No One Gets Out Alive

"No One Gets Out Alive" (2021, Santiago Menghini, The Imaginarium, Netflix).

Ambar (Cristina Rodlo) moves to Cleveland after her mother dies. As an undocumented immigrant, she finds herself at the mercy of some devious and exploitative characters, including Red (Marc Menchaca), the owner of an old boarding house who demands rent in cash up-front in exchange for not asking Ambar any questions. The boarding house is large, run-down and apparently, only accepts female tenants. Ambar experiences some odd things in the house, but chalks it up to other tenants' behaviour. Besides, she has bigger concerns like finding a job. 

After a co-worker scams her out of most of her savings and the spooky happenings in the house become more intense, Ambar seeks help from a distant cousin, Beto (David Barrera), but when he is unable to help her, she is forced to ask Red instead and this plays right into his and his brother Becker's (David Figlioli) grim plans...

A fairly serviceable haunted house story with a cast of interesting characters and exploration of some very real life horrors. The effects are good and Rodlo cuts a sympathetic protagonist who is also very resourceful. 

The film doesn't go into much detail of the history behind the spookiness and it feels a little unexplored which robs the ending of a bit of oomph. An impressive creature is present, but we don't get too much time with them and it feels less like a 'less is more' approach and more of an 'out of the blue' approach as a viewer. 

Currently available on Netflix.

[Image: The Imaginarium, et al]

Hani

Truth or Dare

"Truth or Dare" (2018, Jeff Wadlow, Blumhouse Productions) is a fairly solid college horror.

After a shocking opening scene we are introduced to Olivia (Lucy Hale), Lucas (Tyler Posey), Markie (Violett Beane), Brad (Hayden Szeto), Tyson (Nolan Gerard Funk) and Penelope (Sophia Taylor Ali) who are a group of college kids heading out on their final Spring Break holiday together. The group travel to Mexico where we are treated to their drunken Instagram story montage before we join them in a bar/nightclub. By this point we have established the characters' personalities be they goody-two-shoes like Olivia, or a bit of a knob like Tyson.

Feeling a little jealous of her friends' romantic lives, Olivia starts chatting to a guy at the bar (Landon Liboiron) after he intervenes when a college acquaintance named Ronnie (Sam Lerner), won't take no for an answer. Upon introducing himself as Carter the guy invites Olivia and her friends to a secluded building for an after party. Desperate to prove herself to be fun, Olivia persuades her friends and, somehow also Ronnie, to go. The group begin to play a game of Truth or Dare which suddenly escalates when Carter announces that he has tricked them all to begin playing as his own dare. He warns them that they cannot break the rules and leaves the confused and stunned group.

After returning home, Olivia and the others begin to experience strange occurrences and it soon becomes evident that Carter was not lying and they really are caught in a life or death game that won't end...

A pretty grim, if simple, premise that manages to be intriguing and entertaining. The characters are mostly unlikeable, but in that charming horror film way that we're all accustomed to. As the game progresses we get to learn a little more about each person's secrets as well as how far they are willing to go in order to remain alive.

The effects and death scenes are excellently portrayed with the odd 'snapchat filter' face of those possessed by the game managing to be both creepy and oddly subtle. Each death has a quality of creativity similar to the "Final Destination" films, and there were times I even found myself wincing.

For a film I'd anticipated to be one of the common disposable college horror films, it actually delivered a pretty solid and even somewhat thoughtful piece which evaluated the selfishness of the characters as well as entertained me with some good ol' gruesome antics. Of course the story behind the game felt a little cheesy, but what's a horror film without some cheese?

[Image: Blumhouse Productions]

Hani

Dolly Dearest

"Dolly Dearest" (1992, Maria Lease, Patriot Pictures, Channeler Enterprises, Trimark Pictures, Image Organization) is a killer doll movie.

The Wade family move to Mexico because of father, Elliot (Sam Bottoms)'s new job as the operations manager of the Dolly Dearest Factory. Unbeknownst to them, a cult's burial ground has recently been unearthed and an evil spirit has escaped, finding refuge inside the bodies of abandoned dolls within the factory's stockroom. When Elliot's daughter, Jessica (Candace Hutson), finds the dolls she is allowed to keep one. Soon, Jessie and her new little friend are running amok, taking down anyone in their way and behaving altogether very strangely.

A weird film that is partly Child's Play and partly the Omen. Both the doll and the little girl are supremely creepy and while Chucky was decidedly more animated, Dolly enjoys some effective shots and prehensile, plastic fingers. I didn't dislike this movie. It is a little slow moving, but on the whole it delivers an average amount of action. Whilst it's decidedly not scary, and is very predictable, it's a good crappy horror film.

[Image: Trimark Pictures, et al]

Hani

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

"Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" (2010, Troy Nixey, Guillermo del Toro, Miramax Films, Gran via Tequila Gang, FilmDistrict, StudioCanal UK) is a remake of the 1973 made-for-TV film of the same name.

The troubled young daughter (Bailee Madison) of an architect (Guy Pearce) who is refurbishing an old mansion to its former glory with his new wife (Katie Holmes), discovers Fey creatures are trapped within the house behind an iron grate and decides to set them free, believing them to be friendly. However, they soon turn out to be vicious and devious creatures which are hungry for children's teeth and must also take a mortal back to their netherworld to replenish their ranks.

A creepy retelling of the Tooth Fairy myth, this film was excellently jumpy in the cinema, but loses something a little on the small screen.

However, the animation of the 'fairies' is brilliant and little Bailee Madison gives a perfect performance as young Sally.

Not a film that will scare many adults, but would have many young viewers scared to hang an arm over the side of the bed, I imagine.

Creepy in a traditional way, with beautiful settings and effective attack scenes (and a little gore), I thoroughly enjoyed this film as a fun and creepy fairy story.

[Image: Miramax Films]

Hani

The Eye (2008)

"The Eye" (2008, David Moreau, Xavier Palud, Cruise/Wagner Productions, Vertigo Entertainment, Lionsgate Paramount Vantage) is the American remake of the original Chinese film from 2002.

Sydney (Jessica Alba) is a blind classical violinist. She undergoes a cornea transplant in order to restore her sight. The surgery is a complete success with one main drawback: she begins to see things.... Oh, and dead people, she also begins to see dead people.

Very reliant on jump scares, but they're pulled off quite well with sufficient overuse of the looking-through-the-peephole technique. It's also quite reminiscent of "The Sixth Sense" in style, but is not on par with the quality of story telling becoming bogged down in a stale plot.

What annoyed me the most, aside from the fact that her doctor (Alessandro Nivola) is a patronising arse for most of the film, is that she never once utters the words 'Grim Reaper' despite the fact that:

a) that is essentially what she's seeing and
b) that is a well known terminology and would have explained a lot more to the doctor than her descriptions did! No wonder they thought she was nuts! Geese!

Why is it that film and TV script writers always have to pretend like the protagonists have never heard of anything supernatural before? It's just like in every zombie movie ever where nobody ever goes "Well, fuck! That's a zombie! Quick, shoot it in the head!".

Sorry, rant over.

I did enjoy that one of the first things she buys upon regaining her sight is a flatscreen TV and also that "The Dresden Files" was on when she flicked through the channels. Good one, Lionsgate!

All in all, I found Jessica Alba to be a competent lead, which I was admittedly not expecting, and despite a drawn out plot, the film is watch-able and makes good use of the jump-scares.

Asian horrors as a whole are generally creepier and more effective. However, while this film doesn't add anything new to the American Remake bundle, it's certainly a scary movie you could introduce horror-keen young teens to! Average, but it could be an excellent sleepover movie, I reckon.

[Image: Vertigo Entertainment]

 

Hani

From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter

"From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter" (2000, P.J. Pesce, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, A Band Apart, Los Hooligans, Dimension Films) is the third film in the franchise, and a prequel to the original film.

Set in the 1900s in Mexico, American author Ambrose Bierce (Michael Parks), a drunk who is experiencing weird flashbacks, has hitched a ride with a young married couple, John (Lennie Loftin) and Mary Newlie (Rebecca Gayheart), who are spreading the 'word of God' via free bibles.

Their coach is attacked by a band of highwaymen lead by Johnny Madrid (Marco Leonardi), who has just narrowly escaped the hangman's noose and kidnapped the hangman's daughter Esmeralda (Ara Celi). The attackers find nothing of value in the wagon.

Soon everyone congregates (seperately) at a secluded inn which we know from previous films to be the 'Titty Twister'. The barman is also our good ol' friend Razor Charlie (Danny Trejo), this is the same character as in the original movie.

Although the vampire princess Santanico Pandemonium is played by Selma Hayek in the original film, it is revealed in this film that she is none other than Esmeralda. Dun dun dun!

A fun little period gore comedy, the plot goes back to the original setting and style. Most of the vampire action is in the inn itself, and again there are a lot of boobs and vampire ladies wearing very little clothing.

As much as I liked the fight scene music, I thought the original film's was better, but on the whole I enjoyed this film for the humour and the complete ludicrousness of it all.

[Image: Dimension Films]

Hani

From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money

"From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money" (1999, Scott Spiegel, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, A Band Apart, Los Hooligans, Dimension Films) is the sequel to the comedy vampire gorefest, "From Dusk Till Dawn".

This time, we follow a band of criminals on a bank job (rather than two criminals after their bank job), lead by Luther (Duane Whitaker), although our main character is Buck (Robert Patrick). Our other members of the unhappy heist are Niles (Muse Watson), tough guy Jesus (Raymond Cruz) and weakest link Ray Bob (Brett Harrelson).

I love the opening scene for this movie. It's awesome for a good many reasons, but mainly it's particularly good because it features Bruce Campbell! Did I mention my love of Bruce?

So this is kind of a Mexican vampire version of "The Thing". Who's a vampire? Who's dead? Who's not what they appear? and so on...

Danny Trejo returns to his role as the vampire barman, Razor Eddie this time though (as Charlie was killed in the first movie), and obviously we have the obligatory scenes in the 'Titty Twister' bar.

There's a lot of cheesey gore, but none as good as the first film's, and although Tarantino and Rodriguez have again managed to create a film that begins with one story before jumping randomly into vampiredom, it's just not got the same oomph that the first one had. There is a hilarious scene with a vampire bat in the shower, however. And the pervy ones of you will be happy to again see a lot of boobs.

A bit of fun and sleaze this film isn't pretending to be anything it's not.

Most of the bite scenes are done in bat form, though, which got a bit old after a while... But there's some good carnage at the end, a lot of creative vampire deaths and they seemed to favour some of the more interesting camera angles, including: water-bowl-cam, fang-cam, car-bonnet-cam and skull-cam!

[Picture: Dimension Films]

Hani

From Dusk Till Dawn

"From Dusk Till Dawn" (1996, Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino, Dimension Films, A Band Apart, Los Hooligans) is a gore fest action/crime/comedy/horror from Rodriguez and Tarantino.

From the onset, the film appears to be about two criminal brothers who are on the run from the feds and police, and are also in the middle of a heist worth a lot of money if they can get to Mexico and meet their contact, Carlos.

The brothers are Seth Gecko (George Clooney), the smooth, arrogant and haughty 'leader' and his younger and more sinister brother, Richie Gecko (Quentin Tarantino), who is a volatile sex fiend, rapist, murderer and all 'round crazy person!

We meet the brothers as they attack a petrol station/liquor store clerk (John Hawkes) and his only customer, the local Ranger McGraw (Michael Parks) after Richie begins to feel a bit twitchy. I always remember this scene the best, as when I was younger I was particularly intrigued with the 'shot through the hand' bit. Gross!

They move on to a motel, leaving a mess in their wake, and extract the terrified bank cashier lady from their car trunk. And we get to find out just how crazy Richie really is!

Soon the guys need a ride, and some innocent looking 'friends' to help them get across the border, and so they kidnap an ex-minister, Jacob (Harvey Keitel) and his two children, adopted son Scott (Ernest Liu) and daughter Kate (Juliette Lewis). Jacob is having a crisis of faith after his wife died in tragic circumstances and has dragged his kids on the road with him in his motorhome...

After getting over the border, they head to a biker/trucker bar called 'The Titty Twister' which has a lurid and entertaining luminous sign, and wait there drinking 'whisky' (I'm Scottish, I can be snobby about what's whisky and what's not! Although, I drink bourbon myself...) while they wait on Carlos (Cheech Marin, who also plays quite a few parts in this film, I noticed!).

But this bar is not all that it seems, and there is a specific reason for it closing at dawn.... Everyone from the exotic dancers to the Machete dude (Danny Trejo) behind the bar are vampires... everyone except the clientelle, that is! When the feeding frenzy begins, our two murderous thieves, their kidnapped friends, a biker called Sex Machine (Cheech Marin again) and a Vietnam trucker called Frost (Fred Williamson) have to team together as best they can to try to survive.

Will anyone make it out? And when the hell will Carlos get there!?!

A tongue in cheek gorefest with some very 90s SFX and a lot of boobies. One of the sleaziest biker vampire movies on my shelf; it's just hilarious! And isn't it funny how vampire chicks suddenly get really ugly when they let their true nature show?

Danny Trejo makes an excellent vampire man in his little leather... whatever that was mean't to be! A vest? A tunic? Heck knows!

Clooney makes an excellent bad guy in this film, being both threatening and also likeable in that charismatic dickhead kind of a way.

Tarantino is terrifying as the psychotic rapist brother. He's a scary dude! I would not cross him!

Lots of body parts fly, there's a corpse guitar and a shed-load of corny, tongue in cheek violence (to go along with the truly Tarantino-esque beginning scene). Really, the vampires are entertaining and sure get an impressive kill scene, but damn it the humans are way scarier!

I'm sure this film has some kind of message, but all it says to me is that no matter how much of a jackass you are, vampires will eat you...? Oh, and rock music is awesome. And snakes are cool. Yep, deep film...

[Picture: Dimension Films & infinitecoolness.com]

Hani