- Horror Movie - Horror Homeroom

Posted on July 15, 2015

The Gallows (2015) Film Review

Gwen

R | 81min | 2015 | (USA) | Travis Cluff , Chris Lofing

Synopsis: Twenty years after a tragic accident during a high school play the students try to pay respects by resurrecting the play. This time Charlie returns to finish business and steal the show.

Review: This one leaves audiences swinging limp in the wind.

The pros: Although the film is written by two men, it comes across quite female centered.

I find the weapon of choice to be quite interesting. I am not typically a subscriber to psychoanalytic theory when it comes to horror films. However, it is quite rare for the killer to use a weapon that is not categorically phallic. In fact the noose is everything opposite of phallic. It is a receptacle that encompasses and takes control over that which enters it. This brings me to my next point.

Posted on July 13, 2015

AMC’s Humans Review: The 21st-century Stepford Wives?

Dawn Keetley

Having watched two episodes of AMC’s intriguing new series, Humans (on Sunday nights at 9), I have been struck with how eerily similar it is to the 1975 horror-thriller, The Stepford Wives (Bryan Forbes). Humans is a British-American co-production, running for eight episodes, and based on the award-winning Swedish drama, Real Humans. It is, on the one hand, obviously sci-fi, yet it also partakes of horror, I argue, in that is fundamentally about the dread of an uncertain identity and the terrifyingly tenuous boundaries of the human. Who are we? Who are those around us? Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Don Siegel, 1956) famously took up these questions—and, more recently, so did The Cabin in the Woods (Drew Goddard, 2012). As Marty (Fran Kranz) says, “We are not who we are.” The larger question horror asks is: Are we ever?

Posted on July 11, 2015

Jersey Shore Shark Attack (2012) Review

Gwen

Jersey Shore Shark Attack is full of surprises!

As Horror Homeroom’s first edition of shark week comes to an end we wanted to leave you with a good taste in your mouth. That’s why I want to complete this week with a film that is pure, gluttonous fun. I wish I could convey in words the sheer bliss that I felt after watching this film, but it is something that needs experiencing. It is exactly what it sounds like: a cross between MTV’s “Jersey Shore” and Jaws (1975) and it is nothing short of AMAZING. It is a perfect crescendo for our shark week because it reminds us that sharks can be anxiety inducing but more importantly, thrill inducing. What Jersey Shore Shark Attack boils down to is simple amusement. There is no significant social commentary or any smart themes about nature but there are gun toting, fist pumping Guidos who rid Seaside Heights, NJ of its killer albino sharks. There are minor underlying comments about class and gentrification but if you watch this film you watch it for the fun, the cast, and the death scenes.

Posted on July 7, 2015

Up from the Depths (1979) Film Review

Elizabeth Erwin

Directed by Charles B. Griffith, Up from the Depths is a gloriously hokey film that is less monster horror and more spoof horror, although that may not have been its intention. Capitalizing on the shark mania created by Jaws, the film echoes its film predecessor in delightfully absurd ways. The plot is a relatively straightforward one. After a significant underwater earthquake, a prehistoric shark rises up and immediately begins feasting upon the vacationers of a high-end resort. That the resort in question looks more like a set reject from Fantasy Island and less an affluent playground is just one of the many ways this film continually reminds us not to take it too seriously.

Posted on July 1, 2015

MTV’s Scream Review: Pilot

Elizabeth Erwin

When news broke that MTV was going to try its hand at episodic horror and that they had selected the Scream franchise as its model, many were wondering how the slasher elements would transfer to the small screen. Unlike other horror genres that seem an ideal fit for serialized and anthology television, slasher films often use a very specific pacing structure that can be hard to mimic beyond 90 minutes.

As a fan of the franchise, I was dismayed to learn that part of the deal to have Scream come to the small screen was an agreement that effectively took the prospect of a Scream 5 theatrical release off the table. Was the decision a sound one? Based upon the pilot, the jury is still out. If the 1996 Scream film was a self-referential slasher dripping with a 90s sensibility, MTV’s revamped version is a generic mishmash of slasher tropes with a decidedly 2015 flair. The end result is an uneven pilot that dangles enough questions of interest to merit tuning in for episode two.