Movie magazine giveaway? Really One at a time?

   My collection of horror and exploitation film magazines that have been collecting dust for some time now. When I was subscriber the magazine would come in and I would read it end to end and then put it on an ever growing pile.These piles grew and grew, Heavy Metal magazine, Horrorhoound,  Fangoria, Rue Morgue, Film Comment, Screenwriter Magazine, Creative Screenwriting all had piles. Eventually I purged them with a simple recycling of the paper. I felt bad in hindsight getting rid of all that history and great writing. Thousands of issues gone for good and I thought with the advent of the internet, I was on in the late 80s that again would not be something in my life again. I was wrong I still got something from going to the newsstand in Harvard Square, browsing the wracks and finding new things to read. Femme Fatales originally a low budget horror movie magazines that feature actresses selling their images and  films. Paracinema what I considered the best exploitation film magazines ever issued, and many others that were not came and went. When it came time purge again in the 20teens I found myself hanging onto some of them but again thinking that the magazine was a thing of the past past.  I had no subscriptions and really thought I was finally done with this addiction, and again I was wrong. In 2017 Rue Morgue rebranding it’s approach to a horror community enthusiast model lead by Andra Subassati.  Then in 2018 Fangoria Magazine got a rebirth and started publishing again, under the leadership of Phil Nobel Jr. At this point in my life I had much more disposable income, and an on-line presence with friend groups who liked the same things. People many of who I had never met in person but who I regularly interacted with on list serves, blogs, podcast, horror conventions and social media were now friends of mine. I wanted to support my horror interest not as a collector of paper but because it seemed with all the now vibrant diverse ways to engage my lovely magazines needed me to support them or they may be no more. So today I have long running subscription of both Rue Morgue and Fangoria. What to do with older issues though, now in my sixties I am trying to reduce my stuff not grow it? I really don’t want to just purge like the past, no I am thinking maybe I can offer them up as gifts to other fans, mail them out after rereading them a final time.

The effort has to begin somewhere so I picked my oldest issue of Diabolique Magazine from my piles and  read it again. It was a special Peter Cushing centennial issue from May/June 2013. The read was great! Such a wonderful issue. In fact it was so good that I have decided to watch a bunch of the film written about in the issue and maybe write a bit about them myself.  It seems like the movie review is going to be challenged by AI so why not go down a rabbit hole where no one may read my opinions? I don’t know I am doing this for me and it will make me happy. This issue has about 30 movie I can watch so I should start getting busy with it on my Letterboxd Account.

So follow me here to read updates in how my magazine giveaway is going but follow me on Letterboxd if you want to read my movie reviews. I still have a mail connected to this blog movies@edhovey.com where you can write me or comment on an entry here at soresportmovies.blogspot.com.

Follow me on Letterboxd.com my handle there is Hovey1127, when I am done with the Issue of the magazine I will offer it up and we can work out the details of me getting it to you. I am not really looking for money just someone who also would love to read it.

Chatting with me is difficult, I have stopped my social media account years ago because time… it’s ticking at my age and I would rather spend it doing other things like this for example. Or chatting with my friends at the Zombiegrrlz.com podcasts on their discord. I am a fan of the podcasts they publish The More Deadly Podcast and the Zombiegrrlz podcast and as a Patron for very little $ I get access to the discord. So if you want to good horror content and a great horror community check them out.

Resolution (2012) - Horror, Drama

Resolution (2012) - Resolution is the story of two men, torn apart by drug use, brought together for an intervention in one friends desire to mend the damage done. A series of strange occurrences turns this drama about a broken friendship into a surreal journey of addiction, guilt, life anxiety, and forgiveness. Written by Justin Benson and directed by Benson and partner Aaron Moorhead, it is a film that leaves the viewer with some resolution but maybe also opens windows to places that are not fully explored or satisfactorily connected. A piece of film making art that in some ways is an unfinished canvass.The story is about two friends who went to high school together, Mike Danube (Peter Cilella) and  Chris Daniels (Vinny Curren) who have drifted apart in adulthood because Chris has a sustained addiction to crack cocaine. After receiving a video of Chris acting erratically and seemingly dangerously, Mike leaves his pregnant wife Jennifer to seek out Chris, following a map that Chris included with the video, a seeming cry for help. We think he is going to offer treatment but instead takes a more drastic approach. 
  Stunning his friend with a tazor Mike handcuffs him to a pipe in the rundown house and then informs him the two of them will be there for seven days, long enough for the drugs to leave his system. Naturally this does not sit well with Chris who very quickly goes through many of the stages of not only withdrawal but also grief. Chris tries many approaches to get himself freed such as Pleading, lashing out in anger, and negotiation. The guy wants to smoke crack and that is a serious addiction so really trying anything is okay. The premise of two men brought together in this situation is the physical structure of the film, it is the place this film lives but it is not the only place.
  The early movie establishes the characters well enough with Mike the calm successful one and Chris the delusional crack head. the addition of a few more characters in a couple other crackheads, and  Charles, the Native American owner of the house that Chris has been squatting in, all add some depth to the area and situation. One thing we notice early on is the lack of any interaction between Chris and anyone else alive, a directorial decision leaving open the idea that this could be a story about Mike's mental health. Sure the crack heads that come looking for a fix are there to see Chris but the directors skillfully make it that the only one we actually see Chris interact with is Mike.
  Mike also has other troubling issues that lead one to think that Mike's sanity is not necessarily as firmly packed as we originally think. First there is the initiating video the film opens with. Filmed as if someone is following Chris around it is a collection of extreme behavior and emotion that supposedly Chris sent to Mike. However, once the two men are together Chris denies creating it. Is Chris a reliable reporter? Well he is a crack head so probably not. Mike, in his wanderings around the neighborhood over the seven days at the house, starts finding strange pieces of media, an old record and a record player, a VHS tape and player, a reel of super eight movie and a projector. Each seems to be telling him a story that Chris chained to a pipe does not seem to connect to. Mike develops the idea that these finds are a story looking for an ending, and until he and his friend can give that ending the cycle of  finding will continue. When he finds media that include he and Chris, and the possible tragic ending to their situation, they look for a solution. Though this idea is never fully understood by the characters or the audience it is the driving force to the climax of the film.
  Through the increase in intensity of the story idea Mike and Chris are able to reconcile many of the issues that have not been resolved in their relationship. When the film climax is reached on the seventh day. Mike releases Chris and they are in a frenzy to find an ending that does not end badly for either of them. A surprising amount of tension is created with the side characters in this stretch. Always on the clock the film passes its timer and still has a situation where there are real stakes. The last scene is a bit disappointing, intentionally open ended and unclear it feels more like a unformed idea than an ending. It could be that the media, "We (Chris and Mike) are in the story" idea was not fleshed out clearly enough that makes the last scene lack impact. It could be that the writer, Justin Benson, and Directors, Benson and Moorhead are being obtuse.
  Ultimately I don't think they are, I try not to read about the films before watching and reviewing them so there are probably plenty of interviews I will see after this that will fill answer my questions. This is a solid film, grounded in character that explores an interesting idea. I would definitely recommend this film for anyone looking for a unique take on the horror genre.

Psychos in Love (1987) - Horror, Comedy, Psycho

Psychos in Love (1987) - This movie starts with black and white interview footage of a serial killer Joe (Carmine Capobianco) relaying information about the women he has dated cut with scenes of the women being murdered by him. When it settles down on the fourth girl Dianne who our killer also fell for love at first sight. The deal was sealed when she expresses a hate for grapes as strong as his. After they meet we also get interviews from Dianne (Angela Nicholas) and we see she is a similar deranged killer.  She then also is seen in scenes where she murders her dates. Played for humor with light music the film does not take itself too seriously. The interview parts are like a post career retrospective and the interspersed scenes are to fill out the love story. There is also this breaking of the fourth wall where the color scenes are interrupted by Joe or Dianne noticing the camera. The film is a ridiculous comedy, crazy plot, loonie characters and gory fun. According to Wikipedia, "Carmine Capobianco said of the script, "We decided to do something that was totally off the wall, totally fun"."
 On the first date when they admit there psycho tendencies to each other their bond grows immediately strong. They almost immediately do a tandem murder well after they had sex that is. The after sex talk about what you do with the bodies after murdering them adds to the light comic approach the movie takes. Filmed exclusively with a male eye the film although about a male and female killer is all about the men. The scenes of Joe killing we see attractive women (probably too hot for the character) the camera lingers in closeup tight on the body parts sexualizing the victims. Nudity abounds in these murders while it is Dianne is sexualized in her murder scenes. She is enticing the men to let their guards down and always fatally for them. Last there are continued cutbacks to Joe's bar where he has a woman Nikki dancing bare breasted.
  Then we cut to the plumber Herman who clears a clog for a woman and then hits her over the head with a wrench. He proceeds to ripher cloths open and acts goofy in delight as he cuts her up and cooks parts of her in a pan of searing vegetables. His routine is to then dress and eat the victim as a luxury meal. So now we have three psycho killers and all appear above the law.
  Dianne has a problem with a victim where he turns the tables on her and rapes her, but with the help of a nearby rock she eventually wins the skirmish and desposes of him. Beside the Dianne one liner "That was no fun at all."  it does not seem to have a purpose.
  The plumber makes his way to Joe's bar and shows his total lack of game with the ladies. Joe on the other hand although heavy and balding seems to have no problem with the ladies at all. Yet he is in love and even is less interested in killing and more into spending time with lovely Dianne. The scenes of their lives together come with a song sung between the two main characters about the same characters "Psychos in Love" The movie never loses its sense of humor even if the humor is all one note.They don't stop trying with the jokes though and the death scene where they can't seem to kill Nikki enough leads to the two deciding to get married.
  Wow what a shit show of ridiculous bits from losing interest in killing and then having their first marital problems. They are determined to just be happy with each other and maybe not have kill kill kill. Dragging on to when they marathon the five Friday the 13th movies and all three Halloween movies. To more scenes of the bar and it makes one wonder if the ideas, although cute would ever lead to anything. I mean what happened to that plumber, doesn't he have to come back into the film. Of course it happens that they meet over a clogged sink.
  Coming to an agreement where Joe and Dianne will give the plumber is going well until he mentions eating with grape sauce. Things go south with the negotiating and we have another big gory gag. at this point this film could end because it has gone no where. Finally it ends in an argument between the couple.
  So what can you make of this film? It certainly has a personality but lacks the cohesion that shows any real plotting that matters. So in the end it is just a collection of gags based around a couple serial killers falling in love with each other. Hard to watch all the way through because the character arcs do not have enough range. I am sure I can not recommend this film even though it tries. It is cute for a bit, funny at times but ultimately does not get anywhere we hope.

Psychos in Love song

Holidays (2016) Horror Anthology

Holidays (2016) - Anyone who regularly checks in on this blog will know that I love horror anthologies. There is always the promise of that distinct clear piece of horror that the short format is made for. Some writer and director work in unison with a small crew to create the perfect little shock, dread, surprise making the viewer remember that story above all the others. So many times one or two parts are the cliche cream that rises to the top. Then of course there are segments that do not get the raves, sometimes by very established writers and directors. It's okay though in this format. Not everything connects with everyone and the great thing about an anthology is that the discussions that come out of this tidbit about personal taste can be just as entertaining. Where I can love the creeping dread of one story, someone else can see it as a plodding road to nowhere. Where the 80's kitsch of one piece is not appreciated by some twenty something it is relished by an older person. There is usually something for everyone though so I will keep reviewing them and welcome feedback about what connected with you.
 Dennis Widmyer and directed by Kevin Kolsch who did the wonderfully creepy Starry Eyes (2014) about how far one can go to find fame. The style is very different in this segment about a picked on dreamer who has a crush on her gym teacher. Written (I'm guessing) to play on the mean teen movies of the eighties and nineties it at first seems the characters are overly stereotyped and acted. Then we shift and see the surreal fantasy of the main character Maxine (Madeleine Coghlan) as she daydreams and realize that this is all very much an aesthetic choice. Her crush on her gym teacher and  her abuse at the hands of the mean girls lead by Heidi (Savannah Kennick) put the viewer in one headset only to have it shift a bit later into a more sinister scene. Still playing the line of being a lost segment from a Creepshow film it goes from a cheesy story of a picked on girl to a wonderfully threatening stalking sequence and back to that fanciful if somewhat expected ending.
 Holidays is a collection based on a set of holidays, Valentine's day, St. Patrick's day, Easter, Mother's day, Father's Day, Halloween, Christmas, and New Year's Eve. Chronologically may be the way to present this review so let's start with Valentine's Day written by

  St. Patrick's Day by Gary Shore plays first on that disturbing child motif where the smiling child just creeps the shit out of you. Shore who directed the recent Dracula Untold (2014) has written a piece that centers around the myth of St. Patrick who drove the pagans from Ireland but is said to have driven the snakes from the Island the more commonly known metaphor. In this little tale a teacher Elizabeth (Ruth Bradley) desperate for a child in her life teaches at primary school with a strange new student. A girl Gráinne (Isolt McCaffrey) who is isolated too being new to the school. Efforts by the teacher to engage are met with a gift, a straw snake with the sentence, "Only your deepest wish can make me smile." Using quick and sometimes off putting editing to move the timeline along the film plays out a story of dark desire and the unexpected consequences a wish can have. Built in to that those is some really creepy child smiling and a continuation of the snake pagan of Ireland myth setup in the first scene. What I like about this film is the sharing of the knowledge of the the baby inside Elizabeth is not quite right and still her insistence that she carry it to term. The strange birthing scene in the tub that shifts to the pagan ritual in the next it all plays out in a cool little crazy journey.
  The simple but dark tale for Easter is about a small girl who is told that little kids have to go to bed the night before Easter and not get up. That they are not allowed to see the Easter Bunny.  The opening scene with her Mother reminded me of putting my daughter to bed and how sometimes it takes a lot to get them to settle and for the parent to get out of the room. To connect the Easter story to Jesus this is a family morning the death of the Father so the kid has questions about death and Jesus coming back from the dead. Now its been a while so I am not totally sure how age appropriate those question by little girl (Ava Acres) but it does setup the late night encounter well. Writer Director Nicholas McCarthy (At the Devil's Door) , (The Pact) does the scary house scene well hitting all the right notes and the effects for the man in the bunny suit (Mark Steger) are wonderful. The dread felt for the little girl is palpable throughout their encounter. Weird but very enjoyable!
  Mother's Day is a twist of a tale where we have a woman with a fertility problem instead of a infertility one. Kate (Sophie Traub) has the problem of getting pregnant every time she has sex. The pain of multiple abortions has her at her wits end. Dr. Harding (Jennifer Lafleur) suggest she go to a women's group centered around fertility. A bit unusual but maybe she can find some solace there. Here is where writer, director Sarah Adina Smith twist things. We all think that the women there are there because they can't get pregnant and that is true; but there is a more sinister meaning to why they want Kate there to be in their fertility ritual. The most adult of the stories in the collection the appropriate nudity is insignificant to the more mature ideas of rape under the influence and kidnapping. The shocking if a bit unrealistic visually, ending does not do justice to what is a serious story in my opinion.
  Father's Day written and directed by Anthony Scott Burns takes a more cerebral approach telling the story of Carol (Jocelin Donahue) a teacher who years before lost her Father. In this present she receives a box that includes a cassette tape. On it is a message from her Father. He apologizes for leaving her but at the same time takes her on a present day journey where they can be reunited. The film covers her struggle with his message and then the suggestion that she could now join him where he is. We watch Carol take the journey. The tape as it plays and guides her melds the past with the present is a very original way. Scary as it draws to its conclusion we relive Carol's childhood trauma while anticipating her future one. A really nice complete story about one woman's desire to see her Father again and the horrific consequences of the desire.
  My least favorite story of the collection was Kevin Smith's Halloween. The unlikable lead character Ian (Harley Morenstein) was just too much to overcome even if he gets his comeuppance. He is a man that lures young woman to Hollywood to be Cam girls, woman who perform on webcams. Taking advantage of young women he is a sweet talking on the phone until he has them at the apartment and then he is a real dick to them. We see this in two scenes one where he is sweet talking girls on the phone to get them to move to his pace, and then his other side as he verbally abuses his current girls because they want a night off to celebrate Halloween. Really the only connection to the holiday is, it is when the events take place. Even the ridiculous monologue about the witches coven does little to add an atmosphere captured more readily by the other stories. I am saying it is a wonderful little torture the three women end up afflicting on Ian making him the star of his own webcam show. The story is vulgar and not really in the spirit of horror more than a revenge story.

  The Christmas centered story is about trying to get the hottest toy on the Market for his kid. uVu is the latest in virtual reality with the slogan uVu shows you you! It's Christmas eve and Pete Gunderson (Seth Green) thinks he has landed the sought after item but after rushing down to the store he finds the last one is walking out the door not held for him as he thought he had an agreement for. Pete tries his best to get the guy who scored the head wear to sell it to him but to no avail. When an unexpected occurrence happens Pete has a morally challenging decision to make. Does he step in to help or take advantage of the situation for his own gain. His wife is thrilled that they got the device and when Pete tries it for the first time he is so surprised at the mental connection and how it shows a surprising fantasy hiding in his mind. Of course these things have a way of flipping and soon the guilt feeling from his decision show him a nightmare that leave him reeling. When his wife Sara (Clare Grant) confronts him later looking at his images since he forgot to log out things shift. Writer Director Scott Stewart, (Legion, Dark Skies) has the story asks questions about the secrets that couples keep from each other and challenges the idea of being completely open in a relationship. Well turned the story is a creepy little tale of unexpected behavior.
  The final story by Adam Egypt Mortimor, written by Dennis Widmyer (Starry Eyes) was quite enjoyable, establishing a sick serial killer who preys on date site victims and then turning it all on its head was really great. Andrew Bowen is the creepy serial killer Reggie who on New Year's Eve get more than he can handle from his internet date Jean (Lorenza Izzo) the last story is tight and taut with tension before exploding into violence and murder. It is a very good capping piece to what is a very good collection. This one is good and recommended so get it and see it.
  As I have done so far this year; I am doing as an experiment my Twitter account @Soresport is dedicated to following and being followed by people in and behind the scenes. Then I am also hoping some of them follow me back. (Not really expecting that though) It really is an experiment and where I love the horror community it is a way to keep track of what is going on by the people involved in it.  I am now following over 186 people while the followers is only 31 so as you can see people in the biz do not follow just anyone back. :)

Sorority Sister Slaughter (2007) Horror Slasher

Sorority Sister Slaughter (2007) - Wen the DVD which arrived from Netflix had the blue screen without any DVD into screen I know I was in some trouble. My mind immediately started thinking low res video film with the mostly amateur actors and shitty camera work was possible. Sure enough there were some really strange and disjointed camera shots during the title sequence. Shot in video, or a transfer from the film opens in black and white  in what is seemingly a minority sorority house in the fifties where dahlia is upset waiting for a call from her boy Billy, she is upset and obviously pregnant from how she is touching her abdomen in the bathroom. Her friends are trying to talk her out of the room and out to a party. Having been dumped by Billy she is at her wits end and this drives poor Dahlia (Tafne Ellington) to stick a knitting needle inside herself to try to end the unwanted pregnancy. Let's remember this was pre-abortion as a legal option and the statement her might just be 'Do we want to return to the days when girls ended up dying in the tub because of a lack of choice. The scene is compelling enough to keep viewing even if the production values are low.
  Director Susan Hippen forcing the connection between past and present but maybe does not have to. A scene where one of the modern day girls, Eve (Desiry Hall) finds Dahlia's ring in the bathroom where she died. Keeping that ring can not be a good thing in the context of a horror movie.  The lighting maybe from the transfer in this part of the film is too dark and it does not help that a lot of the scenes are lit by candlelight since the electricity has yet to be turned on in the house.
  Move forward in time to 2006 on Valentines Day, back at the sorority we have a candles and color lit scene of a young woman settling into a dream. Will this film end as just a dream all along? I have seen that before so the possibility is there. I believe we fade to a dream of all the young women arriving to that house from the fifties scene where they are about to take up residence. Cool house by the way. The Sorority house is a hit with the new arrivals but the music tells use that this is a horror movie.  Kappa Tau Omega is back in business in a beautiful house but is it haunted? There is some strange cuts at this point in the film where I think
  Effective music carries this part of the film where the girls are introduced and at the same time there are notable instances of a haunting. As much as I appreciate that so far all the characters are minorities and that there are some strong personalities in the story. It is bothersome that there are the cat-fighting mentality we see so much when young adult women are portrayed on screen. Chloe (Kira Modallo Sesay) who is president of the sorority has to establish her dominance not only by bullying her friend and roommate Isabel (Anica Barbosa) about the accompaniments of office but is a bit nasty to the other women around her, like Tessa who walks in at the wrong time and and tries to defend Isabel about her diet. Sure it builds Chloe as a self driven leader but also fulfills a cliche about women having to cut each other down to get ahead.
  The men connected to these women are shown as the classic and not complex hound dogs looking to get their dicks wet. They come around looking to sneak into the new building to get a bit of ass. There disrespect of  Chloe' homecoming sash and tiara as well as their homophobic comments definitely define them as the least desirable type of men.
 The woman are also somewhat catty with each other. We do get our ghost story and the girls are strong enough to not be scared by by the story. Chloe again comes through as a mean spirited character showing no sympathy for Dalia's tale. Some cliche scenes where the men are wandering around scaring each other and the women using a Ouija board to summon the spirit. Teasing Eve seems to be the in thing to do and it is probably not the most feminist approach to character that the writers could have taken. It serves it's purpose to separate her from the group though so again even if I don't like the choices there are reasons behind them.
 Smoking pot, drinking and hooking up become the game once the men are discovered, cut between those scenes and Eve in the tub. So there is an establishment between sex and death as is the most classic of horror tropes except in this case there is some female dominance in the sexual scenes (Isabel) and the kill of Tessa in the tub is short, too short to make it frightening. That quick editing of scenes, not allowing them to play out must have had its reasons but it is hard for the viewer to know them. way to make a bulimic vomit scene a bit scary but again they cut too soon, and only come back to it as a mechanism to show it is still going on for her.  Also sort are the kills not enough staying with the scene. Better is when Kip (Farley Jackson) and Roxy (Erika Ringer) get there death scenes after a game of strip one on one basketball but it is really the ghost they follow through with it. Short and sweet on the scary is the general rule but big on the music which continues to make the mood right.
  Like all well constructed horror movies the kills happen in isolation and the discovery of the bodies have to wait until the cast is whittled down to a few. This film is classically constructed horror and we even have Star (Amy Black) the artist in a trans creating art that shows the killer, the ghost of Dahlia reaching out to us.
Aside: Pizza dude was funny the spirit infested bong of death. A white character which was amusing in his pot head character.
So close to having a whole a black cast. Our dream girl Tessa (Terry Bookhart) from the beginning of the film and Chloe seem to be the only ones that have a chance to be the final girl.  The make it out of the house and into a vehicle and then there is this strange exchange to explain away that it is Isabel's car and how did Tessa get the keys. I really don't think the audience cares that it's not one of the survivors car. Of course in cliche form the car does not start and the ghost finds them. Tessa becomes the final girl that the ghost is following her and since she had the dream it is structurally sound. That said it really makes Chloe expendable so you can guess that now that they have run back into the haunted house that shit is going to go down for her.
  Clever Tessa does the smartest thing in the film by calling Billy Bart and tricking him into coming to the house. Will it be too late for her though? Can she talk to Dahlia and make a deal?  Billy Bart arrives the dog he is and makes really inappropriate comments to Tessa. The ghost gets a chance to reconcile the past and Tessa gets out of it. The final scene between Dahlia and Billy was pretty damn remarkable and unexpected. It really gives an ending to the very sad 1950's tale. Predictably this circular story predicted by the introduction of the dream sequence was a bit expected.
  Overall I have to say the film was alright, it has a really nice horror score and a story that is solid enough. The almost exclusively African American cast although a bit cartoonish, because of the horror structure not their race could have been better drawn better. The men were just pieces to be killed horny guys looking for ass. The women were stereotypes that showed little compassion or caring for each other. Still the story was really well structured with a bit of a slower pace which was good but with short cut editing that made it a bit scattered. The lighting was cheap candle light and color filters which is a mark of low budget horror, but the music was moody and for the most part pretty spot on.  Still a video transfer that was dark and hard to see is not good.The DVD presentation was poor with the blue screen and now title window or scene selection. I can't say that  hated this film but it has enough drawbacks to not make it a recommended film either. There are a tone of cliche horror elements that take away from the fact that it is a women writer / director and an all black cast, things you do not often find in horror and which the genre could use more of. So sort of a middle of the road approach to this one
As I have done so far this year; I am doing as an experiment my Twitter account @Soresport is dedicated to following and being followed by people in and behind the scenes. Then I am also hoping some of them follow me back. I do fear that Twitter has become too much of a promotional tool for people in film to actually get those follow backs but hey its an experiment. Now since the last post I have been followed back by @elskemccain who was in the Splatter Movie Thanks!  So Far though I have followed 75 people with only four following back, not a very good ratio. So lets see who I can get from this latest film in my little social media experiment.
 

The Children (2008) Revisited Horror Christmas

The Children (2008) - REVISITED! As a virus infects the children of a couple families having Christmas together the sick children get pretty evil and begin to kill the adults. I noticed the  character's relationships a bit more this time through. The visiting family of Mother Elaine (Eva Birthistle) has a young adult daughter Casey (Hannah Tointon) and a young boy, Paulie (William Howes) who I have to say is a real Mama's boy, from an earlier relationship, Her husband Jonah (Stephen Campbell Moore) also has a child from a previous relationship a little girl named Miranda (Eva Sayer). It is obviously not the perfect nuclear family but they seem to be making it work. This is to contrast Elaine's sister Chloe (Rachel Shelley) who has a sucessful husband Robbie (Jeremy Sheffield) and two children Leah (Rafiella Brooks) and Nicky (Jake Hathaway). The dynamics between the sisters is some what interesting as sister relationships are in real life. The younger, Elaine seems a bit put off by her more successful older sister. She seems to have the perfect house and husband. They are both already retired in their forties after selling a company. They live in a large beautiful house and Chloe is portrayed as a know it all when it comes to raising children. There is the conflict between couples about permissive upbringing versus strict rules based child rearing. Robbie is a tall successful and handsome man who now spends his days investing his money and living a life of leisure. He is the cool uncle but really comes across a bit creepy when he interacts with the Casey. There is also the dynamic of how unsuccessful Jonah is, he is a schemer trying to hit it big. It is revealed that he has been scammed in the past and is not great at choosing his opportunities. He is hoping to sell some Chinese medicine scheme to Robbie but gets cut off each time. It all works to create a tension that is wonderfully under the surface of the weekend.
Then there is the fundamental disbelief the parents have when the harm starts. Of course as a parent there is no way you are going to think your child is trying to kill you. This movie co-ops the fear that behind the innocent faces there is evil waiting to strike. The underlying tension also comes to the surface also which is really well done. It makes it difficult for the parents and Casey as the adults to join together to deal with the situation. In fact the parents can never think that the children are responsible for acts of violence. Where most of the damage at first happens when adults are isolated from one another it the makes then think each other are negligent for the apparent accidents that are happening.
When I think of evil children the movie that comes to mind is "Children of the Corn". It is a more overt film with the theme being right out there from the beginning. The children killing the adults of the town is one of the first scenes and you know from the start what will happen. In The Children" The process is slower and the immediate danger is not there, but the threat grows as more of the kids get infected. The film is effective at not letting the parents catch on too quickly and even though the Casey seems onto the games of the kids. Being the younger than the parents but older than the children she is not really listened to by the adults when she knows something is wrong. In fact she is seen as not helping enough early on and then becomes distrusted as the possible killer later.
There are not too many ways this plot can go so.  What it does is builds a series of mishaps to the adults who think that negligence and accidents are to blame. Then as more evidence that it is the children comes to the fore they start to turn on each other. The children on the other hand use their relationships with their parents to do the maximum damage. It becomes a fight for the parents to deal with a threat from the most innocent beings they know.
During the film you wonder what the hell, why are the police and ambulance not responding. It in the end can be cleverly explained though.  There is also a great twist between Elaine and Jonah that I did not see coming. It really is a cold blooded change that fits one of the characters pretty well. When the last couple of survivors try to get away what will they be running to? You will have to watch it to find out. There is this one final scene that the staging of I have to say I don't really like. You come across the a situation and you are in the protected inside of a car. Do you ever leave that safety to check a scene out? I say no! but over and over again in horror film it is necessary for the tension to have someone get out of the car and investigate something.
Writers Paul Andrew Williams and Tom Shankland (who also directed) do a good job making this a believable story and the horror of parents being attacked and having to defend themselves against there children is chilling. The directing was sharp enough to build a believable survival story. There is that one thing though, when is it when the people are in a car and see what looks like a dangerous scene, one or both of them have to get out of the car to investigate? I can see early in a film but late in a movie when the characters already know there is a ton of danger. Watching this film for a second time I was impressed with the construction of the characters and the blocking of the incidents so that the reactions of the adults were somewhat believable. In the end I think I liked this film more on a second viewing. If there is one drawback I would critique it on is one of the characters totally seems to give up at one point even though fighting would not be that hard. I just hate that in a character.
Rating (6.6) 5.0 and up are recommended, some more recommended than others.

TrollHunter (2010) Horror Trolls

TrollHunter (2010) - TrollHunter takes the Scandinavian myths and brings them to life in a surprisingly entertaining film. It is a slow starter but with enough leaking of information to keep the viewer interested. Thomas (Glenn Erland Tosterud), Johanna (Johanna Morck) and Kalle (Tomas Alf Larsen) are a group of college students investigating bear poaching and hunting in Norway. In particular they are following a man named Hans (Otto Jespersen) suspected of poaching. The film spend a fair amount of time having the students attempt to get Hans into an interview. Hans at first wants nothing to do with them but after a lot of staking him out and following him he starts to interact with them. He only agrees after spilling that he hunts trolls. They had followed him out into the forest one night and find his empty car. Off in the distance are sounds and flashes of light. Hans comes running out of the darkness and yells for them to run and "TROLL!" The troll takes out the kids car and when they find it need a ride from Hans. They still have seen nothing and this guy could just be a crazy. Even after Thomas is bitten by a troll as they flee he thinks it may have been a bear. This is really the first third of the movie and it is a bit slow. The filmmaker Andre Ovredal does a nice job only slowly revealing the monsters.
Things pick up when they get to go along on a the hunt. Hans again leaves them and goes off to face a troll. He is armed with a light gun which plays into the myths, where trolls turn to stone in the sunlight. The students are left at the vehicle wondering if this is a goose chase. When Hans comes running out of the forest screaming for them to haul ass they are treated and terrified with their first up close and personal troll experience. The combination of night vision camera shots and CGI troll are very effective. We are with Kalle the camera man for the scene and boy does he just get away by the skin of his teeth. The honest reunion when the group finds each other after the episode is also refreshing. It is excited and relief at the same time. The crew has seen what they thought was only myth. They had a very close and dangerous encounter and come out unharmed. Well done scene.
It is great that this film also touches upon beliefs about the government in its plot. We learn that Hans works for the government, a hunter that is doing his job controlling the troll population. After he kills any troll that leaves it's territory and comes in contact with humans or domesticated animals. They are predatory animals and need to be controlled. After the kill Hans calls the wildlife service bureaucrat Finn to come in and make the troubled area seem like an area where there is bear activity. The idea is to keep the trolls existence secret. Finn (Hans Morten Hansen) comes in and sets up a bear caucus that will be found and made the scapegoat. Later when the group goes to a electricity provider about some downed wired, there is an amusing scene where the unquestioning employee explains how the power lines that the power travels out from the plant in a giant circle and back to the plant. Hans explains later that the wires are actually an electric fence to keep trolls in a particular territory.
The film really is pretty enjoyable and build on the troll myths by giving answers to how and why trolls are killed by sunlight. They really take the time to allow the audience to have a full story. This while there are encounters with several different kinds of troll. There is a great scene when the group while investigating a report of troll activity get caught in the cave that is inhabited by a clan of trolls. It is a wonderfully tense and frightening scene, with the hairy penis nosed trolls.
The final expedition out into the north of Norway is against a giant troll and whether or not the crew will come out of it alive is in play. Overall this was a very competently done film with an interesting story that takes a set of myths and builds on them creating an accessible modern myth. The scares are decent and the CGI very expertly done.
Rating (7.0) 5.0 and up are recommended

Bikini Bloodbath (2006) - Horror Slasher Satire

Bikini Bloodbath (2006) - Bikini Bloodbath is a really low budget, slasher satire with some pretty bad acting, horrible gay football player jokes, a silly killer French Chef, and lots of boobies. So naturally it was great. No it wasn't but we wanted it to be great. It will be known in my head at least as the film Debbie Rochon dies in and her last words are "Beaver". The plot is simple, there is a killer on the loose looking to kill for killings sake. The Chef as he known is one really crazy french guy played for laughs by Robert Cosgrove Jr. He flits in and out of the picture making kills with really low budget practical effects. The local girls volleyball team is having a party this particular weekend at Jenny's (Leah Ford) house. The are all buxom babes not afraid to show a bit of skin. There is the obligatory shower scene and girls goofy off and picking on the outcast of the group Smelly Suzy (Sheri Lynn). Of course the women playing the teens are way too old and the dialog is awful but it is amusing that they can get through the scenes without cracking up laughing at the stupid tropes and cliches they are spilling across the film.
The movie bounces between the girls getting together at Jenny's, Smelly Suzy sitting at home by herself, and the football players party at another house. The main point of the girls scenes are to get them in as few clothes as possible and have them party and play games like Twister. The Suzy scenes are to show the lonely girl as she starts to worry about the killer being around. This is also played for comedy with the actress Sheri Lynn doing a fairly competent comedy turn. She manages to fall and knock herself out twice. The Football players party, you know they are football players because they all wear shirts that say "Football Player" on them, are all about gay jokes. We all know that the homosexuality and jocks go hand and hand job so this is played to the max. The two freshmen of the team come to realize with excruciating clarity that all the males at the party ore sort of acting gay with each other. These section of the film are so hard to watch. Every joke is obvious and ham handed. It was necessary to keep repeating that it was done for satire effect that someone didn't really think these jokes were funny. Or did they?
When the killer finally closes in on our main group there are poor decisions, lots of drinking, silly antics and unimpressive deaths. For this reviewer the scene where Sharon (Anna-Karin Eskilsson) heads out to get help and then is seen sitting in a taco joint eating a burrito is the best part of the whole movie. Now don't get me wrong, although as a reviewer this "film" is pretty awful but personally I love this crap. There is a duality here that I struggle with. I can't recommend this film to anyone. In fact if you watch it from reading this review don't blame me. On the other hand I loved that I watched it. I in fact would love to be in a movie like this. It is silly and fun but just not good. Sick I know but what can I say.
I loved the extras on the disc particularly the music by White Liger and Rebecca Nurse.
Rating (1.1) 5.0 and up are recommended

Scream Blacula Scream (1973) - Horror Blaxsploitation

Scream Blacula Scream (1973) - Mamuwalde is back in the second Blacula movie. Joan Torres, Raymond Koenig and Maurice Jules penned the screenplay in which Blacula is returned to the world through voodoo. It seems it was to be the height of the careers in writing for all three. Director Bob Kelljan keeps the story moving as he works to try to break the curse, before he has too many minions to deal with. One of the good things about this particular vampire set of films is every time someone feeds on a human that human then becomes a vampire. Unlike the modern myths where an exchange of blood or some such thing more intentional is required. Here the very act of feeding can quickly create a mass of vamps that will soon get out of control. They also hold true to the myth that the vampire that created you has power over you but if he is not paying attention then you can run amok. Ah such a simpler time.

This story focuses around a voodoo group and Willis (Richard Lawson) who expects to become leader when the matriarch dies. Unfortunately for him she fails to name him leader and the arrogant bastard storms off looking for a way to get back a them. Lisa (Pam Grier in a very cardboard performance) becomes the new keeper of the lore and this sits poorly with Willis. He seeks out another witch doctor who gives him the bones of Blacula (William Marshall) saying they are very powerful. Willis takes them and performs a ritual which mistakenly raises the blood sucker from the beyond. As these things go naturally Blacula does not just do what Willis wants instead turning him into a vampire and starting to way towards the earlier mentioned group of vampires.

Back in the modern world Blacula goes to check out some African artwork at a party Willis's girlfriend is holding and there he meets Lisa. He learns about voodoo and scopes the next woman he is going to bite. There are a lot of vampire feeding scenes in this movie and I am not sure that this is so much better than the endless cop procedural in the first Blacula film. Some very effective scenes though like Lisa's friend Gloria (Janee Michelle) returning hoping to prey on her. "Lisa, I won't hurt you I'm your friend" luckily Blacula arrives to control her and then we get the bulk of the plot for the vampire. He wants to end his curse, live his life out and to do this he wants Lisa to use voodoo.

At the same time Lisa's boyfriend Justin Carter (Don Mitchell) is playing the role as the guy figuring out who Mamuwalde is and he like the Dr. Gordon Thomas in the earlier film determines it is a vampire that is causing the mysterious deaths in the area. His role is not as compelling as Gordon but he does have a scene where he and Blacula verbally spar. So when Lisa vanishes he is there to go searching for her. Unlike the earlier film when the police chase the vampires and have little luck using there gun, in this film they are armed with stakes for the raid on Blaucala's lair. They fair a lot better and considering there is upwards of 10 vampires in the place it is a good thing.

Lisa tries her best to break the spell put on Mamuwalde as the police roam through the house getting closer and closer to them. The voodoo seems to be working with five minutes left in the film as the battle in the house between good and evil reaches a climax. The music of drums and strings works to build the drama. When the spell is interrupted Blacula grabs her and says they must leave so they will have a chance to try again. Justin and the cops are no match for the vampire but the voodoo doll used for the ritual now becomes key in Lisa protecting her man. In all there are a lot of things that work in this movie. Is it a great movie no but the nice way it mixes voodoo and vampires really works.

Rating (5.8) 5.0 and up are recommended In the Zombiegrrlz system Rent It!

After.Life (2009) Horror Psychlogical

After.Life (2009) -After Life is a psychological thriller, well thriller may be a strong word. It appears more as a meditative procedural on the supposed transition from life to death. It is a tricky movie that does a decent job with it's tricks. In the film Paul (Justin Long) and Anna (Christina Ricci) are a couple in crisis. Anna is a school teacher in an unhappy relationship and on medication for depression. Paul in line for a promotion and a move to Chicago is desiring to make a proposal to take the next step in their relationship. Seldom do these things work out well, its usually if there is fighting before a long term commitment it become a commitment to long term fighting.

At a fancy dinner we see the couple come so close to the engagement ring but Anna is fucking retahded (that is a Boston word, no offense to the mentally challenged, it is slang for acting in a stupid manner.) and blows the mood by getting all, "Fuck You-ish". Of course Paul shares some of the blame here too, who starts a evening together saying, "Hey, Lets not try to fight tonight okay." Those are words itching for a fight and she obliges. She runs out of the restaurant and goes crying and popping depression pills as she drives too fast through a rain storm. Unfortunately for Anna her ticket is punched and the car crashes. Was it an accident? Why was that white van flashing his lights and tailgating?

Eliot Deacon (Liam Neeson) is a mortician with a gift. He talks to the recently dead and helps them transition to the afterlife. We see his meticulous procedures as he preps one body. Then oddly he takes a Polaroid of the face staring back at the camera. We see this in the first scene before the credits and thing nothing of it. In fact I am sure the filmmaker wanted us to think nothing of it so later their could be a callback. This is a movie you have to pay attention to, this is an obvious strange thing so it gets you guessing there will be other clues about the nature of this character.

Again in the earlier scene the if you were paying attention to Anna when she went to the funeral home for the wake of her piano teacher you would have noticed the strange interest Eliot took in her. When Anna wakes up in the same funeral home she is confused and asks WTF is going on. Eliot tells her that she is dead and that she like others before her some take time to realize it. Anna is having none of that and insists this can not be true. At this point Eliot is believable, he is doing normal prep of the body. He is convincing but soon, if you pay attention there are obvious clues that something is not right.

He gives her a shot of something telling her that it is something that relaxes the muscles so he can work. Problem is, how would a shot in the neck of a dead person circulate though the body to the muscles. It is also very convenient in paralyzing her so she can not move or talk while her mother comes in to see the body.
Now I do not normally use really harsh terms for people but the Mother, Beatrice Taylor (Celia Weston) is a really selfish asshole. Not only does she break the news of Anna's death to Paul in the cruelest way possible, but she also does not allow him to see the body while it is at the funeral home. He will have to wait until the funeral like everyone else. She also while viewing Anna herself spouts off about how selfish it is of Anna to die, leaving wealthy Mom to care for herself. The writer put her in a wheelchair I think to create some sympathy for what is a really mean character, it did not work.
So this game of am I dead or not goes on for quite awhile and at the halfway point in the story there is a turning point with a mirror that takes all the mystery away. Even if earlier clues did not give it away this definitely does. So now I expected this to turn into a thriller where realization on Anna's part just a bit away and Paul not letting go and finding some way to see her. This does not happen though. Still more am I dead or not, sure Anna seems to think she is gone and we already know one way or the other but still the procedure of getting her ready continues.
Having never written a screenplay I would have tried to leave the audience reveal for the same time that Anna gets her own revelatory reveal. That way audience expectation are not crushed by a script where nothing really happens. This is a point for her where she then just goes with the flow and wonders about what her life has meant. The thrilling part of the film is half way and the air is let out and we all then want it to be over.

Moving to the end because the climax was not so climactic we see a future mortician in Jack and we see that Justin finally gets to see Anna, we learn the significance of the Polaroids and are left feeling a bit empty. It is no wonder this was seen on only 41 screens its opening weekend and totally flopped making only $100,000. Maybe they were going for dread but that never materialized, they were certainly not trying for a thriller. The only real valuable thing the film accomplished was to expose Christina Ricci's Callipygian form in the last half of the film. At least there something was going on if not in the movie in the male viewer.
Rating (4.5) 5.0 and up are recommended

Splice (2009) - Horror Sci-Fi Monster

Splice (2009) - Putting off seeing films can be a good thing, with time their is also a certain perspective gained. Early reviews of Splice were decent with but not great, and unfortunately it was impossible not to hear the details before seeing this film. Still the movie is 74% fresh at Rotten Tomatoes. I was interested in seeing it in theaters but you know, sometimes you just can't get out to see everything you want to see. Recently picking it off of On Demand on comcast gave me a chance to see if the film was worth some of the very positives reviews it got or was it was the horrid piece of crap that audiences seemed to be saying. To qualify I read a bunch of early reviews where the author of the review talked about how darkly disturbing the film is, how he or she was enthralled while the audience they were seeing it with were hooting and hollering at the rediculousness of the film. I saw several reviews with this same theme, and then reading reviews written months after it was release, more talk about how audiences trashed the film. So is it a piece of genre art that only true fans can like, but general audience think is bad? Time to find out.

First the description of the film, two hot shot genetic scientist do the unthinkable, they create lifeforms from gene splicing. Giant maggots that produce a certain protein to be more precise. They want to more forward capitalizing on this new technology, but the corporate bosses want to go cautiously. Its not that the corporation has ethical reasons, its just they want to monetize what has already been created. In fact ethics never really enters the film although it is referenced by characters. This is the mad scientist as in, Frankenstien movie, so we sort of know what will happen at this point. Of course they need to have an "Its Alive!" moment. Also with mad scientists the ethics of "could we" versus "should we" is firmly planted in moving forward. So using her own DNA, Elsa Kast (Sarah Polley) creates Dren (Delphine Chaeac), a creature not entirely human. It is important to note that at this point, anyone who has any kind of love or even like of science will be pulled out of the film. For us this film becomes just another gimmic and soret of B-movie science wanna be. The problem is that if you are a brilliant scientist as or team is with Kast and Clive Nicoli (Adrien Brody) then you just don't throw genes together and wait to see what you are going to get. It is not a mix and match and then see if you being is mostly or partly human. you will want to know, and not move forward until you know exactly what the expected outcome will be. Just throwing in frog dna sequences might be good enough for an action adventure film like Jurrasic Park but for a science fiction film, not so much. This may be the reason it was heavily advertized as a horror film, because they knew the science film premise would not hold together. So the deed is done and a creature starts growing, we get to see the development and be as amazed as our science team is on what develops, again they should already know what is going to come but seem amazed when it has funny legs and likes candy. Oh and what fucking scientist would just give the damn creature candies? What if it died from them?

When Dren grows into a semi female-ish being with funny legs the couple begin to see that working right under the noses of their company can only lead to trouble so they need a new place for Dren. Luckily the script writer/director (Vincenzo Natali) rescues them with a farm nobody ever mentioned and the Brody character never knew Kast had inherited even though they appear to be intimately involved in a long term relationship. The self concious reference makes it okay I guess? Really?

Off to the location where things can go horribly wrong, since the psuedoscience is done now the the script veers into personal motivation and we learn about Elsa's need for a child and how her damaging childhood fed into the creation of Dren. It is done as a reveal after we see her play Mom with the creature and loose all perspective as a scientist. She is the mother figure and it is her child, while all along the way Clive is like, "What the fuck we have to end this shit, this is crazy." and Elsa is like "Oh look at the little cutie, can't we keep her for just a bit longer, she's soooo cute." Okay I might be paraphrasing there but hey its close.

When Clive heads out to the barn to deal with Dren by himself things go horribly wrong. Maybe all father figures in movies are evil. Maybe because Dren is adult looking, with breasts but for some reason the Father figure, Clive thinks fucking the creature may be a way to deal with his troubles in his relationship with Elsa. Isn't this what all adopting Fathers do? So Brody goes full tilt on little Dren climaxing just prior to Elsa walking in the door. Yes it is what it looked like and things just spiral from there. Now I am no expert but I would say it is pretty messed up to screw the creature you brought into the world through genetic manipulation. I think Clive had that same feeling and probably felt really off the hook when they find Dren apparently dead in the water tub in the barn. He didn't get to say it to Elsa but I am sure he was thinking. "Okay, I know that was really fucked up but no one else needs to know about that right Elsa, baby." So they bury their problem but not their problems. Only one thing wrong with this, just like they introduced earlier in the film with the maggots, they both turned male and got aggressive. Dren sort of turns to Dan changing from a female to a male. Again let me state that there is no way this could have happened without scientist knowing the possibility was there. How can you combine genes without a basic understanding of chromosomes?

Male creature does what I guess all guys do and rapes Elsa and then comes to a very untimely death. Enough plot, what the fuck kind of fucked up head thought to make the males in this such fucking dickwads? Clive had sex with his non human child and then when that creature, probably out of shame changed into a male then raped its Mother? Hello what kind of freaking psychosis does this writer have? Elsa is no prize either, letting her personal life drive her experimentation but so afraid of intimacy that she can't have a baby, she has to create it. This bit of melodrama was metered out for us in such a soap opera way.

Now it is seeming like I hated this movie, which is not true. I hated alot about this film and wished it was better constructed. As a B-Movie it is decent entertainment, meant to be ridiculed as it is being viewed. As a serious attempt as a science fiction film it is not my cup of tea.

Rating (4.6) 5.0 and up are recommended In the Zombiegrrlz system, Rent it if you need to see it.

I Sell the Dead (2008) Horror Comedy

I Sell the Dead (2008) - Writer director Glenn McQuaid gives us a cute little film made for a TV audience, what? it wasn't a made for TV movie? Really? Well it could have been it is short and cute with a tame story not designed to scare as much as it is to amuse. In the Story Arthur Blake (Dominic Monaghan) is visited in the gallows as he awaits the guillotine, by Father Duffy (Ron Perlman). Duffy is there to record his story prior to death. Arthur tells him and we see through the film how her became a grave robber and then how he ended up in the gallows.
Certainly the story has more to it than that because Arthur and his partner Willie Grimes (Larry Fessenden) are no ordinary grave robbers, sure they start out that way but then they start stealing more supernatural bodies. The vampire scene is very amusing with Willie playfully removing and restaking the vamp. The bodies generally supply doctor Vernon Quint, the wonderful Angus Scrimm of Phantasm fame although just a cameo I just love that he was in the film at all.
The counter to the story of the two men is a rival grave robbing gang the Murphy family who are bad ass. I will not give away too much plot here because I will recommend this and do not want to spoil it for you. Willie and Arthur have a bunch of funny bits running into different undead creatures and crossing paths with the Murphys. When they get a third person into their team, Fanny Bryers (Brenda Cooney) things get a bit more complicated. She is more inexperience and yet more aggressive than the boys and convinces them to do a job they should have stayed away from. When things go wrong it sets up the opening scene where Arthur is waiting to have his head chopped off.
There are a couple of surprises in the end of the film, well I am not sure you can call them surprises, if you were paying attention like I was you saw them coming. They do make the end fun and in general that is the feeling I had throughout. It was entertaining and fun to watch.



Rating (5.8) 5.0 and up are recommended, in the Zombiegrrlz system I say Rent It!