Entertainment Earth

8/06/2013

4 Quickie Horror Reviews for 8/6/13

With me writing for best-horror-movies.com I don't always get a chance to review horror films, on my own for here. And, since I been watching a bunch of them (all of them reviewed by other writers on the above mentioned site I work for), I figured this would be a good chance for me to catch up on some recent horror viewings and share my views and thoughts on them. Maybe this could become a recurring thing, when need anyway.

ALL REVIEWS OUT OF 4 STARS

The Bleeding House (2011)- This somber story about a not so happy family with a dark secret who get visited by a doctor, that turns out to be a serial killer (Patrick Breen) is a solid and well done indie-horror film. There is some very good acting by all involved, in particular from Breen and Alexandra Chando as the family's pretty but weird daughter with a penchant for killing small animals.
The climax and ending are great and had me on the edge of my seat. A good slow burn of a movie, it has been playing on Showtime and is worth seeing. Sadly, for us Time Warner customers, cable is currently out of the question, as a form to see this one. Fuck that. Rent it. Or buy it. Just see it! ***


The Conjuring (2013)- From director James (Saw, Insidious) Wan comes this creepy as fuck tale, loosely based on a true story, about a family who move into a new a house. Soon they are haunted by a malevolent and demonic force. They call a demonologist couple (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) to help them.
Perfectly directed and paced, this fucker is one scary movie! Now, I considered myself very jaded. I mean I been watching horror movies since I was a child, so it's hard to scare me. That means props are in order here. My heart was racing in this one and my eyes were glued to the screen. This one got an R-rating despite having hardly any blood or gore and very little cursing. But, cause it is THAT damn scary!
Great acting too from all the cast. And, man, do I ever love Vera Farmiga. Between this and her role on Bates Motel, she is one of my main horror crushes of the year! This is Wan's best film, to date. Yes, I think it is better Saw or certainly better (and scarier) than Insidious (don't get more wrong I like that movie, but it lost me once the "ghost" was revealed, IE the whole climax). Before this my favorite film of his was Death Sentence. Not anymore. Believe the hype! ****

John Dies at the End- This weird-ass movie has been getting a lot of praise. It comes from horror master Don (Phantasm films, Bubba Ho-Tep) Cosceralli. The plot? Uh, basically two young guys discover a drug that turns people into something not human and kills them. Can they stop this other-worldly invasion?
Actually, there is a lot more that happens. Sometimes this one is a real head-scratcher. It tries too hard to be too weird at times. The slow parts do tend to hurt it. But... it is fun, in the end. The acting is good and most of the FX are well done with some good gore. I don't think it is as great as some have called it. But, it is original for sure, and that's rare in this genre.
If you like Kafka and/ or David Lynch, you will wanna check it out for sure. Even if you don't, be sure to give it a look.
And, one more thing, the flamethrower mask is cool as fuck and reminded me of Megadeth's mascot Vic Rattlehead! ***

Would You Rather- Here is one that came out of no where, for me. A pretty young girl (Brittany Snow) is invited to play a game held by a rich man (Jeffrey Combs) at this mansion. Along with others, she must play a horrifying game of "would you rather" until only one remains alive. That winner will get lots of money and help, in her case for her gravely ill brother.
This is one of the very best movies of the year! The acting is so good, especially from Combs and Snow. Snow really surprised me, more since the last time she had been in a genre film was in the godawful Prom Night remake. Fans should also
note that one of this site's personal favorites, the gorgeous Sasha Grey, is in it as well, as the bitchiest player of "the game".
This isn't the goriest movie, in fact much of the brutality happens off screen. But, it works here, as your imagination runs wild. And, the tension is unbearable at times. A true masterpiece that hopefully other horror lovers will enjoy.
NOTE: the DVD and blu-ray are mad cheap at Best Buy and FYE, so get to buying it! NOW!!! ****

I'm gonna try and do more reviews of more movies for you guys, outside of my job. Hope you enjoyed these and let me know your thoughts on these movies, if you've already seen them!

2 comments:

Karina said...

Yay for The Conjuring love! Absolutely loved it too

I've heard of John Dies at the End but I haven't really bothered to find out anything about it!

K :-)

Giovanni Deldio said...

Glad to hear you enjoyed The Conjuring, as well! Such a good, and SCARY(!!), movie!!

John Dies at the End is good, but I think that its getting somewhat overrated by some critics.