It’s shocking how well Jesse Holland’s horror film “The Crooked Man” plays, because Syfy original movies are rarely ever as entertaining as this. “The Crooked Man” is part “Lights Out,” and part “It Follows” with a dash of Creepypasta. When she was twelve, Olivia was at a slumber party and was encouraged by her friends to visit a creepy website where if a nursery rhyme about the dreaded crooked man was read aloud, he’d be invoked. Despite their initial disbelief, Olivia witnesses her friend be viciously murdered by the horrific crooked man and is blamed for her death. Six years later when Olivia comes back in to her home town, she realizes that she’s not entirely welcomed there. What’s worse is that the people that were there that night are being viciously murdered by the horrific Crooked Man, who has a bone to pick with the witnesses that night.
Tag Archives: Thriller
Demon (2015)
Piotr moves to Poland to marry his long-distance girlfriend Zaneta whose immediate family is less than thrilled with the situation but still supportive. As the wedding day approaches, Piotr finds bones in the yard of his marital home. Things take an odd turn and a restless spirit, or dybbuk, possesses the groom. Co-written by Pawel Maslona and director Marcin Wrona, Demon is a slow burn drama with horror elements. The title leads one to believe it would be more straight up horror film but the reality is that it’s a drama about a wedding or marriage that may have been a bad idea to start with and as the film advances and the spirit manifests itself it becomes a battle between people’s feelings and beliefs and people searching for the truth.
The Greasy Strangler (2016) [Horrible Imaginings Film Festival 2016]
An old man, Ronnie, lives with is adult son, Brayden, giving disco tours to gullible customers. Things get a bit greasy when Brayden falls for one of their customers and Ronnie becomes jealous. Their home becomes a sexual battleground and a monster is unleashed onto the public. Co-Written by Toby Harvard and Jim Hosking (who both collaborated on the same short in ABC’s of Death 2) and directed by Jim Hosking for his first full length film, The Greasy Strangler is a mind-melting experience. The film’s humor is apparent from the first scene of the movie and, like the Energizer Bunny, it keeps going and going; quips so not funny that they end up becoming gut rolling, blatant displays of comically sized genitalia and pubic hair, and disgusting food.
I.T. (2016)
John Moore’s “I.T.” is like a digital version of “Fear,” where a young charming man is able to slide in to a normal family’s life by means of trust and quick wits. Pierce Brosnan does a good job with the sometimes half baked material as rising mogul Mike Regan. Regan is a man who is bordering on financial ruin and has invented a private form of uber involving custom jets. After a failed presentation, Regan garners the help of temp Ed. After Ed saves the presentation, Mike takes him within his inner circle, allowing him to work on his home automated system, and to relax with him. When Ed meets Regan’s young daughter Nancy, he begins to form an obsession that involves gradually intruding on Regan’s life with his family. When Regan warns Ed to back off, soon Ed begins a mission to make Regan’s life miserable, and it involves using his technological skills.
Dark Exorcism (2015) [Horrible Imaginings Film Festival 2016]
A Columbia grad student interviews and shadows a paranormal specialist as she investigates a possible haunting or possession which may very well be something much worse than expected. Dark Exorcism, originally titled In The Dark, is David Spaltro’s third feature as a director and second as a writer. Here he weaves a tale of demonic possession starring four strong female characters. His afflicted lead, Bethany Mills is a sweet and strong girl who fights and tries to protect her mother. Her mom is also strong, but at her wits end when Lois Kearne and student Veronica Carpenter come to investigate and ultimately support and help her, whatever it takes.
Level Up (2016)
A group of masked thugs grab Matt and tell him to do as they say or he’ll never see his girlfriend Anna again. As they give him orders by text message, Matt is pushed to see how far he’s ready to go to save the woman he loves. Based on an original idea by Andrew Orr, written by Adam Randall and Gary Young, and directed by Randall, the film is like a type of scavenger hunt/chase through London through which the lead learns about his tormentors and about himself. The bad guys created here are never really explained. The chase the film creates is interesting and how the lead deals with everything thrown at him is in a realistic manner while keeping the attention of the viewer.
Honeymoon (Luna de Miel) (2015)
Jorge kidnaps Isabel and keeps her in his basement hoping that some conditioning and Stendhal Syndrome will make her his. Through torture and punishment, he tries to break her. The brutal story brought to the screen here is written by Marco Tarditi Ortega and directed by Diego Cohen. Together they create a kidnapping story where the victim is brutalized, violated, and tortured in many varied ways. The film brings an imaginative array of ways to make someone suffer and bleed. The way it is shot is relentless, keeping the camera directly on what is happening to victim Isabel at the hands of her captor Jorge who is a medical doctor, giving him better knowledge on how to make her suffer without killing her.