Final Women

The Final Terror is a frustrating movie. Never quite sure if it wants to be a backwoods slasher or a more serious thriller, it ultimately fails on both points. However, there is something about it that saves it from being a complete failure. There is potential here that makes for interesting, if not entirely satisfactory, viewing. First,  Final Terror has a pretty strong cast. Featuring Joe Pantoliano, a longtime favorite around these parts, a young Daryl Hannah, and the perpetually underrated Rachel Ward (Night School), you would think that the characters and acting would be one of the movie's strongpoints. However, other than Pantoliano, the whole cast is underutilized. There are a lot of characters, but they aren't very well differentiated from each other. And since the kill count is low, a lot of them survive all the way to the end. No one is really given a chance to shine. I honestly had a lot of trouble keeping many of the characters straight in my mind, which unfor...

Just a brief review today; I'm covering Mara , the 2008 debut feature from director, Clive Tonge. Mara 's plot revolves around a "sleep demon," the titular Mara, who haunts and eventually kills members of a self-help group for people suffering from sleep paralysis. Olga Kurylenko (a stunningly beautiful actress resembling a young Catherine Zeta-Jones) proves she's more than just a Bond babe (Quantum of Solace) playing Kate, a forensic psychologist, who is called in to investigate the death of Matthew, one of the members of the sleep group. Kate soon finds herself haunted by Mara, played by Javier Botet (also the titular ghoul in Mama ). Mara is a genuinely terrifying apparition, although she begins to suffer from over exposure toward the film's requisite downbeat ending. While Mara may not be the most original horror movie I've seen lately, it's still entertaining and manages a few good scares. At the very least, it definitely knocks the similar...

Kaw is a simple movie about killer birds. And, surprisingly, it's a pretty good simple movie about killer birds. It knows it will never be The Birds and doesn't try to be, although it does wear its homages to the Hitchcock film proudly. The story is simple; locals in a small Pennsylvania town find themselves running afoul of some killer ravens. Sean Patrick Flannery is the chief of police who tries, along with a small group of citizens, to fight off the feathery menace. The cast is uniformly good. Along with Flannery (who is both adequately talented and easy on the eyes), Stephen McHattie also graces us with his presence. McHattie is an underrated gem, particularly in genre films, and he is wonderful here as town eccentric, Clyde. Robert Taylor, the square jawed hero of The Birds , is also a nice surprise in the role of the wise town doctor. Kaw may be just a fun killer animals run amok flick, but it grounds the action in reality by giving us some well developed charac...

2014's Among the Living (French title: Aux yeux des vivants ) was directed by Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, the super duo who first gained recognition (or notoriety) for their 2007 film, Inside , one of the bloodiest, most violent films I have ever seen. While it never registered as one of my favorites, I've been eager to see what the pair has done since. So how did this one compare? The story revolves around three friends, including our hero, Victor, who skip their last afternoon of school before summer to smoke, set things on fire, and tour a long abandoned old movie lot in the nearby woods. It is at the movie lot where they discover a kidnapped woman and the weird family who've kidnapped her, including a creep in a clown mask. When the boys attempt to tell the police what they've seen, they're dismissed as delinquent kids telling tales. Unfortunately for them, they left behind evidence of their identities and are subsequently tracked down one by one b...

When I was a little kid, an older friend of mine, Anna, showed me my first ouija board. (Anna also told me my first ghost story and introduced me to Are You Afraid of the Dark? , so she was a huge influence in shaping my love of horror.) I was immediately fascinated. These days, I don't play with ouija boards. I'm generally a sceptic when it comes to the supernatural, but I still believe that there are some things in life you just don't fuck with. (I also refuse to say Bloody Mary in the mirror or eat the grocery store's discount sushi). However, ouija boards and the supernatural in general still fascinate me (obviously), which is why I was willing to give Ouija a chance, despite its universally bad reviews. So was it as bad as everyone said? Well, sort of. It wasn't the worst movie I've ever seen, but I wouldn't exactly recommend it either. It's a competently directed film marred by a dull script. The acting is generally decent. Leads Olivia Cook...

Kylie is caught robbing an ATM and gets sentenced to house arrest at the home of her estranged mother and stepfather. Her mother thinks the house is haunted. Kylie initially disagrees, but when strange things start happening, she begins to wonder if her mom is right. That's all I'm going to tell you. I don't want to give you too much information about this one, because part of the fun is figuring out all the twists and turns along with the characters. However, I will tell you that Housebound rocks, and you should stop what you're doing right now and go watch it. I loved this movie so much that even though I rented it, I turned around as soon as it was over and bought myself a copy. I love this movie so much that, if it was a person, I'd let it go all the way on the first date. I wish this movie was a person so that I could elope with it and spend the rest of my life with it and grow old with it. Seriously, why are you still reading this? Go watch this movie. NOW....

Ten years ago, in Rue Morgue's September 2009 issue, I saw an add for a movie called The Seamstress . The blurb describing it made it seem interesting, and I liked the cover artwork (shown below). So last night, after ten years, I finally got around to watching it. It was not everything I had imagined it would be. The plot revolves around Allie (Kailin See) who, along with five of her friends, goes looking for her missing father on an island off the coast of her hometown, a town which was previously the site of a series of child murders blamed on "The Seamstress." These murders were never solved, although a local school teacher was blamed, leading to her murder at the the hand of a vigilante mob. She placed a curse on the mob and the real culprit before she was killed, and now her restless spirit haunts the island, murdering trespassers. The Seamstress is not a completely incompetent film necessarily, but it has a lot of flaws. The pacing is off. The story is wea...

"The best thing about horror anthologies is that each story is short, so if you get bored, fed up, or mildly suicidal, just remember it'll be over soon." - Last Chance Lance, Rue Morgue magazine The above quote perfectly applies to Monsterland , a diverse horror anthology, produced by Dread Central . One of this anthology's best assets is the brevity of many of the shorts. Monsterland is as uneven as any anthology, but at least the shorts that don't work end before they have a chance to sour the overall taste of the film. As for the best segments, the first one up is The Grey Matter. Starring Ebon Moss-Bachrach ( Girls , The Punisher ) as a working stiff who finds his life changed after his brain is invaded by a charismatic parasite who helps him land a date with his dream girl. This one is funny, gross, and, dare I say it, charming. It's one of the longest segments, at almost 20 minutes, but it's also probably my favorite. Other standouts include...

Demons  and Demons 2 are bat-shit insane Italian monster movies directed by Lamberto Bava (son of Mario) that rank among my all time favorite horror movies. Neither feature very much plot or character development, but they make up for it with outstanding practical effects, gnarly gore, and colorful chaos. Giallo master, Dario Argento is a writer on both, and by many accounts, was also a mentor to the young Bava, as Bava Sr. had been for him. Demons begins when a young woman, Cheryl (Natasha Hovey), receives an invitation to a movie screening and drags her friend, Kathy (Paola Cozza) along. They are joined at the cinema by a motley crew of film goers, including a pimp (the impressive Bobby Rhodes), two prostitutes, a blind man, and two young gentlemen (filling the roles of love interests). Chaos soon breaks out when events in the theatre begin to mirror events in the movie, and people rapidly start turning into seriously gruesome demons (like zombies, they are able to pass alo...

*Spoiler Alert* So I finally watched What Keeps You Alive , which had been sitting toward the top of my list for a while but somehow kept getting looked over. Honestly, it's pretty good, although the last half features some seriously questionable character decisions. Jules and Jackie are a lesbian couple celebrating their one year wedding anniversary at Jackie's family's lake house. Though the couple initially seems happily in love, Jules soon starts to feel as if Jackie is hiding something. The first crack in Jackie's facade appears when a neighbor comes by the house to check on it, having seen the lights on, and refers to Jackie as Meagan. Jackie is able to explain this away, saying that she changed her name in an effort of self-renewal when she realized she was gay. Unfortunately, Jules soon realizes a name change is the least of Jackie's secrets. Brittany Allen and Hannah Emily Anderson both nail their roles as the not-so-happy couple. (The two had previou...

I'll start this review by saying that rape/revenge films are not for everyone, and I'm personally pretty squeamish about rape scenes. Often times they come across as exploitative, even if the following revenge sequences are generally cathartic. Frequently, when watching films of this subgenre, I find myself having to fast forward through the sexual assault. Revenge , however, manages to sidestep a lot these problems by virtue of being written and directed by a woman, Coralie Fargeat. For instance, the film specifically side steps the exploitative nature of the rape scene by not making it explicit. Is it uncomfortable to watch? Hell yes. Is it exploitative? No. Because unlike many other films of its ilk, the rape isn't made to titillate; it isn't shot for the male gaze. Does this at all cheapen the revenge aspect? Hell no. Revenge shows viewers that an explicit rape scene is not needed for the revenge to be satisfying. Special credit has to go to French actres...

Minutes Past Midnight is a collection of short films presented, in part, by Rue Morgue, a magazine this reviewer holds in esteem above all others, so naturally, I had to check it out. As with any anthology (book or film), some segments stand about above the others. There were, however, two segments that particularly stood out to me. The first is director, James Moran's British romantic comedy, "Crazy for You," starring Arthur Darvill ( Doctor Who 's Rory) as a serial killer, driven to crime by the sight of polka dots thanks to a childhood tragedy, who falls in love with a charming young lady played by Hannah Tointon ( The Inbetweeners , The Childre n) who, unfortunately, loves polka dots. This is a charming story, beautifully shot and featuring two incredibly likable leads. Moran also co-wrote one of my all time favorite horror movies, Severance , and I would love to see what he could do directing a feature. My other favorite is the following short, Kevin Mc...

Cutting Class Cutting Class stars underrated genre goddess Jill Schoelen as Paula Carson; it also features Martin Mull, Roddy McDowell, and a baby faced Brad Pitt in one of his first (credited) feature film rolls. Revolving around a series of murders that take place at Paula's high school after the return of outsider Brian (Donovn Leitch) after a stay in a mental hospital, Cutting Class is unfortunately too silly to work as a straight horror film but not really over the top enough to work as a parody. Still for horror fans, there's a lot to enjoy in this late 80's slasher, particularly Schoelen who always makes for a likable lead. Pitt fans will also want to check it out, if only to see the star before he made it to the A-list. Popcorn And Jill Schoelen's back in the significantly more effective, Popcorn , which works better than Cutting Class as both a slasher and as a humorous love letter to horror cinema. While it is often silly and requires some serious...

I admit that I have never heard anything good about The Haunting of Molly Hartley . It has a lousy 3% on Rotten Tomatoes and an average IMDB rating of 3.9/10. Still, when I saw it on Netflix, I decided, "what the hell?" It was late at night, and I didn't want something that was going to require a lot of attention or thought. The opening scene is promising. In 1997, a girl (Jessica Lowndes, Abattoir ) visits her boyfriend (Randy Wayne, Grizzly Park - a personal favorite) in a secluded cabin. Her boyfriend gives her a diamond necklace, an early birthday present - she's turning 18 in one week. The happy couple is almost immediately interrupted by her father, who demands she leave with him. He then proceeds to kill her on the ride home, because, he says, he can't let her turn 18. Alright, so, so far, so good. I'm interested. Maybe this movie will be better than I thought. But then, it jumps to the present, where we meet our protagonist Molly (Haley Benn...

I had been trying to get my hands on Fade to Black for years before it finally popped up free on Amazon Prime. I was so excited! But did it meet my expectations when I finally sat down and watched it? Actually, for the most part, yes. Fade to Black is a lot more character driven than I expected. It's also fairly competently shot and well acted. Clearly, a lot more thought was put into it than I first expected. I also couldn't help but love the main character, Eric (Dennis Christopher, adult Eddie Waspbrak from the original It), a geeky film buff, who in today's world would have a popular blog and possibly even a career in Hollywood (his makeup effects are phenomenal). However, in 1980, he's just a lonely, bullied nerd, who seems to provoke outrageously angry reactions from almost everyone he encounters. Yes, he does eventually turn serial killer, but it's still hard not to feel sorry for the poor guy, who's been kicked around by nearly everyone in his li...

Blood Theater The oldest movie reviewed here today is 1984's Blood Theatre, which involves a former theatre where a mass murder occurred being revamped years later into a cheap-o cinema. Quite frankly, I really should have reviewed this film right after I watched it, because just a few days on, I've already forgotten most of it. I could honestly tell you very little about the main plot at this point; I'm even kinda vague on how it ended. I do clearly remember one sub plot of the film though, as it involved Mary Woronov (Terrorvision), genre goddess and Andy Warhol Factory member. She plays the assistant to the owner of the movie theater chain that the titular "Blood Theater" is being added to. She's also the only competent actor in the entire movie. Her scenes are a delight to watch, and she provides the film with its few intentionally hilarious moments. If you like low-budget trash from the 80's (like-me), go ahead and check this one out in full. Otherw...

I'd actually seen this one before.  Filmed in 2006, but tangled up in distribution hell in the U.S. until 2013, I was lucky enough to come across this in a video store in 2009 while living in England. I was incredibly excited to get my hands on it back then, as it had already developed a reputation as a bit of a rare treasure among horror film fans. I remember walking away from my first viewing satisfied, but admittedly could only vaguely recall the film's events by the time I noticed it was on Netflix streaming recently and decided to give it another go. Amber Heard is superb as the beautiful, virginal Mandy Lane, whom all of the boys want a shot with. Formerly unpopular, Mandy apparently blossomed over the summer before her junior year of high school. Having attracted the attention of the popular crowd, by the end of the year Mandy seems to have distanced herself from her nerdy former best friend after his prank resulted in the death of one of her admirers months before. Fo...

I'd actually previously viewed Prom Night IV but honestly remembered little to nothing about it, which could have had to do with the generic plot, or maybe I fell asleep. Since it is currently free on Amazon Prime, I decided I'd give it another shot. The extended opening sequence takes place in 1957 and concerns Father Jonas, a priest who sets out to punish "the sluts and the whores" in the name of the Lord, starting by killing two teenagers getting busy in a car outside of their high school prom. Despite the name of the film and the fact that the school is referred to as Hamilton High, this fourth entry in the Prom Nigh t franchise is unrelated to both the first film (starring Jamie Lee Curtis) and the previous two entries (which revolve around the ghost of poor Mary Lou). After his murders, the demented man of the cloth is discovered by his fellow priests at St. Basil's seminary where he apparently lives. The priests decide to send him to St. George's, a...

Okay, I haven't been writing much lately, but I'm back and hopefully in it for the long run, so I thought I'd start afresh with briefly reviewing a few films I've watched recently. The Witch in the Window One of the spookiest movies I've seen in years, this wonderful haunted house movie is marred only by what to me seemed an overly sentimental ending. That being said, my boyfriend was not perturbed by the ending in the least, so maybe that complaint only pertains to me and my occasionally black and bitter heart. Otherwise, I thought The Witch in the Window was the best horror movie I'd seen in quite some time. I don't want to give away the plot here, as a lot of the fun lies in figuring out exactly what is going on. I will tell you though, if you watch this, keep a sharp eye out. In the earlier parts of the film, the titular crone pops up when you least expect it in silhouettes and reflections that are easy to miss. And when she does show her face, she...

Upon hearing that there is now a Mexico Barbaro 2, I thought it might be a good idea if I finally got around to seeing the first one, which has been sitting at the top of my to-watch queue for a while. Like most anthologies, this one turned out to be a mixed bag, but I was overall impressed with the grotesque beauty of many of the segments. Tzompantli Laurette Flores At first I thought that this opening segment might be some sort of wrap around, mostly due to the vagueness of its plot. And due to an aimlessness of the early part of this story, I still feel it might not have been the best choice for the opening segment of the film. Still, it's far from the weakest entry, and it's brutal, gory ending is an effectively abrupt and visceral sucker punch in the gut. Jaral de Berrio Edgar Into The second segment of Mexico Barbaro is easily one of the most beautifully shot, and I was captivated by it's surreal, fairytale feel and dreamlike atmosphere. The s...