MY BLOODY VALENTINE (2009)
After a mining accident crazed miner Harry Warden embarks on a killing spree that leaves 22 people dead , he is shot and presumed dead but a decade later it seems that Harry has returned to finish what he started. I was never a huge fan of the 1981 film of the same name and this remake is junk , I'm not one who gets offended easily but parts of this movie are down right vulgar and pointless. The filmmakers attempts to keep you guessing who the killer really is are also pointless because its obvious where this is heading from the start. Most of the characters are so despicable you could care less if they live or die, the lone saving grace here is that the gore is fairly impressive, save for one really bad cgi effect towards the beginning of the film.
WILLARD (2003) Another remake but this one is pretty good, it actually came towards the beginning of the remake craze and along with "THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE" remake this is one of the better of the bunch.Willard is an awkward young man ostracized by the world around him. His gloomy existence takes a turn though, when he discovers that his connection with a pet rat has gained him acceptance among rodents, soon thereafter Willard begins to get revenge using his new found army of vermin on the people who have done him wrong. This is a delightfully demented film with with the darkest of dark humor overtones that has a Tim Burton type feel to it and Crispen Glover is pretty damn close to perfect in the role of Willard, recommended.
THE REAPING(2007)Hillary Swank plays a former Christian minister who has lost her faith and now specializes in debunking religious phenomena, she sets out to investigates a small town named Haven deep in the bayous of Louisiana which seems to be suffering from the 10 biblical plagues which started after the mysterious death of a child , apparently at the hands of a satanic cult.
This movie is at times silly but its still fun to watch , much better than i was expecting, my only complaint is that it all kind of falls apart in the last 15 min. or so and the hokey attempt at a twist ending and then when you think its over another attempted twist/shock right before the credits roll.
CAVE OF THE LIVING DEAD(1964) This is a DVD i had owned for close to a year before i watched it and when i finally did i wished i had done it earlier, this is a good atmospheric German horror flick worth seeking out if you have not seen it . I also realized that i had watched this before under the name "NIGHT OF THE VAMPIRES" many years ago .When 7 young women in a small European village mysteriously die , Inspector Frank Dorin is sent to investigate. The town doctor claims the deaths are from natural causes, a fact that is hard for alot of the locals to swallow being that the girls were so young, and also at the time of the deaths there is always a blackout in the village . Their suspicions prove to be correct when they realize that they are plagued by a cave full of blood sucking vampires. Now, Dorin must stop them before more bodies pile up. Fun stuff that i highly recommend for you 60's / 70's Euro- horror fans.
HAUNTING OF WINCHESTER HOUSE(2009)A family become the caretakers of the Winchester mansion , speculated to be one of the most haunted houses in America. They soon find out for themselves that the stories are true when the couples daughter is kidnapped by the spirits that inhabit the place . With the help of a paranormal investigator they'll try to unravel the mystery of the house and find their missing daughter. This unknown low budgeter actually ain't half bad . At the end they attempt one of those crazy twist endings that is so popular these days , it almost works too, you don't really see it coming but the pay-off just isn't that great. Good movie , so-so ending.
RED HOOK(2009)A few years after young Jenny Traylor witnesses the murder of her older sister, she is off to NYC to begin college . During her first week she joins in a welcome week scavenger hunt that turns into a game of survival for her and her friends. "A chilling thrill ride"is what it says on the DVD cover, a boring broken down jalopy is more like it.This comes across like something that might have been made to air on MTV , full of young not so good actors , really bad attempts at John Mayer style love songs sang by a female , and not much else. Except for the opening 2 min. it is nearly 50 min. into this thing before anything that remotely resembles a horror movie happens, and even though it claims to be the unrated edition this is fairly tame stuff.Not much to offer here folks. Avoid.
PARANORMAL ENTITY(2009)Sounds like an attempt to cash in on the success of "PARANORMAL ACTIVITY" you say? Yes it is, THE ASYLUM ,the company that produced this one , that's what they do, they take popular movies and put there own twist on them. Now i must admit for the most part i found myself enjoying this as much, if not more than P.A. In this one Thomas Finley is arrested for the rape and murder of his younger sister and the murder of a paranormal investigator. Days later he commits suicide. Later video tapes are discovered that reveal what really happened , the family were under attack by a demonic entity. Much like BLAIR WITCH at the time of its release the producers tried to make it seem like this was real crime scene footage, well we all know that's not true, but the truth is , this is an enjoyable little ghost story.
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET(2010)Here we go again, Another remake, this is getting out of hand! Despite that fact and despite all of the negative stuff I've heard about this , i enjoyed this one. I assume most of you know the story so i wont go into details , ill just give my opinion .Unlike the FRIDAY THE 13th series ,which i absolutely love the 1st four films of , i was never a big fan of the N.O.E.S series , i liked it but never loved it, so without as much emotional investment ,the re-imagining of the character didn't bug me as much, to tell you the truth, and i know some people will say this is downright blasphemous , i found this version of Freddy to be more frightening , even more depraved and sadistic than the original. The other characters were well developed and likable, usually a big problem i have with with modern horror is that they are not. The makers of the film didn't stray too far from the original source , they maybe tweaked a few things here and there but overall it sticks to the original tale, so much so i don't understand all the negativity towards this, in my opinion if you liked that story should you like this one . Don't get me wrong this isn't any thing great but like i said i didn't think the original was either but they are both decent and worth a watch. Give it a try , you might be surprised.
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