Horrorfest 2022 Presents: Prey (2022, Dan Trachtenberg)

Now this is how you make a good Predator movie. Years after the first two busted onto the scene we finally got one in the franchise that was truly worthy. Dan Trachtenberg knows how to make a sequel or a franchise entry as 10 Cloverfield Lane indicated, and he gives us a movie that both acknowledges the series history while adding to it’s overall mythology. Plus the cast is fantastic, which helps a lot.

Amber Midthunder and Dakota Beavers are excellent as brother and sister Comanche who end up battling a Predator. I love that this movie had a dog that is almost as much a character as the others. This movie doesn’t skimp on the Predator gore either, and there are multiple parts that are incredibly violent in the grand Predator tradition. This franchise is very R rated, doesn’t go over the two hour mark and is not for those who can’t handle plenty of slicing and dicing.

While some other characters are just there to be cannon fodder and I don’t feel this movie is better or equal to the original, I definitely think it’s near great and very well made. I wish I could have gotten to see Prey on the big screen, and I’m glad it did well on Hulu, which is one of my favorite streaming services. I hope this leads to more period based entries in the Predator series, yet even if that doesn’t happen this fine movie still exists to be watched again and again.

Horrorfest 2020 Presents: Victor Crowley (2017, Adam Green)

This is where I admit that I haven’t seen any of the other films in the Hatchet series. I only saw Victor Crowley due to Joe Bob Briggs covering it on The Last Drive In, and I found myself liking it although it doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel. This is fine, since the movie works as a fun bottle episode fleshed out into a full length movie. Plus it has multiple famous people in the cast.

You have Kane Hodder as the menacing and very gruesome Crowley, legendary horror actress Felissa Rose, Brian Quinn from Impractical Jokers and indie scream queen Tiffany Shepis. The plot isn’t terribly important, just that like any slasher sequel the horror villain rises from the grave to terrorize the living once again. Oh and Dave Sheridan steals the movie as Dillion, who has more confidence than anyone should have. He was a riot.

I will try and view the rest of the series, and I think the first one was on Tubi at one point. This movie isn’t super intelligent but it does offer fun, and sometimes that is good enough. Oh and remember if you defeat the villain to not build a memorial site to him full of power tools he can use. Just saying.

Horrorfest 2018 Presents: Halloween (2018, David Gordon Green)

Michael Myers is back for another round with Laurie Strode, only this time the people in charge have decided this entry would only follow the original 1978 film. Laurie still has a family, but its one daughter (Judy Greer, who has a family of her own) and suffers from exteme PTSD. Who could blame her, considering on one night 40 years ago some psycho murdered her friends and tried to kill her. Jamie Lee Curtis does a fine job of conveying these feelings, although at times it gets lost in the made for TV spots gun firing scenes with her shooting at dummies in the backyard.

Honestly as much as I liked this film, the sequels did not set a very high standard and thus were able to be cleared rather easily. At least in this one Myers was made into a human being again, and so he was creepy in some ways, like in the original first two movies. I rather liked Andi Matichak as Laurie’s granddaughter-I think another flick could be based mostly around her, especially with how the movie ended.

Perhaps I had way too high expectations for this flick, yet I still really liked it anyways. A second viewing at home away from a nicely crowded theater would be a good idea. I did enjoy the crowd atmosphere, particularly the reaction to a character literally slitting his own throat. Since this was a hit, expect more Michael Myers in the near future: the Shape never dies as long as he makes money.