Interesting Horror Movie Releases 5/12/09

Here you go, a little bit of interesting horror movie releases for this week. There's not a lot, in fact it's abysmal compared to other months, but what are you gonna do? So enjoy these little tidbits of anime, science fiction and horror releases for 5/12/09.

B.T.K Dvd
The Best of Star Trek: The Next Generation Dvd
The Best of Star Trek: The Original Series Dvd
Bleach 16 Dvd
Case Closed: Season Five Dvd
Fargo Blu Ray Dvd
The Grudge 3 Dvd
Murder Princess: The Complete Series Dvd
Nighthead Genesis Vol. 5 Dvd
Passengers Dvd
Passengers Blu Ray Dvd
Plague Town Dvd
Plague Town Blu Ray Dvd
S. Darko: A Donnie Darko Tale Dvd
S. Dark: A Donnie Dark Tale Blu Ray Dvd
Star Trek: Motion Picture Trilogy Dvd
Star Trek: Motion Picture Trilogy Blu Ray Dvd
Taken Dvd
Taken Blu Ray Dvd
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans Dvd
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans Blu Ray Dvd
Underworld Trilogy Blu Ray Dvd

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The Mist Review

Stephen King has to be the most prolific writer of our times that doesn't get enough credit in the horror community. At least not in the adaptation department, and that's due in large part to some serious stinkers in the past. However, recently, Hollywood has really done a good job trying to fix that and with The Mist, we get a bit of everything that makes Stephen King great. We get a small setting, a confined location and an incredible look into humanity, with some stellar effects and a little help from stormy weather.

This weekend I was tired. But I managed to watch this two hour fright film, and I really enjoyed it. At least a little bit...

Here is the trailer for the 2007 Stephen King adaptation The Mist:



The movie opened up with a cool artistic throwback to Stephen King's book covers. An artist is in his home and a storm has hit his community. This storm is incredible, and begins the story for a such a great mood. The movie then moves towards the main plot. A mist comes through and it's a deep fog, as a majority of the city goes down to the local market to pick up goods a nightmare begins. They see what appears to be an alien outside, and they all stay in doors and the second leg of this film commences.

The subplot, and some might argue the main plot of the film involves a group of townspeople trapped inside the market. The market splits into two sides. One side believes that this is the beginnings of Armageddon, and calls with somewhat of a biblical basis. The notion really starts to divide people as the fanatical Mrs. Carmody calls for blood! The butcher at one point stabs a military man as the cause for the onset of the evil, and is thrown outside of the store only to get sucked up by a giant alien like creature. The story then gets really bad when a group of skeptics want to make a great escape, and as they try to make their way out, the crazy woman calls for human sacrifice! As the group is ready to sacrifice a young boy, shots ring out and she is killed with a shot to the head and the skeptics escape.

Let's rewind. Why is there a strange occurrence? The answers that you have to stick to is that the Military had opened a portal and had something go wrong. Bringing forth the mist and creating the mess for the rest of the film. This comes to the surface amidst the townsfolk throwing out a military personnel.

The creatures are made even more creepy because you can't really see them. You only see small pieces of them, and you hear the sounds of them. By the time you see a full complete monster the cgi isn't overboard and they look somewhat believable. I'd say almost as believable as the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. These creatures are eating people alive and it doesn't get too gorey, but there are some sick sounds that come across in this film.

I'm not a fan of this "trapped" inside a location horror premise. However, this one is done somewhat well. The length of the films lends itself incredibly well overall and I'm impressed that though I was bored at times, I really admired the attempt to make these characters worthwhile. One of my complaints about horror in general happens to stem on the fact that the characters are nothing more than disposable teens or disposable dead bodies. This movie attempts to reverse that, and really tries to get a psychological twist to the horror department rather than relying on cheap death scenes and random kills to equate the scary part to an already scary literary work. (meaning that the film is a representation of that literature) All that to say that this film, by being over two hours long, creates enough balance between horror and character to elevate itself higher than the traditional horror movie.

Things get really bad for me and most viewers of this film in the final act. After the skeptics escape, losing some of their friends to the monsters in the parking lot, Our main character David Drayton, drives his car as far as he can go until he loses gas. He happens to have a hand gun with 4 bullets...he makes one of the hardest decisions possible, and this is one of the hardest parts of the film...until the mist starts to clear.

Is The Mist Scary?: Yes. There are a lot of different things working in the favor for this film. I think the majority of viewers of this film will probably get scared. There is enough tension to really make for a good scary film. The monsters aren't the scariest part of the film. The monsters are almost secondary to the major crux of the scary moments of this movie.

The scariest portion of this film for me started with the mist. The mist is so thick that you can barely drive. I for one am scared of deep fogs as I nearly died in a car accident involved with some thick fog. Anytime I see fog or mist as thick as there was in this film I get scared. So I immediately felt the sting of fear with the mist descending and overtaking the city. The smaller the city the worst the fear can become in many instances.

The second part of this film is the amount of religious undertones and overtones for that matter that become evident in the market. The market divides between super religious and skeptics. Things get bad when one side becomes near cult like in nature and the other doesn't. The reality of cults, and religious bigotry is huge. I don't think that people realize how seriously people take their faith at times, and this film puts it into your face to judge. As a viewer you really are forced to take sides, and it becomes evident that this thing is a powder keg, and it takes you to the edge of your seat until the climax, which I found dumb.

There are some harsh moments in this film, including killing a child. However, you never see the actual gore, which makes this film rest on the border of going too far. The science fiction elements allow this film to carry a lot of weight on visuals, but the religious template set inside the grocery store is what really made this film worthwhile to watch.

Overall, this film takes a long time to set up the closing moments. I really was looking forward to having no answers at the end, but for some reason the film takes you to a near definitive conclusion and really doesn't explain a whole lot. It just sort of shows you the aftermath, and well...the end. I found that the movie played on too long, that's my major complaint in this film. I didn't read the novella, so I can't really compare the two. Check out The Mist, for a somewhat interesting take on science fiction monster film and religious characterizations and thought. If you're not a diehard, you might find this movie a bit too boring, and that ending really made me question a lot of different things.

Maybe the best thing to do while watching The Mist, is to ask yourself: "What Would I Do"? That will carry you through a lot of this film.

I would've stayed inside the market, cause I'm scared of a lot of stuff. In fact I'm scared of writing this review...cause I know I'm a terrible writer. (sometimes)



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Suspiria Review

I'm tired this morning. I was out last night watching Death by Stereo and Strung Out playing here in Seattle. I'm tired, but I still snuck in a horror movie to review on the site. My latest endeavor takes me back to 1977. That's right, we're going back to the seventies and will be looking at a movie directed by Dario Argento. The classic Italian movie we'll review today is Suspiria, released in 1977 and now consider a cult classic.

Suspiria is not the craziest film up front, however, it shows so much talent and intrigue throughout the film, but still has some random spots of soreness and really lackluster production. Whatever the case is, Suspiria is a creepy film about duality, dreams, and so much more.

Here is a trailer for the 1977 Dario Argento film Suspiria:



The movie starts with one of the best kills in horror movie. There is an attack on a dance student and it's filmed in pov, something that porno movies are now famous for, and it's amazing. The director puts a shoulder camera of sorts, but not a nauseating view point and moves forward. The killer stalks his prey and then stabs a woman, before throwing her through a glass window. This is such a cool sequence and is one of the best in all horror films, hands down.

The editing is brilliant throughout this film. The editing and points of view do not change every 30 seconds like they do today. There are shots from far away that last 20 to 30 seconds, there are long winded conversations without switching back and forth. I like this style of film making and would appreciate more horror movies sticking to that.

The colors make this film more than just a horror movie. This movie has bright red blood and bright lights with color filters that create such an ambiance that you can't find in a lot of movies today. Throughout the film color evokes emotion and while the acting might not be amazing the colors coupled with the acting create the whole emotional connection needed to care about characters in these films.

There are some points in this film that can seem boring. The pacing is not like today's standards. This film punches you in the face, then slowly rebuilds before dropping you into complete madness. There are moments in the film that rely heavily on sound and colors. The point of view that you saw as the killer in the early moments of the film become overused towards the end of the film which provides a lot of entertainment with a Ballet School as the backdrop.

One of the best parts of this film is a moment where a girl ends up being trapped in a large room full of Razor wire. That's right, move over "Saw" you didn't invent razor wire trapped rooms, we see one here in all its shiny glory. This room is so insane, it's crazy, and it's one of the best parts of this film. If you can't make it through the ambient, dark, and colorful film, at least stick around for the razor wire trap, it's insane.



Is Suspiria a scary movie? : Yes. This film takes a shot at two major scary points in the human emotion. The will to learn a craft and succeed and the fear of leaving your comofortable world and become a hero. These are my opinions, not necessarily the purposes of Dario Argento's vision, so you have to take it with a certain brevity before you tell me I'm wrong.

The first notion that scares me personally is the human emotion that is involved in this film. Learning a craft is not easy, I learned a lot in College and somewhere along the way graduated and had to leave. I moved a long way away from Home and started with nothing but a degree. No one cared about my degree and now I sit in a random office working on tech stuff. So what? Well, this film's main character leaves the comfort of her home to a new school, to try and learn dance. Her dream fulfilled, and along the way things get really tough when she witnesses a murder. I don't know why, but the juxtaposition of skill and death are great metaphors for our life. We either live fast and die fast or we slowly fade away in our slow minded universes of tech boredom and cubicle land nightmares. Think about it.

The second scary point in this film involves the fear of becoming sort of a hero. The climax of the film, for me, was when our heroine has to kill off a ghost and burn the place down, all while escaping. To me that's a hero, I know you can argue that it's cowardess to run while the world burns, but to me it's not. I believe that the hardest thing to do sometimes is to slay the demons in our lives. Now, I don't mean a religious token demonology, I mean demons as a representation of anything that can be bad in our lives. There is a moment of faith that we all have to face, for me it was to leave Los Angeles, move to a new city with no family or friends and start brand new. That step for me was scary and it paid off in major dividends.

I know, I'm trying to shove the final moments of this film into a relational database of ideas that compare myself to the character even though I'm doing a terrible job. If those two reasons are not really floating your boat, consider the film as a whole. Dario Argento does a masterful job pushing the realms of surrealism and horror with such ease. The long shots, the foot steps, the rain, the color, and the storyline featuring tame gore and horrific situations really put your mind to the test of frustration and fear. What is worse than being trapped in a room of razor wire?

Suspiria is scary. I love Argento's work here, I thought the movie was great. I thought that the slow points were made better with the final circumstances and results of the film. I thought that for a 1977 film this movie pushed the limits of fear without compromising horror elements that make us all fans of the genre. Check out Suspiria and don't mind the slow build and lackluster gore effects, enjoy the art form for what it is trying to be...classic.



Looking for grindhouse, horror, or sci-fi films? Please check out our amazon astore featuring all things horror. Don't trust astore? Check out amazon.com, surprisingly they have more grindhouse,horror,and rare sci-fi than you may not have thought possible.

Ravenous Review

The cannibal genre isn't something that a lot of people want to see. Most people will immediately shrug off cannibal movies as too gorey for any good. However, in 199 a horror film was released that detailed a cannibal in 1840. The story has a little resemblance to the Donner Party but it took things seriously and presented one hell of a scary movie, without glorifying the gore aspect. The acting was well done, the story was written nicely, but the marketing killed this film and if I didn't drag my stepfather to this movie I might have missed it. The movie I'm talking about is Ravenous, a real cannibal movie that you probably haven't seen yet.

Ravenous is an interesting bit of film because it deals with a subject matter that no one really discusses in a serious tone. The movie is one of my personal favorites and stars Guy Pearce, Robert Carlyle, Jeremy Davies, Jeffrey Jones, and David Arquette. They put on a show, and this film seems like a good thing to put in front of a live audience in play format.

Here is a trailer for the 1999 film Ravenous:



The movie starts in the Mexican American War, we follow a US Army officer in the midst of battle. As he sees his unit getting killed he pulls himself under a slew of dead bodies and pretends he is dead. After the dust settles he infiltrates the enemy hq and captures them! He is promoted for his bravery and then we get to some strange brew. Our hero sits amidst a platoon and they all are eating huge steaks, with blood flowing and he starts to squirm. This somehow tips off the commander of the unit and transfers Boyd (our hero) to a remote fort in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Here is where things start to slowly boil over.

The film is filmed in such a beautiful way. You feel the cold and you feel the winds, you are really placed in the middle of the setting. The actors all have their own attitudes and really bring their roles to life. Things seem to be going well for Boyd until a strange little man shows up. This man tells the camp about how his party was taken refuge and that there might be more. Calhoun also mentions that they had to turn to cannibalism at one point.

The cool part for me was that there was a Native American in this film that did a great piece of foreshadowing. He tells the group about the Wendigo myth, and this plays a huge part in the film later on.

As the film progresses we see that Colqhoun is a cannibal and he's uncontrollable. He slowly starts eating the party, but the camera's do not glorify the gore, they make it seem real. Colqhoun then sets his eyes on Boyd, Boyd runs for his life and in an awesome turn of events jumps off a cliff! That's right, he jumpes off a cliff!

Colqhoun and Boyd play a cat and mouse game for the rest of the film. The camp turns into cannibals and then each of them are killed and eaten through out the film. The climax of this film is obvious, with the two fighting each other in a barn, however, the ending really punches you in the mouth and gives you a major intellectual situation. I won't reveal it, but man does it haunt you. The ending and the sounds, the noises the quiet, the last lines of the film as the camera moves away and shows you the whole picture is frightening beyond so many other things you could imagine going on.

With an awesome piece of film and story, an officer arrives to smell stew...he eats...the film closes.

Is Ravenous scary? Yes. This film is psychologically and physically scary. The director really makes a very sick idea of Cannibalism and turned it into a dark and serious situation. The movie doesn't play up the comedic values of earlier cannibal films, nor does it glorify the gore that so many other films play out. This film uses very smart and clever acting to portray cannibalism in a serious manner.

That being said, I understand that there are comedic moments, and I see how this film could've been pawned off by critics. However, upon second viewings I see the seriousness of the story. The final moments of this film is just amazing. It is scary to think of the lines that are uttered by Colqhoun. His lines haunt you for as long as you think about this film. This film should've gotten more credit, but unfortunately, it just fell through the cracks.

Ravenous can be slow to some. It is a slow burner, it has a lot of moments that could bore some horror movie fans. It relies heavily on acting and camera motions, and it does seem longer than it should be. However, as a fan of slow builds and literature, I can see why the movie plays slowly to a final fight and then prolongs the magic with such a subtle stroke of horror. Ravenous is psychologically startling more than it is gorey. I like it, I think it does the same thing that The Jacket does in a lot of ways, and really like this movie.

However, I must warn you, it can get slow. This is a period piece and is a cannibal movie at heart. If you're open minded you're going to see the depths of the film's satire and obvious points. Check it out if you can, as it is one of my personal favorite cannibal movies. I really hate the marketing of this film, it is NOT too funny if you think about it, but I see the humor.



Looking for grindhouse, horror, or sci-fi films? Please check out our amazon astore featuring all things horror. Don't trust astore? Check out amazon.com, surprisingly they have more grindhouse,horror,and rare sci-fi than you may not have thought possible.

Interesting Horror Movie Releases 5/5/2009

This week there's not a whole lot in terms of horror movie releases. There are some re-releases and a few anime dvd's thrown in for good measure. The big thing for those of you that are fans of Doctor Who, is that there's even more Doctor Who on dvd coming out just for you. Geisha Assassin looks interesting to me, other than that it's all up in the air as far as I'm concerned. Check out this week's horror movie releases and anime and a few science fiction releases below:

Attack of the Giant Leeches Dvd
Baccano: Volume Three Dvd
Darker Than Black Volume Four Dvd
Dexter The Complete Second Season Blu Ray Dvd
Doctor Who: Battlefield Dvd
Doctor WHo: The E-Space Trilogy Dvd
Dog Soldiers Blu Ray Dvd
Geisha Assassin (aka Geisha vs Ninja) Dvd
Earth Final Conflict Season 1 Dvd
Ghost Slayers Ayashi, Pt. 2 Dvd
Gurren Lagann Pt. 3 Dvd
Scarce Dvd
The Tibetan Book of the Dead Dvd
Twilight Blu Ray Dvd
Winter of Frozen Dreams Dvd

There you have it the latest in horror/scifi/and a little anime thrown in for good measure releases of this week. Hopefully the month gets better for horror on dvd.

Looking for grindhouse, horror, or sci-fi films? Please check out our amazon astore featuring all things horror. Don't trust astore? Check out amazon.com, surprisingly they have more grindhouse,horror,and rare sci-fi than you may not have thought possible.

More on Horror Literature

Today I was going to review a film, but instead, I decided to take a different road. I usually stick to entertainment options on dvd or in the cinemas. However, this time I wanted to once again focus on horror literature. It is based on an experience that I had this weekend at the used book store. I was in the horror section and noticed that the #2 author in the horror section was Clive Barker. Barker has written a lot of horror novels, and noticed one in particular that was brand new and only 1.98. The book was called Weave World. The basic story, fromt he back of the book is: A man falls into a magic carpet and witnesses Horror's beyond his imagination.

This book was thick, and I had to get it. Clive Barker hasn't been getting as much screen time as Stephen King, but even Stephen King admitted that this book is a scary dreamscape that only Clive Barker could write. Clive Barker's Midnight Meat Train and Hellraiser are film staples for us horror buffs, but now I'm going to find out what his literary prowess showcases.



I haven't started this one, but I recommend looking at Clive Barker for some horror literature.

The second book I want to talk about is something that I've been reading on my free time. I am reading 3 books right now, and this one is my horror pick at the moment. This book I found for 75 cents at my used book store and it is roughly 1,000 pages long. It's really interesting and so far I like how it flows. Stephen King has a nice way of making things sound really interesting throughout, even if the scary notions haven't hit just yet. He is setting up something and 100 pages through this thing and things are set up for some great things to come later on. Obviously Stephen King is the master, so I don't need to talk this one up too much.



The third book I wanted to mention in contrast to this site is The Prestige by Christopher Priest. The book won the World Fantasy Award and eventually got an adaptation to stellar reviews and award nominations. I loved the movie, but the book brings to life so much more. Even Nolan's adaptation doesn't serve the amount of tension and illustrative artwork in this book. Christopher Priest really puts you in the middle of this rivalry with such style and such stellar emotional connection. The book is similar to the movie, but your imagination brings the characters to a larger than live status. This book is not easily available at your local book store. You have to know where to look, and you have to get the paperback. The hard cover is a rare book that is roughly $500 if you get your paws on it. The paperback is located in the fantasy/science fiction section of your bookstore amidst Star Wars and Halo novels. You have to really search for this one, and when you see the cover, you can't really place the movie and the book in the same boat because it's just different.



Lastly, I'm reading this graphic novel series called Scalped. The best description of Scalped that I've heard was "It's like The sopranos on an Indian Reservation". It really is, and throw in some subplots lifted from The Departed. This book is an adult comic book series that is worth it's weight in gold. It works out so well, it's not really horror but boy is it scary. If this is based on any sort of reality for Indian sentiments it's a scary thing.

So why Horror books today? Why did I talk about reading instead of another film review?

I thought about the price of entertainment. 1 Horror book might be 20 hours to 40 hours of reading and imagination for yourself. 1 DVD is really just 90 minutes of entertainment and then you move on. Even if you own a dvd, if you don't watch it a lot you're not getting a whole lot of entertainment for your money. So today I wanted to give you guys a glimpse of how I'm extending my horror budget a little more. I use netflix, but between movies I'm reading a lot because I hate to be one of the sheep in America that doesn't read. The same sheep that made Wolverine #1 in the box office and elected Obama to presidency...then again McCain didn't offer a whole lot better ideas. Either way, I like to read, and hopefully you guys pick up a book in between movies.

Looking for grindhouse, horror, or sci-fi films? Please check out our amazon astore featuring all things horror. Don't trust astore? Check out amazon.com, surprisingly they have more grindhouse,horror,and rare sci-fi than you may not have thought possible.

Demonic Toys Comic Book

Oh yeah, this week I got my grubby paws on a new comic book. Well, it's not new, it's just an old copy of the Demonic Toys comic book. I also got you guys scans of the first story of the comic book's story.

I know, this is just a petty excuse to appease only 2 of you fans that still read and comment on this site. I had a rough week and after a Double Chocolate Stout last night, I didn't have it in me to watch "Tenebre" so I decided to watch The Celtics fight The Bulls in an amazing video game like game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. It was a great game, but nothing horror related happened.

So here is how this update is going to go down. Click on the images to get a bigger version, and enjoy DEMONIC TOYS the COMIC BOOK!

















Looking for grindhouse, horror, or sci-fi films? Please check out our amazon astore featuring all things horror. Don't trust astore? Check out amazon.com, surprisingly they have more grindhouse,horror,and rare sci-fi than you may not have thought possible.