5 Horror Movies made into NES Games

Did you ever play the original Nintendo 8 Bit system? I spent day and night playing it. When I wasn’t in school, I was playing the games. You see, I was raised in rough areas in Los Angeles, and the safest thing to do was to stay inside and play video games. That felt right for me, since I was a very introverted person for many years. Looking back some of the games were good, some of them were terrible, but they are still a part of the horror and scary film genre in one way or another. So here we go, 5 horror movies made into NES games, and let me tell you, they weren’t exactly good.





Jaws – Jaws was a pretty scary movie when it came out, but what about a game based on it? Well, what you got was a boring romp colleting treasure and shooting down the giant shark, and that’s about it. It’s one of the worst games to play, but still worth owning to complete your NES game collection.





A Nightmare on Elm Street – Your small player has to go around trying to collect Freddy’s Bones and try to stay awake while doing it. It’s a hard game to master, but if you can get all the bones, you get to Freddy himself and the game really takes off. Some people hate it, I find it interesting, you should play it for yourself to find out what you think.





Friday the 13th – Now this game is my personal favorite to play. The game allows you to go to several cabins and light fireplaces, but after all that, you get to fight Jason in a very cool 3D rendered scenario. You also get to fight his mom, whom is a floating head in the dark forest. I like this game, many people hate on it.





Bram Stoker’s Dracula – Bram Stoker’s Dracula came to the NES system in the form of an awkward plat former. It’s adequate in its gameplay, dark in the tones, and pretty cool overall. You’ll find a lot of action here, even if it is a bit of a departure from the movie.





Total Recall – Ok, this is not a horror movie, but it was one of the adaptations that I’m reminded of right now, and it wasn’t half bad. Sure, Arnold’s character had a big head, and the timing takes some time to get used to, but overall, this game packs a great punch for those that were looking to get some fun on the NES system. I for one like it, and while most will ignore me, some might end up getting it and getting back to their nes roots.

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Friday The 13th Part 2 Review

Before I start the review, I'd like to just say that this is post #500! That's right, 500 posts on Scary Film Review. Thank you everyone that reads, comments, and what not. Thank you. Leave comments, keep reading, subscribe via rss feeds and purchase crap from amazon. Thank you.

Steve Miner directed the second film in the series of Friday the 13th franchise and it was only 1 year after the original was a moderate box office hit. This second film lacked a lot of the things that made the first film so interesting, but developed into an unstoppable force and a new amazing slasher villain, his name, Jason.

The plot of the film takes place 2 months after the end of the first film. The only survivor of the Crystal Lake murders decides to go back near the lake to just have a training session with other like minded peers to help other kids at camp in the summer. Some of the camp counselors start talking about what happened, and out of the blue, we see a new killer emerge.

The film follows a lot of things that are now standard for the slasher movies. We understand the characters on a very light level, we get a variety of stereotypes here. You can forecast who is going to die here, and as soon as the clothes come off, you know that no one is going to survive, at least with any sort of ease.

There is minor gore, there isn't a lot of nudity, although there are some sex scenes, and the killings are ramped up to higher levels than the first, while moving the camera away from what might not be allowed to be shown. This film, if it were edited slightly, would actually be a pg-13 film today, rather than a rated R film.



We get to see the killer's face, although we see him with a bag over his head for the most part. He's not the Jason that you probably imagine today, he was just some guy that was killing teens. The movie moves forward quickly, and it's interesting to note how watchable this film is, despite being 30 years old.

There are some downsides, this film is not perfect. There are some minor flaws in the production, and Jason doesn't look nearly as menacing as he does in his latter career. Despite the visual flaws, the film moves into one of the cooler endings in horror from today or yesterday.

The final scene is one of horror history. Jason catches an unsuspecting cast member through glass and kills them, and it's such a cool moment in cinema. If you were watching it during the night, with full surround sound, you probably would jump. The calmness of the situation, the lack of noise really gets you when Jason's arms push through glass and the blood of the victim is spilled. There is an awesome sequence and throwback to the original ending with Jason's mother jumping out of the water...or maybe that was the 3rd one? I forget.

This film isn't that scary. There are some great scenes in this film, I like it well enough, and it's not necessarily one that many horror movie fans are going to remember outside of the other sequels. I know for me, it's not as great as Jason Lives (Friday the 13th VI), but it's still a quality slasher flick.

I find it odd that Jason doesn't seem as super powerful, and he's not zombie like in his movements. He just seems normal, older, and just random.



The movie really reminded me of the NES video game. I loved the video game, even though I could never seem to get to the final stage and fight Jason's Mom. The game featured a linear pacing left to right and you had to go rescue kids around Crystal Lake. If you haven't played it or haven't bought the game, get it here now!

Alright, Friday the 13th Part 2 is recommended. I enjoyed it as a kid, and I think it's still worth its bearings today. It's not the best in the series, but it's a good sequel, not a great one, a good one. If you haven't seen this one in a while, don't expect the fast pacing of the third in the series, and don't expect the buckets of gore that you saw in Jason Goes To Hell, but it's still a positive step in the series and a good overall horror film, and that's my two cents. You can purchase Friday the 13th Part 2 here.



Lastly, one of the coolest things about Jason now, is the fact that there are some sick action figures available directly from the film! This wasn't around when I was a kid, but now? Oh man.



Jason Action Figure From Friday the 13th Part 2



My personal favorite, Jason Action Figure From Jason Goes To Hell, which is one of my personal favorite films of all time. Oh and if you have a few dimes, the more prominent action figure from Jason Goes To Hell is so rad, it hurts.

Halloween 5 The Revenge of Michael Myers Review

In 1989 a new movie came out to once again bring forth Michael Myers into the mainstream, and while it wasn't a completely terrible film, it wasn't exactly a blockbuster smash. The fourth sequel to be directly related to the original featured a lot of creepy points and really stood out amongst the other sequels in that it had some quality visuals, while not completely abandoning the slasher formula.

While watching the film, it became painfully obvious that this film was rushed. Upon reading more into it, I realized that the film was in fact rushed into production, and wasn't even ready for the final print, but the studio really wanted a film and they sure got one.

The film starts with the end of Halloween 4, and continues in an odd state. A little girl is seeing dreams and she's scared, her dreams are of a killer stalking his victims, and she is seeing it in first person. It's first person film making at its finest, and that isn't a good thing. Halloween 5 really starts out slow, and NO one is killed for a good portion of the film, although there are a lot of near deaths.

About the time when you want to throw in the towel, out comes our villain and things really get bad, and the movie starts kicking it into high gear. The second half of the film is way better than the first half, and the killings start to pile up, but of course, that's not all. There are your average subplots, with shower scenes, and much more, but they aren't so good that you'll remember them, as I'm having a hard time remembering the exact side points.

The best part of the film is towards the end, and has a great cliffhanger. The film utilizes a lot of bad movements to get to the ending, but man, is it a visual feast. I absolutely loved the ending, despite watching this film and hoping for the end.

Is Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers a scary film: No.

For children, this film might have some scary moments. The whole "boogie man" thing is interesting, as it's definitely there, and moves the plot forward with ease. You're not really sure if you're even dealing with Michael Myers until you actually see his slow moving killing spree, which makes the film a little scary, but not nearly as much as you'd hope for from a franchise picture from the 1980's.

The ending is about the best part of the film, and the only part that I really thought was worthwhile. The rest of the picture is a slow burning piece of trash. Is it worth watching? Yeah. I definitely enjoyed the movie as a whole, even though the ending was the best part. There's an interesting quote in regards to the film, with Moustapha Akkad saying, that they were drunk off the success of part 4, so they rushed the 5th film and it didn't turn out so well.

Some might be quick to try and compare the new Rob Zombie films to this one, but they truly aren't the same. The newer films have a far better brutality and story compared to this one. People will wax nostalgic, but when you actually sit down and watch these late 1980's horror franchise films, you realize that they weren't all that great, even if nostalgia is high. I recommend this film to complete your journey through horror, but not necessarily to go out of your way to watch, if you're not interested in the series as a whole. The franchise would rebound in the 90's and then get more pictures throughout the decades, some better than others. I really liked the poster.

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.

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.