Jeff Burk's Blog, page 8
October 24, 2016
31 Days of Horror I Haven’t Seen – Day #24 – FEAR INC.
Every day for the month of October I am watching and reviewing a horror movie that I haven’t seen before. Here’s today’s:
FEAR, INC.
Vincent Masciale, United States, 2016
It’s basically the horror version of David Fincher’s THE GAME. The characters in the movie even directly point this out.
A horror obsessed guy signs up for an “interactive haunting experience.” This is a program in which instead of going to a haunted house – the haunted house comes to you. But the main characters and his friends quickly begin to suspect that the experience is more real than they first thought it was. This is one of the more self-aware movies that I’ve ever seen as the characters are all extremely familiar with horror and haunted attraction tropes and they actively discuss and try to outwit the company.
The plot twists and turns every few minutes and it’s practically impossible to be sure of what is “really” going on at any given moment. This makes for an extremely engaging movie but it also sets up for what will be the most controversial aspect – it’s ending. The plot flips around so often that they made it almost impossible to give a conclusion that will please everyone. Some will love it. I didn’t. This was almost one of my favorites of the year but the very end just did not work for me at all.
October 23, 2016
31 Days of Horror I Haven’t Seen – Day #23 – COLD SWEAT
Every day for the month of October I am watching and reviewing a horror movie that I haven’t seen before. Here’s today’s:
COLD SWEAT
Adrián García Bogliano, Argentina, 2010
I normally am not that interested in the “home invasion” subgenre (it just does nothing for me) but this was a really cool spin on it. In this movie the home invaders are the heroes from the beginning. A guy is trying to track down his ex-girlfriend who went missing with the aid of his friend and they track her down to a townhouse in the middle of a city. What they find is two elderly men who are keeping young women hostage and forcing them to solve a math equation.
How they keep the women in line is the most interesting aspect of the movie – the old men cover their hostages with liquid nitroglycerin. I find most movies in this subgenre to be very generic but the spin of having the villains be helpless old men with their weapon being liquid explosives allowed for many original takes on scenes we’ve all seen dozens of times before.
Thrilling and engrossing with smart characters – this was a real fun time from a subgenre I normally don’t enjoy.
October 22, 2016
31 Days of Horror I Haven’t Seen – Day #22 – SLUGS
Every day for the month of October I am watching and reviewing a horror movie that I haven’t seen before. Here’s today’s:
SLUGS
Juan Piquer Simón, United States/Spain, 1988
Oh man, was this one a surprise. A low-budget flick about killer slugs just never sounded that interesting to me. Wow, was I wrong!
This is a wonderful piece of eighties trash. The killer slug concept is actually used really well. It takes the JAWS set-up of a town being attacked by a predator and the authorities refusing to do anything about it. Unlike JAWS were the inaction is motivated by economics, in this nothing is done because everyone thinks the idea of killer slugs is stupid. Brilliant!
What really surprised me was how gory it was. When the slugs kill people they tear their flesh off their entire body while they are still alive and screaming. When there’s eyeball and bursting heads you know you are in for a good time.
I love that the movie’s tagline translates to “slimy death.”
October 21, 2016
31 Days of Horror I Haven’t Seen – Day #21 – A FIELD IN ENGLAND
Every day for the month of October I am watching and reviewing a horror movie that I haven’t seen before. Here’s today’s:
A FIELD IN ENGLAND
Ben Wheatley, United Kingdom, 2013
A group of deserters during the English Civil War take shrooms and wonder around in circles in a field. That’s the whole movie – really.
I can’t stand the director’s, Ben Wheatley, movies (other than his most recent, HIGH-RISE). I have no idea why his movies are grouped in with the horror genre so frequently. This was just a pretentious art with more focus on looking pretty than any attempt at something resembling plot or substance.
If you are remotely interested in this just watch the trailer. You won’t get anything more out of the full film other than ninety wasted minutes.
October 20, 2016
31 Days of Horror I Haven’t Seen – Day #20 – DAWN OF THE MUMMY
Every day for the month of October I am watching and reviewing a horror movie that I haven’t seen before. Here’s today’s:
DAWN OF THE MUMMY
Frank Agrama, United States/Italy, 1981
We don’t get nearly enough mummy movies. They are considered one of the classic monsters and yet you can count on one hand the number of decent mummy movies out there.
This is an eighties co-production between the US and Italy and it has all the cheese and sleaze that one would expect from that era and those countries. The movie follows a two groups of people – a gang of grave robbers and a group of models – who run afoul of an ancient curse in Egypt.
Really the plot isn’t anything special and the first hour is a bit of a slog. But the last third is some pretty awesome trash horror. The mummies attack an Egyptian city en mass and graphically tear apart anyone they can get their hands on. This isn’t on the same level as Fulci’s classics but if like the grindhouse style and you compliant this with some beer and a few tokes, there’s some fun to be had.
October 19, 2016
31 Days of Horror I Haven’t Seen – Day #19 – WITCHING AND BITCHING
Every day for the month of October I am watching and reviewing a horror movie that I haven’t seen before. Here’s today’s:
WITCHING AND BITCHING
Álex de la Iglesia, Spain, 2013
After a bank robbery gone wrong, a group of thieves (and the people tracking them) end up in a small town filled with witches. And then everything goes bad.
The director is also reasonable for DAY OF THE BEAST and THE LAST CIRCUS – just like those flicks, this is a genre-bending slice of weirdo horror/comedy. The characters are immensely likeable despite the terrible things that they do. But the witches really steal the show. Great, simple, effects drive home that they are constant magic users and their powers make for quite the interesting villains. And wait until you meet the surprise in the last third.
It seems that there’s been a number of witch films in recent years and this is among the best of them. It’s easily the most fun.
October 18, 2016
31 Days of Horror I Haven’t Seen – Day #18 – THE GREASY STRANGLER
Every day for the month of October I am watching and reviewing a horror movie that I haven’t seen before. Here’s today’s:
THE GREASY STRANGLER
Jim Hosking, United States 2016
We didn’t get a new Lloyd Kaufman film this year but we did get this!
This is a weird one and really hard to describe. It’s about an elderly serial killer who lives with his son – but it’s not really about the killing at all. It’s more about how they are competing for the attention of the same woman.
The movie isn’t about the plot as much as it is about the weird and quirky characters and their interactions. There’s a tone of John Waters style “unpleasantness” that deeply influences every one and their manners and speech call to mind many of the live-action shows of Adult Swim.
This movie definitely isn’t for everyone and I suspect a large number of viewers will outright hate this. But if your tastes lay more towards the strange and bizarro, I recommend checking this out.
October 17, 2016
31 Days of Horror I Haven’t Seen – Day #17 – CORPSE PARTY: TORTURED SOULS
Every day for the month of October I am watching and reviewing a horror movie that I haven’t seen before. Here’s today’s:
CORPSE PARTY: TORTURED SOULS
Akira Iwanaga, Japan, 2013
I’ve stretched with previous days the definition of “horror” and now I’m going to stretch the definition of “movie.” This was originally aired as a four part TV series but it is one story that adds up to just under two hours. I’ve done made-for-TV movies already and this isn’t that different.
Anime is one of the few “nerd” things I’ve never really been able to get into. There’s common tropes that just turn me off. This anime is constantly listed as one of the scariest and goriest ever made.
It does at times fall victim to the fan service prevalent in the genre but only in the very beginning and I believe it was to misdirect the viewer. The story quickly turns into SILENT HILL meets HELLRAISER after a class of school children are sucked into another dimension where the evil and supernatural rule.
The visuals are wonderful and the animation is fantastic. However, the plot is extremely convoluted and once you realize what’s all going on it’s a bit cliché. The surreal and grotesque visuals make up for the lacking story and I have to say I enjoyed myself from beginning to end.
So what other hardcore horror anime is out there? And is there any without schoolgirls?
October 16, 2016
31 Days of Horror I Haven’t Seen – Day #16 – TELL ME HOW I DIE
Every day for the month of October I am watching and reviewing a horror movie that I haven’t seen before. Here’s today’s:
TELL ME HOW I DIE
D.J. Viola, United States, 2016
Goddammit, I keep getting suckered into watching young adult movies. The premises sounds like cool horror/sci-fi ideas and then when I watch the movie it’s about pretty young people having problems among themselves.
Ugh.
This one is based on a scientific study in which a bunch of pretty young people are given a chemical that has a side effect of visions of the future for some users. They then learn through the visions that the study isn’t all that it claims to be and that members of their own group will be turning on them.
Like I said, good premise. But if you’re over the age of 17 or don’t love CW shows, I can’t recommend this.
October 15, 2016
31 Days of Horror I Haven’t Seen – Day #15 – CAST A DEADLY SPELL
Every day for the month of October I am watching and reviewing a horror movie that I haven’t seen before. Here’s today’s:
CAST A DEADLY SPELL
Martin Campbell, United States, 1991
Taking place an alternate reality 1940’s where monsters, magic, and all sort of supernatural phenomena are common place, the film follows a private detective named Lovecraft who is hired to track down the Necronomicon. The combination noir setting and tropes combined with practical effect monsters and silly humor makes this feel like TALES FROM THE CRYPT (both were made by HBO).
It’s a shame that this was released straight to cable TV. If this had had a theatrical release I’m sure it would be much higher regarded by the general horror community. There’s ton of references to various Lovecraft stories, fantastic special effects, and an overall sense of glee that makes this a perfect film for the Halloween season.
