The original POLTERGEIST was said to have a curse attached to it. Perhaps because the producers opted to use real skeletons rather than models because they were cheaper. Perhaps because taunting the supernatural might tick off the wrong non-corporal entity. Aside from the deaths associated with members of the original cast and crew, certainly the… Read More »
IT FOLLOWS and It’s Relentless
IT FOLLOWS slyly juxtaposes the familiar with the alien as it tells its exceptionally effective tale of terror. The clichéd tropes of low-budget horror — the remote lake house, the eager and nubile kids having sex in the back seat of a car, a terrified girl in high heels and lingerie running in terror down… Read More »
OUIJA
I have several Halloween rituals, one of which is to seek out the seasonal schlock horror film. There is almost always one low-budget groaner released for a quick buck and a putative future in the secondary market of home video. My reasons are two-fold. Sometimes there is a pleasant surprise to be found in the… Read More »
THE STRANGERS
THE STRANGERS has distilled the horror film down to its basest elements. It is nothing more than 90 minutes of watching a couple being stalked and assaulted in their house out in the deep dark piney woods. In this, it speaks to a deep-seated modern anxiety about not even home and hearth providing safety. Alas,… Read More »
THE HAPPENING
THE HAPPENING can be most charitably described as clumsy and moribund. Clumsy in the way the premise of how exactly it is that nature is taking its revenge on humankind is presented, and moribund in its determined hushed and whispering tone. Now, the hushed whispering tone is very effective in a well done mood piece.… Read More »
UNBORN, THE
Even for the sort of low-rent horror flick that is dumped unceremoniously into theaters during the month of January, THE UNBORN is an embarrassing jumble. A little Kabbalah, a little Holocaust, a spooky kid with eyes that are a little too blue, and a whole lot of nubile female flesh in tank top and underwear… Read More »
ZOMBIELAND
In ZOMBIELAND, the living dead, cannibals, of course, have overrun the U S of A, and while that is a bad thing, at least they have gotten one young man out of the house. On one level, this is a tale of that young mans search for love and the family he always wanted, but… Read More »
JENNIFER’S BODY
Though rife with occult phenomenon, JENNIFERS BODY is more in the tradition of HEATHERS than BUFFY. This sophomore effort by Diablo Cody explores the intense, baffling, and all-consuming relationships that bind and repel adolescent females to and from one another. Framing it in the context of a horror film overflowing with blood, erotica, humor, and… Read More »
FOURTH KIND, THE
THE FOURTH KIND proves that a horror film doesn’t need splashy digital effects or pyrotechnics to be effective. On the contrary, to work, a film needs to establish a discombobulating sense of unease, the which happens here with a smartly low-key mood. Director and co-writer Olatunde Osunsame couples that with some very smart filmmaking techniques… Read More »
RING, THE
All that THE RING asks of us is to bide our time until the dynamite last 20 minutes or so, when all questions are answered, all patience is rewarded, and the preparations for the sequel can begin. For the other 95 minutes, we must watch an interesting premise made as bland and colorless as the rain-washed streets… Read More »
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