Tag Archives: Slasher

Child’s Play 3 (1991)

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“Don’t fuck with the Chuck!”

You can tell the studios basically ran out of ideas with this third installment of the “Chucky” series, so they pretty much just ripped off “Friday the 13th” part five this time around. This series was begging to be rebooted by the time we reached this new installment, as “Child’s Play 3” is filled with such a bland set piece, and pretty weak character motivations overall. For no real explanation there’s a very young boy in a military academy filled with people in their twenties, and Chucky seems to be running thin on reasons to kill. In the past he killed people that complicated his larger goals, now he kills because people decide to annoy him. Even for a psychopath that gets kind of boring.

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Child’s Play 2 (1990)

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In “Child’s Play 2,” director Jon Lafia opts for a more vicious follow up where Chucky goes on a veritable rampage. What made “Child’s Play” so unique is we were never quite sure if Chucky was murdering people, if Andy was, or if Chucky was influencing Andy to become a serial killer. Only on the second act do we get a complete verification of the mystery. In “Child’s Play 2” Chucky is on a campaign of murder and violence where he not only proceeds to ruin Andy’s life, but everyone else’s life in the process. It’s a somewhat polarizing sequel, but something that definitely opts for different this time out.

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Terrifier (2017) [Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival 2017]

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A crazed clown terrorizes a group of young women and the people trying to help them on Halloween night.

Written and directed by Damien Leone, Terrifier takes the scary clown idea and ups the violence from recent films such as IT and makes the kills bloodier and more brutal.  The film has some definitely good ideas and the clown’s design is interesting and creepy for sure, but for those without coulrophobia, the clown is only as scary as the performance for him.  This is something that will be touched on in a little bit.  The story here is the classic slasher on Halloween night story; a killer maims and hurts a group of people on Halloween night.  The difference is in the execution which is well done here but still feels a bit like more of the same at times.  The title, Terrifier, gives an expectation for the viewer that this will be terrifying and unless you are really scared of clowns, the film is only a little scary and not quite terrifying.

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That’s Final (2017) [Horrible Imaginings Film Festival 2017]

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Two women argue as to which of them will be the final girl when a masked killer is after them in their home.

Written by Christine Gatlin and David Raines and directed by John Freeman, this short takes the slasher genre and spins it on its head. The killer here is completely ridiculous but that’s the point, in part, as it’s not about the killer but about the three, then two, women running from him and how they discuss the situation and try to figure out which of them is to become the final girl. The discussion is witty and funny with a sense of humor that will appeal to fans of films like Scream and horror in general. The film’s short format really works to its advantage here as the “joke” is just long enough without overstaying its welcome. The film itself is thus quite entertaining, funny, and just a bit bloody.

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Red Christmas (2017) [Horrible Imaginings Film Festival 2017]

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A widow, Diane, and her family celebrate their final Christmas at the family home. Typical family feuding is interrupted by a cloaked stranger. Unfortunately for them, he doesn’t come baring gifts but vengeance.  Red Christmas was written and directed by Craig Anderson and stars horror legend Dee Wallace, Geoff Morrell, Sarah Bishop, David Collins, Janis McGavin, Sam Campbell, Gerard O’Dwyer, Bjorn Stewart, and Deelia Meriel.

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Tragedy Girls (2017) [Fantasia International Film Festival 2017]

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Did you see “Scream 4”? Do you remember the finale and surprise reveal, as well as the reasoning for the murderer’s devious deeds? Well, then you’ve seen “Tragedy Girls.” It feels a lot like Tyler MacIntyre loved the finale to “Scream 4” so much that he took that one twenty minute explanation, and transformed it in to a ninety minute movie that presents glimmers of brilliance, but stumbles quite often. While many will liken “Tragedy Girls” to “Heathers,” it’s actually about as smug and annoyingly self-satisfied as films like “Detention” and “Easy A.”

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