The American Scream

"The American Scream" (2012, Michael Stephenson, Brainstorm Media, Chiller Films, Magic Stone Productions) is a documentary from the mind that brought us "The Best Worst Movie" back in 2009.

It's set in a quiet American town called Fairhaven and follows 3 families of 'home haunters' as they prepare for the big night of Halloween over the month of October. Each family goes all out for Halloween, turning their gardens and houses into haunted houses for people to visit and enjoy. All three have a different personality, and so each Haunt is very different.

I knew America was crazy for Halloween, but I didn't realise how seriously some people took it! Or that there were whole conventions for props and house decor. Man, I definitely live in the wrong part of the globe.

Endearing and sweet, and often a little sad, this film follows the trials, tribulations and sheer dedication the Haunters and their ever supporting families go through to treat the children and trick or treaters at Halloween.

Each Haunter has such a different character and obviously felt very differently about the holiday and how they went about putting their haunt together, and I think I loved each one of them, they were just so charming in their sheer determination to make their haunt one to remember.

With some ups and downs and some really funny moments that had the cinema laughing aloud and sharing smiles, I found this film to be an excellent crowd pleaser, and a great study on the modern day American obsession (not with bad connotations, however) with All Hallow's Eve and how hobbies can really give your life purpose if you're passionate enough.

The props that Vincent put together, in particular, were so impressive! If he lived in my neighbourhood I would have been helping him out every year! The ending has a melancholy feel to it, however, and I'm curious to whether getting to live his dream has made Vincent happy. I really hope it has, though!

The scenes inside the haunts are excellent and really funny. All in all, this was a little gem of a movie and, while not a horror, is so touching and well put together it will bring a smile to your face.

A good way to start off the 2013 Fright Fest!

[Images: Brainstorm Media, Chiller Films, Magic Stone Productions]

 

Hani

Idle Hands

"Idle Hands" (1999, Rodman Flender, Columbia Pictures) is another horror comedy (ok, so I like horror comedies!).

This time it's all about 3 stoner teens, Anton (Devon Sawa), Pnub (Elden Henson) and Mick (Seth Green) who do nothing all day but smoke, chat, eat and watch rubbish on TV.

Until, of course, Anton discovers on Halloween that his hand has become possessed and is killing everyone! He tries to find a way to stop it before it kills all 2 of his friends and that girl that he likes, Molly (Jessica Alba).

Gory, entertaining and dumb, "Idle Hands" isn't a clever film and doesn't try to be. The effects are fun, and while the humour isn't quite of "Evil Dead 2" calibre, it's still fun.

A fun 90s soundtrack includes Rob Zombie, Mötley Crüe and an appearance of The Offspring reminds you why you're watching this film; for fun. If you want a serious horror it isn't for you.

More of a humorous homage to the horror genre, "Idle Hands" should be taken with a pinch of salt and enjoyed for its base attractions: Seth Green, Jessica Alba, undead folk and killer hands. If you want more, I think you should go watch "Evil Dead".

[Image: Columbia Pictures]

 

Hani

Killer Klowns from Outer Space

"Killer Klowns from Outer Space" (1988, Stephen Chiodo, Mach Studios, Trans World Entertainment, Chiodo Brothers Productions) does exactly what it says on the tin! It's a movie about alien space creatures who resemble clowns, coming to earth to kill people. This purposefully-so-bad-it's-good spoof is a real winner for the title alone!

Completely nuts, self-aware and cheesy this film is everything you want it to be! If you don't want to watch 'Klowns' killing people with popcorn, circus-themed alien weaponry and drinking dead people with crazy straws, then I would only recommend you watch a film other than this one.

Featuring all of the above, plus the plucky young couple, Mike (Grant Cramer) and Debbie (Suzanne Snyder), our intrepid hero police officer Dave (John Allen Nelson) and moaning, old, useless officer Mooney (John Vernon), Killer Klowns delivers the goods in this funny, pastiche, low-budget comedy horror.

While you could argue that it's a one trick pony, or in this case a one joke plot, I didn't find that this mattered as the film was entertaining and well made. The props were pretty good actually for a low budget comedy, and the feel of the film was professional and well executed.

If you're in the mood for some crazed circus laughs this film could be the right one for you!

Not one for the Coulrophobics out there, though! 

[Image: Chiodo Brothers Productions]

 

Hani

Valentine

"Valentine" (2001, Jamie Blanks, Village Roadshow Pictures, NPV Entertainment, Warner Bros. Pictures) is a holiday slasher based around the ever romantic celebration of chocolates and overpriced roses.

We open to a junior high school Valentine's dance. A school loser is asking girls to dance and is being turned down at every opportunity. Even when he finally gets a girl's attention it is in secret, and when some bullies find the pair, the girl, being a little overweight and low in self-esteem herself, decides to claim that the poor boy has assaulted her! The bullies beat the smaller boy and during all this we see his nose bleeding.

Now on to present day where we join the group of girls, those who rejected the boy and his accuser, all grown up and enjoying their lives. Slowly, however, the girls begin to be picked off by a madman in a Cupid mask, who suffers a lot of nosebleeds...

With some mildly disturbing Valentine's gifts, a Michael Myers knock-off killer (albeit with creepy-cutsie-pie mask), some relatively lively scenes and some cheesy 90s-style patter, I always find this film to be an adequete little Valentine's slasher.

A product of the late-nineties-to-early-2000s, this film is hardly a cerebral adventure, but it's fit for purpose and has a good little tale. There's an unimaginative twist, but I do enjoy some of the characters. The pervy policeman in particular is entertaining.

With a few recognisable faces, David Boreanaz, Katherine Heigl, Denise Richards, Jessica Cauffiel... to name a few, Valentine delivers the goods performance-wise and plot-wise without trying to be more than it is. Oh and the music is good!

Simple and satisfying, but don't go in expecting anything clever!

[Image:  Warner Bros. Pictures]

 

Hani

Boo

"Boo" (2005, Kismet Entertainment Group, Graveyard Filmworks, Anthony C. Ferrante) is a haunted old hospital movie.

It's Halloween night and a group of college students decide to spend it in the closed, and badly cordoned off, Santa Mira Hospital. The hospital is rumoured to be haunted, but no one has ever survived a night there in order to describe their encounter before. Or, so the urban legends say...

Feeling brave, the group head in and soon find that perhaps the rumours are true!

A movie with a terrible name, I wasn't exactly expecting much, and while it's quite an amateur production in many ways I found myself actually enjoying it. I watched with a friend, which is usually a good way to make a bad movie entertaining. It's not one to give you nightmares by all means, but I did find a few scenes to be quite promising.

The premise of the film is hardly inventive, but Ferrante has added in some bulk in trying to give the ghosts a sad and abusive history. While this is hardly a film I'd watch again, I would hasten to add that it's got some good sides to it.

The scenery is spot on and the camera work is excellent for B-movie-land. The characters, although your typical 'unlikable horror fodder', are portrayed relatively well. It's certainly nowhere near as wooden as some films I've seen recently.

The ghosts tend to pop up in the background a lot in a fun Scooby Doo kind of way, and there's a lot of 'jump' attempts, some more successful than others. The effects are my favourite kind, mainly props and prosthetics, and are perfectly passable considering this film wouldn't have enjoyed a large budget.

There is, of course, the obligatory dead dog scene for you animal lovers out there...

M. Steven Felty does an excellent job at being the ghost, and has an almost Robert Englund creep factor about him that verges very much into the Freddy Krueger territory.

A film with a lot of potential but let down with some of the primary points of story telling, it's worth a try, but don't plan on being scared.

[Image: Kismet Entertainment Group]

 Don't be fooled, however, it's nowhere near as much fun as Dog Soldiers!

 

Hani 

Secrets Of The Clown

"Secrets Of The Clown" (2007, Ryan Badalamenti, Brain Damage Films, Badman Productions) is, in essence, a killer clown movie.

Bobby (Paul Pierro) feels that he is being haunted by a spirit after the brutal murder of his friend Jim (Jay O'Connor) in his house. His girlfriend, Val (Kelli Clevenger), has also become very distant and oddly protective of her toy clown doll. Soon other friends of Bobby begin to be killed off. Could the clown be responsible?

Dun. Dun. Duuhhhhhhhnn!

Sounds ok, doesn't it? A little schlocky, maybe. Well, it's a low budget attempt so I would be inclined to forgive the sometimes shaky camera work and I was expecting crappy gore. But the first scene is very promising! And the musical score is pretty well put together.

However, the dialogue is painful and truthfully, badly executed by wooden acting. It references 'Ghostbusters' and 'South Park', but the lines aren't very funny. And, although character stereotypes are set up, the characters are just not full enough for any audience sympathy. But I'm used to this in B-movies, so I wasn't expecting much anyway.

The plot is confusing, jumpy and seems uncertain of what's going on and there are a lot of dream sequences that, although sometimes actually creepy, don't do much for the story. It was like Badalamenti couldn't decide if he wanted the bad guy to be a clown, a ghost, a demon or witches. It makes little sense and by half way through the film I just didn't really care any more!

The characters are not likeable, and although the clown make up is good, considering the meagre budget this film must have had, he's not really used to his full potential.

The gore is surprisingly good for B-movie-dom, but it's not quite "Murder Party" impressive (another terribly wooden film). And I didn't understand where some of the blood splatters were from, especially in the car scene. But that's not really a bad thing in a slasher!

There are a lot of topless women in this film, so I suppose that would save it for some people. There's also a sexy nurse and a shower scene. So, if you're looking for boobs, this could be right up your street. 

But it's not scary, it's not clever and it's indecisive as to which horror-sub-genre it wants to be in. Cheesy, but not in the good way.

[Image: Brain Damage Films & Badman Productions]

 

Hani

1408

"1408" (2007, Mikael Håfström, Dimension Films, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) is a haunted hotel room film based on the book of the same name by Stephen King. This is a King book I haven't yet got to reading, but it's on my list, and has just moved swiftly up the list thanks to this film!

Mike Enslin (John Cusack) is a sceptical writer who travels around America staying in supposedly haunted hotel rooms and giving them shining, ghost-filled reviews in his cheap thrill books. He has come to live this way after the death of his daughter, Katie (Jasmine Jessica Anthony) and the resulting separation from his wife, Lily (Mary McCormack). He's lost his drive to write real books and is lost.

His PO box is always overflowing with invites and flyers from Haunted Hotel owners, but there's one hotel in New York that he feels compelled to visit after receiving an anonymous flyer, The Dolphin Hotel.

He travels to New York and tries to check into room 1408. The hotel's manager, Gerald Olin (Samuel L. Jackson) attempts several times to dissuade Mike from staying in that room, offering him bribes and free evidence. But Mike is determined, and is eventually given the keys. Olin takes him to the floor, but not the room, and warns him that over 56 people have died inside 1408 and no one has lasted more than an hour.

Mike sits in the room for a while, telling his tape recorder about the shabby, boring appearance of the room, its drab decor and lack of any supernatural phenomenon. And then, the room makes with the scary!

The film is quite intense, elegant and jumpy. The scares flip smoothly from psychological to 'boo' moments and Cusack gives his usual high level of character acting for the tense surroundings. Mike begins as a sceptic, slowly slides into intrigued and shocked, falls into terror and tries to bounce back into control. It's a good rollercoaster effect and Cusack pulls it off brilliantly.

The version I watched was the Director's cut which has the, what I like to call, 'British Audience Ending'; we're rarely upset with a sad, brutal ending. The 'real' ending, if you like, was quite a lot different, due to negative responses at test screenings. I haven't actually seen this ending so can't really offer comparison, but I really liked the ending in this one and thought it fitted with King's usual story telling very well.

I think this film is quite classy for the modern horror as it manages to entertain and scare its audiences with no sex. Not that I don't love a good sleazy 80s slasher, but I'm finding that a lot of modern horror films feel the need to have boobs and torture to the max and it's getting boring. What I liked about "1408" was that it's scary and has some gore and grisly bits (there is a very good scene with a blue light), jumps and thrills without pandering to the 'Saw'-seekers.

Keeping with King's recurring theme of  'places that are just wrong' "1408" is more than a haunted hotel story, and the evil cannot be truly beaten. Really worth watching.

Image: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Hani