Evil Dead

     So, I went to see Evil Dead this weekend fully expecting to have to cover my eyes at the "scary" parts (yes, I do that), but I didn't.  Don't get me wrong, I found the movie to be every bit as frightening as it was predicted to be, I just think that I have finally become so desensitized to the blood and gore that I can watch a movie where a girl slices her tongue right down the center without batting an eye.  I blame The Walking Dead. 

     I thoroughly enjoyed Evil Dead and will probably see it again.  The story line stayed true enough to the original, but must be judged on its own for its noticeable differences.  For example, no Ash. However there was a female version that I thought was pretty comparable.  Now now, I'm not saying I prefer this to the original...COME ON, you think I'd prefer anything WITHOUT Bruce Campbell???  I just think that the two versions stand on their own without having to be compared to one another.  This new version was pure horror, no slapstick, no camp.  The original was campy.  It had it's moments and did come off as "scary" with the humor.  Personally, I think that's what made it genius. As I said before, the new Evil Dead stayed close enough to the original story about five friends on a weekend getaway in a creepy, old cabin in the woods.  In this updated version though, one of the friends has asked the others to come to the cabin to help her get off drugs, "cold turkey".  While at the cabin, the friends find the book, read from it, awaken Evil, get possessed and mostly die. The gore was there in buckets, yes I made that joke.  The Deadite/demon was just as creepy as in the original.  In fact, the woman who voiced it in the original did it in the version, too,  (Ellen Sandweiss, who played Cheryl).  Bottom line, make all the comparisons that you want to the original Evil Dead, but enjoy the new version for what it is, a horror movie made for the sake of horror.

Horror Takes a Holiday

 Vacations are supposed to be a time in one's life when they can relax, put their feet up, maybe sit by a pool sipping margaritas.  That's certainly not the case for the people in the following movies:

     The Reeds is a British import about a group of friends whose weekend holiday on a boat veers dangerously off-course (sorry for the terrible pun).  The friends find themselves lost in the marshy reeds, trying to navigate their way out while at the same time fend off a (seemingly) supernatural predator.

     I watched this movie a couple of times before I decided whether or not to like it.  I did like it very much.  I found the story compelling and eerie.  As you know by now, I don't like to give away the ending, so what I'll say about the movie is this: it has a twist-ending!!

     The Barrens is an Canadian/American horror movie that stars British actor, Steven Moyer of True Blood fame.  In it, Moyer stars as a man who takes his family on a camping trip in the New Jersey barrens.  As the movie progresses, the man's sanity (seemingly) fades away.  Several campers have disappeared and the man is convinced that the legendary Jersey Devil is behind the disappearances and is also hunting him down. 

     While I found the movie a little predictable, the idea of the Jersey Devil interested me because even though it's a fairly well-known urban legend, there aren't any movies or books (for that matter) that really explore the legend.  And, like The Reeds, The Barrens also has a twist ending.  ENJOY!

BONUS MOVIE:

Tucker & Dale VS. Evil is an absolute must!  Alan Tudyk plays a redneck on vacation who, through a comedy of errors, is mistaken by a group of college students as a blood-thirsty killer seeking revenge on those who "done him wrong".  It also stars Tyler Labine as his friend who falls in love with one of the college students. If the premise alone doesn't grab you, then watch it for Alan Tudyk.  He is AWESOME!!

Canadian Creepy Crawlies

Canada.  Besides bacon, hockey and Kids in the Hall, they have also given us some pretty good horror movies.  Several come to mind including, The Changeling, Fido, but one in particular called Pontypool.

     This movie stars Stephen Mchattie, a.k.a. the Canadian Lance Henriksen, as a once-popular, shock-jock who now works for peanuts in a small-town radio station.  While trying to make the most out of his recently downgraded position, he stumbles upon some strange going-ons in town during a snow storm, like a woman coming out of nowhere during the storm wearing only a nightgown and just as quickly as she appears, she disappears while repeating everything that he says to her.  Once he gets to the radio station, he reports simple mysteries like a missing cat, then reports come in to the station concerning people who are acting strange, almost zombie-like. Soon, the situation becomes dire and the radio station is turned into a shelter for the shock-jock and two of his co-workers while they try to figure out what exactly is going on.
    As usual I had to watch this movie a couple of times before I could decide whether I like it or not.  I did like it.  A really good zombie movie makes you think.  There are so many out there right now that are just made to shock and disgust which copious amounts of torn apart brains and intestines.  This movie is not like that.  It's about a small group of people who are not only trying to survive, but also who are trying to figure WHY this happened.
   So, watch it and tell me what you think.

Let's Go To The Movies!

     I did!!  I recently went to see Sinister, starring Ethan Hawke.  Overall, I liked it.  It was not as scary as I was expecting it to be.  It wasn't the type of disturbing horror movie that had me still thinking about it afterwards.  However, it did have genuine scares and a decent storyline.

     Sinister is the story of a once popular author (played by Hawke) of true crime books who, after a few poorly reviewed books, is looking for his next best-seller.  To do this, he moves his family into a home that was the scene of a horrific murder that he intends on writing about.  He does this without telling his family about the home's history.  The crime that occurred in the home was the murder of an entire family, except for one of the children, a girl who went missing and was never found.  After the author moves into the home, he discovers a box of super-8 home movies in the attic.  Thinking that there might be some information useful to his research, he watches the movies.  Each movie shows the murder of several different families, including the family who were the previous owners.  Even though all of this scares the author, he also thinks that he hit the "mother-load" of evidence for his next book.  He continues to watch and research the movies with the help of a college professor, played by Vincent Donofrio, and a local police deputy.  The more he watches the movies, the more disturbed he gets and begins to think that his house may be haunted.  Meanwhile his family, still unaware of the murders, do not feel comfortable in the house and want to leave.  Eventually, he discovers the same person in all of the home movies: a creepy man with stringy hair and a sinister looking face.  In one particularly scary scene, the author is looking at a computer image of the sinister man, the author looks away and the image of the sinister man turns his head to look at the author!! 
     As usual, I don't want to give away the ending, so I'll end this post by saying I did enjoy this movie and, unlike so many other movies out there, it WAS worth the trip to the movie theatre. 

Die, Nazi Zombie, Die!!!!

   
     Is it a little strange that I get the warm and fuzzies when talking about zombie movies?  I suppose so, but they are just so good!  The two movies that I chose are not the typical zombie movie that involves a virus spreading throughout the planet.  Nooo...these have NAZI zombies!!  
     Blood Creek and Dead Snow are my most recent favorites. Blood Creek...well, I'll admit I first noticed it for who's in it: Michael Fassbender, Dominic Purcell and Henry Cavill.  It had me at Michael Fassbender.  Then I started to watch it and became interested in the movie.  The beginning appealed to the historian in me.  It starts off in black and white, with a caption at the bottom of the screen reading: West Virginia, 1936.  We meet a German family who has been notified by the German government that they will play host to a scholar (Michael Fassbender) who has travelled to West Virginia to study a rune stone similar to the Kensington Stone.  The family seems apprehensive, but allow the historian into their home.  They soon discover that this person is not only a historian but also a member of Hitler's inner circle and a Nazi occultist.  Hitler and his inner circle believe that this rune stone is a way to develop their "THIRD EYE" and get supernatural powers and eternal life.  The downside is that in order to tap into the third eye, the follower must forever drink human blood. To do this without getting caught, he enlists the German family against their will.  Fast forward to 2007~We meet a young man who is struggling with the apparent death of his brother, two years earlier.  After coming back from a tour of duty, the brother went missing, was never found and declared dead.  Late one night, the young man hears a knocking at his door and is shocked to discover his presumed dead brother. It turns out that the brother has been held captive for the past two years by the German family and constantly bled by the (now) Nazi Zombie.  Without really telling the young man anything, the brother gathers all the guns he can find and the two set off for the farm to kill the Nazi Zombie.  While the younger man feels some sympathy for the family that has been lived in captivity for so long and not aged, the brother feels nothing for the people who basically treated him ( and others ) like cattle to be slaughtered.  The brothers tie the family up while they wait for the Nazi Zombie to awaken from his slumber.  When he does wake up, all hell breaks loose and he soon has the upper hand in a battle against the siblings. 

     I admit, I watched this movie twice, because the first time I was not sure what I thought of it.  It is gruesome in parts, but I liked it overall because of the storyline.  It blends true historical events with a "somewhat" far-fetched story.  And did I mention it has Michael Fassbender?  Also, just a side note, Dominic Purcell was in another favorite of mine, The Gravedancers.  But that is for another time.

Dead Snow,is just all sorts of fun!  It's about a group of  medical students who go on a skiing holiday in the remote mountains of Norway.  They start off by enjoying themselves in the typical cabin-getaway fashion, lots of drinking and sex.  But soon discover that they are not alone and must fight off hungry, Nazi Zombies .  Why are there Nazi Zombies in Norway, you ask?  Well, this is an interesting story:  Apparently there was a particularly brutal and sadistic Nazi general (of course they all where) who, along with a group of soldiers, occupied the area during WWII.  The villagers decided to rise up against their Nazi oppressors and drove them into the mountains.  The Nazis are never heard from again and presumed dead.  They have in fact been hiding out in caves and guarding the treasures that they stole while pillaging the tiny Norwegian village.  These treasures are literally and metaphorically stained with the blood of the dead and in the midst of the Nazi's insatiable greed, they are turned into zombies (of course).  Now, back in the present, one of the students finds a gold coin belonging to the Nazi Zombies and thereby waking them up from their decades-long slumber.  One by one the students are picked off until only one is left.  But not before they fight back and take down all but one of the Nazi Zombies: the sadistic general.  What I love about this movie is that it is a fantastic mixture of humor and horror.  It is definitely not a movie that takes itself too seriously and is really, really enjoyable...if you like that sort of thing.  Stay tuned for my next post, I'll have more horrors from Norway!

When a Walkabout turns into a terrifying run...Part 2

In my last post I mentioned a few more Australian horror films that I had wanted to see.  Well, I've seen them, or at least a couple of them: Primal and  Lake Mungo.  Primal was just OK.  The story line wasn't anything unique.  It's about a group of friends, which includes the jock, nerd, cutesy couple, clueless girl and girl victim who drive out into the middle of nowhere to view cave art that  hasn't been seen in over 100 years.  One of the friends (girl from cutesy couple) decides to go skinny dipping and comes out of the water covered in leeches.  Soon after, she develops a fever, becomes violently ill and loses all of her teeth.  Soon after that, she appears to become some sort of cannibalistic creature who is afraid of fire and is very similar to the creature portrayed in the cave art.  She kills the nerd and runs off into the woods.  In the mean time, the rest of the group sets a trap for her.  They trap her successfully, but she escapes and chases the jock into the water.  He comes out covered in leeches and soon begins to exhibit the same symptoms as the (now-creature) cutesy girl.  He kills the boyfriend and runs off.  Both he and cutesy girl come back only to drag clueless girl off into the woods, presumably to her death.  Now, the only one left is the girl victim, who doesn't seem so much a victim anymore since ( so far ) she has survived.  She escapes into the cave that has the cave art...and by the way,  she is afraid of the dark.  At this point in the movie there are about 15 minutes left, so I don't want to give away the ending, such that it is.  The movie wasn't terrible, it just wasn't anything new.
         Lake Mungo on the other hand, was a pleasant surprise.  If you are expecting a scare-fest, action-packed movie then you may be disappointed.  This movie is about a family that is trying to cope with the drowning death of their daughter.  Through interviews and video footage, the audience learn that soon after the daughter's death, the family begins to experience strange events.  For example, the father tells of sitting on the bed in his daughter's room when all of a sudden she walks in.  She appears not to see him until he makes a small movement.  Once she notices him, she screams at the top of her lungs for him to get out.  Again, according to the father, this all happens AFTER the daughter's death.  Neighbors and friends are also interviewed and tell similar stories about seeing this girl in photographs and just sensing her still around.  Later, you find out that the son has faked some of the photographs and many people soon believe it all to be a hoax.  When the son confesses to faking some of the pictures of his sister, he also states that he discovered a neighbor peeking through a window in one of the pictures.  Apparently, the neighbor was looking for a videotape of himself, his wife and the drowned girl in a few compromising positions.  After, the family is still experiencing strange occurrences and comes to discover that the daughter suffered from guilt over the affair with the neighbor and began to see a hypnotherapist.  It turns out that she was also experiencing strange events in her life days before her murder.  In the last part of the movie, the audience finds out what those strange events are.  This movie didn't scare me, but I kept thinking about it days after I watched it.  It is a quietly, disturbing movie.

When a Walkabout turns into a terrifying run...

I've always loved Australian films.  I find both the stories and the characters quite charming and quirky.  But aside from Picnic at Hanging Rock, I find the horror films of Australia to be, well....kind of savage.  And I mean that in a good way.  Perhaps it is the setting.  You know, the rugged, desolate Outback.  Picnic at Hanging Rock had a surreal quality to it.  I've always found it so interesting that the film was originally touted as, "based on true facts".  Then some years later, it came out that it was all a hoax.  To this day I'm still not sure what's true and what isn't.  For those of you who have not seen it, it is about a group of girls from a prominent girls school in Australia during the early part of the 20th century.  Some of the school girls go on a picnic (at Hanging Rock).  Four of them wander off to explore some caves and only one returns. The student that does return can't remember anything.  The three girls are never found.  Is it an actual crime or something more supernatural?  Years after watching the movie, I'm still trying to figure it out. 

      Dying Breed  &  The Uninhabited, are two other Australian-made movies that I enjoyed.  I didn't want to watch Dying Breed at first.  It's about a group of people that go deep into the Tasmanian jungle in search of a legendary Tasmanian tiger.  What they find is a group of cannibalistic mountain-folk set on devouring the men in the group and breeding with the women.  Again, this in not my usual pick for a horror movie because it doesn't involve anything supernatural and it does involve rape.  Fortunately, there really is not a lot of that in the movie, however it is heavily implied.  And the eating scenes are pretty graphic.  But I have to say that I was enthralled with it. The back story of the mountain-folk is interesting, too.  They are descended from a group of criminals who escaped one of the penal colonies so prevalent during 19th and early 20th century Australia. One of the convicts was particularly brutal and was the first to resort to eating his comrades.  This wasn't some "Donner Party" deal where he had to eat the dead in order to survive. He did it for pleasure.  And it was this "hunger for human flesh"-gene that got passed down through the generations to the mountain-folk in the present.   This movie was incredibly creepy and kept you hooked until the very end...the very TWISTED end.  The Uninhabited was a little more my speed...supernatural.  It is the story of a couple who are taken to a remote island for a weekend of togetherness and relaxation.  They are dropped off by a grizzled old fisherman who warns them that something is not right with the island.  They (of course) ignore his warnings and after he leaves, they proceed to make a camp- site for themselves and then frolic in the water. As the day falls into night, they begin to suspect that they are not alone and that somebody is playing a trick on them by moving their stuff around. The next day, while on walk through the woods, the girl finds a diary in an old fishing cabin. The diary belongs to a woman who lived there over 100 years before.  The girl begins to read the diary and discovers a shocking secret about the island.  She also now believes that the ghost of the woman is haunting the island. Soon, the couple find themselves dealing not only with the ghost, but two men who have come to the island with less than innocent intentions.  Again, this movie had an almost dream-like quality that a lot of Australian films have and I rather enjoyed it.  Without giving anything away, as I hate to do, all I'll say is beware of the poisonish fish!
On my list of more Australian horror films to watch are: Lake Mungo, Visitors and Wolf Creek.