Shutter (2004)

Horrorfest Count- 5

A young couple, Tun and Jane, are heading back from a wedding reception late at night when they strike a young woman in the street. Confused and scared they opt to drive away without checking on her. As the days go on Tun and Jane begin seeing an eerie shadow of a girl in Tun’s photographs.What Jane doesn’t know is Tun may have more of an idea of what is going on than she thinks.

I had seen the remake before I had seen this and from what I remember it went along with the original pretty well. Overall this was a very traditional Asian horror flick, scary girl with long black hair walks around creepily. I’m not usually a fan of Thai movies, the usually come out more silly than scary in my opinion. This one however was very eerie at times and gave me a few jumps.

RATING- 3 STARS

Side Note- some of the photos used in this movie with supposed ghosts in them were real.

Tags: film, ghosts, horror, movie, paranormal, review, Thai

Sometimes They Comeback (1991)

Horrorfest count- 4

Based on a short story by Stephen King, we focus on our main character Jim (Tim Matheson) as he moves his family back to the town he grew up in. Sadly, this town holds the tragic memory of his older brother, Wayne, being murdered. With his family by his side and a new teaching job at hand he feels like his life is turning around. That is, until the ghosts of the guys who murdered his brother start showing up in his class.

I have never read this short story but from my experience with King to film the original story often loses a lot of the original. In some case this can be awesome (The Shining) and in others it can turn horribly bad (Salem’s Lot). Because I have a weird love for movies about kids in the 50s/60s, I enjoyed this movie. It wasn’t all that scary and it wasn’t really anything different but it was just an entertaining movie.

One thing I didn’t understand was when the ghosts started showing up as new students they were able to be seen and interacted with by everyone, but when they were pictured in a mirror and when they were chasing people with their car they weren’t able to be seen. Did they have some power that wasn’t discussed? Perhaps that is something that is included in the story but lost in the film. The other thing I didn’t like was the cheesy Hollywood ending but what can you do?

RATING- 3 STARS

Tags: film, ghosts, haunting, horror, movie, review, Stephen King

Pig Hunt (2008)

Horrorfest Count: 3

Wow. Just wow. I really should just stop the review right here and give my 2 Star rating and be on my way. Alas, I can’t allow this movie to be watched without some fair warning. I suppose I should start out with a synopsis. Pig Hunt is about a group of friends who decide to go out hunting for wild pigs, in California, but during their trip they meet a group of kooky pig worshiping hippies AND a group of rednecks that would put the entire state of West Virgina to shame. While on this trip our group of characters realize they are the ones being hunted and it becomes a test of survival of the fittest. I’ve pondered on how I wanted to list out the things that were wrong and bad about this movie but there are just so many that I think I will put them into categories:

The Main Character:

We meet John Hickman, a good looking all American guy. The reason he is going on this trip is so he can return to his uncle’s cabin, his uncle apparently has died, and hunt pigs for old times sake. When they arrive to a gas station in the middle of no where, John demonstrates his hunting abilities by shooting a rattlesnake with his crossbow. All of our supporting characters seem astounded and John brushes it off with no explanation. Once our group arrives at their destination they roll through a clan of rednecks living in a barn in he middle of the woods. Through slow motion panning we see that a couple of the rednecks seem to recognize John. Later on we find out they used to hunt together before John left for the city. The problem I have with John is that they never explain why he left or why the rednecks seem to be so mad and intimidated by him. Apparently he used to be some bad-ass but we never get a story on him, just snippets here and there.

The Supporting Characters:

We have John’s girlfriend, Brooks (an antiwar artist), Ben and Wayne (military guys), and Quincy (the fat guy friend). My first problem with these characters is that three out of the four of them weren’t  prepared for a weekend of hunting. Brooks doesn’t have a gun, Ben brings a revolver, and Quincy not only doesn’t have a gun but he dresses in shorts, a t-shirt and chucks. Is it too much to ask for the characters to even look like they belong in the movie? It isn’t like this was a spur of the moment trip. At one point it starts pouring down rain and none of them even have a tarp. Finally my last gripe about this group is that the whole time Brooks and Quincy complain about being there and that they want to go home. Why were they there? No one forced them and the group would have been fine without them. Still useless and annoying but at least they would have been minus two annoyances.

Random Pig Worshiping Hippies:

This group along with the rednecks turned this story into a horrible version of Deliverance. This group worships the pigs in the forest (this movie was about a killer pig right?) and grow pot. But, why? No one knows, or if they do they never care to tell us. We find out that they  feed sacrifices to the killer pig but we never get an explanation.

The Pig:

Oh the pig, the whole point of this movie and it doesn’t even really show up until the last ten minutes. When it does show up it is really stupid looking and very easily defeated. What a waste. Movie, if your name has a creature in it at least make it the major part of the story and look good.

RATING- 2 STARS

Tags: bad movie, fangoria, film, horror, movie, Pig Hunt, review

Burnt Offerings (1976)

Horrorfest Count: 2

When vacationing couple Marian (Karen Black) and Ben(Oliver Reed) find a beautiful Victorian mansion to rent it seems to be love at first site. The mansion is secluded, giant, and affordable. Never mind the creepy elderly owners, an oddball brother and sister, who seem very eager to leave it. The only catch is an elderly woman who lives upstairs must stay with them the whole summer. Marian and Ben, along with their son and Ben’s elderly aunt (Bette Davis), decide to move in for the summer. Little do they know the house has a life of it’s own and the only way to sustain it is deadly.

This movie seemed to mimic The Shining a little in that the house is very secluded and strange things begin to happen to the characters. Both Marian and Ben seem to change for the worst throughout the movie; of course this movie is not nearly as good as The Shining. At times it is painfully slow paced and I found myself getting distracted or bored. Even while trying to put together notes on this film after the fact, I had a hard time focusing. Also, I felt myself getting lost and not quite understanding at times what was really going on. Blame it on my distraction or blame it on the movie but it just wasn’t clear to me. Finally I understood what the house needed but I didn’t know why? Nor did they ever explain where the crazy owners went to and why they didn’t come back. The only thing I really liked about the movie was Oliver Reed’s death. But, even the end was predictable.

Perhaps this movie is dated, perhaps I just wasn’t in the mood for it when I watched it, or perhaps it is just a bad movie. I am settling on the last one.

Rating- 2.5 stars

Tags: Burnt Offerings, film, ghosts, haunting, horror, movie, paranormal, review

The Entity (1981)

Movie 1 of the Horrorfest

Single mother, Carla Moran, leads a busy but normal life. After a long day of work and night class, Carla returns home to her 3 children ready to relax and enjoy her evening. While she is getting ready for bed she hears a noise and goes to investigate. Suddenly an unseen force force throws her to her bed and violates her, finally the entity vanishes and Carla is left hurt, confused, and with no one to tell. She is left utterly helpless.

Though this movie is slow paced at times, I watched it in two sittings, it delivers some seriously creepy effects thanks to Martin Bresin (Candyman, Critters 2, Tremors, etc). At several points in the movie you can see the entity groping Carla’s breasts, via imprints of fingers and other movements. It was far more unsettling than if there had been an actual figure.

Two things I didn’t care for in this movie was the hokey sound effect that happens whenever the entity is attacking and the “electrical discharge” it emits. The sound was sort of a loud banging like a door or pots and pans. At first it was creepy and effective but once the entity attacked more often it was annoying and distracting. As for the electrical discharge it was a bit too cheesy in the context. Don’t  get me wrong, I love cheesy movies but this was meant to be a little more on the serious side. At one point the ghost is making contact via electrical discharge and it looks like it is shooting a blaster gun all over the place.

Finally, I didn’t really care for the ending.  Once she got a team of parapsychologists involved the movie seemed to go downhill pretty fast. Their solution to “capture” the entity seemed half-assed and highly unbelievable. This movie started out good and very creepy but by the second half it just didn’t cut it. It does get brownie points for giving me the heebie jeebies early on in the film though.

RATING: 3 Stars

Side Note: This movie includes in the credits that it is based on real events and that the real Carla Moran is living in Texas. The attacks are less frequent and less brutal but they apparently still happen. I couldn’t find any facts or anything when I searched it.

Tags: ghosts, haunting, horror, movie, paranormal, review, the entity

Devil (2010)

As the movie starts out we hear a narration of a man telling a story his mother used to tell him about the Devil, as the story is told we are taken through the credits and we see the Philly skyline upside down. Why? I have no idea. As we venture on into the movie we meet one of our main characters, a cop with a “tragic” past. He is investigating a suicide when he arrives at a building, here we are introduced to the rest of our characters through slick motion of the camera. One by one each of these characters end up on the same elevator while the cop investigates the suicide that has apparently occurred at this same building. Once our characters, who remain nameless for most of the movie, are on the elevator together it suddenly comes to a halt and the group is trapped. After a while in the elevator, through falty equipment, the security guards are able to communicate with the people in the elevator. Everything seems to be normal until the lights start flickering and the characters begin getting hurt by an unseen force. Is one of them a murderer, perhaps they are doing it to themselves, or is it…the Devil?(cheese spewing everywhere folks)

OK this movie was just about what I was expecting so I wasn’t too let down. Having M. Night Shamylamly’s name on it didn’t help my expectations either. Why didn’t I like it you may be asking? Well let me tell you. I didn’t like the side story with the cop, it was too cliche and very unnecessary to the plot. When I saw the trailer I thought the film was going to be centered completely around the elevator and it’s passengers. That would have made the movie more frightening and intense. When they switch to the outside world it really takes you out of the fear and emotions. Secondly, I know this movie was written and directed by fairly new people to the industry but could the characters get anymore cliche? We have the annoying/funny minority, the prissy white girl, the thug gone good black character, a grouchy elderly woman, and a tough guy rugged hero. A little depth would be nice. Thirdly, I think the actors fell a little flat in their performances. During a few scenes in the elevator I felt like the characters weren’t emotional enough considering what was happening around them. Finally, the ending was just irritating. Pretty much the ending relates back to my dislike for the side story. However, occasionally there were entertaining points and the “big reveal” made me laugh, even though I don’t think I was supposed to.

Rating: 2.5/3 Stars

Tags: devil, film, horror, movie, review

My Bloody Valentine (1981)

This under appreciated slasher film brings us a fairly original killer (for its time) and more importantly some pretty interesting kills.

Set in a rural mining town, aptly named “Valentine’s Bluff” we are introduced to the first half of our cast, the mining boys. They are eagerly waiting for the end of the day so they can get home to their girlfriends and prepare for the big Valentine’s dance. This dance, however, has a grisly past. It hasn’t been put on for 20 years for fear that a mining killer will come back and start his killing spree all over again. Once the boys are home everyone quickly forgets about the “legend” of the mining killer, that is until some local townspeople begin receiving  macabre Valentine’s straight from the heart!

Ok…that was cheesy. I apologize for that and any further cheese that spews from my fingers.

Anyway, as I said earlier this film is usually forgotten when the subject of “slasher” movies come up. But why? It has all the qualities, a body count, interesting kills, a killer, and (though formulaic) a pretty decent story line. I suppose people forget this because it did come out so early in the 80′s before slasher’s really got their start, on the other hand Friday the 13th came out just a year before and it remains to  be a classic of it’s genre.  Also, it doesn’t have a memorable killer like say Freddy Kruger or Jason Voorhees (or his mom). Though I haven’t seen the remake yet (they usally make me a sad panda)  but perhaps it has sparked interest in people’s minds to see the original? If you haven’t seen this and you call yourself a horror fan you really need to get on it. The story is good and the characters are believable.

SIDE NOTE: I watched this on Blu-ray which had the EXTENDED CUT as an option so naturally I chose this. Upon research I have gathered that this version is far more bloody and gory. I recommend watching it if you can, I cannot speak on the theatrical cut seeing as how I did not watch it.

Rating: 4 STARS

Tags: 1980s, film, horror, movies, My Bloody Valentine, review, slasher, valentine's day