Reviews

Girls Nite Out has an intriguing premise about an escaped mental patient mucking up a college's scavenger hunt by dressing up as their school mascot and slicing them to death with their giant claws, but it's far too unfocused and lacking in suspense to be truly effective as a horror film. It tries to make every character in the film a lead which makes things confusing and hard to follow when it's not boring us by lingering for too long on characters who don't end up offering much to the story. There's a last minute twist that does work and leaves the film on a final, creepy note, but it's too late by that point. Hal Holbrook has a few scenes and looks bored throughout most of them.

Jo Ann Harris makes a charming leading character in a film that feels more like a dull TV movie of the week with extra helpings of nudity and a brief flash of violence here and there to turn into something worth of a theatrical release. While the attention paid on small town dynamics and characters is appreciated, the story gets convoluted and spends too much time on characters or subplots that either go nowhere or are painfully uninteresting. For a horror/thriller, there's not even one frightening or intense sequence in the film and all the attack scenes lack energy. The abrupt and confusing ending is the final nail in the film's coffin. Not one you need to make any time for or go out of your way to find.

A star studded cast featuring Sally Field, Jessica Walter, Julie Harris, and Eleanor Parker are not the ones you expect to see in a film of this sort, but it's a tightly scripted and well-executed murder mystery that feels like an early example of the slasher film before the formula was tweaked by the likes of Black Christmas, Halloween, and Friday the 13th. Considering its 70's TV movie roots, it's a mostly bloodless film, but that gives us more time to spend with the characters and the oppressive rainy ambiance around this house. They do a great job of making everything feel tense and claustrophobic. It would be excellent to see this film remastered and available on Blu-Ray.

The Burning is thematically similar to other films such as Friday the 13th, Madman, and Sleepaway Camp, but it deviates enough from the formula to make it a worthwhile watch for slasher fans. Especially extraordinary are Tom Savini's gruesome makeup effects. Future stars such as Jason Alexander, Fisher Stevens, and Holly Hunter all appear and are given little to do and only one of them becomes a victim of scarred madman Cropsy.

While going into many Euro horror films, it's best to leave your linear brain at the welcome mat and just let the mood of the films wash over you. Dario Argento's Phenomena is definitely one of those movies. The story is interesting if a tad meandering at times with Jennifer Connelly playing a movie star's daughter who can communicate with insects and uses this gift to track down a serial killer who's been killing the students at her all-girls boarding school. Just when you think Phenomena can't get anymore bizarre, the finale rolls around.

While more episodic than well plotted, William Lustig's Maniac is a great slice of life in early 80's New York City with just enough creepy sequences and gory effects by Tom Savini to keep one's interest. Lead actor Joe Spinell sacrifices all vanity and turns in a really gripping and terrifying performance.

Dario Argento's most well-known film is this supernatural chiller about an American ballet student who uncovers a secret about the German dance academy she's just arrived at. The plot and screenplay aren't awards worthy, but the nightmarish visuals and hellish soundscape provided by Goblin are the main reasons to see this movie. Jessica Harper does a good job as the bemused audience surrogate, hoping from one ghoulish set piece to another.

No one does body horror like David Cronenberg and Videodrome features some of the director's most bizarre and unforgettable moments. The first act is mysterious and compelling, but as it continues on, things can get a little confusing as everything becomes distorted and surreal and you can't tell if what you're seeing is real or part of the lead character's imagination.

After watching Deep Red, it's clear to see why Dario Argento is regarded as such a master of horror and suspense. The story revolving around an English musician who witnesses the murder of a prominent psychic is filled with multiple twists until the shocking finale and the murder scenes are executed with style and flair. If you watch the original Italian version, some scenes can drag a little bit, but it least it offers a little colorful characterization usually lacking in films such as this.

A man accidentally runs over a little girl and the girl's grandfather places a curse on him that causes...well, not much to happen. Dark August has a potentially interesting concept, but does very little with it. While some of the brief images of hooded figures lurking outside the home of our lead character are well done, that's about the only tool the filmmakers have in their toolbox to try and build tension or give the audience the shivers. There's a shocking lack of urgency throughout the film that really drags it down.

Two college geeks accidentally unleash an alien specimen from their school lab while trying to show off for some frat boys and trigger an invasion of slug-like creatures who turn everything they encounter into zombies.

Night of the Creeps mashes up zombie movies, sci-fi, and slashers into a hugely entertaining package of brilliant practical effects, engaging characters, a strong sense of humor, and crowd-pleasing gore.

After trying to go for supernatural thrills and chills with Suspiria and Inferno, Dario Argento returns to the giallo with Tenebre - a stylish, cold, and elegant return to form. The film's lead, Peter Neal, is a writer of violent mystery novels whose arrival in Rome is met with a string of gory murders inspired by pages from his latest book. The police believe the killer is either trying to show their devotion to Neal or they might be wanting to make him their latest victim.

Murders are showcased in disturbing detail with garishly bright photography very unlike anything else Argento had done up to this point. Goblin's disco soundtrack is both creepy and danceable. Even better, Tenebre features one of Argento's strongest and most twist-heavy screenplays that's sure to keep you guessing right up until the bloody, operatic finale.

For the first half hour of Boogeyman, things are going pretty well. The story is interesting and the movie is well shot and practically oozes atmosphere and dread. Suddenly, things stop making sense. Time loops open up, characters we think were alive turn out to be dead, and the boogeyman himself turns out to be a badly rendered CGI creation that wouldn't look out of place in a 90's video game.

If the first half weren't so effective, maybe one could shrug this off as just another mindless studio cash in, but it's so clear that people did put a lot of effort into this movie, because so many scenes do work in the first half. It's when they start supplying annoying flash cuts underscored by loud bangs to substitute for actual scares that the film loses steam and becomes something truly quite awful.

Could studio tampering be to blame? Who knows.

Beyond Evil has John Saxon and Lynda Day George as a couple who move to an island for one of the husband's construction jobs and the wife becomes possessed by the spirit of an angry woman who lives in their house.

Beyond Evil starts out slow, then picks up steam for a few minutes and then slows down to a crawl again. It's never very scary or suspenseful, but there are a few somewhat creepy shots and it has a nice Pino Donaggio score. It's biggest crime is a lack of danger and urgency.

Average slasher that has the distinction of being more gay themed than usual. At least it has a likable character or two to counteract some of the more superficial, horny, or bitchy stereotypes running around.

It's low on gore and actual suspense, but it's nice to see a horror film from a more gay perspective. I'm trying to figure out if it was better or worse than the similar Hellbent. The killer reveal is painfully obvious to anyone with half a brain cell and there's one death scene not performed by the killer that's super confusing and leads to absolutely nothing. They could have taken that out altogether.

The original Black Christmas was a masterpiece of subtle terror that refused to give anyone any answers even as the credits rolled. This new Black Christmas gives us all the answers, but gives us a few of them a bit too soon, which leaves the film without a lot of suspense or tension. Subtlety is not the word of the day for the filmmakers of this new take on the slasher story and its attempts to be political lack nuance and make the entire endeavor feel more like a preachy student film or a very special episode of Saved By the Bell where the entire goal is to stand on a soap box and lecture you for 90 minutes instead of tell an interesting story with timely, political themes.

At a certain point, Black Christmas completely forgets it's a horror film altogether. In fact, it's obvious that telling an interesting, suspenseful, and scary story is the last thing on the creators' minds, which is a shame, because there are some good ideas that could have been explored involving sexual assault, rape culture, and men vs. women.

Imogen Poots is the clear star here and she does what she can with the material she's been given, but her main story arc involving a frat party sexual assault might have been better served in a more serious minded film that's more interested in nuance and real human truths.

Sequels are tough as it's always nearly impossible for lightning to strike twice. Night of the Demons 2 has a wonky storyline involving Angela's sister still suffering from not knowing if her sister actually perished in Hull House all those years ago. She attends a posh Catholic boarding school and is known as "Mouse" by most of her sassy classmates. When a handful of her classmates are banned from the Halloween dance on school grounds, they decide to sneak out of the school and make a party of their own at Hull House. As is the case with most of these movies, things don't go according to plan and, soon, the teenagers find themselves being possessed and murdered by Angela and other demonic forces.

Night of the Demons 2 understands what kind of a movie it is from the get go and decides to have fun with it. It's not going to be making broad political statements or give us nuanced character development. It's all about the outlandish set pieces and gore and, boy, does it deliver on those. Lipstick turns into worms that crawl up a girl's skirt and possesses her (a la Evil Dead), bodies explode, breasts turn into acid spewing arms, and more. It's lame brained, but incredibly enjoyable.

Michael York plays an opportunistic cad who weasels his way into the home of a penniless former rich family and proceeds to use his charms to seduce them into making him a part of the family and bring them wealth and status again.

This has to be one of the most surprising films I've seen recently. It has a smart, twisty, and frequently funny script and the performances (especially by Angela Lansbury as the lusty matriarch) are excellent. Somehow, this movie is rated R, but there's no gore, strong language, or even nudity. This must be one of those rare times when a film's tone dictates the rating and I can understand why, because Something For Everyone is one horny movie. Everybody in this movie is getting laid or wanting to. For 1970, it must have been incredibly daring, especially to see a male on male kiss.

Something For Everyone is a hidden pearl of a movie and Lansbury fans will especially love it.

Shirley MacLaine (with an unconvincing New York accent that wavers constantly) plays a free-spirited beatnik who falls for a soon-to-be divorced attorney who's just moved to the big city to find himself. The film feels about a half hour too long and the pacing slugs along like molasses pouring out of a jar. MacLaine's character also suffers from terrible ulcers which leads to some seriously overdone melodrama towards the end of the film where she's acting like she's about to die of consumption. It makes everything cheesy. At least the ending is fairly realistic and not what one would expect from a film from the 60s.

Maybe the play was better?

I have no idea how it took me so long to see this, but I'm happy to report that it mostly still works. The movie really does feel like some kid's extended nightmare where nothing makes sense and just about anything can happen. That's really the only way the movie makes any sense, but it's all so cool that it doesn't matter.

The music score really got under my skin and it's just as effective as John Carpenter's work for Halloween. It's simple, melodic, and terrifying. Angus Scrimm cuts a mean figure as the Tall Man and I'm pretty sure he's going to give me nightmares for years to come.

The least Ken Russell film that Ken Russell ever made. I guess that homoerotic wrestling scene is pretty out there, but everything else just didn't grab me at all. It felt very pedestrian and dull most of the time. Maybe I should have seen this one first before seeing movies like Tommy and Crimes of Passion.

It does have a great cast. You can't go wrong with people like Oliver Reed, Glenda Jackson, and Alan Bates.