- Horror Movie - Horror Homeroom

Posted on June 4, 2016

Hannah Macpherson’s Sickhouse: Snapchat Meets Found-Footage

Dawn Keetley

Sometimes I forget that Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez’s The Blair Witch Project (1999) is coming up on its twentieth anniversary. I shouldn’t, though, because I regularly teach the film in my Introduction to Horror class and I’ve increasingly found students are just bored by it. There have been films that have attempted to “update” The Blair Witch Project (I thought Bob Goldthwait’s 2013 film Willow Creek was particularly good), but, in many ways, and with all its flaws, Hannah Macpherson’s Sickhouse may be the real heir to The Blair Witch Project. It’s Blair Witch for millennials, for those born not too long before the turn into the twenty-first century and who have lived intimately with social media for their entire lives.

You should watch Sickhouse, I think, for the stark generational differences it points out between teens today and those of us who saw Blair Witch in the theater. Also, for its moments of genuine raw power, as well as the undeniable innovation of telling its story entirely through Snapchat. And, lastly, if you haven’t yet heard of Sickhouse’s director, Hannah Macpherson, well, you need to. Read more

Posted on June 3, 2016

Outcast: “These things are all around us”

Dawn Keetley

Airing on Cinemax on Friday June 3, the first episode of Outcast promises a thoroughly compelling new television series, the most compelling I’ve seen in a while.

Based on the comic of the same name written by Robert Kirkman (and in this opening episode, at least, the series is quite faithful to the comic), Outcast is not unlike Kirkman’s better-known epic, The Walking Dead—although the bleakness of Outcast seems more unrelieved, the characters and landscape more monochrome. Even though the world as we know it is not actually over yet in Outcast, the desolation seems more palpable—perhaps because the world is ending in a way that cuts a bit closer to home than the zombie apocalypse. Despite that difference, Outcast and The Walking Dead are similar in that each takes a violent and easily sensationalized horror subgenre (exorcism, zombies) and weaves it into the fabric of everyday life, creating a horror narrative that relies on realism to induce dread.

At the center of Outcast is Kyle Barnes (played brilliantly by Patrick Fugit). Kyle is the titular “outcast,” although the first episode ends without shedding light on what exactly that means. Kyle has returned to Rome, West Virginia, and is living alone in his childhood home on the outskirts of the dying town. Read more

Posted on May 31, 2016

Southbound (2015) Review

Guest Post

A lonely stretch of desert highway in the American Southwest, offers five stories of terror in the horror anthology Southbound.

Synopsis: On a desolate stretch of desert highway, weary travelers – two men on the run from their past, a band on their way to the next gig, a man struggling to get home, a brother in search of his long-lost sister and a family on vacation – are forced to confront their worst fears and darkest secrets in a series of interwoven tales of terror and remorse on the open road.

Directed by Roxanne Benjamin (producer, V/H/S 1-3), David Bruckner (V/H/S), Patrick Horvath (Entrance) and the film collective known as Radio Silence (V/H/S), the movie stars Kate Beahan (TV’s “Mistresses,” The Wicker Man), Matt Bettinelli-Olpin (V/H/S), and Mather Zickel (TV’s “Masters of Sex,” Hail, Caesar!).

Horror anthologies. I love and respect them for what they are and what they aren’t. For me, it all started with Creepshow then Tales From The Crypt TV series came along and before I knew it, I was building a top ten list of favorites including Tales from The Darkside The Movie, Body Bags, V/H/S/, The ABC’s Of Death, Tales Of Halloween and A Christmas Horror Story. Now I’ve added Southbound to the list. Read more

Posted on May 26, 2016

The Break-In (2016) Review

Dawn Keetley

I watch a lot of horror films, including as many independent productions as I can. I forget many of them shortly after finishing them. I never make it through many others. But sometimes I find one that really surprises me—and those are the ones I tend to write about. The Break-In, written and directed by Justin Doescher (who also stars), was such a surprising film: it pulled me in, made me want to keep watching—and then came at me with an ending I did not see coming and that I’ve been thinking about ever since. The Break-In is definitely low-budget, but if you’re mulling over whether or not to watch this film or spend the big bucks for the latest high-profile theatrical release, The Darkness, stay home and rent The Break-In.

As a testament to how interesting I think this film is, there are two parts to this review. Read the first part before you watch the film, and hopefully it’ll make you want to watch. The second half, below the big “Spoiler Alert,” are my thoughts on the film in light of its ending. You should come back and read that part after you’ve watched the film. Read more

Posted on May 24, 2016

Why I Love Wayward Pines…And You Should Too

Gwen

First let’s hash out the basics:

Season 1 is over but Season 2 is about to premiere on Wednesday night 5/25/16 at 9pm on FOX. So if you have not watched the first season, my recommendation is to run and binge watch before season 2 starts. If you want to know the premise of the series you can find it here. This show cannot possibly get anymore star-studded than it already is: Melissa Leo, Carla Gugino, Shannyn Sossamon, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Juliette Lewis, Matt Dillon, Charlie Tahan, Toby Jones, and Terrence Howard to name a few..and that is only Season 1! Season 2 promises the addition of Jason Patric and Djimon Hounsou.

Why I love Wayward Pines . . . let me count the ways:

The acting is absolutely out of this world. Wayward Pines doesn’t have to rely on name recognition because the entire cast can carry this story with their skill. It doesn’t hurt that the storyline, dialogue, sets, and characters far exceed expectations. Let’s put that aside because anyone could tell you that; it’s stating the obvious. I would like to tell you specific to my interests what makes Wayward Pines so broadly appealing. Read more