The eighties were apparently a time where summer camps were dens for psychopaths and murderers, and “The Burning” displays no exception. Even more vicious than the first “Friday the 13th,” Tony Maylam’s slasher revenge film is a violent and very creepy horror film steeped in eighties slasher tropes, but still manages to feel fresh and unique to this day. Maylam’s direction keeps the film at a brisk pace, while Tom Savini’s special effects inspire quite the cringe, even today. Cropsey is one of the more underrated slasher icons from the eighties.
Tag Archives: Slasher
Gingerdead Man 3: Saturday Night Cleaver (2011)
Well, if the writers don’t give a shit anymore, why should we? “Gingerdead Man” has seemingly given up trying after the first film, so I’ve given up trying to make sense of anything that’s happening in this movie series. When last we saw Gingerdead Man he was trolling a movie studio killing actors and directors for some reason. Now he’s being held in a prison with other psychotic baked goods. Spoofing “Silence of the Lambs,” he meets with female detective who wants his help in a case. It’s an obvious satire sans the laughs, but we now know there are other psychotic baked goods out there.
Gingerdead Man 2: Passion of the Crust (2008)
Gary Busey didn’t come back for the sequel? Was he holding out for more money or did his wrangler have a hard time tranquilizing him? In either case, much of “Gingerdead Man 2” is still just so damn inexplicable and confusing. Michelle Bauer plays Miss Polly who appears at a local film shoot with baked goods. Inside the box is Gingerdead Man. How did he get in there? Why is he there? Is someone sending him around to kill people? It’s never actually explained or remotely hinted.
Nightbreed (1990): The Director’s Cut [Blu-ray/DVD]
Thanks to the advent of home entertainment and a wonderful company like Scream Factory, director Clive Barker is finally able to realize his original vision for the cult horror film “Nightbreed.” While the film itself has gained momentum and respect over the years as a dark and morbid tale of monsters from the underworld facing human cruelty, Barker’s experience making the movie was a bitter one he often recollected with anger and sadness. With his Director’s Cut, he’s not only able to salvage old footage that he was forced to edit out of his narrative, but he re-structures “Nightbreed” in to practically an entirely new movie. One that’s better than the original cut.
The Fright File: 150 Films to See Before Halloween (Digital)
The main flaw to “The Fright File” is that author Dustin Putman only offers three films out of 150 made before the seventies. A portion of the list are films made in the seventies, while most of the films are from the aughts and are as recent as 2013. While I don’t mind being given suggestions for films as recent as 2013, I wouldn’t have minded stumbling on to a hidden gem or two. For folks looking for a primer on films that are essential to horror fans, “The Fright File” surely isn’t a bad book. But for horror fans looking to discover something new and completely out of left field, this isn’t really the book to turn to. That is unless you’re a fan of Dustin Putman’s writing, and want to see his thoughts on various horror films.
Don’t Go to the Reunion (2013)
Steve Goltz is quickly becoming one of my favorite indie directors working today. One of the creators of Slasher Studios, he and his group know slasher movies and when they deliver their own original slashers, they have a ball with classic tropes of the sub-genre that feel new. After their pleasing revenge slasher “Teddy,” Goltz delivers one of the more unique and engrossing entries of the sub-genre I’ve seen in years. While it’s true Goltz and writer Kevin Sommerfield provide their nods and winks to classic eighties slasher films, “Don’t Go to the Reunion” works to the beat of its own drum, delivering kills aplenty, and a very interesting whodunit mystery.
No One Lives (2012)
It’s always some sort of karmic justice when a group of utterly inept killers get what’s coming to them, and director Ryuhei Kitamura delivers not only a comeuppance horror film, but a potentially excellent new horror icon with Luke Evans at the helm. “No One Lives” is that classic comeuppance about a band of moronic and bitter thieves that think they have everything about their operations in check, until their members begin to lose sight of their mission to make money and end up screwing themselves in the process.