Friday Fright vol. I ep. III
Hello readers!
It's Friday! Time to talk about spooky movies!
An American Haunting
Directed by Courtney Solomon
Released 2005
Scare Level: 😱
Gore Level: 🩸
Over-all Rating: 💚
Review:
This was a little on the camp side of horror.
It starts right into a young woman being chased that currently lives in a house that is haunted. The daughter goes in the attic, because obviously thats where all the spooky shit happens, and brings down a doll. Her mom starts the true story off by reading a letter from the attic about the haunting in the house.
There is heavy themes of religion, due to the setting. Donald Sutherland is amazing because he is Donald Sutherland. The posession scenes reminded me of Scary Movie 2
There isn't much more to the story. They did a great job artistically with the props and costumes. If you don't particularly care for scary movies, but want to start somewhere, this movie is pretty mild. You may get some jump scares but nothing to dwell on.
Directed by Patrick Brice
Released 2014
Scare Level: 😱😱😱😱
Gore Level: 🩸🩸
Over-all Rating: 💚💚💚
Review:
This movie is filmed in a found film format. We follow the footage of a videographer hired to video tape a man who has inoperable brain cancer. It starts off pretty dark.
Josef really started to get on my nerves a bit with his slight arrogance in the conversation. I don't initially see him as a deranged man or a creep, but more of an asshole.
It's a fairly simple movie, there isn't a lot of extra production which does actually make it creepy. This is something that could happen to anyone really. Which I think is why I rated it so highly on the scare level.
It's not the scariest movie I've seen, definitely not the goriest, but it will keep you in suspense for what will happen next.
Candyman
Directed by Bernard Rose
Released 1992
Scare Level: 😱
Gore Level: 🩸🩸🩸🩸
Over-all Rating: 💚💚💚
Review:
What I have learned from this movie is that Clive Baker has quite an imagination. He was the author of the original story that Candyman and Hellraiser, which I reviewed last week, are both based on.
Similar to Hellraiser, this movie has very creative means to create horror. There are heavy pieces of fantasy, but the over-all story is simple. I think the best way to describe the movie is a filmed nightmare. Theres just enough realstic content to tie this into your everyday life, however the outlandish scenes are horrific and obscure enough to fit into nightmare imagination territory.
Within the horror and fantastical elements, the director of the movie chose to add in political messages of the time. The decision to add the social class representation I think was utilized to tie this very bizarre story into a relatable place.
Understanding that this is a Barker film I think helps prevent this from just being a series of WTF through the entire movie. You will still go WTF, and wonder what people of the 90's were thinking in considering this a classic and having it do so well once released. Over-all I didn't really care for it, I didn't find it creepy, and I wouldn't recommend unless someone was really into Clive Baker or just obscure movies.
Directed by Franck Phelizon
Released 2018
Scare Level: 😱😱😱
Gore Level: 🩸
Over-all Rating: 💚
Review:
First off, this movie is French with subtitles. It's filmed in a typical investigation style.
It's definitely not a very scary movie, though it's really trying to be. I don't think it has anything to do with the language barrier either, I think it's just the over-all filming of the movie.
We follow one kid around who is a paranormal investigation with not a lot if any back-story on him, like why he's doing this or his expertise. The lack of information or evidence that we should take the main character seriously is completely gone so it presents the film as more of a juvenile or seriously amateur film.
I did jump a few times due to some jump scares, like going from black screen to a kids face in night vision. If you have a friend who is one of those "I want scary, but like I don't want to be scared," friends, this movie would fit that in the most literal way.
Directed by Rob Zombie
Released 2016
Scare Level: 😱😱😱
Gore Level: 🩸🩸🩸🩸 (It's a Zombie movie, of course there is gore)
Over-all Rating: 💚💚💚💚
Review:
First of all, I think Rob Zombie movies have the best soundtracks. He does a great job of utilizing music to really set the scene, which I personally feel like is something a lot of TV and film producers miss.
What I don't care for as much in his movies are some of the characters. Although House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects are a series, 31 isn't. I find that Sheri's persona or character is somewhat regurgitated in both films as the bratty hot one with a vulgar mouth. I don't know if that's part of the directing and over-all plans for his film career or if it's just a complacency factor.
Over-all, I really enjoyed the movie. From the premise, to the set up, the jump scares and slow burn freaks. If anyone is a fan of Zombie's films, specifically The Devil's Rejects, I think they'd enjoy this one as well.
Although he wasn't in this movie, I want to take a moment to mention that Sid Haig will be missed. He played a beautiful Captain Spaulding and the world will certainly miss his contributions to the horror film scene.
Let me know what scary movies you'd like to see me review! Leave a list in the comments below!
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