movie review
Movie reviews for horror fans; from gruesome bone-chillers to dark horror thrillers, a showcase for frightful films that seek to entertain and to terrify.
‘Wrong Turn’ (2021) Movie Review
In this revamp of the 2003 fan favorite, original screenwriter Alan McElroy returns to tell an all-new story about a different group of twentysomethings (Charlotte Vega, Adain Bradley, Emma Dumont, Dylan McTee, Vardaan Arora, Adrien Favela) who venture into the Appalachian backwoods and encounter an independent tribal society deep in the forest. After they disappear, one of the women’s fathers (Matthew Modine) decides to come looking for them.
By Will Lasley6 years ago in Horror
The Lure of the Deviant: Queerness and Subversion in Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator
From black and white vampire movies of the 1930s to the slasher boom of the 70s and 80s to even the polished, well-respected movies today, horror has always thrived as a subversive, chaotic genre. This aspect shines brightest in the B-movies of the 1980s, made with big ambitions and shoestring budgets. Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator (1985) is one of these films, a modern adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s series, “Herbert West - Reanimator.” The film tells the story of an ambitious experiment gone wrong, then attempted again, and again, and again, going wrong each time. Herbert West moves to New England to study medicine at Miskatonic University after leaving the University of Zurich, where he studied previously, after something terrible happened to the man he worked with. West is not just a dedicated medical student, however; he mainly focuses on a strange personal project: a serum he calls “Re-Agent” which brings the dead back to life. Needing a space for this work, he moves in with fellow medical student Dan Cain, who needs help with rent because his fiancé, Meg Halsey, will not move in with him yet. Though Herbert does not set out to find an assistant, he unexpectedly finds one in Dan, who he convinces of the importance of his work, and they begin to do experiments together. The film devolves into chaos, with reanimated corpses consistently becoming violent and every side character quickly becoming wrapped up in the collateral of Herbert’s work. This chaos centers entirely on Herbert: a small, dark, gaunt figure with no concern for social niceties or much human emotion. Herbert disrupts all sense of normalcy any character may have had in their education, job, relationships, and existence. He destroys families, relationships, and lives with a plunge of a syringe and shows no care or concern about any of it. Every time he subverts order and creates chaos, his queerness shows itself. I also assert that Herbert, and specifically his queerness, must be evaluated through a horror-specific lens, as the genre must be viewed from a perspective that differs from how we view other genres.
By Charlie Penney6 years ago in Horror
Vivarium (2019): Underrated and Undersold (SPOILER ALERT)
Let me begin by saying that Vivarium was dealt one of the unluckiest hands in Film history. With an estimated budget of 4 million dollars, and grossing less than half a million worldwide, it flopped about as hard as a movie can financially. Coronavirus reaching a tipping point in the United States days before its release certainly put this movie on a path of untimely demise. I am a fan of horror and I had never even heard of it until a friend suggested it. It is frankly shocking to have A list celebrities like Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network, Zombieland, Now You See Me) and Imogen Poots (The Art of Self Defense, Jane Eyre, Chatroom) be so thoroughly ignored by mainstream media and horror fans alike. This on top of the 5.8 star rating it has on IMDb took me by surprise.
By Max Gucinski6 years ago in Horror
The Right Horror Movie For You.. Top Story - February 2021.
Horror can seem like a pretty daunting genre to try and get into, especially if you're easily spooked or squeamish. Like many other genres, it can seem pretty one note from the outside with each individual film difficult to put apart from the next but this actually isn't the case.
By Paul Heder6 years ago in Horror
Movie Review: 'The Vigil'
The Vigil uses the specificity of Jewish tradition to put a fresh spin on the supernatural horror genre. Dave Davis stars in The Vigil as Yakov, a former member of an orthodox Jewish community. A tragedy in his recent past led Yakov to reassess his faith and leave the orthodox tradition. He’s found support in a support group of fellow former orthodox Jews. The group includes Sarah who is the first non-orthodox woman Yakov has had an opportunity to spend time with.
By Sean Patrick6 years ago in Horror
‘Willy’s Wonderland’ Movie Review
Willy’s Wonderland, yet another horror film clearly inspired by the hit video game series Five Nights at Freddy’s, is about a nameless drifter (Nicolas Cage) whose car breaks down in a small town with a dark secret. In order to pay for the repairs, he gets a job working as a janitor for a rundown restaurant and arcade called Willy’s Wonderland. But it turns out the animatronic characters are alive, and they want blood.
By Will Lasley6 years ago in Horror
