Here I am sitting around at the end of my work day listening to a band named Flanders and am posting this end of the month recap. For those of you that love Halloween, hooray for you! For those of you like me, you'll probably watch something on tv and go to bed early or something.
If you missed anything this month, here are the links, if you caught it all, thanks.
If you can donate, do so at the link to the right, and if you can buy anything do so with the amazon links we have on our site.
The winner of the prize has been notified!
Here are the posts from October 2012:
8MM Review
November 2012 is Werewolf Month
Phantoms Review
The Woman In Black Review
Club Dread (Again) Review
More Holiday Movie Madness
More Horror Film Remakes Better Than The Originals...
Cabin in the Woods Review
Scary Movies For Children on Halloween
Holiday Themed Horror Insanity
October 2012 Win the Hellraiser Box Set FREE
Holiday Horror Films
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
8MM Review
When I first started Scary Film Review, many years before, I didn’t always review straightforward horror movies. I found that many mainstream thrillers were just as scary if not more horrified than modern horror. Every now and then I’ll run into a mainstream mystery, thriller, or drama that has a subject matter that is worthy of the Scary Film Review blog. That was the case with the following movie. 8MM came out in 1999 and it was directed by the guy that ruined the Batman franchise, but somehow, this Nicolas Cage film brought elements of horror to the mainstream in a way that should have been on par with “The Silence of the Lambs” but probably filtered out somehow. Join me today in a review of 3 elements that were scary in the Joel Shumacher film “8MM”.
SNUFF – The first thing that you’ll notice about this film is the subject matter. The movie is about a detective that is looking for a girl that could’ve been murdered in a snuff film. Now, I have talked about the genre in the past, and even saw a documentary about this. Is it real? Well, many people still swear that they have seen one, but honestly, there have not been a lot of real snuff movies available to the public. Hardcore, porn, and ultra violence, sure, but real snuff? That’s something that scares many people, and only serial killers have been known to distribute and record their stuff. That being said, the subject matter of the film shows clips of ultra violence and if you’re squeamish, you will flinch, as they are prominent and urgent to the story’s main plot.
Slavery – The second horror element that you’ll find in this film is a mix of violence and sex within the adult industry. Our hero, in this case a private detective, finds himself in the world of underground pornography, and he’s not sure what he’s getting into, until he is in too deep. Does this exist? Yes. I’ve seen many a CNBC special and even worked at an independent video store, and a small stint in the adult industry while I was in college. There is in fact sex trafficking, deviance, and a major criminal element within the adult industry that many people don’t know about. That is shown here in a very “comical” way at times, but it’s not something that is completely fictitious. It becomes truly scary to know that sex trafficking, kidnapping, and murder are all part of the pornography industry, even though many refuse to read, or know about it.
Missing Persons – The scariest thing about this movie is how hard it hits home for people. I am not a victim of this, but I do know several people that have gone missing. A friend of mine disappeared once, and a few years later resurfaced as a bum on the streets. For years his family searched for him and he was nowhere to be found. What happened? For all I know he decided to walk away. But how many girls, and young boys are taken away and either murdered or kept in someone’s basement with mothers and fathers waiting for them? This element is sad, and is a catalyst for the plot mid-way through the film.
8MM takes a slow moving plot and shifts into high gear in the third and fourth act. The movie is not without comical flaws, and over reaction moments with Nic Cage, but there are some serious sick and twisted elements. In the hands of a “horror” director, this movie would have seriously taken a more macabre road. However, you get just enough tinges of serious shock to make this one more than just a thriller, and categorize it into a “scary” film. If you've seen it already, give it one more go with new eyes, and you might enjoy it more this time around.
Remember to leave a comment, to be entered to win a Hellraiser Boxed Set. The winner will be announced at the end of the month. Also, please purchase something from our links or donate via paypal to the right. Thank you.
Monday, October 29, 2012
November 2012 is Werewolf Month
I announced this on my official Facebook page, but thought that I would drop in and say to you 3 or 4 readers of this blog what’s coming in November. Next month my reviews will all be about Werewolves. Now, there is a lot that can be said about the genre, but I personally figure it started (on cinema at least) with the MGM monster movies the “wolf man” and then progressed.
Along the way I will be talking about books, articles and more that I find online to offset the reviews. If you want to help me get access to more werewolf movies etc, please help me out by purchasing something via amazon.com here. If you purchase things online I will receive 4% of the sale and can use that to buy or rent more horror movies.
I am 100% freelance and a professional blogger, so every ounce of my money comes from the support of readers like you.
If you would like to support, that is the best way, if you’d like to donate via paypal, I can accept that too. Look for the donation button on the side of my blog to give via that format.
Remember to leave a comment, to be entered to win a Hellraiser Boxed Set. The winner will be announced at the end of the month.
Along the way I will be talking about books, articles and more that I find online to offset the reviews. If you want to help me get access to more werewolf movies etc, please help me out by purchasing something via amazon.com here. If you purchase things online I will receive 4% of the sale and can use that to buy or rent more horror movies.
I am 100% freelance and a professional blogger, so every ounce of my money comes from the support of readers like you.
If you would like to support, that is the best way, if you’d like to donate via paypal, I can accept that too. Look for the donation button on the side of my blog to give via that format.
Remember to leave a comment, to be entered to win a Hellraiser Boxed Set. The winner will be announced at the end of the month.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Phantoms Review
When watching the movie “Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back”, in a pivotal scene Jay yells out “Affleck, you the bomb in Phantoms”, and runs out of the scene. While throwing a party, in which many people that I invited didn’t show up, I had the chance to watch Phantoms again, and boy did it leave a different impression than the first time I saw it all the many years ago.
First and foremost, the movie is based on a novel that was written by Dean Koontz. That guy can throw out literature as fast as Stephen King and it’s debatable who has more money at this point. Either way, the movie follows a very “Stephen King” adaption route, as Koontz wrote the screenplay as well. You really feel that this movie was adapted, from the first scenes where a couple of girls are arriving home after a trip. When they discover that their hometown is empty, they find that people are falling out dead, and there’s more to it as they discover that the people still alive, aren’t sure what’s going on.
To sum this movie up into a simple thing would be as simple as saying it’s about alien invasion. It’s really interesting to see how this develops, but it’s not quite the same “aliens” that you expect. In fact, it’s more of a biohazard than anything else, but the alien substance attacks and creates killer zombie like beings, and dogs, and well, you have to see it to truly understand. Mix a few things like “The Blob” with “The Stuff” and throw in “The Thing” and you start to see where the movie goes in terms of a villain.
As the movie progresses the crack shot team headed by the sheriff (played by Ben Affleck) go through stages of hell where they kill off anything that moves in hopes of getting rid of the enemy at large.
The movie breaks a few taboos, including killing children, but overall it’s a tame ride through 90 minutes of predictable alien like invasion. The movie does flow nicely, with a lot of cliché and one-liners thrown in for good measure. This lightweight horror film is not going to shock most, but it’s well done, fast paced, and worth checking out. I must admit, Jay was right, Ben Affleck is bomb in Phantoms, which is surprising considering everyone hated this guy….until he made the best movie ever…”The Town”, or at least a great one. Anyways, check out Phantoms again it’s worth it. I loved it, you might love it too.
Remember to leave a comment, to be entered to win a Hellraiser Boxed Set. The winner will be announced at the end of the month.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
The Woman In Black Review
I’m not a big fan of slow moving movies, you might know that about me, but there are some movies that are worth looking at even if they are slow and prodding. I was hoping that the reviews about this film were not true, and that there was enough of a ghost story to really attract me, but alas, there was a lot of ambiance and then, well, a flutter in the wind before the climax revealed nothing more than another poor attempt to scare the audience.
The Woman in Black was released earlier this year and critics were excited to see that Daniel Radcliffe was in an adult movie that didn’t have anything to do with wizards. I for one thought he did well with the role, even if it wasn’t exactly too trying. Heck, I could’ve done the same role with a lantern and only 28,000 dollars for the performance. Yeah, that’s right, it doesn’t take much to sort through papers and do a little here and there.
The cool part about this movie solely relied on the atmosphere. The atmosphere was great and that made the story really creepy, but overall, the movie lost me through the plot points. There is a crazy woman, a dead child that wasn’t buried properly, and a weird community that is struggling with ghosts and lost children? The creepy moments relied heavily on the killing of children, but it was a diluted mess towards the midpoint.
Outside of a few creepy moments, the movie turned into a very odd horror movie. I wasn’t sure what was going on towards the third act, and eventually I threw in the towel. Unfortunately, The Women in Black is a boring moving that doesn’t really showcase the power of the story that might be involved with the original novel. I found it boring, and had I not focused on the set design, I wouldn’t have made it through the whole thing. This is a bad movie, and just not worth it, unless you’re a great fan of Radcliffe and in that case, buy the blu ray, it looks incredible.
Remember to leave a comment, to be entered to win a Hellraiser Boxed Set. The winner will be announced at the end of the month.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Club Dread (Again) Review
On Friday, September 9, 2011 I reviewed the film Club Dread, and recently I sat down to watch it again, why? Because it was on and I didn’t want to do anything else, and well, I had time. So in the sake of fairness, I wanted to give it one more shot and review it, because things change when you see things a second time.
Club Dread is a comedy horror movie that was produced by the comedy guys known as Broken Lizard. Those idiots brought you “Super Troopers” and while it didn’t set the box office on fire, it definitely has a fan base that is quite large. Well, they would release some stupid crap that flopped and would cause them to sputter out of control and back to Canada (I think they are from Canada), but they did put out a gem of a film, that no one saw called Club Dread.
Not to be confused with Judge Dread, this movie is about a party gone totally wrong. The movie carries a simple plot, as you are introduced to a variety of laughable characters that all have jobs at a resort island where good times are to be had. As the movie goes through some stereotypical horror set up, the body count starts to rise and pretty soon everyone starts blaming one another.
The movie derails midway, but in a good way, ditching most plots for straight up killing and gore. The death sequences are done with a comedic flair so you don’t have to turn away, but instead indulge in the unbelievable moments that would cause someone’s severed head to get stuck on a vinyl record player.
Let’s take a moment to mourn the death of a record player on film.
Ok, the movie picks up speed in the third act where we find out that the obvious choices for the killer are not to be blamed as they get killed off, and a serious tone sits over the movie. Once the island (and the guests) finds out that there is a killer on the loose and panic sets in, everyone starts to abandon and go back home. However, the team members left from the serial killer’s path stay to kick some serious ASS!
The movie looks great, and the jokes get funnier the second time around. There are some great zingers that don’t get enough attention, and fly by so fast that you forget you're watching a horror movie.
My favorite part of this movie is definitely the endings, multiple endings. Well, they are logical conclusions, in which we see the villain revealed, and his death imminent although he comes back again and again and again and a laughable comeback that had me nearly on the floor the second time around.
Club Dread is not going to win any awards from the mainstream media, but if you give it another shot, you’ll find that this fun romp through horror cliché is actually really good and worth your time. I know I now peg it as one of my top 10 horror comedies, even if it does have some moments of absurdity. I highly recommend checking out Club Dread one more time, and seeing if you like it as much as I do.
Remember to leave a comment, to be entered to win a Hellraiser Boxed Set. The winner will be announced at the end of the month.
Friday, October 12, 2012
More Holiday Movie Madness
Second verse, same as the first, and we're going to round out our year of holiday-themed horror films. So hang on tight as we continue our parade of fright throughout the year.
Memorial Day: 'Memorial Day' (1999)
Now this makes some sense, in a strange way. A holiday that is about honoring the dead would of course result in a movie in which people become dead. On Memorial Day, a group of youths return to the spot where one of their friends died as they partied. Three years later, they find themselves in peril as they are chased down by a masked killer. Grab a beer and a burger and enjoy!
Fourth of July: 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' (1997)
After winning a beauty pageant, a group of friends go out to celebrate. On their return trip, they hit and apparently kill a man, and then dump the corpse into the ocean whilst making a pact to never speak of the incident again. Well, if horror films taught us anything, it's that the past always comes back to haunt and sometimes even kill.
Day of the Dead: 'All Souls Day: Dia de los Muertos' (2006)
Go south of the border and celebrate this Mexican holiday with some bottles of Corona and watch this film about a group of American travelers who get stuck in a Mexican ghost town that becomes overrun by zombies on the Day of the Dead. Think of it as “the running of the corpses” rather than the running of the bulls.
Veteran's Day: 'Deathdream' (1972)
You know the story. A veteran returns home after a long and troubling time on the front, twitching and telling stories about how he took out fifteen enemy combatants with plastic spork. The same scenario occurs in 'Deathdream', but instead of telling stories, this veteran sits in a chair all day and then at night attacks people and drinks their blood to stave off decomposition.
Thanksgiving: 'Blood Rage' (1987)
Todd and Terry are twins, sharing all aspects of the other save for one thing: one of them is a murderer. After the brutal murder of a teenager at a drive in, Todd is accused and found guilty and sent away to an asylum. Years later, on Thanksgiving, news arrives that Todd has escaped and in a twist that could be seen a mile away, the killer is not who everyone thought it was.
All Holidays: 'Tales from the Grave, vol. 2: Happy Holidays' (2005)
Sequel to the popular 'Tales from the Grave” series, this film's collection of vignettes cover stories that focus on the holidays, including St. Patrick's Day, Valentine's Day, Thanksgiving, Halloween, and Christmas all in one handy package for anyone who like value with their movie selections.
Remember to leave a comment, to be entered to win a Hellraiser Boxed Set. The winner will be announced at the end of the month.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
More Horror Film Remakes Better Than The Originals
More often than not, attempts to remake a film often lack the vision, atmosphere, or wow-factor as the original. Let's just face it: you just shouldn't mess with a good thing. If it's not broken, don't fix it. It's very rare that a remake is just as good as the original, rarer still when the remake is actually better.
To prove the point, here are five remakes that blow their parent material out of the water.
The Blob (1988)
Nothing can stop the blob! Or can it? Released thirty years after the original, this remake recreates the sense of popcorn-snacking fun while adding more action and sense of urgency that the original lacked thanks to a more aggressive titular gelatinous alien and increased gore factor. But the ultimate perk? Actors that made more believable “teenagers” than Steve McQueen ever could. Oh and Shawnee Smith is in this one...you know, the hot chick from Saw?
The Thing (1982)
Not to be confused with the dude from The Fantastic Four, this is a remake of the '50's classic, The Thing from Another World. Breathing life into an old, crusty black and white from the early days of science fiction fright-fests, John Carpenter (a master of thrillers in his own right), takes masterful control and takes this grisly creature-feature and turns it into a paranoid psychological thriller.
House on Haunted Hill (1999)
A third indication that most good remakes should have a 25-30 year buffer zone from the original, House on Haunted Hill revamps the tale of a challenge to spend a night in a haunted house and infuses it with edgy direction and better special effects that make the original's skeleton in the closet on a string and other visual fright gags seem more silly and less terrifying.
The Ring (2002)
Of all the remakes of Japanese horror films, The Ring is easily the best. Compared to The Grudge or One Missed Call, The Ring articulately captures the ghost-story creepiness of Ringu. Gore Verbinski's stellar direction and fantastic performances from the cast, it's quite possible to say that this American version is just a tad more polished than the original.
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
This might seem as total blasphemy to say that the remake of George Romero's classic zombie flick is better than the original, but this remake actually tops it in almost every way except for originality. Zack Snyder took Romero's groundwork and kicked it up several notches to fully capture the scope and feel of a totally possible zombie apocalypse. Yeah, they cranked up the action and manipulated the plot to make it more palatable to Hollywood, but it strangely works. Except that zombie baby. I still get nightmares from that.
Honorable Mention: Evil Dead 2 (1987)
Technically, it's a sequel. But let's be real: this was a bigger budget remake of The Evil Dead, and as a bonus? It was directed by Sam Raimi, who brought us the original and starred the exceptionally gifted chin of Bruce Campbell as the chainsaw wielding Ash. Shop smart, shop S-Mart.
If you don't believe me, try a side-by-side comparison one night and you be the judge.
Remember to leave a comment, to be entered to win a Hellraiser Boxed Set. The winner will be announced at the end of the month.
To prove the point, here are five remakes that blow their parent material out of the water.
The Blob (1988)
Nothing can stop the blob! Or can it? Released thirty years after the original, this remake recreates the sense of popcorn-snacking fun while adding more action and sense of urgency that the original lacked thanks to a more aggressive titular gelatinous alien and increased gore factor. But the ultimate perk? Actors that made more believable “teenagers” than Steve McQueen ever could. Oh and Shawnee Smith is in this one...you know, the hot chick from Saw?
The Thing (1982)
Not to be confused with the dude from The Fantastic Four, this is a remake of the '50's classic, The Thing from Another World. Breathing life into an old, crusty black and white from the early days of science fiction fright-fests, John Carpenter (a master of thrillers in his own right), takes masterful control and takes this grisly creature-feature and turns it into a paranoid psychological thriller.
House on Haunted Hill (1999)
A third indication that most good remakes should have a 25-30 year buffer zone from the original, House on Haunted Hill revamps the tale of a challenge to spend a night in a haunted house and infuses it with edgy direction and better special effects that make the original's skeleton in the closet on a string and other visual fright gags seem more silly and less terrifying.
The Ring (2002)
Of all the remakes of Japanese horror films, The Ring is easily the best. Compared to The Grudge or One Missed Call, The Ring articulately captures the ghost-story creepiness of Ringu. Gore Verbinski's stellar direction and fantastic performances from the cast, it's quite possible to say that this American version is just a tad more polished than the original.
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
This might seem as total blasphemy to say that the remake of George Romero's classic zombie flick is better than the original, but this remake actually tops it in almost every way except for originality. Zack Snyder took Romero's groundwork and kicked it up several notches to fully capture the scope and feel of a totally possible zombie apocalypse. Yeah, they cranked up the action and manipulated the plot to make it more palatable to Hollywood, but it strangely works. Except that zombie baby. I still get nightmares from that.
Honorable Mention: Evil Dead 2 (1987)
Technically, it's a sequel. But let's be real: this was a bigger budget remake of The Evil Dead, and as a bonus? It was directed by Sam Raimi, who brought us the original and starred the exceptionally gifted chin of Bruce Campbell as the chainsaw wielding Ash. Shop smart, shop S-Mart.
If you don't believe me, try a side-by-side comparison one night and you be the judge.
Remember to leave a comment, to be entered to win a Hellraiser Boxed Set. The winner will be announced at the end of the month.
Friday, October 5, 2012
Cabin in the Woods Review
I couldn’t escape hearing about this movie, and how it was the greatest thing to ever come to cinema. I didn’t get to watch in theaters despite trying to do so on a regular basis, so I had to wait for it to come to dvd and thanks to Netflix I finally got it. I would buy more movies, but I don’t make any money on this site, so it’s difficult to do so. Anyways, this movie was supposed to be the second coming of the horror film, but nope, it certainly wasn’t, but it did have some interesting points. I am now going to rant about the movie known as Cabin in the Woods.
Not Your Average Cabin
Guess what? The beginning of this film completely throws you into another world, one that is not like anything you’ve seen in previous cabin style movies. Now, I have listed the top 10 camping movies, which usually has a rag tag group of friends in situations that should and do kill them with ease, and that genre is definitely something that comes into the spotlight every year, at least for a few romps with the same formula of death and despair and of course a sprinkling of sex.
This time around there is a spoiler right from the start of the movie, and something that doesn’t lend itself well to purists looking for that traditional romp in the woods. Sure we get a little bit of wooden fun, and even sex, but it is a puppet master’s dream because that drives every twist and turn in the film.
The cabin itself is nothing more than a location that will swallow these people whole, and the foreshadowing is evident at every moment in the first 25 minutes. If you don’t catch all the signs, that’s ok, you’ll get thrown into the fray soon enough.
Deadly Sins
The movie has a great deal of the same standard of deadly sins that will shoot you in the arm with cool. Each stereotype is seen a mile away and when the demise happens to them, the teenage horror fan in you goes nuts; I know I was happy with the way things were going down. Then things start to unravel and the hinges completely break loose.
The death scenes are cool, not too gory, but definitely enough to give you blood shed without making you throw up, even the unrated version doesn’t fill you with so much blood you want to vomit, well, at least not in the first 50 minutes.
The Disconnect
The third act and subsequently the fourth act is definitely where this movie completely blows up in your face. Like a shotgun blast sequence happening when the protagonist opens the door (see Boogie Nights or Kill Bill 2), the whole world comes to an end (literally) and all hell is unleashed on the surviving 2.
With a world of monsters chasing the final 2 idiots, we get visited from a member of science fiction past and most certainly got me cheering, even if the fight sequence that followed was unlike what I would expect from “Aliens”.
Flutter and End
The end was lame. Have you ever collaborated with someone? This movie felt like a couple of writers got together and kept 1 upping each other with ideas and they didn’t edit things out, they took that and put it all into a film that shoehorns every horror element and comedic timed joke you’d expect from a self-aware horror flick.
Is it worth your time?
Yes! However, it is going to disappoint you. The movie mixes a lot of genres to bring a fresh take on horror, far better than the hype of “Drag me to Hell”. It delivers with some great moments, but you will definitely ask more questions than just focus on the story. Check out Cabin in the Woods on Blu Ray, it’s best looking that way. I’d have to see it again.
Remember to leave a comment, to be entered to win a Hellraiser Boxed Set. The winner will be announced at the end of the month.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Scary Movies For Children on Halloween
As we 20-and-30-somethings start to settle down, pursue relationships, and eventually begin families, lots of things in our lives change. The things we enjoyed in our youth, like splatterfest horror films, become a thing of the past as we make concessions for the toddlers that have taken over our lives. You find yourself unable to find a babysitter so you can go out and see the newest installment of the “Saw” franchise or pop in “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” into your XBox, but you have a need, no, a burning desire to get your freak-out on. What do you do?
Easy. You find kid-friendly scary films. Sure, there could be drawbacks to sitting down with your kids, but a little fear never hurt anyone, right? Here are five films rated PG-13 and under to consider when you want to scare your kids to sleep (or into behaving).
Poltergeist (1982)
It's a relate-able story: a normal, every day family out in suburbia confront a malevolent force that just can't take a hint that it's not wanted. The film takes the “monster-under-the-bed” and “monster-in-the-closet” childhood frights and runs with them, but producer and co-writer of the film, Steven Spielburg, adds just enough playfulness and family friendliness which is typically unusual in this genre.
Gremlins (1984)
Nothing says lighthearted like having an adorable little mascot critter for this scary comedic franchise. Your kids will fall in love with Gizmo. That is, they see what happens when you feed your sweet, innocent mogwai after midnight or get him wet, spawning the wicked and titular gremlins whose pranks turn deadly.
Arachnophobia (1990)
A cautionary tale about why bringing non-native species home is a bad idea. Spiders are scary in their own right, add in an arachnophobic doctor whose house becomes ground zero for an infestation of a rare and venomous spider, hijinks ensue.
Ghost Busters (1984)
A pioneer of the horror-comedy, Ghostbusters and it's sequel is a classic that caters to all ages. This film about a group of oft-mocked scientists that form a supernatural extermination squad is a pop culture classic that enjoys popularity even among today's youth culture that includes a cartoon-spin off sure to please the kids on Saturday mornings.
The next time you find yourself wanting to initiate junior into the wonderful world of scary films without terrifying them into next week, keep these films in mind!
Remember to leave a comment, to be entered to win a Hellraiser Boxed Set. The winner will be announced at the end of the month.
Easy. You find kid-friendly scary films. Sure, there could be drawbacks to sitting down with your kids, but a little fear never hurt anyone, right? Here are five films rated PG-13 and under to consider when you want to scare your kids to sleep (or into behaving).
Poltergeist (1982)
It's a relate-able story: a normal, every day family out in suburbia confront a malevolent force that just can't take a hint that it's not wanted. The film takes the “monster-under-the-bed” and “monster-in-the-closet” childhood frights and runs with them, but producer and co-writer of the film, Steven Spielburg, adds just enough playfulness and family friendliness which is typically unusual in this genre.
Gremlins (1984)
Nothing says lighthearted like having an adorable little mascot critter for this scary comedic franchise. Your kids will fall in love with Gizmo. That is, they see what happens when you feed your sweet, innocent mogwai after midnight or get him wet, spawning the wicked and titular gremlins whose pranks turn deadly.
Arachnophobia (1990)
A cautionary tale about why bringing non-native species home is a bad idea. Spiders are scary in their own right, add in an arachnophobic doctor whose house becomes ground zero for an infestation of a rare and venomous spider, hijinks ensue.
Ghost Busters (1984)
A pioneer of the horror-comedy, Ghostbusters and it's sequel is a classic that caters to all ages. This film about a group of oft-mocked scientists that form a supernatural extermination squad is a pop culture classic that enjoys popularity even among today's youth culture that includes a cartoon-spin off sure to please the kids on Saturday mornings.
The next time you find yourself wanting to initiate junior into the wonderful world of scary films without terrifying them into next week, keep these films in mind!
Remember to leave a comment, to be entered to win a Hellraiser Boxed Set. The winner will be announced at the end of the month.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Holiday Themed Horror Insanity
Halloween, Christmas, even Mother's Day and Father's Day, all easily have horror films centered around them, but what about the other holidays that fill up our calendars? Here are some selections that best suit the more neglected holidays throughout the first part of the year!
New Year's Day: 'Terror Train' (1980)
In the days before the Party Buses, college kids apparently rung in the New Year by hopping on a party train to celebrate. Weird. The story revolves around a prank they committed years before that comes back to haunt them when a Groucho Marx-masked killer hunts them down one by one. "Either he's dead, or my watch has stopped!"
Valentine's Day: 'My Bloody Valentine' (1981)
Ah, Valentine's Day. A day of romance, love, and obligatory chocolates and expensive gifts to represent affection. But what could be more romantic than watching a love story about a man and his love of killing others? Romance comes in many forms, my friends. Some are just not as socially accepted as others.
St. Patrick's Day: 'Leprechaun' (1993)
Assuming you're not too busy drinking green beer, singing Irish drinking songs, or punching strangers on the street for not wearing green, this campy classic about a leprechaun set loose from a trap after ten years to discover his precious pot o' gold has been taken turns into terror as he hunts down any who get in his way from reuniting with his gold – including a young Jennifer Aniston. They're after me lucky charms!
Easter: 'Easter Bunny Kill! Kill! (2006)
The Easter Bunny at the mall is already nightmare fuel enough, what with those soulless eyes and that menacing smile with two razor sharp teeth jutting from it's always-smiling mouth. Take a film where a pair of men abuse a mentally challenged boy get chased by a killer in an Easter bunny mask with power tools? I think I'll forgo the egg hunt, and take up rabbit hunting instead.
Mother's Day: 'Rosemary's Baby' (1968)
What starts as an idyllic glance into the married life of the titular Rosemary and her husband Guy after they move into a creepy Manhattan apartment turns into a nightmare. Rosemary gets pregnant after a bad dream in which a horrible creature makes love to her and nosy demon-serving neighbors help take care of her in order to sacrifice the baby to help her husband's burgeoning career. Only Roman Polanski could make being a mother more horrifying.
Arbor Day: 'The Happening' (2008)
I know what you're thinking. Arbor Day? Seriously? Well, this M. Night Shamaylan film teaches about what happens if you do not respect nature and nature finally gets pissed off enough and fights back. Death by shrubbery is possible, and The Sixth Sense direction shows us how.
Remember to leave a comment, to be entered to win a Hellraiser Boxed Set. The winner will be announced at the end of the month.
New Year's Day: 'Terror Train' (1980)
In the days before the Party Buses, college kids apparently rung in the New Year by hopping on a party train to celebrate. Weird. The story revolves around a prank they committed years before that comes back to haunt them when a Groucho Marx-masked killer hunts them down one by one. "Either he's dead, or my watch has stopped!"
Valentine's Day: 'My Bloody Valentine' (1981)
Ah, Valentine's Day. A day of romance, love, and obligatory chocolates and expensive gifts to represent affection. But what could be more romantic than watching a love story about a man and his love of killing others? Romance comes in many forms, my friends. Some are just not as socially accepted as others.
St. Patrick's Day: 'Leprechaun' (1993)
Assuming you're not too busy drinking green beer, singing Irish drinking songs, or punching strangers on the street for not wearing green, this campy classic about a leprechaun set loose from a trap after ten years to discover his precious pot o' gold has been taken turns into terror as he hunts down any who get in his way from reuniting with his gold – including a young Jennifer Aniston. They're after me lucky charms!
Easter: 'Easter Bunny Kill! Kill! (2006)
The Easter Bunny at the mall is already nightmare fuel enough, what with those soulless eyes and that menacing smile with two razor sharp teeth jutting from it's always-smiling mouth. Take a film where a pair of men abuse a mentally challenged boy get chased by a killer in an Easter bunny mask with power tools? I think I'll forgo the egg hunt, and take up rabbit hunting instead.
Mother's Day: 'Rosemary's Baby' (1968)
What starts as an idyllic glance into the married life of the titular Rosemary and her husband Guy after they move into a creepy Manhattan apartment turns into a nightmare. Rosemary gets pregnant after a bad dream in which a horrible creature makes love to her and nosy demon-serving neighbors help take care of her in order to sacrifice the baby to help her husband's burgeoning career. Only Roman Polanski could make being a mother more horrifying.
Arbor Day: 'The Happening' (2008)
I know what you're thinking. Arbor Day? Seriously? Well, this M. Night Shamaylan film teaches about what happens if you do not respect nature and nature finally gets pissed off enough and fights back. Death by shrubbery is possible, and The Sixth Sense direction shows us how.
Remember to leave a comment, to be entered to win a Hellraiser Boxed Set. The winner will be announced at the end of the month.
Monday, October 1, 2012
October 2012 Win the Hellraiser Box Set FREE
This month’s big prize for those of you that comment on here, subscribe to the rss feed, or talk about random crap on the Facebook page, is something that is going to make most salivate. This month you will win for FREE the Hellraiser Box Set complete with limited edition packaging!
This 3 disc set features the cube from the movies, and while it’s not the complete set of movies, it’s still one cool prize.
Comment throughout the month and see if you get this awesome prize from me, your pal Sir J.
Oh and please patronize the sponsors, order stuff from amazon and what not, I have no other job but this and ghost writing.
Thank you.
Holiday Horror Films
As the leaves turn, the weather gets chilly, the thoughts and minds of people turn to the December holidays. There's talk on the news about the “War on Christmas”, but they've got it all wrong. There's no war on Christmas, but there certainly can be gore on Christmas! Just because the holidays are all about peace on earth and goodwill towards men doesn't mean you can't enjoy some good ol' fashioned freak fests!
Here are some holiday-themed horror films to get your blood pumping, your hairs rising, and dreams free of sugar plum fairy dancing.
Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)
Imagine this: you're a little boy, you've told Santa what you wanted for Christmas, and the next thing you know, you're watching your parents get slaughtered by the hands of a psycho in a Santa Clause costume. All of this just moments after his catatonic grandpa explains that Santa Claus punishes the naughty. Better watch out, better not cry, or Serial Killer Santa will come after you. Years later when that little boy was forced to work as a Santa by nuns in a twist of fate.
Black Christmas (1974)
The opposite of everything Bing Crosby crooned for in “White Christmas”, Black Christmas takes the world's most mature group of sorority sisters and pits them against a killer in the attic that stalks them. The killer? Presumably a kid who saw his mother get murdered. The killer also giftwraps some chick in Saran Wrap and we never get closure about what the hell it was all about. Lesson: sorority girls have been getting killed in horror films since the beginning of time.
Gremlins (1984)
When I was a kid, I always asked for a puppy or a kitten for Christmas. A loveable ball of fur was the only thing I wanted. However, I'm pretty sure Gremlins played a strong role in why I never got a pet for Christmas. If anything, it teaches you to not bring exotic creatures illegally into the country – especially ones that turn into cracked out nightmare fuel. Gizmo's cuteness aside, maybe people should just buy their kid a Furby and call it good. At least they can't spawn, right?
Jack Frost (1996)
There's nothing more terrifying than a digitally altered Michael Keaton who appears as a jolly snowman not unlike Frosty the Snowman, right? Wrong. There's nothing more terrifying than going to a video store and picking up the slaughter-fest version of Jack Frost and popping it in for the kids only to realize that it wasn't the feel good family film you were hoping for. Pretty sure after this, all kids have a legitimate reason to be scared of carrots.
Tales from the Crypt (1972)
Not fully a Christmas movie, but one of the film's five vignettes “...And All Through the House” stands out if only to see Joan Collins murder her husband with a fireplace stoker because it's Christmas Eve. At the same time, a Santa-suited killer is on the loose whom Collin's 7-year-old lets into the house, and holiday horror hilarity ensues.
If you want more Christmas/Themed Horror click here for the archives of my past Holiday of Horrors Posts from Decembers past.
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