Saturday 30 December 2017

Minutes Past Midnight

"Minutes Past Midnight" (2016, Robert Boocheck, Lee Cronin, Francisco Sonic Kim, Ryan Lightbourn, Marc Martínez Jordán, Kevin McTurk, James Moran, Christian Rivers, Sid Zanforlin, Rue Morgue Magazine, Indiecan Entertainment, Unstable Ground Productions) is a horror anthology built up of selected shorts.

There are nine shorts in total comprising of (but not in the order of): Horrific; Ghost Train; Awake; Roid Rage; Timothy; The Mill at Calder's End; Crazy for You; Feeder; and Never Tear Us Apart.

The shorts each enjoy a different flavour of story telling and medium with some going for a more gory style and others entertaining a more ominous dread. The shorts each have their own merits, however, for me the "Ghost Train" stood out as a firm favourite both due to its intriguing plot and really nice setting.

Due to the diversity in the story telling, the film as a whole benefits from a varied and fresh feel, despite not really having a wraparound story to bring everything together.

I would definitely recommend giving it a try if you're looking for something snappy and interesting to watch.


[Image: Rue Morgue Magazine, et al]

Hani

Friday 29 December 2017

The Vault

"The Vault" (2017, Dan Bush, Redwire Pictures, Content Media Culmination Productions, Casadelic Pictures, Jeff Rice Films, LB Entertainment, Imprint Entertainment, Psychopia Pictures) is a film about a bank heist gone wrong.

A group of well-organised, and yet rather incompetent, bank robbers find themselves in trouble when they encounter some paranormal activity within the old vault at an inter-city bank. Having taken hostages and attracted police attention, the robbers begin to panic, but as they open the vault, spooky happenings begin that they cannot understand. And there are hostages within their numbers that they cannot account for....

A fun, spooky romp with a host of interesting, yet fairly disposable characters and a somewhat made-for-TV feel.

Although it doesn't break any new ground, it was a fairly entertaining 91 minutes.

[Image: Redwire Pictures]

Hani

Thursday 28 December 2017

Creep 2

"Creep 2" (2017, Patrick Brice, Blumhouse Productions, The Orchard) is the sequel to 2014's "Creep".

Following on from the previous film, our murderous weirdo (Mark Duplass) is now going by the name Aaron (which is the name of his victim in the original film). He seeks the desperate help of aspiring (and failing) YouTuber, Sara (Desiree Akhavan), having lost his thrill for the kill during his most recent stalking of a guy called Dave (Karan Soni).

Sara's experience with seeking out weirdos online to film for her YouTube show make her a stalling subject for Aaron, as she is more than willing to take his weirdness face-on and doesn't seem phased by his antics whatsoever.

The two spend some time trying to scare one-another before Aaron unleashes his full weirdness upon Sara in an attempt to 'end' his film.

Although it lacks some of the mystery that the original thrived on, I enjoyed Sara's character not falling into a 'damsel' role and maintaining a strong, if flawed, protagonist character. She puts herself into a terrible situation and does not escape when it's smart to in her desperation to succeed in making her video. But she handles Aaron's behaviour and comes across as an equally weird, yet determined character.

Duplass maintains his usual wackiness as the titular creep and, although the film is fairly meandering and awkward, it keeps its strange charm that makes you want to stick with it to the end and see where it's going.

[Image: Blumhouse Productions]
Hani

Wednesday 27 December 2017

A Christmas Horror Story

"A Christmas Horror Story" (2015, Grant Harvey, Steven Hoban, Brett Sullivan, Copperheart Entertainment, Image Entertainment, RLJ Entertainment) is a Christmas anthology horror from Canada.

We follow four plot lines, which are interwoven throughout the run-time by the overarching plot following radio DJ, Dangerous Dan (William Shatner), who is pulling an all-nighter on Christmas eve.

One story follows a group of teens who have broken into a school to make a documentary about two murders which had previously happened there, only to find that there were more than memories left behind.

Another story follows one of the teens from the first story who is unable to go on the adventure because she is taken on a family outing to visit her rich, elderly aunt and accidentally becomes acquainted with Krampus.

A third story follows a young family who venture into private land to illegally chop down a Christmas tree and lose their child. When they find the little boy and take him home, he begins to act strangely and the parents become suspicious that he is not, in fact, their little boy afterall!

The fourth tale follows Santa himself, a burly man (George Buza) who finds that one of his elves has contracted a zombie virus and begins to infect his other helpers.... Going on a rampage through his own workshop, Santa eventually has to face a harsh reality...

An entertaining festive romp that covers all the bases (gore, violence, festive themes) without trying to be too clever. While it doesn't cover any specifically new ground, "A Christmas Horror Story" enjoys some nice plot twists and a good, fast pace that is engaging and intriguing.

[Image: Copperheart Entertainment]
Hani

Thursday 14 December 2017

High Plains Invaders

"High Plains Invaders" (2009, Richard Beattie, Castel Film Romania, Muse Entertainment Enterprises, Syfy) is a science fiction, made-for-TV film set in the Wild West.

Sam Danville (James Marsters) is a train robber due to be hanged for his crimes in a small Western town. While standing at the hangman's noose, watched by his jilted flame, Abigail (Cindy Sampson), the town is overrun by violent alien creatures and Sam ends up acting as a hero to try to save the town from the monsters.

My hands have to go up in the air here; I'm a huge fan of James Marsters and have been since I was about 16 or so. I'll watch anything that he's in. I listen to his music, I own all the Dresden Files audio books he's narrated and I once met him at a convention and, luckily for him, I was too nervous to say anything coherent at him.

But, I have to make myself clear, here. This is actually a pretty solid made-for-tv Syfy Channel monster/Western mash-up. And I'm not being biased. Yes, it's corny, the dialogue is formulaic and the special effects are low budget so the cast are limited to battling one beastie at a time. But it's well done, sets a good pace and enjoys some pretty nice alien design. The run time is only 87 minutes so the film does not overstay its welcome and, as well as our hero, there is a pretty solid collection of characters.

The film enjoys a "Saturday early evening" feel that is common to most Syfy productions and, although not particularly scary, manages to pull it off as a low-budget monster/cowboy movie without becoming dull.

Also, occasionally, it's nice to see James Marsters play a hero. Even if he's also a wanted criminal at the same time.

[Image: Syfy]
Hani 

Wednesday 6 December 2017

Anatomie 2

"Anatomie 2" (2003, Stefan Ruzowitzky, Strand Releasing) is a sequel to, you guessed it, "Anatomie". It's a German language body horror set in a Berlin hospital.

A young neurosurgeon called Jo (Barnaby Metschurat) moves to Berlin to make his big break. Quickly he manages to catch the attention of Dr. Müller-LaRousse (Herbert Knaup). The doctor invites the young man to join his research group, where Jo becomes not only acquainted with other young, inquiring minds, but becomes completely immersed in their licentious research, and therefore equally culpable if their immoral practices are found out.

However, when a fellow group member, who was having an attack of conscience, is found murdered it becomes apparent that the good Dr. may not suffer any dissension in his ranks...

I have admittedly not seen the first movie, but would definitely search it out now that I've seen its sequel. This film was so much fun. It has a strong plot, a good amount of fairly gruesome effects and a good cast of interesting and unusual characters. The film explores the ethics of research and science and the hunger for knowledge.

Jo's character is not only driven by his desire for success, but also for the desire to help his brother who has Muscular Dystrophy, giving the character a more rounded motive. His fellow researchers are all also driven by their own personal motivations. Be it sexual pleasure, vanity or fame.

A really fun film and one of the best random DVD finds I've had recently!

[Image: Strand Releasing]
Hani

Saturday 2 December 2017

Wolves

"Wolves" (2014, David Hayter, TF1 International, Copperheart Entertainment, Entertainment One, Ketchup Entertainment) is a werewolf movie.

A high school football player called Cayden (Lucas Till) discovers he is a werewolf when he attempts to attack his girlfriend and then blacks out, only to find his parents ripped to shreds. Mortified and wanted for murder, he goes on the run and comes across more of his kind in a small town called Lupine Ridge. There he learns that there are two kinds of werewolves; pure-breds and people who have been bitten and infected.

Cayden is not exactly well received by his werewolf brethren, particularly by Alpha-wolf, Connor (Jason Momoa) who takes exception to Cayden's romantic interest in Angel (Merritt Patterson). However, he does secure some work as a farmhand for John Tollerman (Stephen McHattie) and refuses to leave town.

Will Cayden's presence end the uneasy peace of the werewolves? What is his connection to the wolves and to the mysterious Connor?

A cheesy, and mostly forgettable movie that enjoys some fast-paced scenes but overall doesn't wow. Jason Momoa's presence is valued, but his character is not utilised nearly enough (and holds an axe at least once without throwing it. WTF?).

The effects are passable but the overall plot is standard fayre and pales in comparison as a coming-of-age werewolf flick to the likes of "Ginger Snaps".

[Image: TF1 International, et al]
Hani