Monthly Death Toll October 2012

Here I am sitting around at the end of my work day listening to a band named Flanders and am posting this end of the month recap. For those of you that love Halloween, hooray for you! For those of you like me, you'll probably watch something on tv and go to bed early or something.

If you missed anything this month, here are the links, if you caught it all, thanks.

If you can donate, do so at the link to the right, and if you can buy anything do so with the amazon links we have on our site.

The winner of the prize has been notified!

Here are the posts from October 2012:

8MM Review

November 2012 is Werewolf Month

Phantoms Review

The Woman In Black Review

Club Dread (Again) Review

More Holiday Movie Madness

More Horror Film Remakes Better Than The Originals...

Cabin in the Woods Review

Scary Movies For Children on Halloween

Holiday Themed Horror Insanity

October 2012 Win the Hellraiser Box Set FREE

Holiday Horror Films

8MM Review

When I first started Scary Film Review, many years before, I didn’t always review straightforward horror movies. I found that many mainstream thrillers were just as scary if not more horrified than modern horror. Every now and then I’ll run into a mainstream mystery, thriller, or drama that has a subject matter that is worthy of the Scary Film Review blog. That was the case with the following movie. 8MM came out in 1999 and it was directed by the guy that ruined the Batman franchise, but somehow, this Nicolas Cage film brought elements of horror to the mainstream in a way that should have been on par with “The Silence of the Lambs” but probably filtered out somehow. Join me today in a review of 3 elements that were scary in the Joel Shumacher film “8MM”.

SNUFF – The first thing that you’ll notice about this film is the subject matter. The movie is about a detective that is looking for a girl that could’ve been murdered in a snuff film. Now, I have talked about the genre in the past, and even saw a documentary about this. Is it real? Well, many people still swear that they have seen one, but honestly, there have not been a lot of real snuff movies available to the public. Hardcore, porn, and ultra violence, sure, but real snuff? That’s something that scares many people, and only serial killers have been known to distribute and record their stuff. That being said, the subject matter of the film shows clips of ultra violence and if you’re squeamish, you will flinch, as they are prominent and urgent to the story’s main plot.

Slavery – The second horror element that you’ll find in this film is a mix of violence and sex within the adult industry. Our hero, in this case a private detective, finds himself in the world of underground pornography, and he’s not sure what he’s getting into, until he is in too deep. Does this exist? Yes. I’ve seen many a CNBC special and even worked at an independent video store, and a small stint in the adult industry while I was in college. There is in fact sex trafficking, deviance, and a major criminal element within the adult industry that many people don’t know about. That is shown here in a very “comical” way at times, but it’s not something that is completely fictitious. It becomes truly scary to know that sex trafficking, kidnapping, and murder are all part of the pornography industry, even though many refuse to read, or know about it.

Missing Persons – The scariest thing about this movie is how hard it hits home for people. I am not a victim of this, but I do know several people that have gone missing. A friend of mine disappeared once, and a few years later resurfaced as a bum on the streets. For years his family searched for him and he was nowhere to be found. What happened? For all I know he decided to walk away. But how many girls, and young boys are taken away and either murdered or kept in someone’s basement with mothers and fathers waiting for them? This element is sad, and is a catalyst for the plot mid-way through the film.

8MM takes a slow moving plot and shifts into high gear in the third and fourth act. The movie is not without comical flaws, and over reaction moments with Nic Cage, but there are some serious sick and twisted elements. In the hands of a “horror” director, this movie would have seriously taken a more macabre road. However, you get just enough tinges of serious shock to make this one more than just a thriller, and categorize it into a “scary” film. If you've seen it already, give it one more go with new eyes, and you might enjoy it more this time around.




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November 2012 is Werewolf Month

I announced this on my official Facebook page, but thought that I would drop in and say to you 3 or 4 readers of this blog what’s coming in November. Next month my reviews will all be about Werewolves. Now, there is a lot that can be said about the genre, but I personally figure it started (on cinema at least) with the MGM monster movies the “wolf man” and then progressed.

Along the way I will be talking about books, articles and more that I find online to offset the reviews. If you want to help me get access to more werewolf movies etc, please help me out by purchasing something via amazon.com here. If you purchase things online I will receive 4% of the sale and can use that to buy or rent more horror movies.

I am 100% freelance and a professional blogger, so every ounce of my money comes from the support of readers like you.

If you would like to support, that is the best way, if you’d like to donate via paypal, I can accept that too. Look for the donation button on the side of my blog to give via that format.

Remember to leave a comment, to be entered to win a Hellraiser Boxed Set. The winner will be announced at the end of the month.

Phantoms Review

When watching the movie “Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back”, in a pivotal scene Jay yells out “Affleck, you the bomb in Phantoms”, and runs out of the scene. While throwing a party, in which many people that I invited didn’t show up, I had the chance to watch Phantoms again, and boy did it leave a different impression than the first time I saw it all the many years ago.

First and foremost, the movie is based on a novel that was written by Dean Koontz. That guy can throw out literature as fast as Stephen King and it’s debatable who has more money at this point. Either way, the movie follows a very “Stephen King” adaption route, as Koontz wrote the screenplay as well. You really feel that this movie was adapted, from the first scenes where a couple of girls are arriving home after a trip. When they discover that their hometown is empty, they find that people are falling out dead, and there’s more to it as they discover that the people still alive, aren’t sure what’s going on.

To sum this movie up into a simple thing would be as simple as saying it’s about alien invasion. It’s really interesting to see how this develops, but it’s not quite the same “aliens” that you expect. In fact, it’s more of a biohazard than anything else, but the alien substance attacks and creates killer zombie like beings, and dogs, and well, you have to see it to truly understand. Mix a few things like “The Blob” with “The Stuff” and throw in “The Thing” and you start to see where the movie goes in terms of a villain.

As the movie progresses the crack shot team headed by the sheriff (played by Ben Affleck) go through stages of hell where they kill off anything that moves in hopes of getting rid of the enemy at large.

The movie breaks a few taboos, including killing children, but overall it’s a tame ride through 90 minutes of predictable alien like invasion. The movie does flow nicely, with a lot of cliché and one-liners thrown in for good measure. This lightweight horror film is not going to shock most, but it’s well done, fast paced, and worth checking out. I must admit, Jay was right, Ben Affleck is bomb in Phantoms, which is surprising considering everyone hated this guy….until he made the best movie ever…”The Town”, or at least a great one. Anyways, check out Phantoms again it’s worth it. I loved it, you might love it too.



Remember to leave a comment, to be entered to win a Hellraiser Boxed Set. The winner will be announced at the end of the month.

The Woman In Black Review

I’m not a big fan of slow moving movies, you might know that about me, but there are some movies that are worth looking at even if they are slow and prodding. I was hoping that the reviews about this film were not true, and that there was enough of a ghost story to really attract me, but alas, there was a lot of ambiance and then, well, a flutter in the wind before the climax revealed nothing more than another poor attempt to scare the audience.

The Woman in Black was released earlier this year and critics were excited to see that Daniel Radcliffe was in an adult movie that didn’t have anything to do with wizards. I for one thought he did well with the role, even if it wasn’t exactly too trying. Heck, I could’ve done the same role with a lantern and only 28,000 dollars for the performance. Yeah, that’s right, it doesn’t take much to sort through papers and do a little here and there.

The cool part about this movie solely relied on the atmosphere. The atmosphere was great and that made the story really creepy, but overall, the movie lost me through the plot points. There is a crazy woman, a dead child that wasn’t buried properly, and a weird community that is struggling with ghosts and lost children? The creepy moments relied heavily on the killing of children, but it was a diluted mess towards the midpoint.

Outside of a few creepy moments, the movie turned into a very odd horror movie. I wasn’t sure what was going on towards the third act, and eventually I threw in the towel. Unfortunately, The Women in Black is a boring moving that doesn’t really showcase the power of the story that might be involved with the original novel. I found it boring, and had I not focused on the set design, I wouldn’t have made it through the whole thing. This is a bad movie, and just not worth it, unless you’re a great fan of Radcliffe and in that case, buy the blu ray, it looks incredible.



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Club Dread (Again) Review

On Friday, September 9, 2011 I reviewed the film Club Dread, and recently I sat down to watch it again, why? Because it was on and I didn’t want to do anything else, and well, I had time. So in the sake of fairness, I wanted to give it one more shot and review it, because things change when you see things a second time.

Club Dread is a comedy horror movie that was produced by the comedy guys known as Broken Lizard. Those idiots brought you “Super Troopers” and while it didn’t set the box office on fire, it definitely has a fan base that is quite large. Well, they would release some stupid crap that flopped and would cause them to sputter out of control and back to Canada (I think they are from Canada), but they did put out a gem of a film, that no one saw called Club Dread.

Not to be confused with Judge Dread, this movie is about a party gone totally wrong. The movie carries a simple plot, as you are introduced to a variety of laughable characters that all have jobs at a resort island where good times are to be had. As the movie goes through some stereotypical horror set up, the body count starts to rise and pretty soon everyone starts blaming one another.

The movie derails midway, but in a good way, ditching most plots for straight up killing and gore. The death sequences are done with a comedic flair so you don’t have to turn away, but instead indulge in the unbelievable moments that would cause someone’s severed head to get stuck on a vinyl record player.

Let’s take a moment to mourn the death of a record player on film.

Ok, the movie picks up speed in the third act where we find out that the obvious choices for the killer are not to be blamed as they get killed off, and a serious tone sits over the movie. Once the island (and the guests) finds out that there is a killer on the loose and panic sets in, everyone starts to abandon and go back home. However, the team members left from the serial killer’s path stay to kick some serious ASS!

The movie looks great, and the jokes get funnier the second time around. There are some great zingers that don’t get enough attention, and fly by so fast that you forget you're watching a horror movie.

My favorite part of this movie is definitely the endings, multiple endings. Well, they are logical conclusions, in which we see the villain revealed, and his death imminent although he comes back again and again and again and a laughable comeback that had me nearly on the floor the second time around.

Club Dread is not going to win any awards from the mainstream media, but if you give it another shot, you’ll find that this fun romp through horror cliché is actually really good and worth your time. I know I now peg it as one of my top 10 horror comedies, even if it does have some moments of absurdity. I highly recommend checking out Club Dread one more time, and seeing if you like it as much as I do.



Remember to leave a comment, to be entered to win a Hellraiser Boxed Set. The winner will be announced at the end of the month.

More Holiday Movie Madness

Second verse, same as the first, and we're going to round out our year of holiday-themed horror films. So hang on tight as we continue our parade of fright throughout the year.

Memorial Day: 'Memorial Day' (1999)

Now this makes some sense, in a strange way. A holiday that is about honoring the dead would of course result in a movie in which people become dead. On Memorial Day, a group of youths return to the spot where one of their friends died as they partied. Three years later, they find themselves in peril as they are chased down by a masked killer. Grab a beer and a burger and enjoy!

Fourth of July: 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' (1997)

After winning a beauty pageant, a group of friends go out to celebrate. On their return trip, they hit and apparently kill a man, and then dump the corpse into the ocean whilst making a pact to never speak of the incident again. Well, if horror films taught us anything, it's that the past always comes back to haunt and sometimes even kill.

Day of the Dead: 'All Souls Day: Dia de los Muertos' (2006)

Go south of the border and celebrate this Mexican holiday with some bottles of Corona and watch this film about a group of American travelers who get stuck in a Mexican ghost town that becomes overrun by zombies on the Day of the Dead. Think of it as “the running of the corpses” rather than the running of the bulls.

Veteran's Day: 'Deathdream' (1972)

You know the story. A veteran returns home after a long and troubling time on the front, twitching and telling stories about how he took out fifteen enemy combatants with plastic spork. The same scenario occurs in 'Deathdream', but instead of telling stories, this veteran sits in a chair all day and then at night attacks people and drinks their blood to stave off decomposition.

Thanksgiving: 'Blood Rage' (1987)

Todd and Terry are twins, sharing all aspects of the other save for one thing: one of them is a murderer. After the brutal murder of a teenager at a drive in, Todd is accused and found guilty and sent away to an asylum. Years later, on Thanksgiving, news arrives that Todd has escaped and in a twist that could be seen a mile away, the killer is not who everyone thought it was.

All Holidays: 'Tales from the Grave, vol. 2: Happy Holidays' (2005)

Sequel to the popular 'Tales from the Grave” series, this film's collection of vignettes cover stories that focus on the holidays, including St. Patrick's Day, Valentine's Day, Thanksgiving, Halloween, and Christmas all in one handy package for anyone who like value with their movie selections.

Remember to leave a comment, to be entered to win a Hellraiser Boxed Set. The winner will be announced at the end of the month.