Don’t Let Him In

This is a UK horror movie made in 2011, that when watched has the feel of an old time cult classic from the 1970’s. The plot and story-line of this movie are good and will draw you in to watch it. Unfortunately, the movie itself is not very good at all. Being a giant horror fan, I was greatly disappointed in this film. I will say this, the film does contain a slight twist, which was a breath of fresh air after watching such a mess.

The movie depicts two couples that embark out on a weekend fishing trip in the country, only to discover there is a dreadful serial killer in the area, that dismembers his victims and hangs their body parts from trees. The couples include Shawn, his wife Paige, sister Mandy, and her newly acquired boyfriend, Tristan (by means of a one night stand), whom none of them really know much about. As the movie plays out the party encounter a mysterious stranger, whom they nurse back to health, after being attacked while in the wilderness, the party also discover a horrible secret about Tristan. Like I said before the story-line is decent, but the acting is so bad in this movie that it was hard to stay interested. It is very low budget and poorly written. It does have some bloody scenes, along with a pretty gruesome scene involving maggots. However, there are no real suspenseful scenes or heart-jumping moments to keep the viewer intrigued. The small twist gives this movie the nod of potential, but that’s about it. I must say the best part of this movie is the end, and that is due to the fact that they leave no option for a sequel to be made…. Thankfully!!!

Overall this movie not worth renting. If you feel intrigued to view this I would suggest you wait for it to air on HBO or a similar pay channel or better yet TNT, then you wont have to pay at all.

Rating 2 out of 10

The Cabin in the Woods

The Cabin in the Woods may be the only horror/comedy film I really enjoyed. Usually when comedy is involved in a horror movie it is too over the top and takes away from the horror aspect causing the film to be dull and ridiculous. However this is not the case here, the film does a good job integrating the jokes along with keeping the creepy and suspenseful feeling alive as well. The acting from the main stars is decent and much more tolerable than in some B rated horror flicks. In my opinion the ending is the only setback in this otherwise awesome movie of its genre. It contains all the components of an old school horror movie mixed in with the technology of today. It has that whole Evil Dead Trilogy feel to it, only more modernized with a bigger budget.

It starts out with the feel of a horror classic from the 80’s, right from the beginning. It begins with a group of teenagers setting out to enjoy a weekend of partying and sex, but instead they find themselves fighting for their lives against an evil that they never could of imagined. Along the way they encounter that ever important gas station attendant that serves no purpose, other than to heed warning and set the ball in motion for a night of terror. As they reach their destination, we the viewers are left guessing as to what is really happening behind the scene. The cabin they enter seems to be riddled with hidden cameras and is under surveillance by what appears to be a government agency (at least that’s what I thought). The group gets their night going as planned, drinking and enjoying the company of each other (if you know what I mean)…. Big Brother looking on, begins to control the environment and through technology guide the group down the path, in which they will elect their own demise. They find an artifact book and read a passage written in Latin, which in turn unleashes a family of killer zombies, who hunt down each member of the group and brutally kill them off one by one, as the third party continues to watch. With gruesome kill scenes, nudity, drug usage, and zombies this movie is a winner……… UNTIL,  they finally explain the purpose and role of the agency that’s been watching. Its hard to imagine that the last 20 minutes of a movie can lower its grade sufficiently, but that’s exactly what happens in this one. Not since 2003’s House of a 1000 Corpses has a movie gone from great to what the hell just happen, so quickly. The ending of this movie runs way out of the baseline and just goes overboard. We are led to believe that the agency that is watching,  has somehow restrained hundreds of demons and undead creatures in an underground facility, that is built over a chamber that harnesses an evil god that will engulf the world and inflict deadly pain on the human race if not awarded human sacrifices. WTF? Are you scratching your head, because I left the movie scratching mine?

Bottom line is this, it is a tale of two separate movies one containing eerie zombies that are terrifying, with a great cast of characters, and a unique story-line, and the other being a short story involving demons, which leads me to believe the writers did not know how to end what could have been an instant classic, so they just got high and pieced together a bunch of crap. If you like horror movies, especially ones that contain zombies, you should go see this, like I said 90% of this film is great, it just gets derailed at the end, but it is still worthy of a viewing.

Rating 7.2 out of 10

 

 

 

 

Silent House

Although being a fan of “Slashers” and “Serial Killers”, I do like the occasional suspense thriller that plays with the mere possibility that, this could actually happen in reality, giving the viewer something to imagine and think about, both during the film and after leaving the theatre. After watching the trailer for Silent House, you are led to believe this movie may follow the same path as the 2008 film “The Strangers” which deals with a couple experiencing the nightmare of a home invasion. However, Silent House couldn’t be further from that path.

It’s hard to review this movie without giving away the premise of it, so I’m going to issue a “SPOILER ALERT” and advise you to continue reading only if you do not mind learning the twist at the end of this film.

Lets first start off with saying this film had potential of being a great suspense thriller of 2012, but fell way short of my expectations. Although not a horrible film it does have its moments when you may start to question why you paid to sit through it. The movie starts off slow-moving and never really picks up much steam, which may cause the average movie goer to become restless and lose interest. With an extremely low production cost, this movie never gains momentum and captivates its audience. It depicts only 3 characters, with brief cameos of 3 others (that are not even real)….. Oops! did I spoil a little there. Like I said earlier this movie is not about a home invasion, it starts off with a young girl, her father and her uncle fixing up an older house in hopes of selling it. As the movie “DRAGS” on the girl starts to encounter terrifying acts, such as the abduction of her father, other persons roaming the house and terrifying noises and images. Don’t worry the house is not haunted, that would have made for a better movie. As it plays out she continues to find clues and have memories, that her father and uncle were into more than meets the eye. The entire movie takes place inside one house with the exception of a short period where the girl escapes to the outside and attempts running to safety. The movie is too much of the same screenplay over and over again, it becomes tiresome and boring, not to mention the bouncing camera becomes more annoying than eerie. I am not a fan of Paranormal Activity, The Blair Witch Project, or anything else that makes me sea sick just watching. As the movie comes to a close you figure out the horrible truth about what happened in the house years ago. The only thing that could save this movie from being a total waste of time is an ending that shocks the hell out of you. The problem is it is not a very explosive ending and much like the entire movie it takes too long to develop, and chances are you already know how its going to end prior to it ending anyway. Even though the ending has a twist which helps slightly it still lacks and does not make the movie worthy of the big screen.

Overall, the acting is average at best. The main actress Elizabeth Olsen who plays Sarah, does a pretty good job, her father played by Adam Trese is horrible and the Uncle played by Eric Stevens does a decent job. If you are looking into seeing this movie I would wait for it to hit Red Box rentals, or the local video store at best. Although watchable for anyone who appreciates horror, suspense, and thrillers, this film is not of a movie going experience caliber.

RATING   4.5 out of 10

Chain Letter Trailer

Re-Makepalooza

With Hollywood apparently running out of new ideas for big screen appeal, we have seen a giant spike in old generation horror movies being re-made, with bigger budgets the special effects are enhanced and the quality is better even if the new directors take isnt always the greatest, ala. Halloween 2 by Rob Zombie. He hit a homer with his first re-take of Halloween, by digging in deep to the past of Michael Meyers and developing the eerie character in which he became, but the second edition to this series was a disaster, from the cross country hike through corn fields like he is heading to Woodstock to the constant grunting during his kill scenes like he has a nagging kidney stone trying to make its way out… just bad!!!

However, many of the re-makes have been great, topping my list is 2003’s  Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Excellent movie!!! Some others that are worthy is Friday the 13th, The Crazies, The Hills Have Eyes, and Amityville Horror. Re-makes that fell a little short but you may want to check out for yourselves are A Nightmare on Elm Street, Fright Night, and The Fog.

These are just a small sample of the movies that have been re-made in the recent years. I for one am looking forward to a re-make of Hellraiser, Pinhead is one of my all time favorite Killers, and would love to see him on the big screen again.

What movies out there would you like to see re-done?

Poll

Top 15 Horror Movie Killers

Since the dawn of time, horror movies have been giving chidren night terrors and making young adults think twice about traveling in the dark, even some grown ups fear the unknown and let their psyche play tricks on them after watching a good Horror flick. Here is a list compiled of my top movie killers. Let me know what you think and if I left out any worthy slayer!

1- Michael Meyers (Halloween)

2- Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th)

3- Freddy Kruger (A Nightmare on Elm Street)

4- Pinhead (Hellraiser)

5- Leatherface (Texas Chainsaw Massacre)

6 – Chucky (Childs Play)

7- Ghost Face (Scream)

8- Jigsaw (Saw)

9 – Axel (original My bloody Valentine)

10 – Norman Bates (Physcho)

11- Billy (Silent Night Deadly Night)

12- Dean Coril (Candyman)

13- Matt Cordell (Maniac Cop)

14 – The Tall Man (Phantasm)

15 – Ben Willis (I know What You Did Last Summer)

Movie Maniacs

When you think of movie maniacs you think of the most popular ones, being Jason Voorhees, Michael Meyers, Freddy Kruger, and Leatherface, but how many others are out there? What about the movies without big cult followings or high production budgets to boost their name. Even movies that never made it to the big screen, have had slashers to send chills down your spine, before they rip it out. Hell, if Physcho was not so cutting edge for its time, is Norman Bates, really that great? It is a matter of opinion, I would say! Pin him up to say…… Freddy Kruger, now you tell me who is more creepy, who would kick whos ass? Exactly, but for its time Physcho developed a following and it snowballed into a cult classic making Norman Bates, a maniac not to take lightly.