Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)

“If you must blink… do it now!”

It just serves to prove my theory that bad animated movies can be excused since they’re “for kids” is a cheap cop out meant to let crap pass by us. Animation studios are providing amazing kids fare, including Laika who seemingly snuck out of nowhere to deliver yet another stop motion children’s masterpiece. “Kubo and the Two Strings” is probably their great animated stop motion achievement to date. It’s an immense, epic, and heartfelt ode to the art of storytelling and the power of memories. It’s teeming with fantastic Asian folklore offering a very respectful view of its characters, and creates a wonderful hero who is capable of defeating evil not with his fists or guns, but with magic and his ability to think outside the box.

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VIDEO Killer (2016)

A woman receives a VHS tape one morning from an anonymous source.  After watching the video and its odd, violent animation, she is puzzled and feels like she is being haunted.  She soon decides to look for answers. Directed by Richard Mansfield (and have no verifiable writing credits online to check who did what), the film takes the premise of a found tape leading to investigations by those who have found or received it and turn it into what can be described as mostly found footage with touches of first person POV and other filming styles.  The story is fairly basic with just a few characters and works as a found footage mystery for most of the film.  It uses many story telling techniques with varied degrees of success creating a film that feels disconnected in places.

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12 Deadly Days (YouTube Red)

From Youtube Red and Blumhouse comes, “12 Deadly Days” a limited horror comedy anthology centered on pretty much every element of traditional Christmas. The series overall isn’t perfect, but it’s a good, entertaining horror anthology that works around the format of interwoven stories in a particular universe. “12 Deadly Days” and its formula feel very similar to that of “Trick r Treat” where every story’s end is the beginning of a new tale and situation. The first episode is easily the best of the trio of episodes I was sent, as it’s a fun twist on Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” Set in modern times, billionaire Scrooge begins getting haunted by a ghost and calls in a pair of ghost hunters known as The Cratchit Brothers.

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The Devil’s Dolls (2016) [Blu-Ray]

It’s a shame that people still think there’s some horror fodder to be mined from worry dolls, because so far I’m not seeing it. “The Devil’s Dolls” plays out like a gory TV movie, or an extended episode of some supernatural series. There are a lot of bland characters trying to stop what is a pretty convoluted and goofy plot device involving a murderer and evil dolls. Director Padraig Reynolds’ film isn’t a complete misfire as it achieves some level of eeriness in some instances. I really do like how our characters look when they’re possessed by evil worry dolls that turn them in to psychopathic maniacs, but that’s lost in a haze of pretty mediocre melodrama and a hazy sub-plot about voodoo.

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The Shorts of Blood in the Snow 2016 – Part Three

ingrid-and-the-black-holeIngrid & the Black Hole (Canada) (2016)
A boy and a girl see what they think is a black hole one night and ponder on time travel.  Written and directed by Leah Johnston, this short is sweet without being saccharine and it has a touching way of going through these two kids’ lives and showing how a small thing can affect someone for a very long time.  The cinematography by Christopher Ball looks great and shows the night sky in a beautiful manner as well as the interpersonal relationships of the characters through the years.

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The Sublet (2015) [Blood in the Snow 2016]

the-subletA young couple with a baby move into a sublet with a mysterious locked room and a few secrets.  As he works more and more toward getting his acting career on track, the more she spends time alone in the sublet with their son.  As time goes by, odd happenings add up and she begins to seemingly lose her mind.  Written by John Ainslie and Alyson Richards with Ainslie directing, The Sublet build tension as the characters drift apart due to life and due to whatever force is working on the new mother, Joanna.  As her mind seems to unravel, the potentially supernatural happenings multiply and so does the tension.

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Dangerous Worry Dolls (2007)

dangerous-worry-dollsLife is funny. One moment you’re in prison being beaten up, the next moment you’re having a miniature skull growing out of your forehead. “Dangerous Worry Dolls” is a silly, dumb, and very unscary take on the further obsession of mini monsters doing dangerous things by Charles Band. You have to give it to the man, he always finds a way to squeeze in miniature monsters on to film and look for new and unique ways to make them villains. “Dangerous Worry Dolls” is terrible, but at least Band has a new and unique idea for making mini-monsters become the villain for a movie that looks like it was made on a budget of ten dollars.

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