15 Images for 15 Years of Horror, Part 4 (2003-2017): some of the greatest, goriest, most shocking and most memorably defining moments in horror
Greetings, horrorounds! We spend so much of our time complaining about re-used, recycled, unoriginal, tired-out horror tropes and stories and stale archetypal horror character roles presented by actors that can’t act, directors who can rarely direct, and budgets that don’t get us anywhere. So I thought it was time for us to take a moment to remember that even today in the modern horror era we find the occasional delight in the form of worthy remakes or original approaches to old ideas…maybe even some new ideas.
This is a follow-up article to 15 Images for 15 Years of Horror, Part 1 (2000-2014), 15 Images for 15 Years of Horror, Part 2 (2001-2015) and 15 Images for 15 Years of Horror, Part 3 (2002-2016). So if you don’t see your favorite movies listed here, they were probably in last year’s review of awesome horror scenes. If you want some excellent horror suggestions from further back, you should check out The Best Moments in Horror: looking back 20 years to 1995, looking back 20 years to 1996, looking back 20 years to 1997, and The Best Horror Came from the ’80s: Part 1 and Part 2.
I really wanted to include movies like Session 9 and The Skeleton Key, but such films are more about tone than single iconic images (or even clips) that ignite memories. So now I give you 15 more photos for 15 years of horror. These don’t necessarily represent the 15 “best” horror movies since 2003–for that you should check out our articles on What is the Best Horror Movie of the 21st Century? and The Top 21 Horror Films of the 21st Century!–but rather 15 of the most memorable moments for me.
Life (2017)
Despite not having much of a story, the characters and creature development breathe heavy tension into Life . It’s a satisfying rollercoaster of nerve-wracking fun, but packs none of the moral or heroic punch of Alien (1979).
After an accidental gas valve malfunction Calvin (the name given to their little lifeform) appears to be dead. So, Dr. Hugh Derry tries to shock/defibrillate him and, well… Calvin doesn’t seem thrilled. Even though it starts with just a finger snap, this is among the more powerfully disturbing limb-breaking scenes I’ve seen. I was truly reeling along with our victim.
If you haven’t seen the film and want to know more, we discussed it a bit in Episode 96: Cinematic Space Exploration Seems Terrible.
Don’t Breathe (2016)
This film was loaded with high tension and utter brutality. The attempted artificial insemination scene (basically an alternative rape) and Rocky’s vengeful recourse were truly shocking. This was among the most morally reprehensible things I’ve seen; I felt the horror of our protagonist victim even though, truly, I couldn’t even imagine.
If you want to hear more about this film, check out Episode 73: Fede Alvarez’ Don’t Breath & Evil Dead.
The Visit (2015)
A boy’s angry grandfather takes a soiled adult diaper and smacks it right in the kid’s face! I’ve covered some really gory scenes in this series of articles. Faces being ripped apart, guts being pulled out, super creepy imagery… but when I first saw this scene every joint in my body locked up in terror.
It Follows (2014)
Some films really just go for it in the first few minutes. Remember in The Ring (2002) when we first saw that victim’s face? Yeah, scenes like that. Well this (above) from the opening sequence shocked the crap outta’ me! We saw it on screen for about a second and after I was just thinking “wait, what happened to her leg!?!?!?!”
If you want to hear more about this film, check out Episode 11: Sexually Transmitted Demons.
Insidious Chapter 2 (2013)
The answer is yes! The Lipstick Demon will forever be creepy AF.
I’m honestly not a huge fan of this franchise, but I like the world it builds and the presentation of its fiends.
Sinister (2012)
Don’t even play like this didn’t freak you TF out even when watching the TV trailer! That shit wasn’t right!
The Thing (2011)
Okay, folks. Let’s get something clear. I’ll be the first to say I knew far before 2011 that no remake, reboot, sequel or prequel to The Thing (1982) could ever do any remote justice to the original. That said, I’m not saying this 2011 remake/prequel was good. But it was certainly entertaining! Even if some of the CGI doesn’t quite hold up in parts, it’s an exciting effects ride.
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (2010)
This was not so scary (to the point of major disappointment), but still a tad entertaining. It felt like it should have been a 30-minute short in an episodic movie composed of three eerie del Toro-visualized tales. The concept and story were great, just… stretched way too thin. That leg break, though!
The movie that gave us some of the best rules for surviving the zombie apocalypse. Lots of good rules presented in memorable ways. LOL
Splinter (2008)
This strikes me as the kind of film a lot of people missed–which is just sinful. It captures similar plant-induced-zombification notions we enjoyed in The Ruins (2008), it calls back to the Bride of Re-Animator (1989) “hand” scenes, and we enjoy the kind of wildly twitchy zombie-animated autonomy we’d later find in Train to Busan (2016). This is joyously creepy and brought many smiles as I reeled in my seat.
Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007)
While on the phone with her agent her agent (Patton Oswalt), singer Kimberly Caldwell (playing herself) makes the very same “wrong turn” that got those folks into trouble in Wrong Turn (2003) and hits a young mutant hillbilly. The brutal tone is set immediately as the disfigured boy bites off her lips and she is cut top-to-bottom in half, dropping her intestines in a gore-slathered mess as we watch her legs fall in opposite directions! If you don’t simply love that, then you may as well stop the movie right there. If for some reason you figured you should avoid the Wrong Turn sequels (now up to part 6), I’d advise you at least watch this one even though it lacks the more serious tone of part 1.
Black Sheep (2006)
If you haven’t seen the delightfully gory New Zealand horror comedy about infected, flesh-eating sheep–consider yourself notified that you’ve been missing out big time! Victims fall into an offal pit, there’s something of a “weresheep” transformation, and loads of entrail-rich hilarity. Here, we have a sort of feral sheep ripping out a woman’s digestive system!
The Amityville Horror (2005)
Both rather haphazard in content, the remake (2005) and the original (1981) still managed to pack a lot of atmospheric punches and a solid creep-factor. And although perhaps more than a bit cliche, we all press our backs into our seats when we see the “creepy kid” scene coming. Here’s one of those scenes as a child forces a woman’s finger into her headwound. LOL
Saw (2004)
Saw really set the stage for modern torture porn—although the script seems so thoughtful that the mere application of this subgenre feels on the verge of derogatory. This film never dares to revel in its brutality in lieu of story. Cube (1997) and Se7en (1995) clearly colored Wan’s palate, but didn’t overly guide his brush strokes. All resistance feels futile from the moment the set-ups are revealed, everyone dies, and evil wins with nary a silly nor ill-explained nor eye-rollingly ironic twist to be found. The most iconic scene of this franchise opener was when the film’s namesake, the saw, was finally used. It’s funny how so many people look back at this as a gory movie, literally remembering more visceral brutality than actually transpired on screen. Rather the brutality was more in the perceived emotional duress (most of the time), and that’s what made this work so well.
Wrong Turn (2003)
Remember that time Emmanuelle Chriqui got axed across the jaw? Yeah… everyone who saw this remembers that death. It was epic. And right after that moment, her body slid down as her upper head remain resting atop the tree-wedged ax… just gorgeous.
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Hope you enjoyed some of my favorite mania-feeding moments.
Please read…
15 Images for 15 Years of Horror, Part 1 (2000-2014)
15 Images for 15 Years of Horror, Part 2 (2001-2015)
15 Images for 15 Years of Horror, Part 3 (2002-2016)
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John’s Horror Corner: The Editor (2014), a wonderfully gory and raunchy yet awkwardly written ultra-cheesy horror comedy.
MY CALL: If you love Italian Giallo films and would love to see them mocked in an extremely awkward film, then you are in luck! Otherwise, this film will likely confound or alienate viewers who either don’t exactly know what they’re getting into, or who are sober. MOVIES LIKE The Editor: For more horror or horroresque or horror-adjacent films of similarly awkward comedic tone, try The Greasy Strangler (2016), Manborg (2011), Turbo Kid (2015), Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky (1991) and Kung Fury (2015).
Lots of warm neon lighting, great 80s synth scoring, full frontal nudity (Tristan Risk; ABCs of Death 2, American Mary), a gruesome face chopping and some melodramatic dialogue get this film off to interesting (if not stimulating) start… and that’s just in the first few minutes!
Writers (in part) and directors Matthew Kennedy and Adam Brooks (Father’s Day) continue their foray into strange cinema with this horror dark comedy that feels more a soft-handed farce than satire. The tone weaves one Hell of a weird atmosphere, and it’s pervasive.
A film editor with prosthetic fingers and a loveless marriage (Paz de la Huerta; Nurse 3D), Ciso (Adam Brooks; Another Wolfcop, Manborg) has a passion for his work in the film industry. But as his filmmaking colleagues are gruesomely murdered on and off the set, a detective (Matthew Kennedy; The Void, Manborg) becomes suspicious of Ciso’s whereabouts and some of the actors (Conor Sweeney; Another Wolfcop, Manborg) take matters into their own hands to find the killer. What ensues is pure insanity.
This seems to honor, copy or mock various scenes from Se7en (1995), American Psycho (2000), Black Christmas (1974), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), The Shining (1980), cheesy twist endings and an entire era’s worth of 70s exploitation cinema. Despite using such iconic tropes and scenes, the dialogue is deliberately lobotomizingly stupid.
There’s a quirky doctor (Udo Kier; Suspiria, The Theater Bizarre, Mother of Tears, Halloween) with a ridiculously gigantic syringe he sticks in necks, every opportunity is taken to mock 60s-70s era violence against women exploitation films to such extent of dialogue about women slapping themselves, everything is farcically dramatized with every effort to avoid sounding like a real movie—and all the while nothing is ever delivered with a smile. Nope. This is all straight-faced.
The special effects aren’t exactly epic, nor are they at all bad. Somewhere in the middle, but very over-the-top bloody. As in slitting throats with blood spraying into someone else’s face bloody. A really funny and extremely gory scene involves ripping off a woman’s entire face as she continues to scream and then smushing it back on (tongue-in-cheek). We also see sloppily chopped off fingers, yanking out intestines and a face melting off in flames.
Oh, but it’s not just bloody. There’s a raunchy 80s workout scene reminiscent of Killer Workout (1987), many shower scenes, male and female full frontal nudity, bizarre sex scenes, sooooo many sex scenes, someone even gets chainsawed to death during a sex scene and then a blood-soaked totally naked man is cornered by the killer. The cheese factor is high on this one.
I don’t think I need to summarize this. If this is for you, you know who you are. I’ll just say that your mood and company will strongly affect how you enjoy this weirdness.
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John’s Horror Corner: Pyewacket (2017), atmospheric rituals summoning demons and guilt for mothers and daughters.
MY CALL: This is one of those films that’s all about atmosphere, tension and anticipation over the monsters and macabre. As such, the pacing is a bit slow even if the cultivation of dread is well-executed. MORE MOVIES LIKE Pyewacket: For a tour of family values horror go for The Uninvited (2009), The Babadook (2014), Goodnight Mommy (2014), The Witch (2016) and Hereditary (2018).
Being a teenager isn’t easy for Leah Reyes (Nicole Muñoz); even harder after the recent loss of her father. After moving from the suburbs to a quiet house in the woods against her will, her (not so abnormally) adversarial relationship with her mother (Laurie Holden; The Walking Dead, The Mist, Silent Hill) drives her to perform an occult ritual—a curse during which she summons “Pyewacket.” As Leah comes to see her mother is trying her best, she comes to regret her invocation and fears its fulfillment.
While not a slow burn per se, this is not a film of electric pacing. We watch, we look for signs, and we wait to see what or whom Pyewacket is as we observe Leah’s relationships with her friends and her mother as her own stress mounts.
The cast handles things well in this film of minimal special effects. A little blood is all to be told for “gore” and creature effects are likewise infrequent and obscured. Surely this is for budgetary reasons, but it does well serving the minimalist approach to this film which focuses more on stress, guilt and anticipation than blood, guts and monsters. While not exactly in the same league or to the same magnitude, Pyewacket would best be compared to The Witch (2016) or Hereditary (2018) in this respect.
Some of the writing and acting felt a bit clunky early in the film. The same can be said about the camerawork. But overall, I was very pleased. I was also impressed with certain aspects often over-looked in horror. For example, during the ritual Leah cuts her wrist to let blood. The cut itself was done so well as to make me wince—not an easy task, and over something so simple and during a scene cultivating little tension compared to what lies in store.
Director Adam MacDonald (Backcountry) patiently toys with our nerves, and he’s good at it. He takes his time revealing how and when the ritual works, and what it even is. But once he does, it’s brutal.
Outside of its own reveal, this film offers no typical resolution. It leaves you shocked and, having handled the cultivation of dread so well, I don’t feel anything was missing.
I liked it!
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The MFF Podcast #150: Big Trouble in Little China
You can download the pod on Itunes, Stitcher, Tune In, Podbean, or LISTEN TO THE POD ON BLOG TALK RADIO.
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!
The #1 ranked podcast on Ranker’s “Best Movie Podcast” list is back! This week we’re talking about one of our favorite movies that features the greatest action hero of all time (Jack Burton!). Big Trouble in Little China is an absolute classic and we’re honored we were able to celebrate 150 episodes with this John Carpenter classic. In this episode, we talk about Jack Burton’s driving skills, sleeveless t-shirts, inspired fight scenes and leave no six demon bag unturned. If you are a fan of Big Trouble in Little China you need to listen to this jam-packed episode.
Dude is the best.
As always, we answer random questions and ponder if Sam Raimi should direct the inevitable remake. If you are a fan of the podcast make sure to send in some random listener questions so we can do our best to not answer them correctly. We thank you for listening and hope you enjoy the pod!
You can download the pod on Itunes, Stitcher, Tune In, Podbean, or LISTEN TO THE POD ON BLOG TALK RADIO.
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!
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RoboCop (1987), Paul Verhoeven’s ultra-violent cyborg cop movie.
MY CALL: If you love really violent, really bloody 80s movies that don’t dote on people’s sensitivities while providing some social commentary, then this is for you. Want cybernetic cops out for revenge? Then this is EVEN MORE for you. MORE MOVIES LIKE RoboCop: Both Total Recall (1990) and Starship Troopers (1997) capture most of the elements that make me love RoboCop.
Director Paul Verhoeven (Total Recall, Starship Troopers, Hollow Man) delivers us to a dangerous Detroit. Known for using media and commercials in his films, Verhoeven stylishly paints his dystopian near-future with news clips of foreign conflict and violence against police, as well as commercials about medical breakthroughs in artificial organs to set his stage for the future in law enforcement.
As we’d later see in Total Recall (1990) and Starship Troopers (1997), Verhoeven loves co-ed locker rooms and showers and, likewise, is an equal opportunity presenter both male and female nudity. Not only that, Verhoeven is all about tough-as-nails women. Starship Troopers (1997) had Dina Meyer, Total Recall (1990) had Sharon Stone and Rachel Ticotin, and here we have officer Lewis (Nancy Allen; Carrie, Strange Invaders, Poltergeist III) credibly kicking the crap out of a perp in the police station lobby.
With the development of “Delta City” underway, Dick Jones (Ronny Cox; The Car, Total Recall) has big plans for a privatized police force: ED-209, a menacing stop-motion law enforcement droid. The violence and blood run HEAVY in this movie! ED-209’s first kill is brutal. A fellow suit, Bob Morton (Miguel Ferrer; DeepStar Six, The Guardian) has his own ideas for a RoboCop program, but it requires… volunteers.
So enters the savage Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith; Amityville: The Awakening, Boxing Helena) and his gang of criminals (including Ray Wise; Chillerama, The Rift, Twin Peaks, Jeepers Creepers 2). When officer Lewis and new Detroit cop Alex Murphy (Peter Weller; Of Unknown Origin, Leviathan, Screamers) step onto the scene, these criminals destroy poor Murphy—like, literally. When Murphy’s hand is blown off it splatters (explodes really) and leaves a chunky stump. Then they blow off his arm leaving flesh shrapnel and they blow out his brains in a sloppy exit wound. But now Morton has his volunteer!
The RoboCop design is sleek and a bit Vader-esque, his movement is robotically rigid and his vision is a lot like the T-800 (i.e., The Terminator). Watching him work the streets is violent 80s bliss. He shoots a guy in the crotch, punches through walls and throws someone out a second story window.
Despite allegedly having no memory of his life, RoboCop has bad dreams echoing his murder and his family. Eventually he seeks revenge.
The performances in this film were on point. Kurtwood Smith brings his stone-cold, no-nonsense A-game as a criminal who shoots first and sometimes even kills before idle asking questions later. Miguel Ferrer is delectably corporate-slimy down to his habits for snorting coke off bimbos’ cleavage. And Ronny Cox has that OG emotionless game face. Their an admirable line-up of bad guys.
And when these bad guys get theirs, they really get it. I love when the dude’s flesh melts from the toxic waste. The make-up work is great; he looks like an absolute monster. Then he about disgustingly liquefies when hit by a car. LOL. Awesome death scene.
Moreover, despite being an armored cybernetic cop, RoboCop gets the crap kicked out of him much like Bruce Willis in Die Hard (1988). By the end, RoboCop is covered in armor-piercing round holes, cracks, black powder scuffs and blood.
My favorite thing about this film (as opposed to the ultra-soft 2014 remake) was how it didn’t try to please everyone. Outside of his memories viewed in first-person, we never see Murphy with his family or try to reconnect with them. They explain why, and it makes perfect sense. And after Murphy exacts his revenge there is no attempt at verbal reconciliation of his catharsis. It’s simply done. He shot the crap outta the guy one minute. RoboCop starts identifying himself as “Murphy” the next minute. The end. It’s a good “tough guy” ending a la Schwarzenegger.
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John’s Horror Corner: Critters 3: You Are What You Eat (1991), an inferior sequel with less gore, blood, action, humor and storytelling.
MY CALL: Sure, it’s still entertaining. But it’s also exceedingly dumb, watered-down, devoid of gore and completely uninspired compared to parts 1-2 that I wouldn’t recommend it or even consider it comparable to the other two. MORE MOVIES LIKE Critters 3: Critters (1986) and Critters 2 (1988), Gremlins (1984), Ghoulies 2 (1988), Tremors (1990), Grabbers (2012)… maybe even Munchies (1987) and Hobgoblins (1988). Leprechaun (1993) is also a decent R-rated horror comedy follow-up for fans of Critters.
FRANCHISE SIDEBAR: In part 1, a batch of critters escaped a maximum security “prison asteroid” and were followed to Earth by shape-shifting intergalactic bounty hunters. With the help of a teenager and the town drunk, they thought the threat was eradicated and Charlie (Don Keith Opper; Critters 1-4) joined the ranks of the bounty hunters. But remember how part 1 ended with a clutch of eggs? Well, after yet another deliciously cheesy SciFi spaceship opening, the alien bounty hunters received orders to return to Earth and eliminate the remaining monsters. So in part 2, Charlie and bounty hunter Ug saved the town yet again. However, they clearly didn’t complete the mission successfully because here we are for part 3 which actually begins near Grover’s Bend, Kansas where this all started…
Beginning with SciFi scenes in outer space, parts 1-2 opened with a sort of flair indicative of the filmmakers’ love for their work. These goofy space scenes felt inspired and offered unconventional ways for us to meet our monsters and protagonists. But this sequel is the first to feel like a generic 80s horror flick from its outset. This could just as readily be the first few minutes of Pumpkinhead 8 or Tremors 10.
We quickly meet our generic protagonist family including Annie (Aimee Brooks; Sorority House Massacre, Monster Man), her new friend Josh (Leonardo DiCaprio; The Revenant, Shutter Island), and when we are reintroduced to Charlie it feels as hokey and uninspired as can be. Typical of the era, Charlie gives a montage review of parts 1-2 to the group of children to catch the audience up.
Driving through the site of parts 1-2 (Grover’s Bend, Kansas), critters lay a clutch of green oozing eggs under our protagonists’ car to hitchhike to the city. Our victims end up trapped in a Los Angeles apartment building with the monsters, making for an easy (and uninteresting) low budget venue. It was every bit as unexciting as it sounds.
HORROR IN THE BIG CITY SIDEBAR: Lots of horror franchises decided to break out from their cabins in the woods and remote farms to try their hand at the big city. Among them are Friday the 13th part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989), Pinhead went solo in the club scene in Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992), Leprechaun 2 (1994) took its diminutive rascal to Las Vegas and then the Hood twice (2000, 2003), Carol Anne moved downtown only to be followed in Poltergeist III (1988), and now the critters have packed their bags to head to Los Angeles.
This is easily the most hokey installment of the franchise (so far). The critters watch cooking shows, they get bowled down like pins complete with sound effects, they fart and burp and giggle about it amidst food fights, and they eat whatever they can (including dish soap) for cheap comic relief. One gets a bleach burn and actually resembles Stripe from Gremlins (1984). But far less serious, the kitchen scene antics are really more like Gremlins 2 (1990). This Stripe-like leader was the most interesting development, paling in comparison to part 1’s giant critter or part 2’s critterball and the comical bounty hunter shape-changing (into a Playboy Playmate with a magazine staple on her sternum).
Director Kristine Peterson (Kickboxer 5, Deadly Dreams) fails to capture the fun magic of the series. Critter action is less frequent, the writing isn’t clever, the gore is nonexistent (way less than parts 1-2), the blood is reduced, and the plot is as generic as they come. When Charlie finally comes to the rescue it all falls flat. I felt the creature effects also dropped in quality, and the only gore moment worth mentioning was when little old Mrs. Menges (Frances Bay; In the Mouth of Madness, Nomads) hacks a critter in half with a giant cleaver. I miss the gory flesh-eaten bones and skeletons and cadavers.
Honestly, the most interesting part was the last few minutes. Moving into the credits, Charlie finds critter eggs and gets an interstellar call from his old bounty hunter buddy Ug (Terrence Mann; Critters 1-4) informing him that they are the very last two of eggs of the species and they are to be preserved in a space pod that crashes into the building in the final shot with a big “to be continued” across the screen. It’s this Sci-Fi connection that always made the earlier movies more lively. But still, it’s nice to see some returning characters.
This sequel is clearly inferior to parts 1-2, so it’s really hard to recommend. It completely lacks the off-the-wall inventiveness that made the earlier installments work so well. But I didn’t hate it.
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John’s Horror Corner: Mara (2018), a sleep paralysis demon using The Ring’s (2002) playbook and Mama’s (2013) monster choreography.
MY CALL: If you really want to see more creatures like Lights Out (2016) and Mama (2013) and you’re feeling adventurous on trying a film with a significant risk of disappointment, then this is it. I felt similarly about Veronica (2017). MOVIES LIKE Mara: The concept smacks strongly of things like Shadow People (2012), but the style is much more akin to Lights Out (2016) and Mama (2013).
After a man is brutally killed sleeping in bed with his wife (Rosie Fellner; Nine Lives), Dr. Kate Fuller (Olga Kurylenko; Centurion, Oblivion) is the criminal psychologist called to the scene. A witness to the death of her father, a young girl indicates to Kate that the killer was named “Mara.” The wife describes symptoms of sleep paralysis and, like her daughter, names the demon Mara as well. So now I just want to know how everyone knows this fiend’s name?
We jump into the plot a little too hard and fast, throwing around terms like “sleep demon” in the first 15 minutes and pouring over more melodrama than situations deserve. And, alas, the hyperbolic writing continues throughout the first act leading us to Kate’s attendance of an erratic sleep paralysis support group (led by Mitch Eakins; Evil Bong 1-2) where she meets Dougie (Craig Conway; The Descent, Dog Soldiers), yet another person referring to the exact same murderous demon by the exact same name: Mara. And still, even if one were to find a strong enough correlation to identify a single supernatural killer—where and how did they get this name? Wikipedia? It’s all simply too convenient, and still so early in the film.
The set-ups for our sleep demon also feel displaced… almost as if Mara was a common Boogeyman doing whatever things a low budget filmmaker can manage to muster up a scare or a creepy shot. Mara appears under tables or wandering about the kitchen. And that’s all fine for a ghost haunting a venue or a mentally disturbed vagrant. But this is an ancient demon whose power is contingent on you being asleep. So why, WHY would it be skulking under the kitchen table like a gremlin? The victim seeing Mara is paralyzed with sleep paralysis, so there’s surely no reason to hide!
This film is clearly calling plays from The Ring’s (2002) playbook. People are exposed to Mara, they are marked (e.g., “seven days” in The Ring), and then they die the next night in their sleep looking something like Samara’s contorted victims. I also find it amusingly similar to name our sleep demon Mara when our phone/videotape demon in The Ring movies was Samara.
Mara is played by Javier Botet (It, The Conjuring 2, REC 4, Mama, The Mummy, Crimson Peak), the Spanish Doug Jones. Botet is inexperienced in playing gangly monsters and, for the few scenes that we see much of the demon, he does well with unnatural movements. However, the direction for the demon is weak. Mara strangles her paralyzed victims to death. So, there’s no fight, action or violence to it. Instead the film relies on the creepy movements of the demon as its twitching elongate fingers reach for your throat. Kind of neat once, but exceedingly boring thereafter. As a result, our death scenes largely fall flat. Besides a suicide by immolation, all the other effects are simply seeing Mara walk around in a translucent nightgown. She’s strikingly similar to Mama (2013) to such degree that if you called this Mama 2, the film would be every bit as credible. Many of the Mara shots felt like direct echoes of Mama (2013) and Lights Out (2016).
For his first feature film, director Clive Tonge (Emily and the Baba Yaga) showed up and tried. A few scare shots really missed the mark for me, just a few good jump scares, so-so atmosphere—really, I didn’t think this was worth it. The photography is decent, with more great shots being attempted than actually captured. But I recognize and appreciate both the effort and the product. To be fair, there were some very nice shots. The quality was just inconsistent.
For a VOD rental, you could probably do a lot worse. But I’m not going to recommend this film. As someone who watches a LOT of horror movies, I don’t necessarily regret this either. And it was nice seeing the callbacks to aforementioned films influencing the present film. So I’ll keep my eye out for Clive Tonge’s next film for sure.
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John’s Horror Corner: Critters 2: The Main Course (1988), the gorier sci-horror comedy creature feature sequel that is somehow NOT rated R.
MY CALL: Every bit as fun as part 1 and a satisfyingly fun creature feature for fans of Gremlins (1984) and Ghoulies 2 (1988). Loads of off-the-wall inventiveness, some blood and boobs, and likably cute miscreant monsters make this a blast! MORE MOVIES LIKE Critters 2: Critters (1986), Gremlins (1984), Ghoulies 2 (1988), Tremors (1990), Grabbers (2012)… maybe even Munchies (1987) and Hobgoblins (1988), although they are of considerably lower quality. Leprechaun (1993) is also a decent R-rated horror comedy follow-up for fans of Critters.
Remember how part 1 ended with a clutch of eggs? Well, after yet another cheesy sci-fi spaceship opening, Charlie (Don Keith Opper; Critters 1-4), Ug (Terrence Mann; Critters 1-4) and Lee (Roxanne Kernohan; Not of this Earth, Scream Queen Hot Tub Party) the alien bounty hunters receive orders from their big-headed ruler Zanti (Cynthia Garris; Sleepwalkers, Psycho IV, The Stand) to return to Earth and eliminate the residual “crites.”
In the stupidest way possible, the yet unhatched crite eggs are sold as Easter eggs by local yokels—just in time for the resurrection! And when they hatch, they’re like a batch of rabid infernal Pomeranians gnawing on dead dogs and biting off toes and chunks of feet! The blood is moderate and the gore is mild for horror in general, but perhaps on the heavy side for PG-13.
With ironic timing, Brad (Scott Grimes; Critters) returns home two years after the first Critter invasion just in time for the hatch. And things kick into gear during Easter service bringing an edgier approach to the franchise we love.
Brad teams up with Megan (Liane Curtis; Girlfriend from Hell), Charlie and the bounty hunters to protect their little Kansas town from these diminutive carnivorous threats yet again and things are goofier than before. We see Lin Shaye (Critters, Insidious 1-4, Chillerama) with a fire axe, the Easter Bunny death scene is riot, and the eating scenes are 100% Gremlins influenced (in the most wonderful and self-aware way).
Director Mick Garris (Sleepwalkers, Psycho IV, The Stand) brings all the fun and humor to this sequel to make it a worthy follow-up to the beloved original. When an alien hatchling is stepped on it makes a gooey mess, another is cartoonishly flattened when run over by a car, they ravage kitchens like Gremlins, and everything feels just and lively and feisty as before. They still talk in subtitles saying silly things and zany sound effects complement the humor. Not only that, but this PG-13 movie managed to slip in some healthy boobage during Lee’s transformation into a naked Playboy Playmate (which includes the actual STAPLE from the magazine binding). That said, this sequel is less kid-friendly than part 1. Even the gore is notably dialed up with macabre flesh-eaten bones. How is this not rated R?
Part 1 had a giant critter, so they sequel balls up loads of critters into a giant killer ball of mouths that mows over panicked townsfolk like a flesh-eating lawnmower leaving bloody skeletons in its wake. Meanwhile the individual critters get loads of screen time, both as cute and menacing as ever, with a combination of animatronics and cute puppet work.
This sequel isn’t trying to be anything it isn’t. Despite taking place in the exact same setting with many returning characters, it remains a delight all on its own and every bit as good as (or better than) part 1. In the end Charlie saves the day, Ug beams up to another spaceship (to go home I guess), Charlie is deputized, and everyone acts like this happy ending didn’t at all involve seeing people eaten alive.
This fun creature feature will happily please fans of Gremlins (1984) and Ghoulies 2 (1988). What it lacks in intrigue, it more than compensates in off-the-wall inventiveness, frequent self-aware nods to the genre, and likable miscreant alien monsters. Enjoy.
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The MFF Podcast #149: Ready to Rumble
You can download the pod on Itunes, Stitcher, Tune In, Podbean, or LISTEN TO THE POD ON BLOG TALK RADIO.
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!
The #1 ranked podcast on Ranker’s “Best Movie Podcast” list is back! This week we’re talking about a movie featuring farting nuns, lots of poop jokes and Oliver Platt crushing fools. Ready to Rumble is a terrible movie that was thrown together quickly and written by somebody who hates wrestling. Despite its badness, we did our best to find positives amongst the juvenile jokes, and managed to applaud the performances of the wrestlers and the soundtrack featuring songs which will make you nostalgic for the early 2000s. If you are a fan of wrestling, you need to listen to this episode.
Make sure you check out Mo Lightning’s wrestling podcast at WrestlingAudio.com
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As always, we answer random questions and ponder if Oliver Platt would reprise his role as Jimmy the King in Ready to Rumble. If you are a fan of the podcast make sure to send in some random listener questions so we can do our best to not answer them correctly. We thank you for listening and hope you enjoy the pod!
You can download the pod on Itunes, Stitcher, Tune In, Podbean, or LISTEN TO THE POD ON BLOG TALK RADIO.
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!
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John’s Horror Corner: Summer of 84 (2018), a reimagined Disturbia meets a solid Stranger Things 80s score.
MY CALL: Equal parts nostalgic and endearing, with the throwback soundtrack being the best things about this film. Everyone on the internet is saying “if you love Stranger Things then you’ll love this.” Well I LOVED Stranger Things, and I thought this was nothing particularly special. Not bad. Enjoyable even. But I’d only recommend it for seekers of Horror Lite. MOVIES LIKE Summer of 84: The first thing that comes to mind is Disturbia (2007). And for something heavier, check out the Losers Club kids in It (2017).
From its first minute the soundtrack mentally delivers me into the Stranger Things (2016-17) early-80s-universe. The scoring is perfect, and our 80s teens feel tropishly credible as they verbally prattle over going to second base, masturbation, crushes and general insecure pubescent banter.
Young conspiracy theorist Davey (Graham Verchere; Fargo) suspects that a series of teen murders are all linked, and that his police officer neighbor Wayne (Rich Sommer; GLOW) is the culprit! With the help of Eats (Judah Lewis; The Babysitter), Woody (Caleb Emery; Goosebumps) and Curtis (Cory Gruter-Andrew; Okja, The 100), they begin to investigate their suspected serial killer neighbor.
It’s cute. They do recon and all the private investigator stuff like staking out his house, learning Wayne’s schedule and habits, and eventually they graduate to breaking and entering. Of course, they get caught, get into trouble, but insist that their neighbor is the Cape May Killer. Is their suspect really the killer?
François Simard, Anouk Whissell and Yoann-Karl Whissell (the directorial team that behind Turbo Kid) have succeeded in entertaining us, but I won’t call this film great. In some ways it’s very good, yet in many ways it’s just plain above average. If it wasn’t for all the talk about masturbation and impregnating teenage girls, this would otherwise feel like a very PG horror-beginner movie. It’s generally light-hearted and jovial until a throat is slit on-screen. But the kill is about as unintense as it could be—so we’ll call it PG-13-ish endeavor. It’s a lot like if Goosebumps did a more serious slasher movie.
I enjoyed this film, I want to be clear about that. But it failed to live up to the reasons I thought I’d love it. As much as this smacks of Disturbia (2007)—directly recounting numerous scenes from the 2007 film—the acting is just okay, the pacing isn’t riveting (although the film, in general, isn’t terribly engaging or exciting outside of a few short scenes), and the photography was wholly unimpressive. Moreover, Judah Lewis doesn’t come close to his flawless performance in The Babysitter (2017)—but maybe that’s not a fair comparison. Everyone is comparing this to Stranger Things but, to me, this feels circumstantial to the music, setting and locker-room talking youngsters. 84 captures not a fraction of the dread, creepiness, emotional intensity or character sincerity of Things (or Disturbia). Even the love interest with Davey’s neighbor Nikki (Tiera Skovbye; Supernatural, Riverdale, Once Upon a Time) felt drowned in weak writing, an absence of chemistry and likewise performances. It’s still sweet, though.
A little bland, at times… but, honestly, quite endearing and nostalgic. I was pretty critical in this review, but it’s still a nice watch if you’re in the mood for some Horror Lite. I’d watch it around sunset as an evening opener, before getting into something heavier.
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