From The Mail Bag End of May 2010 Edition

Once again, I've been given a lot of comments, and I must reply. I've managed to have a nice month of movie reviews come down the pipeline, and despite the new ones, it seems that the old ones get more attention. That's fine with me, I post em for people to read.

Right now I'm watching a kung fu movie, as I'm taking a slight break from horror, but rest assured I'll have a new review on Wednesday.

For now, let us all look to the mail bag and see what's up with the comments on the second half of the month of may:

shel7 commented on my post, "The Changeling Review":

I LOVED the changling when I was little but I cant remember it now. I ordered the dvd and want to watch it with some friends - does it have a lot of language? I can't remember why it's rated R.

It's Rated R for gore, and language. I'm not sure if it's rated R for nudity as it's been a while. I do know that the film is long, and has some gruesome deaths. It's a good one to watch, but the pacing is tough.

Anonymous left a comment on my post "Cabin Fever 2 Review":

OMG i can not belive this movie is soo good you have to watch it

I'm assuming this is sarcasm. The movie sucked, and the main reason I wanted to see it was the continuation of the storyline, only to have it not be nearly as good as the first film.

Anonymous left a comment on my post, "Rest Stop 2: Don't Look Back Review":

this was a really bad movie! the first one was good they could have changed the ending to nicole having a dream and waking up and getting into the car with jesse and then the film fastfowards to everything that occured and the film should have cut to nicole screaming ! i love the first movie !

It's true, this film is terrible. I just can't believe I sat through most of it. I'm sick of these terrible straight to dvd movies, but I can't resist seeing them at least once.

That's it for the comments. I thought I had more, but apparently I didn't save them, or they got lost in my inbox.

If you have any suggestions as to what I should review/watch next, please send me a message. I'm always looking for new stuff and old stuff to watch and review. Coming up in the near future is a review of Manhater, followed by a review of some Asian Horror films.

Thanks for the comments, and all the support. I still have no job, and no money, in case anyone was wondering.

The Stepfather Review

First and foremost, I'm going to have to take this opportunity to apologize to the producers of Manhater. I unfortunately got backed up, and had to postpone the review of that film until June 2nd. The schedule got messed up and I've had to deal with personal issues. Next Wednesday, I'll have a full review of that film.



For today though, I'm going to be trying to review one remake that I never thought would be necessary. The Stepfather had a creepy trailer, cute teenagers that would most likely have sex, and one half of what made Nip/Tuck such an amazing show (except for the bs last season). I thought for sure, just maybe, this one would be worth while, but it's not it's just a big failure on a lot of levels.

The imagery is not robust. In fact, from the very beginning this film doesn't make a lot of sense, nor does it feature any gore or harsh tones that the original film did. For those of you that don't know, the Stepfather series was made in the 80's and featured a slasher plot line, mad villain, that was way creepier and at times more sex filled and horrific than this pg-13 piece of garbage.

The plot is simple. A random man is seducing single mothers and then killing them when they don't fit into his psychotic vision of what a perfect family is. By the time the women figure it out, he kills them, and moves to another city.

With today's modernity, and people not being as trusting(especially in the Portland area, where I think this film was based in or I heard Oregon, I think), the premise is lost on me. What made this series work in the 1980's was the lack of a modern police system with serial killers falling through the cracks due to enigmatic riddles, lack of dna evidence, digital cameras, surveillance footage and much more. This film does NOT work in the 21st century, where everyone has a camera, or a video phone.

On a separate, non related note, isn't it funny that although we have more modern recording equipment, the amount of documented UFO sightings has dropped? I'm just saying.

The Stepfather is NOT scary, nor is it worth thinking too much about. I actually had an abusive stepfather so while the original films creeped me out, this film doesn't creep me out, it's just stupid.

The only saving grace to the whole pile of drivel is the fact that the ending is kind of cool. Dylan Walsh looks kind of creepy as a hardware store worker, not bad.

As for the scary moments, there are very few. The film relies on jump scares and the old "killer comes back one last time" before escaping without a trace in a modern suburb card.

I wouldn't recommend The remake of The Stepfather, but that's just me.



*BONUS*

Here's the original poster artwork from the original trilogy, which is by far more creepy and more gore filled than this half-assed remake.







I recommend the original series far more than I would ever recommend even the Unrated Director's Cut of the remake. Man, I'm sick of bad horror movie remakes.

Rewind: The Wizard of Gore Review

Well, I was planning on reviewing a special treat for the site, but I got caught up with other things. I've been having a really hard time earning a living, and for the first time in a long time, I'm close to not being able to pay rent. So today I was hitting the pavement, and on the phone, trying to make a buck before the 1st of the month. It's not working out too well.

But since it's Wednesday, and I hook you guys up with a review, here's a blast from the past. One of my personal favorites, and while I'm still waiting to review the updated version of this film, I'll have to settle for the older options found here. I'll be back on Friday with a new review of a special film.



The Wizard of Gore is a gorey piece of horror history, but really isn't all that great when you think about it. The movie follows a magician who is digging up bodies from the cemetery, brings them to life, then kills them live on stage, only to bring them back for the audience to see.

Within an hour, those same women are found dead.

Police are baffled, and one television show host wants to get to the bottom of things.



First of all, this magician looks like a 70's era porno star. He reminds me a lot of John Holmes or someone that would be in Debbie Does Dallas or some other film. I'm surprised Ron Jeremy wasn't featured in the back drop of this film, because the main villain looks like a porno star. I mean look at him...just look!



So with that in mind, I thought for sure I would see some nudity. That was thwarted fast. There is some slight cleavage on the part of the talk show host, but her "love" scenes are the most vapid and unsexy scenes I've ever seen. It is like the director wanted to tease you, but then decided not to after all. The sexual situations are so horrible, that it made me want to throw something at the television. The girls that this guy is digging up look perfect. There is no sign of decay, no sign of death, and you would believe that things are on the up and up.



The majority of talk of this film is not so much on the plot, but the gore. The blood is bright read, there are hot dogs and sausages looking like intestines, and while the magician (wizard) is messing around with killing these girls live on stage, the screams are just horrible. It's almost like they dubbed the screaming after the fact, and just went with whatever sounds they could get.

This film is so hard to watch that you might get lost as to what is going on. The story doesn't do a good job explaining itself, and right when you finally figure things out, the story throws a wrench at you. The story ends on such a stupid twist, and such a cop out, that you're seriously going to be upset.

Here is a trailer for The Wizard of Gore:



The Wizard of Gore might be a cult classic, but it is really hard to watch. Granted, this film was made in the 70's so my expectation levels were lowered, but this low? It wasn't all that great, seriously, it is gorey but there is such a horrible sense of acting in this film. It's either really understated, or really over the top. The gore, that's where this film shines. There's a lot of cool gore effects, considering the age of this film, and I liked that. Other than that though, The Wizard of Gore just isn't worth the time. I'm sorry.

Maybe I need a second viewing of this one. I don't know if I can make it though. It's worth watching at least once, and it's definitely getting a good push into the mainstream with the recommendation that was made in the film Juno. Herschell Gordon Lewis really does a nice job creating the splatter film genre, but this was a tough watch if you're not a fan of gore. If you are a fan of gore, you'll LOVE The Wizard of Gore, I mean it even has the word GORE in the title!

They remade this film recently with Crispin Glover as the main Wizard, so maybe the updated version might be an improvement. I'll make sure to check it out for a future review.

More Herschell Gordon Lewis films:

Blood Feast via Amazon.com
Two Thousand Maniacs via Amazon.com
She Devils on Wheels via Amazon.com
The Gore-Gore Girls via Amazon.com
Color Me Blood Red via Amazon.com
Blood Feast 2 All You Can Eat via Amazon.com

The Skeleton Key Review

I purposely avoided The Skeleton Key when it came out for a couple of reasons. First and foremost I don’t traditionally like Kate Hudson. In fact, I can’t stand her movie choices, so I waited a few years, and now that I have time on my hands, have no job, no money, and no prospects, I can’t go further down to rock bottom, so I took a chance at a movie I wouldn’t like and man, I was proven wrong.

The Skeleton Key has a simple plot with some incredible twists, that aren’t so incredible when you reduce them down to the same plot twists found in The Twilight Zone, but in the process of trying to figure it all out, you realize that you’ve been outsmarted with relatively ease.

The movie’s plot revolves around a hospice care worker that has decided to work for an older couple in the New Orleans area. She meets a lawyer that is helping with the affairs of the older couple, and is given a special key to unlock every door in the house, with exception of one, the attic-hidden door. When the older man the nurse (Hudson) is taking care of starts to try and escape, and give signals that he is being poisoned or something, his villainous wife takes exception and things start to go awry.

This movie has all the great pieces to making a good creepy movie. There are some foreshadowed plot turns, but at the time of their reveal, you’re not sure how they are connected. After you watch the film and start thinking more, you start to realize that the filmmakers left b read crumbs to tie everything together at the end. But you won’t notice them, because the creep factor rises with each tense scene.

Much like classic mystery stories, there are several plot twists, and some of which, I can’t really tell you without going into an elaborate piece of writing. I know this much, when the evil lawyer (whom I suspected was evil all along) tries to kill our main character, I thought this movie was too predictable, then there was a wrench thrown at me, and there were two or three more major plot turns, that made this movie so much better than the critics reviews said about the film.

The visuals are great, the editing and the angles make you take notice. I never thought I’d say this, but Kate Hudson is quite lovely in this film and had me hooked from the beginning. I usually do not like her acting, nor do I like her movies, but she had me nearly drooling at one point, and even the pg-13 shower scene had me going. But more importantly, her subdued, “concerned nurse” character really fooled me, and I cared when in the end, the final reveal left her smoking….and I will leave it at that.

Is The Skeleton Key A Scary Film?: Yes.

It is scary for a reason I’ve cited on this blog in the past; I believe in demonic possession. I know, I’m going to lose some fans on this one, but after reading first hand accounts and seeing it with my own eyes, demonic possession has to be real. Well, if not, then people can truly be nuts, and well, this film has some people that are nuts. The scary moments of this film deals with the voodoo in a way, and it’s interesting to see. Being a person of faith, I found that there were some creepy moments in this film that hit home on a lot of levels. Whether it was Kate Hudson’s night terrors, the foreshadowing and construction of ghost myths only to showcase a sense of possession, the film has a lot of meaning in some very subtle and overt ways.

There is no gore, and I liked that there was a sense of horror, without using cheap thrills. I liked the pacing, and I thought that the twists were put in the right place, and the tension and payoff was quite good.

I’d recommend checking out The Skeleton Key. I don’t think it’s the greatest film in the world, but it had a nice throwback to the classic horror, and a little nod to the Twilight zone, where I first saw the final plot twist. I’m sure not everyone will agree, but I think that this film is underrated as a patchwork of ideas, rather than a clear-cut thriller/horror film.

The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations Review

This review has been bought/sold for an upcoming Time Travel book.

The House of The Devil Review

In the tradition of grindhouse films, and classic horror films of the 70’s and 80’s this 2009 film jumped onto my radar, and only now am I reviewing it for this site. The House of the Devil combines several different elements from classic films to make a relatively new story, with great overall pacing, good character points, and plenty of gore, blood, and violence. Although there were moments that were marred with question marks, and flashes of what appears to be “Davey Havok” really made me cringe, the movie packs a good punch.

The plot of the film revolves around a college student that needs a new job, and accepts a job in a weird house. The movie sets up slowly, it definitely begs to watch, despite the slow build, but it starts to really climax in the second and third act. As she accepts the job, she slowly is drugged, and then tortured, but she manages to do what other vixens in peril don’t, fights back immediately.

The setting of the film is really important, a college town with a full moon, and what appears to be a normal family in need of a babysitter. The film starts and ends like a classic 70’s exploitation film with titles and actors being paused and framed in classic form. I liked the way the picture is filmed, and the cameras motions and edits coincide quickly with musical cues that are classic.

The movie has a good amount of blood, but not necessarily to the point of excess. It’s done in a believable fashion, so by the time the screen is crimson, you buy into the possibility that the victim is indeed injured, not necessarily a latex monster of blood. I liked the subtlety to the horror elements, while not totally making you disbelieve that the killers and villains are too bright for the story.

The camera angles and the music makes this film better than most horror films offered in recent years, and I’m surprised more people didn’t see this film upon its release. The tension really builds, despite the clichés that seem to abound in the film, and by the time the final points are revealed and the last line of the film is revealed, you really get involved with the story telling and horrors of the film.

Is The House of the Devil a Scary Film? Yes.

Emphatically, this film is quite scary, and it does a lot of things correctly. It slow builds to a great climax, which is not too unbelievable, it states that it’s based on true events, but you don’t really know what events, and the plot never treats you like a complete idiot.

The visuals, the music, the editing, and the whole overall tone make this film quite good. I see the problems that might abound, but I like it. It has a good score, a great pace, and enough of a throwback to the classic horror movies most of its intended audience grew up on, to make it better than most mainstream offerings.

I recommended The House of the Devil as a great addition to the horror genre. I enjoyed it, and thought it was worthwhile indeed. Check it out, and make sure you have the sound up, to listen to the award winning score, and sound effects that make this film better than 90% of the movies I’ve reviewed up to this point. 90% ok maybe only 70%.

Jack Brooks Monster Slayer Review

I’ve seen a lot of bad movies, and I’ve reviewed some of the worst horror films on this blog. However, none of them have been more pretentious, than this one. Jack Brooks: Monster Hunter was recommended to me by a lot of different people, and I thought it was finally time to watch it. I figured, since Robert Englund was in it, it can’t be bad. However, it turns out that it’s actually not that great, and while there are some classic sci-fi, rubber suit monster moments, there is a lack of, I don’t know, good acting, to make it worth while.

Jack Brooks Monster Slayer stars Trevor Matthews, and it’s terrible. He has a fake beard or a bad make up. The movie starts with some of the worst rubber suit monster effects, and it just doesn’t work for me. I knew I was in for a bad movie, and well…it sure kept going from bad to worse.

Robert Englund plays a science teacher in this film, so there is a bit of nostalgia involved with seeing him outside of the Nightmare on Elm Street series. He turns into a monster, and rivals “The Faculty” in some ways, but not with the same budget at all.

The story is cut and dry, a teenager with a beard becomes a monster slayer. That’s it. I know there are a few things that can be seen as highlights, including gore, and latex effects, but it just doesn’t hold well.

I got tired of the film, and while I made it through the whole thing, I just couldn’t find enough gusto to recommend this thing.

It’s not even worth asking if it’s scary.

The soundtrack is interesting, as it was made with a 93 piece symphony orchestra, and the visual quality is higher than average. However, good sound, great visuals, and bad acting don’t equal quality filmmaking. The poster evokes such high spirit, and yet, the delivery is not quite there.

From The Mail Bag Mid May 2010 Edition

We are around half way through the month of May, and I've received quite a few comments, and wanted to use this forum to respond and say thank you to anyone that is leaving comments. I still have no job, and I still am watching horror whenever I can.

Angie said in regards to my Idle Hands Review:

Idle Hands is one of my faves! And now I'm curious about Population 436 so I'll have to look for it :)

Idle Hands was definitely a better movie than most people give it credit. I thought, if nothing else, it flowed easily through horror and comedy, without ditching either genre. As for Population 436? Well, that's hit and miss depending on who you are. I thought it had some seriously creepy "Twilight Zone" elements, and live in a small town, so it kind of sends chills up my spine.

Creepy said in regards to my post The Omen: 666 Review:

The only creepy thing about this movie was the cover.

Creepy, you're probably right. There wasn't enough sum of creepy moments to make the whole move that great. However, it had some great horror elements, if only flashes, to make it a little better than some of the other films I've reviewed.

Anonymous said in regards to my Pumpkinhead Review:

Pumpkinhead is VERY B-movie, but it's actually very interesting, at least to me. You have to consider the love of a father, and what he would do for his son. Then you have to think about how evil/scary Pumpkinhead must be for the father to have someone call him back.

This is definitely the best in the franchise. I can't believe they made sequels to this film. It has a relatively good revenge plot and some serious emotion for a B-Movie. I liked it. I saw it as a kid and loved it, and to this day, enjoy it quite nicely.

Anonymous said in regards to my post, The Gingerdead Man Review:

hahahahahahahaha

Yes. I hear you, yes. There's a sequel too....yep.

willy jerk-off said in regards to my Peacock Review:

I want to bugger Ellen Page.

I'd have to agree with you on that note. She's not half bad.

willy jerk-off also said in regards to my post, The Craft Review:

I want to bugger all the gorgeous young girls in this movie (as they were at the time it was made, not as they are now obviously).

I hear ya man, I hear ya. I wish I had a shot...but nope...not even close.

Well folks, that's the end of this mid-month mail bag. I have been fortunate enough to be able to watch a few horror movies, despite the fact that I'm broke, have no job prospects and am not sure how I survive. But that's neither here nor there, enjoy the site, give me some suggestions, and I'll keep on keeping on.

The Craft Review

In the mid 1990’s it seemed like there were a lot of different scary movies getting pushed, and the genre most often looked at was teen and mid-twenty somethings involved in scary situations. This is why The Craft seemed so interesting at the time. It took four up and coming women and put them in a strange friendship that dealt with the occult.

This film had me scared when it came out, but upon looking back, it’s hard to understand what scared me. Most of this film is kind of like an episode of the twilight zone. The film follows one main character who moves to Los Angeles to attend a local private school, and upon meeting new friends, starts to explore her telekinetic powers. The group of friends end up starting to cast spells, and when things start to crumble in their “magic” circle their friendship suffers, and they start to be at odds.

Unfortunately, this film is just another teenage movie, but they add witchcraft to the story, to make the film appeal to horror fans. The lack of gore, the lack of real nudity, and the laughable moments really don’t do well for the film’s audience, and most often then not, you end up getting tired of seeing the same old stories play out again.

The visuals are interesting, and for being a mid 90’s film, there are some interesting computer graphics and twists added. The film shows its age, and starts to curve towards telling the audience, that it’s ok to play with the occult as long as it is for the right reasons, and that “white” magic is awesome.

This movie doesn’t hold up well at all, and it’s hard to define where this film fits into the scary movie spectrum, but hey, it was a different time, I guess.

Is The Craft a scary film?: No.

It’s emphatic, NO! This film is not scary to me now. However, rewind the clock around 14 years and there was an uneasy feeling that was involved in this film. I guess it’s easy to like the film because the chicks are kind of good looking, but their naïve and stupid “in crowd” mentality, really doesn’t prove to be a good long lasting point of interest for diehard horror fans.

The Craft is a poor example of witch films, but it set the stage for other films like “Jennifer’s Body” to steal some of the nuances. I guess it’s worth at least one look, but it’s not, by any means, a great or scary film.

King of The Lost World Review

I’m not used to reviewing a lot of SyFy channel exclusives. In fact, the last time I tried to watch a made for TV or straight to dvd movie from the channel, it was for the short-lived movie club portion of this site. It wasn’t exactly a rousing success, but I managed to get a few people involved.

Well, this time around I had no other option but to watch a SyFy original, and I didn’t find it nearly as bad as I did “Ice Spiders”. Don’t get me wrong, this film is not great, and in a lot of spots not good, but it manages to have some interesting points.

The main plot of King of the Lost World is much like the show “Lost” at least in that there is a plane crash, on a mysterious Island, a man that knows how to diffuse a bomb, carries a gun, and isn’t saying a whole lot, and a group of strangers that must form a bond to move forward.

If being stranded on an island wasn’t enough, the fact that there are man-eating Spiders, King Kong (look alike), and other baddies out there, makes the premise somewhat more palatable.

The first thing you’ll notice about this film is all the stock footage that you get. This film has a great deal of stock “island” footage, and at moments looks amazing, but more often then not looks like a cheap travel video, begging for a voice over. While I appreciate the nuances, the fly-bys wear thin when the film progresses to what is obviously green screen, and closed sets. If they are on location, they did a terrible job trying to showcase that notion, and most often it just looks like a two or three room panel.

The acting isn’t half bad. Sure there are some stupid moments, but there are some professionals involved and I didn’t hate the acting, even if it seemed forced whenever there was a monster on screen.

The characters are all stereotypical. You have the young teen, the big foreheaded actress that falls in love with one of the characters, or just has one of those “we’re going to die” moments. The tough guy, the loner, the old man, the former military guy, and the disposable characters that are killed, oh, and there’s the mysterious guy that knows too much for his own good and is most likely in on it.

The pacing is slow. It’s tense, but slow. You kind of want to just see what happens next, but at some points you just want to fast forward and get this over with. It forces you to follow along, on rails, and really doesn’t do much in the way of moving the suspense.

Much like most horror films, this film has the crew being eaten one by one. The island seems to be the villain, until the third act reveal of a traitor amongst them. There is no major gore, although there was a sick spider cocoon killing that had one character reaching into skeletal goo, which was kind of a neat effect. Most often then not, there’s nothing more than a trickle of blood, if anything.

Is King of The Lost World A Scary Film: No.

Despite the weirdos on the island entrapping people, the prehistoric sized monsters, and the predictable story, this movie is NOT scary at all. In fact, if it was meant to be scary or sci-fi in any sense of the tradition, it fails miserably. Sure, on paper this movie sounds like a gem, and admittedly, the synopsis made me curious, but it’s low budget effects, mysterious plotting, and lackluster effects really make this movie a hazard.

I do not recommend King of the Lost World, unless you want modern day B-Movie punishment. It’s not even B movie; it’s more like C or D movie. I’ve seen worse, I’ve seen better, and this falls somewhere between the two.

REWIND: Blood Car

One of the early reviews of this site definitely was a great one. this independent film really took a concept and made it work. I loved it, and recommend it today. I recently re-watched it, and man, I was blown away with how simple it was. It features a great array of horror specific keynotes, and a bunch of great moments you don't find in a lot of today's mainstream horror movies.



When gas prices rise to 32 dollars a gallon, everyone walks around, or rides bikes. In a sleepy town, a vegan white guy is experimenting with wheat grass makes a gruesome discovery.

His car runs….on human blood!



So the movie progresses through some interesting scenario’s, mainly his quest to get laid thanks to his car being the only one working in the town. (Man, if getting laid was that easy, I’d have the biggest Zombie car in the nation! Especially if the chicks are as hot as the Meat Saleswoman in this film)

The movie is comedic, far more than it is horrific. The most horrific part is the fact that gas prices are so high.

Other than that, Blood Car is the best comedy/horror film I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s a low budget independent film with such great scenes, that you’ll be hard pressed to find anything close to it, or better than this amazing film.
Seriously, this is not a remake, not a Japanese film, it is the most original horror movie idea I’ve seen in long time.

I know what you’re thinking: “Jorge, this is just a zombie car, it’s not even that good.” And to you I say, you’re an idiot! This film has so much social understanding, and amazing scenarios that involve the following:

Boobs
Sex
Kindergarten Teachers
Vegans
Blood
Gore
Serial Killings

And if that isn’t enough for you, then you’ll love the fact that this movie isn’t going to be on the AFI 100, or seen by everyone! You’ll look like a true film nerd for having seen this stellar film.



Oh man, this is such a cool movie. This movie is a must own, seriously, it’s a must see, must own film experience!

Come on, you know you want to see it now….BLOOD CAR!!!!

OOOOH! BLOOD FREAKIN CAR!!!

This movie is easier put like this:

A vegan kid that can’t get chicks, invents a way to fuel his car with human blood, then uses it to get laid. But when he runs out of fuel…meaning blood, he starts to kill people left and right. From hitchhikers to bums, he starts killing people in order to feed his habit…his sexual habit.

That’s the plot, thin as it is, but along the way people get killed, blood is everywhere, and lots of jokes along the way. This movie is so rad…I suck at reviewing movies that I really love sometimes.

Oh man, just watch the trailer. Blood Car on dvd is a must own for all!

Peacock Review

I don’t usually find a lot of horror movies that are creepy enough for this site, without being overtly scary, gorey, or have a marketing scheme that makes it sound horror. But I was pleasantly surprised by this horror movie that was in the tradition of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Peacock is not going to appeal to a lot of horror purists, but I found some of the moments to be quite seriously, one of the creepiest characters I’ve seen Cillian Murphy play.

The plot of this film revolves around a private bank clerk in the city of Peacock. John Skillpa is a quite guy and doesn’t really bother anyone, and doesn’t allow anyone into his circle of life.

He has a secret. He’s a woman named Emma too, and he starts to lose track of his identity and people start finding out the truth, and it starts to scare him.

When a train caboose falls off the tracks into his backyard, he loses his mind, and he really starts to showcase some creepy factors. The rest of the film involves him and his split personality “Emma” trying to figure out what is real and what is fake. Meanwhile the city is trying to get a political event near the train, all of this while his former lover is trying to get money to leave town.

The setting is creepy, and the build up is even worse. By the time someone dies in this film, you’re invested emotionally into the characters and aren’t sure where this is going. The movie depends largely on Murphy’s performance and it’s quite good. He legitimately looks crazy at moments, and some parts of the film utilize clever editing to make you think that Emma is not really the same person.

Even though this film smells of “straight to dvd” at times, it has some very creepy editing, and the slow burning build to the final climax resembles the final twists and turns that brought Psycho to the world. The visuals are professionally done, and the color tones strike the mood and balance quite well.

Is Peacock a Scary Film? : No.

While I thought the film was quite creepy, and had elements of horror. I didn’t find myself scared too often, although there are horror elements. I found that the film hinged carefully not to cross over too far from the slow pacing, and that’s a good job. I like how the film feels older, it feels like it was meant for a different era, but I found myself wanting another piece to the horror quotient. I didn’t quite feel that, despite the film’s pull towards horror elements.

I appreciated the film for what it was, a thriller, but thought it was worth mentioning on this site because it had some great classic horror ideologies, specifically the way the camera moves in towards the end of the film pushing this sort of “Alfred Hitchcock” type of sequencing.

I don’t recommend Peacock to everyone, as it doesn’t quite deliver in the end. However, I did find the visuals good, so you should definitely check it out.

Scary Games

Recently I was introduced to a cool place where you can play free games. I am not much of a gamer these days, because I end up hustling more often than not and can't really "play" online games.

However, I was pleasantly surprised with some of the horror games I found on gameshed.com.

I actually spent half of my day yesterday playing games. I haven't had this much fun online in a long time. I used to hate flash too, but man, this is a quality gaming site.

I started with Zombie Terminator, and wow, the gaming mechanics have really improved since the last time I was playing games online. It reminded me of that horror playstation game, Loaded and Re-Loaded, only faster, and easier to control.





Then I moved onto Zombie Survival Outbreak, and was floored by how good the graphics and motions are. I seriously couldn't believe how fast the game works, and how gorey it is.





I had a ton of fun playing Purgatorium, a simple point and click game that is as creepy as any playstation or classic pc game I've ever played.

I cannot believe how creepy and good these games are, and how addicting some of them are. Purgatorium especially got creepy with the sounds, and the on screen violence, so subtle, but man, it was good.

I'm always up for a scary movie, but man, this is some cool gaming. Flash has gotten a lot better in recent times, that's for sure. If you want to kill some time and zombies you gotta check out these scary games.

REWIND: I Present Evil Ernie

Evil Ernie is a comic book character from Chaos Comics. I ran into some cool artwork that was so horror related that I couldn't pass up sharing it with you, my 2 readers left.

First though, I have to apologize at the amount or rather lack of amount of updates and reviews. I've been juggling a LOT of different things. I've been reading more for reviews that I'm now sponsored to right. I've been picked up by Random House publishing to be a reviewer, unpaid for now, but it's nice to get free books. I'm also juggling more freelance work, because I need to pay off my debts which are immense. Plus, amazon affiliate links don't pay me very well at all. In fact, no one buys anything.

So today, I was going to get "Frankenhood" reviewed, but I didn't get it in the mail yet. Sometimes the USPS dictates how far I can review, so for Friday I'm hoping to get that reviewed for you guys.

In the meantime, I got these screens from Evil Ernie, and they are large photos, click on them for detail. Evil Ernie is like Slash from Guns N Roses mixed with Eddie from Iron Maiden, which is rad. Click the images to get bigger versions, and please support me by sticking around.