‘Horror’ Archives
Pandorum
After watching the sci-fi movie Moon, here's another sci-fi movie. This time it's the thriller/action/horror kind of sci-fi. Here's why you should watch it. It has good action scenes. It's very mysterious and tense throughout the story, so you will not be bored at all. The mystery is solved half-way through, and it's a very satisfying one. At [...]
My Name is Bruce
Bruce Campbell is a funny and charming actor, but his usual movies are in the horror/B movie genre. Which is not something I am fond of. Still, I always enjoy his performances. This movie is no different. He actually directed this one too, and it's basically a homage/reference to classic movies of the genre. There isn't much gore here, though [...]
Paprika
This is the latest feature film by Satoshi Kon, who is becoming one of my favorite directors (thanks for Tim's recommendation). He always uses animation for all his projects, which enhances his stories in a way that live action couldn't capture easily. Paprika is a good example of that. The story is fairly simple, it's about a new device that [...]
El Orfanato
This is the type of horror movie that I like. A moody horror with great characters, an interesting plot and no gore at all. The plot is nothing original, it's the typical ghost story. But what makes this great is the great performance of Belen Rueda as Laura, a desperate mother who lost her son Simon. She really grounds this story with her [...]
30 Days of Night
I've read the comic this movie is based on and I loved the concept. But I didn't think there was more than that premise to the story. The same can be said about this movie. Apart from the clever concept (vampires in Alaska for 30 days without sun) this just feels like a zombie movie, with normal people hiding from the vampires. There is enough [...]
Halloween
Halloween (1978): A psychotic murderer institutionalized since childhood escapes on a mindless rampage while his doctor chases him through the streets. For some reason I’ve never seen this film. I’ve heard so much about it, but I never felt very interested in it. I’ve seen many other horror movies, just not this one or any of its [...]
28 Weeks Later
28 Weeks Later (2007): Six months after the rage virus was inflicted on the population of Great Britain, the US Army helps to secure a small area of London for the survivors to repopulate and start again. But not everything goes to plan. I wasn't a big fan of 28 Days Later, but I liked it enough to want to check this sequel out. This story [...]
Planet Terror
Planet Terror (2007): After an experimental bio-weapon is released, turning thousands into zombie-like creatures, it's up to a rag-tag group of survivors to stop the infected and those behind its release. This is the other part of Grindhouse, the first being Tarantino's Deathproof. This is in the horror/splatter b-movie camp, which is not a genre [...]
The Host
The Host (2006): A monster emerges from Seoul's Han River and focuses its attention on attacking people. As for most of the good Asian films, this is a very weird one, but enjoyable. This is a monster movie, where the monster is very clearly depicted, instead of only showing it in a few scenes, or just showing parts of it. The tone of this film [...]
White Noise 2: The Light
White Noise 2: The Light (2007): A man's family is killed and he is brought back from the verge of death, he then realises he can identify people who are about to die. The hook for me to check out this movie are the two lead actors: Nathan Fillion and XXXX. They both give a good performance, especially Fillion. This is a dramatic role for him, [...]
Manhunter
Manhunter (1986): An FBI specialist tracks a serial killer who appears to select his victims at random.This is the first adaptation of a Thomas Harris book the has Hannibal Lecter in it. He's not the star in it, but he has a small role. This movie was obviously filmed before Silence of the Lambs, but it has some of the same characteristics of that [...]
Slither
Slither (2006) is a horror movie with plenty of humor. There is plenty of gore and scares as well, and the plot is not particularly inventive. An alien being crashes on earth and takes over people and multiplies. It is not very clear why the alien merged with Grant, instead of taking over his body. The only reason is for plot, so that there is a [...]
Bubba Ho-Tep
Bubba Ho-Tep (2002) is a weird little movie that has gained cult status. Here's the basic plot: Elvis and JFK, both alive and in nursing homes, fight for the souls of their fellow residents as they battle an ancient Egyptian Mummy. Elvis is played by Bruce Campbell, the king of cult movies. JFK is played by Ossie Davis, the recently passed away [...]
Hostel
Hostel (2006) is a horror movie with no fantastic elements. It is all about the horror in human kind, in particular rich bored people. This is a very exploitative film, but with beautiful sexy European girls, and with the gore scenes. The first half of the movie is more like soft porn, where 3 young guys go around in Europe looking for girls. [...]
The Descent
The Descent is a little British horror film, and it does a great job at it. The story is about a group of women who go on a cave expedition, and are trapped miles below the suface of the earth. The first half of the movie set the characters up, and brings them to the caves. From the half point all hell breaks loose, and our heart rate skyrockets [...]
Saw
Saw (2004) is not what I thought it would be. I expected a splatter movie, with people's limbs being sawed off, lots of blood and gore. Instead this is a very intelligent thriller, with a few gorey scenes. The premise is that 2 men are chained in an old public toilet, with a dead man. They don't know why they're there, they don't know each other. [...]
Land of the Dead
Land of the Dead (2005) is the last effort from legendary director George Romero. He is the inventor of the Zombie movies, starting from his Night of the Living Dead in 1968, continuing with Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Day of the Dead (1985). Twenty years later he is back with his last installment in his Zombie series, this time the zombies are [...]
Dark Water
Dark Water (2005) is a psychological horror movie. No gore, just some scares and lots of drama. The principal actor is Jennifer Connelly, who is my personal favorite. Not only is she beautiful, but she's chosen some important roles in the past that allowed her to show her acting abilities (Requiem for a Dream). And in the recent years she's been [...]
Alien Resurrection and AVP
I will write briefly about Alien Resurrection and Alien VS Predator, since they are not good enough to deserve a full review. Alien Resurrection was a mistake. Jean-Pierre Jeunet has a very stong visual sensibility, but his vision does not fit this franchise. In the DVD he wonders why Fox wanted to hire him, and I think he only accepted the job [...]
Alien 3
Alien 3 is the most interesting DVD of the set. Why? Because this has the best behind the scenes story. I will address that in the DVD extras review. But first, let's talk about the movie. Starting with this movie, the studio wants to closely control the production of the film, because this is now a successful franchise, and they want to make [...]