Crowdfunding Push: Lucifer Rising

There are several staples of the horror genre, but one of the most basic one, the idea of the Devil (or some of his many alternative names) was somewhat disregarded over the past couple of years. Now, however, a crowdfunding campaign for a film by P. Vincent DeMartino seems determined to change this and do it with a movie called Lucifer Rising.

Here’s what the official Indiegogo page of the film states about the project and its purpose:

Since the dawn of time man has been locked in an epic battle of good and evil. You do not have to be a Biblical scholar to understand that we may very well be living in End Times. Based on actual events and Biblical Prophecy, Lucifer Rising takes you on a powerful journey into the shadowy practices of Satanism and their evil plans to bring about the rise of Lucifer's New World Order. Presented by Luna Rossa Entertainment, Lucifer Rising is one of the most anticipated Supernatural Horror films in years. Based on actual events and Biblical Prophecy, Lucifer Rising has been likened to The Exorcist and The Omen for its horrifying content. Simply stated, you will never view the world the same once you have experienced, Lucifer Rising. 

Judging by the material that is available at this point, Lucifer Rising is really serious about following in the footsteps of the classic horror films its lists as its role models. The test footage is clean, concise and quickly sets up the eerie atmosphere ideal for this type of a film. With the vintage story of the prince of darkness himself (or itself), the movie has all that it takes to become a solid horror, created as a very welcomed change compared to the current mainstream trends in this genre.

Additionally, the film comes with a really well-thought-out campaign that clearly marks out its goals and provides cool perks for its backers, like branded clothing and planned VIP parties. All of this showcases a serious commitment to the project and a solid chance for a fine film at the end of the road.

The campaign started hours ago and just began to collect its funds. Check it out on its Indiegogo page and see how you can help make Lucifer Rising into a future horror classic.

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Crowdfunding, Horror,

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Crowdfunding Push: Custodian

The domain of crowdfunding provides incredible opportunities for artists, but also, sometimes, nightmare scenarios. Scott Storm, a US-based writer, director, and animator recently experienced something similar when a funded project of his got a sum of $10,000 pulled out by on of the investors. Fortunately for him, the Seed&Spark service decided to cover 50% of that sum and now Scott is looking to attain the other half through an additional crowdfunding process. But, what is his film all about? Here’s what the page on Seed&Spark states:

Just like my most recent animated short film, 'The Apple Tree', 'Custodian' is 2D animated short created entirely on a computer and in any spare time I can scrape together. While the first film dealt with themes of whimsical adventures of youth and a touch of environmentalism, ‘Custodian‘ delves into darker, psychological themes like horror, guilt, isolation and the quest for redemption all of us have experienced.

Like the footage shows, Scott used traditional animation techniques and it’s great to see artists being engaged in these methods of movie-making. Aside from the animation fans, Custodian seems like a very promising film for horror fans and those into the medieval setting, especially everyone who likes the brilliant Game of Thrones series. Thanks to his lifelong interest in the medieval period there is little doubt that the author has all that it takes to create a dark, low-fantasy animation gem.

So far, the project raised 58% of its target with 14 days remaining. While it is a real shame that artists have to go through the possibility that includes pledged funds being recalled, it’s great that Scott is not giving up on Custodian. All those who want to help him either through a direct contribution or through sharing and following his campaign should check out the film's official Seed&Spark page.

Also, find out more about the project on its Facebook fan page, Twitter page, and author's website.

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Animation, Crowdfunding, Horror,

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Film Review: Unfriended (2014)

Copyright: Universal Pictures

Horror and technology always work well together, especially when the technology in question is something that is all consuming when it comes to the masses. There is probably related to some deep fear that is skeptical about any new tool that any primate species develops and humanity is no different.

As science progressed, the number of these tools multiplied and our fears followed. Interestingly enough, in the 20th century, the focus of the horror genre for the first time moved away from things like weapons (atom bomb) and poisons, which were tropes even in the previous eras and started to get interested in tools of communications.

Killer VHS tapes, haunted cell phones and death music records were just some of them, but now, the age of the internet provided new locations where the horror hooks can land. Unfriended is a film about VoIP technology which becomes possessed by a restless spirit.

After a girl commits suicide after being humiliated and taped one night, a group of friends who knew her gets together on Skype to talk, like they regularly do. However, they soon notice that someone else is in the group with them and wants to join in. This begins a bloody sequence of “who’s next”, all the while providing the viewers with the webcam perspective on the action.

As an evolution of the found footage genre, the film works more as a novelty piece than a true horror, but this is plain from the beginning, so the audience will not feel cheated (for the most part). Levan Gabriadze directed the film as his first states-side project and did a decent job with this fresh approach. The cast, like the overall plot and its horror moments, is adequate but do not go over this line. In all, only Gabriadze offers something that is above the good-enough benchmark, even though Unfriended isn’t probably the best chance to show what he truly can do.

It’s always good to see that the found footage domain is evolving. As it started to provide its best results so far, like, for example, The Visit, it is comforting to know that the next generation of filmmakers is looking what to do next with this horror genre.

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Horror,

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Crowdfunding Push: Kill Pill - PHASE 1

When a horror crowdfunding campaign describes itself as It Follows meets The Walking Dead you have no choice but to take notice. Here's the additional info provided by the film creators:

In a remote English town, pregnant 17-year-old Ellie is babysitting her little sister Molly. After receiving a panic-stricken phone call from her twin brother Leo, Ellie drives to the house party that is taking place at a small abandoned castle to find her brother. Once Ellie arrives with Molly at the remote house party, they descend inside. Once they reach Leo, we discover he has been attacked by Killa ( the father of Ellie’s baby).  After a confrontation with Killa, the group reunites to realize Molly is missing.  Suddenly chaos descends as the party goers begin to transform into rage infected cannibals.

In recent years, several interesting horror crossover films came about in the UK and this seems like a potential continuation of the same trend. Aside from experienced filmmakers, the project has some great concept art going for it as well. Currently, their Indiegogo campaign is at about 10% of the needed funds and there is 20 days to go till it is completed.

Check out Kill Pill - PHASE 1 and see if you would like to help it out in some way.

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Crowdfunding, Horror,

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Crowdfunding Push: The Last

An interesting psychological/supernatural horror is looking to crowdfunding to help its production. The film is called The Last and here's its story pitch:

A terminally ill man spends his last days coping with death and struggles to undo his past sins. While headed to a remote location he stumbles upon a woman. The two become stranded hundreds of miles from civilization. Secrets and lies quickly force them to be suspicious of each other's intentions. They soon discover that they are not alone. Something dark lives in the woods. Something not human and when it arrives there will be no survivors in its wake.

The plot and setup seem a bit generic, but the test footage looks a lot more promising for a basic horror, along with the fact that its crew includes experienced movie industry professionals. Check out the footage below, or see the campaign on its Indiegogo page is you wish to help The Last become a film.

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Crowdfunding, Horror,

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Film Review: Last Shift (2014)

Copyright: filmotopia.com

Last Shift is, by all measure, a modest film. As a mystery horror that places a young policewoman in an empty precinct that is going to be abandoned the next day, it creates an environment that is perfectly suited for losing one’s mind in a violent manifestation of demonic madness.

Directed by Anthony DiBlasi, who already made and produced several horrors, Last Shift demonstrates as his strong suit an effective pre-production process and budget management.

The key location of the film is at the same time its only location. The single empty police station could be any communal building, from a DMV to an administrative office belonging to a high school.

Yet, the film does not feel “cheap” in any way. But, through the trials and tribulation of the main character, Jessica Lorren, a rookie policewoman who got her first job to guard the building for one night, the audience buys into the fantasy of a menacing place.

DiBlasi’s veteran status allows him to do this, even though many other elements seem too weak to make the film really believable. One of them is Juliana Harkavy who plays Jessica in a very meek way: to work, a movie like Last Shift has to have a strong lead and Harkavy just doesn’t have what it takes.

The script is also very generic and takes us places where we been many times before. The same problem is especially underlined by fresh and unique horrors like It Follows, which were also created with a small amount of money, but ended up being a lot more engaging. However, no one could call Last Shift a complete waste of time for a horror film. In many ways, it is the setting that pulls the most weight for the movie. This is enforced by the way that DiBlasi uses the camera to infuse the bland space with dread and tension.

Because of this, Last Shift is a modestly entertaining film for any horror aficionado. If you’re not one of these, feel free to take a pass for something like It Follows.

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Horror, Mystery,

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Web Series Review: Jacob (2015)

In many regards, the online format is ideal for the horror genre, and Kristopher Stoltz, the writer and director behind this web series completely gets this idea. Jacob web series opens up as a story about an ambitious and somewhat distraught young filmmaker leaving his parent’s home to live on his own. As he settles in his new apparent and starts to prepare for a career as a police video editor, he chooses to document his experiences in a vlog form.

It is right in the first episode that Stoltz sets the pace of a hybrid horror genre that combines the found footage approach with “hell-editing” that simultaneously presents Jacob’s vantage point, but also the perspective of an entity called Ben, which stalks him and edits his films with its own cryptic messages and disturbing montages. As the story unfolds, Jacob’s life begins to unravel as he wakes up in unknown locations, suffers from attacks that are neither real nor imaginary and desperately tries to figure out who or what is Ben.

Like most horror tales without a huge budget, Jacob web series suffers from an imbalance between ambition and realization. As a concept, the story is full of potential and manages to build its lore in a very elegant fashion, using items like the mysterious book that arrives at Jacob’s house. On the other hand, the presentation of the story is often very lacking in quality and tempo, which is mostly seen in the main actors who plays Jacob.

The actor presenting Jacob (credited only as Pappas) often provides a flat performance in which he is clearly focused on delivering his lines, not emotions. When he does present some feelings, it mostly comes off as a mild sense of irritation, which is usually completely off in regards to the tormented character of Jacob. It is completely natural that this type of production cannot easily hire professional actors, but it should still try to compensate with smaller talking parts and a more compact range of emotional states that the actors need to convey.

The same notion shows up in cinematography and editing as well. The series fails to realize which shots are good and worth focusing on, and which shots are not so great. This provides a chopped viewing experience, where the Ben’s perspective often ends up being just irritating, especially because of the sound effects. Here, Stoltz went overboard and disrupted the story with the horror interruptions which come off as a film student’s fascination with different recording settings on his family’s vacation camcorder.

However, in spite of these things, Jacob web series still has something really interesting deep down inside of its story. In some ways, it reminds me of the horror gem Banshee Chapter, which, like the character of the Fisherman, uses the right bait. In the last, 7th episode, this notion has its strongest showing, where better production standards (an introduction of an HD camera, if I’m not mistaken), combined with a simple setup of a menacing dialogue between Ben and the Fisherman, provide the best episode so far.

From here, Jacob web series has a chance of developing a really engaging horror tale, especially if it plans on introducing new characters and explaining what happened to Jacob and Ben over the course of previous episodes. With a more measured approach to the hallucinogenic horror sequences and a bit more traditional cinematography, Jacob web series could be a really interesting series for any horror fan.

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Horror, web series,

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Film Review: Bone Tomahawk (2015)

Copyright: RLJ Entertainment

So far, Bone Tomahawk is one of the best films of 2015.

Films like it are only enforcing my strong belief that we’re living in the golden age of neo-western film. Furthermore, it seems that the standards set by films like The Salvation, The Retrieval, and the Das finstere Tal are constantly upgraded by other filmmakers who dare to push the genre into its next developmental chapter.

Here’s one way to describe it: Bone Tomahawk is a film that somehow managed to get connected with the spirit of Quentin Tarantino circa 1991 and offer him a chance to use a cast of choice to make a western horror dead-pan delivery dark comedy. The man that got the opportunity to channel this spirit is S. Craig Zahler, who made his debut with this film.

Before this, Zahler worked as both writer and cinematographer. But, in this film, his directorial results can only be described as flawless.

Using a simple story, set at the end of the 19th century, which follows a group of men going after a tribe of cannibalistic Native Americans with the purpose of retrieving a woman, the director made a killer film. There’s no better way to describe this movie than to call it sharp. All in the world Zahler made can cut right to the bone. This includes the bone tomahawks shaped from the jaws of horses that the cannibals use, but also the way characters perceive the world and their roles in it, and even goes all the way to the language they use. To say that the film is witty would be a gross simplification of the completely unburdened nature of the script.

Similar to other neo-western stories, it is liberated from the nonsense of contemporary films that might be called horrors. Here, the terror is fused with humor and the completely foreign way in which the people of that (relatively recent) time understood and approached their environment. At one moment, a member of the party, without any hesitation, kills two strangers who they notice in the dark approaching their campsite, even though they agreed to disarm themselves a moment before. His rationalization is simple: the two were robbers or a scouting party for other robbers.

No one else would approach a campsite without making their presence known and there is no room for special circumstances. While there is some protest, all appreciate his logic and just pack up and leave. In other words, the Wild West was as different to the modern mentality as much as the middle Ages were. This film doesn’t make a big deal out of it, just recognizes it as a stone cold fact.

The second thing that makes Bone Tomahawk into such a masterpiece is its humor and the way it bursts out of the characters, who all act brilliantly and I don’t want to commend anyone in particular (OK, maybe Richard Jenkins). In some ways, the humor is integral to the idea of violence and suffering – from the modern perspective, the things that the main characters do are irresponsible, cruel and wildly risky, but to them, they are just the way the world works. In the West, dying violently was kind of expected and you were expected to roll with the punches until you end up in a ditch surrounded by a beautiful sunset in the prairie.

The genius of S. Craig Zahler lies in the fact that he managed to present this type of grim and pointless historical idea in a wildly fun, funny and gory film.

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comedy, Horror, western,

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Film Review: Extinction (2015)

     Copyright: Vertical Entertainment

The best way to describe the movie Extinction is to perceive it as a weird dream about a script about a time after a zombie apocalypse. The film opens in the present time, where an outbreak of some kind transformed patients into rabid killers, brought the army onto the streets and people were being evacuated to the protected zones.

Two friends, Patrick and Jack, along with a pregnant woman, try to reach safety. A decade later, society has fallen apart and the world has entered a new ice age (for whatever reason), most are dead, but Jack and Patrick are neighbors, living apparently secure lives while one of them is also raising a child, the nine-year-old Lu.

But, here’s the twist – the two men are not communicating with each other in any way, even though only a road separates the two houses.

The twist-based approach isn’t something new in zombie films. Ever since The Walking Dead revived the interest in the genre and started the latest zombie craze, there have been numerous films trying to find a fresh angle from which they can present the same theme. One of the latest ones was Maggie, which relatively successfully went for the father-daughter family drama as the main cornerstone of the plot.

Extinction and its director Miguel Ángel Vivas went for the mystery of a broken relationship between two friends, which obviously had to be something huge if it managed to overshadow the death of the human civilization. Vivas, who previously worked on a home-invasion thriller called Kidnapped, placed a lot of attention to the characters and their state of mind. This is why almost half of the film passes while we see how Jack is a caring father to Lu while Patrick gradually goes insane. Flashbacks examine their relationship and slowly move to the present point.

But, Vivas had to use some horror elements as well, so in one moment, additional survivors and new infected mutants come onto the stage. From then on, the film switches gears into the standard under-siege flick, dispersing almost all potential about the two main characters the director tried to build. Both Matthew Fox and Jeffrey Donovan present solid characters, but their acting stop being important in that point.

As the action unravels, the film goes full bore into the action-survival mode, which doesn’t really leave a lasting impression mainly because the entire film (both houses and the small surrounding area outside) looks like a giant sound stage with plenty of fake snow. In this environment, the panic, fear, and the confusion, in my opinion, just don’t connect that well with the audience.

Like a dream of the zombie movie, Extinction dares to innovate but lacks the cognitive effort needed to make whole the different random parts it tries to encompass.

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drama, Horror, Sci-Fi,

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Film Review: Knock Knock (2015)

Copyright: Lionsgate Premiere

It’s not good to be bad, and being bad might end with you being killed, is what Knock Knock movie is trying to tell us. Temptation can be interesting and fun, and it can even dance around in your living room in a shower robe, but at the very end of temptation, something horrible and sharp might lurk in the dark.

Essentially, this is all well and nice, but the cog in the mechanism of this revenge horror film is its main actor – Keanu Reeves. This man has plenty of, shall we say, unorthodox talent and a strong screen presence, but here, the actor transforms into a devastating miscast right during the opening scenes.

Let’s take the first few moments of the film. Here, we see Reeves’ character, a man by the name of Evan Webber, being woken up by his loving wife and family. Webber is an architect in his 40’s and he has a gorgeous spouse and kids straight from a cereal commercial. At this point in time, all is splendid in the Webber household, but still Reeves acts as an alien who suddenly appeared in a human body. This alien studied human culture for a long time and prepared for this situation in simulators, but through an error, he arrived there way ahead of schedule.

Now, the same alien is trying to improvise human emotion and mostly ends up looking weird or as overacting close to the Nick Cage potential. As the family leaves, the strangeness of Evan Webber kind of dies down a bit, but not completely. When Evan’s beautiful future tormentors arrive, the film makes it hard to root for anyone and it also seems pointless to wait for any particular moment, apart from seeing if the ending would be an outright win for either side or with some kind of a poetic tie match. Each of these scenarios was completely fine by me and no option bothered me in any way.

I get that Eli Roth is a smart movie guy in every sense of the word. He produced several very effective horrors by being innovative, on budget and a bit edgy, but not too much. Now, as a director, he does show off his cinematic talent and Knock Knock movie has frames that are pleasant to look at, especially when it comes to the way Roth uses the exquisitely decorated Webber home. On the other hand, he obviously couldn’t find a solution to the Reeves rampant emotional emptiness he infuses into his character. Even worse, maybe this wasn’t even a problem in Roth’s eyes. Ironically, in the last moments of the film, there is something like a mini-catharsis when spit starts to fly from the mouth of a desperate Evan, but it comes too late to make any difference.

I understand that Knock Knock movie was designed as something similar to an inverted revenge fantasy, but the thing that it brought to the table are a bit of nudity and a distant, weird Reeves. There were plenty of places where the film could have introduced some lame twist, for example, like the one that Haunter pulled off (minus the supernatural element) but Roth didn’t even make an effort to do that. Sloppiness, lack of direction and miscasting all made Knock Knock movie a below-average revenge thriller.

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Horror, Mystery, Thriller,

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Film Review: The Visit (2015)

Copyright: Universal Pictures

M. Night Shyamalan is a polarizing figure, which some adore and many others shun. 15 years ago, he burst onto the scene with a one-two punch that included The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, one of the most impressive mystery films of the late 1990’s. But then, as the age of the 21st century came about, Shyamalan kind of lost his touch, or was unable to evolve it into the new age, constantly reverting back into his comfort zone of early X-Files episodes, both in terms of narrative and visual delivery.

His subsequent films all lacked that synergy that could combine a twist-based idea with an interesting and attention-worthy movie plot. Instead of that synergy, most of them just ended up being a Twilight Zone episode turned into uninteresting films. Other, none-mystery films like After Earth were just horrendous and should be forgotten as quickly if possible. But now, out of nowhere, 15 years after losing artifact of cinematic super-power, Shyamalan found it in the most unlikely place – a horror comedy from the found footage genre.

As a true 90’s man, Shyamalan did not venture into the found footage domain, even though I believe he was attracted to the business side of it (he is nothing if not a savvy business person). Now, with the Visit 2015, he created easily his best work in almost two decades.

The film is refreshingly down-to-Earth from the get-go. In it, two teenagers, a sister and brother by the name of Becca and Tyler, leave their mom and go to visit their grandparents they never met. They arrive at their countryside home and first off, it’s all good: the grandparents are thrilled to see both of them while Becca films the entire experience as a documentary film. But soon, strange and bizarre things begin to happen and neither of them really knows how to approach newly formed and constantly changing circumstances.

As a unique combination of dark humor and strong horror elements, The Visit is a film that cannot be easily compared with some other movie, especially in the terms of atmosphere. It could be said that Housebound (2014) has a bit of a similar goofy-scary vibe, but both ends of that spectrum are much more intense in The Visit. In a very smooth fashion, Shyamalan shifts the film from moments when the audience is grossed out and/or terrified into really odd comical moments that are equally unnerving as they are funny. All the while found footage cinematography never goes overboard with shaking and motion blurring, making the film easily watchable and even more easily enjoyable. As the plot becomes more and more ludicrous, so does the film's raw entertainment appeal intensifies.

No one should doubt Shyamalan’s ability to make a solid film. With The Visit movie, he definitely showed that he can attain that precious synergy once again and move it right into the new age.

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comedy, Horror, Thriller,

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Film Review: Pay the Ghost (2015)

Copyright: RLJ Entertainment

Since Nicolas Cage became a one-man-meme generator a couple of years back, a notion has grown in the public consensus that the man simply can’t act very well or according to the designated character. Of course, this idea elegantly ignores films like Vampire's Kiss, Wild at Heart, Raising Arizona, Guarding Tess, Leaving Las Vegas and Adaptation. 

Yes, it’s true that his choice of films in the 21st century wasn’t exactly stellar (Bangkok Dangerous, for example) and his manic energy often comes out in sublimely weird ways, but essentially, in my opinion, Cage has absolutely nothing to prove anymore.

Now, he obviously works using the Michael Cain rule of accepting all that is offered to him in his price range and Pay the Ghost is strangely one of the best films he participated in over the last few years.

But, this is more about his low artistic standards than the quality of this movie because this film is an average medium-budget horror which provides one or two interesting visual moments, but the rest is located in its entirety VOD territory; indeed, I bet many will watch Pay to Ghost on line primarily, instead of going to a theater.

In the story, Cage plays a college professor whose son disappears one Halloweens night. A year later, he is adamant about finding him, especially because he is certain that paranormal things were somehow involved. The director of the film, Uli Edel, brought very little of his sharp German-style cinematography, like the one we saw in The Baader Meinhof Complex, and instead drowned the film in general New York locations and settings. The same is true for the film’s horror moments, which generate tension, but do it with without much tact or grace. Similar to the story of the thriller Before I Go to Sleep, Pay the Ghost has it all from a narrative standpoint but lacks that spark that can really animate the story in a more engaging emotional way.

But, when it is compared to a regular, run-of-the-mill horror, watching Pay the Ghost movie is a pleasant experience, with much unwanted distractions or annoyances. I’m sure that Uli Edel can create a lot better horror films than this one and I would even like to see Cage act in them in the future.

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Horror, Thriller,

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Film Review - Insidious: Chapter 3

Copyright: Stage 6 Films

No matter how I approach it, I have to conclude that Insidious: Chapter 3 is an okay film. As a whole, it lacks any serious problems, but also any cutting-edge twists on the defined formula to make the movie anything more impressive than a slightly average horror. If this film was a car, it would be a 5-year old Volkswagen Polo – sure, it’s a comfortable and reliable vehicle that doesn’t mostly leave anyone hanging because of an unexpected issue, but it’s still hard to get really excited about it.

Leigh Whannell, an old buddy of the Insidious/Sinister/Conjuring horror guru James Wan, got a chance to direct this film and he did a solid job. The film moves at a steady pace and like most Wan-like modern horrors, it builds up its tension quickly and effectively, mainly because all those Millennials watching it don’t have the time to sit through a prolonged introduction. Still, as a not-too-ambitious film, it keeps its viewers interested throughout.

With this approach, Whannell places the main character of the story, a teenager by the name Quinn, in a situation where she seeks out Elise Rainier, a spiritual medium who now stopped working. Quinn, who is experiencing strange things in her home, is desperate to come into contact with her deceased mother, and Rainer agrees to help her, suspecting that dark forces wait her on the other side. The session is unsuccessful and Quinn returns to her building apartment, not knowing are the strange things she previously felt her mother’s spirit or something more menacing (or shall I say, sinister).

With a nice and tidy runtime of 97 minutes, Insidious: Chapter 3 continues to follow the path of Insidious: Chapter 2 and moves the series to the Saw territory, where we can expect to see new installment pop up regularly. As the production values diminish and the lore of the story expands ("the Further", Specs and Tucker are back, and so on), I’m impressed by Wan’s ability to develop insanely financially successful films (Chapter 3 already grossed 110 million on a 10 million budget), but I also miss the edginess and gripping storytelling of the first film, now present in a really miniscule amounts. I fear that the same dimension of this film series will only continue to become more and more diluted.

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drama, Horror, Thriller,

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Film Review: Maggie (2015)

Copyright: Lionsgate Films

We didn’t realize it, but a zombie apocalypse is an apparently full of depressive potential. Sure, the plots often grazed depression in these types of films, but mostly while their primary emotions are based on anxiety and the need to stay alive. In Maggie, however, the focus is exclusively on depressive shades of a deadly virus outbreak, which turns people into flesh-craving monsters.

To add to the unexpected weirdness of this idea, the film introduces Arnold Schwarzenegger as Wade, the bewildered father of the main character, a girl called Maggie, who gets infected with the virus and has only weeks before she turns into a zombie. On their secluded farm, father and daughter prepare for the inevitable while Maggie says goodbye to her memories and everything around here.

When Henry Hobson directed this film, I’m certain he wanted to make something original above everything else. He managed to do this, but also to cram some nice melancholic tones in this primarily depressive story about loss and change.

At the same time, I’m sure he enraged many people and will enrage others in the future who will be expecting to see Arnold blowing away zombies. In the film, Schwarzenegger is a quiet, truck-repairing type of guy who is preparing to put his dead daughter into the ground or do something even worse. He runs with this notion neither too badly not exactly excelling in his role. Instead, he does okay, which can be said for the entire movie as well.

Hobson obviously has some ideas and Maggie shows this, but as a whole, it keeps an aura of casual meekness which stops it from making some serious emotional impacts, unlike, for example, The Retrieval, which shares its toned-down narrative approach and bleakness. Abigail Breslin is really sharp as Maggie, but the film somehow is not. It’s good that Hobson did not try to say anything about the genre of zombie movies as a whole and simply drove the plot a personal story. It might not have Schwarzenegger raining destruction, but at least it is trying to destroy our emotions by showing a really horrible few weeks for a single family.

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drama, Horror, Thriller,

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Film Review: The Lazarus Effect (2015)

Copyright: Relativity Media

Like the recent horrors which were both low budget (Spring) and really AAA level (Poltergeist) this film is also significantly uneven. From the basic story of a lab team that developed a cure for death, The Lazarus Effect quickly slips into a thriller of demonic possession and personal hellscapes. The speed of this transition is not only narrative, but also quite literal, because the entire film lasts well under 90 minutes.

The cast of the film, mainly Olivia Wilde as the lead actress, glides through the action smoothly. With a couple of short stops on the regular horror path of “everything is just fine” to “we’re losing our budget” and “the short-sighted administrators put a stop to our brilliant research”, to the final “OMG we killed our colleague”, the film presents the expected milestones.

Then, the reign of terror commences and fills the really small space of the laboratory (the film practically stays in 100 square meters of lab rooms). Here, Wilde brings most of the frights (the strongest suit of the plot), but this is still no enough to help director David Gelb in making anything more than a modern TV version of Flatliners.

On the other hand, like the film Devil from 2010, The Lazarus Effect does pretty well for a film where special effects and locations did not cost the production very much. Instead, Gleb used the actors and a fast tempo of the plot to make an average, but enjoyable horror on a 3 million dollar budget. Not counting the recent and brilliant It Follows, which also had a miniature budget, this is really low for a film with famous Hollywood actors.

While it is not great by any account, it is too short to really be bad, which is a solid result for a not very ambitious horror and also a production lesson for anyone looking to make financially successful films (The Lazarus Effect made 10 million during its opening weekend).

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Horror, Thriller,

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Coming Soon: The Stranger (2014)

Written and directed by Guillermo Amoedo and produced by Eli Roth, The Stranger tells a tale about a man who arrives into a small town looking for his wife. He soon finds the thing he is after, but this also unleashes carnage upon the same place.

The film seems really low-key, focused mainly on the actors and the rather ordinary-looking violence (which makes it all the more awful), but also pushes a supernatural premise in the mix. Recently, Roth showed that he is really keen on producing interesting mystery-horror films and The Stranger looks exactly like this.

Its official trailer weirdly reminds me of the No One Lives movie, but I'm not sure exactly why, or even if this should be a good or bad thing for the film.

The film starts its limited cinematic run today in the US and you can watch its trailer below.

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coming soon, drama, Horror, Mystery,

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Review and Ending Explanation: It Follows (2014)

Copyright: RADiUS-TWC

The beauty of this film is that it really makes you watch it. Unlike regular horrors, or even other films, in its case, watching is not just looking at what the characters are doing, but also what is happening around them. While many scare-based movies go for this, the director of It Follows, David Robert Mitchell took this notion one step further by making the audience into a type of lookout system for the main characters.

In the film, a young woman called Jay has sex with her new boyfriend. But, immediately after, she learns from him that he actually transmitted a curse (sort of) to her, the same one he got from someone else. It involves an invisible creature that walks towards its victim – it does not run, just walks, but can take the appearance of any other human being. If it reaches her, she is dead. After that, he flees and Jay is left with the curse and must find a way to get rid of it or do something about it.

Mitchell uses a weird soundtrack, similar to the film Cold in July, which is also strangely filled with 80’s sounds and synth-pop melodies in a terrifying way. In the film, Jay and other characters are often surrounded by people and some of them do walk towards them. Whenever this happens, the audience has to wonder if they really are stalked by the monster or is the same figure just an ordinary person. This stroke of genius is what makes If Follows a movie full of suspense and terror that comes from expecting something grisly to happen.

Of course, Mitchell is a young filmmaker and the movie is not perfect. Mainly, it rushes to demystify its creature to a certain point, its pacing is uneven and some elements are completely off as if they were taken from some other film of his (the boat scene, for example). But, its strongest suits make it a film that cannot be compared to many others currently out there, especially when it comes to those which try to advance the horror genre.

It Follows is a film that took horror into new and interesting waters of suspense and audience immersion, along with its symbolic message of STD’s. Because of this, it is a small genre masterpiece.

It Follows Ending Explained

Spoiler Alert


This is how I understood the ending of the film (ignoring the notion of sexually transmitted diseases and watching the film just as a horror) – Jay gives the curse Paul after they have sex and Paul is later seen driving by some prostitutes. In the last scene, the figure that is seen following Jay and Paul. This figure is not the monster – it is just a regular person (most likely). Here’s why:

The idea is that Paul had sex with someone who has intercourses many times a day. This means that the same prostitute will spread the curse without even knowing she has it. If the next victim (the prostitute’s customer) is then killed, the curse goes back to her. But then, she once more has sex in less than 24 hours (most likely), giving it to someone else, whom the monster then needs to start following.

This way, Paul brought the curse to a “sex nexus” where it can linger on without anyone noticing that murders are taking place, especially because many of the prostitute’s victims are not locals, but only passing through and the curse is not activated the same second it is passed on. Because of that, the ending explanation can only be that the person behind Jay and Paul in the last scene has been just a passerby.

Because of Paul’s intercourse with the prostitute, both he and Jay are safe for the time being.

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Horror, Mystery,

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Film Review: Poltergeist (2015)

Copyright: 20th Century Fox

Poltergeist from 1982 is one of those films that are etched into the hearts of many generations. Here, Spielberg showed how horror and utter amazement can go hand in hand while it also generated incredible amounts of money. Naturally, topping that for any would-be re-imagining is a pretty big deal, which is why, it seems to me, the creators of Poltergeist 2015 really didn’t even try.

I have to say right off the bat that I really loved this film. It has some awesome visual moments, mainly where the light from objects is used as a material element, not as something untouchable. Here, the director Gil Kenan really presented some impressive moves, which are not overproduced or hammered upon the audience by the 3D setting.

At the same time, many problematic things that often show up in horror films, like obnoxious little children or the irresistible need to make the actions of the protagonists logical (they never are and we’re never convinced as the viewers by the explanations) are completely excluded. From the first moment a child disappears, the parents are like: “This is supernatural. We have to call the Ghostbusters.”

A minute later, Ghostbusters (in this case a team from the local university) show up and say “Yep, these are ghosts you have here. Even worse, they are a Poltergeist. We have to call a Ghostbusters specialist.” Soon after, a specialist appears, played by Jared Harris, who is also immediately assured that stuff is supernatural to the max. Fortunately, Harris got to try out this role, minus the humor and benevolence, in The Quiet Ones, and does a decent job, unlike others, but more about this later.

This approach is really liberating from the regular horror ebb and flow of belief/disbelief which I find more and more to be pointless and dull. It allows the Poltergeist movie to evolve as a ride and provide ample amounts of satisfying twists and turns, although nothing that will make James Wan wants to steal a trick or two for his next film.

But, I completely understand why many did not like the film. Firstly, it copies the narrative of the original play by play, adding only stuff like iPad controlled camera-carrying drones, which is kind of lame. It also has this weird imbalance of production values. Because of it, the house where the action takes place looks painfully boring, along with its surroundings. While the first film made a huge deal about this transformation of the suburban landscape into a hell portal, Poltergeist 2015 fails to pull off anything similar to this idea. The house that is featured in it begins as a boring home and ends up as a boring exploded home, which isn’t much of a story arc for it.

Lastly, there is the issue of Sam Rockwell as Eric Bowen, the father and husband of the family. I really love Rockwell as a character actor, but he was a serious miscast for this film. Throughout the film, he emits an ironic, detached feel that is completely out of his character’s supposed frame of mind. His many dry remarks not only fail to produce humor, but also make it harder for the audience to be immersed in the plight of the Bowen family. I’m not sure why Rockwell accepted the role, but he sure seems like he wanted to do something else.

This, along with the production issues, tells me that Gil Kenan fully understood that he wasn’t making the “next” Poltergeist and instead he tried his best to make “another” Poltergeist film.

The Poltergeist full movie was something that I very much enjoyed, but most of that came from expecting to see weird and scary things in a setting that was familiar to me. While I wish it to be enjoyable for others as well, it is by no means a great horror film.

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Horror, Thriller,

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Crowdfunding Push: The Chair

The Chair, a new horror that focuses on the gritty, dark corners of a human mind is currently looking for funding on their Kickstarter campaign aimed at completing its post-production tasks. It states:

Richard Sullivan (Tim Muskatell) is an innocent man struggling to escape his fate on death row. Witnessing the brutal killings of his fellow inmates (played by Ezra Buzzington, Jacob Banser, and John Siciliano) at the hands of the prison's sadistic and psychotic Warden (Bill Oberst Jr.) and his crew of guards (played by Roddy Piper, Noah Hathaway, Zach Galligan, Derrick Damions, and Kyle Hester), Sullivan decides that the only way to survive is to fight back. But as he's forced to match the brutality occurring in the prison, Sullivan is pushed to the brink of madness.

As a film that includes both the always awesome Bill Oberst Jr. who recently had an amazing role in The Retrieval and Roddy Piper (yes, that Roddy Piper), this has to become an all-out horror extravaganza. Their Kickstarter campaign currently managed to reach around 60% of their intended goals, so check it out here and see if you can help make The Chair a completed film.

If you're looking for exposure for your film-related project, contact me right here.

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Crowdfunding, Horror,

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Film Review: Spring (2014)

Copyright: XYZ Films

Spring movie will not work as a horror film, it dawned on me almost from the first moment the main character Evan enters a conversation with his friends in a bar and right after his mother dies.

Immediately, in a very self-aware and awkward way, the script is trying to convey the idea that it is very much in control of its inherent horror tropes and ideas. It will not cater to our expectation as a horror-loving audience, it body proclaims through witty dialogues and by sending its main character to a part exile, part road trip to Italy.

There, Evan meets a mysterious, but beautiful girl with whom he shares a love of being a smart-ass. But, in the distance of their growing relationship, something is amiss and it involves monsters, but also hurt puppy feelings. Here, the focus of the film is much more honest and relevant. As Even tries to get laid, but then not much later, tries to hold onto the woman of his life, the narrative structure of the film is solid.

But then, the whole supernatural-bodily terror vibe of the Spring movie as a horror has to be shown and like parents returning home too soon to find their child making out with the babysitter, it kills the mood. Here, the film feels forced and robbed of all spontaneity which it otherwise wears with pride when it comes to, for example, acting.

I’m almost under the impression that Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, who directed the film, got stuck with the horror genre through some production deal with the devil and had to make it work. The same can be seen in many aerial shots made by a helicopter drone which would be better suited for a medium-budget tourist commercial of the same area.

In the Spring movie, the beautiful shots of the Italian coast just look like they were shot because the directors had to take that damn drone, so they crammed its footage into the film no matter how needed (or completely unneeded) it actually was.

But still, there is a spark of really potent energy in this film. I was most impressed by its quirky and unexpected humor, but also by the general vibe of other films that feature an American lost on the old Continent. Unfortunately, these bright spots were drowned by the unnecessary long ending sequence and the horror angle that just was not there. While films like Housebound and Suburban Gothic use elements of humor and characters that don’t fit into their new surroundings and make them work with the horror and the tension, this one mishandled it all the way through.

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Horror, Romance, Sci-Fi,

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