Tag: #horror

This film starts out with the cliche haunted house theme. Soon however, the plot picks up. Emily Goss shines in this one. Plus there is some original, scary material here for horror fans.

The House on Pine Street (2015)

Cast

Emily Goss as Jennifer
Taylor Bottles as Luke
Cathy Barnett as Meredith

Directed by

Aaron Keeling, Austin Keeling

Written by

Natalie Jones, Aaron Keeling, Austin Keeling

Other Info

Drama, Horror
Rated PG-13
1h 51min

I’m of the opinion that the haunted house theme, while cliche, is a really cool one for a horror movie. The tricks these days is to make it original in some way. “The House on Pine Street” (Pine Street) does that very well. Jennifer (Emily Goss) is pregnant and she and her fiance are moving into the house the the beginning of the film. As she looks around in disapproval, the spooky sounds foreshadow scary events are coming.

We get the idea they are a new couple moving in to a new life together in the house but as the dialog unravels and strange things start happening, we realize something different about the couple. Jennifer expresses her dislike of the town and the house and Luke (Taylor Bottles) seems very happy there as he tries to get settled in his new job. Incidentally, he is very nice to his mother in law Meredith (Cathy Barnett.) I suppose ou could call him son in law of the year.

Meredith is a very strong and odd character in the film. She is Jennifer’s mother and this is her home town. There are lots of scares here and there but nothing is really explained and expanded until the last 1/4 of the movie. As a horror movie, it makes the grade. The only thing that put me off a bit was how it took so long for things to start happening. I think they told the backstory too long. I really enjoyed the ending, not what I was expecting at all. I think horror fans will like this film for it’s creepiness. There isn’t much blood or gore but we see what energies in people (and houses) can do, it’s pretty scary.

Tusk (2014)
R | 1h 42min | Comedy, Drama, Horror | 19 September 2014 (USA)

A brash and arrogant podcaster gets more than he bargained for when he travels to Canada to interview a mysterious recluse… who has a rather disturbing fondness for walruses.
Director: Kevin Smith
Writer: Kevin Smith
Stars: Justin Long, Michael Parks, Haley Joel Osment

I’ve talked about this film for well over a year but have as yet to review it on my blog. Here goes:

Kevin Smith has carved out an etched name for himself in the film world. Most film students will tell you about Clerks, his cult fame status film about some deadbeats who keep a store staffed, albeit half-aware. We all worked those types of jobs and/or some still do so it’s highly relate-able. Besides that, there is a undefinable quality to it people can only attribute to Kevin Smith as director. Red State is another film that people are ready to line up and give blood for. His influence on film is undeniable in my mind. He tried horror with Tusk and he went way out at that. It’s unlike any horror you’ll see in that it molds disgusting, repellent body horror images with sarcasm and flippant comedy. But there is a third element that doesn’t get discussed a whole lot and that is the literary theme of the sea and its dark foreboding nature toward humans. It’s a bit like Jaws in that way, without a shark.

Justin Long plays Wallace, a despicable podcaster who gathers followers by exploiting outrageous stories. The stories seem to involve the misfortune, maiming, and even death of his subjects. He cheats on his beautiful and kind-hearted girlfriend (Genesis Rodriguez) and overall he is an asshole, and that’s what he’s meant to be.

Michael Parks plays Howard Howe, a retired Navy seaman who lives in a mysterious house and provides Wallace with what was to be one of his biggest exclusives yet. But alas, things are not always what they appear to be. Howe is obsessed with surgically creating walruses from living people and that’s the “guts” of Tusk.

This movie scared the hell out of me when I saw it in 2016. It stuck with me and I have seen it twice since. People either love or hate this film. I happen to fall into the former category. I love the horror and I love the comedy. Make no mistake, they exist at different parts of the film and much of it is no laughing matter. The idea of being abducted and having your body destroyed that way is chilling. At the same time, we have Kevin Smith comedy throughout reminding us of what this is about.

At time of writing this, my podcast Talking Stars is planning to record an episode on Tusk and body horror. I hope you can tune in. Watch the site for more details. After 72 episodes, I’ve never been this eager to do an episode. If you’d like to be on it, let me know.

10/10

It (2017)
R | 2h 15min | Drama, Horror | 8 September 2017 (USA)

A group of bullied kids band together when a monster, taking the appearance of a clown, begins hunting children.
Director: Andy Muschietti
Writers: Chase Palmer (screenplay), Cary Fukunaga (screenplay) | 2 more credits »
Stars: Bill Skarsgård, Jaeden Lieberher, Finn Wolfhard

Hear my audio review at the player below:
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The director is Andy Muschietti. I did enjoy his work on Mama. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to catapult his name out of obscurity. Now, he has done it with his adaptation of It. There are excellent directing choices at every turn. He had a big job on his hands, selling this Stephen King novel to a new generation. Too much horror and you disrespect them, too much camaraderie coming of age and you bore them. I did miss the spiders. They could have done more with the way the fear manifests.

Bill Skarsgård portrayed a great It. He was scary and unyielding to the bitter end. The rest of the actors were top notch as well. They worked together to tell this story which is about 1/3 a “buddy” coming-of-age film and 2/3 horror and thriller. I think making that part a priority is what made this film so successful. It’s doing unbelievably well at the box office and it deserves as much. Too bad its over the ratings edge as an R film. I think kids 10-17 would enjoy this just as much. There are also some great lessons about love and living with respect toward others. Apparently, they are planning a chapter 2 as well at some point. I’ll hope to catch it.

9/10

The Greasy Strangler (2016)
Unrated | 1h 33min | Comedy, Horror | 7 October 2016 (USA)

Ronnie runs a Disco walking tour with his son, Brayden. When a sexy woman takes the tour, it begins a competition between father and son for her love. It also signals the arrival of an oily strangler who stalks the streets at night.
Director: Jim Hosking
Writers: Toby Harvard, Jim Hosking
Stars: Michael St. Michaels, Sky Elobar, Elizabeth De Razzo

Every thing director Jim Hosking makes is odd, but then, that’s the intent. Some directors are thought odd for simply making their movie. With Hosking, he has a history of winning British awards for being odd and yes, he does it well here.

Actors Michael St. Michaels, Sky Elobar, and Elizabeth De Razzo really own this film. Their interplay gives the film it’s ambiance and tone. The father is just a complete psycho and not be trusted. The son is a meek but probably equal oddball and the “girlfriend” is innocent definitely a top notch actress to pull this tweaked and weird role off.

You will see farts and cussing and downright disgusting images. You’ll see male frontal nudity … a lot of it. As the father and son work at their disco tour business, you’ll feel like you are part of it all. As for the overall message, I didn’t get it. For me, there should be at least something to hold onto and takeaway. Since that was absent, the weirdness has no purpose, It was like Nacho Libre but Nacho had a message: believe in yourself. This one is probably: don’t be afraid to move out when your 50+. In conclusion: this is something very different if you’re in the mood for a laugh at some really raunchy stuff.

6/10

Annabelle: Creation (2017)
R | 1h 49min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller | 11 August 2017 (USA)

12 years after the tragic death of their little girl, a dollmaker and his wife welcome a nun and several girls from a shuttered orphanage into their home, where they soon become the target of the dollmaker’s possessed creation, Annabelle.
Director: David F. Sandberg
Writers: Gary Dauberman, Gary Dauberman (based on characters created by)
Stars: Anthony LaPaglia, Samara Lee, Miranda Otto

Some of you may have seen the short Light’s Out that came out a few years back. It was made by a new director named David Sandberg and he is the one who directed this film under the production leadership of James Wan. Therein lie a few troubles I see. If you are making a movie a producer hires you to do, you are slave to his vision: not yours and not the audience’s. Annabelle is a story that is very close to Wan’s heart but I felt watching it that Sandberg was probably not as into it. I felt much the same about his full length film Lights Out that came out last year. Wan put spring in his step and commissioned him to create a full length movie based on the short. Even though it was his own idea, it feels like Sandberg tried to do a “son of Insidious” or “The Conjuring.” I think Wan should have bankrolled Sandberg to create his own film, free from trappings of Wan visions. But who am I to want things?

The actors are very much standard and flat. They are not memorable in this script and anyone could have played any role. No one stands out, except the dolls that is.

The story is this: A young couple with a 9 year old daughter (or so I assume her age is) lose her when she is hit by a car. They are so distraught, they pray to “any force that can help them” to allow them to talk to their dead daughter. This is very cliche and seen in so many movies. ie; The Other Side of the Door, all zombie movies, A Dark Song, etc. Instead of having their wish fulfilled, they get the devil himself who manifests in the Annabelle doll. This is revealed through kids who come to live in the house of the couple that has been turned into an orphange. They learn the demon or devil in the doll and scarecrow is mean as hell as well as bloodthirsty. I could go on but I don’t want to.

This movie suffers from not showing enough cool scary faces and props. They flash by but I want to stop and look at them. Sandberg focused too much on multiple jump scares that don’t show anything. It’s textbook cheap thrills. It is also an awful script that tries too hard to be a prequel to existing movies. I enjoyed the film up to about the 2/3 part. Then it was just a waiting game for the credits. It reminded me of Quija 2 but Ouija 2 is MUCH better.

6/10