For me, “Going to Pieces” was like a wet dream, it was a pastiche of all the aspect of horror that I love and hate, and for ninety minutes, I was enjoying the hell out of myself. It’s true, the horror genre, and horror fans get a bad rap, and both are often demonized by the religious, the media, and any self-righteous parent with a desire to be a celebrity, and “Going to Pieces,” tackles those aspects of the genre along with paying homage to the sub-genre I hold dear to my ripped heart.
Tag Archives: Slasher
I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (2006)
You figure in the world of cynical teenagers, technology, MTV, and the over saturation of slasher films, that the characters in this would be a little less horrified. Hell, they’re all very astonished at the story of a masked killer with a hook who comes after teenagers. And the song goes: a group of teenagers, a prank that goes awry, one year later, they re-unite, and the killing starts. Funny thing is, whether it’s Sarah Michelle Gellar, or some girl we’ve never seen before, the characters here are still very interchangeable. I hated the first two films, so I wasn’t keen on watching yet another sequel, and as I guessed it, “I’ll Always Know” is basically just routine.
Serial Killing 4 Dummys (Serial Killing 101) (2004)
This is just one of those movies that are so bad, they’re just damn good. The quality, filming locations, bad acting, and nonsensical story all pretty much made for a film that shouldn’t be taken too seriously by the audience and should be approached with an open mind. It’s pretty obvious that the makers attempted to make a real slasher, but then, halfway, decided to just make a satire, which is why this has two movie syndrome, where one half of the film feels so different from the second half. What starts off feeling like another slasher film inevitably becomes a cheesy, campy, dark comedy about killing.
Frankenstein's Bloody Nightmare (2006)
“Frankenstein’s Bloody Nightmare” basically has its head on tight with intentions of being both experimental and surreal, and in many respects, Director Hand knows how to convey both a nightmarish and surrealist theme with a hazy picture that drifts from plain and sterile to multi-colored and intense. Hand’s film has a very noticeable Lynchian feel as yet another take on the Doctor Frankenstein character. Hand’s film is a pure mixture of sixties psychedelic grind house exploring the sheer utter madness behind a man seeking to help his wife.
Seed of Chucky (2004)
When can you tell that a horror franchise has run out of steam? When it begins spoofing itself. Much like “Scream”, much like “Halloween”, and, yes, much like my beloved “Friday the 13th” series. It’s safe to say that once a series has resorted to spoofing itself from the very beginning, you know its run out of ideas, and you just know its writers aren’t even trying, anymore. Mancini’s newest spin-off of the “Child’s Play” franchise is yet another sequel that takes every chance in saying “We’re stupid, and we know we’re stupid, so look how not stupid we are by pointing out how stupid this story is.”
Saw II (2005)
I liked “Saw” a lot. In spite of plot holes, lapses in logic, and a horrible sub-plot/performance by Danny Glover, I thought “Saw” was a very nihilistic simple thriller that really ended up being one of the best horror thrillers I’ve seen in years. Either way, when talks of “Saw 2” arose, I was optimistic if not a little annoyed. Sequels are rarely ever as good as the original, but with “Saw 2” I was pleasantly surprised and shocked, and a little nauseated. “Saw 2” takes its formula and amps it up to about eleven with a film that ends up becoming an eloquent study in madness and sadism, and explores the true lengths in which man will go to stay alive. What would you do to stay alive?
House of Wax (2005)
I found myself occasionally chuckling during the film, and the reason was because I could almost practically hear the one-minded logic that would surface when its target audience attempted to explain its endearment for this basically forgettable remake. The typical target audience will ultimately like this better than any of the other versions because: “Oh my god, Chad Michael Murray is like so totally hot”, or “Damn, Elisha Cuthbert is so totally hot and awesome”. Either way, are you at all surprised that I didn’t like this remake very much? I wanted to be surprised by this, but in the end I wasn’t, and I was given exactly what I expected: yet another WB star laden remake that was more concerned with touting stars of hit shows than actually casting real actors. Get with the program people! These are vehicles, not movies, these are promotional tools, not films, these are publicity programs, not a horror movie! These are fillers for resumes, not roles!