Doctor Sleep, the new movie directed by Mike Flanagan, is coming out November 8. Based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, this is a sequel to The Shining. I was invited to attend an advance screening of this movie last night, so I jumped at the chance to see it.
Just when I thought I had my fill of horror anthologies, Holiday Hell comes along. This Christmas-themed film stars the wonderful Jeffrey Combs as a shopkeeper who entertains a curious customer with the terrifying tales behind specific items he has for sale. Collectively, these stories comprise this entertaining movie. Aside from Combs, Joel Murray steals the show with his incredible performance as an alcoholic who is down on his luck in a variety of ways. I was completely enthralled by his performance, which was nuanced and emotive. Murray is an exceptional actor who deserves much more attention for his stellar work.
I’ve watched many horror anthologies over the past month or so, including Creepshow (the movies and the new Shudder series), American Horror Story: 1984, All Hallows’ Eve, and Nightmare Cinema, which is coming to Shudder on October 29.
Debuting on Shudder on October 24, Haunt is written and directed by the team that brought us A Quiet Place and it was produced by Eli Roth. This 90-minute horror film is a Shudder exclusive, and it’s not for the faint of heart. This movie is about a group of young people trapped in a frightening haunted house, and it is replete with disturbing and gory imagery. It is a genuinely scary scenario, and the tension is so thick you could cut it with a knife. If you can handle the SAW movies or anything Eli Roth has done, then you’ll do fine with Haunt. The acting is solid, and the score is foreboding. The editing doesn’t hold anything back, so get ready to say to yourself or a friend, “What did I just see happen?” numerous times, as the deaths in Haunt are a punch to the gut. For big-time horror fans like myself, this is an enjoyable, pulse-pounding adventure that is worth watching.
In 2003 Rob Zombie made his writing and directing debut with the gritty horror film House of 1000 Corpses. The success of this movie spawned a sequel, The Devil’s Rejects, and a third entry in the series, 3 From Hell, was just released on digital and physical video this month. Let’s take a look back at these films about the infamous Firefly family, including my thoughts and Rob Zombie’s insights on each of these twisted tales.
Released just a couple days ago on digital and on demand, Portal is an award-winning supernatural horror film with an all-start cast. It features a rare appearance by iconic scream queen Heather Langenkamp, best known for her stellar work in the A Nightmare on Elm Street film franchise. When an ambitious ghost hunter performs a risky ritual, opening a portal to “the other side,” he and his team quickly find themselves way over their heads in a fight for survival against an ancient demonic force. Read more…
Making its debut on Shudder this Thursday (October 17), Gwen is a strange film. I absolutely wouldn’t classify it as anything close to horror. It’s best described as an atmospheric period piece about a family that’s down in the dumps from start to finish. Throw in some strange disease that’s ailing the mother, as well as a ton of misfortune, and you have Gwen. While I was watching it my wife said, “What’s the point of this movie?” I don’t have a good answer for her because this film doesn’t seem to serve any purpose. It merely exists. Not a whole lot happens in this movie and there’s more silence than sound. It’s as if the viewer is simply watching a family fall apart. The ending isn’t satisfying either. In a word filled with real-life negativity and depressing predicaments, the last thing I want to do is watch a movie mired with them. With this in mind, I can’t recommend Gwen to anyone.
I’m a big horror movie fan, and I love the 1980s. So, I was very excited when I heard about In Search of Darkness – a horror documentary solely focused on the 1980s. Many consider the 1980s to be the golden age of horror movies. After all, it was the decade that brought us Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Halloween sequels featuring Michael Myers, Hellraiser, Creepshow, Gremlins, The Lost Boys, and so much more. It’s also the decade when VCRs and VHS tapes became immensely popular, resulting in a wave of direct-to-video horror films for fans to enjoy. Clocking in at over four hours, In Search of Darkness covers all aspects of 1980s’ horror, and it features interviews with nearly 50 contributors. Some of these contributors include icons such as John Carpenter, Heather Lagenkamp, Doug Bradley, Kane Hodder, and Mick Garris, among others. Directed by David A. Weiner and filmed and finalized within 12 months, this documentary is a monumental achievement, especially considering this is the first film directed by Weiner.
Shudder, AMC Networks’ premiere streaming destination for exclusive and original genre entertainment, has an exclusive new film that debuted today: One Cut of the Dead. The hit zombie comedy will be available for all Shudder members to stream in the U.S., Canada, UK and Ireland. Based on the trailer and the synopsis below, it seems to be an entertaining take on the undead that I look forward to checking out.
On August 18, I met one of my horror idols: Clive Barker. A multi-talented artist who has mastered numerous mediums, Clive is a playwright, an author, a director, and a painter. He created, wrote and directed Hellraiser, his most famous work, and he’s also known for Candyman and Nightbreed, as well as more than 20 novels, hundreds of incredible paintings, and so much more. Stephen King once said, “I’ve seen the future of horror, and his name is Clive Barker.” That’s the highest praise one can get in this genre, and Clive lived up to that prophecy and then some.
