One of the interesting aspects of “Sleepaway Camp” that’s managed to keep it legendary is that, despite not being a very good horror movie, it garners a shocking surprise ending that no one saw coming. Even during its initial release. Though it’s mostly common knowledge among horror buffs, if you’ve never been aware of the closer to “Sleepaway Camp,” you’re in store for a pretty haunting final scene that will boggle your mind. Despite the low tech approach, it still warrants a gasp from me to this day and is a worthy turn of the screw that earns the entire film a place on any horror fans’ collection. Scream Factory gives the new Collector’s Edition the absolute best treatment possible, and it’s nothing short of an impressive re-release for horror fans both old and new.
Tag Archives: Slasher
Stage Fright (2014)
We’ve had horror musicals before, and rock operas aplenty, but it’s not often we get slasher musicals. “Stage Fright” is a very niche horror film, and one that runs the risk of alienating its audience, but for experimental audiences and for folks that appreciate horror comedies with an eighties twist, “Stage Fright” is an excellent and occasionally brilliant bastard child of many sub-genres, that works well as a truly memorable cocktail of madness and gore. Director Jerome Sable really creates a unique and genuinely raucous horror musical that takes “Phantom of the Opera” and builds a very refreshing revenge story from its roots.
Camp Dread (2014) (DVD)
Director Harrison Smith’s “Camp Dread” is a mixture of “My Little Eye” and “Friday the 13th.” In fact, go watch those movies instead. In all seriousness, “Camp Dread” has a pretty clever premise, it just has absolutely nothing to do with it. It’s a straight faced slasher film set in a summer camp and barely uses the opportunity to reference the “Friday the 13th” films, and yet it takes full advantage with Danielle Harris as the local sheriff. Her character’s brother is named Michael, and she hates horror movies. You see, it’s opposite. It’s clever because it’s opposite!
Wolf Creek 2 (2013)
I didn’t think it was possible, but Greg McLean has managed to create a sequel to “Wolf Creek” that’s even more despicable than the first. Almost ten years later, Greg McLean has seemingly come up dry in the realm of new ideas for his character Mick Taylor, and apparently fulfills a contract, judging by the quality of this long in development follow up to his terrible 2005 horror film. Not only does “Wolf Creek 2” drop the pretense of a narrative, but it reduces the entire film to nothing but a string of really violent deaths, turning Mick Taylor in to a maniac who kills just because he has nothing else to do. Director McLean revels in cruel and disgusting murders that are repetitive and senseless and lacks any and all ability to provide scares, tension, and a genuine sense of unease. It’s just a large maniac running around destroying people left and right, and nothing else.
Spineless Classics: Robert Bloch’s “Psycho”
If you ever wanted to own your favorite books, or perhaps classic books but didn’t have the shelf space, Spineless Classics has you covered. They’ve managed to compile entire books on to one giant poster with the text from said book transformed in to a piece of art. Though the concept sounds unusual, it’s actually a very genius and entertaining idea that will surely bring in literary buffs that want some wall decoration, but lack the space for novels.
Maniac (2012)
As a man who had absolutely no faith in the remake of William Lustig’s grindhouse classic, it’s quite telling that the opening of the film inspired a gasp out of me, followed by a “Holy crap.” Director Franck Khalfoun also wisely sidesteps the grit of New York (New York now no longer the wasteland is was in the eighties) entirely in favor of the more menacing and vast Los Angeles, all the while injecting an artistic gloss that makes the madness seem more surreal. “Maniac” is a gruesome and disturbing re-working of the classic horror film, that pays respect to the original, while also challenging its gore and violence, in the process. Elijah Wood’s performance is surprisingly unsettling and occasionally horrifying, since his character Frank Zito is a victim of his own madness.
Sorority Party Massacre (2014) (DVD)
You have to give it to “Sorority Party Massacre.” Not many slashers these days have the balls to rip off the entire prologue to “Scream” wholesale. There’s even a long drawn out scene where the young victim is taunted by the caller. Except rather than the audience groaning “Aw, they killed Firestarter,” this time they’ll be saying, “Oh someone killed the girl with the dog. Some dude with a mask. Okay, then.” If that’s not bad enough, “Sorority…” is one of the most tonally inconsistent horror movies I’ve ever seen. It’s never sure if it wants to be a horror comedy, or a horror movie. And even the most distracted viewer will notice immediately.