Back in the late nineties if you attached 2000 or Extreme to anything, it automatically meant it was going to be the best thing since the invention of gravity. Incidentally, for some reason Dimension Films felt adding 2000 to their new Dracula film meant it’d be an amazing new entry in to the endless films about the fanged master of the vampires. It wasn’t. “Dracula 2000” only promises certain new elements to the story, but in reality it’s just another mediocre Dracula film. It’s not awful, but it surely didn’t re-invent the wheel in terms of Dracula or vampire films. In reality much of it is influenced by “The Matrix” so much of the vampire foes bred by Dracula flip around, jump off walls, and battle their foes with martial arts.
Tag Archives: Thriller
The Faculty (1998)
Robert Rodgriguez’ filmography reads like a bucket list of films he’s always wanted to do. “The Faculty” is a modern teen horror film for the “Scream” fanatics, but tailored by a man who grew up on classic science fiction and horror. The film in essence is abundantly silly, but Rodriguez adds his own flourishes such as casting his favorite actors and combining story elements from “Invaders from Mars,” “The Thing,” and “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” Most of all “The Thing.” Rodriguez includes his own version of the blood test, as well as the detached head moving on its own consciousness much to our shock. Granted, the CGI for most of these effects are nonsensical, and in today’s advances, the more upfront scenes of CGI carnage are just so blatant, but “The Faculty” has an unusual charm to it.
Fright Fest: 12 Movies (DVD)
From Mill Creek Entertainment comes almost eighteen hours of movies that vary in quality but are guaranteed to entertain you and keep you in your seat all Halloween day. Featured in this set are twelve movies, all of which are some films I myself have been trying to acquire for years. For fans looking to purchase this DVD and see what they’re in for, here is what you’ll be getting:
From 1998 comes Devil in the Flesh a respectable and memorable “Fatal Attraction” clone starring the gorgeous Rose McGowan as the alluring but dangerous Debbie Strand who sets her sights on the handsome teacher of her new high school and seduces him in to a web of black mail and deception that ends with a slew of dead bodies unfortunate enough to cross her path.
Our Top Ten "Monsters" Episodes
1988’s “Monsters” was one of the many anthology shows in the eighties that managed to cash in on the anthology boom of the decade and offer up its own demented take on the concept. Like “Tales from the Darkside,” and “Twilight Zone” every episode provided its own story steeped in horror, science fiction, or fantasy but had on rule: It had to feature a monster in every episode. Every episode had a monster in one form or another.
Most times it was rather clever, other times it missed big time in its efforts to deliver something new (ahem–I’m looking at you, “My Zombie Lover,” and “Taps”). “Monsters” very much approached the genre with a mixed bag of tricks offering up some dark comedy, thick terror, and often ironic climaxes that succeeded in being a fun and unique series for genre buffs. While sadly fading in to obscurity, it’s still a very entertaining show, and it’s one I fondly re-visited after so many years off the air. To celebrate the lost formula of the anthology, we offer our top ten episodes of the series run.
The Backwater Gospel (2011)
Who needs a monster when you can allow people to become the monsters themselves? When you throw in a bunch of bigoted narrow minded individuals together, and hand them superstitious hokum to chew on, you’re going to get a good idea of who they are and who they will become in due time. The town in a desert hole finds itself fearing the reaper every time the dreaded undertaker comes around to take measurements for death’s latest toll, and uses their Christian beliefs as a shield against his menace.
Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990)
So “Tales from the Darkside: The Movie” is based on the television show, but in the movie, “Tales from the Darkside” is actually a book filled with various horror stories. Does that mean the television show is actually a book? Is the narrator at the opening credits the one telling us the various stories? How did the witch in the film get a hold of the book? And is the witch Debbie Harry plays in the film the same one she plays in the episode “The Moth” where she portrays a devious teenage witch outwitting her mother? It’s never quite indicated. At all. I assume the film is attempting to be meta with the wrap around story, but it never quite works. However we do get a slight instance of the theme song to the television series playing during a scene in the opening.
Hostel/Hostel Part II/The Tattooist/The Hunt for the BTK Killer – 4 Movie Collection (DVD)
If you’re willing to do without the nasty things like special features, and trailers, the four horror hits from Mill Creek Entertainment isn’t really that bad a purchase. If you can stand to sit through two terrible horror films and two mediocre ones as well, then you’re really not going to be disappointed considering the price tag on the four film set.
Another in a line of consumer friendly sets, Mill Creek releases a four horror film set for modern horror fans and all things considered it’s a solid release with four films that may not be masterpieces but are at least worth experimenting with. With the four movie collection on DVD, here is what you’ll ultimately get:
Hostel (Unrated Director’s Cut) – Produced by Quentin Tarantino, “Hostel” is a torture porn horror film and box office winner directed by Eli Roth that sets the light on a group of American travelers who end up in a ring of depravity and torture when they attempt to find random sex and sew their wild oats in Europe over their vacation. Though Eli Roth’s horror film suffers from bad writing, an uneven tone, and a horribly homophobic narrative, “Hostel” does come out ahead with some strong performances and a good lead role by underrated actor Jay Hernandez. And for folks who appreciate it, there are cameos from major horror icons who play members of the elite Hostel who pay thousands of dollars to torture innocent people for their own pleasure and satisfaction. Don’t believe the hype, hostels don’t exist.