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Posted on September 12, 2015

The Visit (2015) Film Review

Gwen

The Visit

PG-13 | 94 min | M. Night Shyamalan | (USA) | 2015

Review: I should have gone to see Gremlins at the midnight movies tonight.

Synopsis: A brother and sister go for a week-long vacation to visit their grandparents for the very first time. Upon getting to know their grandparents they learn that there is something greatly awry in their Pennsylvania farmhouse.

Grade: D

The only thing going for this review is that I had about four hours in the car to think about it prior to going on a massive stream of conscious rant about how disappointed I was. Frankly, the only thing scary about this movie was that immediately after the film I was attacked by my neighbor’s dog. The most humane way I can put this baby down is to argue why I was so let down by this film.

I noticed that several film sites bill this movie as horror / comedy. Spoiler alert…it was neither.

Posted on September 11, 2015

127 Hours: Geological Horror

Dawn Keetley

Animal and even plant horror are familiar categories: you can find entries for horror films featuring mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects, birds, and plants, for instance, on Wikipedia (check out the List of Natural Horror Films). So far, however, you’ll be hard-pressed to find anything about geological horror. So where are the horror films about rocks and minerals? (That’s not a rhetorical question: if you know of any, please let me know!) My main purpose in this post is to suggest a candidate for the horror genre that features a boulder. The film is 127 Hours (2010), directed by Danny Boyle of 28 Days Later (2002) fame. It depicts the (real) ordeal of Aron Ralston (James Franco), whose arm becomes trapped by a boulder as he’s climbing in Blue John Canyon in Utah: as the title suggests, he spent 127 hours in the canyon before freeing himself by amputating his arm and stumbling across the desert to find help.

There are, of course, a multitude of films about natural disasters (tsunamis, volcanoes, earthquakes, avalanches etc.), but these films tend not to be horror films (they’re routinely classified as action)—and natural disasters are typically not exploited in the horror genre—except sometimes as plot devices to trap characters in places where they have to face other monsters. 127 Hours is a horror film. The film is not wholly horror; indeed, it swerves away from horror near the end. But in and by that swerve it demonstrates what actually makes a horror film (and what doesn’t).

Posted on September 8, 2015

Post 9-11 Fears and The Village

Gwen

PG-13 | M. Night Shyamalan | 108 min | (USA) | 2004

This review evolved serendipitously as M. Night Shyamalan has a new film coming out this week. The Visit premiers on September 11, 2015 and, in preparation, my cohorts and I decided to review some M. Night Shyamalan films to pump ourselves up. I decided to review my favorite film from the Philadelphia-based director and, upon doing so, I found new meaning in The Village. In anticipation of his new September 11^th release, I fortuitously came across post 9-11 fears emanating throughout The Village.

The Village uses fear to harness its inhabitants. What the elders have in common is that they founded their society after a deep bond of common loss. To do so, they tangentially build upon history books to disseminate stories of a nebulous enemy who lurks beyond their borders. Clear boundaries are drawn throughout the film between one society and another.

Posted on August 24, 2015

Sinister 2 (2015) Film Review: The Critics Got It Wrong

Gwen

R | 2015 | 97 min | (USA) | Ciaran Foy

Review: Ripe with commentary on the American family, Sinister 2 is scary but won’t leave you scared.

Synopsis: An abused woman and her twin sons moved into an abandoned home that holds unexpected inhabitants.

Grade: B

Posted on August 18, 2015

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) Review

Elizabeth Erwin

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer | 98 min | 1986 | John McNaughton | X[i]

Synopsis: Henry is an unrepentant serial killer who forms a murderous bond with another man.

Review: Michael Rooker’s chilling tour de force performance is perhaps the greatest serial killer characterization ever committed to film.

Grade: A

Viewing Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is not for the faint of heart. Stark and unyielding, the film is a deeply unsettling look into the mind of an unrepentant murderer. The film centers on pathological murderer Henry, who discovers a kindred spirit in his roommate, Otis. The two engage in vicious murders as Henry schools Otis on the finer points of evading capture. Their relationship is tested when Otis’ sister Becky comes to visit and becomes enamored of Henry. Based on the life of Henry Lee Lucas, the film is both a psychological exploration as well as an explicit foray into gore.