Monday Movie - "Bedfellows", an Award-Winning Horror Short (2 min.)

 

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Monday Movie - "The Ogress", an Award-Winning Short Horror Film (25 min.), Inspired by True Story of Serial Killer AMELIA DYER

 

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Monday Movie - "Reflection", an Award Winning Short Horror Film ( FULL VERSION - 13 min. )

 

LINK

Movie Monday - "The Jigsaw", Award-Winning Horror Short (8 min.)

 

LINK HERE

Think About It

Mooney's Movie Review - 247 Degrees Fahrenheit

First of all, let me say that "that scene", the one on the cover of the box, isn't in the movie. A variation of it is, however. Second, don't let the jagged teeth of glass in the little window fool you (that window is prominently displayed in lots of promo shots). The window in the movie has no glass left once it's busted. 

Now, other than those couple of trifling nitpics, this movie is pretty darn good. Four young 20-somethings go to visit an uncle of one of them, who has invited them up for a visit during a festival. This uncle has a cabin (hand built) on the lake, and that cabin is to die for. It even comes with its own sauna.

Of the foursome, two are a couple, and the other two are on essentially a blind date. The two girls are closest friends, btw. The girl on this date is still suffering the loss of her fiancee three years ago. Her date for this weekend trip is tall, blond, exquisitely built, and as kind and considerate as anyone could want.

The girl's closest friend is trying to get her to come out of her self-imposed cave and start living again. Eventually she consents to strip down to her underwear and go for a dip into the lake, followed by a trip into the sauna. Lake, sauna, lake...you get the picture. Of course, all this time, the two guys are drinking heavily, which never mixes well with heat. Eventually, the one guy, the one with the uncle, gets so smashed, he passes out on the couch. He never realizes he's accidentally locked his friends in the sauna.

This movie is "based on a true event". There's very little blood, and it can be slow at times. But what makes it horrific is that this could really happen. This is not a horror movie based on pretend creatures that don't exist. It's not about abominable people, or cannibals, serial killers, or zombies. It's about what could actually occur. And once that realization is set in your mind, you can sit back and watch these people cook to death.

My recommendation? 

Crocheted Movie Scenes

"The Exorcist"

Monday Movie Review - APOLLO 18

My first impression? It's sloooooooooooowww.
My second impression? It's "Paranormal Activity" on the moon.

Three astronauts go to the moon on a secret mission from the Dept. of Defense to plant spy bots on the moon (as opposed to launching the bots into space as satellites.) The two that land to do the grunt work come across some implausible and indistinguishable tracks other than their own, and then realize there is someone...or something...else there with them.

I have to give kudos to the actors who did their best. Having unknown actors (to me) play the parts always help with the buy-in factor. But some of the scary parts just didn't feel scary enough to me. The gore is minimal. The effects were terrific, and for the most part I truly felt like I was watching gathered and edited footage. But for all its hype and anticipation, I wasn't really satisfied once it was over. But in all honesty I can't condemn this film.

Therefore I'm carving a new tombstone for my recommendation. 

Monday Movie Review - RED STATE

I <3 On Demand.

Red State is billed as a horror movie, and in some cases it is. But it's also a very political movie, with a lot of thought-provoking moments.

Michael Parks is the leader of a group (mostly family members) of worshippers who abhor anything that is forbidden by their religion. Parks is phenomenal in this role as the scripture-spouting head of this fundamentalist sect.

The blurb for this flick states that 3 boys from a small town are lured to a trailer on the outskirts. There they are promised 3-on-1 sex with a lusty older woman after they drink the prerequisite 2 beers. What they don't know is that the woman is the daughter of the the leader, and they are going to be made examples of what happens to boys who sin.

The gore is there and very blatant as the boys fight for their lives. And when the town's sheriff is brought into the melee, he calls in government reinforcements, namely John Goodman, who does the best damn acting job of his life, in my humble opinion.

The emphasis of the movie is on the overall mindset of this church and its disciples. The horror is what extremes people will go through to protect or prove their beliefs. And that's why my whole-hearted recommendation is that you

Monday Movie Review - PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2

The first Paranormal Activity scared the be-jeezus out of me.  Why?  Because it was too damn much like when I was a kid, and a strange noise would awaken me out of bed in the middle of the night, and I had no idea what was happening.  The shadows were creepy and took on the shapes of demons and boogymen.  Every little noise spooked me.  And I think others related the same way to this movie.

Paranormal Activity 2 is much the same way, but ramped up.  The bad stuff doesn't just happen at night.  It gets you in broad daylight, too.  It begins slowly - a moving door, a child's toy, a light going on and off.  But when it finally escalates, it doesn't let up, and you have no idea what will happen next.

The basic premise is this:  A couple with a new son and a teenage daughter come home one day to find their place totally trashed.  Rather than install burgler alarms, they have security cameras placed in every room and outside.  It's then we start noticing that strange things are happening that can't be explained.  And pretty soon their lives are at risk.

I normally don't get sucked into horror movies, but this one did.  Don't watch this one alone, and for goodness sake don't watch it in the dark. 

Which is why my recommendation is to: 

Monday Movie Review - TRAIN

A group of American college athletes are over in Europe, participating in some games.  The night before they're supposed to head to another country via railway, they go on a bender and end up having to take an alternate train, since they missed their original departure.

What they don't know is that this train has no intention of letting them arrive alive at their destination.  They're young, they're strong, and that means they're perfect victims for a group of crackpot doctors to kidnap, torture, and ultimately use their body parts and organs in a weird donor-transplant scheme.

There is one lone female who survives, and it's through her eyes we see all the carnage inflicted upon the college students. 

Think "Midnight Meat Train" with a female hero.  Think of any mad slasher/serial killer who chops up countless victims, while a single teenage girl manages to elude his clutches, only on a train.

I have to admit, the gore is pretty spectacular, but the biggest problem sticking in my craw was the fact that these people would slice open and extract organs from their still-living victims without any kind of sanitary containment whatsoever.  The walls are grimy, the slabs are caked in dried blood, and the whole place reeks of filth, and we're supposed to believe these organs are being placed in other people, and those people survive?

This movie also has places where it drags, but all in all it would make for an okay viewing on a lazy weekend.  That's why my recommendation is that you:

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 

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

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: 

Monday Movie Review - THE BUTCHER

I personally rank horror movies into one of 3 categories:

1- those that purely entertain
2- those that disturb
3- those that sicken me to the point where I won't even review them

THE BUTCHER falls into the second category.

This movie uses the cinema verite technique in a way that surprises.  Several people wake up in an abandoned factory (or school, or someplace - we're not given an explanation), and quickly discover they're going to be sacrificed for "art".  In other words, their captors are filming snuff films, and they're the lucky "stars".  (Note:  This is the original Korean version, not the US remake.)

The movie starts out slow, building up the suspense, as we the audience watch what is happening via the camera helmet being worn by one victim.   Said victim soon ends up in the back room, along with his wife, and that's when the film goes from scarey to downright disturbing.  We witness the couple being brutalized with such intensity and realism via the helmet cam, that I had to turn my eyes away.

I hesitate to recommend this movie unless you have a strong stomach, or can detach yourself from it.  Honestly.  Leave the lights on, or - better yet - watch it during the day.

That being said, go

Monday Movie Review - AMUSEMENT

This is a perfect example where the trailer is better than the movie.  That being said, here's the nitty gritty:

Three girls taunt a young boy, who is showing one of the major tendencies of a possible serial killer (eg. torturing and killing little animals.)  They tattle on him.   Years later, as a grown man, he sets his sights on these now young women.  

There are no true scares, so-so camera work, and basically no logistical reason for the movie to exist.  The acting rates a 5 on a scale of 10, but otherwise this film is riddled with trite scenarios.  If you're looking for something to do a "Mystery Science Theater 3000" dialog to, this one's for you.

If you have a clown phobia, you might want to avoid this one.
Better yet, just go ahead and

Monday Movie Review - THE CELLAR DOOR

A lonely, misguided man sees a girl.  He waits until she's alone, and kidnaps her.  He keeps her in his cellar, and cruelly taunts her, treats her like crap, and emotionally and mentally abuses her.  Yes, there is some physical abuse, but overall this movie didn't grab me.  The "spine-tingling" didn't happen, but I watched until the end of the film to see how it would play out. 

I don't know.  This film has a multitude of kudos going for it, but for some reason I just couldn't get into it.  The girl manages to outwit her abductor, and he gets his in the end.  Okay, so tell me we haven't seen this scenario countless times before. 

I will admit the acting was okay.  The gore value was so-so.  I really didn't have any problems with the movie other than the fact that it didn't scare me, and I really couldn't have cared less for the victim or the culprit.

My recommendation, therefore, is to:

Monday Movie Review - HACK!

Oookay.  Here we go again.  Six twenty-somethings go to a privately owned island (which is not much different from being "out in the middle of nowhere" - you still get no cell phone service) in order to do some research for their college classes.  They meet up with the owners, who are amateur filmmakers (aka "strange couple living there").  What the kiddoes don't know is that the filmmakers love to "recreate" their favorite horror movies, but without the special effects.  In other words, if a limb is cut off, they gleefully chop off a student's arm.

In some ways this movie is different from the usual "chase and slaughter" plot devices.  It was interesting to see who survived and why.  There's also a strange little plot twist, but overall the film is slow to get going, and the jokes are lame.

Overall, if you want a nice no-brainer movie, and you have a couple of hours to waste,  I recommend:

Monday Movie Review - KILL THEORY

The Cons:

-six twenty-somethings stuck at a friend's weekend home out in the middle of nowhere
-no cell phone coverage
-a homicidal maniac let loose from an insane asylum after being declared "cured" AFTER JUST THREE YEARS OF INCARCERATION
-lots of slow, expository scenes of "Why is this happening to us?" and "Who is doing this?", not to mention the frequent, "Oh, my God, we're all gonna die!"

The Pros:

-the six have until 6:00 am to kill each other off, leaving just ONE of them to survive (otherwise, all will die at the hands of the HM -- as opposed to being hunted down by the HM and killed off one at a time
-the last 60 seconds of the movie, revealing a neat twist to the story

Yes, on one hand, this movie has been Dun to Death.  But some very top-notch acting, plus a few other little differences, was enough to keep me engrossed in finding out how it ended.  Being an After Dark Horrorfest selection, I had hoped for something a little more original.  And although it wasn't a total disappointment, I wouldn't count it as being one of the better films.

Still, my recommendation is:

Monday Movie Review - RED SANDS

This one intrigued me.  From ShockTillYouDrop (dot) com:

Present-day Afghanistan. As continuing battles rage in the war-torn country, a unit of U.S. soldiers are dispatched to seize and control a strategic road that runs past an abandoned stone house. En route, the soldiers discover an ancient stone statue hidden deep within an ancient ravine. Using the relic for target practice, they destroy it, unwittingly releasing a vengeful supernatural force that is about to wage a horrifying war on them.

The relic is actually the figure of a god, and by thoughtlessly destroying it, they are visited by an apparition in the shape of a beautiful woman.  See DVD cover to see what I mean.

This film is basically a no-brainer.  The location feels real enough.  The acting is commendable. But for some reason the kills and horror didn't quite grip me.  I spent a lot of time wondering why our soldiers would deface and destroy what is obviously a piece of local art.  Since when do we feel like we have the right to go into a strange country and blatantly start shooting at temples and objects of worship?

But in spite of that one nagging problem, this movie stacks up to be a decent Saturday afternoon flick.

My recommendation: