October Horror Movie Challenge 2015
31 horror movies in 31 days! I always end it with a horror movie marathon on Halloween :)
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- DirectorJerome SableStarsMinnie DriverMeat LoafAllie MacDonaldA snobby musical theater camp is terrorized by a blood-thirsty killer who hates musical theater.Plot: Ten years after his starlet is brutally killed, a producer turned camp director decides to put on the same play with a new director and a new cast at a kid's acting camp. His ex-starlet's daughter, Camilla, takes the stage and blows her audition away, but can she land the part when the killer returns to finish what he started?
Equal parts camp and gore, Stage Fright was actually really enjoyable. The songs are catchy and the cast is pretty solid except for the lead, Allie MacDonald, who sleepwalks through the entire part. Surprisingly funny, the Ghost's heavy metal solos are a stark contrast to the peppy songs that comprise the rest of the movie - I think his were my favorite. - DirectorStiles WhiteStarsOlivia CookeAna CotoDaren KagasoffA group of friends must confront their most terrifying fears when they awaken the dark powers of an ancient spirit board.Plot: After their friend Debbie commits suicide, her best friends gather in her home to play with a Ouija board in an attempt to get some answers and maybe say goodbye. However, someone isn't quite so ready to let go and the friends quickly find themselves being spooked in their own homes as they're killed off one by one. It's a race from the attic to the basement to figure out what needs to be done to destroy the ghost and save themselves.
Michael Bay produced this and Juliet Snowden (The Possession and Knowing) wrote it so prepare yourself for CGI effects in the place of good acting and a lot of jump scares where there doesn't need to be jump scares. The best thing I can say about the movie is that it isn't terrible; it's mediocre, at best. It's a ho-hum haunt flick set at a snail's pace that never really builds any real tension. There's just too much extraneous junk that detracts from the scares. Why do we need to know that Sarah, Laine's sister, is a jerk and that their mother is gone or that their father goes away on business trips? So much of this movie takes place at school and nothing really creepy ever happens there. It's bogus - like making me watch the writer write the script as she desperately tries to fill 90 minutes. Maybe it would've made a better short... - DirectorKevin GreutertStarsSarah SnookMark WebberJoelle CarterReturning to her childhood home in Louisiana to recuperate from a horrific car accident, Jessabelle comes face to face with a long-tormented spirit that has been seeking her return -- and has no intention of letting her escape.Plot: After surviving a carwreck, Jessabelle comes home to her estranged father where he sets her up in her dead mother's bedroom. Totally not snooping through her mother’s stuff, she finds videotapes of her mother giving her a Tarot reading that doesn’t seem to be going as well as she had hoped. Later that night, a creepy presence visits her in bed. Things go downhill from there.
The first Insidious movie did one thing well and that was the build up. Unfortunately, they decided to give it a rather lame explanation in order to resolve what really didn’t need to be resolved. Jessabelle has that same dramatic build up, but they only spend about half a minute on the resolution which is still ok because they telegraphed the ending from the middle. There are some decently creepy moments so it’s not so bad. I could be convinced to sit through it again if with a group of friends who really, really wanted to see it. - DirectorOlatunde OsunsanmiStarsTorrey DeVittoCaitlin StaseyHarry LennixA detective hunts down a killer using video footage shot by the victims of a massacre at an abandoned gas station.Plot: After a public breakup, an aspiring actress and her musician ex take a bus trip to Vegas with their filmmaker friend. They pick up a hodgepodge of passengers along the way before their bus flips and deposits them right in the middle of Murder, Nowhere with a serial killer in a welder mask.
The story is told in video clips as detectives watch to figure out who the killer is. The chic detective says what we, the audience, wants to see when she says to skip to the end - y’know, like what normal detectives would do. But then Emo Detective comes out of nowhere demanding that we watch from the beginning because the relationships are important for some strange reason. Most of it is done through shaky cam and looks like a terribly buffered home video. There’s a fair bit of ridiculousness along the way (why does Emo Detective need a backstory?!) and a major plot hole ending. Ultimately, it’s probably not going to be the worst of the Challenge, but it definitely won’t be the best. - DirectorGuy PigdenStarsHarley NevilleJocelyn ChristianBen BakerA young runner, on a Zombie film set, has the first day from hell when real Zombies overrun the set.Plot: On the set of a zombie apocalypse movie in the woods, the cast and crew suffer through another day of shooting and Wesley Pennington’s first day as runner. The movie already has a host of issues: an overbearing director with a god complex, a diva actress with a terrible American accent, an idiot lead man, a method actor bent on driving everyone insane, and a surly crew. When the supporting actor takes ill, Wesley is charged with taking him into town where all manner of townsfolk meander about as zombies while Wesley walks around clueless to the danger. Unfortunately for him and the movie, the real zombies follow him to the set.
Honestly, this movie was a lot of fun. It’s easy to hate most of the cast so it’s pretty entertaining when they get eaten in various ways. Low budget B-movie Meta Zombie flick with referential humor mixed with a fair bit of slapstick. - DirectorKevin SmithStarsJustin LongMichael ParksHaley Joel OsmentA brash and arrogant podcaster gets more than he bargained for when he travels to Canada to interview a mysterious recluse... who has a rather disturbing fondness for walruses.Plot: An annoying, self-absorbed podcaster travels to Canada to interview a teenager who’s become internet famous for waving a sword around his room (think Light Saber Kid), but the kid commits suicide, leaving him in an unsatisfied state. Finding an ad in a bathroom offering a room in exchange for life stories and light housework, Wallace takes the late night drive to Howard’s home where he finds an interesting, albeit eccentric, old man with quite a few stories to tell, not the least of which, about a walrus.
I went in expecting it to be terrible because of all the reviews. Honestly, it wasn’t as bad as everyone made it out to be. Yeah, the premise and the ending are ridiculous and I’m sure there are more than a few people who have issues solely with the science of it all, but it’s a goofy horror movie! After the credits roll, Kevin Smith laughs with his friends about the absurd ending and I had to laugh too - it’s a decent movie with a weird bad guy who kills for a weird reason, but it’s no more than the result of Kevin Smith sitting around and musing, “you know what would make a funny movie?....” - DirectorJames Roday RodriguezStarsMichael WestonJimmi SimpsonSutton FosterIt's All Hallow's Eve. A trio of costumed misfits with very special dietary requirements seizes a Mexican cantina and force the staff to engage in a late night of gaming, food and libations. The only caveat is what's on the menu.Plot: At the end of their shift, a cantina staff is beset upon by two cannibalistic brothers and a tag-along girlfriend. Games are played, blood is spilled, and friends are eaten. Can the group survive the trio’s ill intentions or will they be the next course?
I know it’s early and we’re not even a third of the way through the Challenge, but this is probably my favorite film this year! Fast paced dialogue, a great cast, and a fun story make this easily the best film I’ve seen so far. It’s like a slightly darker episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. - DirectorJonathan MilottCary MurnionStarsElijah WoodRainn WilsonAlison PillA mysterious virus hits an isolated elementary school, transforming the kids into a feral swarm of mass savages. An unlikely hero must lead a motley band of teachers in the fight of their lives.Plot: Mondays suck, especially for a group of teachers when all the school kids are infected with a virus after eating bad chicken nuggets. It’s a race around the schoolyard as they dodge pig-tailed man-eaters and zombified toddlers.
This one isn’t terrible. It’s not great, but it’s not terrible. There are a few moments, but it never becomes as good as it could be. Elijah Wood is insufferable as a terrible writer turned substitute and Rainn Wilson has definitely had better roles than the dumb PE teacher. I’ve read that it’s hard to skate that line between both genres of horror and comedy and do it well; in that case, Cooties doesn’t quite hit the mark for either genre. - DirectorJeff BaenaStarsAubrey PlazaDane DeHaanJohn C. ReillyA young man's recently deceased girlfriend mysteriously returns from the dead, but he slowly realizes she is not the way he remembered her.Plot: Zach mopes about and hangs out with his dead girlfriend’s parents until Beth digs herself out of her grave, intent on picking up right where she left off.
Life After Beth has a great cast and a simple enough premise. Half second chance love story, half zombie apocalypse. the movie features a lot of subtle humor, but lacks the gore necessary to pull off the second half effectively. I may not enjoy Aubrey Plaza (plays Beth) as a person, but she’s dead on when she says in her interview that she should have been able to eat more people on screen. I get that it’s low budget, but, if you have the budget to wreck a car, then you should have the budget to put a few ghoul-type zombie extras shambling about eating people to really drive the horror. As it stands, Life After Beth should really fit with other movies like Warm Bodies in that it dials back the horror to focus on the love story with comedic elements. Decent enough for a second watch, but I don’t expect to remember too much about it come next year. - DirectorHélène CattetBruno ForzaniStarsKlaus TangeUrsula BedenaJoe KoenerReturning home from a business trip to discover his wife missing, a man delves deeper and deeper into a surreal kaleidoscope of half-baked leads, seduction, deceit, and murder. Does anyone in the building know something?Plot: Dan Kristensen returns home from a business trip to find the chain on the door and his wife missing. A detective arrives and takes his story, but tells of another wife whose husband missed her. Dan gets drunk and goes to bother the neighbors who are all strange and offer more questions than answers.
This is a seriously gorgeous film, but the story gets derailed pretty quickly once the premise is established. The set design and the use of intense color is unbelievable, but it all serves to drive the focus away from the story and, by the end, there’s only confusion. I had never heard of Giallo movies before, but this was a side challenge viewing set by some who are far more versed in the world of arthouse cinema than I am. I love the richness of the art nouveau period and this film features it so much that it becomes almost oppressive. One word of warning - this is definitely not a movie to watch with the family. As with most art nouveau, there’s a fair bit of passive nudity, but there’s also a scene where a girl spreads her vagina in a classic 70s porn-magazine pose. - DirectorRichard SchenkmanStarsSarah ButlerJen LandonDoug McKeonJennifer is still haunted by the memory of being gang raped and almost killed years ago. At her therapist's advice, she joins group therapy and meets similar women. She befriends one and they want more than just talk - justice/vengeance.Plot: Picking up a couple years after her brutal ordeal in the woods, Jennifer Hills changes her name and decides to go to group therapy at the request of her therapist. When her new friend is murdered and the murderer walks, she decides to get justice on her own by hunting the men who are responsible for the victims in her group therapy.
The original 1978 version spent so much time on the rape and very little time on the revenge whereas the 2010 remake spends half the time on the rape and the rest of it on Home Alone style revenge shenanigans. The sequel to the remake featured equally ridiculous revenge scenarios. Then this piece of cinematic crap comes along. Jennifer sees rapists everywhere, her fantasies switching back and forth between the revenge she took and the revenge she’d like to take on any man who speaks to her. While the people she kills do most certainly have it coming, the movie fails to make us loathe them to the same degree as we did in the original and remake. In both of those movies, she’s just minding her own business when these jackwads attack her so there’s a certain sense of unfairness about it; we cheer when she turns the tables on them. But, in III, she’s just attacking people who she thinks are guilty. There’s no proof that the abusive boyfriend killed the friend or that the step-father isn’t just creepy rather than being a pedophile; she just takes it on faith and doles out punishment. With any luck, I’ll have forgotten this film by next year. - DirectorChad Michael WardStarsRobert BrettenaughAlexandra BardJames Adam LimWhen a brilliant but obsessive scientist goes to extremes to develop a universal cure for all disease, he finds himself infected with a bizarre parasite that begins to transform him into a bloodthirsty madman. Time running out, he must find a way to stop the monster that is growing within and prevent the rest of the world from being "cured."Plot: Scientist Henry and his lackey Gemma attempt to cure all human ailments by pumping chemicals into an organic monster in a glass case. When, during a routine procedure, the monster impales Henry with spikes, he becomes infected with its parasitic children and must feed on blood to keep his quickly ebbing sanity.
This is the first movie to cause me pain during this Challenge and I didn’t even understand the ending to The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears! They take almost 70 minutes to build up this love story slash monster movie and then try to wrap it up with a *beep* climax and resolution. Robert Brettenaugh (Henry) gravel whisper-talks through the entire first half and then screams all his lines in the second half. This seriously could have been cut down to 30 minutes - 10 minutes to introduce the premise with a mini montage of them in the lab followed by the inevitable “something goes wrong” scene, 10 minutes of him being an absolute douche to her and killing off a bunch of people (hell, this could even be a montage!), and then 10 minutes for her to work out the cure and for him to spike her drink and carry her to safety. Done. But we get coffee house flirting with word vomited backstory. Took too long before anything interesting happened and the payoff just wasn’t good enough. - DirectorAjmal Zaheer AhmadStarsDominic RainsRay ParkWilliam AthertonA man turns to a mysterious pair and a shackled mental patient for help in combating an ancient family curse.Plot: In the beginning, God made three creatures: man out of clay; angels out of light; and Jinn out of fire. On his birthday, Shan receives a videotape with a cryptic message from his father who died when he was a child. The message warns him that he is in great danger and that he must find friends to help him in the coming battle against a powerful Jinn who has been stalking his family for generations.
The lead, Dominic Rains, is pretty decent, playing his main role along with a few screamy demon doppelganger types. The rest of the cast is crap, over emoting and straining what little dialogue they have. There was one scene that was impressively creepy (the guy in the window), but the rest was just cheap jump scare. Granted it’s a neat premise and it’s definitely not a common topic to explore, but some of the messages came across a little heavy handed. I just think WishMaster did it better.... You can watch the entire movie on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Luu... - DirectorJack HellerStarsKevin DurandLukas HaasBianca KajlichAn evil is unleashed in a small town when a logging company sets up shop in the neighboring woods.Plot: Driven south by logging, an unknown creature stalks a small town as it prepares for a winter storm. The town’s sheriff, a grieving father who lost his youngest son to an accident, tries desperately to find out what sort of creature it could be as encounters with it escalate.
Spoiler: It’s a CGI werewolf. I just saved you 90 minutes of Lukas Haas staring at the camera or off into the distance with a tortured/constipated look. The entire film is shot with a blue tint which makes absolutely no sense and is rather off-putting as a stylistic choice. None of the characters are particularly likable and everyone seems to have their own backstory which they word vomit with all the grace of, “hey, you never told me why you’re here”. The fact that it’s a werewolf (wendigo) is revealed halfway through when he does a LookItUp search (I’m not joking), but they still play dumb until credits roll. After *beep* starts to go south for the little town of Maiden Wood, I mutter “there’s probably more than one...” Cut to the ending where everything feels wrapped up, but the sheriff and his deputy are heehawing around the dead creature and the deputy remarks that this one doesn’t have a shoulder wound and suddenly we get a shot of all the creatures crawling around the outside of the church! Dun! Dun! Dun! It wasn’t terrible, but I did find myself thinking a nap would be a better use of my time and, when I thought I would start another movie, it occurred to me that I should probably type this up because I was already starting to forget the movie’s finer details - like how there’s about five minutes of shaky cam focus shots on random things in the town before the movie even starts. Ugh. - DirectorA.D. CalvoStarsBrendan FehrShirley KnightChad LindbergA depressed young man struggles to move on and escape haunting memories of his girlfriend, killed ten years ago in a train accident.Plot: Josh lost his girlfriend in a horrific train collision 10 years ago and, with everyone from his boss to his best friend telling him to move on, maybe he’s ready to do that when a new waitress arrives.
This one kinda of pulled it around at the last minute, but it was painful getting there. Josh doesn’t really react which makes everyone else’s reactions seem over the top. Amelia doesn’t show up until 25 minutes into the movie and that’s when it finally starts to move along albeit slowly. When best friend Rusty challenges Amelia, it confirmed what I thought was going on and the ending is pretty predictable. The only thing that I didn’t foresee is the relationships between the side characters. In hindsight, “blame it on Rusty” is a little cold hearted in context - Lucinda is a bitch. - DirectorJared CohnStarsSara Malakul LaneRubén GuevaraSteve HanksWhen baby Sebastian is born on 12/12/12 everyone around him starts to die. Pretty soon, his mother realizes that her son is the spawn of Hell.Plot: Sebastian’s first victim was the doctor who birthed him and the attending nurse. Surrounded by carnage, Veronica suckles him while detectives scratch their heads in confusion. Unbeknownst to them, a devil-worshiper stalks the hospital halls, glaring at orderlies and smothering new mothers! With such a birthday, how can Sebastian not fulfill his destiny as the Anti-Christ?!
This movie earns its one star rating, but it was still fairly entertaining for being so bad. Sebastian is played by a puppet and it’s a hilarious one at that - there’s no mistaking this for a real baby. Apparently the Anti-Christ has a bit of a self-esteem issue because the people who die tend to criticize his appearance before being offed in various ways. The ending gets a little side-tracked, but the whole movie’s a mess so that’s not really saying much. - DirectorJames Cullen BressackStarsTrae IrelandErin CokerJody BartonIn the 13th month of the 13th year of a new millennium, humans battle a world of demons.Plot: Upon returning from a camping trip, Jack finds his maybe ex-wife in the kitchen scratching the skin of her forearm off. He takes her to the hospital, leaving his 12-year old daughter with his camping friends. Things go from bad to worse as everyone in the hospital seems to be having a bad attitude day. When bodies start to pile up, Jack meets up with Candace who tells him there’s some significance to the day.
It’s an interesting concept that 28 Days Later did better. Apparently Jack and Candace are ok because they were born on a leap day, but everyone else goes crazy. The story line was mostly coherent. but there’s no resolution whatsoever. The acting isn’t terrible, but it isn’t really good either. - DirectorDavid GelbStarsOlivia WildeMark DuplassEvan PetersA group of medical researchers discover a way to bring dead patients back to life.Plot: A group of scientists bring in a documentary filmmaker to document their historic experiment as they attempt to bring a dead animal back to life. Their experiment a success, a pharmaceutical company sweeps in to take all their work.
All the characters are pretty likable, the acting is decent, and it’s got a cohesive story line. The ending leaves room for a much unneeded sequel, but that’s to be expected from this bunch. The movie isn’t strong enough to warrant a sequel, but it all depends on box office nowadays. In any event, it was a decent watch even if fairly unmemorable. - DirectorMac CarterStarsJacki WeaverLiana LiberatoHarrison GilbertsonAn introvert teen befriends his new neighbor, and together the couple begin to explore the haunted house that his family has just purchased.Plot: The Morello family was killed off in various ways, leaving the mother alone to sell the house to the Ashers. Evan Asher moves into Matthew Morello’s attic bedroom and almost immediately feels something watching him. He meets a neighbor girl named Sam and, together, they use an EVP box to talk to the ghosts in the house. Weirdly enough, all the ghosts just seem to want to do is say “She is coming.”
Very well done - the dialogue seemed natural, the setting was creepy enough, and the scares were well paced. I only have one issue with the logic of the ending, but I won’t get into that just in case some of you actually do watch the movie. - DirectorAlejandro HidalgoStarsRuddy RodríguezGuillermo GarciaRosmel BustamanteDulce is a mother of two who experiences terrifying encounters with apparitions inside her old house, a place where a tragedy occurs. Thirty years later, an elderly Dulce returns home to decipher the mystery that has tormented her for so long.Plot: Sometime in the 1980s, Leopoldo and Rodrigo grow up with their mother Dulce and father Juan Jose. However, the house that they bought cheap from the government comes with its own backstory and host of ghostly characters. When Dulce wakes up at the top of the stairs with a gash on her face, she grabs the largest shard of broken mirror and rushes to the basement just in time to see her husband murdered and her son vanish into thin air. Thirty years later, she returns to the house hoping to find answers to where her beloved son went.
(Spoiler-ish? I mean, the title is a spoiler....)
So the title gives away the reveal and we know it’s got something to do with time travel. If you felt that was a spoiler because it wasn’t obvious, I’m sorry, but, from the first instance of shaken doorknobs and ghostly apparitions, I figured it was just a matter of time before we found out that it’s just another version of herself. Disregarding that, the movie is flipping fantastic. Even with that bit given away, it’s still a thrilling ride from start to finish. It’s got a great pace, the actors are superb, and the story is amazingly good. It was definitely worth the watch and will be recommended. - DirectorGrant HarveySteven HobanBrett SullivanStarsWilliam ShatnerGeorge BuzaRob ArcherInterwoven stories that take place on Christmas Eve, as told by one festive radio host: A family brings home more than a Christmas tree, a student documentary becomes a living nightmare, a Christmas spirit terrorizes, Santa slays evil.Plot: An anthology featuring four different tales: one about Santa fighting off legions of undead elves; another about a family being stalked by Krampus; a third about a group of teenagers investigating a year old murder in a school’s basement; and the last about a couple trying to find the perfect tree on Christmas with their son.
William Shatner plays the DJ in the wraparound segment and he’s hilarious as the slightly cantankerous old drunk determined to get everyone to participate in the spirit of the season. I wasn’t jazzed about the teenagers in the school bit; I felt this one wasted the setting just a bit and we didn’t get the maximum scare potential. The family was annoying and I waited for their demise with glee. Honestly, the creepiest story was the one with the tree and that at least had a happy ending... well, happy-ish. The most interesting and the most well-done has to go to the Santa segment and the reveal. Overall, it was a fun film. - DirectorHenry HobsonStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerAbigail BreslinJoely RichardsonA teenage girl in the Midwest becomes infected by an outbreak of a disease that slowly turns the infected into cannibalistic zombies. During her transformation, her loving father stays by her side.Plot: The world is trying to cope with a necro-ambulatory outbreak (zombies) when one man finds his daughter in the quarantine wing of a hospital. Cashing in a favor, he takes her home to his wife who then try to keep her as comfortable as can be as she slowly becomes a zombie.
Maggie is like watching paint dry. It’s slow and dramatic, but not much really happens. It’s less zombie movie and more father-daughter reconciliation movie. People are praising Abigal Breslin, but I didn’t see an Oscar-worthy performance unless you count curling into a ball multiple times. Arnold.... Well, his role really only calls for anguished looks and silent contemplation. This is not a character growth film as some have suggested; neither character expands beyond their initial view. This isn’t even an interesting zombie film so they didn’t do that right either. The only true credit goes to the makeup artist who got to do varying stages of infection on several people. - DirectorTakashi ShimizuStarsHikari MitsushimaTakeru ShibuyaTamaki OgawaDaigo doesn't go to school anymore. His sister, Kiriko, is worried and their father is no help. Now Daigo is missing. He's in danger, and Kiriko will have to follow him into a world of nightmares to discover the truth.Plot: Daigo puts an injured rabbit out of its misery as his sister, Kiriko watches helplessly. When he begs his sister to take him to the 3-D movie “The Shock Labyrinth”, he takes hold of the stuffed bunny as it spirals off the screen and into his hands. From that point on, Daigo’s dreams are haunted by a ever-increasingly realistic looking bunny costume. Can Kiriko save her brother from the surreal world created from her own memories?
I knew I had seen those scenes from the movie they go to! I think I watched The Shock Labyrinth for another challenge a few years ago! In fact, the movie poster is the same, only slightly modified (they changed the color, erased the rabbit, and changed the title, but it still features the same weird person holding onto something). This was actually pretty decently creepy and the reveal was fantastic - I never once saw it coming. My only issue is that it should’ve stopped 15 minutes earlier, but they had to tie it to The Shock Labyrinth somehow and that meant getting Kiriko back to the hospital; in essence, this acts as a prequel to TSL which is sad because TSL was junk whereas Tormented was good. It’s got elements of Alice in Wonderland what with the rabbit and the falling down a hole-like void. There’s also a fair bit of focus on Anderson’s The Little Mermaid in that Kiriko has “given up her voice” and now communicates through notes. Because of this movie, I also learned a bit about the Japanese insistence on making long black hair into a supernatural element of their horror stories; the scene where she cuts her hair is possibly symbolic to her rejection of her emerging womanhood and her determination to stay a child in order to monopolize her father’s attention when faced with his love interest, Kyoko. Overall, if you cut out that last 15 minutes, it’s a really good film about delusions and hauntings. - DirectorAaron HannMario MiscioneStarsAllegra MastersAimee McKayAshley KeyHeld captive and faced with their imminent executions, fifty strangers are forced to choose the one person among them who deserves to live.Plot: Fifty strangers wake up in a strange room arranged in a circle. After their initial confusion, they realize that every 2 minutes, they have to vote for someone to die. Sides are quickly taken as some view others are less worthy to live than themselves. Once all the obvious targets are gone, there are still a good number left. If only one can survive, who’s the worthiest?
I can’t decide if I like this movie yet. It’s an open-ended story outside of who survives and we never get to figure out why the aliens (or government or whoever) are pitting these people against each other rather than just killing them outright. There are a lot of theories online and the best that I can come up with is an overall pacification of the populace of an invaded enemy, but even that isn’t totally satisfying as far as explanations go. There are some who lasted entirely too long for my tastes, but what’s a movie without antagonists? I also refuse to believe that fifty strangers can calm down immediately when faced with this sort of situation - there will be people who are utterly useless and unable to cope. But whatever, it’s an okay movie. - DirectorCody CalahanStarsMichelle MylettCody Ray ThompsonAdam ChristieFive university friends gather at a house party to ring in the New Year. Unbeknownst to them, an epidemic has erupted outside, causing outbreaks around the world.Plot: When a social networking site launches a new subliminal message code in order to up the ante in tracking its users, things go a bit haywire. Social Redroom users see strange patterns on the website, leading to hallucinations followed by bleeding from the nose and ears and then the final stage, unmitigated homicidal rage. It’s bad news for five college coeds bent on throwing a New Year’s Eve party.
Over an hour later and I completely forgot I had watched this movie. It’s okay, but the lead actress does absolutely nothing more than whine every time she gets on screen; she’s a dead fish and I can’t believe they made a second movie. Well, I obviously need to watch the sequel now.... obviously. I liked the “twist” at the end, but I totally called it halfway through. There’s seriously nothing special whatsoever about this movie other than it occurred to me that I probably wouldn’t be able to stop myself from looking at my phone even knowing that it would turn me into a bloody crazy rage monster. In fact, I think I even paused it a moment to look at my phone when it started blinking at me. I am dead set on becoming a zombie rage monster.... In any event, The Signal did it better. - DirectorBryan BertinoStarsAlexandra LydonTodd StashwickAudrey Marie AndersonA couple are given a camera and a set of instructions which they must follow or else someone will die.Plot: Leonard has never won anything in his life, so, when a mysterious package arrives on his doorstep with a camcorder inside and the notification that he can win $10,000 just by following a scavenger hunt of clues around the city, he does just what those cards tell him to do. Unfortunately for him, two other groups - a college student in a guest house and a couple in their home across town - also received camcorders with the instructions to Keep Filming. What follows is a night of terror for both the college girl and the couple as unseen assailants torment them.
The movie doesn’t pick up until around the halfway mark. It’s shot as a found footage, of course, and it follows the same plot as The Strangers with creepy unseen people banging on the doors and windows of otherwise innocent people. If watching people cower is your bread and butter, man-oh-man is this movie for you! If not, you should probably avoid it; I had to rewind it a bit after falling asleep. The only reason I watched this is because Netflix auto-played it while I was typing up a review and we all know the rule - if you start it, you must finish it. The ending doesn’t make a lick of sense to me, but, to avoid spoilers, that’s all I’ll say about that. - DirectorMarc PriceStarsAlastair KirtonDaisy AitkensLeanne PammenOur hero Colin is bitten by a Zombie; he dies and returns from the dead. We follow him as he wanders through suburbia during the throes of a cadaverous apocalypse.Plot: When he’s bitten by a zombie, it’s only a matter of time before Colin succumbs to the virus. He rises in his new form the next morning and finds the world a very different place as he sees it from a new perspective. Dodging the living as well as the territorial undead, he navigates his way through the city.
I don’t know if I had a crap copy or if they really did use all that stop motion photography, but it was distracting. My only surprise is that no one confused him for a living person because he doesn’t really look like a zombie for a good portion of the movie. The makers of this movie boasted that they did it on a $70 budget and man-oh-man does it show! However, there is something nostalgic about it and I kept comparing it with the original Dawn of the Dead. The tones are very similar and the makeup consists mostly of sausage link like guts being pulled out of living victims as they’re being eaten. - DirectorJörg ButtgereitStarsBernd Daktari LorenzBeatrice ManowskiHarald LundtA street sweeper who cleans up after grisly accidents brings home a full corpse for him and his wife to enjoy sexually, but is dismayed to see that his wife prefers the corpse over him.Plot: Street cleaner Robert steals keepsakes from work. Unfortunately, they tend to be of the human corpse variety. After adding a full rotting corpse to his pickled parts collection, he and his girlfriend have sex with it.
That’s pretty much the movie. I’m sorry. There’s just not enough movie there to not spoil it. Most of the scenes are just strangely serene music over Robert walking around in his daily weird life with the sparse dialogue centered on his coworker hating on him and his girlfriend yelling at him halfway through. There is literally no storyline outside of him stealing a corpse and them having sex with it. That’s it. That’s all we get. I was reading a review on a horror niche website and the author said that only true horror fans know about this movie so I took that as a challenge and watched it. So terrible. I feel like I’ve watched this a couple terrible times because I kept having to rewind it as I fell asleep. Necrophilia is shocking, but the movie is not really all that shocking when you realize that it’s a prop. - DirectorGuillermo del ToroStarsMia WasikowskaJessica ChastainTom HiddlestonIn the aftermath of a family tragedy, an aspiring author is torn between love for her childhood friend and the temptation of a mysterious outsider. Trying to escape the ghosts of her past, she is swept away to a house that breathes, bleeds - and remembers.Plot: The mysterious Baronet Sharpe appears in American high society with his sister Lucille and immediately sweep the scene with their charm. In the wake of a personal tragedy, Edith Cushing, the daughter of a wealthy inventor, marries the Baronet, Thomas, and moves to the dilapidated Allendale Hall with all its secrets and ghosts.
I watched this with James and certain things annoyed him such as the fact that leaves fall through the hole in the roof constantly when there’s only really one tree apparent on the property and then there’s the snow falling in various areas in the basement. Outside of those technical goofs, I think the film was beautiful and the story definitely fits the gothic romance genre with elements of horror - a story with a ghost in it rather than a ghost story. The house is very creepy and the ghosts all appear mostly decayed and coated in red. The reveal is a bit telegraphed from the middle, but it’s still a very decent story and the however brief appears of Tom Hiddleston’s butt doesn’t hurt one bit. - DirectorZack ParkerStarsAlexa HavinsJoe SwanbergKristina KlebeThe life of three parents who have all shared the loss of a child. Motives are not what they seem and sanity is in short supply in this thriller.Plot: When a vicious attack kills her unborn child, Esther goes to a support group and meets Melanie. They become fast friends, but then Esther discovers a strange secret held by Melanie and tracks her down to get the truth from her.
First off, the writers don’t seem to know who their main character is - we start out with Esther and her attack and end with Melanie. From the start, Esther comes off a little strange, but the way people react to her is disconcerting considering the fact that these people are supposed to be supportive; from the moment she wakes up, the detective comes in and grills her on potential enemies and then a social worker comes in and all but calls her a liar for not giving up the names of any family or friends. With so little of the movie’s dialogue centered on outside characters, it just seems weird that the majority of those lines would be hostile. Then Esther meets Melanie and it appears that Esther has found someone to latch onto to help her through, but we learn a bit about her dark background as her story unfolds. It’s a decent watch and both stories are fairly entertaining. - DirectorDarren Lynn BousmanAxelle CarolynAdam GieraschStarsAdrienne BarbeauHunter SmitCameron EastonTen stories are woven together by their shared theme of Halloween night in an American suburb, where ghouls, imps, aliens and axe murderers appear for one night only to terrorize unsuspecting residents.Plot: It's Halloween night and the citizens of a small town have lost their minds as ghouls, ghosts, demons, and homicidal pumpkins roam the streets!
I love horror anthologies! This one is done in much the same way as Trick R Treat in that characters from other stories find their way in the background of other stories, which is neat because it's supposed to all be happening in the same town so it ties it all together.
The first story is Sweet Tooth and features the cliched babysitter scaring the kid story. I felt this one was a little weak, but it was a decent lead-in for the rest.
Second was The Night Billy Raised Hell; little brother is teased into tagging the nasty neighbor's house, but is in for a surprise. This segment was hilarious and featured some pretty neat makeup.
Trick has a group of stoners handing out candy when they encounter some not-so-nice trick-or-treaters. This one had a neat reveal and we see these kids in later segments.
The Weak and the Wicked deals with a young man getting revenge on the punks who prey on the weak. Speaking of weak, this one wasn't so great.
Grim Grinning Ghost features an easily frightened young woman being stalked by a ghost. The only decent part was the ghost makeup.
Ding Dong was about a man and his baby-crazy wife. Again, the makeup and effects were great, but the story was mediocre at best.
This Means War is a battle between neighbors over lawn decorations. The acting was good and the makeup was decent.
Friday the 31st focuses on a deformed deranged killer as he stacks his body count until a UFO arrives. Hilarious and cute! If you're a fan of spurting geysers of blood, this one's for you!
The Ransom of Rusty Rex has two would-be kidnappers attempting to ransom the son of a wealthy man. Hijinks ensue. Perfectly paced, a mix of humor and horror, great acting, simple story - I think this one was my favorite segment.
Bad Seed is about a perfectly carved pumpkin who then goes rogue and starts eating people. A bit over-the-top goofy, but I thought it was a good way to wrap it all up.
This is the movie I recommend for this year. Definitely worth the watch. - DirectorMarcus KochStarsGeorgia ChrisJoe DavisonRaine BrownTwo journalists are on the trail of a demented serial killer who may be much closer than they think.Plot: A couple of journalists are hot on the trail of a serial killer wearing a clown costume. As they get closer, the body count climbs higher and higher.
Almost all of the other plot summaries that I've seen have said something about a clown being falsely accused and then going off the deep end. That's a bit too deep for this movie. In very beginning, the clown stalks through the halls of a half-way house, chopping heads off left and right, leaving geysers of blood spewing from bloody neck stumps. Honestly, this is great for cheap gore hounds. The story's kind of ho-hum, but the kills make up for it. Plus, they play a pretty hefty amount of Voltaire's "When You're Evil", so it isn't all bad. - DirectorJustin BensonAaron MoorheadStarsLou Taylor PucciNadia HilkerFrancesco CarneluttiA young man in a personal tailspin flees from US to Italy, where he sparks up a romance with a woman harboring a dark, primordial secret.Plot: Boy loses everything and goes to Italy. Boy meets girl. Girl has a secret of Lovecraftian proportions.
Beautiful setting, beautiful story, beautiful pacing. The dialogue is funny and real, the characters are easy to love, and the whole crazy story has an explanation that's just rational enough to pass. Tales of Halloween was good, but this far surpasses it as my favorite even though it's two movies outside the Challenge. Everything about this movie works and I absolutely adore it. - DirectorM. Night ShyamalanStarsOlivia DeJongeEd OxenbouldDeanna DunaganTwo siblings become increasingly frightened by their grandparents' disturbing behavior while visiting them on vacation.Plot: Two teenagers travel to meet their grandparents and document their mother's childhood home in order to perhaps bring some closure to an almost two decade old wound. However, after the first night, not all is as it appears and the kids have to do a fair bit of sleuthing to determine what's wrong with their newfound Poppop and Nana.
I honestly thought this was going to be worse than it was so it really wasn't so bad. I wish they would've edited the last ten or fifteen minutes out as it's more closure than we need. At some point, I honestly thought he was going to try to give us another *beep* alien story and I'm glad it didn't go that way. It's a little darker than I thought it was going to be - I guess I sort of thought the grandmother was going to be a child-eating witch of some sort. Maybe I'm disappointed she wasn't. Anyway, it's a decent film with a few genuinely creepy moments. - DirectorJeremy GardnerStarsJeremy GardnerAdam CronheimNiels BolleThe personalities of two former baseball players clash as they traverse the rural back roads of a post-plague New England teeming with the undead.Plot: Two former baseball players travel together aimlessly through the wilderness in a world overtaken by the walking dead. One thrives in the new found apocalypse while the other flouders and desperately clings to a voice over the radio.
The are definitely elements to love and elements to hate about this film, but I think it's successful overall. It doesn't really focus on the zombies as much as it does the character development between the two men as they struggle to survive. The ending is a bit claustrophobic, but it bring them together and it's a decent way to wrap the story up.