub-plot. In the wave of anthologies hitting VOD, I’d place this in the mediocre category. Set during a night time robbery, two sisters, who also happen to be maniacal killers, hide out in a hotel awaiting a rendezvous with their boss. While they wait, they sit around and partake in three mysterious horror movies on VHS that they stole from their victims.

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Martyrs (2008)

Posted on October 13, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

I think if it weren’t so obsessed with its own self-indulgent pseudo-spiritualism and didn’t stop to tell four different stories simultaneously, “Martyrs” may have been a decent film. It begins as a solid revenge picture, but then devolves in to an absurd campaign in torture and pain. It’s a grueling sadistically boring horror drama with a narrative so convoluted I stopped caring about what was unfolding after the first half hour. “Martyrs” loves to pretend it’s this transcendent statement about our questioning of the afterlife, but in reality it’s just misogynist torture porn painted as art house dribble that will make you feel dirty.

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We Are Still Here (2015) (DVD)

Posted on October 2, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

If you think there’s nothing else that can be done with ghost films, then you clearly haven’t seen “We Are Still Here.” Director Ted Geoghegan lends a flavor to the haunted house sub-genre that’s not only fresh, but feels nihilistic to boot. “We Are Still Here” is a successfully slow boil horror film that works within its limited scenery and provides a truly haunting ghost tale that works on so many levels. It’s creative, it’s creepy, and it opens up a vast world filled with a mythology that you want to see more of. When the credits rolled, I wanted to know more about the back story of the Dagmar house and what other victims it’d claimed before we met the Sacchettis.

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Tales of Halloween (2015)

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

I’m enjoying the rush of Halloween themed movies coming to theaters thanks to talented and ambitious filmmakers. If there’s any holiday deserving of a sub-genre it’s Halloween. “Tales of Halloween” is a near perfect anthology horror film that embraces the holiday and uses it as fuel to tell some weird, wild, creepy tales all set around a small town celebrating the wicked holiday. Much like “Terror Tract” and “Trick r Treat,” the anthology is set around a small suburb where inexplicably terrifying and nasty things happen on the holiday. Like “Trick r Treat,” most of the stories connect with each other and garner references to the former tale. It assures that audiences will have to watch the film over and over to catch every Easter Egg thrown to us.

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The 5 Best Moments of Marvel’s “Daredevil” Season One

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

There’s always been something about me and underdogs. I love rooting for the underdogs. Even as a kid who loved comic books, while my friends were buying Punisher, Wolverine, and Batman, I was spending my time on Darkhawk, War Machine, Night Thrasher and Superman. The last character is iconic and a household name, sure, but he wasn’t in regular circulation in my circle of friends that collected comic books. It’s been hell being a fan of “Daredevil” for many years without proper justice paid to him. Surely, Frank Miller did an amazing job with him for a few years, but watching other characters get big screen treatments while Daredevil literally got short handed was irritating.

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Run, Hide, Die (2015) (DVD)

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

I’m a little exhausted with indie filmmakers setting every horror film in the eighties based on some hope that if it’s set in a nostalgic decade, the film will in effect be a gem. It’s not enough to show characters playing classic Nintendo, and walking around with neon colors. “Run, Hide, Die” garners a lot of inexplicable elements, from the eighties setting that adds nothing to the overall narrative, right down to the title that in no way reflects the film at al. It adds up to a pretty miserable dramatic thriller that poses as a horror film, and fails to deliver on every aspect. It spends too much time on characterization, offers no interesting villain, and just delights in being melodramatic when it should be terrifying.

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