So basically, Brandon Slagle’s “The Flood” is “Assault on Precinct 13” but with killer alligators. That’s it. That’s the whole of the concept and premise. You can fill in the rest, if you’ve been watching movies for a while; which is not to say that “The Flood” is a bad film, it’s just not something that I haven’t seen before. Truth be told, there are nuggets of a great film embedded within “The Flood” but if you’re expecting a full on alligator siege movie in the vein of “Crawl,” then your best bet is looking elsewhere.
Tag Archives: Thriller
Insidious: the Red Door (2023)
It’s a real shame that the “Insidious” series would go back to its roots with “The Red Door” and end up being probably the worse entry in the franchise yet. Patrick Wilson is a fine enough director, but “The Red Door” is such a misfire that you can’t even really call it a cash grab. It feels a lot like the studios attempts to add some sense of closure to the Lambert family, but rather than this emotional journey through the Further, all they hand us is a half baked rip off of “The Babadook.” And that’s saying a lot since I’ve been such a fan of the “Insidious” series since it arrived in 2011. But these films have done so much better, even with “The Last Key.”
Insidious: The Last Key (2018)
Elise Rainier has been one of the most fleshed out horror movie heroines of the modern era and I’ve enjoyed her quest throughout the “Insidious” series. After dying at the end of the first film, every subsequent film has backtracked to not only explore Elise more, but also give us a bigger wider bridge to the first film. “The Last Key” is perhaps the most personal quest featuring Elise as it does fit in to the general mythology of “The Further” but is more intimate and lower stakes. The movie can be seen more as a stand alone one shot featuring Elise in where she not only garnered full control of her powers, but also foresaw her fate in the first “Insidious.”
Door Mouse (2023)
I’m pretty surprised that Avan Jogia had it in him to direct one of the better indie films I’ve seen all year. Shockingly, “Door Mouse” is not based on any particular comic book or graphic novel, but its influences are taken from obvious places like Frank Miller, Sam Spade, Scott Pilgrim, Tank Girl and the like. Jogia is mostly known for being a former Nickelodeon actor in America who then transitioned well in to adult films, but he’s also proven with “Door Mouse” to be a pretty awesome director when all is said and done. “Door Mouse” is a pulpy, neo-noirish, crime thriller with some great references to comic books and a very clever use of animation as a means of helping to add to the overall pulp fiction aesthetic that Jogia seems to be aiming for.
Tales from the Apocalypse (2023)
I’m shocked at how great “Tales from the Apocalypse” was, and I say that as someone that loves a good apocalyptic yarn here and there. While I wouldn’t be quick to compare it to “Trick r Treat” as the premise has explained, it manages to stand on its own two feet as great anthology filled with five great science fiction shorts obvious influenced by the likes of Ray Bradbury, Rod Serling, and Richard Matheson. I’m also glad a lot of the shorts picked for this film aren’t the usual tired tropes, but aim for something so much more meaningful and thought provoking.
Evil Dead Rise (2023) [4K/Blu-Ray/Digital]
It’s hard to believe that it’s been a decade since we’ve seen a proper “Evil Dead” movie. After the fantastic remake—boot (?), Warner brought in newcomer Lee Cronin to lend a new flavor to the universe. What was originally intended as an exclusively streaming release on their subscription service, Warner chanced it by bringing their movie to theaters exclusively. Thankfully their risk pulled off beautifully as their low budget return to the horror universe that Sam Raimi built ended up being a box office and crucial powerhouse. For good reason, too.
10-33 (2021)
Director and Writer Alexander Maxim Seltzer’s “10-33” is a powerhouse of a short film. In only ten minutes it packs in a fleshed out narrative, a horrifying plot twist, gut wrenching suspense, and a gut punch of a climax. Altogether it is also a taut commentary about the current climate we live in where gun violence is now not only recurring, but inevitable. Director Maxim Seltzer is a masterful storyteller, building such a wonderful thriller in such a short time.