Don't Breathe Review

Horror movies have a way of going to eleven fast, at least many of them. They jump at you and give you violence overall. Some of them, however, take their time, and wind you up before they get macabre. “Don’t Breathe” starts with a nod to the macabre, and then slowly introduces you to the characters. We are given slight back stories for the trio that we are dealing with, and you start to feel as though they are the protagonists. They are flawed heroes, each with their own vision of what their future wants and needs are, and yet they are the villains.

The way the story moves forward is simple enough, we have a trio of individuals that steal their way through life. There are different motives for each, and one that is heartfelt, but at the end of the day they are doing something bad, breaking and entering, in order to steal. So let’s not wax too poetic or feel good for these people. I’m just rambling now aren’t I?

The trio target an old man that supposedly has a 300,000 dollars in his home somewhere. They enter his house and they discover all kinds of wrong, including a woman tied up, and they get more than they bargained for trying to get out of the home.

“Don’t Breathe” is a slow moving, atmospheric horror movie. I would make it more akin to a thriller than straight horror, but it was in the horror section so I’ll keep it that way. The movie is tightly wound, and doesn’t let up in the tension department. You don’t want to root for the characters, but you’re intrigued as to what is beyond closed and locked doors. What we find is unsettling, and something that you don’t expect overall. The old man fights back, and that’s what our main characters get in a way, but the movie makes you feel for Rocky, giving the movie a little heart.

The movie has a sense of movement, quality pacing, and pulls the right punches at the right time. I liked how it is organized, and like how things aren’t always black and white. “Don’t Breathe” hits you hard at times, and squeezes through the plot with ease. It has atmosphere, and it is tense throughout. It’s a highly recommended movie with horror, heart, and sheer intensity.

Add “Don’t Breathe” to your collection or stream it byclicking here.

Cold Creek Manor Review

Modern horror escapes me a bit, because I usually am lost in the 1980s or something. “Cold Creek Manor” came across my desk and I didn’t want to see it at first glance. It didn’t really appeal to me at first, but then I gave it a try, and decided it was well worth my time, especially with a cast that featured good actors. Dennis Quaid and Sharon Stone are starring so that’s a plus side, making this an interesting option overall. The plot is simple enough, a family wants to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city so they decide to buy an old mansion somewhere far from the city, and they plan on fixing it all up. However, things go awry when the original owner shows up and haunts them, causing a world of chaos for them to have to deal with overall.

The movie looks good, and that’s due in large part to the budget. This was not a made for DVD movie or anything like that, and it shows the way the film is setup, as well as the quality of the acting. The plot takes some time to develop. It crawls at times, trying to build tension, and it just never feels too scary. Is “Cold Creek Manor” scary? Nope. “Cold Creek Manor” just kind of meanders its way through the plot points, and they are ridiculous at times.

The family is convinced to hire the old owner, and things just go awry from there. Weird things start to happen, including being chased in a vehicle, snakes being found in the home, and a horse dying. These are all supposed to lead us to believe that Dale is the main culprit, and well, there’s no reason to not believe it since he is the one issue that keeps coming up.

I gave “Cold Creek Manor” a fair chance. I watched it, and I mulled it over, and can’t recommend it. It’s convoluted at best. There’s no reason why a family well off enough to own the property would hire some stranger to fix things up, even if he lived there before. There’s a deeper story to the house, and of course Dale causes some issues too, but meh, by the time you find that all out, you have most likely given up on the movie. I know I wanted to throw in the towel several times. It’s not a great movie, and while it visually looks ok, it just can’t salvage a slow moving plot design. I don’t recommend it. 

The Evil Within Review

Creepy movies usually have stellar openings, and some of my favorites come to mind when it comes to that notion. “The Evil Within” goes for the gusto right away, with a full blown creep factor of nightmares. In fact, you aren’t going to expect it, as the movie pulls no punches in positioning our  main character in the nightmare that is unbalancing his core. Is he dreaming? What is real? In first person narration you hear the story start to unfold and it’s one that features an unnerving juxtaposition of dream and reality, with set pieces that are truly macabre.

There’s a real creative push in this one, and while the plot slowly develops, it does so with good imagination. By the time you’re introduced to a more horrific creature, you’re ready for it, and you feel for the main character, especially with his mental disability. You cheer for him, even though the nightmares and the mirror become the central pivot of the scary moments. The scares are done well, and there’s a bit of gore overall.

The effects are good, there’s a good practical nature to some of them, and there’s CG involved too. However, it looks good throughout, and the story unfolds with great focus on the growing nightmares that our main character has, even if the pacing stalls at some points. Despite the hiccups, the threat of the nightmares grows and we get a centralized horror figure that wants everyone dead, and our hero conflicted, and being pushed into things further and further through the mirror that is setup.

The identity crisis in movies is not my favorite, I’ve written about that beforehand. I don’t appreciate the lazy element of it, but in this movie it works. It works in a lot of movies, I admit, but I used to hate it more. This one plays on that and really pushes your buttons, making it a crazy movie at times.

“The Evil Within” is a good psychological horror picture. It slowly tightens your senses, and squeezes your synapses, making you empathize at times, and then realize you’re hero is not really a hero at all. It has heart, it has fear, it’s a good character study, and I recommend it for sure.

Add “The Evil Within” to your DVD collection or stream it byclicking here.

The Shining Review

“The Shining” is one of my favorite books. I loved the characters that Stephen King put together, and the flow of the novel, and ending was great. There’s a lot of tension built into the book, and it is not like the movie. In fact, from what I’ve read, King though the movie was not as good as the book and took too many liberties. That caused friction to the point where King had a mini-series made that was closer to the books more dramatic moments.

There’s not much more that can be said about the movie that hasn’t been said already, but then again, the point of blogging about cinema is not always so cut and dry. I am well aware that there’s plenty of reviews of this movie, so what my thoughts are, well, are my own and therefore worth posting right? I don’t know, I’m rambling.

The plot is very simple for The Shining. A hotel requires someone to keep watch over the winter months, and so a family moves in. The movie follows Jack Torrance and his family in a peaceful, serene, isolated location. He’s a writer and he is looking forward to getting to work on his novel, and getting time away from the big city. Through the course of the movie however, he begins to go mad. The hotel has a history, and a tragic past, leading to the hotel to be haunted with the past. This causes Jack to go nuts, and try to kill his family.

Jack Nicholson puts on one hell of a performance in this movie, making it one hell of a visual throughout. He really resonates on screen, and Shelley Duvall does great as Wendy. I found myself glued to the screen, even though I’ve seen this movie many times over. Stanley Kubrick’s direction is great too, pushing the cinematic scope to the limits, making every shot, and visual design flow look perfect. There’s great cinematography on this one, and it has stellar sound to boot.

“The Shining” can be a little slow for some, but the way that it is presented, and the overall story captures the imagination and doesn’t let go. It’s a solid movie that deserves the praise it gets, and is definitely worth your time if you haven’t seen it in a while. I highly recommend it.

Check out The Shining on Blu Ray by clicking here, or stream it, I don’t care. 

Last Shift Review

There’s something about being isolated, and alone in a job. I used to sell caskets for a living, and that job had me alone with a lot of caskets all day and night. It was a job that left me with a lot of boredom, and well, it just wasn’t fun at times. Dead jobs are relatable to me, so when I heard about “Last Shift” I immediately thought about that isolation. However, the movie is a lot more horrific than anything I had to deal with, even though the premise starts out quite simply.

The movie is about a cop that is working the last shift at a station. As she moves through her shift, a madman shows up and starts to cause trouble. Then as the movie progresses, so does the strange happenings, and a lot of things just don’t seem right. We’re talking supernatural moments, with locked doors, moving chairs, and lots of jump scares to cause you alarm.

“Last Shift” does a good job in presenting the isolation of working overnight in a building, let alone a police station. There’s a sense of boredom that our main character feels at first, and then things go off the rails as the film progresses. There are plenty of jump scars, as I stated, and there’s an attention to details related to the loneliness and boredom that comes with isolation. However, the movie takes a turn into the macabre several times, and you are in for a great treat if you stick with it.

The pacing is a little slow at first, but it slowly builds drama, and eventually unleashes a torrent of scary moments. It isn’t full of gore, it features very few people involved, and it just simply works on several levels. You don’t need much to make a good horror or psychological film, and “Last Shift” is definitely one of them. It has a lot of tension, and supernatural elements to make you keep watching. Even though it starts off slow, it picks up just in time and leaves you enjoying the moments. It’s not the best movie, but man does it get you at times. I liked it. I recommend it, and of course you should check it out.

Add “Last Shift” to your dvd collection or stream it byclicking here. 

Maniac Review

There’s just something about the 1980s. I can’t seem to move away from the decade when it comes to horror movies for review on this blog. I find myself with a list to go through and well, I’ll get through it eventually. Today we focus on a movie from 1980 that was shot on a tight budget, and features all the makings of a slasher, it’s called “Maniac”.

The plot is simple enough, we are introduced to a maniac, hence the title, who is on a serial spree of killing. The action starts up fast, and the first ten minutes give us an initial look at the villain and what he does, only for him to wake up from a dream lying next to a victim. The opening credits showcase our villain much like “Nightmare on Elm Street” did, giving us a look at the villain in different light, but mostly darkness. The movie flows well enough, focusing on various characters and their routines, only to come face to face with the killer. It’s a straight forward slasher in that way.

“Maniac” is an odd film at times, focusing on characters you can’t really invest in overall. It’s definitely a product of the time, and it flows well, with a focus on the brutality of the slayings, and good special effects from Tom Savini. I found that to be interesting overall, and the framework of the movie to be good. I didn’t find myself bored at any time, which sometimes happens with some of these older slashers. If there was a critique to this, it would be that the movie focuses on the killer more than any other character, so it really is a character study more than a  standard horror movie where you get a protagonist up front doing a lot of work to capture the villain.

There’s some gore, especially with the scalping that goes on. Tom Savini’s special effects are always great to see, and he does a good job with this one. I appreciated the practical effects, which you don’t always get with modern horror movies today. “Maniac” lives up to its name, it features a sick villain, and a story that is very much in the horror category. It’s an exploitation film for sure, and something that will rattle you if you’re not a fan of this type of horror film. That being said, I recommend “Maniac” for anyone that is looking for a cult film.

Add "Maniac" to your DVD collection by clicking here!

Splatter University Review

We return to the 1980s and this time around we are going to take a look at a Troma Entertainment release. The budget on this was very low, and it shows, but hey, that doesn’t necessarily mean the movie is bad, right? “Splatter University” is a low budget slasher film, and it has a lot to offer, even with a limited budget, and it is a surprise I didn’t see it sooner than I did.

The plot revolves around an escaped insane asylum patient that goes on a killing spree. Through the movie, however, you don’t see where he lands and when the body count starts to rise, things get hectic and fingers start getting pointed. There’s a sense of “Giallo” in this one, as you only see the knife that kills, and nothing else. It’s interesting to see  how that works, but it’s an effective way to slash. After the body count starts to rise, there’s a reveal of the killer and you start to root for the final girl, even though this breaks tradition.

The pacing of the movie is a little slow at times. I found myself wondering when the next victim was going to take a fall. However, whenever I started to think that, something would happen and things would definitely ramp up. The music is good, the shots are ok, and the kills are creatively done in first person view. There’s a sense of suspense throughout and there’s even a misdirection with who the killer could be, making this an above average slasher if you ask me.

“Splatter University” is not going to win any awards, and of course it didn’t. It’s a movie that diehard horror fans are going to love, and casual viewers will watch once and move on. I for one think it’s not half bad, and would rate it a 3 out of 5, with some good overall action, and interesting premise. It’s straight to the point, gives you a good deal of shock, and well, I won’t ruin it, just watch the movie and see if it’s up your alley, I know it was up mine for sure.