Why So Negative

I recently received an email from someone that told me to positively review all movies in order to entice others to purchase them. They said that after so many reviews, I should be raking in the money and should definitely be seeing four figure income streams at this point. Of course, I thought about it, and how it would be nice to make serious money with this site.

To be fair, I have written about making money with this site in the past. I have ads, I sell a few links here and there, and I try to work with anyone that needs a review. It’s about time I stepped in and spoke up about a few things so here I am on a soapbox for this site, in hopes that you’ll pay attention.

Screeners

I will review any screener sent to me, that I can play. If it plays on my dvd player or computer I will watch and review it. It does not mean that you will receive a positive review; it just means that you’ll get a fair shot. I have tried emailing the top studios, and the low level studios in regards to horror movies. If they don’t email me back, or if they don’t send anything to me, I can’t review them as a screener. Sorry.

Reviews in General

I review things I purchase, rent, and receive in the mail. I do not under any circumstances download or share any of the movies that I review on this website.

Advertisements

The advertisements that you see on this site, if you see any, are for the sole purpose of making money from your purchases. If you click a link, if you go to a site that I recommend I get a small cut and in in way force you to pay anything other than the price you’re already getting. If you shop at amazon, for instance, I do not get an additional amount for your purchase, you pay the regular price and amazon gives me a few pennies…literally….pennies.

Negative Reviews

Hey, I don’t like a lot of the movies I review. I’ve been watching horror since I was 8 years old. My parents were nice enough to introduce me to the genre when I was little and didn’t let me stop watching, even though they deemed some material insane for me. I never had nightmares, and I never cried. I still have an enthusiasm for good horror movies, they are just not always found. If you go through my blog here, you will find movies that I love and you see ones that I hate. Not every horror movie is good, and the over hyped ones are obvious. I’m not going to back down from my opinion to suit sales. I’m sorry.

If you want to support, visit the links, if not, fine. I just wanted to make it clear that this site is a personal passion, not a scheme. If you like horror, if you hate horror, enjoy.

Support this blog by visiting the Scary Film Web Store here.

The Girl Next Door Review

Just when you think I’ve seen it all, reviewed it all, or at least stooped to the lowest form of entertainment, out comes this horror film that has a similar name to a 2004 comedy and knocks the hell out of my mind. The Girl Next Door is a portrayal of the worst type of crime that can be committed in modern times and is loosely based on a true story, making this more than just another slasher or torture film, it makes it unbearable at times.

The film takes us back 1958 and goes through some changes within a family gathering. A normal community is rocked by a bad situation where an aunt takes care of a couple of kids and slowly dives into abuse and chaos. The abuse gets worst and worst, starting off physical and ending up with a girl hung by her wrists in the basement, where a few neighborhood boys have their way as more torture happens.

I’ve heard and read the term “torture porn” and I hate that term, but if there were such a real term that would be used to describe this film. This movie doesn’t appear to be fake, it makes it look so real at times, that the loss of innocence is shocking and scary. To think that there are atrocities that happen in this manner and that there is a film that chronicles it in such an unnerving and real way, speaks volumes about the genre as a whole.

I had a hard time sitting through this one, but eventually was satisfied with the ending, which I won’t spoil for you. I found the film to be hard to watch, and will not watch it again, as it just doesn’t entertain like it should. There is just something wrong with the idea of torturing a young child, and this film really does break a lot of taboos in society. I don’t recommend The Girl Next Door, unless you’re a sick sick person.

Support this blog by visiting the Scary Film Web Store here.

The Girl With The Dragon tattoo and The Mortician Reviews

This weekend I saw a lot of movies, but I only remember a couple standing out. In order to bring life to what I saw, I wanted to review both films, on this blog. Both of them were marketed as thrillers, and both have scary elements. For those that remember the original premise of this website, you’ll remember that my intentions were to explore horror and recognize why things are scary, and not necessarily just for “entertainment” purposes. With that in mind, I thought it would be fitting to review certain aspects of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and The Mortician in that manner. If you’re a fan of double features, consider this a two shot feature for today.

Up first, David Fincher’s boredom movement:

The premise is interesting, a very introverted hacker helps police solve crimes with her investigative skills, and we are treated to seeing her life in juxtaposition a magazine owner that has been bested in a libel suit. He gets the assistant of the hacker, named Lisbeth to help get information on the crooked businessman that has triumphed in a court case and help with the pursuit of a serial killer. The set up takes a while, and the slow moving daydream we are presented is dark, moody, and right up Fincher’s alley. He knows how to throw you into a very tight and suspenseful mood, but it’s a boring one. Fincher knows how to bore me, and he has done so in the last 5 movies that he’s made. People argue with me that I’m just jaded, but will not admit that his movies are slow moving and BORING. I was so bored, and then something snapped.

There is an abuse scene in this film that is beyond insane. I’m not sure why a rape, a very sick rape still warrants an R rating, because this is graphic. It’s really bad, but apparently it’s not worth a harder rating? Whatever the case is, the abuse creates a monster woman who will take out her revenge. Meanwhile Daniel Craig’s boredom shows through even when having love scenes with Rooney. By the way, is it bad that I find Rooney to be beautiful and hot? Probably.

The scary thing here is that there are real life hackers out there. They show up at all sorts of opportune times. They create havoc on a digital level, and continue to push through boundaries that are placed by web hosts throughout the world. Meanwhile, you have an interesting point of how money and power can create a monstrous element. A serial killer can in fact rise through the world and slip away free. With money, you can do anything, but there is a price to pay later down the road, if there are elements that are better, or more savvy than you are. We see that exhibited in the film a few times, and well, money seems to be a great foil, even for Lisbeth.

This movie is boring. It’s long, it’s dark, there are sequences where you see the characters READING a book, and watching someone play solitaire. You get the full depth of how boring investigative reporting can be, and although there are a few break through in the film, the majority of it is just slow moving and leads to no major impact. The “love story” subplot is just beyond me, and wanted to just fall asleep. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo might be an amazing book, but in the hands of David Fincher, bores the average viewer and someone like me to death. It sucks.



The Mortician

The Mortician is a movie that I thought was going to be a horror film. It turns out it was not a horror film at all, as it is just a thriller/drama. The movie introduces the audience to an introverted taxidermist and mortician at an urban morgue. The film moves slowly to show the boring life of a lonely death care worker. He gets involved in an odd situation when he sees a child’s mother get killed and thrown in a river. He wants to protect the child, but runs head to head with a gang leader who is out to shut the kid up.

The movie is shot in an “amber” lens throughout, and while there is a compelling plot line throughout this film, I found it boring and tired. There’s just not enough to thrill here and no wonder it’s something that most people haven’t even seen. Lionsgate once again throws up a brick with this film, and while I saw the whole thing, it was just boring.

Method Man, the famed rapper, makes an interesting character study here as he acts his way past his previous acting roles. He creates a classic element to the film that most people won’t see. Despite the flaws, he does do a good job playing the character.

It’s slow moving, and while the dramatic elements are kind of cool, it just doesn’t have that satisfying ending or thrilling/horror that you expect from the poster. The Mortician is not recommended. The reality of the things you se in this film is definitely something that is scary, and something that happens more often than not in our world, just watch the news to confirm.

Creepshow 2 Review

Just when you thought anthology horror couldn’t get any creepier out comes a few tales of horror from the masters of horror that will shake you a little. Creepshow was a movie that was first released to relatively low fan fare, but the sequel got me all sorts of excited as a kid. The giant poster of the creeper pointing towards the screen really got me, and when I finally rented it on vhs all those years ago, I was completely blown away. I recently revisited Creepshow 2, and wow, it’s still as good as I remember, although questions are raised during the second film that I can’t really get my head around.

The stories are interesting enough, so instead of trying to fill out a longwinded paragraph of things, I decided to simply review each story on its own.

Old Chief Wood’nhead

This story tells a tale of a poor town of Native Americans and local shop owners that are friendly to them. The two exchange a deal for debt, and we are treated to what seems like an ok tale of honor and respect. However, things go awry when a young Indian comes through the store guns blazing, and robs the place. On his way out though, he awakens the wooden chief that guards the store, and the chief goes on a rampage of revenge for the tribe and the shop owner! This scary tale really has major impact and is great for a short ride, not really a long-winded affair. Then again, it’s a short, so don’t worry, it hits hard then finishes itself nicely.

The Raft

The blob comes to life in this short, and it’s really scary to think that there are bogs and marshes out there that have these types of blobs full of dirt, oil, and much more. The sickening display of garbage here is alive and traps some vacationers within its gooey grasp. The weird part of this short is that there is an apparent attempted rape scene, which is just awkward and slow to watch. If you saw Cabin Fever, a similar thing happens near the beginning of the film, only this one has a full black blob to contend with.

The Hitchhiker

A cheating wife has to get home fast and ends up getting involved in a hit and run that would haunt her unto death. This story, I feel, has been told before, but I couldn’t really remember where I saw it. It’s nothing like the HBO series, but it still packs a good punch.

In between the films there are interludes of cartoon mayhem featuring the creeper and a comic book. A group of bullies have to deal with a flesh eating plant, but I won’t give too much away.

Creepshow 2 is a great piece of anthology horror. You’ll enjoy it for sure, and it really does flow well, even though it’s quite old. This one was released in 1987, so you can imagine that it hasn’t aged completely well, but it still has enough creep factor to be recommended. Check it out, especially if you like Stephen King and George A. Romero.

The Slumber Party Massacre Review

I’m not sure how things happen in horror sometimes. When I was 11 years old I first started seeing advertisements for this movie and the subsequent sequels. I always thought the posers were cool, especially the sequel material. I thought these movies were porno films, then one fateful night, I watched one, and was impressed greatly at the time. Fast forward 20 years and I sat down to watch The Slumber Party Massacre with my old eyes and was not exactly thrilled with how this film puts up a brick, but at the same time, slashes through several mediums to make one hell of a slasher film.

The movie is about a young woman and her friends throwing a slumber party. They have a full house to themselves but the neighbor is constantly checking in on them. They are all plotting different things, mainly to try and get some action from guys, but instead end up having to deal with a crazed mad man that is killing with a power drill. That’s it; the majority of the film is a dark grained film with lots of low lighting, nighttime terror and a crazed mad man who remains behind the camera until the end. This was very much like an Argento film in many ways, only with less laughable moments and no Goblin soundtrack.

I enjoyed the music; it really ramped up the tension from time to time and made for great moments during the serial knock offs. The visuals aren’t that great, lots of grain, low budget, and it’s evident there wasn’t any care in regards to lighting placed, and that’s just a genre thing more than anything else. The killer gets his way until the end, and showcases a spree of mayhem that should’ve made a franchise player, but instead, we just get a solitary storyline. The guy on the covers for the posters in the sequels are unlike this killer, which is interesting to note.

The Slumber Party Massacre is a good representation of what the genre films were at the time. It’s not a great movie, it’s not going to change your views, and it’s hard to watch at times. The violence on women is trumped up high on this one, and the comedic points are not at all what was originally intended. In fact, the writer’s were trying to make a parody instead of a pure genre film, but we see here presented a slasher. I don’t recommend it, but if you must own everything, go for the box set.

Scary Film on Facebook

If you are prone to using social media, make sure to check out my page on Facebook. It is just something cool for you 3 readers to like and enjoy. Visit the SCARY FILM Facebook page here, and please like it and tell someone, I could use the fans. Thanks.

Support this blog by visiting the Scary Film Web Store here.

They Came From Beyond Space Full Free Sci Fi Movie

For those of you that have time to kill, consider this FULL FREE MOVIE! Yep, it's nice to have technology sometimes.



Scientists investigate a mysterious meteorite shower that dropped space rocks in a V shape in a English field. Recovering from a recent accident, Dr. Richard Arden, preeminent in the field of extraterrestrial study, can not accompany his colleagues to investigate. At the site, they are overtaken by some alien force.Others people in the vicinity are dying from the mysterious "crimson plague". For unknown reasons, only Temple seems immune. So it is up to him to foil the alien plan to take humans to the moon for sinister purposes.

Support this blog by visiting the Scary Film Web Store here.