Category Archives: horror

The Last Witch Hunter

action, fantasy, horror, science fiction, thriller, , ,

the last witch huntVin Diesel movies make money and entertain in a simple but direct way. The Last Witch Hunter is a little different and not such a simple movie. Directed decently by USC alumni Breck Eisner, the movie is both large-scale and commendable. Eisner crafts a distinct urban fantasy-horror universe, which looks different from other movies of the same genre.

The story begins in the past with a group of silver-haired warriors on an important journey to slay the evil Witch Queen, played by Julie Engelbrecht, responsible for placing a curse on the whole countryside. The warriors fight bravely with suspense and terror as if they are fighting a monster, not a witch. All in all, this part of the movie is very good.

The story moves forward to the present. We meet Kaulder, played by Diesel, who is an immortal hero with a very complex or angst personality. If you are familiar with Diesel’s characters, you know he is still sarcastic and badass as ever, making his dedicated fans over-the-top, hand-slapping happy.  He teams up with Axe and Cross, a group of priests. Dolan, played brilliantly by Michael Caine, works closely with Kaulder but retires and unexpectedly dies. Kaulder suspects his death is caused by “dark magic beyond evil,” meaning the Witch Queen.

Eisner adds a lot of action scenes with some awesome scary scenes, a strong supporting cast, and plenty of really useful computer effects with vibrant monsters and crazy spells. However, the story has no surprises, only clichés, yet it’s a Diesel movie, so no complaints either.

Elijah Wood is excellent as Kaulder’s sidekick, a geeky priest in New York City. He adds a lot to the story and production. I like seeing him with Diesel because they are so different in real life.

All in all, it is a pretty good movie and worth seeing if you are a Diesel fan.

Little Dead Rotting Hood

horror, movies, , ,

rottinghoodDirected by Jared Cohn, Little Dead Rotting Hood maintains the idea that some low-budget horror movies are not worth watching unless you are an avid horror movie junkie who needs a fix.

The storyline works on paper but the production value needs work. The movie is described as something sinister lurking in the woods, and the residents of the small town nearby are falling victim to its bloodlust. When the town sheriff discovers that the wolves inhabiting the nearby forest are getting more aggressive and even deadly, he soon uncovers a danger beyond his imagination.

Different from the description, Little Dead Rotting Hood jumps around like ideas and the plot rarely meet with coherent understanding. Nothing is clear. The story is murky, even the significant twist near the end is awkward, just hard to make sense out of it all. I don’t want to share the key points because you will see the movie, and it is best for you to determine if you like it or not.

The movie is filmed well and captures the idyllic life of living in a small town. The surroundings are flourishing and stunning while the overall location looks perfect for the story. The acting works though with familiar faces, Eric Balfour and Patrick Muldoon.

Laura Beth Love did a marvelous job with the cinematography, and I’d like to see her work on a better movie, where she can really shine with a good plot.

Kill Game

horror, movies, murder, , , , , ,

Kill GameWritten and Directed by Robert Mearns, Kill Game is your typical low-budget, slasher and whodunit horror movie. Jimmy, played by Nathan Ross Murphy, becomes the first victim. The story meets a small group of close friends, who attend his funeral.  The cast in the small group are Sari Sanchez, Joe Adler, Pierson Fode, Michael Galante, and Laura Ashley Samuels.

They are close because they share a deadly secret that happened five years ago in High School.  They played a prank on a student who died from it.  Covering their tracks by masking the incident as a drowning accident, the group lives with the horrible crime, never realizing that their actions will soon haunt them, with deadly results.

Shortly after funeral, they come to terms that anyone of them may also become a victim.  The reason they believe they are next is because they not only played a prank that killed the student but played some pretty mean pranks on other students and teachers. Yet, they have no idea who the slasher is because they played pranks on a so many people.  Then, Jimmy’s twin brother shows up from out of town attending the funeral, and is trying to uncover what happened to his brother. He has no idea about the deadly prank relating to his twin’s murder.

The movie is hard to follow at times because the clues to the murder are all over the place. The sequence of discovery is not linear or easy to follow. For example, a mask was found, but how did the group relate it to the killer. The clues just didn’t add up like a good murder mystery.

It is obvious this is a low-budget horror movie that is full of clichés and empty on good substance.  I am sure most horror movie junkies will want to see this movie for what it is worth.

The Vatican Tapes

drama, horror, movies, , , , ,

the vatican tapesMovies about exorcism are pretty standard in the horror genre since the 1973 novel by William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist, came to life on the silver screen. The Vatican Tapes is another horror movie added to the list and is available on both Blu-Ray and DVD.

Directed by Mark Neveldine, the story begins when we meet Angela Holmes, played by Olivia Taylor Dudley, a young woman soon to be married. Her father, Roger, played by Dougray Scott, is in the military and on leave. He arrives on Angela’s birthday, which is a pleasant surprise. During the birthday party, she gets injured, ends up in the hospital, and starts acting strangely. Father Lozano, played by the excellent Michael Pena, happens to be present to witness some of Angela’s behavior. Father Lozano’s curiosity or spiritual perception compels him to see more of her; after some time, he is certainly the devil who possesses her. Security footage of Angela’s strange fits is brought into the Vatican. After viewing the footage, they decide that only an exorcism can save the young woman.

The setup for the third act, where Angela receives the exorcism, is relatively slow. The build-up and suspense never really hit a high note of intensity. When the pivotal point finally arrives, the story begins to move in the right direction. The exorcism happens in a believable and suspenseful way. Sure enough, belongings and possessions make eerie noises, with furniture bouncing everywhere. Angela performs back bends in unnatural ways of a possessed human, similar to other movies of the same genre. A clever twist at the end is essential if you decide not to finish the film or lose interest and miss the point. The twist is worth watching at the end of the movie.

Neveldine delivered a quality film where the acting shined. The scary scenes were okay, but nothing new for a movie about exorcism. Hollywood may have done the story to death, but if you like the theme, you will probably enjoy the film.

Knock Knock

drama, horror, movies, , ,

Directed by Eli Roth, Knock Knock stars Keanu Reeves in a story that needs to be left on the shelf.  We meet Reeves character as a strong, handsome man, who is devoted to his family. His wife and kids take off for the weekend where he grudgingly remains at home working.  After the wife and kids leave for the beach, he settles down for the evening, which happens to be rather dark and stormy.  He is surprisingly interrupted by someone constantly knocking at his door.

He opens the door and voila. Two sexually energized, hot, hot chicks are at the door and need is Good Samaritan help.  They take over the scene and coyly ask to use his hair dryer because they are soaked through due to the rain.  They wait for the cab while the hot chicks play a clever game of seduction. Reeves’ character tries with all his might not to fall prey to their enticement. It culminates in a brief ménage à trois, French for “household of three”…how appropriate.

The situation gets worse and before it gets better it gets even worse.  Uninhibited pleasure-seeking comes to mind as the women make his life miserable, along with nauseating table manners and a fondness for stay-at-home bullying.

The movie is rated R for obvious reasons and most times feels like a porn movie gone bad.  Reeves’ character is basically good, so feels downtrodden for his moral dilemma he is facing for his infidelity.  The movie trailer promoted a plot twist, but it fell flat on its rear end.

The upside to the movie is the message about being faithful and the consequences of infidelity or going to the dark side of life.

“The Quiet Ones” Review

horror, indie, movies, , , , , ,

thequietI am not a horror fan but I love movies like The Sixth Sense or The Others. The Quiet Ones comes close to these two movies but is still a horror movie. The film is based on a true story and is entertaining.

Directed by Director John Pogue (The Skulls, Quarantine II), the movie lacked a strong storyline and character development. Don’t get me wrong, the film is worth seeing if you love horror, but it’s not out of this world.

Based on a natural experiment that happened at Oxford in 1974, this film brings to light the profound notion of what the supernatural experience might manifest in the minds of believers who have a few screws loose.

We follow Professor Coupland (Jared Harris), graduate students Krissy (Erin Richards) and Harry (Rory Fleck Byrne and videographer Brian (Sam Claflin of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Mockingjay). The group investigates the psychic phenomena produced by the suicidal young Jane (Olivia Cooke) with the justification of treating her. Like all psychiatric treatment, it’s brutal and inhumane.

Coupland’s techniques are questioned as Jane’s health increasingly becomes at risk, and he turns frenzied in his mania to treat her. The story’s drama becomes intense when Coupland and Brian clearly share bloodthirsty importance that skirts a sexual obsession in saving her. Their actions cause conflicting measures. Jared Harris’ acting is inspiring and committed, while on the other hand, Sam Claflin comprises the entire story with emotional weakness. Olivia Cooke directed her crazed, disturbed, unstable and sensitive angst well.

As I said, the movie is excellent and entertaining, with gripping, shocking, scary and long scenes wound up in a ball about to spring out with a creep factor of 150 plus. The movie had to explain why all this horror was happening, a rather dull point, and there is a twist.

Black Box

horror, indie, movies, science fiction, , , , ,

blackboxWritten and directed by Matthew Schilling, the Black Box stars Brad Dourif, who is known for his acting talents in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Jason London, Ray Park and Kevin Sorbo also star in this sci-fi thriller.

You would think since Schilling both wrote and directed the movie the story would be pretty good. Like Woody Allen, Nicole Holofcener, James Cameron and Wes Anderson to name a few typically create a vision that is solid and good. Unfortunately, Schilling didn’t pull this off.

Most reviews for Black Box have not been good unless the reviewer was a sci-fi fan. The level of suspense is good with good acting, but the story is a little hard to follow and makes very little sense. I will give it my best shot to try to explain the movie. The black box contains secrets to one’s desires. Vastly different people meet by chance and as it changes hands, which happens every so often, the new owner is willing to do anything for what the box holds inside. The thing inside is the one thing the person covets the most. So much so, it makes them desire it at a dangerous cost.

A mysterious cowboy, played by Kevin Sorbo without much dialogue, delivers the payback in the form of an immortal assassin. The ending is not the best part of the movie. It ends abruptly with a one liner. If Schilling had wrapped the ending up in a proper way, the movie would have been better and more enjoyable to watch.