Horror Movies Watched & Books Read (Oct 2010)

MOVIES

Babysitter Wanted (2008) **
A babysitter discovers the child she is sitting for is the son of the devil. This movie moves slowly & tries to build suspense, but fails.

The Psychic (1977) **1/2
Lucio Fulci directed this tale of a clairvoyant who finds a skeleton in his house. The mystery ensures. Not the usual gorefest from the director, but not a bad mysterious.

The Commune (2009) **
A teenage girl goes to spend the summer with her father at a Commune where things aren't as they appear. The DVD skipped during the last 15 minutes & I didn't care because nothing up to that point really kept me interested.

Acolytes (2008) ***
High school kids try to blackmail a murderer into taking out a guy who's been bullying them, but they find out it's a dangerous line to tow. An interesting Aussie movie

Reflecting Skin (1990) ***1/2
Set in the 1950's Midwest, this story is about a kid who believes his neighbor is a vampire & tries to stop his brother from falling in love with her. Also a subplot about murdered children. A very unique and bizarre movie.

The Tomb (2010) **
A modern version of Tombs of Ligeria presented by Fangoria. It had potential & actually kept me watching to the until the end. But quite frankly this movie is a sloppy mess.

Salvage (2008) ***1/2

A subtle piece where a community is over ran by creatures, well turned humans jacked up on medical experiments. A mother fights for survival and tries to save her teenage daughter.

Zombies of Mass Destruction (2009) ***
A far better than expected zombie comedy as the dead take over a small New England community who thinks a terrorist attack started by Al Queda. The movie pokes fun at a lot of different prejudices, which I like.

Dark House (2010) **
A house where child slayings is bought by a schylock, played awesomely by Jeffrey Combs, and is turned into a state of the art haunted house. The spirit infects the computer system and starts wiping out people. Nothing too bad but nothing original. The twist is seen a mile away.

Pighunt (2010) **1/2
What happens when you cross a group of military trained friends, backwoods locals, a hippy commune full of naked women who are lead by a black Jesus figure, and a myth of a giant 3000lb wild boar...well you get this movie. The first half of the movie is a really solid suspense thriller, but then all hell breaks looks and it becomes way too much for one to digest.

The Haunting (2008) ***

A solid ghost story from Spain which has a couple moving into a house where Catholic priests performed supernatural experiments. Soon the ghosts of the pasts want redemption. Great tension can make me forgive about the slight lack of logic at places in the film.

Slime City (1989) **
An ultra low budget movie with a decent plot and special effects, but horrible acting by the main character. It did make me not ever want to turn into slime.

Fragile (2005) ***

Director Jaume Balagueró constructs a fine ghost tale which suffers only the characters waiting too long to resolve their situation. And Clasitina Flockhart didn't impress me either. However, this ghost tale set in a children's hospital is still well worth watching.

Dont Look Up (2009) *1/2
With the first English language film from Fruit Chan I expected...well something to at least keep me interested. The story was murky, the acting was bad, and just found the majority of this flick dull. A couple of decent specials effects are the only thing halfway decent.

Horrors of Malformed Men (1969) **1/2
A bizarre flick full of naked Japanese women from the 60's. I'm still not exactly sure what was going on but the it's full of horrific imagery that makes it worth watching.

My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? (2010) **1/2
Werner Herzog is a madman who has never been afraid to tackle a project. This movie, much like the main character (an always incredible Michael Shannon), is a descent into madness.

Curse of Frankenstein (1957) ***
Hammer Studios revitalized the Frankenstein legend with this outstanding movie. Peter Cushing & Christopher Lee are amazing as always.

My Super Psycho Sweet Sixteen (2008) **1/2
I had reservations about this MTV produced film and while not perfect, it's a decent throwback to 80's slasher flicks. Just get beyond the fact of hot, early twenty-something actresses playing 15 year olds and sketchy dialog (do teens really talk that way these days?).

My Super Psycho Sweet Sixteen 2 (2010) **
This sequel had far more unbelievable characters (this time 20 somethings playing 13-16 year olds) to go with a fairly decent story, which made sense. The movie did nothing for me though.

Monsters (2010) ***1/2
The only real horror in the movie is the aftermath caused by the aliens (The Infected Zone) as two people try to get back to the US. Not exactly what I was anticipating but this is still a good movie to watch.






BOOKS

The Goon: My Murderous Childhood & Other Stories (Number 2) by Eric Powell ***
A bunch of short tales involving The Goon in his continuous battles against the zombie priest and all things wierd. Fun stuff.

Dark Harvest by Norman Patridge ****1/2

A great story centering around a small Midwestern town with Pagan beliefs and the boy who is trying to escape it by winning "The Run" and slaying The October Boy.

Left For Dead: Sacrifice **1/2
I've never played the games or seen any other of the comics, if there are any, but decided to give this a quick glance one day due to it being a free download. It's alright with interesting variations on the zombies.

My Favorite "Pure Terror" Movies

This is sort of a potpourri category which contains movies that dont quite fit into the other categories. One thing they all have in common: each one filled me with pure terror and horror when I fist watched it. Here are my final eight.



* Martyrs (2008)

This is one of the most talked horror movies of the last decade. It is absolutely brutal to watch. When a film makes me physically uncomfortable, I consider it something special. Again, the links human will go in the name of a god never seems to astonish me.


* Session 9 (2001)

I find Brad Anderson to be one of most under rated directors working today. His movies are nothing short of brilliant. This one is about an asbestos removal crew cleaning up an old psychiatric hospital. Nothing here is as it seems as this strange place begins to take a toll on the workers. A tension filled movie.


* Phantasm (1979)

The Tall Man and his silver balls full of jacked up blades and tiny minions. This is the one which started all the weirdness. Creepy is an understatement.


* Audition (1999)

This Takashi Miike movie is an execution in the slow burning bizarre. The first third of the film things are very...well, boring and mundane. Then we find out the sweet, wholesome woman is anything but nice. Chills go up my spine just thinking about the piano wire scene.


* Inside (2007)

Another French movie on the countdown, this one about a woman who will do anything to get an unborn child from a the soon to be mother. I cannot even phantom something like this occurring me.


* The Devil's Rejects (2005)

Again when I film makes me uncomfortable watching, it's doing something right. The motel scene where the Firefly clan is torturing the two couples does just that. I remember several people leaving the theater when this was happening. A very good movie which shows why Rob Zombie should be making movies (unlike his recent outings).


* Videodrome (1983)

James Woods is on the search for answers as he gets deeper into a bizarre mystery known as "The New Flesh". The imagery in this movie freaks me out. He gets a video tape inserted into his chest. Director David Cronenberg has never been better.


Frailty (2002)

A multi layered tale which has Bill Paxton killing demons masked as people as told to him by God. His two young sons try to make sense of it all. A fantastic flick which has you guessing, and freakeded out, until the end credits.

My Favorite Creature Movies

Monstrous creatures have always been the backbone of horror movies.
Here are my 8 favorites.



* The Thing (1982)

My all time favorite horror movie. Period. The movie is chalked full of tension, testosterone, abandoned hope, and incredible special effects. I'm not sure there is a single flaw in this flick. I may go watch it right now.


* Frankenstein (1931)

Another staple of the old time Universal horror lot. Boris Karloff brings humanity to a creation of a mad scientist. I think this is a beautiful movie where the horror lies in the outcome of "the monster".


* The Descent (2206)

If you want to talk about suspense, then look no further. You dont even need the crawling creatures to make this claustrophobic nightmare intense. This movie once again affirms, when humans are face in dire straits, they will commit horrific actions to survive.


* Tremors (1990)

A nice throwback to the 50's monster movies. This giant, carnivore worm flick is just a fun ride. And Fred Ward kicks ass!


* Alien (1979)

With one of the most iconic scenes in horror, when the alien comes bursting out of Kane's chest, I had to jump at least two feet in the air. I loved the flick from my first viewing. This is such a great movie.


* Jaws (1975)

This film sparked my interest in sharks and sparked movie studios interest in find the blockbuster. And for that reason it will always hold a place in film history. But it's still a fine movie with great actors, direction, and quite a few jumps.


* The Mist (2007)

I'm not sure what's scarier: a thick mist that limits your vision to only a few inches, the creatures lurking in the mist, or the people trapped in the store who turn on each other in name of a religion. I find it all frightening. Also contains one of the biggest "holy shit endings" in horror movie history.


* Wolfen (1981)

A werewolf movie that's turns the myth on upside down. Wolf like creatures stalk prey in NYC and it's up to a detective to find out what the cause is.