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Posted on June 30, 2015

First Impressions of MTV’s Scream: #PLLDoesitBetter

Gwen

Throughout the little sneak peaks and the premier episode (airing on MTV at 10pm on 6/30/15) the audience is repeatedly instructed to care about the characters of the Scream TV series. You have to care if the teacher pays too much attention to the girls, care if the girl forgives the jock boyfriend, care if the basketball team wins, that way you care when one of them dies. Unfortunately, aside from the tutorial instructions, there is nothing goading you into actually caring about these characters. While there are noticeable parallels to the Scream movies, I see way more allegiance to the ABC Family series “Pretty Little Liars”. This does not seem shocking since MTV harnessed the creative power of Mina Lefevre (former ABC Family VP of Development and Programming). That being said, sit back and hear me out:

Posted on June 26, 2015

Burying the Ex: Tedious Zombie Comedy

Elizabeth Erwin

Released June 19, 2015 via Video On Demand, Burying the Ex is a tedious foray into the world of zombie comedy. With characters devoid of any personality and a running time that far exceeds the material, this film achieves neither the humor nor the scares inherent in the zombie comedy genre.

To be fair, fusing horror and comedy is always tricky. While some films excel at blending these two genres (Psycho Beach Party, Tucker and Dave vs Evil), others tend to focus on one part of the equation at the expense of the other (Haunted Honeymoon, I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle). But rarely has a film so completely missed the mark so as to be rendered as utterly boring as Burying the Ex.

Posted on June 21, 2015

Creepshow (1982) and “Father’s Day” Celebrate Patriarchy

Gwen

“Father’s Day” is one of five short stories included in in the film Creepshow (1982). From the minds of George A. Romero and Stephen King, Creepshow pays homage to the EC horror comics of the 1950s while working out the 1980s challenges to patriarchy. I’ll focus on “Father’s Day” here, and and then critique the film’s treatment of the leading representations of patriarchy.

Posted on June 17, 2015

Review of Jurassic World: Of Dinosaurs and Monsters

Dawn Keetley

It may seem strange that I’m reviewing Jurassic World for a horror blog since none of the Jurassic Park films have ever been categorized as horror films: they are action, adventure, thriller, and science-fiction. But not horror. Why is that? Well, in large part it’s about marketing and studios striving to reach the largest possible audience; it’s about making sure the franchise is family-friendly. It’s also, though, because the films feature dinosaurs—natural creatures, not monsters. Right?

Posted on June 9, 2015

Insidious 3 Film Review: The Demon Death Drive

Dawn Keetley

Insidious 3 is the directorial debut of the talented Leigh Whannell, the screenwriter for Saw (2004), Dead Silence (2007), Insidious (2011), and Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013). Demonstrable proof that Whannell can direct as well as write (and act), Insidious: Chapter 3 is quite different, and more disturbing, than the first two Insidious films. It’s telling that the tagline on the movie poster is “This is how you die,” because the film seems itself to be driving toward death, with little to lighten the mood. The mise-en-scène reflects the darkness of the film’s trajectory, exuding decay: while the first two films have a generally lighter, suburban mise-en-scène, the latest installment is set in an old, dark, urban apartment building, and centers on a family struggling both to make ends meet and to deal with the loss of a wife and mother. Read more