Horrorfest 2014 Presents: You’re Next (2013, Adam Wingard)

Adam Wingard’s You’re Next was the second Netflix Instant Viewing pick on Halloween night. After this I fell asleep watching Barton Fink and dragged my drunk ass into bed when I woke back up to use the bathroom. Good times, heh. This movie is literally Home Alone as a slasher movie, which honestly Home Alone felt like a slasher movie in the second one anyways. The kids version of one, to say the least. Wingard did better than this one later on but it’s still a pretty great modern horror flick.

Barbara Crampton headlines a really good cast that make up a rich family meeting at a remote estate that is of course not close to any major population centers. Sharni Vinson is also excellent in this movie as the heroine who battles the killers. This is definitely not a movie for the faint of heart or those who cannot handle gore, because there is plenty of that and most of the kills are quite brutal.

From what I recall I was a tad mixed about the final act, yet the cell phones being jammed was a decent touch. The killers wearing animal masks was cool although I’m sure other movies have done that before. Still the masks were really wicked looking and the last scene is funny in a pretty bleak way. This concludes Horrorfest 2014 finally although I will link reviews to the movies I didn’t get to back then as I watch them in future Horrorfests. Cheers!

February 11, 2022 0

Horrorfest 2018 Presents: Chopping Mall (1986, Jim Wynorski)

Sadly this is the only killer robot movie I watched in October, although I cannot name too many killer robot movies off the top of my head. Chopping Mall is a literal bottle TV episode stretched out into an 80 minute horror sci-fi movie. It also has several cult actors, boobs, gore and is a lot of fun. This is one of those cult movies you end up viewing late at night, beer in hand, tired from work, all because its on a streaming service and is easy to access. Thanks TubiTV!

While cult film icons Mary Woronov, Dick Miller and Paul Bartel only briefly appear in this movie, Barbra Crampton and Kelli Maroney are two of the stars in a cast of mostly young unknown actors. The young group of heroes in Chopping Mall are pretty resourceful, and the film has some good kills and suspenseful moments. Not an Oscar movie, yet still highly entertaining, which is fine with me. Also beware your place of business replacing security with freaky robots.

December 14, 2018 0

Horrorfest 2016 Presents: Road Games (2015, Abner Pastoll)

Jack (Andrew Simpson) is a down on his luck bloke wandering through the French countryside. After meeting fellow hitchhiker Véronique (Joséphine de La Baume), things get…weird. After all, there is also a serial killer on the loose, plus the duo has run into a strange Frenchman and his American wife (Frédéric Pierrot, Barbara Crampton) in a mansion in the French countryside.

Using the French countryside as a lovely backdrop, Road Games operates as part thriller, part twisty horror flick. It even has an odd torture scene that is remarkable for being light on the pain. It also has a great electronic soundtrack that for some reason it doesn’t use enough. This film is light on subsistence and depends a bit too much on style and some quality momeets. I liked it, but I felt in the hands of someone better it would have been something special.

October 31, 2016 0

Horrorfest 2016 Presents: We Are Still Here (2015, Ted Geoghegan)

Barbara Crampton is the official actress of my Horrorfest. She’s been in a lot of famous and notable horror films, one of her latest being the creepy modern classic horror flick We Are Still Here. This film is one big wonderfully gory and frightening homage to 1980s horror films. I also love how this movie utilizes empty and quiet spaces, reminding the viewer how the mundane and the everyday can be truly unsettling.

Anne (Crampton) and Paul (Andrew Sensenig) are a grieving couple who lost their son in a car accident. Moving into an old New England house is supposed to aid then in grieving, yet instead it leaves them open to attack from dark forces beyond the grave. It’s interesting how this film also manages to move across different horror sub genres with ease.

Oh and that last act is truly something else. I didn’t expect this film to be so violent, and I was also amused by Larry Fessenden, one of the few directors to be a decent actor. We Are Still Here is tragic, comedic, terrifying and memorable. I’m a sucker for haunted house movies. This one is more than just that, in spades.

October 30, 2016 0

Horrorfest 2016 Presents: Castle Freak (1995, Stuart Gordon)

How to know you’re in a horror movie: you have been blinded in a car accident, your parents are played by Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton, and Combs’ haunted ex professor is moving the family into a huge Italian castle. This is Stuart Gordon’s Castle Freak, an exercise in slow burning fear that, although a bit too slow, is still creepy and entertaining.

I mean you have a movie where a deranged monster escapes and the family hangs around, because…why not? Sure later on they can’t leave but the minute I found out the castle had a rather serious issue I would be running far, far away. Yet when the blind daughter, played by Jessica Dollarhide, tells her parents someone is in the castle they dismiss her as hearing things. The fact that her parents are fighting only complicates things and adds to more problems later on.

One thing I like about Gordon’s work so far (I’ve seen his two other Lovecraft inspired films from the 80s) is that he embodies his movies with a sense of dread, plus gore. The creature effects here are nasty and brutal enough, and the last act is suspenseful. Despite its flaws Castle Freak is a solid entry in the “Don’t go in the house” type of movie, which by the 90s seemed to be on life support for some reason.

October 5, 2016 0

Horrorfest 2016: A New Beginning

tumblr_n7dud5stuo1rp0vkjo1_500 — Hey buddy

Okay so at this point I’m just ripping off titles from the Friday the 13th series. Besides any good horror fan knows never to trust a franchise that promises the next installment is the “Last one, the final chapter, the main bad guy is finally dead!, etc.” I also am using this title because this year I’ve decided not to make any pre-viewing list this time. Instead I am just listing all of the movies I actually bother to watch from August to October, plus the few movies I usually grab to kick things off with. Reviews will still be posted, although they may be even more half-assed than normal. To the few readers of this blog I have a 40 hour a week job and thus don’t have the time I used to have to watch a million things. Plus I blame peak TV widely available online for a decrease in movie viewing. Enjoy regardless, and I hope to try and see more horror that I haven’t yet fully explored.

Alright so this concludes Horrorfest 2016. I have finally six months later reviewed every movie I viewed during a three month period. Here is my Top 10 List just because I only saw 40 movies:

We Are Still Here (2015, Geoghegan)-95
Spoorloos (1988, Sluizer)-95
Session 9 (2001, Anderson)-95
Dale & Tucker Vs Evil (2010, Craig)-95
The Fury (1978, De Palma)-94
Insidious (2010, Wan)-93, Family Video
Jacob’s Ladder (1990, Lyne)-93
Hush (2016, Flanagan)-92
The Others (2001, Amenábar)-91
They Look Like People (2015, Blackshear)-90

tumblr_myc3pgqdul1tn6tvao1_500 — WAZZZZZZZZUUUUUPPP!

tumblr_mvtlx19t2i1rp0vkjo2_r1_500 — He just wants to be your friend…

tumblr_o51p1zthgs1umk4ogo1_500 — It’s a rock band yeah!

21. They Look Like People (2015, Creature Feature)-https://madman731.wordpress.com/2016/10/26/horrorfest-2016-presents-they-look-like-people-2015-perry-blackshear/
22. The Sacrament (2015, Crazy People)-https://madman731.wordpress.com/2016/10/27/7750/
23. We Are Still Here (2015, Ghosts)-https://madman731.wordpress.com/2016/10/30/horrorfest-2016-presents-we-are-still-here-2015-ted-geoghegan/
24. The Hallow (2015, Creature Feature)-https://madman731.wordpress.com/2016/10/31/horrorfest-2016-presents-the-hallow-2015-corin-hardy/
25. Road Games (2015, Crazy People)-https://madman731.wordpress.com/2016/10/31/horrorfest-2016-presents-road-games-2015-abner-pastoll/
26. The Invitation (2015, Crazy People)-https://madman731.wordpress.com/2016/11/20/the-invitation-2015-karyn-kusama/
27. They’re Watching (2016, Witches)-https://wordpress.com/posts/drafts/madman731.wordpress.com
28. The Brain That Wouldn’t Die (1962, Mad Scientist)-https://madman731.wordpress.com/2016/11/21/horrorfest-2016-presents-the-brain-that-wouldnt-die-1962-joseph-green/
29. Tucker & Dale Vs Evil (2010, Slasher)-http://wp.me/pRBID-22W
30. Puppet Master (1989, Slasher)-https://madman731.wordpress.com/2017/02/16/2016-horrorfest-presents-puppet-master-1989-david-schmoeller/

Image result for tucker and dale vs evil gif — Yeah? Who you calling psycho?

July 27, 2016 0