Tag Archives: T

Tom Savini: Horror Effects (1989)

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I would suggest “Horror Effects” only to the most ardent hardcore Tom Savini fans, as “Horror Effects” is mostly about, well, horror effects. Truly, “Horror Effects” focuses mainly on a small portion of Savini’s creative work, as he spends most of his time recollecting working on other films that don’t involve George Romero. Is it perhaps because John Russo is the host of this special? Aw, who knows, really? But there’s a surprising lack of talk about his zombie movies in favor of stuff that Savini has done with his company and what they’ve done on the outside of the US, including a slapstick comedy involving facial prosthetics.

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Tales of Halloween (2015)

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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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Thanatos (2015) [Horrible Imaginings 2015]

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[Horrible Imaginings Film Festival San Diego 2015]

Thanatos is partially inspired by the personification of Death in ancient Greece. Hsin-Yen LU’s student film of the same name follows a young photographer who captures an image of Death as a young woman. He becomes captivated and enamored with her, his interest becoming obsession as he stages his own death multiple times to be able to see her again and again and to photograph her each time. He desperately wants to go with her but she cannot take him as it his time has not come yet.

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Turbo Kid (2015) [Fantasia Film Festival]

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FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL

In a very ‘80s post-apocalyptic world, The Kid is a scavenger surviving on his own gathering goods while out on his BMX and exchanging the finds at the local watering hole. One day, as he’s gone on another of his rides, he meets Apple who is mourning the recent loss of her friend and desperately needs a new one. Apple imprints on The Kid like a baby duck, following him around and insisting on them becoming best of friends. Her insistence and bubbliness gets The Kid to accept her friendship and constant presence in this lonely world. He shows her some of what he knows, including his favorite comic book and his ViewMaster. As they become closer, disaster strikes and Apple is kidnapped by Zeus’ men to be brought to the representation of evil that is Zeus. The Kid must find his inner hero and save his best friend from the clutches of evil and maybe save the world in the process.

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Tales of Halloween (2015) [Fantasia Film Festival]

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FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL

10 tales, 11 filmmakers, tons of mayhem and fun, Tales of Halloween is set one Halloween night in a suburb where all kinds of scary, funny, spooky things go down. In this anthology, the near-perfection radio host talking us from story to story, played by Adrienne Barbeau in a part so close to her role in The Fog, one could think it was the very same character which is most likely very intentional. The 10 short stories contained here vary widely from urban legend come to life to revenge story to alien invasion to neighborhood battles and everything in between. The Decalogue of stories all connect at one point or another through characters passing into other stories or by location choices.

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Turbo Kid (2015)

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It’s “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” meets “Mad Max” with what is one of the most entertaining and fantastic indie films of the year. The trio of François Simard, Anouk Whissell, and Yoann-Karl Whissell channels the magic of nostalgia to create a world that’s both perilous but compelling. “Turbo Kid” is painted as a love letter to all things eighties and nineties, but thankfully never loses itself in the winks and nods. It implements pop culture to create a well rounded world and they succeed beautifully. Through and through it’s a soulful and very exciting coming of age tale set in the post apocalypse.

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Monty Python: The Meaning of Live (2014) [Fantasia Film Festival]

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FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL

You really have to appreciate the blunt honesty of the Python crew at their age and why they decided to team together after three decades to tour once again. They needed the money. After a brutal court battle over the creative rights of “The Holy Grail,” they were all left generally low on cash, so they decided to launch a stage show tour of their best bits to garner some quick cash and help seal their debts. There’s no fluff on a documentary that loves the Python crew. They love their fans, they love their work, but they need the money, and I respect the hell out of that.

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