#horror Archives - Page 16 of 16

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

IMDB’s number one movie shouldn’t be fucked with right? Well, it has its imperfections. The reason they picked Tim Robbins will always be a mystery to me. All the other casting is good. It’s an inspired Stephen King novel and that’s why it’s good (and the only reason why), in my opinion.

Two imprisoned men bond over a number of years, finding solace and eventual redemption through acts of common decency.
Director: Frank Darabont
Writers: Stephen King (short story “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption”), Frank Darabont (screenplay)
Stars: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton

Most people who see this film have a visceral reaction. It’s not boring in any way. I like prison films and this is sort of a sing-song one. Still, it’s a great prison film and I like it a lot.

You get to see what happens on the inside from a kinder, gentler, machine gun lens. Part of that is due to Stephen King. You know, he is very tame compared to some of the other horror writers. There is a bent in a lot of his stuff against traditional religion. I can definitely relate with that bent.

There is also a lot of Murphy’s Law. I probably don’t need to recommend this since it’s done quite well for decades on its own. Still, I recommend it to fans of prison movies and Stephen King’s outlook on things. Beware of a sing-song nature. This isn’t the hard, deep stuff of life as it claims to be.

Green Room

If you knew punk like I did in the 1980’s, you should watch this if for no other reason than to see how much the punks of today have fucked it up. At the same time, there is a punk spirit still alive in this film that makes the film worth watching. It’s as violent as hell, so much so that is has been labeled as horror. I myself don’t agree it fits in that genre.

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The band is slumming it. I heard Michael Stipe talking about the early days of REM when they were in a van on “tour” of little America. They survived on bags of potatoes and beer. It’s the romance of the things that sounded so fun. I this film you see this same scenario only things aren’t going as well for this band as they did for REM.

There is some sort of scuffle in the venue they play and somehow, someone gets stabbed. The film grows in violence from that point to a raging crescendo of blood and gore that in some metaphorical way might be considered a video to a Sex Pistols song. Unfortunately for me, I got bored. Even though the cause was justified, the violence just seemed to predictable. The things we find below in within this jam house are also a bit predictable.

A lor of people were telling me the same thing about this film, so I’m surprised I felt the urge to see it. It’s not a bad movie per se but I just didn’t find anything worth running to the laptop over to share. For that reason, I don’t recommend Green Room unless your watchlist is about played dry and there’s nothing else really to watch.

The Strangers

While the first 44 minutes could have been spent on better things like developing a rationale for a twist, character development of the intruders, or pretty much anything other than nothing, from the 45 minute point onward, this is a great intruder horror film.

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Since Scott Speedman for me usually signals a throwaway film, I should have listened to my instincts. Having said that, I did enjoy the middle to end of this film and especially the clever end. I’m not surprised they are making a sequel out of it because Hollywood does that with every decent film nowadays.

As for this one, it is a pretty good intruder film. I was reminded of more recent films such as Hush and You’re Next. Both films used masks to their advantage. The problem here is there is far too much time that nothing is happening. I will say bravo to the masks, the masks were scary.

The thing about masks though is that they are so easy to implement and they have a limited effect. When I watch them I can easily imagine the expressions on the face underneath. I think movie watchers in general cannot or do not bother to try which makes the masks ultra scary. To a filmmaker, it’s a budget prop. The story didn’t have much explanation to it. At the end you see a little of a cultic hint but not really. I suppose they are like a Manson family thing but we never hear why and we get virtually to characterization of these people. An opposite example is You’re Next where we learn everything nd that movie is about as scary as this one if not more so.

There are some holes here as I have mentioned but all in all I would recommend this to horror fans. Feel free to get a sandwich in the first half though.

The Last House on the Left

I can see how watching horror could make me not trust strangers very much. Holy smokes, this is a whack in the side of the head, a kick ass horror film that when it starts just doesn’t quit. How about you? How much would you trust wounded strangers? Maybe your answer to that depends on whether you’ve seen this film yet.

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I found myself asking as I watched this, “Can people be this mean?” I’ve hardly ever seen anything so brutal, of course I have though. How about The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. That rape scene is probably the most needlessly graphic scene I have ever endured. Let’s just say, this film approaches that in many of its scenes.

After having been a huge fan of Breaking Bad as it was coming out each week, it was a trip to see Aaron Paul in this film. He plays a similar character in that he doesn’t give a fuck. Apart from the leader of his group, I’d say Paul’s character is the most frightening. For that reason, he is also fun to watch. A few times I did get bored as I smelled the fragrance of I Know What you Did Last Summer and other formulaic 90’s horror films.

Basically, it’s this: create an evil character by making him to horrible things to innocent people. Next, have those innocent people fight back. Make murderers out of good people and being the audience’s approval along for the ride. There, I might call that a plot spoiler but there is so much more here worth checking out. I recommend it to fans of the genre. Don’t expect something new or visionary but expect to be blown away by this revenge tale.

The Walking Dead

Zombies! Where have they come from and into modern culture? I’d say George Romero might tell us. His B&W low-budget scares in 1968’s Night of the Living Dead scared a generation and continue to do so up to the present day. There are some similarities in every zombie movie. Some eat only brains, some move slow, and some move fast. The common denominator is that they’re dead … and they’re walking!

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Rick Grimes is the central character but there are many many more side characters. This show can often appear like a soap opera. Of course, in between some of the sappy lines you have buck knives slamming into zombie skulls, putting them out of their misery. There is something here for everyone: abject violence (and I mean that adjective 100%), romance and sex, gore, horror, thrills, mystery … a whole lot of all these things and more.

Currently, there is a power struggle going on with a dictator of sorts. How should we treat dictators? If you say we should rise up against them to take them down, just remember there are no organized systems to protect you. I am enjoying this season quite a bit as we see what this psychopathic leader will do and more importantly, how long will the people let him.

What I find most cool about TWD is the way people treat each other in a zombie apocalypse. It tackles issues of sociology and government. Some segments resemble The Lord of the Flies and others Utopia. It’s not just about zombies you see, you get a look at us and how we are. Us, of course, meaning humanity. After 5 seasons, it has less to do with stabbing them in the brain and more to do with how we will rebuild the world. The dead are walking but just ahead, so are we. I highly recommend this as a binge watch to anyone really but horror and drama fans the most.

The Autopsy of Jane Doe

We’ve all seen the autopsy room in the morgue on crime shows like CSI. What we haven’t seen is havoc in the same room. It’s remarkable when a film can create suspense and intrigue in just one room and The Autopsy of Jane Doe manages it well. I liked it a lot and certainly found it interesting. It’s rare when a film holds my attention this powerfully from credits to credits. I do have some reservations but overall I can highly recommend it.

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I like movies that take me somewhere I’ve never been and I don’t know where I’m going. This film started out like that as they hauled in a nameless cadaver and attempted to find a COD. Toward the middle and three-fourths region, it started getting really complicated. This worked for the plot and intrigue but I must admit I sort of lost what was happening.

I don’t like movies I don’t understand. There may be something more to this film I didn’t catch but I didn’t really care to watch it again and find that out. For that reason, I’d say the movie fails on one level. It’s exciting, gory, and suspenseful but at the same time it presents a backstory that really doesn’t fit as a puzzle piece. It works as it is and is certainly an enjoyable and scary film but I wish they would have made the solution to the mystery simpler. I didn’t get it.

I’n happy to reccomend this horror film to fans of the genre. If you saw it already, I’d love to get your comments. This is one we could talk about for hours. Anyone care to make me a backstory believer?

Tusk 2

There isn’t much ‘Tusk’ in this but there is some. Since I loved the first film, I sat through this one and found it to be a lot of fun, despite the reviews.

It’s actually titled Yoga Hosers but this film by Kevin Smith is film 2 in a trilogy of which the largely misunderstood ingenious horror film Tusk is the first. Apart from some offhand references in the beginning stating the girls helped save the walrus guy, you won’t sense much Tusken darkness at all, that’s too bad. I am a huge fan of the oddity film and this one could have used a lot more of its horror. It’s not all bad though.

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The story goes like this: two teens work in a mart. Two guys try to kill them for Satan. The girls kill the boys in self-defense. Little men made out of sausage that are programmed to kill travel through the dead boys.

Next there is a Hitler type fellow that captures them along with a character played by Johnny Depp. Incidentally, the girls are played by Kevin Smith and Johnny Depp’s daughters.

There are some funny jokes here and there but most of all, this is a dull experience. If you loved Tusk and you love Kevin Smith films, I think you’ll find this entertaining. Other fans of this may be people 15 and younger. All others should probably steer clear. I can only recommend it for the Kevin Smith die-hards. I don’t smoke dope but I imagine a bit of that would help make sense of this film. What was he thinking? I think the answer to that is: nothing. I think Smith has given up pandering to making decent films. He’s just making the fun films he wants to make and I think that’s pretty cool for him!
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