John of the Dead(1978)'s Horror Flick Reviews

Director – Nicolás Goldbart

Cast – Daniel Hendler, Jazmín Stuart, Yayo Guridi, Federico Luppi

Release Year – 2011

Reviewed by John of the Dead

Phase 7 is a film I was pretty stoked to see after reading its plot summary, as I have a love for such films that place our protagonist in a nowhere-to-run scenario where he/she is forced to fend off attackers. It seems nowadays that we are seeing more and more of these “epidemic survival” horror films, and I welcome them thanks to the majority of these films being worthwhile and relatable in this day and age. I must say now though that Phase 7 is not so much the horror film that I expected it to be, nor was it a great watch, but in the end it provided for a decent experience despite the low horror.

When a flu epidemic strikes Argentina and leaves his apartment complex under quarantine, Coco must join forces with a heavily armed neighbor to protect his pregnant wife from their neighbors.

Well, I guess this being a “flu epidemic” movie you should know not to expect too much horror right? I mean, this is not an “infected” movie of any sort, but I still expected horror in the form of social breakdown where regardless of what epidemic it is we are given horror in the form of people killing people, and that was somewhat the case here. After finding themselves quarantined and with very little information regarding the justification of the matter, the apartment tenants soon begin losing their minds and because of that they fall victim to an old vigilante who himself has lost his mind. Eventually this threat reaches Coco and his wife, and that is when the carnage breaks loose and he teams up with his radical neighbor to quell the violence…with violence. For the most part this story was OK, but it really left a lot to be desired as it moved very slow and dragged often, ultimately leaving us with very little horror even during the violent scenes. The character play is cool and we are provided with several colorful characters to marvel at, but overall this is a screenplay that could have been much better in regards to the horror/thriller genre that it appeals to.

Nicolas Goldbart serves as both writer and director, and his direction was fairly good despite his decent screenplay. The sets used are simple yet provided enough atmosphere to sell the film to the viewer, and he managed to provide fairly good tension at times despite the lack of overall horror – a sign of good direction. The acting performances were positive and we are given a stellar performance by Federico Luppi as Zanutto, the old vigilante, and much to my surprise we are given a slight amount of gore as well, although it was cheap CGI. For a low-budget film I can be forgiving towards Goldbart for certain directing issues, like the CGI gore, and overall I saw him as a man who seems to have what it takes for direction to make it in the genre, he just needs to step up his game if he wants to make it in this one.

Overall, Phase 7 is a film that does not meet expectations for the horror genre, but overall makes for a decent watch with a tiny bit of horror in the end. If you are looking for a horrific tale than I suggest you look elsewhere, but if you want a quirky flick to appease your boredom this might do you some good, maybe.

Rating: 6/10

Director – Antoine Blossier

Cast – Grégoire Colin, François Levantal, Fred Ulysse, Joseph Malerba, Isabelle Renauld, Berenice Bejo

Release Year – 2010

Reviewed by John of the Dead

I happened upon Prey while looking for my much needed French horror fix, and despite it seeming to come with a storyline I’ve seen numerous times I was very much intrigued to see how the French would execute this one, especially because I love killer animal films. I knew nothing of the writer/director and was not interested in looking him up before the film, which played into my bewilderment over how much I enjoyed this simple piece when I learned this came from a first-time filmmaker. Sure there are several faults present that kept the film from greatness, but in the end Prey wound up an enjoyable piece for those who share a love for such films and are willing to forgive a little.

While visiting his girlfriend Claire’s family for the weekend, a weekend he expects to be stormy given the pending announcement of his girlfriend’s pregnancy, Nathan comes across horrors that no one saw coming. When Claire’s father is attacked by a heavily traumatized deer, her brothers and Nathan set out to catch the perpetrator of such a heinous crime, but soon find themselves not the hunters but the prey.

I do not think there will ever come a day when I fall out of love with these simple films about animals attacking humans, and I found it a “breathe of fresh air” to find such a film from another country – in this case France.  I really did not know what to expect going into this piece, not even knowing what kind of animal would be doing the killing, but I was glad to see that despite its simplicity this story managed to bring forth more than just an animal chewing up stupid people.  This story is heavy on character play, especially conflict, and early on we are thrown into this conflict as Nathan is bombarded with problems stemming from his girlfriend’s pregnancy and her family’s heavy reliance on her in running their pesticide business – something that will take precedence over her pregnancy and the life of his future child.  Nathans problems worsen when he, at the behest of his wife who is obviously hiding something, goes on a hunting expedition with her male family members as they try and track a nemesis potentially threatening the land they use to run their family business.  They are not sure what to expect other than assuming they are hunting a wild boar, and while wild boars are what they find these boars have suffered genetic mutation due to a conspiracy associated with their land.  I will not go into further detail on that so that I can avoid any more spoilers, but let me just say that the conspiracy element made this not one of the run-of-the-mill killer animal films but one that brings more to the table, regardless of whether some find the conspiracy element silly or not.  Writers Antoine Blossier and Erich Vogel did a good job keeping the tension high once the hunting expedition gets going, with some very emotional kill-sequences taking place and plenty of action provided by the insane wild boars attacking the men.  I personally wish that we would have been given a few more scenes actually showing the boars, but I was happy enough with the scenes that we were given which consisted mostly of the boars hiding in the high grass and flanking the hunters one by one.  I was glad to see that aside from the obvious tension resulting from being chased by wild boars our lead protagonists also fell victim to infighting between one another during their ill-fated hunting trek.  This added wonderfully to the already ongoing conflict and made for many revelations behind the conspiracy plaguing the land and obviously the wildlife, and I guess the hunters too when you think about it.

Writer Antoine Blossier also serves as the film’s director, and he left me very surprised at just how well-shot this effort was despite his limited experience.  The locations and sets used are great and provided for much vegetative cover for the wild boars to use as they stalked the men, and Blossier used it to his advantage to keep my interest and provide some good horror.  We are given a fair amount of gore in this piece, which thankfully came via live-action FX as did the scenes with the killer boars, and it may be due to the filmmaker’s decision to go for live-action FX versus CGI FX that kept the boars from receiving more screen time.  Personally, I found no real fault in that thanks to the positive usage of FX.  As mentioned earlier, the kill sequences came with much emotion thanks to the storyline, and Blossier executed them very well in making the viewer’s heart wrench a bit over them.  The acting performances were positive as well, with our main protagonists expertly selling their anger and then fear as they come across a nemesis they never expected to fight back the way it did in this good effort from a novice filmmaker.

Overall, Prey is a positive French killer animal piece that gives us enjoyable horror in a fairly creative package thanks to a few unique elements written into the story.  The direction is good and results in the enjoyable horror mentioned in this under-the-radar flick sure to please fans of such killer animal films.

Rating: 7/10

Director – Henry Raine

Cast – Kyle Davis, Devin McGinn, Edward Flores, Ethan Wilde, Gregg Lawrence, Edmund Lupinski

Release Year – 2009

Reviewed by John of the Dead

One of the best feelings I get from the horror genre is finding an enjoyable film that went under the radar years prior, and that is the feeling I got from The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu.  Shot on a very low “shoestring” budget, this independent B-movie managed to provide a fun watch heavy in Cthulhu lore and with plenty of comical elements to compliment the story.  With good laughs and a prestine production value in regards to the type of film this is, The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu is an indie horror film done right in a day where similar Lovecraft flicks have failed miserably.

When one half of an ancient relic is found by the Cult of Cthulhu, they awaken the sleeping beast’s lead general, Starspawn, to lead them in finding the other half so that they can revive their master after spending centuries buried at the bottom of the sea.  When “The Council”, a secretive group whose purpose is to ensure Cthulhu is never again awoken, learns of the Cult’s discovery, they give the other half of the relic to the last known descendant of H.P. Lovecraft, a bumbling passive virgin named Jeff.  Jeff has never been a believer in such things, but when he finds himself face to face with the “Old Ones” as they seek the ancient relic now in  his possession, he joins with his best friend Charlie in a quest to save the world from another world before their time.

As you can tell by now, this is definitely a film for Lovecraft fans.  The homages are everywhere in this story, penned by Tom Konkle and Devin McGinn, with numerous references to Lovecraft’s history and his many works.  I found the storyline to be a fun one, especially because our lead protagonist is a pathetic loser with a dead-end job and no finesse with the opposite sex, but it is up to him to save the damn world.  Sure we’ve seen this tactic before, but when a film wants to be more “fun” than serious it is good to have a bumbling protagonist instead of a brute, unless you’re watching Hellboy which manages to give you both in the same package.  The character play between our two main protagonists, Jeff and Charlie, was fun and quite representative of how best friends tend to interact with one another, however things become even more interesting (character-wise) as the film winds on and introduces even more enjoyable ones like Sheldon, a Cthulhu freak who the two friends used to pick on but must now rely on for his knowledge of anything Cthulhu-related.  Watching these three bumbling morons travel along the countryside to protect the ancient relic was fun and made for some good comedy (which was abundant in this story), which was blessed with a very fun “comic” feel sure to leave horror comic fans drooling.  We are also given enjoyable antagonists who come with cheesy but effective dialogue, and these minions of Cthulhu were thankfully not mere humans but heinous creatures from the depths of the sea.

Director Henry Saine did well for this being his only full-length film, giving us a pretty high production value for such a low budget.  The sets were positive and good enough to keep me engaged, but most importantly was the good performances provided by the actors, something you do not normally see in low-budget indie horror films.  While our protagonists sold the film I did enjoy watching the antagonists as well thanks to Saine employing mostly live-action FX that left the creatures looking a bit silly but pretty good for what the film is.  The horror was enjoyable and gave us a few decent kills, but most of the tension resulted from our lead characters running from the “Old Ones” and not so much the “Old Ones” devouring the race they plan to soon take over.  Mr. Saine is equally responsible for the awesome “comic book” feel the piece brings with it, with him actually giving us animated scenes shown in comic book fashion on a few very enjoyable occasions.

Overall, The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu is a fun and kind of silly watch that is sure to please fans of Lovecraft’s work also looking for a comical experience regarding the infamous writer of long ago.  You need not be familiar with Lovecraft to enjoy this piece, however without prior knowledge of his work you may find the tone and subject matter to not fit your tastes.

Rating: 7/10

Director – James Watkins

Cast – Daniel Radcliffe, Ciarán Hinds, Janet McTeer, Misha Handley, Lucy May Barker, Shaun Dooley, Mary Stockley, Tim McMullan

Release Year – 2012

Reviewed by John of the Dead

While not initially stoked when I first learned of this remake/adaptation of the 1989 TV film and Susan Hill’s 1983 novel of the same name, I was eventually brought on board the bandwagon when I saw the first trailer for this one. The trailer looked dark, gothic, and like the Hammer films of decades ago that so brilliantly employed atmosphere to sell their work, and I must say that this work of the rejuvenated Hammer Films stayed true to form. This effort also stayed mostly true to the original story, giving us good levels of creepy fun as scares were chosen over gore, and with good direction from Eden Lake director James Watkins and positive usage of Daniel Radcliffe in his first post-Harry Potter role we are given one of the better horror remakes of recent time.

Daniel Radcliffe stars as Arthur Kipps, a young lawyer tagged with the responsibility of traveling to a small village to sort through an old widow’s paperwork at her island-esque estate. After arriving at the remote seaside village he learns that there is much more to the estate than paperwork when he comes face to face with the ghost of a scorned woman terrorizing the locals.

This is one story that I just love. The original novel terrorizes the reader, and based on that novel we have now been given two adaptations that both provided their own usage of the original story to provide good horror. Naturally there are some differences, like name changes, certain details left, and additional ideas thrown in that were not in the original story (changes in the way characters die). Aside from those differences the two films give the same overall storyline, and both result in a good horror experience. In regards to this newest version of the story, adapted by Stardust/Kick-Ass/X-Men: First Class writer Jane Goldman, we are given all of the most important of the original storyline and in well-told fashion. The story paces very well, taking its time but managing to deliver enjoyable scares early on. It does not take long before Arthur Kipps arrives at the small village and begins to suffer the haunting trauma that the townsfolk have suffered for years, and from then on our the scares and jolts never subside for longer than required to move the story. I applaud Jane Goldman, in her first horror writing credit, for giving us mostly well-written scares that were simple yet effective so long as the director does his/her job (more on that later) and not settling for too many cheap gimmicky scares, although there were a few of them. I was not surprised to see a few cheap scares given this is still a PG-13 Hollywood effort, and thankfully did they little to ruin the horror. The usage of the woman in black was positive and reminiscent of the TV movie that preceded it, and we were given more usage of the supernatural than merely the woman in black. The dialogue was great and it made for good character play between all of the characters involved, most of whom were used pretty well and not so much just to take up space. We witness Arthur suffer much hostility from the townsfolk as his very presence brings forth death to their quiet and subtle community, making for good conflict and additional obstacles to stand in his way as he aims to complete his work in a weekend’s time. In addition to the conflict associated with being harassed by a vengeful spirit and the townsfolk we also witnessed Arthur experiencing personal conflict regarding his family. His young son lost his mother during his birth, and Arthur’s job has kept him away from his son during a developmental age where parenting is very important. Of course, there is also the possibility of harm done to his son due to his interactions with the woman in black.

Director James Watkins did a pretty good job executing this piece, with much of his success resulting from his excellent use of dark and gloomy atmosphere. The sets are fantastic, bringing forth a big sense of eeriness throughout the small village that was made even more remarkable during the scenes at the old woman’s estate, an estate surrounded by muddy marshlands that make the place an island when the tide rides in. This atmosphere was essential to providing good horror as it made for many dark shadowy corners for the woman and other ghosts to hide in, and when they made their presence known it usually resulted in something good. The jump scares were so-so, with one of them giving me a nice jolt, but the rest of the scares were simpler yet very effective thanks to Watkins’ execution. Most of the ghosts are CGI, especially the scenes with the woman in black, but surprisingly enough the CGI did not detriment from the film and I suppose made possible some scares that would have been hard to achieve via live-action FX. So, how was Daniel Radcliffe, one of the film’s highest selling points? He did a pretty good job in this piece, as did all of the other actors involved.   Long gone was the young boy who grew into a young man while dressing funny and carrying around a magical stick for almost a decade– instead we are given a young solicitor(lawyer) with a lot to lose if he fails to finish the job, and he takes on the woman in black headstrong. I admit it was kind of fascinating to watch him portray such a mature character after playing the same one for a decade, but he managed to sell each emotion in his performance as a veteran actor should – although only a few emotions apply in this case.

Overall, The Woman Black (2012) is a positive adaptation of the esteemed classic novel that much like its TV movie predecessor brings forth a great experience of spooky supernatural horror by focusing on simple but effective scares and a darn good story that will keep you engaged throughout.

Rating: 7/10

Director – Victor Cook, Tad Stones

Cast – Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, John Hurt, Doug Jones, Peri Gilpin, Jim Cummings, J. Grant Albrecht, James Arnold Taylor

Release Year – 2007

Reviewed by John of the Dead

The animated Hellboy series continues after Sword of Storms with Blood and Iron, an equally enjoyable piece that once again gives us Hellboy & co. kicking supernatural ass in animated fashion.

We follow the crew as they investigate a large mansion purchased by a friend of the senator who funds the paranormal ass-kicking force. The mansion holds much significance to Professor Broom, who in 1939 defeated the powerful female vampire Erzsebet Ondrushko at that very mansion, and he joins the crew to ensure the the mansion is still safe. When it becomes apparent that someone is trying to bring Erzsebet back from the dead, Hellboy & co. aid the professor in finishing unsettled business after over half a century of waiting.

I really enjoyed this storyline, adapted by Kevin Hopps from Mike Mignola and Tad Stones’ story, thanks to it involving Professor Broom to a much higher level than usual. Told in the past and present time we follow Broom as he fought to vanquish a woman who believed that bathing in the blood of young beautiful women would keep her young. Of course, this dilemma was ultimately left unsettled and Broom saw the need to investigate the mansion before the senator’s friend turned it into a ghost-themed hotel. I loved watching the storyline develop with constant flashbacks to the events that Dr. Broom saw occur at the mansion, events that are now occurring all over again. Each of our characters was used positively, especially our main characters in Hellboy, Professor Broom, Liz Sherman, Abe Sapien, and newcomer Oliver Trombolt. There is plenty of action written into this piece, which I assumed would be so, and it was great in giving us numerous antagonistic character for Hellboy and his troops to destroy, including: ghosts, wolves, witches, harpies, a giant werewolf, and Erzsebet herself in several different forms. In addition to this Kevin Hopps defied cliches often associated with animated films and gave us fantastic dialogue that aiding in presenting and developing the characters so positively.

Directors Victor Cook and Tad Stones did a great job with this one, giving us awesome visuals, great sets, and the usual enjoyable elements associated with these Hellboy films. The vocal acting performances are great, and much like Sword of Storms Hellboy, Liz, Abe, and Prof. Broom are voiced by the same actors who portrayed them in the Hellboy live-action flicks, making this piece all the more enjoyable for that reason. And the action? The action was fantastic and consisted of awesome looking antagonists and plenty of brutal confrontation in this epic battle between good and evil.

Overall, Hellboy Animated: Blood and Iron is an awesome animated flick sure to please fans of the Hellboy series thanks to it giving us all of the same sweet elements found in the live-action films.

Rating: 8/10

Director – Rob Zombie

Cast – Tom Papa, Paul Giamatti, Sheri Moon Zombie, Rosario Dawson, Brian Posehn, Ken Foree, April Winchell, Dee Wallace, Danny Trejo, Laraine Newman

Release Year – 2009

Reviewed by John of the Dead

Rob Zombie has become a household name in the horror genre these days, finding himself in a love/hate relationship with genre fans who have seen his films (I’m more love than hate), and what really intrigued me about his work was this film, The Haunted World of El Superbeasto. I have always wanted to view more animated horror films, and this one coming from a veteran genre director of the live-action variety captivated me given I would get to see his transition from live-action to animation. Coming off in a comic book-esque feel regarding its characters, storyline, and overall feel, this under-appreciated animated effort from Rob Zombie makes for one of his better films and a unique entry into the genre that was highly overlooked when it debuted.

The title says it all as we follow El Superbeasto, a washed-up Mexican luchador still eager to leave his mark on the world, as he and his sultry sister Suzi X battle against Nazi werewolves and the evil Dr. Satan.

Right from the get-go I felt the one emotion that I’m sure Rob Zombie aimed to deliver to his viewers: joy. We are immediately thrown into the fun antics of Superbeasto, now a wannabe porn star and frequent spokesperson for any product that will pay him money to promote it. He does however still harbor some of the same qualities leftover from his wrestling days: extreme ass-kicking ability, charisma/charm, and a strong weakness for the opposite sex. His character was superbly well-written, providing great dialogue and loads of fun that I expected to see but found had surpassed my expectations. It does not take long before we are introduced to Dr. Satan, a man who will soon become Superbeasto’s arch-nemesis as his yearn to “save the day” aka “save the hot stripper he just met” eventually brings him face to face with Dr. Satan. Superbeasto’s sister, Suzi X(Sheri Moon Zombie) was also used in a positive fashion, delivering a good amount of ass-kicking as well while donning skimpy spandex and often finding that it is hard to slay Nazis without her breasts popping out. Now that we are on the subject, I must say that this is a fairly “raunchy” film for an animated non-hentai (hentai is actually mentioned in the story) flick, giving us lots of breast action, a few penis shots, but mostly breast action. Some may be turned off by this, but I honestly feel that this being shown in an animated fashion definitely makes it less raunchy compared to being shown live-action, which my perverted brothers will find much disappointment in. Rob Zombie’s story, which comes aided by 7 additional writers, is an awesome one that gives much more than what I mentioned above, including many more enjoyable characters who each added their own awesome positives and laughs to the experience, and coming in at a brisk 77 minutes this is one experience that takes off quick and never slows down.

So how is Zombie’s direction for this animated piece? I must say he did a fantastic job executing it on every level. As mentioned earlier, there is a heavy “fun” feel throughout this piece, and it comes due to him giving us a visually striking experience complimented with many great positives. For starters, the acting performances are incredible, especially that of Tom Papa as El Superbeasto. His ability to voice this dynamic character is amazing given Superbeasto is a brooding yet charismatic jackass who expertly employs both heavy and soft tones to his dialogue and mannerisms, both brought to screen greatly by Papa and Zombie. I was very surprised to see that Suzi X came voiced by the ever-annoying Sheri Moon Zombie, and I am glad that I noticed this after the film as I made the revelation all the more surprising and enjoyable. We are also given a few “names” providing voices in Paul Giamatti as Dr. Satan and Rosario Dawson as one (yes there are many) Superbeasto’s love interests, stripper Velvet Von Black. The action scenes are fun and Zombie makes great use of sound effects to sell the scenes as well as the rest of the film, with the only thing missing being the outlandish gore that I expected given this is a Zombie flick, but nonetheless I was pleased with the end result of his direction.

Overall, The Haunted World of El Superbeasto is a great animated horror film from a veteran horror director who mixes his usual schlock with a fun comic feel and delivers a great experience in the end. The performances are fantastic and Zombie’s execution is as good as ever, making for a flick I would suggest you check out if you want an animated horror film and do not mind a few somewhat raunchy (it’s animated) scenes.

Rating: 7/10

Director – David Keating

Cast – Aidan Gillen, Eva Birthistle, Timothy Spall, Ella Connolly, Ruth McCabe, Brian Gleeson, Amelia Crowley, Dan Gordon

Release Year – 2011

Reviewed by John of the Dead

I heard some good remarks about Wake Wood last year, but reviews from reviewers I trust made the film out to be a decent watch, which turned out to be exactly the way I felt about this one. The storyline is an original one that I very much appreciated in this convoluted genre, giving us good horror in a pagan package. Of course, the storyline also held the film back at times, compounded by bipolar execution that was sometimes great and sometimes far from it – keeping this low-budget Hammer Films effort from reaching the potential it could and should have attained.

Months after the death of their young daughter at the bites of a rabid dog, the still-grieving veterinarian Patrick and pharmacist Louise move to the small town of Wake Wood in an attempt to escape the sadness associated with their old lives. Soon after their arrival they learn of a pagan ritual that will allow them to spend three days with their deceased daughter – an offer that sickens them but at the same time is too tempting for them to turn down. Eager to be reunited with their resurrected daughter, the inevitable question looms: what will happen when they have to give her back, because nothing in life is free…

I really enjoy horror films that focus on grief, and Wake Wood employs that tactic wonderfully as we follow these still-grieving parents who defy all logic and reason and take the plunge into an unfamiliar realm just to see their deceased daughter for three more days.  The conflict and drama involved in the decision-making process was great, and watching them reunited with their daughter continued to play on the high level of emotion provided by this piece.  Of course, this is not a fairy tale but a horror film, so you know there has to be a heavy price for what the parents did, but in addition to that the heavy price they pay is overshadowed by the fact that their daughter came out a bit…different.  Soon after the initial greetings the townsfolk of Wake Wood, all involved in the resurrection process, notice that there is something not right with the girl – that something went wrong during her resurrection – and it not only comes back to haunt the townsfolk but her parents as well, in addition to their sacrifice.  I found these elements to be very engaging and was even more engaged during the resurrection process, a sequence that left me applauding writers David Keating and Brendan McCarthy for its originality and horrific nature.  Their storyline does suffer at times, slowing down and never fully delivering on the chaos that I wanted the young resurrected daughter, Alice, to deliver, but overall their storyline was one that I enjoyed.

David Keating also serves as the film’s director, and it was here where the flick was kept at bay and away from a positive rating.  The film’s budget is low and the quality of Keating’s cinematography shows it, giving us mediocre camerawork and a gritty, unpolished tone that did not seem purposeful but inevitable given the budget.  I tried not to let this turn me off and was glad to see that Keating’s execution of the horror was great, especially that resurrection scene, and he got the most he could out of a cast that did a decent job selling their performances and the horror associated with them.  I did wish we were given more gore than what was shown, which happened to come via some cheap CGI FX, but given the low-budget I assume that was just not possible.

Overall, Wake Wood is a borderline-positive effort from Hammer Films that despite some good potential thanks to a great and fairly original storyline still suffers from several faults that held it back in the end.

Rating: 6/10

Director – Ti West

Cast – Sara Paxton, Pat Healy, Kelly McGillis, George Riddle, Alison Bartlett, Lena Dunham, Jake Ryan, John Speredakos

Release Year – 2011(VOD)

Reviewed by John of the Dead

After making a name for himself with slow-burner horror films The Roost and 2009′s The House of the Devil, Ti West returns with one of the best horror films of 2011(VOD)/2012 in The Innkeepers. Once again blessing us with a slow-burner in the vein of 80s horror, Ti West delivers another positive horror experience that comes with not only more laughs than usual but also great horror as well. Fans of the supernatural will be glad to see Ti West taking a shot at the paranormal, a shot that he gets right – proving that he is here to stay as one of horror’s best modern day auteurs.

It’s the final weekend of existence for the Yankee Pedlar Inn and the employment of its two employees, Claire(Sara Paxton) and Luke(Pat Healy). Both have a heavy interest in the paranormal, and with their boss out of town they seek to expose the hotel’s haunted past – a past that is brought to light when strange guests check in for the weekend.

I have always given Ti West props for his good direction, but after viewing this piece I must also give praise to his ability to write a damn good story. First off: the setting and the overall elements involved in the story are fantastic. We have an old spooky inn that is near closing, so if anything crazy is going to happen it has to happen before the weekend is over, and with our protagonists being ghost adventurers of sorts you can bet your arse we are going to get some good spooks before the credits roll. The story does start off a bit slow, typical of West’s work, but unlike his other films we are given a fair amount of comedy thanks to the quirky antics going on between Claire and Luke, which aided in keeping my interest until the horror surfaced. I admit that there were several times where I literally laughed out loud over what was going on, and much to my surprise there were simple yet crafty jokes that I never saw coming nor would have experienced in the horror genre. Once the first act is over we start receiving our first bits of horror as strange/odd guests begin checking in at the hotel, which just so happen to coincide with strange events that occurred and are still occurring at the old inn. Our protagonists employ some of the usual paranormal detection equipment, which despite seeming lame was not very lame at all, and was used to full potential given it not only proved a paranormal existence in the inn but angered whatever presence there was. Most of the horror is fairly subtle during the second act, however once the third act kicks in the horror hits the viewer with full force and delivers lots of enjoyable spooks and results in a climax that I not only found a bit unconventional for the genre but pretty enjoyable too for that reason. There are a few faults in the storyline here and there, mostly having to do with a few useless characters (the estranged wife hiding out at the hotel), and of course the fact that I wanted more horror during the earlier acts – which I know by now is just the way Ti Wests writes, but still.

West’s direction rivals his writing, expertly executing his story in high detail and securing my attention for the entire 100 minute experience. The character play between Claire and Luke is fantastic, with both Sara Paxton(Shark Night 3D, The Last House on the Left remake, Return to Halloweentown) and Pat Healy(Rescue Dawn, Ghost World) providing excellent performances in unique and quirky fashion – which I would expect from two crafty innkeepers with nothing better to due but surf the web and consume vegan products. Their chemistry was fantastic and provided for much of the “fun” feel the film brings, even during the scariest sequences. Speaking of scary, Ti West gave me some delightful scares that I was not sure would be made present due to the “fun” feel of this piece, but he showed his established prominence as director in giving us a harrowing third act that contained all the horror I need to find this film and enjoyable one – although I did want more horror. The look of the ghosts was great, especially the older gentleman, and West’s camerawork made for some pretty good scare sequences without actually showing anything, a tactic perfected by Sam Raimi and other greats decades ago. The sets used were fantastic and provided a nice spooky feel to the film, and throughout the entire piece I marveled at his cinematography and crafty camerawork that seems to come naturally to this awesome director.

Overall, The Innkeepers is one of the best horror films of 2011 and once again proves Ti West has what it takes to solidify himself as a genre filmmaker.  The storyline is great and highly-engaging thanks to many unique elements going on, and his direction sells the storyline and the horror involved in equally engaging fashion.

Rating: 7/10

Director – Dennis Gansel

Cast – Karoline Herfurth, Nina Hoss, Jennifer Ulrich, Anna Fischer, Max Riemelt, Arved Birnbaum, Steffi Kühnert

Release Year – 2011

Reviewed by John of the Dead

I heard many good things about We Are The Night after it’s debut in mid-2011, but vampire films have never really interested me much so I took my time getting to this one. While not as good as I expected it to be I did find We Are The Night to be a pseudo fresh breath for the vampire sub-genre, at least for this day and crappy Twatlight age. Well-shot and with positive acting performances this effort provides enough engaging elements to warrant a borderline-positive review despite its storyline holding it back from being a great film.

After barely escaping arrest for theft, petty thief Lena continues down the downward spiral she calls “life” and attends a secretive rave party run by Louise, a centuries old vampire who believes Lena is the women she has been waiting for all these years. After “turning” the naïve Lena the new vampire is made the newest member of Louise’s group, a group whose constant feeding and disregard for human life leaves Lena at odds over who she is and wants to be.

Sounds a lot like The Lost Boys right? This story borrows from the Joel Schumacher classic so much that this is pretty much a ripoff of The Lost Boys except with an all-female vampire cast. Lena is the usual protagonist in these types of films – a loner with no direction in life who suddenly finds herself with the ability to live forever, so long as she is willing to accept being a vampire and all of the tidbits (drinking blood, killing) that come with it. This new life does provide her with something she has never had before…a life. Along with the eccentric Louise the group includes Charlotte, a silent film star from the 1920s, and Nora, a spastic loud-mouth sure to annoy the film’s viewers, all of whom provide for a crazy lifestyle Lena has never been a part of. Constant partying, killing, and stealing high class vehicles are what these vampires do on a near-daily basis, and despite Lena’s background as a thief she finds herself way over her head, especially the killing of human beings. The killings put Lena at odds with her new group, and along with her liking of a local police officer, Tom, she is forced to choose between the life she wants to live and the life she seemingly has to live. The conflict was well-written despite its unoriginality, but I did like that each of the vampires came from a different background and added some spice to the lineup. I did find many faults in this story from Jan Berger and Dennis Gansel, and they mostly consisted of poor storytelling that hinted at some great elements but never delivered. It does not take long before Lena is “turned”, and after the initial conflict of her transformation we are given many bland sequences that did not interest me very much. This came also due to the unenjoyable characters we are given, both the vampires and Tom, and despite this being a ripoff of The Lost Boys we were never given the sense of adventure it provided despite this film having our vampires on the run when the police close in on their killing spree. I blame the writing for this, and while the writers managed to give us a vampire film coming off as an original effort for this current day they also held the film back on multiple levels.

Writer Dennis Gansel(The Wave) also serves as the film’s director, and for the most part he got things right. His cinematography is great, providing beautiful visuals and great sets that bring forth the dark gothic feel that Germany provides during its night hours. We get pretty good performances from our lead actors, including Anna Fischer as the annoying Nora who I feel was written to be as annoying as she was. Karoline Herfurth was the most enjoyable as Lena, which came naturally given she had to play different personalities as her character evolved from loner loser to confident vampire. The horror was mediocre at best, giving us a few fair kill sequences but ultimately nothing was worthwhile, making this more of a drama following Lena than a horror film, and even then it was not a great drama.

Overall, We Are the Night is a film I expected better from but sadly fell short due to poor storytelling. The direction is good and there is a decent level of “fun” in the film, but ultimately this is just a decent watch that did not live up to the hype.

Rating: 6/10

Director – Jee-woon Kim

Cast – Byung-hun Lee, Min-sik Choi, Gook-hwan Jeon, Ho-jin Jeon, San-ha Oh, Yoon-seo Kim

Release Year – 2011(US)

Reviewed by John of the Dead

I Saw The Devil was one of the most talked about horror films of 2011 – coming from A Tale of Two Sisters director Jee-Woon Kim and returning Byung-hun Lee(Three…Extremes, J.S.A.: Joint Security Area) from self-imposed exile to give us another South Korean masterpiece of horror – in this case vengeance-themed. Adorned with numerous scenes of outright maniacal torture, I Saw The Devil is not a film you will soon forget thanks to an expertly written yet simple tale that comes well-executed and beautifully shot. This is not only one of the most awesome tales of revenge I have ever seen, but results in one of the most horrific horror films of 2011 as well as one of the best so far this decade.

When his pregnant fiance is brutally tortured and dismembered by a long-time serial killer, Special Agent Kim Soo-hyeon(Byung-hun Lee) sets out on a quest for vengeance to avenge her suffering – fully aware of the monster he must become to give the killer(Min-sik Choi; Oldboy, Lady Vengeance) a taste of his own medicine.

This may be the vengeance films for all vengeance films thanks to the incredible screenplay provided by writer Hoon-jung Park in his writing debut – a feat I still cannot fathom given how great this story is. The opening sequence throws us headstrong into the experience as we watch Agent Kim’s fiance killed in brutal fashion, followed by the news hitting Kim and his former future father in law. It does not take long before Kim vows to her father that he will exact vengeance against her killer, and from then on out we are given two hours of non-stop vengeance-fueled carnage at the hands of a man who lost the most important thing in his life. After locating her killer, Kyung Chul, Agent Kim begins his descent into horror by subjecting him to cruel torture, and then employs a few unique gadgets loaned to him by a friend at his agency. What are the gadgets for? They are used to track the killer. Why would he want to do that? The answer is simple: to keep beating the hell out of and torturing her killer over and over again. We witness Agent Kim get his revenge on the killer, let him go, then catch him again and subject him to even more torture than before, then let him go, and so on and so on. I had never before seen a film employ such a tactic and I found it supremely awesome and the biggest reason behind my belief that this has to be possibly the greatest revenge tale I have ever seen (in regards to the revenge element). It is during these sequences that we see Agent Kim become the monster he has to be to avenge his fiance, and this brought forth one of my favorite scenes in the film: one of Kim’s close female friends begs him to halt his reign of terror and realize that doing what he does will never bring his fiance back. His response is everything that I wanted it to be – he brushed her off and continued his vow of vengeance. One element that did surprise me was the fact that the killer never gave up on fighting back against Agent Kim despite getting his arse severely beat on numerous occasions. He manages to get back at Agent Kim in brutal fashion as well, and doing so not by going after Kim himself but those he loves. I mean, c’mon, this really would have been a boring effort had the duel been one-sided right? Coming in at just under 2 ½ hours, this story paces beautifully and never once lost my interest thanks to a lack of needless scenes that do little to move film. The film does slow down at times, but engaging material kept my attention throughout. While simple overall, Hoon-jung Park’s story is mean, brutal, and very enjoyable for those who enjoy vengeance in films, and complimented with a fantastic and very satisfying finish we are given possibly the best vengeance film of all time.

Director Jee-woon Kim was his usual awesome self, giving us a superbly executed film adorned with beautiful visuals, engaging camerawork, great acting performances, and most importantly…good horror. Jee-woon Kim leaves little to be deciphered as he gives us a full-frontal show of everything going on, showing no haste even during the film’s most chaotic sequences involving Agent Kim severing some very important tendons belonging to a now defunct killer still aiming to get back at Kim for what he’s done. The numerous torture and kill sequences are hard to watch at times and make up for all of the horror in the film, and Mr. Kim throws in enough gore in all the right places to add to our enjoyment. This was not an overly gory film as are most Asian revenge flicks, but I found the gore to still be abundant and used in a pretty classy fashion for the type of film this is. We are given excellent performances from each of the actors involved, with Byung-hun Lee and Min-sik Choi stealing the show as Agent Kim and the killer, Kyung-chul. Choi was diabilical as the killer and brought for an excellent mix of both patience and madness in one character, and Lee was his usual badass self who let his character’s reservations go and gave us an all-out bloody affair in this fantastic experience of vengeance-themed horror.

Overall, I Saw The Devil is one of the best films of 2011 and a definite “must-see” for horror fans. From start to finish this long experience takes us for a ride you will not soon forget as we stroll along a blood-filled path of vengeance unlike any I have ever seen.

Rating: 9/10