BLACK EVE

Years before the dawn of torture porn; years before horror was reduced  to dismissing the need for scares and reducing the genre to gross out masochistic blood fests, the slasher genre ruled.  From Halloween in 1978 on, tales of killers stalking the youth of a community dominated the box office.

Black Eve (dir by Ryan Andrews) brings this genre back with a vengeance.  He weaved a complicated tale about a killer running rampant through a party of teenagers.  While avoiding spoilers, all I can say is that the set up isn't the story and Andrews does an excellent job of taking us down a spiral of terror that is both physical and psychological.

Ryan Andrews weaves a narrative that is reminiscent of the slasher classics that came before while forging new ground in terror.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1594913/

http://www.facebook.com/BlackEveMovie

STARTED OUT DARK, ENDED UP TWITCHY

I started writing this blog in somewhat of a dark place. For the first time since doing this, I asked myself “what's the point?” Abram's Hand was denied for the first time in a festival. Not upset about not getting in necessarily, but bummed because I was again faced that this isn't always about talent or who's film is better. It's about connections. It's about names. It's about money. And then talent.

I didn't necessarily mind the idea of not playing the fest. It's one of those things. And in the past year, we had more than our share of successes. But the list of films comes out and you see remakes of TV shows and such...well, I went a little Vader after Padme died. “Nooooooo!” This isn't to say I felt that about every film that got in. Not at all. Ya'Ke's film WOLF is premiering there. I'm in awe of him as a director. I was his student at Texas and I think he's got a brilliant eye. It deserves the honor. And I saw Gayby at SlamDance as a short and am excited to see the full thing.

So, again, I was asking “what's the point?”

The point is to realize this: “They” want me to quit. So, the minute I do, it lets them win. Gives them one less obstacle too block their way. So, the key is to gut through the disappointment and set backs and find a new angle of positivity. New energy to work harder. So, while the point of the blog was originally to rail against the unfairness of the situation, I'm gonna go with a more positive tone. Focus on how I'm going to keep my energy and positivity.

1. My wife. I cannot say enough about what she means to me and what she's done to help us grow.  She's beautiful, genuine and the sweetest person I know.  Truly a better person than I.
2. The Twitchy owners: Chris Copple shoots a movie better than most people I know. And really helps keep me moving. Especially when I need my meds.  Or when our backs are against the wall.  And Nathan Bybee has a unique way of staying positive just when I need him to be.
3. The Twitchy Folks: People like: Stephanie Dunbar, Terissa Kelton, Natalie Wilemon, Richard Jones, Caitlin Sweeney, Brandi Blevins, Francis Casanova, Sonia Melendez, Aaron Gaudin, Will Cooper, Billy and Elizabeth Kring, Colby Wallingsford, Christen Holder, Derick Morris, Ashley Serrao, Vanessa Perry, Benjamin Jabe, Phillip Emmanuel, Conrad Gonzales, Allison Wood, Mark McCarver, Orion Gallagher, Jenn Nicole and so many others. Even Jimmy Donovan. These folks have worked so hard on past projects and touched me with their talents and really humbled me with their effort.
4. The cast of 3 References. Full of new faces. So many talents. I'm as excited as heck to get started. Those guys are really, really funny.
5. The CineMafia. Our word for the other filmmakers who are “like” us. Gary Warren is a brother to me (even though he'd prefer to read the more angry version of this blog). Carlo Rodriguez is one of the hardest working guys I know. Janet Mayson brings such infectious enthusiasm to everything she does. Mike Donis is the same, just more Canadian. Sharon Wright is like an old school Hollywood starlet. Full of grace (and sometimes a foul mouth, which I love :-) Ford Austin is a guy who is just motivating to be around. And Marc Wasserman brings shots! (and so much more. The guy can act. And I have genuine love for that dude.) Scott and Kandi Duns are this amazing husband and wife couple that have gone all in for eachother like Jess and I have. All of these folks, including Koran Dunbar our new friend we just met wow me with their work ethic and creativity that I'm inspired to try and keep up.

So, that's where I'm left . It's always darkest before the dawn. And I honestly feel that I will get back to it tomorrow and be full speed ahead. For those of you who sign on to work with us, better keep up or get off the train completely. Cause we won't slow down and we're not afraid to run folks over.

Thought I'd link you guys to the members of the "CineMafia" for some insight into their projects and such.

TWITCHY DOLPHIN FLIX:

www.twitchydolphin.com

facebook.com/twitchydolphin

GARY WARREN:

facebook.com/pages/The-Path-of-Torment/136011754134

facebook.com/pages/The-Best-Laid-Schemes/226571961031?ref=ts

CARLO RODRIGUEZ:

www.gothicfilms.biz/

www.underdogs.com

JANET MAYSON:

www.woofnow.com

MIKE DONIS:

http://www.facebook.com/PeteWinningAndThePirates

SHARON WRIGHT:

http://www.shesalwayswright.com/

MARC WASSERMAN:

http://www.resipsaproductions.com/

FORD AUSTIN:

http://angrybabymonkey.com/main.html

SCOT & KANDI DUNS:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wild-Heart-Productions-LLC/171283396258609

KORAN DUNBAR:

http://www.greencastlethefilm.com/index.html

GREENCASTLE review

Since our films Look At MeAgain and Snatch 'N'Grab began their festival runs a year ago, I've seen hundreds of independent films. Some were good. Some were great. Most of the films were covered with the blood, sweat and tears of their filmmakers who put everything into their project. Some not so much. A few of the films stuck with me after the screening. One such film was Greencastle.  We were fortunate to be at the premiere of this film at the Idyllwild International Festival Of Cinema.

Set in Greencastle, PA, this film takes on a number of heavy topics. It covers issues dealing with single fatherhood, moving on after the loss of a spouse and how to grab a hold of your life's dreams while struggling with racial identity. It handles these issues with subtlety and delicacy, couching the story in a tale of love and forgiveness.

The film features a great cast that really brought a human face to the difficult challenges the story presented. Writer/Director Koran Dunbar plays Poitier Dunning, a widower whose life is slowing passing by. He struggles with keeping the momentum of his life going while trying to raise his son Julian, played by real life son Aurelius. These two have great chemistry on screen with Julian providing an emotion touchtone for Poitier. Both Koran and Aurelius create vivid characters that really allow the audience to connect with their struggle. Nikki Estridge's Leslie enters the story as a wounded woman running from her past and becomes a glimmer of a hopeful future for Julian and Poitier. Her naked portrayal of a woman just trying to get a new start is frank and touching. The film benefits from an amazing cast of supporting actors as well. Ralph Mauriello as Rocco is a breath of fresh air, the hardened, tough talking boss who really wants the best for Poitier. Christopher James stole every scene he was in as the Bradley Cooper-esque Rick.

The cast, combined with the honest simplicity of the story created a film that was impossible not to connect with. I was honored to be in the audience and I look forward to watching the audience of Greencastle grow. Any one complaining about reboots or remakes in Hollywood need to check out this film and others like it. The originality and honesty of our film culture is out there. We just need to find it. And the journey can begin with films like Greencastle.  And it can continue with films from the likes of Gary C. Warren, Gothic Films, Sharon Wright, Mike Donis, Janet Mayson Marc Wasserman, Ford Austin and Underdogs.com.  They make movies with nothing but a love of film and desire to tell a story.  Or, all that you need.

James Christopher

President, Twitchy Dolphin Flix

www.twitchydolphin.com

OUR ICONS? OR L.A.'s?

So, we've all read it and cringed:

"A reimagining"

"A reboot"

"A redefining"

"A retread"

RE-RE-RE-RE....remember when people just told a cool story?

It's not uncommon for Hollywood to return to old themes or ideas - that's been going on for as long as there has been a movie industry.  But the idea of taking specific characters and changing part of their story because they weren't "cool" enough in the first place seems relatively new.

"We're gonna do SUPERMAN, but he needs to be cooler.  Edgier."  Rather than focus on what works about the character and writing a good story with those elements, they ignore everything about it, focusing just on the brand recognition.

One only need to look as far as the Twilight novels to see how popular culture has started a trend of gutting character arch types that we know for drastically different (and counter to the core of the character) interpretations.

So it begs the question.  Who owns these characters?  Does it go beyond the legal ownership and licensing rights to a greater sense of ownership by those who hold these characters dear to their hearts?  George Lucas constantly redefines the most popular series of films in history.  Are they truly "his"?  Or are they owned, in part, by those of us who feel they are part of the fabric of our culture?

THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME FOR A FLICK

Christmas season is upon us.  Well, I guess it's been upon us since October, but now it's in full swing.  Just 20 days until the jolly fat man squeezes his white ass down the chimney.  I've been prepping the way I always do...watching movies.  I watch a variety.  Some are new.  Some are old.  Some are gonna make you say WTF for either it being included (or excluded).  So, here are my top ten Christmasy flicks that I have to watch every year so I can keep the holiday in my heart...

1)    NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION  "If I woke up with my head sewn to the carpet, I couldn't be more surprised than I am right now."  trailer

2)    A CHRISTMAS STORY  "Fragile!  It must be Italian."  trailer

3)    ELF  "We're gonna go ice skating and eat sugar plumbs!"  trailer

4)    MIRACLE ON 34th STREET  trailer

5)    DIE HARD "It's Christmas time in Hollis, Queens..."  trailer

6)    MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL  "There's more of gravy than of grave..."  trailer

7)    LETHAL WEAPON  "Do you really wanna jump?  Do ya?"  trailer

8)    A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS trailer

9)    WHITE CHRISTMAS "We'll follow the old man..."  trailer

10)   4 CHRISTMASES  "I'm from the bison state baby..."  trailer

Yep, no IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE and BAD SANTA got the boot.

SAY IT AIN'T SO, JOEL

Sadly, he didn't.  Joel McHale confirmed on his Twitter that, in fact, Community has gone into some kind of hiatus.

Does this mark the end of the one of the best written shows on TV?  It definitely doesn't bode well for the show.  Whether were heading for the early death of an Arrested Development or whether the show will limp along in SCRUBS-ian fashion remains to be seen.

One thing is clear however.  The proof that the American cultural IQ has dropped to the point that it can be satiated with more reality and typical sitcom fare is evident.

Part of my love of Community stems from the fact that it is most decidedly a-typical.  It's meta, its irreverent and it pokes fun at the Whitneys and the Up All Nights of the world by illustrating all of the tropes that make those genres so silly and overdone.  As a film guy and someone who'd rather watch a movie than most of the tripe on TV these days, I get that.  And so does a very loyal fan base that I don't think will take this lightly.  For those of you who don't get it, who didn't feel "in on the joke," I don't know what to say.  Maybe less REAL HOUSEWIVES and X FACTORS and more entertainment of substance?  If you want to give the show a shot, I suggest the Halloween Ep of season 1 and the season 1 & 2 finales.

What was a dynamic night of off beat comedies just got less so.  I for one hope to be back at Greendale sooner than later.

HALLOWEEN 5,6,7

HALLOWEEN 5: THE REVENGE OF MICHAEL MYERS

While not as “good” a sequel as 4 or 2, I dig this one.. Again, Danielle Harris and Donald Pleasance carry this film. Michael is back a year later after a really nice sequence referencing Bride of Frankenstein where he is nursed back to health by an old man who he then kills. (He monster did it as an accident. Mike is just a jerk.)

Again the film executes the tropes first set out by the original but also builds on the mythology in an attempt to deepen the story. There are some missteps though. This is the first of the Halloween films that creates characters that you WANT to die. The goofy cops for two and I kind of wanted Jamie's little friend to buy it too. In fact, none of the characters, outside of Loomis or Jamie are worth even rooting for.

What I always enjoyed about the other films was the degree of empathy felt when the characters would buy it. On the other hand, one of the strong parts of this entry is that the story is built to carry on and seeds are planted to carry through the next installment.

HALLOWEEN 6: THE CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS

This movie is weird for me. In a lot of ways, it takes the franchise in a bold (potential) new direction. But at the same time, it randomly kills off a beloved character (Jamie Lloyd) after recasting her.

But I didn't hate the film, mostly due to performances like the one that Paul Rudd (yes, that Paul Rudd) gave as TOMMY DOYLE. Tommy survived the first night's attacks and has studied Myers from afar and introduces the idea that Michael's unstoppability might be more than happenstance. The character of Doyle almost adds a degree of realism to the narrative, even with how “out there” it gets.

The film has major flaws, a product I learned later had to do with test screenings, reshoots and the like. The knowledge of a producers cut has my interest and I will wait for that to arrive to pass final judgement on the film. But, at the end of the day, I put this film slightly above 5 on the sequel list.

HALLOWEEN H20: This film is problematic for me. On the one hand, I enjoy it very much. It's a technically very good film. It's well put together, well written and well acted. And of course, it features the return of Jamie Lee Curtis. It's a slick horror film. Maybe too slick. The way they took the theme into a traditional score even feels too glossy.

The other thing that bothers me is their desire to ignore the 4,5,6 installments. While those events COULD have existed with the way the 7^th film is constructed, that they made a point of telling everyone that 4,5,6 didn't exist is lame. It means as an audience, we wasted our time and money enjoying those films. It's a little silly to feel that way, I know, but at the end of the day, its something that, as a fan, I can't pull back from.

HALLOWEEN: RESURRECTION Not wasting my time.

RANKING OF HALLOWEEN FILMS:

Halloween (1978)
Halloween 4
Halloween 2 (1981)
Halloween (Zombie)
Halloween H20
Halloween 6
Halloween 5
Halloween 2 (Zombie)
Halloween 8

Happy Halloween everyone!!!

HALLOWEEN 1,2,4

As a filmmaker, it's not hard to trace my influences. John Carpenter (along with John Hughes and other. But thats a conversation for a different day) ranks high among them for reasons explored in this blog. But nothing, in my mind, tops his Halloween film (and the sequels they inspired). It stands as, in my mind, the best of the horror franchise that never deviated from what it was trying to do: scare people.

HALLOWEEN: After killing his sister 15 years ago, this is the night he came home. This is my number one, go to horror film. It holds up and never gets old. I love everything about the film: the unexplained nature of Michael's evil, the POV shots, Jamie Lee Curtis and of course, Donald Pleasance. The body count is surprisingly low and a lot of the blood is missing from what we would imagine would come from a slasher film. And still the film is scary.

It works on many levels: it plays on the idea that the middle class isn't safe, that evil can just exist within the fabrics of society. It plays to a post modern audience that understand the tenets of “Horror films” as films like THE THING (later to be remade by Carpenter) play in the backdrop of the film. The film works largely do to Carpenter. It's an independent film in a true sense and his fingerprints are all over the movie, from the film itself to the score that is iconic. At times, in fact, he played Michael Myers. The film pushed a genre to the forefront: the idea of the serialized slasher film with an anti hero at the forefront. If you've not seen it, punch yourself. Then see it.

HALLOWEEN II: Many call the first sequel unnecessary. While that might be true, it's a cool film for a lot of reasons. It begins on the same Halloween night with the final 5 minutes of the original serving as a preface and picks up with Michael at large, then finding Laurie at the hospital. The set up works because we don't need to waste time explaining how a new group of kids have lined up for the slaughter. We can get down to business of deepening the mythology. An introducing the thread that will allow the story to continue: that Laurie Strode is Michael's sister.

An increase (by a lot) of blood and gore and some great performances added to the Pleasance and Curtis characters, this film is a worthy successor to the original. And the hot tub scene is killer.

HALLOWEEN IV – THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS: The best of the Halloween sequels that truly builds on the familial theme that runs through Halloween. The film gives us Danielle Harris, a child actress with amazing chops, as Michael's niece, Rachel (she would late return and do an amazing job as Annie Bracket in the Zombie remake). The film follows Michael on his quest to eliminate his family. The spirit of the first movie is still here, down to the clown costume that Jamie wears.

The film combines an increase in the gore factor with a more complicated storyline than most of the other horror “franchises.” It focuses on family, on being an outcast and never once does Michael make a joke or end up in space.  I love the final scene and the image of Jamie with the scissors.  It was great lead in to the 5th installment.

www.twitchydolphin.com

GENIUS OF JOHN CARPENTER: THE FOG & THE THING

John Carpenter, as much as (if not more than) Wes Craven has been a horror cinema pioneer and mainstay with a career that has spanned generations.  I'm not even going to mention the holy grail of horror films in this entry.  Carpenter's genius extends to THE FOG and the THE THING as much as it does Halloween.

The Fog is a creepy ghost story about beings in a fog that kill the inhabitants of a small town.  The subject of a remake in 2005, the film combines ghost story elements with enough blood and a great score by Carpenter himself to create some very real scares and palpable suspense.  It's smattered with Halloween alums including Annie Bracket and Sheriff Bracket.  Jamie Lee Curtis stars as well in a role that many have suspected (and few have dismissed) is actually a renamed Laurie Strode on the run after her runin with her brother who mentions her "badluck".  Even actors from Halloween 3 show up. Adrienne Barbeau stars and well, is the kind of woman who led me to Rule 34 her.  All in all a great flick!

A movie I knew was great, but I had to re see was Carpenter's THE THING.  Carpenter's love of the original is evident in Halloween as the movie plays on Tommy Doyle's TV.  Reuniting with Snake Pliskin himself, Kurt Russell, Carpenter weaves a gory, scary tale of an alien invader.  What makes this movie so great is the characterization as the morale and trust of the team unravels as each suspects the other of being the alien.  That Carpenter is able to move from slasher to supernatural to alien and crafts excellent story lines give evidence to his skill as a story teller.


The Fog Trailer

The Thing Trailer

EXORCIST III & POLTERGEIST & SCARLET WATERS!!!

First, I apologize for not keeping this up!  SCARLET WATERS prep time took alot out of me.  I love that event.  In the fourth year, the event just gets bigger and better.  I can't say enough about our cast and crew who really pitched in and helped make the event special.  I'm also so thankful to all of the filmmakers who made it out and sent their films.  I'm extremely proud of the Twitchy folks who made the short films!  They make it all worth while!

Now, THE EXORCIST III.  If you've not seen it, see it.  It's a very different kind of sequel.  Part mystery, part traditional horror flick, the film combines these elements expertly to create a very different feel than the original (although superior original).  George C Scott leads an excellent cast in this very creepy film.

Speaking of CREEPY, I'd never seen POLTERGEIST till recently.  I loved the film.  It was so Spielberg:  the references, the sense of wonder and the characters!  Excellent.

TUCKER & DALE VS EVIL

One of the funniest horror comedies, well, ever, TUCKER & DALE VS EVIL succeeds where many other films of the genre fail. By actually working to make a GOOD movie with a clever script, excellent production values and a great cast.

The storyline involves two hapless rednecks who rescue a drowning college girl. Her friends, however, mistake the rescue for a kidnapping and seek to save her from the “deranged killers.” Through a series of misunderstandings, the college kids slowly work themselves through one gruesome death scene after another.

All of the set ups work on so many levels. First, the jokes are just funny as written. They borrow from all the tropes of these horror films, but set them up in such a way that they all depend on the point of view of the other characters. Second, Tucker and Dale are just nice guys. And thirdly, the film is shot and scored in the same manner as the films they're spoofing so, for just a second, you forge you're in a comedy.

I'm cutting the review off there to avoid spoilers. All I can say is it was badass!

Trailer.

TRICK R TREAT

As I've grown into my film career, I've been accused at becoming something of a douchey cinema snob.  Perhaps this is true.  And the last two blogs I've posted might provide some evidence to that fact.

Perhaps it is out of my snobby love for classic films and television:  Creepshow or Tales From The Crypt or Twilight Zone or that it's just plain bad ass, I love TRICK R TREAT.  I couldn't recommend this flick anymore to you unless I drove to your house, tied you in a chair and made you watch it.  (Was that creepy?  Yes.  But that's the depths I'm willing to go.)

TRICK R TREAT tells four interlocking stories all taking place on Halloween night.  It features an all star cast  including Anna Paquin and combines the best elements of the Halloween holiday itself.  It's scary, it's violent, but there is a sense of fun and mischief behind it.  So the humor comes not from poking fun at the horror aspects at all, but by honoring the legacy of the holiday and hearkening back to the days of the old late night vignettes.  Many believe Halloween is the night where the veil between the living and the dead is at its thinnest.  The film captures that idea with playful aplomb.

So, I've spoken to people who hated this movie.  That it wasn't gory enough, scary enough, violent enough.  To them I would say that they don't get it.  A few folks I know, including my home boy Benjamin Jabe are also  devotees to the film.  He used it as inspiration for the LEGEND OF OLD MAN McGREGOR that will premiere at Scarlet Waters year.  I guess that makes he and I some "snobby film hipster douche bags."  There are worse things.

Trailer

BACKWOODS

You see, horror movies suffer under the weight of certain cliches.  We all know them:  "don't do drugs," "don't have sex," "don't play paint ball in the woods with a bunch of inbred rednecks."

It is this last one that comes to us in the form of BACKWOODS a straight to DVD horror film about a clan of rednecks that kidnap women and force them to become the mothers of the next generation, the lord's handmaidens as they're called.  The men are met with arrows in the head.

For the longest time, rednecks have scared horror audiences.  The idea of people who, through isolation, lose a certain sense of humanity is a common theme most famously explored in films like THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE.  The problem with BACKWOODS is, its an attempt to carbon copy that film with out the same affect, right down to a deranged family with a cop/patriarch.

The film isn't bad.  It's pretty well acted, featuring Hillary Duffs older sister Haylie and a crazy matriarch give excellent performances.  There is a nice use of imagery and the tension in the movie is real.  The tone is dark and they aren't trying to wink at you through he movie.  It's well done and well put together if not a little...soulless.

THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT

Far be it for me to diss a "classic" or to rundown a visionary filmmaker, but, well, I am.  Wes Craven is a hero of mine.  Two of the greatest franchises in horror history come from his imagination.  It was hard to see any evidence of that vision or creativity in THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT.  Obviously, some slack will be cut since it was his first film.

The film suffers from a total lack of subtlety.  The girl proclaims that now she's "17 and a woman."  Her dad points out that you can see her nipples in her shirt (what dad says nipple to his daughter?) and we learn, through a radio broadcast (worst device ever), that the convicts have:  killed a dog, killed a cop, raped a woman and KILLED NUNS!  So, you see, they're bad guys.

Nothing about this film appealed to me.  It's pretty vile at times with girls gang raped and a girl is forced to pee on herself.  Sometimes, in a film, depraved moments can work to make a compelling statement. These scenes, including when the two girls are forced to have sex, play as if Wes was trying to see chicks naked and he was lucky enough to have one of the most powerful tools available - a camera.  If you can't throw a football or play a guitar, tell them you'll put them in a movie.  (I used to think being funny worked to get the ladies.  I was mostly wrong.  But that's a blog for another day.)

I did laugh at parts of the end, wondering if John Hughes got his HOME ALONE idea from this flick.

These issues of story are then magnified because it's Wes' first film:  so its poorly acted, poorly shot and poorly lit. All forgivable scenes if the story connects you.  In this case, it doesn't.

I was at a festival in 2009 and I saw a film that I can only describe as vile.  And I thought to myself "just because you CAN do anything as an indie filmmaker, doesn't mean you SHOULD."

TRAILER

PIRANHA

Roger Corman redefined the B Movie Creature Feature - well, B movies in general and helped create an entire generation of filmmakers.

His production of PIRANHA proves seminal b movie fare.  Weird creatures with a thirst for human flesh; hapless victims and boobies.  Ah, 70's boobies.

The plot is pretty common for the genre.  The government was trying to kill the Vietnamese by creating super Piranha.  The get into the river system and all aquatic hell (in Aquarena Springs no less) breaks loose.  The effect are cheesy, not really scary and there are plenty of Jaws references, including playing a video game named Jaws that is similar to a video game played IN Jaws.

Thankfully, the remake (which I love) is different enough that this one didn't pale in comparison.

At the end of the day, you're left with some bad, guilty pleasure fun.

Trailer.

BORDERLAND

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BORDERLAND was quite an interesting flick that Netflix thought I would like.

I did. It deals with a Satanic cult on the border between Texas and Mexico and features a wonderfully sadistic performance by none other than Sean Astin.

The story starts off rather gruesome with a couple of Mexico City cops raiding the lair of a cultist only to find themselves the victim of a sacrifice. Some torture porn ensues and one cop is left alive to tell the tale. Fast forward and a couple of college kids drive in from Texas for booze and hookers. Instead they find religion and one of their number is taken by the cult. He's left in the hands of Astin, a lackey who grew up in San Antonio and has a taste for rage. The cult taught him to kill with a purpose.

The friends look for the sacrifical lamb and, with the help of the cop, creates a situation where lots of people die.

I dug the flick. It was beautifully shot, well acted and I dug the hook. The ceremonies were creepy and the effects were pretty f-ing gross. Thanks Netflix. Now get your house in order.

Trailer.

SCREAM 4

My PIRANHA dvd didn't arrive on time so I will review that later. But I did pick up SCREAM 4 on blu ray.

Look, I love the SCREAM films. I think they are smart, well written and, at times, scary. SCREAM 4 is no different. Picking up years after the third film, Sydney has written a book about deciding to stop being a victim. It's a best seller that's taken her on a tour around the country. Her tour ends in Woodsboro where Dewey and Gail are married and Dewey's running the Sheriff's department.

In the 10 years since the first murders, the STAB movie franchise has exploded with 7 chapters. The start of the movie runs us through three or four of those in a most awesome opening sequence. Sydney arrives in Woodsboro and you guessed, Mr. Ghostface is there. The film also introduces and then butchers, a young, new cast. I delighted at the deconstruction of the modern horror genres. I'll keep the breakdown short to avoid spoilers.

So, I think the film is a worthy sequel to one of the great franchises in movie history. It ups the body count, really drives the suspense and remains very meta in its deconstruction of the horror genre.  Rumor is that there will be a 5 & 6. Count me in. And remember the first rule of remakes. “Don't fuck with the original.”

Trailer.

WOLFEN

I went into WOLFEN not knowing much about the movie, other than I remembering hearing about it as a kid and it being one of those movies I “couldn't” watch.

The movie was very well done with a great cast including Gregory Hines and a very young Admiral Bill Adama (Edward James Olmos).

The film plays out like a detective story. Deaths turn up all over NY and a rogue detective is determined to find the cause. The problem is....it's an animal attack. The case turns to a group of Native American shape shifters where we see a lot of Adama. However, as the investigation turns, we learn that the root of the violence is something more mysterious.

I loved the film. I thought it was well acted, well shot and the story was so much better developed than the typical horror film. I really enjoyed that the detective story played out like it did with the horror film playing in the background.

Last thing. OU SUCKS!

Trailer.

MONKEY SHINES

MONKEY SHINES, based on the novel of the same name, tells the story of a former athlete turned quadriplegic. As he adjusts to the trauma of life in a chair, he gets a gift from his buddy - a primate researcher – an assistant monkey named Ella. Ella carries with her a secret. She's been treated with human brain cells.

Monkey and Master soon form a bond, one bordering on telepathic. And soon, Ella is doing more than turning pages and getting drinks. Ella starts taking out the people or birds that do him harm. The Monkey, well, shines.

I wasn't sure what to expect. At first, it starts SLOW and is very dated. It's one thing to have a movie reflect the time it was made it, but this thing screamed late 1980's.

The movie gets rolling though, when Ella gets to killing.

Directed by George Romero, the film plays on some nice creepy moments and Ella, being so cute and lethal is a nice conflict. Not unlike the affect of the sweet little kid turn killer motif. The romance storyline is heavy handed and the monkey sound f'x while they were getting it on was a bit...much.

Trailer.

THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL

When I was a kid, I vaguely remember seeing THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL and it scared the dickens out of me. I mean, a pool of acid?

The film Is standard haunted house fare, though I wonder if this was one of the movies that might have created the rules of the genre.

A group of random strangers are invited to a random dinner party by a mysterious couple with a taste for the macabre. The rules are simple: stay the night, stay alive and get 10 grand. Quickly we learn that there are many horrors: ghosts, trap doors, the afore mentioned acid, ect.

Leading the group is the Vincent Price, an eccentric millionaire whose wives have a habit of shuffling off the mortal coil rather...early. He is the star of the show, the creepy demeanor, the accept, just his overall screen presence carries the film. After all, if he's creepy enough for Thriller.

The film definitely has its freaky moments. For the most part, I cannot help but look at the movie as a bit of a cliché, but one wonders what it would have been like to see the movie in theaters without that jaded cynicism that accompanies the modern audience.