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Reviews

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

Posted on May 20, 2016

The Darkness (2016) Review

Gwen

PG-13   |   92 min   |   Greg McLean   |   (USA)   |   2016

Review: “The Darkness” sheds light on living with an autistic child…and ways to borrow heavily from Poltergeist (1982).

Synopsis: A family travels to the Grand Canyon and brings home some uninvited and unwelcome visitors.

Grade: B- / C+

What works:

I especially love Radha Mitchell (Bronny Taylor) and David Mazouz (Michael Taylor) in this film. Their acting is superb and skillfully builds the narrative. Mitchell lends an extraordinary believability to her role as neglected spouse and over-burdened mother.[i] I am going to tell you now that the reason that this film grade was B- / C+ was largely thanks to the work of these two and the underlying narrative about living with an autism spectrum child.[ii]
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Posted on May 18, 2016

The Devil’s Woods (2015)

Dawn Keetley

In the Irish folk horror film, The Devil’s Woods, four friends (Keith, Jen, Jay, and Katie) head from Dublin to a music festival in the country, with the intent of camping in the woods. On the way, they run afoul of some unfriendly locals in the wonderfully-named local pub, The Hatchet Inn, and then, once in the woods, they are inexplicably terrorized by strange figures in masks.

Here’s the trailer:

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