Tag Archives: Thriller

Occupants (2015)

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Occupants

For anyone like me who take interest in the concept of parallel worlds, director Russell Emanuel embraces the found footage sub-genre while also dodging the gimmicky trappings in favor of a much more intelligent genre title involving the scientific idea. “Occupants” explores the theory of parallel realities, and how it’s theorized our lives can align with alternate versions of ourselves. Much like “Paranormal Activity,” Emanuel sets his film primarily in one setting, but the similarities end there. Emanuel has his finger on the pulse of science fiction, exploring a realm where every movement is intricate and our characters begin to dabble in the God Complex resulting in some absolutely horrendous consequences.

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The House Where Evil Dwells / Ghost Warrior: Double Feature [Blu-ray]

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Scream Factory offers movie fans a double feature on Blu-Ray with the theme of Asian culture driving the plots for both films. For folks that love Asian films, these two films offer up a helping of Asian genre entertainment with slight twists to them. The first feature is 1982’s “The House Where Evil Dwells,” a supernatural thriller that is basically “Amityville Horror” with a Japanese twist. It’s also just as goofy as the former ghost film. The Fletchers have migrated from the US to Japan in hopes of taking a long needed vacation. Writer Ted is intent on finishing his novel and is anxious to relax. The trio along with Ted’s friend Alex ends up at a small house in the woods of Kyoto where they’re told by Alex’s friend that the house’s rent is cheap due to suspected ghosts.

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Batman: Bad Blood (2016) [Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital]

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Bat people! Bat people! So many Bat people! Back when I was a young lad, there were only two or three Batman oriented characters. Now there is practically a whole legion of masked vigilantes by the time “Bad Blood” comes to a close. Who even needs the Gotham Police Force, anymore? It’s admittedly kind of ridiculous, but also kind of fun to see how many people have been influenced by The Dark Knight to keep going forward and fighting crime. Gotham needs as much as help as it can get, obviously, so why not have a Batgirl, a Batwoman, a Nightwing, and a Batwing, amiright?

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A Sister’s Nightmare (2013)

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What almost ruins the experience of “A Sister’s Nightmare” is its pacing. The pacing and tension are glacial to the point where I wondered if writer Shelley Gillen had any idea where it was going. Thankfully sticking with it leads in to a very interesting pay off in the finale where events unfold in to a welcome twist climax. I pretty much anticipated what would occur, but in the end I appreciated that the writers opted for a twist rather than simply turning “A Sister’s Nightmare” in to a typical protective parent thriller we’ve seen a thousand times. I’m not saying “A Sister’s Nightmare” is top notch thrills and chills, but it definitely builds up to a neat bang that compensates for the general mediocrity of its storytelling.

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Avenged (2015)

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I wish “The Crow” sequels took as much of an advantage with a creative premise as director Michael S. Ojeda does with “Avenged.” While his film isn’t exactly a revenge masterpiece, it’s a strong contender for one of the finer revenge films of the past five years, working as a tragic love story, and a vicious horror themed tale of vengeance. Amanda Adrienne Smith is rather compelling as the victimized Zoe, a deaf mute who ends up at the wrong place at the wrong time.

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Sinister 2 (2015)

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Someone should really tell the creators of Slender Man that Focus Features went ahead and ripped off their character, except their version sports rockin’ long black hair. Here we are with the direct follow-up to “Sinister” and the mystery of who or what Bughuul still isn’t interesting, nor is the actual character of Bughuul. His motives are still a mystery, his quest for luring children still unknown, and there’s not a lot of explanation to what purpose the children serve for him. Are they his willing minions? Are they individual manifestations of his persona through the souls of the children he’s consumed? Are they possessed by him? Or are they his eternal slaves? The writers don’t seem to know just yet.

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Jack’s Back (1988) [Blu-Ray/DVD]

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Jack the Ripper is one of the most fascinating serial killers of all time mainly because of the way they (I always assumed it was more than one killer) murdered, and their targets. Sadly, the entity has managed to inspire so many horror films, some very good, and some known as “Jack’s Back.” A cheapy little vehicle, “Jack’s Back” has vague connections to Jack the Ripper, but it overplays its hand by sidestepping the slasher motif, trying to be a cerebral character study. It fails on most fronts. Instead watching like a goofy, often muddled mess that I had a tough time keeping up with.

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