scary films

Director : Christopher Alender – Cast Includes : Brigitte Kali Canales, Andrea Cortés

I must confess I’d not heard of filmmaker Christopher Alender before watching this movie, his only other feature was back in 1999 called Memorial Day a horror film I’d not come across but after watching his latest I will certainly be tracking this down, he’s a director I hope to see more of in the future… armed with a devilishly good score by composer Ben Lovett who also worked on Jim Cummings awesome werewolf movie The Wolf of Snow Hollow I really found THE OLD WAYS a creepy, atmospheric ghost story with unsettling scenes of demonic rituals including a snake extraction, haunting scenes of candles burning out, animal teeth and that poor rat… the lightening and makeup felt authentic and the main girl who played Cristina, Fear the Walking Dead’s Brigitte Kali Canales delivers a strong performance : WELL WORTH A WATCH ★★★½

Director : Brandon Christensen – Cast Includes : Sarah Canning, Osric Chau, Gracie Gillam

Recently watched SUPERHOST a new horror film written & directed by Stillborn filmmaker Brandon Christensen… and what an absolute blast I had watching this infectious slice of low budget horror : if like me you like your rental house, unhinged misery kinda sub-genre with a plot that’s relevant, utterly bonkers and a cast that’s on point then you have to see this one… Sarah Canning (The Vampire Diaries) & Osric Chau (The Flash) are both terrific but it’s the crazy energy of Gracie Gillam that really wins the day : TOP NOTCH ★★★½

Director : Ryan Kruger – Cast Includes : Gary Green, Chanelle de Jager, Brett Williams

I’m not quite sure where to start with FRIED BARRY the directorial debut of South African filmmaker Ryan Kruger… and I don’t even think the guy who wrote the story James C. Williamson knew either… from it’s alien abuction, sex fueled Greasy Strangler vibe to it’s drug tripping, chainsaw killing Cuckoo’s Nest insanity Fried Barry is a stomach churning, chaotic slice of weird that needs a sequel and I’m here waiting for it… sometimes you just have to sit back and admire a filmmaker & his cast especially actor Gary Green who plays Barry for being brave and creating something wildly original, dark & squeamish and so far out : this is MY KIND OF INSANE BLISS watch it if you DARE !! ★★★★

Following the Abbott family who are forced to venture into pastures new as they quickly realise that the alien creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats lurking beyond the sand path : A QUIET PLACE Part II opens up with a flashback… Day 1 starts with happier times where we get to see the the small American town where the Abbott’s lived right before the Alien invasion took place, there’s smiles aplenty as the kids are playing baseball, we get to see Brody’s Pizzeria an obvious nod to Spielberg’s Jaws and we get our first look at a new character Emmett played by Cillian Murphy, a family man watching the baseball when his and everyone’s life changes forever : if your a horror fan then the darkness of the Cinema is the best place to watch A Quiet Place Part II as Polly Morgan’s imaginative camera work, the muted sound with flashes of screeching, screaming Alien attacks and the tension with each scene as the family attempt to navigate their now crushed world without making a sound is unbearable : I know I touched on this after 2018’s first movie but I have to say how impressed I am with Millie Simmonds who’s easily the star of this sequel, her character Regan is fearless & clever and the train and boat yard scenes with Cillian are terrific to watch, Emily Blunt of course is superb, the pain Evelyn feels in defending her children & insurmountable loss is the backbone of the movie, from heartfelt moments such as leaving her wedding ring on the cross and her fight with the creature whilst carrying two oxygen tanks is formidable, Peaky Blinder Cillian Murphy is a welcome additon to the cast, his character Emmett plays a pivotel role in the Abbott families survival and The Undoing’s young star Noah Jupe is once again fabulous, that scene where Marcus is running out of air in the safe had my pulse racing and my knuckles turning white as I gripped the arms of the chair, nearly knocking my popcorn all over the place : it’s no mean feat to direct a sequel that stands up well alongside it’s original yet somehow John Krasinksi has managed just that… yes if I was being slightly picky the film finishes rather abruptly and could have benefitted with an extra thirty minutes… but since a third film in the franchise has been green lit with no other than Jeff “Midnight Special” Nichols directing then I’ll let this one pass and look forward to another chapter where being quiet is the new norm : TERRIFYING ★★★★

Here’s the trailer for HALLOWEEN KILLS… I’m a huge fan of Michael Myers and the film franchise that was started back in ’78 by Carpenter spawning numerous sequels and remakes, so the thought of visiting the cinema this October for another dose of Haddonfield has me all excited… I know what your thinking… you just can’t beat the originals and yep you would be right, but there was something fresh I took away from David Gordon Green’s Halloween back in 2018, I didn’t think it was as atmospheric as Carpenter’s masterpiece or as nasty as the Rob Zombie remake but I did love it’s story by Green & Mcbride, the film was well shot with it’s scares coming thick and fast and Myers was in devilishly good form, I really enjoyed the Judy Greer casting and of course seeing Jamie Lee return as Laurie Strode was the icing… so after you’ve watched the trailer for the sequel below why not (like I’m about to do) revisit the Halloween franchise, and see which ones are you favorite… Halloween Kills scares this October…

A couple get stranded in an abandoned 6-meter pool alongside a deadly Crocodile that has recently escaped captivity : I love watching world cinema and recently discovered the work of Thailand’s Ping Lumpraploeng an excellent writer/director who’s latest work THE POOL captured my imagination, so without further ado here’s my movie thoughts : Theeradej Wongpuapan is one of Thailand’s most popular stars and his performance in The Pool is one of the main reasons the movie is so damn watchable, from it’s opening shots of Wongpuapan’s character Day slowly opening his eye’s to find himself in the depths of the drained pool and as he tries to fend of the jaws of this gnarly crocodile with a bucket I knew instantly this would be my movie jam : what I really look for in a good survival movie is whether it’s filmmaker can bring something new to the party and keep the film from being the same old…. well Lumpraploeng’s The Pool is certainly not stale, it’s inventive and for it’s 90mins runtime your truly on the edge of your seat : I love the way the film shifts it’s dynamic and goes from Day’s crocodile attack at the beginning to “6 Days Earlier…” it’s quite brilliant as we not only discover how Day and Koi find themselves at the bottom of this abandoned pool but we also get the build up to the events of those opening survival shots : along with it’s cast and location another triumph in creating the film’s high anxiety levels is the film’s sound, of course the growl of the Crocodile or the crack of thunder is effective and nerve jangling but it’s the atmospheric score that really does ramp up the tension levels : some of my favorite moments in the movie include that scene with an injured Day crawling through the underground drain tunnels and manages to get through an adjacent manhole… also that moment when Day tries to retrieve the tape from the open jaws of the basking Crocodile is nail biting… in these type of movies you can usually call a few things before they happen but I have to say that what happens to Lucky the dog absolutley floored me, it came right out of the blue and what followed straight after was insane and tough to swallow : so if you love your survival movies then look no further than Ping Lumpraploeng excellent THE POOL it’s SUPERB and highly ENTERTAINING ★★★★

A devout community suffering from a plague is torn apart by a beautiful young woman and the forces of witchcraft and possession : I do love me a good folk horror movie, with the likes of Witchfinder General, Blood on Satans Claw, The Witch amongst my favorites in the genre, films that oooze the occult, darkly bewitched by supernatural elements, carry the stench of an evil force fighting against or part of a religious group and there usually set in some sort of rural farm community or isolated island in the middle of nowehere : Thomas Robert Lee’s The Curse of Audrey Earnshaw is another such movie, one that evokes a slow burn foreboding with flashes of unsettling scenes alongside it’s dark and eerie setting : the story in the movie is fine but does get a bit messy in parts and some it’s characters are a little underused but nevertheless there’s a trio of very strong performances from the likes of Catherine Walker who plays Agatha, Catherine was excellent in Liam Gavin’s very scary horror movie A Dark Song, Jared Abrahamson who was last seen in American Animals and Jessica Reynolds in her movie debut gives a haunting painful display as Audrey : I really felt for poor Bridget in the movie played by the wonderful Hannah Emily Anderson, she first looses her child and then this hideous curse is placed upon her to devistating effect, the tooth scene, shaving blade and that moment with the sheep is very upsetting : the idea of transporting Audrey in a box as not to be seen by the towns folk was terrific, as was the idea of Agatha’s land only producing crops, I also found the film’s sets and lighting superbly effective throughout : so overall if your a fan of these slow building, folk horror movies then The Curse of Audrey Earnshaw will thrill and chill your bones : LOVED IT ★★★★

What can I say about the lovely DEE WALLACE who was born on the 14th December 1948 : what an actress, what a scream queen and what an impact this gal from Kansas City had on me, who lit up my favorite genre with superb turns in movies such as The Howling, Alligator II, The Hills Have Eyes, The Frighteners, Critters and the best of the bunch Cujo a Stephen King adaption that still scares me even now : the first time I remember watching Dee was back in 1982, when she played Drew Barrymore’s mum in Steven Spielberg’s E.T. and what a fabulous performance in such a great movie : luckily for us Dee Wallace is still knocking out the films and was seen recently in 2017’s Death House, 2019’s 3 from Hell and 2016’s Aussie Horror Red Christmas : me personally I hope Dee’s around making movies for another 30ys : such an ICONIC movie presence

One of my favorite Dee Wallace quotes : “Cujo was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and it’s the film I’m proudest of. You know, how far can you break down? When do you break down? How do you break down? It was just relentless”

Bodies are discovered, mutilated after each full moon so it’s upto the local sheriff and his deputies to find the killer before they strike again : Firstly let me say how visually stunning the introduction is to THE WOLF OF SNOW HOLLOW almost like The Shining the camera follows the mountainous backdrop of the films location, at times it’s scenery is cleverly reflected above as the camera reaches it’s destination….. a big old grisly moon, what a terrific intro and the perfect mood-setter for what’s to follow : I personally LOVE everything about this bat shit crazy slasher from it’s director & star of the movie Jim Cummings who’s nutty sheriff is having the worst few days of his fucked up life and boy this guy loves to SCREAM : I found the dialogue really witty and at times I didn’t know whether to laugh, console or shout at this poor guy loosing his shit with everybody who crosses his path : the snowy Utah backdrop and action scenes are well shot by Natalie Kingston, it’s quirky Lynch-esque characters are somewhat adhering, we get to share in the great Robert Forster’s final screen outing, a stand out performance from the delightful Riki Lindhome and it’s Agatha Christie keep you guessing narrative The Wolf of Snow Hollow is an absolute riot that tackles addiction, dealing with your demons, marital separation and a killer on the loose : it’s so much movie goodness wrapped up in the smallest of run-times with a bunch of character’s I hope we get see more of….. some time soon : IT’S SO GOOD ★★★★½

On a secluded farm, a man is slowly dying. His family gathers to mourn, and soon a darkness grows and a sense that something evil is taking over the family : I really LOVE scary movies and Bryan Bertino’s THE DARK AND THE WICKED does not disappoint : it’s an unsettling rather loathsome horror film that reeks of EVIL at every turn, from it’s deliberately slow start that peels back the layers to it’s grim, nightmarish finale with grisly scene’s such as the knitting needle, dad on the cealing, the slaughtered cattle and those chopped mushy fingers The Dark and the Wicked is certainly in keeping with the filmmakers twisted horror style : I really love the farmhouse at the centre of the film’s bleakness, from those bottles, horseshoes and hooks that hang from the rope ends in the cattle pen to it’s nerve jangling interior including it’s dimly lit kitchen and dad’s death surrounding bedroom Bertino manages to get under your skin early on, not everything is what it seems and the emotion pouring from it’s cast including Michael Abbot & Marin Ireland who play siblings and Lynn Andrews who plays the nurse is compelling yet disturbing to watch : the scenes when Michael returns home to his wife and kids is wickedly upsetting and Louise waking up with lipstick drawn on her face is draining : so if like me your a fan of Bertino’s work that includes The Strangers and most recently The Monster then wait till you see The Dark and the Wicked it’s a movie that mirrors it’s title and one of the BEST horror movies of the year ★★★★½

Horror : Alternative Poster Gems

Posted by absolutebadasses on October 24, 2020

Posted in: Views. Tagged: 666, Alternative, Alternative Posters, art, artwork, cinema, film, Greg Ruth, horror films, horror movies, horror posters, Jessica Seamans, love movies, mondo, mondo posters, movies, posters, scary films, tenebrae, the babadook, The Omen, Timothy Pittides. Leave a comment

WOW !! take a look at these 3 Horror BEAUTIES from Jessica Seamans (Tenebrae), Greg Ruth (the Babadook) and Timothy Pittides (The Omen) : all three of these posters capture their movie perfectly and in scary detail, the blood splatter & shadows in Tenebrae is effective & like Argento’s masterpiece quite nasty looking too, the Babadook looming over the bathroom via the tiles on the wall as Amelia & Samuel sit in the tub is delicous and quite haunting and the jackal’s from that terrifying cemetery scene in the Omen seen here nurturing a young Damien is sublime

Number 15 of My Top 31 Horror Movies : A group of camp counselors are stalked by an unknown killer while trying to reopen a summer camp which was the site of a child’s drowning and a grisly double murder years before : Originally titled A Long Night at Camp Blood Sean S. Cunningham’s FRIDAY THE 13TH was shot for a measly $500,000 and was released in 1980, becoming a box office success and spawning numerous sequels : from Harry Manfredini scary Hitchcockian score that screams Psycho, the film’s inventive and cruel kills created by the special effect guru Tom Savini, especially Marcie’s axe to the head and Jack’s arrow through the neck are grizzly & quite realistic, the beautiful cast including Jeannine Taylor, Adrienne King, Harry Crosby, Laurie Bartram & Kevin Bacon and their colorful raincoats to the late Barry Abrams atmospheric, close up camera work that creeps around the lake & captures each scream, each kill with chilling gratification : I know the movie inside out & love everything about it, from the iconic Camp Crystal Lake sign to the wonderful yet brief role of Annie Phillips, the cute & bubbly councelor who hitchhikes to the camp at the start of the movie but there’s no doubt my favorite moment in Friday the 13th comes in the last 20mins where Alice played by Adrienne King uncovers the killers identity and then a showdown takes place as she battles to stay alive : being a huge fan of the slasher genre and especially the “golden age” from around the mid-70s onwards Friday the 13th is one of the most iconic horror movies of the last 50 years, we not only get to witness the origin story of one of the most terrifying villains of all time but also get to meet his creator : two words HORROR CLASSIC ★★★★★

Number 18 of My Top 31 Horror Movies : A real estate developer and his young family are haunted by a demonic presence that has taken residence in their family home : “They’re Here…” : Being scared of Tobe Hooper’s 1982 movie POLTERGEIST is so easy, the film is an absolute screaming riot, a classic that still makes me drool with unquenchable excitement : the film has the trappings of Spielberg’s typical family ideals along with Hooper’s energy fused horror : I love the scenes of chairs moving across the floor, ghostly portals opening from the cealing, an ancient tree coming to life, a creepy clown sat at the foot of a childs bed and the haunting sound of Carol Anne’s voice whilst inside the other world, you can tell this is a story from the maestro Spielberg, it just drips with his imagination : Poltergeist starts it’s first half in grand supernatural style and then Hooper turn’s up the pace, ending with a pulse racing, squeamish finale : along with the iconic performance of Zelda Rubinstein’s Tangina Barrons a spiritual medium who comes to the aid of the Freeling’s some of my favorite moments in the movie has to be Marty’s face turning into a melting skeleton in front of the bathroom mirror as he picks away at the decaying flesh, the boy being dragged under the bed by the possessed clown and of course those last 20mins of the movie which belong to Jobeth Williams, firstly being thrown around her bedroom whilst her kids are being terrorised by some demonic evil creature, then battling corpses that are emerging from the unfinished muddy pool and finally saving the day & her family from the hell monster and getting outa of dodge : Poltergeist is a glorious, nightmarish & intense 80s horror that’s packed with nostalgia and so much fun to revisit ★★★★★

Number 30 of My Top 31 Horror Movies : In the sixteenth century, Francis Barnard travels to Spain to clarify the strange circumstances of his sister’s death after she had married the son of a cruel Spanish Inquisitor : for me PIT AND THE PENDULUM is the best of the eight movies that Vincent Price and Roger Corman worked on together, it’s certainly the most haunting and beautifully filmed by High Noon’s Floyd Crosby : shot in just fifteen days the film is a bonafied 60s classic, a horror that has no doubt been a point of influence for horror filmmaker since, from it’s weird & ghostly flashback scenes, the shots of the waves hitting the rocks, it’s eerie nerve pinching sound, Vincent Price’s trademark expressions and dramatic eye movements to those other impressive cast members including John Kerr, Barbara Steele, Luana Anders, Antony Carbone but what really makes Pit and the Pendulum such a fine horror film is it’s chilling suspense, sweeping sets and that devious, evil little twist at it’s end ★★★★½

Becky (2020) – Movie Thoughts

Posted by absolutebadasses on June 15, 2020

Posted in: Movie Reviews, Reviews. Tagged: amanda brugel, becky, becky movie, Cary Murnion, cinema, dark comedy horror, film blog, film geek, film review, films, home invasion films, home invastion, horror, horror movies, joel mchale, Jonathan Milott, kevin james, like, love, love films, love movies, lulu wilson, lulu wilson horror icon, movie, movie website, photo, poster, scary films. Leave a comment

A teenager’s weekend at home with her dad takes a turn for the worse when a group of escaped convicts decide to interupt their plans – From the fab duo of Milott & Murnion who in 2014 gave us the insanely good Cooties comes their new horror picture BECKY a home invasion movie that will no doubt upset someone, somewhere at somepoint – There is no question that this film is the darkest of the the duo’s three movies to date, you get a nasty performance by Kevin James who plays a neo-nazi convict, some blood thirsty Home Alone style action scenes that’s not for the faint hearted, a real eye-catching moment during the film’s second half and the star of the show Lulu Wilson who is quite simply wonderful playing Becky this teenage girl who’s loss of her mother has hardened her mentally and given her this moody chip on her shoulder that serves her well in trying to survive – My only criticism is that the film runtime could have been slightly longer to allow a bit more characterization which would have helped explain Becky’s relationship or lack of with her father Jeff played by Joel Mchale BUT nevertheless the film is a credit to Milott & Murnion a real heart-stopper, a violent exciting horror thriller that I will no doubt revisit again and again ★★★★

Spiral (2020) – Movie Trailer

Posted by absolutebadasses on February 5, 2020

Posted in: Trailers, Views. Tagged: chris rock, cops, films, horror, horror movies, like, love, movie trailer, movies, Samuel L Jackson, saw, saw movies, scary films, spiral, spiral movie, spiral poster, spiral trailer, summer movie, teaser trailer, the book of saw, thriller. Leave a comment

I’m a sucker for these type of movies and this looks BRILLIANT – the premise looks fresh, dark & truly twisted and has a small hint of Fincher’s Seven blended with the bloody terrifying franchise we love so much !! Spiral (aka: Spiral: From The Book of Saw) is the ninth installment in the Saw franchise. Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman who brought us Saw II, Saw III and Saw IV, and starring Chris Rock, Samuel L. Jackson, Max Minghella, and Marisol Nichols

The Babadook (2014) – Movie Review ★★★★½

“Baba dook dook dook!!!“

Director: Jennifer Kent – Cast: Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Daniel Henshall, Tiffany Lyndall-Knight & Tim Purcell – Synopsis: a single mother, haunted by the death of her husband, battles with her son’s fear of a monster lurking in the house, but she soon discovers an evil presence all around her – Overall: Scary & well acted horror films are quite a rarity these days, sadly we live in a movie world of endless remakes that only a quarter of which are decent and the rest once watched sit gathering dust amongst our film collection’s SO as you can imagine when I came across this film, a horror that felt so personal, so dark and one that left the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention I DECIDED that I should shout the praise to all and sundry, to whomever would listen and most of all to the those who love a good old fashioned scare !! The Babadook starts with a thump, within its first 15mins I was already invested in its characters, I felt for Samuel we’ve all been there scared of the demons in our closet or under our bed – and I sympathized with Amelia Samuel’s mum, tortured by her loss, fighting to keep her own sanity and trying to bring up her son in a somewhat normal existence. Being a big fan of the horror genre and not easily scared by things that go bump in the night I was surprised by how haunting an effect Jennifer Kent’s film-making debut had on me, the story also written by Kent is almost like a ghost story of yesteryear, the majority of which is set inside a creepy house in the suburbs that adds to the movies scare, giving you the sense of confinement, suffocating you, a movie cabin fever that just keeps building, and building and building – of course along with its terrific story, it’s effective Kubrick-esque camerawork & an eerie score that at times would make your heart beat twice as quick – filmmaker Jennifer Kent also had to find an actress that would help bring her creation to life, become this broken women, this mum who would do unspeakable things and in Aussie Essie Davis she found exactly that, if I tell you that Essie Davis delivers the best horror performance for an actress since Shelley Duvall went visiting the Overlook in Kubrick’s The Shining then you know that this performance and this movie is something very special – Essie captures Amelia’s vulnerability, she’s a mother unhinged, you can almost feel her pain & you witness her terror as things really do go bump in the night. The Babadook is a nail biting, pillow hiding, lights on kinda horror that’s very reminiscent of early Polanski with splashes of Hitchcock, Kubrick and the imagination of Roald Dahl thrown in – the use of the illustrated book throughout is a master stroke, it’s images are effective and its words within pretty scary – there are some spoiler scenes throughout the movie that pull at the heart strings and these are only possible due to Kent’s groundwork in building characters you truly care for – I can’t remember many filmmakers making their horror movie debut with such gusto but Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook is up there with the very best of them ! This is one subtle, chilling horror that deserves your attention – just make sure you lock all the doors first….