Bloody Birthday Review

Ah yes, the 1980s slasher genre. There are so many slasher movies that came out in the 1980s that it is hard to keep track of them all, but we do what we can here at Scary Film Review to get to them even if it takes us years to do so. We are upwards of 916 posts, mind you, so that’s something to celebrate. With that in mind we took a look at the horror movie from 1981, “Bloody Birthday”.

The movie starts off easy enough, three children are born on the same night, during a solar eclipse. These children grow up to become sinister as they begin to slowly terrorize their small town, murdering adults. The movie throws you into the scenario fast, with the first kill within ten or so minutes of the movie’s starting point. Although, at first glance you don’t know who is doing the sinister deeds, it becomes apparent that the three kids are not so innocent. Mix that up with some nudity, and a small body count, alongside adults that are in disbelief and you have yourself some of the standard tropes of a slasher film.

As far as the movie’s plot is concerned it’s thin. It’s not too heavy, but it doesn’t need to be, and it flows well. The movie is paced well, and you get through the motions fast, and with a certain level of dread, and emotion. Even though the deaths are done, there isn’t a complete gore factor. In fact, they nuanced the death sequences so that it’s not as punishing to the senses as some other flicks in the genre. That being said, it almost doesn’t feel like a grindhouse or a traditional horror feature. The camera cuts away at times, and you get sharp edits that leave you knowing what happened but not necessarily seeing it go down. Even the final death isn’t caught on camera, as you see the cause and effect, but not the literal transition, making this an interesting little horror movie to take a note of overall.

“Bloody Birthday” is not going to win any new fans to the genre of horror. It is not slick, it is not produced well, and it hasn’t aged very well either. While I found the pacing to be good, and the notion of killer kids fascinating, the movie lacks a sense of balance and story. There is just something missing, and perhaps it’s the heart of a protagonist that you want to cheer for, if nothing else. It’s a solid movie, don’t get me wrong, it just seems to be something for the horror fan, and no one else. Even some casual horror watchers will turn it off, as it is not rewarding, and ultimately leaves you with nothing more than a sense of dread over solar eclipses, children, and their sinister ways. It’s a nice twist on the slasher genre, but it’s lacking, and therefore I probably won’t be watching it too many times over. But you may think differently, especially with blu ray releases of the movie. 

Terrifier Review

Often times movies are slow moving engagements. That is true for modern horror, and a lot of the time I’m flabbergasted by what audiences will sit through to get a little thrill. When I saw the poster for this film, I wasn’t expecting a lot. I figured it would be a slasher, and well we all know that the mother of killer clown movies either comes from outer space or “IT”, but this was different, it felt different, and it started off innocent enough, and just derailed fast.

The premise is simple enough, a killer clown is hunting down individuals, and no matter what they do, he keeps coming back. A slasher of 1980s lore is what you get here, and not much else to really explain. Sure, there are moments where the story takes you to care about the characters slightly, as they have some peril outside of the killer clown, but it’s short lived. This is a straight forward slasher and it is fast moving. There is not a lot of room for filler in this one, and that’s something that I appreciated about it. It's a movie that knows what the audience wants, and knocks you in the teeth within the first act.

The expected horror movie tropes live in with this one, including the final girl, albeit not without putting up one hell of a fight. You get the unstoppable villain, and you’re drenched in gore and blood as well. There’s nothing too complex about the movie, and it really draws you in with a powerful performance from David Howard Thornton as Art The Clown.

Terrifier isn’t brain candy, but it is a good slasher with an easy premise, and something that will have you thrilled and shocked at times. This is horror sliced up the way you expect from the 1980s and 1990s to boot, not “modern” day slow moving genre art. That’s just my two cents, you should pick up the blu ray
and make up  your mind on it, but I recommend it, so there’s that.

Basket Case Review

The year was 1982 and a lot of horror movies were pushing the boundaries. The 1970s brought us some great stuff, and the 1980s would bring us a lot too. This time around, we take a look back at the cult classic, “Basket Case”. I reviewed “Basket Case 3” a long time ago, and I recently stepped back in time to watch the original, and well, it is as hardcore as I remember it.

The movie is simple enough, it is about conjoined twins, one of which has been cut off from their brother and now resides in a basket. You did not read that wrong. The brother is a deformed blob with sharp teeth and strong nails. The movie goes through the premise where the brothers seek revenge on the doctors that performed the surgery to separate the two. In the meanwhile our main character Duane Bradley goes to a hotel and stays there while he seeks out the doctors with his brother. Of course all hell breaks loose when the blob starts to get loose and attack.

The movie has a lot of gore in it. The killing scenes are all done with practical effects, and with camera cuts that are tastefully done, and give you just the right amount of scare. There’s even a nice contraption scene where someone gets sawed in half. The overall movie flows fast, it creates good atmosphere, and the gore and effects are pretty good. “Basket Case” definitely ramps things up towards the end and by the time we get to the final act, you’re either cheering for Duane or the blob. The two have it out at the end and we end up having a definitive end…or so we think.

There’s a lot of cool moments in this film, and it’s not scary, as much as it is gorey at times. There are two sequels to this one, but overall this is a classic cult horror movie with a good sense of pacing, and funny moments. It’s not meant to be played for laughs, but you can’t help but laugh at some of the moments, making this one an interesting romp for you to go back to if you haven’t in a while.

Synchronic Review

A drama turns into something a bit more sinister as you navigate the set pieces of “Synchronic”. The movie details a few story lines leading to an interesting concept, and one that is deserving of mention, time travel. Those long time readers of mine know that time travel fascinates me from a scientific stand point, and really that’s what the movie is about, but not in the traditional scope. In fact, it comes with a little bit more nuance, and that’s what makes this movie a little more than meets the eye.

You get started in the movie with a simple premise, a couple of EMTS are dealing with constant overdoses. They are dealing with overdoses with a designer drug. This drug is starting to show up at all the calls the EMT crew gets, and they are starting to cause deaths. When one of the calls finds an EMT’s daughter missing, things go off the rails and the search goes on for them, meanwhile our main hero is diagnosed with a specific form of cancer in the brain. This all ties together somehow, but I won’t reveal how.

Through the course of the film we discover that the drug of choice is really a mechanism for time travel, but with a limited scope of resonance and time. This introduces our hero to a whole new set of possibilities, and lends itself into a rescue mission concerning time travel, limited resources, and of course past and present colliding.

Overall “Synchronic” is going to either bore you to death or it is going to intrigue you with some above average acting, and set pieces that are really well done. While this is not a movie that gained a lot of attention upon release, it is definitely one that holds up well in the chronicles of time travel movies. It’s slow paced, but it draws you in with every larger set piece, and eventually gives you something to cheer for and doesn’t let go of the tension. It’s nuanced, it’s cinema worthy, and definitely a movie you don’t want to miss if you’re a fan of time travel.

Deep Red Review

Deep Red Poster (1975)

One of the best directors in horror is Dario Argento. He is an Italian horror director that creates lavish set pieces, with amazing colors and commentary that is absolutely grand. I love his work, and have reviewed many of his movies on this website. However, today, we are going to talk about one of my favorite movies of his, and it’s “Deep Red”. This is a movie that features a lot of different elements that you would get from horror, and with the idea of “Gialo” detective movies. The music, the visuals, and the story will definitely stun most.

The movie features a man that looks a lot like Paul McCartney, and he is a piano player. He is working on a piece when something happens during a lecture. A psychic seems to see something evil, and she senses it. When this is all said and done, she goes to her apartment, and out comes a figure in the dark and hatchets her to death! I kid you not. You don’t see the killer, you get a POV version of the events. This also occurs to several other people that have something to do with the music, and our main composer is on the hunt, alongside a journalist. The two have a slight love story, but the bodies keep piling up. Along the way, you get to see POV style death sequences that are over the top, grotesque, and yet charming with the way that Dario Argento works through the color palette and the music of Goblin. Great stuff.

The movie is a bit slow, and my version of the movie didn’t have subtitles at all. It would cut in and out of Italian, and it was a bit difficult to manage. There was dubbing for half of the movie, and the other half had Italian. Now, I speak Spanish and Italian is not too far away from it. I liked that, and it was interesting to listen to the languages. Goblin’s score is great overall, and I loved it.

As for the movie, this is an interesting take on horror, and features a detective subplot, with a little love thrown into the overall elements. However, when the killer is revealed, you feel like air is coming out of a balloon slowly. The buildup is epic, but you’re going to end up laughing at the ludicrous nature, and the overall findings. It’s funny, and not at all what you’d expect. However, the special effects, the visual design, and the movie is quite good overall.

Dario Argento’s “Deep Red” has a lot of creepy moments. Good direction, misdirection, and quality music from Giorgio Gaslini and Goblin. It really is a good horror movie, and it’s paced well, with some great elements of fear, especially considering this was from 1975 of all years.

You can pick up “Deep Red” on blu ray by clicking here. It’s worth checking out, especially on Halloween!

Did you see “Deep Red”? If you did, drop me a comment below.

Cult of Chucky Review

Cult of Chucky 2017 Cover

This is the seventh movie that features the killer doll, and you would think that they would run out of ideas. But nope, here we are with an all new full length feature that is all about Chucky and his killer ways. This time around there are some very nuanced kills, and thrills, with a story that isn’t too bad, but isn’t going to win any awards at any point either. “Cult of Chucky” went straight to DVD and Blu Ray and is now available, but I wasn’t paid so here’s my honest review sans any sponsorship as per usual.

The movie picks up where the previous one ended, this time around with Nica in a wheel chair and trying to figure out why she’s in an asylum after blaming Chucky for burning down her house and family. Of course, that’s the doppelganger because the movie is going to feature a lot of different elements that will tie this to the past, and the future.

In another section of the movie we catch up with Andy, the kid that started it all, and he has Chucky’s head and has been torturing it for a long time. Through the course of the movie, he has been trying to tell the asylum that holds Nica that Chucky is alive and is going to kill again. They don’t believe him. They throw him out, and of course we continue our story.

The movie is a slow moving starter, but it starts to gain steam when Chucky comes alive, and you realize that there’s more than one. Then you start to think that this movie is lazy, with the idea of the existence of Chucky being only in Nica’s mind, but that’s a red herring. The movie switches tones, and starts back into the one liner, comedic elements of Chucky, with him slashing, and dicing his way through the asylum.

There’s a lot to this movie, but at the same time, there’s a limited cast, and it really drives through a convoluted voodoo plot that throws away a few ideas, but at the same time, builds into the ethos of what made “Child’s Play” so good. There’s a lot going for it, and the visual design is the main key factor. The visuals and kills are juxtaposed with a clean, white, and pure asylum in contrast to the redness of the blood.

The movie was good. It had some decent acting, some great pacing, and a body count that rivals the original film. You get a lot of loose ends tied, and eventually, Chucky and Tiffany reunite. Woops, I spoiled it! Hahah!

I recommend checking out “Cult of Chucky” it’s a modern send up to the classic series, and not half bad if you ask me.

You can purchase “Cult of Chucky” via Blu Ray by clicking here.

What did you think of “Cult of Chucky”? Drop me a line in the comments below.