Horror Movies

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Rites of Spring (2011)


This used to be on Netflix, not sure anymore? This movie was a low-budget slasher/creature movie that didn't knock my socks off, but it was pretty good. If you're not too anal retentive about your horror movies, the film in itself is not as bad as the others I've seen where I wanted to pour bleach in my eyes after seeing the first 5 minutes. It's not original, and it's cliché-ridden. There are numerous flaws as you go along. However, the actors are good and the cinematography is not bad either. The creature is pretty damn freaky! The ending left me scratching my head wondering WTF just happened. There are some loose ends left in the story that attempted to add some mystery, but ended up irritating me. In short, it's watchable if your expectations are not that high.

Mildly entertaining! 6/10

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Devils Pass (2013)


Netflix movie! Watched this one a long time ago but couldn't remember the name until I saw a trailer for it recently during one of my new viewings. Thought it deserved a rec! I did not expect much, like I do with all Netflix movies lol, but I was ended up really enjoying this one. The movie starts from detailed documentary of the suspicious mysteries surrounding the story and turns to 1st & 3rd person filming. It becomes more and more thrilling with every development. The story was a bit of a stretch, almost laughable, but it was really gripping. Good balance between storyline and progression of the movie. Unfortunately low budget shooting towards the end which looked cheesy but excellent shift of time and good character development makes the story more believable. The cgi/fx was pretty damn good!

Bizarre ending, but keep an open mind! 7/10

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

The Orphanage (2013)


Originally titled "Milwood" but later renamed prior to its release. Not sure I want to waste my breath on this one, as it was god awful. The storyline has been beaten to death, and this movie did nothing to provide anything new or refreshing. This movie came off as a high school project of sorts, maybe even middle school. The filming was ok, the sound was like something shot through a cellphone camera, and the actors were truly awful. The setting was pretty cool, but you don't get to see much of the surrounding landscape. I've seen some actors "over-act" a bunch in Hollywood, but this one set the bar a lot higher (or is it lower?). The characters were deeply irritating in every sense of the word, and they never came across as believable. Its easy for a viewer to think that anyone could act on some sort of average level, but this movie provides clear evidence to the contrary. The "scary" parts were actually pretty comical because you can tell they are really trying to provide suspense but it is failing miserably. It could have used a better score to provide some sort of suspense, but the overall atmosphere was flat.

Nothing to see here! 3/10

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

American Backwoods: Slew Hampshire (2013)


This movie was truly insane. Frightening, but not in a good way that you want for a horror film, more because of the shit they decided to film. Gay r*pe orgies aren't my bag, sorry. Then even more bizarre and gross shit happens. Its a crazy war of ridiculousness... Insane rednecks vs. Mountain Men that speak a bizarre language vs. some crazy "creature". Not to mention the unfortunate "victims" trapped in the middle of it all. This movie went above & beyond to think of really fucked up ways to gross out the viewer. To me this movie came off as embarrassing. Not sure why anyone thought this movie was a good idea. I've been reading reviews and a lot of fans are in love with the "creativity". As you can imagine, I was shaking my head in disbelief while reading it all. The filming was frustrating, the acting was amateur, and the suspense was non-existent. Didn't help that I was stuck trying to bleach images out of my head after seeing some of the shit they filmed. The filming was trying to create a suspenseful atmosphere by jumping into distorted realities to repeat quotes or say something new, but all it did was piss me off. The repetition of its use, and short length of time between each use made it very frustrating. Almost completely unwatchable. It might have just been me, but I did not enjoy this at all. I would never recommend it, or watch it again.

Not even alcohol helps... 3/10

 

[Chef99]

Dunno if this has been covered here before, but I just watched Event Horizon. Not really sure how I felt about it. My interest was held, but mainly because it seemed like some odd conglomeration of Alien and Kubrick's version of The Shining. It didn't totally suck, but it seemed to me that it should've been a lot better. Any of you guys seen it?

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Dunno if this has been covered here before, but I just watched Event Horizon. Not really sure how I felt about it. My interest was held, but mainly because it seemed like some odd conglomeration of Alien and Kubrick's version of The Shining. It didn't totally suck, but it seemed to me that it should've been a lot better. Any of you guys seen it?

Yea jakedog & I talked about it in here some 10-15 pages back.

I love that movie. I saw it in the theaters when it first came out. Its one of those movies that is far better in the theaters. Not sure if that makes sense, but it really does to me lol. I can still remember the chills I got while sitting there watching it on the big screen.

Lawrence Fishburne delivered a great performance. I didn't care much for Sam Neill because he is very 1 dimensional in all his movies, but he played the part pretty well. But the rest of the supporting cast did a great job as well. I really liked the way they built up the suspense. Dropping the subtle creepy clues here and there made for an epic "race to the finish" style climax. The prelim ship scan anomaly, the latin phrase on the audio log, the whispers, the visions, etc. It all added up to great suspense!

 

[jakedog56]

Dunno if this has been covered here before, but I just watched Event Horizon. Not really sure how I felt about it. My interest was held, but mainly because it seemed like some odd conglomeration of Alien and Kubrick's version of The Shining. It didn't totally suck, but it seemed to me that it should've been a lot better. Any of you guys seen it?

As Face-lee-us said, we talked about it a bit some pages ago.

I really liked it when it first came out but when I rewatched it I do admit that it had it's flaws. Mostly the story seemed very rushed and the characters, while interesting, were not developed very well. It was one of those movies that could have used an extra 20 minutes or so on the storyline and characters.

The fxs and gore were great though! Truely disturbing images in it. The stuff on the recording was wacky.

I like your comparision of it to a mix of Alien and The Shining. It is an apt correlation and one that I had not thought of before.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Out of the Dark (2014)


Pretty average and somewhat boring. The film itself is not terrible at all. The mood and look of the film is nice, the acting and direction are decent, and there are a FEW scary moments. But ultimately, I just don't think that it has enough depth and substance to make it a very effective Horror film. Basically, the technical aspects are just fine. I feel that the director did moderately well in creating a fairly decent mood. But, I think that the story itself and the way it was developed could have used a bit more complexity. Otherwise, it is a pretty much just a passably mild, 'haunting' horror film.

Lacking substance... 5/10

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Frankenstein's Army (2013)

per @SDGuy73 's recommendation! Thanks again!


This movie took a very obscure concept, and put it into a very simple format. And the results were pretty epic! The 'creatures' alone are worthy of making this movie a cult classic. They are truly remarkable, even if the plot itself falls a bit short. The attention to detail was mind boggling. I found myself pausing the movies at multiple moments just to drink it all in. The acting is sub-par and there is no real character development at all. But the beauty of that is in the simplicity of the format. You can easily tell that the director didn't give 2 shits about his characters. Whether that was to make them more expendable, or to let the 'creatures' take center stage, I don't know. Maybe a combination of both? Either way, it didn't bother me at all! But this movie implements the "survival" horror basics. First person filming added an up close and personal touch to the film, which gave it that frightening Quarantine feel. If you want to see some fantastic creature design, give this movie a try. It is entertaining enough from start to finish to warrant a viewing. It's not really thought provoking or great horror, but if you are looking for some mindless fun then give this a go!

Intense! 7/10

 

[Chef99]

Out of the Dark (2014)


Pretty average and somewhat boring. The film itself is not terrible at all. The mood and look of the film is nice, the acting and direction are decent, and there are a FEW scary moments. But ultimately, I just don't think that it has enough depth and substance to make it a very effective Horror film. Basically, the technical aspects are just fine. I feel that the director did moderately well in creating a fairly decent mood. But, I think that the story itself and the way it was developed could have used a bit more complexity. Otherwise, it is a pretty much just a passably mild, 'haunting' horror film.

Lacking substance... 5/10

How's Julia Stiles looking? She used to be a little hottie!

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

How's Julia Stiles looking? She used to be a little hottie!

I'll put it this way... She looked the part for playing a mother character.

 

[Chef99]

I'll put it this way... She looked the part for playing a mother character.

Yikes...somehow I don't think you're talking MILF territory, either...

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Yikes...somehow I don't think you're talking MILF territory, either...

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Yikes...somehow I don't think you're talking MILF territory, either...

 

[jakedog56]

View attachment 21201

It's not like she is some hidious she-beast but she certainly went rushing past her hollywood hotness expiration date in a hurry!

Too bad. She was quite the looker even just a few years ago.

 

[jakedog56]

Watched Waxwork (1988) and Waxwork 2: Lost in Time (1992) based on an article claiming they were among the classic horror movies of the time period.

Overall I found them a bit disappointing. Pretty cheesy but rather intentionally so as they were more homages to not only specific famous horror movies but also generally to cheesy 50s- 60s-70s films.

Some good and funny appearances by famous/semi-famous actors and some pretty cool gore. Bruce Campbell was, as always, great in the sequel.

Watch if you are a big fan of the history of the genre but be prepared for lame acting, cheesy dialog, and storylines that meander and sometimes flounder. Fun in their own way though.

 

[jakedog56]

I also watched Burying the Ex (2014) based on the fact that it was directed by Joe Dante who has classics like The Howling, Gremlins (1 and 2), and The Burbs to his credit. However this "zomiedie" falls short of his best work.

Not horrible but not on any must watch list in my opinion. Rather slow for a lot of it. Things pick up a bit by the end. It certainly does do a good job of painting the whipped boyfriend/psycho girlfriend relationship.

Dante focuses on the comedy aspect too much. If he would have ramped up the violence and gore to balance the horror aspects it would have been a much better movie. Dante seems to have forgotten what brought him success.

 

[jakedog56]

Just watched "The Babadook" last night. Really a pretty good movie.

I don't recall if it has been reviewed here before or not but excellent story and direction. The actress that played the mom really was excellent. The kid was as annoying as hell but that was intentional. Very well done movie. The creature was also pretty cool.

It is a bit slow at the start but does a good job of building tension. The story was actually quite deep and well layered.

Highly recommended. Watch it if you get a chance.

 

[DJ]

It's Saturday and it's almost September.....there has to be a new horror flick on Sy Fy tonight.

 

[DJ]

RIP Wes Craven.