// Category Archive for: Horror

DVD Review: All Hallows’ Eve

By Brad Henderson

A year or so ago I was introduced to a short film called “Terrifier.” It was one of the most horrific shorts I’ve ever seen, about a girl haunted by a terrifying clown. No matter where she goes, he is there. “Terrifier” is the type of nightmare we have as children when we can’t do anything or run anywhere because the nightmare is always there. That was the basic reason why I liked the short so much: it didn’t have a story or anything, but was just pure terror.

All Hallows’ Eve is the feature by the team that brought us “Terrifier” and it is equally terrifying. Don’t go thinking that it will be the scariest film you will ever see, but if you haven’t seen this filmmaker’s work before, you will be in for a treat.

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Blu-Ray Review: Big-Ass Spider

By Brad Henderson

Why wouldn’t you want to watch a film called Big-Ass Spider?

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DVD Review: Sanguivorous

By Brad Henderson

What would be your definition of an experimental film? I honestly think all definitions are B.S. I say this because of the actual definition of experiment: a scientific procedure undertaken to make a discovery, test a hypothesis, or demonstrate a known fact. I don’t think any of these apply to film.

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DVD Review: Mischief Night

By Brad Henderson

One of my favorite things in film is the home invasion subgenre. I think it’s one of the scariest real-life events that can take place. Because there have been many great home invasion films, when I saw the trailer for Mischief Night I got a little pumped. I actually turned off the trailer halfway through so it could be a surprise.

Mischief Night has the elements of a great film and does many things right in order to create a suspenseful film. The beginning of the film is a little silly and that’s because they put Charlie O’Connell in it and tried to make him a badass. I’m not sure what they were going for but Charlie doesn’t cut it. Once that dissolves, we are presented with Em, who suffers from psychosomatic blindness and her night alone during a Halloween tradition called Mischief Night.

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Best Alternative Posters Of 2013: Tal Zimerman

Godzilla by Phantom City Creative

Another award-winning design for Phantom City Creative—Godzilla AS the wreckage he causes.

The balance of simplicity, power, and conceptual playfulness that marks the modern movie poster movement just does not get better than this.

Evil Dead 2 by Jason Edmiston

Edmiston’s Evil Dead 2 poster got a ton of notice due to, among other things, the unprecedented smoothness between blended colors. Jason once again raises the bar for the screen print set.

The Visitor by Seek and Speak

This is the kind of poster you hope the movie is half as good as. It looks like how my uncle’s room smelled in the ’70s. It looks like all the Uriah Heep songs. It looks like that He–Man episode where everyone takes acid. Or did I watch it on acid and it just looked that way? I dunno.

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter by Gary Pullin

Ghoulish Gary Pullin’s poster for Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter is a master class in unsubtle. Sometimes the indie poster scene gets a little too clever. Other times, it’s just a giant fucking Jason face coming through your wall. And I like that.

There Will Be Blood by Aaron Horkey

Impossibly tight technique meets million dollar concept in Horkey’s There Will Be Blood print for Mondo. Horkey basically prints money, anyway. Ask anyone who has tried to buy one of his posters.

Jaws by Paul Shipper

This piece was from a Jaws tribute show, and if you told me it was a long lost Drew Struzan design, I would have believed you. Thank goodness for designer Paul Shipper and his unwillingness to let the classic ’70s and ’80s poster style die.

The Silence of the Lambs by We Buy Your Kids

Looking like a playing card from Satan’s personal deck, WBYK’s The Silence of the Lambs print combines concepts and aesthetics to form something both beautiful and creepy. A modern classic.

Creepshow by Mike Sutfin

Sutfin’s pays tribute to the original poster designs for BOTH Creepshow films (there is a third film, but we don’t talk about it . . . ever) and the variant edition glows in the dark. A movie that’s fun and spooky needs a poster big on both.

Frankenstein by Tom Whalen

This Frankenstein poster is but one of many designs found within Tom Whalen’s Universal Monsters folio for boutique gallery Dark Hall Mansion. I picked this piece because, well . . . that’s how I was feeling at the time. Tomorrow, it may be the Dracula poster, or the diptych with ALL the monsters in it. Who knows?

Evil Dead by Trevor Henderson

This was one of the first posters I thought of when I signed up to make my list. Those eyes! They don’t let you forget them so easily. This image was used to promote the film’s SXSW premiere.

Tal Zimerman is a founding member of the comedy troupe The Sketchersons, writer for Rue Morgue magazine, game show winner, and currently the subject of the upcoming documentary feature WHY HORROR?

Best Movies Of 2013: Ghoulish Gary Pullin

Maniac

I know, I know, we all hate remakes and fans of Bill Lustig’s sleazy original all had a giant seizure in unison when the project was first announced. But the new Maniac completely surpassed my own expectations in every way. Elijah Wood’s psycho is just as creepy and menacing as Joe Spinell’s, the P.O.V. camera work is innovative, and the violence is truly disturbing. This may just change your mind on the way you see remakes.

American Mary

Directed by twin sisters Jen and Sylvia Soska, American Mary has been popping up on a ton of best of lists and for good reason—the original premise and convincing performance by Katherine Isablelle, star of the Canadian hit Ginger Snaps, helps American Mary rise above many of the independent horror films released in 2013. American Mary is just twisted enough to satisfy horror fans bent on the films of David Cronenberg and Takashi Miike.

The World’s End

The writing trio of Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost are in fine form with this hilarious, sci-fi horror film. Turbo-charged fight scenes with the alien invaders, top-notch visual effects, and the chemistry of the cast elevated this over Seth Rogen’s North American apocalyptic comedy, This Is The End.

You’re Next

You may have missed its short theatrical run, but Adam Windgard and Simon Barrett’s home-invasion thriller really delivers with clever kills and a simple but suspenseful story. It also marks the return of scream queen Barbara Crampton. You’re Next is a smart and scary tribute to the Friday the 13th franchise and the stalk and slasher subgenre.

The Conjuring

More or less based on a true case from the files of the real life paranormal investigators behind The Amityville Horror, Ed and Lorraine Warren, The Conjuring is a fun ride through the spookhouse. It’s more than predictable and even though I saw the ending coming, James Wan’s direction of the set-ups and the clever, unconventional scares make this film work. Plus, it’s got the creepiest doll in it since Poltergeist.

I Declare War

Co-directed by Robert Wilson and Toronto filmmaker Jason Lapyere, I Declare War was a total surprise. A highly imaginative game of Capture the Flag takes some dark turns among a group of neighborhood kids. Think Lord of the Flies and Battle Royale and you’re close. Great pacing and more than a few interesting twists make I Declare War a compelling watch.

Antiviral

Brandon Cronenberg’s debut is more than a skin cell similar to the films of his father, but his debut stands on its own as a slice of sick cinema. With a limited budget, the filmmakers really sold me on the world where celebrity obsessed, DNA vampires become addicted. Antiviral is the modern day Martin.

Grabbers

Gremlins, Tremors, and Shaun of the Dead walk into a bar. . . Produced in Ireland, Grabbers is B-movie monster fun at its best. In order to avoid becoming lunch, the people of a small Irish community must stay drunk because the tentacled creatures have a deadly allergy to alcohol. The film really benefits from a great cast, sharp humor, nods to other monster and sci-fi films of its ilk, and some pretty fantastic effects.

The Wolf of Wall Street

Based on a true story, Martin Scorsese’s latest effort is a frenetic, scathing, and often hilarious take on the life of salesman/crook Jordan Belfort. The Wolf of Wall Street is more in line with the demented satire behind Natural Born Killers: it glorifies the villains and plays as a comedy more so than a dramatic autobiography, but that’s not a gripe. For me, it’s Scorsese’s best since Casino.

Rewind This

Using entertaining interviews with fans and film folks harboring a rabid love of VHS and the home video boom of the 1980s, Rewind This is a ton of fun to watch for nostalgic horror fans and for those of us who remember what a video is.

Blackfish

You may just think twice about taking your kids to SeaWorld or Marineland after watching this infuriating and revealing doc on the cruelty and mistreatment of Orca whales in captivity. Like Warner Herzog’s Grizzly Man, nature has its revenge and it isn’t pretty.

All The Boys Love Mandy Lane

I caught this when TIFF programmer Colin Geddes screened it before he announced his selections for Midnight Madness and I was blown away by how good it was. The movie, starring Amber Heard, sat on the shelf for a whopping seven years before finally seeing a DVD release this year, but it still comes off as a fresh entry into the slasher genre. The twist ending was also a big surprise. Highly recommended.

A Band Called Death

A heartfelt documentary on three brothers from Detroit and their punk band Death that pre-dates The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, and Bad Brains. They cut an album, but the disappeared into obscurity only to be discovered years later. Electrifying and inspiring, the doc also features interviews with Henry Rollins, Alice Cooper, and guitarist Vernon Reid.

Most Anticipated In 2014

The Editor (Astron 6)
The ABCs of Death 2
Curtains (Blu-Ray remastered and reissued through Synapse)
Cooties (Elijah Wood’s monster movie)
Jodorowsky’s Dune (documentary)
The Raid 2
Alice Cooper documentary by Banger Films

For more on Gary Pullin and his artwork, check his website.

Assemblog: December 6, 2013

Spring

New this week on Popshifter: I review the bizarre time capsule that is Saâda Bonaire and have some constructive criticism for Sebastian Grainger after his latest solo release, Yours To Discover; Paul discusses where R&B is now and where it’s heading with Toronto musician Jhyve and explains why Purple Snow: Forecasting the Minneapolis Sound is a labor of love; Brad reviews an underrated classic (Body Bags) and a new could-be classic (Bounty Killer); and Jeff waxes nostalgic and gloomy with Depeche Mode’s “Black Celebration.”

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Blu-Ray Review: Body Bags (Collector’s Edition)

By Brad Henderson

John Carpenter has blessed us with many great flicks and inspired a limitless amount of people. He continues to do so even today. Still, Carpenter has a few underrated flicks and Body Bags is one of them. The whole film wasn’t directed by The Horror Master himself, but he directed a segment and more importantly, he nailed it as the host of this anthology. Body Bags might not be the best thing ever but it is a blast. (Don’t take me too seriously when I say it may not be the best thing ever; I mean that in a very positive way, actually.) Now, Scream Factory has given us a pristine looking Blu-Ray.

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DVD Review: I Am ZoZo

By Brad Henderson

The name ZoZo probably won’t ring a bell with normal folk, but if you know me, you should know I’m not normal. I’ve always been fascinated with stories about ZoZo and loved to read people’s testimonies of their encounters with this so-called demon. If you are clueless about who or what ZoZo is, you can find everything you need to know about him online. There is a small community that believes this is real and many have encountered this demon of sorts through the well-known Ouija board.

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DVD Review: Shiver

By Brad Henderson

When the name Danielle Harris appears in a movie, millions of fanboys cry out in joy. However, Shiver is a film that will just make you cry. Shiver isn’t terrible and has a decent plot, but the film suffers from a lack of cleverness.

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