Slashers (2001)

Posted on October 16, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

Maurice Devereaux’s “Slashers” is that satire that is right up there with “Dawn of the Dead” and “Battle Royale” in how is explores an element of our society that warrants a poking. “Slashers” is an often absurd commentary on the extremes our society is willing to go for entertainment, and how television continues evolving to new extremes to whet the appetites of a society gradually warped by violence. First and foremost, “Slashers” is a horror slasher comedy, but it has a good time mocking the reality show trend of the early aughts. “Slashers” is set in a universe where Japan has produced its highest rated game show of all time. Said game show is called “Slashers” where a group of people volunteer to run through an obstacle course and be hunted down by knife wielding maniacs that brutally murder them on air.

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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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Lost After Dark (2014)

Posted on October 12, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

I appreciate the need for filmmakers to evoke the eighties building slasher movies within the confines of the decade, but often time movies can get so lost in paying homage to the culture, it doesn’t focus enough on entertaining. “Lost After Dark” falls victim to this gimmick where we have a movie set in the eighties and based around the eighties aesthetic, and yet fails to re-invent the wheel as a slasher film. While we’re at it, the whole grindhouse flourishes feel woefully superfluous to the film, and never adds anything. That said, “Lost After Dark” isn’t a bad movie, it just never manages to be anything but mediocre.

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Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (2013) [Blu-Ray]

Posted on October 5, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

If you’re like me, you left “Never Sleep Again” completely sure about your love for all things Krueger, and then wondered if Jason would ever get his turn. Thankfully, the folks at 1428 Films have indulged Jason Voorhees fan boys with an utterly extensive and incredibly detailed chronicle of the “Friday the 13th” series. At an intimidating six hours, director Daniel Farrands pays homage to the series that influenced dozens of copycats and wannabes in the eighties. Narrated by series star Corey Feldman, “Crystal Lake Memories” is another of the classic horror documentaries from 1428 that doesn’t just chronicle the rise of a pop icon, but also pays tribute to independent film.

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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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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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Some Kind of Hate (2015)

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

Adam Egypt Mortimer‘s “Some Kind of Hate” may be polarizing to some viewers, because much like its contemporaries like “Carrie,” and “The Final,” there simply are no winners or heroes in this narrative. It’s a tragic tale about people losing left and right, and the vicious cycle of bullying. Being the victim of bullying can be a stain on your persona forever, and it resonates as a horrific echo for eternity. “Some Kind of Hate” is a grim and brutally bleak horror film about bullying and how it musters up something really bad from beyond the grave. Mortimer keeps “Some Kind of Hate” consistently torturous by closing off any avenues of hope for his characters.

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