Trick 'r Treat (2007)

Halloween Must See!!!

 Trick 'r Treat (2007)

Actors:

Dylan Baker, Brian Cox & Anna Paquin

Director:

Michael Dougherty

Run time: 83 minutes

Plot:

Four interwoven stories that occur on Halloween: An everyday high school principal has a secret life as a serial killer; a college virgin might have just met the one guy for her; a group of teenagers pull a mean prank; a woman who loathes the night has to contend with her holiday-obsessed husband and a mean old man meets his match with a demonic, supernatural trick -or treater.

Trailer:

Review:

I wanted to review a Halloween movie just for today that didn't involve Michael Myers. Trick 'r Treat is a series of interwinding stories, all based in the same Ohio town on Halloween night. There is something for everyone in this movie. Trick 'r Treat is a new classic (IMO). Some of the stories are around what happens when you don't follow the rules of Halloween, ie:don't blow out the candle in the jack o'lantern, pass out candy & dress to fit in with the scary things that are free room roam the Earth that night. 

If you love Halloween and can not find enough horror movies themed just for this holiday or just want something scary to watch, this is a must see horror.

Now I rented this movie on VUDU but you can find it on YouTube for free veiwing.

Hansel vs. Gretel (2015)

Hansel vs. Gretel (2015)

Actors:

Brent Lydic, Lili Baross & Aquella Zoll

Director:

Anthony C. Ferrante 

 

Run Time:

86 Minutes

 

Plot:

 When Gretel falls under a dark spell and organizes a coven of witches, Hansel must find the courage to fight his twin sister and the sinister forces controlling her.

 

Trailer:

 

Review:

This takes place a year after the last movie Hansel and Gretel (see my review). In the last year, Hansel has become a witch hunter, he comes home to find people disappearing in his home town. Gretel has taken put being a witch and sets out to take over the territory. Long story short, Hansel fights Gretel in the end. 

The Plot and story are alot better than the first one but still the writing kinda sucks a bit. There are alot of "how did he not see that?" scenes in the movie.  This is anoter b-horror, but better than the first. 

 

 

Found on Netflix.

Hansel & Gretel 2013

Hansel & Gretel 2013

Actors:

Dee Wallace, Stephanie Greco & Brent Lydic

Director:

Ben Demaree 

 Run time:

 90 Minutes

Plot: 

In this modern retelling of the classic horror tale, teen siblings are enslaved by a psychotic recluse within her gruesome house of horrors in the woods. 

Trailer: 

Review:

This is a B horror all the way. This is not the blockbuster version that came out the same year. This while a modern version of the horror tale, is a horror nightmare. Okay might not be that bad, seeing as I watched the sequel to this movie (next review). The old hag witch has two sons in this version of the tale, that helps do her bidding (neither talk, that's probably a good thing here).  It's campy and not a B-Horror at it's best. The concept was there, the writing well it sucked. 

Asylum movies are usually better than this but this has got to be one of the worst ones they have made.

Found on Netflix.

Insidious Chapter 3

Insidious Chapter 3

 

Actors:

Dermot Mulroney, Stephanie Scott & Lin Shaye

Director:

Leigh Whannell

Run Time:

97 minutes

Plot:

After trying to connect with her dead mother, teenager Quinn Brenner, ask physic Elise Rainier to help her, she refuses due to negotiate events in her childhood. Quinn starts noticing paranormal events happen in her house. After a vicious attack from a demon her father goes back and begs Elise Rainier to use her abilities to contact the other side in hope to stop these attacks by this furious demon content for a body. 

Trailer:

Review:

While I was trying to keep these reviews this month on a free basis, I could not help but add a few new rentals this month. So this one you will have to pay to watch, unless you can find it on youtube.

This chapter is a prequel to the first two Insidious movies. This is about how Elise overcomes her fear of a spirit in the dark place to use her gift to help a teenager girl, Quinn who is being tormented by an evil spirit. In the movie they give you background on some things in the other two movies, such as how she met the to guys that help her (Tucker & Specs). Without giving out too much, they touch alot of references to the other movies in the franchise. Stephanie Scott (Quinn) gives a great perfomance as a teenager that lost her mother and is just trying to understand what is happening to her. Dermot Mulroney ( Sean, Quinn's father) plays the father who is too busy to understand or notice what his daughter is going thru until she is halfway gone, and quite well.

If you have seen this the other movies in this franchise, this is a must see. If you have not seen the others, I would highly suggest seeing this once first than 1 & 2.

Poltergeist (2015)

Poltergeist (2015)

Actors:
Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt & Saxon Sharbino

Director:
Gil Kenan

Run time:
93 minutes

Plot:

A modern version of the classic tale  about a family whose home is invaded by angry spirits. When the apparitions take the youngest daughter, the family must come together to rescue her.

Trailer:

Review:
While I was trying to keep these reviews this month on a free basis, I could not help but add a few new rentals this month. So this one you will have to pay to watch, unless you can find it on youtube.

Do not come into this movie thinking its a remake, this is a reboot (two totally different things).  While the plot and consept are the same the character names and situation that the family moves into the house are different. There is no tall freaky man with a funky hat as the main bad spirit. The effects in this version are better than the original and the clown is even creapier. Taken the differences of the movies, watch this one as if it wasn't a remake but a whole new movie and you will love it. The acting is top notch, its got a modern edge that the original didn't have. Don't get me wrong, I like the original but for a new generation this version will more than satisfy.

If you can get past the creepy clown I would highly suggest you rent this movie.

Re-Animator (1985)

Re-Animator (1985)

Actors:

 Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott & Barbara Crampton

Director:

 Stuart Gordon

Runtime: 104 Minutes


Plot: 

Based on H.P. Lovecraft, this campy sendup follows an egostical medical student who develops a serum that revives the dead. 

Trailer:

Reveiw: 

This is a cult classic. If you know 80s horror B movies, you know Jeffrey Combs. this is one of the many films he did that put him on the map as a cult classic A lister. Just a reminder all 80s B horror films are campy and at time cheeky, but that's why we love them so.

Found on Netflix

The Corpse Vanishes (1942)

The Corpse Vanishes (1942)

Actors:
Bela Lugosi, Luanna Walters & Tristram Coffin

Director:
Wallace Fox

Runtime:
64 Minutes


Plot:
A scientist, aided by an old hag & her two sons - a malicious dwarf and a brutish moron, kills virgin brides, steals their bodies, & extracts gland fluid to keep his ancient wife alive and young.

Trailer:

Review:
This is one of Lugosi's campier horror movies but as most Lugosi films very atmospheric and I, for the most part, love just about anything he's in. This is a Poverty Row production so it is a low budget film for its day.

Sadako 3D (2012)

Sadako 3D (2012)

 

Actors: 

Koji Seto & Satoni Ishihara

Director: 

Tsutomu Hanabusa

Runtime: 96 Minutes


Plot: When a group of high school kids hear rumors of a suicide video on the world wide web, some suspect that it is an elaborate hoax. As the local police race to find answers, a familiar figure in white emerges from the static, beckoning the curious into eternal darkness. Akane (Satomi Ishihara), a high school teacher, fights against Sadako and Kashiwada to save her life and her boyfriend from a video's curse.This is part of the Ringu Trilogy.

Trailer:

Review: 

This is a sequel to the 1998 Japanese movie "Ringu". If you like either version of the Ringu movies (Japanese or American " The Ring"), you will like this movie. This is a subtitle movie.

While "The Ring" and others like it are not my cup of tea, I'm kinda on the fence with this one. The main character has a banshee type ability that brung something different to the table. the ending well that was sorta anti-climatic.

 I personally wouldn't watch it again but it wasn't as bad as i thought it would be.

Found on Netlfix.

Venom (2005)

Venom (2005)

 

Actors:

Agnes Bruckner, Jonathan Jackson & Meagan Good


Director:

Jim Gillespie


Runtime: 87 Minutes




Plot: A group of teenagers run for their lives in the swamp of Louisiana, being chased by Mr. Jingles, a man possessed by 13 evil souls who is relentless in his pursuit of his new prey.

Trailer

  

Review:

Despite other reviews I've read, I really like this movie. It's a supernatural slasher with some bayou voodoo thrown in. With a few good scares, most of the kills are brutal (as in most decent slasher film) this is a modern B classic slasher in my book. The plot is good, a bit cheeky at times but worth the watch.

Found on Netflix.

White Zombie

White Zombie (1932)

Actors: 

Bela Lugosi, Madge Bellamy & Joseph Cawthorn

Director: 

Victor Haleperin

Runtime: 69 Minutes

Plot:

Young couple Madeleine and Neil are coaxed by acquaintance Monsieur Beaumont to get married on his Haitian plantation. Beaumont's motives are purely selfish as he makes every attempt to convince the beautiful young girl to run away with him. For help Beaumont turns to the devious Legendre, a man who runs his mill by mind controlling people he has turned into zombies. After Beaumont uses Legendre's zombie potion on Madeleine, he is dissatisfied with her emotionless being and wants her to be changed back. Legendre has no intention of doing this and he drugs Beaumont as well to add to his zombie collection. Meanwhile, grieving 'widower' Neil is convinced by a local priest that Madeleine may still be alive and he seeks her out.

Trailer:

Review:

This movie is a classic starring Bela Lugosi and is my favorite of his and my favorite classic horror. We are talking 1932 when actors had to act and not get by with their looks. This is not to be confused with his movie Voodoo Man, made 12 years later.
"White Zombie" is the very first (still excising) zombie movie ever made. It's not today's zombie movie but a classic voodooish zombie. I would recommend this movie to any horror movie buff as a top 10 must see.

Found on Hulu

Dark was the Night (2014)

  Dark was the Night (2014)

Cast:
Kevin Durand, Lukas Haas &  Bianca Kajlich

Director: Jack Heller

Runtime: 90 Minutes

Plot:

 

Something stirs in the dark surrounding the quiet town of Maiden Woods. Sheriff Paul Shields (Kevin Durand) and his deputy (Lukas Haas), must face down a new breed of raw terror that is possibly older than humanity itself, and much hungrier. 

Trailer:

REVIEW:

This is a straight to DVD gem in my eyes. More so in the acting than the actual horror arnage you expect to happen in a creature feature. Kevin Durand is the gem in the movie, he is usually underrated in most movies he plays in but this movie shows his range. The plot in this movie isn't bad but needs some work, for an indie horror film this is one of the better ones I've seen in a long time.  

 

 

This movie is now available on Netflix.