Posts Tagged ‘Horror’

Texas Chainsaw 3D Blu-ray Review: Wither Heatherface?

Posted: 13 May, 2013 in Movies/TV
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Texas Chainsaw 3D Blu-ray Review: Wither Heatherface?

While I was never a “huge” fan of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre series (the ones that started with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre in ’74), I must confess that one of my favorite LPs in my record collection is that of the soundtrack from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 from 1986. Of course, any motion picture soundtrack that contains Concrete Blonde, Oingo Boingo, Timbuk3, and The Cramps simply demands to be taken seriously – and there’s even an offering from The Lords of the New Church (a group that, interestingly has a new singer named Adam Becvare) entitled “Good to Be Bad” – which was inspired from a line of dialogue from the film, and recorded solely for the album. Read the rest of this entry »

John Dies at the End DVD Review: Hey, Thanks for the Spoiler Alert!

Posted: 22 April, 2013 in Movies/TV
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John Dies at the End DVD Review: Hey, Thanks for the Spoiler Alert!

Every filmmaker has some sort of visual signature that can be easily recognized in their works. Sometimes, such as in the instance of Alfred Hitchcock, it’s a brief walk-on role that you have to look out for (to say nothing of his directorial style, but that’s quite literally beside the point in his case). For others, it’s the tendency to repeat the same damn scene in every movie they make – such as that no-talent hack Michael Bay and his frequent usage of something exploding on a freeway as the camera pans away. And then there are directors like the great Don Coscarelli. Actually, there’s only one Don Coscarelli: I can’t imagine another moviemaker in this universe who would be capable of pulling off Phantasm, The Beastmaster, and Bubba Ho-Tep. Read the rest of this entry »

Blu-ray Review: A Haunted House (2013) – A Hate Crime Against Humor

Posted: 21 April, 2013 in Movies/TV
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Blu-ray Review: A Haunted House (2013) – A Hate Crime Against Humor

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: A Haunted House (2013) – A Hate Crime Against Humor on Blogcritics.

Even in today’s age of using-all-things-digital-like, there is still a heavy usage of a once-everyday item that continues to be employed by the writers working within the film and television medias: the 3×5 index card. The reason for utilizing such a thing is simple: it assists those who have been handed the often-unenviable responsibility of coming up with something creative in assembling what they feel is the perfect story with the ideal elements. Where does Bob go after he walks out of the lounge at midnight? A quick toss of the dart onto the wall lands on the 3×5 card reading “Zimbabwe” — and so it is written. Well, it could be written that way; needless to say, it takes at least an iota of talent or the slightest inkling of discernable taste in order to achieve this method of storytelling. (more…)

Blu-ray Review: Lisa and the Devil/The House of Exorcism – Arrow Video Release

Posted: 13 March, 2013 in Movies/TV
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Blu-ray Review: Lisa and the Devil/The House of Exorcism – Arrow Video Release

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: Lisa and the Devil/The House of Exorcism – Arrow Video Release on Blogcritics.

A misguided sense of marketing can be an amazing thing. It can lead promising individuals down a dark path wherein they sell their own souls just to keep the holy dollar rolling in — while guiding others to cater to the most obscenely heinous of gimmicks in order to gratify patrons that would probably do better without anyway (e.g. Beer Pong Tuesdays at a wine bar). And then there are those horrible folks that decide to change somebody else’s work just so they can cash-in on a topical craze. During the ’70s, many a shady film distributor would re-title a motion picture under their control and advertise it locally according to the current demand of a specific region. (more…)

Blu-ray Review: Black Sunday (1960) – Arrow Video Release

Posted: 25 February, 2013 in Movies/TV
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Blu-ray Review: Black Sunday (1960) – Arrow Video Release

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: Black Sunday (1960) – Arrow Video Release on Blogcritics.

In 1956, two Italian filmmakers set out to accomplish what surely seemed like an impossible feat at the time: to create a horror film in a country that had banned such a concept several decades earlier. The movie would come to be known in its native country as I Vampiri (and in America as The Devil’s Commandment) and its director — a fellow by the name of Riccardo Freda — eventually wound up leaving the project when his backers refused to allow him more time to complete the film in the meager 12-day shooting schedule they were given. This action left Freda’s cinematographer partner holding the (film) can, who was miraculously able to finish the second half of the feature in just two days. (more…)

DVD Review: Rosemary’s Baby – The Criterion Collection

Posted: 25 February, 2013 in Movies/TV
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DVD Review: Rosemary’s Baby – The Criterion Collection

Article first published as DVD Review: Rosemary’s Baby – The Criterion Collection on Blogcritics.

Whether you were raised in a household that was even slightly religious, or you grew up on the rough streets of an urban community, there’s a greater than average chance that you’ve heard the expression “Devil may care” at least once at some point in your existence. Indeed, sometimes that Lucifer fellow does in fact care — about someone’s existence, at that — thus, the occasional story or motion picture comes along that centers on a less-than-immaculate conception between Satan and some poor, hapless lass who resides in the human-based world. And there is perhaps no better tale of such an underworldly match-up than Rosemary’s Baby — the 1968 thriller from Roman Polanski based on the Ira Levin book of the same name. (more…)

Blu-ray Review: The Possession (2012) – The Jewish Exorcist?

Posted: 22 February, 2013 in Movies/TV
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Blu-ray Review: The Possession (2012) – The Jewish Exorcist?

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: The Possession (2012) – The Jewish Exorcist? on Blogcritics.

Forty years after the premiere of William Friedkin’s The Exorcist, Hollywood is still milking the demonic possession cow for every drop it’s worth. Sadly, most of the neo-exorcist features being cranked out now are nowhere near as good as that legendary aforementioned film’s bastard redheaded stepchild of a sequel, Exorcist II: The Heretic — which is really saying a lot when you stop and think about it. Occasionally, they try something slightly different, like they did in the imaginatively titled 2012 flick, The Possession, which was co-produced by none other than Sam Raimi. (more…)

Night of the Devils (1972) Blu-ray Review: Sexually-Charged Psychosomatic Italian Horror at its Finest

Posted: 20 February, 2013 in Movies/TV
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Night of the Devils (1972) Blu-ray Review: Sexually-Charged Psychosomatic Italian Horror at its Finest

Were I given the opportunity now to do a high school report on Italy, I would list the boot-shaped country’s top major exports as “Pasta, Shoes, and Horror Movies.” Made during the time of that curious cusp between Italian filmmakers’ transition from the giallo style of thrillers to the flat-out, full-on “We’re gonna try to make you puke” gore-laden chillers we all know so well today, Giorgio Ferroni’s (The) Night of the Devils (La Notte dei Diavoli) manages to deliver the goods from both genres — and incorporates a hypnotic (and sometimes bewildering) music score by Giorgio Gaslini (yes, you get two Giorgio’s for the price of one here!) to boot. Read the rest of this entry »

Blu-ray Review: House of Dark Shadows / Night of Dark Shadows

Posted: 16 January, 2013 in Movies/TV, TV
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Blu-ray Review: House of Dark Shadows / Night of Dark Shadows

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: House of Dark Shadows / Night of Dark Shadows on Blogcritics.

Though they had been recorded throughout the annals of human history long before anyone ever came up with a standard, universal word to refer to them by, vampires had almost always walked hand in pale hand within the confines of the moon-drenched night with the element of romance. Many a tale of Gothic romance had been spawned over the years focusing on undead bloodsuckers and mortal maidens — most notably Bram Stoker’s immortal Dracula — but in 1966, a fellow working in that grand (and still relatively new) world of television by the handle of Dan Curtis revamped (ahem) that horrifying romantic constituent into airwave material. Thus, the long-running supernatural soap opera Dark Shadows was born. (more…)

V/H/S DVD Review: Definitive Proof as to Why Beta Was Better

Posted: 21 December, 2012 in Movies/TV
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V/H/S DVD Review: Definitive Proof as to Why Beta Was Better

Some of you may remember a point in the history of home video wherein amateur filmmakers who had managed to save up enough bread to buy a camcorder would make their own movies. These shot-on-video (SOV) items were usually of the horror variety, and were renown for their piss-poor quality in terms of, well, everything. Nevertheless, indie distributors managed to make a few bucks off these budget-less wonders — something that wasn’t too terribly hard to do in an age when rental priced videocassettes often sold to mom-and-pop stores for a hundred bucks a piece, and private producers could easily sell their wares at a much lower price. Read the rest of this entry »

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