Monday Movie Review - RAW MEAT

If you think you're watching a Hammer Film from the 70s, you're not, but this flick feels and looks and quacks just like one.

Decades ago, a group of miners working in the underground tunnels, digging the subway systems, are caught in a cave-in.  Back then, women were allowed down there, as well as the men, so that when the unfortunate group was unable to be rescued, they were able to survive and multiply anyway.  And here comes the only "glitch" that I could see in this whole thing.  If the inbred survivors were able to survive on hunting down hapless people venturing into the lower depths, why couldn't they have emerged out into the open, thus freeing themselves?  I mean, the whole point of being "trapped" below where there was nothing to subsist upon but rats and each other.  So how were these people able to start taking down fresh victims?

Aside from that minor squabble, the movie is rife with gory scenes, most of them very convincing.  The acting is top-notch (except for the hero, who often feels stilted).

More than that, don't be surprised if you find yourself rooting for the "villian".

That's why I suggest you give it a try and 

New Link! HORRORLAND

I've added a new blog link.  Check out HORRORLAND: The Macabre Side of Horror

Happy Thanksgiving!

Monday Movie Review - SKYLINE

It's so sad to see a promising movie not live up to its potential.

I braved the theaters to see Skyline in all its extra-wide glory.  In my opinion, films like this need to be viewed in that kind of setting.  But despite how beautiful the movie was shot, no matter how good the acting was, no matter how convincing the CGI effects were, Skyline just didn't deliver.

To summarize: A couple from New York fly out to LA to visit a friend and co-partner in a new business venture.  That night they're awakened by strange blue lights, and the fact that their apartment tower is shaking like its in the center of a major earthquake.  Truth is, Earth is being invaded by aliens, who are sucking up the human inhabitants for consumption.  With really nowhere to go, the four friends are basically sitting ducks waiting for the inevitable to occur.

Halfway through I found myself comparing it Independence Day and Cloverfield, which I'm sure others did as well.  Yes, there were a few scary moments (one of which is in the trailer/commercial, and was totally ruined for us.  Note to filmmakers - Don't Do That!)

Then ending, however, left me completely dumbstruck.  It was a payoff this romance lover never saw coming, but I was struck by its implications.  Which is why I'm going to buy me a copy of this flick (second hand), if nothing more but to re-watch it for those last few minutes.  Otherwise, my suggestion is that you

Book Review - TEN LITTLE ZOMBIES

This one is not for the kiddies, but it's hilarious fun.
You can get it here on Amazon.

Oh, go get it!  You know you want a copy!

"Porcelain figurines for your zombie grandma's mantel"

You'll never look at your grandmother's porcelain figurines the same way again.

Or, better yet, you might want to try what Jessica Harrison has done to her collection.

Go over to io9 and check out the rest of them!

Monday Movie Review - SEVEN DAYS

Sometimes torture horror hits home, and sometimes it misses.  This one hit home.

This Canadian French film (with subtitles) tells the story of a surgeon whose 8-year-old daughter is raped and murdered by a known pedophile.  The father makes arrangements to kidnap the criminal before he goes to trial, and give the man his own form of justice.  The title refers to the fact that the father informs the police that in seven days (which end on what would have been the daughter's 9th birthday) the murderer will be killed, and then he'll turn himself in.

This is not one the high-action, extremely bloody and violent films that you might see if it had come from the U.S.  This is a deep, intense study of human nature.  Of the power of love.  Of the strength of commitment.  Of vengeance.  Of the difficulty in dealing with an untimely, brutal death.

Yes, there is graphic content, and you will squirm at what the father does to the rapist.  But you will also find yourself cheering for the surgeon.  And you will commiserate with him.

Which makes my recommendation to be a wholehearted

Just In Time For Your Next Party!

Everyone likes to dress up their party space with some decorative lights, right?  Well, here's your chance to put a little extra "zing" to your holiday happenings.  These Living Dead Dolls Party Lights will go with any decor. 

* * *
(Catalog description:)

The infamous Living Dead Dolls faces show up on a strand of unbelievably deadly party lights. Ten heads light up with all the doom, gloom and deadly innocence your bedroom, Halloween party or Christmas tree has been waiting for! These string lights are a conversation piece you won't want to miss and a collectors item to have forever. Strand includes 10 three-inch heads strung with mini lights. UL approved AC plug for US or Europe.

More Finger Food

One thing's for sure.  No one can accuse them of using fillers!

Monday Movie Review - DEAD SNOW

At first, the tropes appear to be numerous in this movie.  Group of friends go off for a ski vacation -  check.  Friends become stranded in a snowstorm - check.  Friends start getting slaughtered by...

Wait a minute.  Just when you think it's time for the insane serial killer to start knocking off the too-dumb-to-live ski bunnies, this movie throws a legion of dead Nazi zombies at you.

Yes, you heard right.  The killers are dead Nazi zombies.

And to add hilarity to horror, the methods our heroes use to off the undead Third Reich are just as surprising.

This isn't exactly a date movie, but it's a terrific weekend no-brainer to share with fellow horror buffs.  Which is why my recommendation is a hearty

Finger Foods - a Second Bite

Of course, you must take great care when preparing those snackable tidbits.

(Don't you just love Photoshop?)

Finger Food

Hubby mentioned having friends over on the weekends to watch the football games.  He suggested we serve "finger food".

Bwahahahahahahaaaa!!!

(Found here.)

Monday Movie Review - MONSTERS

At first I had high hopes for this movie, especially in the wake of Cloverfield, and with the soon-to-be-released Skyline.  But the film didn't turn out exactly the way I thought it would.

A photographer down in Mexico is trying to get up-close shots of the Monsters that landed 6 years ago.  While there, he is called by his boss and told that boss's daughter was on vacation in Mexico, and got caught up in one of the attacks.  "Go find her and bring her back to the US."

The photographer finds her and tries to bring her back, but that means crossing the Infected Zone, which is a section of land hundreds of miles wide and long, and lying directly between the border of the US and the interior of Mexico.

What entails is their journey as they traverse through the dangerous territory to reach the US, encountering rogue militia, the ghastly remains of people and towns, and of course the Monsters, which resemble walking octopi to me (no spoiler here, folks.  You can see it in the trailers.)

This is not a horror movie filled with gore.  It hits above the collar, messing with your mind.  It fills you with "What if it was me?".   It makes you think.  It makes you cringe.

My first inclination was "meh", but the more I think on it, the more I realize I want to go back and view it again.  And again.

Which makes my recommendation: