Tag Archives: Movie

Movie Review: Holiday Hell

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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.

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Joe Bob’s Red Christmas Coming December 13

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Shudder, AMC Networks’ premium streaming service for horror, thrillers and the supernatural, announced today that Joe Bob Briggs, host of The Last Drive-In, will return on December 13 with an all-new special, Joe Bob’s Red Christmas. The triple feature of holiday horrors will stream live at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on Shudder in the U.S. and Canada. It will also be made available on demand later in December. The special will be Briggs’ second of the year, following Joe Bob’s Halloween Hootenanny, which premieres tonight at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on Shudder in the U.S. and Canada.

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Movie Review: Haunt

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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.

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Movie Review: Portal

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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. Continue reading →

Movie Review: Gwen

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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.

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Debuting Today on Shudder: One Cut of the Dead

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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.

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Movie Review: 350 Days

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There have been numerous documentaries about professional wrestling over the years, including ones produced by WWE about its superstars, legends, factions, and historic moments. In addition to these highly enjoyable, polished pieces, there are gritty, reality-based pro wrestling documentaries that are more focused on providing the viewer with an intimate behind-the-scenes look at the legends they grew up watching on TV. The Resurrection of Jake the Snake, an excellent character study and inspirational story about how the power of believing in yourself can transcend addiction, was firmly created in this style. 350 Days, coming out April 2, is the newest addition to this style of storytelling, and it’s an intriguing, enlightening, educational, and, most importantly, satisfying documentary that everyone should see.

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Movie Review: Love, Simon

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Tonight I attended the first local screening of a movie coming out March 16: Love, Simon. This wonderful film is based on the novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli. Love, Simon far exceeded my expectations, as well as my wife’s. We both laughed, cried and left the movie immensely satisfied. The characters are well-developed, the acting is superb, and the smartly-written script kept us engaged and emotionally invested the whole way through. You might’ve noticed that the image above is for the soundtrack of the film. That was done on purpose, because the music in this movie is a character all its own. It’s so good that I rushed home to write this review and I’m playing a Spotify playlist of the music in the background because the official soundtrack isn’t available until March 16, which is when you should make it a point to see this amazing movie.

Movie Review: Hired Gun

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Yesterday I watched a fantastic film: Hired Gun. This feature-length documentary has been screened to both critic and audience acclaim at SXSW Festival, Glastonbury Festival, MIFF, Calgary International, and Noise Pop. There was also a special one-night screening of the movie in theaters across the country on June 29. It introduces music fans to some of the world’s unsung heroes of the music industry through exclusive interviews and performances. These artists have played with a variety of music legends, including KISS, Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie, Billy Joel, P!NK, Ozzy Osbourne, Michael Jackson, Metallica, Bon Jovi, and many more.

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TRI Screening in Philadelphia

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This Wednesday, August 31, TRI, an award-winning indie film, is screening at the Trocadero theatre in Philadelphia. I just finished watching this movie, and I enjoyed it. The film, which recently walked away with the top prize at the Northern Virginia International Film & Music Festival, features local talent Jensen Jacobs and Kelly Spitko in starring roles. However, I’d argue that the two most compelling actors were played by Shawn Pelofsky and Kenneth Simmons. Their supporting roles provided TRI with additional layers of emotional depth that were believable and moving.

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