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

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 – 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 – Oxide Pang Chun, Danny Pang

Cast – Kristen Stewart, Dylan McDermott, Penelope Ann Miller, John Corbett, Evan Turner,
Theodore Turner, William B. Davis

Release Year – 2007

Reviewed by John of the Dead

I remember being pretty stoked when I first saw a trailer for The Messengers back in 2007 due to it being directed by The Pang Brothers, whose film The Eye is one of my all-time favorites, and produced by Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Productions.  Supernatural films have always interested me, and taking place in a rural farm environment usually provides nice creepy atmosphere, but despite those positive elements the film never amounted to what it could have been.

When Roy Solomon(Dylan McDermott; Hardware, “American Horror Story”) moves his family to a rural farm he just purchased he does so in hopes of finding financial success again through harvesting sunflowers.  All is well at the quiet farmhouse until his daughter, Jess (Kristen Stewart; Twatlight) begins seeing weird phenomena around the home stemming from dark events that took place years prior.

Sounds like a storyline you’ve come across dozens of times right?  The Messengers, written by Mark Wheaton, brings nothing new to the table despite my usual enjoyment of films that employ characters moving into a new home carrying a dark past.  Setting the story at a rural farmhouse has positive given it isolates our protagonists from any nearby help, and the old creepy house made for some good atmosphere to aid in the film’s few decent scares.  Wheaton’s story suffers as soon as it begins, giving us the usual cliches that we see in this films and furthering the nonsense with a “twist” that I saw coming miles away with little common sense.  The character play is where the majority of the nonsense occurs, with the usual doubting of Jess’ sufferings by Roy and Denise(Penelope Ann Miller; The Relic) and the inclusion of a passer-by, Burwell(John Corbett), whose purpose was known the second he appeared on screen.  So how is the horror?  Well the scares written into the film are nothing new, however I fell they were written to appease the film’s popular directors…The Pang Brothers.

The Pangs were so-so in this film, giving us fantastic atmosphere and great sets that set the stage for some good horror to present itself, but the horror was hit-and-miss throughout this 90 minute effort.  This being a supernatural film we are given plenty of ghost action, and it comes in the usual execution we see in Asian supernatural films – ghosts with very choppy mannerisms.  Some will find this cliche, as I did, and in addition to that the scenes were not very scary as well.  The acting performances were also mediocre, with none of our actors – Kristen Stewart, Dylan McDermott, Penelope Ann Miller - delivering a performance that I haven’t seen before, adding more the cliched experience this film provided.  While I love the Pang Brothers and still find them relevant in the horror genre, The Messengers, their first American effort, may be a  hint that they should stick to the Asian films they have had great success with.

Overall, The Messengers is a muddled experience full of the usual cliches found in supernatural horror films with Hollywood’s blessing – so bad that even the Pang Brothers could not save this one.

Rating: 5/10

Director – Tennyson Bardwell

Cast – Tim Daly, Tom Arnold, Zoe Saldana, Edward Herrmann, Andrea Roth, Robert Prosky, Bruce Altman, Reila Aphrodite, Lea Coco, Sara Weaver, L.J. Foley, Paul Tietjen

Release Year – 2009

Reviewed by John of the Dead

My love for haunted house films lead me to this one, and the fact that I am quite the skeptic myself (on everything BUT the paranormal) I figured I’d like the subject matter. Well, despite starting off very well The Skeptic was not as great as I expected it to be, suffering from numerous writing faults that left it falling flat in the end.

After the death of his unlikable rich aunt, lawyer Bryan Becket, the only heir to his aunt, sees an opportunity to make some serious money by selling him her large home. When he learns that she instead left her home to a college agency focusing on the unexplained, he also learns that she believed her home was haunted, and soon learns that despite his skepticism there is definitely something wrong with the home.

I’ve said it numerous times in the past and I will say it again – I love horror films where someone moves into a new home and suffers the consequences of its haunted past. The first act of the film started off very well, with the first few spooks coming in subtle but effective variety. Our lead comes off as the usual asshole lawyer who believes logic and reason can explain every mystery there is, and boy is he wrong. Immediately after entering the home he is bombarded with odd sounds and unexplainable whispering, which eventually build up into haunting manifestations that remove all skepticism and force him to deal with the issue without the help of logic and science. Sadly, it is when the horror is “supposed” to get good that the film begins to fall flat. The writing execution of Bryan’s past and the ghosts he sees is mediocre at its very best, removing all of the positives earned during the first half of the film and ending on a lame note that solidified my feelings that this storyline cost the film heavily.

Director Tennyson Bardwell did a decent job with this film, giving us good atmosphere and positive sets throughout. The acting performances were decent as well, and Tim Daly’s performance as Bryan started off great but eventually fell just as flat as the storyline did. I mentioned earlier that the horror was great at first, and I applaud Mr. Bardwell for that, but he really let things go for the worst once things began to fall into place and the “horror” kicked in. It was pretty surprising to me that not only the writing but also the direction suffered when the film picked up on the horror, but that is the hand we are dealt with in The Skeptic – a film I wish (here it comes) I was more “skeptical” over prior to watching.

Overall, The Skeptic is a very mediocre piece that started off well but eventually fell to both poor writing and direction. Despite the early positives this is one film that you should most likely avoid if you are looking for a good experience, or just watch the first half and then pop in something better.

Rating: 5/10

Director – Mathieu Kassovitz

Cast – Halle Berry, Robert Downey Jr., John Carroll Lynch, Charles S. Dutton, Bernard Hill, Penelope Cruz

Release Year – 2003

Reviewed by John of the Dead

This was my first time watching Gothika since it debuted back in 2003, and despite this being a very easily accessible film I just did not want to afford myself the 98 minutes required to watch it again for review. I normally try to stay away from horror/thrillers that involve A-list actors given the films usually aim to appeal to the general public, which I have always found to be a bad idea if you want to deliver some good horror. However, Gothika was surprisingly effective in numerous ways and despite not being very scary it did give me a mostly-enjoyable storyline that along with positive direction made for a mostly-positive film in the end.

After suffering a car crash under mysterious circumstances, psychiatrist Dr. Miranda Grey(Halle Berry) finds herself imprisoned in the very same psych ward she works at – learning that she committed a heinous crime that she not only has no recollection of, but comes with supernatural tendencies involving a terrible secret close to home.

You should know by now that I love horror films that involve the supernatural, as well as psychology, and Gothika managed to blend both of those for me fairly well. Much like The Ward and Fragile, we are thrown into a psych ward with a haunting past of sorts, and it affects our main protagonist in “insane” fashion. I enjoyed the idea of Dr. Grey being committed to the very institution she worked at, an idea I had never seen before, and while it did not necessarily result in any more horror than another setting it was a unique idea that allowed me to find joy in her dilemma – as screwed up as that sounds.

Director Matthew Kassovitz did a fairly good job executing this piece, giving us great atmosphere with dark and gloomy sets that set the tone to provide some good scares.  Sadly his execution of the scares was not very good and I found no scare sequences worth mentioning in positive fashion, but overall I was impressed that he at least provided good atmosphere.  Halle Berry was positive in her role, as was Robert Downey Jr., John Caroll Lynch, and Charles S. Dutton, with each of them providing mostly-positive performances that thankfully did not get as cheesy as I expected them to be given this is a very Hollywood film.

Overall, Gothika is a film that could have been much better had better scare sequences been written and executed into the experience, but overall it is a mostly-positive flick that was much  better than I expected it to be, making it at least worth a one-time view if you have nothing better to watch.

Rating: 6/10

Director – Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman

Cast – Christopher Nicholas Smith, Lauren Bittner, Chloe Csengery, Jessica Tyler Brown, Dustin Ingram, Katie Featherston, Sprague Grayden

Release Year – 2011

Reviewed by John of the Dead

This is one film we in the horror community knew was coming when Paranormal Activity 2 raked in big profits last year. Obviously it’s climax pretty much left any advanced storylines off the table, and the only option was to take on Hollywood’s newest trendy way to keep you spending money on the same franchise…a prequel. This time focusing on what lead to the hauntings suffered by Katie in Paranormal Activity and her sister Ali in the sequel, we are given more haunting material shown in the same POV fashion that ultimately results in another fun ride for this franchise.

Before the events that occurred in Paranormal Activity and Paranormal Activity 2, Katie and Ali stumble across a box of old video tapes from their childhood – tapes they have no recollection of. Upon playing the tapes we are thrown into year 1988, in which the young girls befriend an invisible guest residing in their home who has sinister plans for them and their family.

I admit I was a bit curious as to how these two girls wound up in the hauntings they were in, and my interest grew with every film as more and more details emerged. Disturbia and Blood and Chocolate writer Christopher B. Landon seems to have helped me out with that a bit, and I credit him for coming up with some clever tactics that made what should have been a repetitive experience a fairly creative one instead. Delving into the girls’ childhood forced us into a different era that made for a different “look” for the film, both with the sets used and especially the camera quality. Overall the events that take place are pretty much the same as the other two films: a camera is set up to record suspicious activities, the activities grow in supernatural presence, and in the end we are given a strong final act that bleeds high tension. The only real difference is the time frame and the fact that we already know what happened to the little girls – they became big girls who got in a nasty fight with a demon – so throughout the piece you have the calm feeling knowing that they are not going to die…yet. Each of the characters involved provided positively to the film, with none of them useless or merely used to take up space. The parents of the girls were the usual parents, not believing the girls at first but then soon realizing that they should have been listening all along. This was especially prevalent in the usage of Dennis, the girls’ step-father, and their mother Julie. Dennis is the one who sets up the cameras (it’s always the male doing so in these films) and in this case it is him who is trying to convince Julie that something is going on. This spousal conflict is pretty much a staple in supernatural horror films, with one of the spouses believing in the paranormal and the other being the rational one who believes only in what they can see and explain – sadly for them, what you cannot see or explain is what kills you in this story. I was very surprised to see that it was Julie who refused to believe in what was going on and it was the man, Dennis, trying to convince her. It was the opposite in the two previous films, so it was a nice touch to see something different for a change. So now that I’ve written all of this boring nonsense you probably want to know about the horror right? Well, I am pleased to say that once again this series has provided us with worthwhile horror. If you enjoyed the first two films then you know what to expect with this one and it does deliver. I will admit that most of the scares were pop-up ones, with some of them a little silly (in a fun way, you’ll see), but in the end I was pleased with the scares written into the film. My only real beef with this piece is the climax, which seemed to be what most people disliked about the films in this series, and given that they all seem to end in the same tone it is safe to assume that that is just how the filmmakers wish to end these flicks.

Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost serve as the film’s directors – directors who made themselves known with a little indie documentary film from 2007 titled Catfish. I was unsure as to how the direction would be due to this two director combo, something we had yet to see in this series, but in the end I was pleased with the results. Their atmosphere is great and they use positive sets that allow for creepy angles for the video cameras to be placed in, and their ability to provide good tension left me very pleased. I am a huge fan of drawn-out scenes that force the viewer to squirm in his/her seat in anticipation of what is going to happen, and those scenes were employed numerous times in this 81 minute experience. We were even given a pretty creative tactic involving a panning video camera on a homemade device, an idea that was used to full potential to provide these drawn out scenes that I just mentioned. The acting performances were fair and each of the actors came off as real as can be (an important element in these POV pseudo-documentary films), but my only slight gripe was the execution of the scares. Their execution of the tension was great, but I honestly felt that the scares lacked the punch felt in the first two films. Not one time did I get chills during this piece, which I received plenty of in the previous ones, but I did feel my heart in my throat at times in regards to the tension they created. This could partially reflect on the writing in that Mr. Landon chose to write scares that would have been hard to execute properly, but I just don’t see that and I blame the directors for this. Aside from that this is a well-directed effort that shows these guys have what it takes to hang in the genre for now.

So is the series over? I believe it is. The first two films pretty much closed off the advancing storyline regarding the two sisters, and this one aims to take care of what happened previously to them. I can see how they would continue the series by giving us ANOTHER prequel taking place between this film and the previous two, but I cannot see how the filmmakers could make that interesting enough to give us another solid horror film.

Overall, Paranormal Activity 3 is another solid effort in this series that gives good horror and great tension thanks to positive direction and an interesting storyline who together managed to keep things fresh and interesting for those who have kept up with the series. Recommended.

Rating: 7/10

Director – Sean McConville

Cast – Brittany Murphy, Thora Birch, Tammy Blanchard, Marc Blucas, Claudia Troll

Release Year – 2009

Reviewed by John of the Dead

I never really had an interest to watch Deadline, although it has been on my queue for quite some time, mostly due to the constant negative remarks I had come across regarding this final film of actress Brittany Murphy. Despite the bad reviews I decided to finally give Deadline a watch due to its recognizable status within the genre, and surprisingly found this film to be much better than expected. This is not a positive film by any means, but in the end Deadline gave me an end-result better than the numerous reviews bashing the film.

Suffering from writer’s block and with a deadline approaching, screenwriter Alice takes a producer’s offer and shuts herself in an old secluded home in hopes of her new environment allowing her to bypass the distractions of her life and focus on her work. Little does she know, the home harbors a terrible secret that slowly transcends her psychological state to full breakdown.

I can understand how horror fans may not enjoy this film, but the horrid reviews it has received on other sites are not as warranted now that I am able to form my own opinion of this piece. My initial thoughts during the first act were “Wow, this doesn’t suck at all.”, due to the engaging material and fair execution as well. I know I mention this often, but it never fails that a film involving someone moving/residing in a new home and coming across the horrors associated with that home will always appeal to me, especially when a supernatural element is thrown in. The horror is subtle at first, however it was quite engaging if you enjoy ghost or haunted house films, and thankfully as the film progressed so did the horror – which you would assume should be the case but I have come across numerous films where the horror stayed minimal throughout, and hes I’m talking about YOU Apollo 18. Sadly, it is when the horror really surfaces that the story-related faults surface as well. As Alice begins to uncover the mystery behind the haunting events taking place we are given very cliched developments that lacked creativity and inspiration, and furthermore consisted of material that I really did not care about. It was unique in a sense, but not my cup of tea, and ultimately brewed into a shocking climax that I saw coming miles away, although it was still a nice twist due to the dread it brought with it.

Writer/director Sean McConville did an OK job executing this piece, giving us fantastic atmosphere and creepy sets that kept me mostly-interested in what was going on thanks to these visuals. His execution of the horror was so-so, with most of the real spook going on early on in the film when we were exposed to minimal paranormal events, and sadly once things really got going the horror itself began to lag. I mentioned that the storyline lost its steam when the bulk of the horror surfaced, and that was also when the horror began to die down as well given the subject matter was not the least big scary and in fact quite silly. Brittany Murphy did well in her final acting role, which sadly had to come via film that could have been much better and lost whatever potential it had when :gasp: the horror kicked in.

Overall, Deadline comes with plenty of creepy atmosphere and sweet sets, and the horror at first is genuine and scary, however once the story kicks in and the real horror erupts we are given nothing but the usual run-of-the-mill DTV crap that left an ever-lasting skidmark as the exodus of Brittany Murphy’s career.

Rating: 5/10

Director – Frank LaLoggia

Cast – Lukas Haas, Len Cariou, Alex Rocco, Katherine Helmond, Jason Presson, Renata Vanni, Angelo Bertolini, Joelle Jacobi, Jared Rushton, Gregory Levinson, Lucy Lee Flippin, Tom Bower, Jack Andreozzi

Release Year – 1988

Reviewed by John of the Dead

I had always heard great things about Lady in White, but the one viewing opportunity I had months back failed, and this film fell to the bottom of my queue until I randomly came across it at a local rental store. While this was nowhere near as scary as I expected it to be (the equivalent The Woman in Black was scarier) it gave me a great story and simple yet effected execution that made for an enjoyable experience from this classic 80s film.

While suffering a cruel prank in which he was locked in a closet on All Hallows’ Eve, young Frankie Scarlatti witnesses the ghost of a young girl reliving her last moments suffered years ago. When her murderer returns to the scene and nearly kills Frankie in the process, Frankie is forced to uncover a mystery decades in the making – one that has claimed the lives of many children and continues to haunt his small town.

If you grew up in the 80s then this film will be a guaranteed treat for you. This is more than just a horror film as it involves drama and fantasy as well, and thanks to great execution from Frank Lalogia every element of this piece delivers in great fashion.

The storyline is not necessarily a simple one, but it is far from complex so long as you let it build at its pace. Frankie plays a very heavy role in the film, and he is superbly written to extract numerous emotional responses from the viewer thanks to his supreme innocence and desire to do what is right. We get no useless characters thrown into the film as they all provide positives to the story, and the usage of the “Lady in White” as well as the ghost of the young girl did enough o provide good horror, although a bit tame in comparison to the usual films of the 80s. Coming in with a PG-13 rating and a heavy fantasy feel I was not surprised at the tame horror and I cannot fault the film for that. The “twist” is one that you see coming miles away, but good execution overall helped sell it regardless and manage to keep my interest in this moderately-paced 112 minute experience, which was also much funnier than I imagined thanks to great writing regarding Frankie’s grandparents.

Writer Frank Laloggia also serves as the film’s director, which was very fitting given how great his storyline was and how well he complimented it with his execution. He gets great performances from all involved, specially Lukas Hass as Frankie, who stole the show and sold me on every element and emotion, as well as those who portrayed his hilarious grandparents. I mentioned that the horror was a bit tame, and that is due to the film’s PG-13 rating as well as its fantasy element, which was a tad bit silly at times (for today’s world) but was pretty effective regarding the creepy “Lady in White”.

Overall, Lady in White is an enjoyable 80s horror film that has won the hearts of many due to its captivating storyline and great execution from Frank Laloggia. The horror is not as heavy as some may assume it to be, but that in no way takes away from the experience due to this being more than the usual 80s horror flick.

Rating: 7/10

Director – The Vicious Brothers

Cast – Sean Rogerson, Juan Riedinger, Ashleigh Gryzko, Mackenzie Gray, Merwin Mondesir, Bob Rathie, Ben Wilkinson, Luis Javier, Arthur Corber

Release Year – 2011

Reviewed by John of the Dead

I have never been a fan or even an active watcher of the several past/present paranormal TV shows out there, mostly because they never actually show me anything concrete, so my preference is to not even bother with them. Well, when I first heard about Grave Encounters my interest was peaked due to this potentially being the first time I could watch such a “show” and actually see ghosts, even though it is merely a movie. Despite that, I went into this film with fairly-low to mediocre-at-best expectations due to most “found footage” films of recent years (Atrocious) not living up to the hype, but I am glad to say that I was dead wrong about this one, and that my expectations were greatly surpassed.

Host Lance Preston(Sean Rogerson) and the crew of “Grave Encounters”, a ghost-hunting reality television show, are filming an episode located within the abandoned Collingwood Psychiatric Hospital, a hot spot for unexplained phenomena over the years. Ever the entertainment guru, Lance locks himself and his crew inside the hospital for the night and sets up surveillance equipment to capture every image and sound, but they soon learn that they have vastly underestimated the hospital, and film what will eventually be their final episode.

Don’t you love it when you are given much more than you expected in a situation where more is better? I do, and Grave Encounters was my source of such pleasure. Beginning with a disclaimer from a producer stating that the following footage is real and was found after the crew mysteriously vanished, I knew from then on out to turn my brain off and just hope for the best, which is something that I never mind doing (in this genre) and suggest you do to if you decide to give this one a go.

I loved the overall storyline of a television crew going into a creepy old place and finding real horror that they never expected to come across, mostly because I just love stories set in such locations but also because it plays heavily on the fact that such “reality” television shows currently on television never actually SHOW us anything. If you allow yourself to be enveloped into the film then you can watch this film as if it were reality, which only ups the horror intake on your part, so I suggest that you do so (or at least give it a shot). Things take off fairly quickly in this 90 minute (minus credits) experience, giving us simple but effective horror at first and then consistently kicking up the horror and tension until we are given some downright awesome scares that left me jumping in my seat, something that rarely happens to me these days. The first hour of the film is solid and nearly perfect, and while the final act does slow down a bit it never stops giving us the horror, but allows for the events of the first hour to soak in until the harrowing climax. Each of our main protagonists are used in good fashion, with each adding their own positives to the experience and serving their pre-ordained purpose. Some are meant to bicker under the pressure, others to be tortured mentally and physically, and all are meant to die, so what’s not to like about this awesome character play from first-time writers/directors The Vicious Brothers. There are some silly ideas thrown into this piece that lack explanation and can be a bit illogical (even for a supernatural film), but I allowed for them as this is by no means a truly serious effort and was able to look past them without issue. To put me even more at ease about them, they were not directed/executed in silly fashion, which was a life-saver and brings me to the next great thing about this film…

The Vicious Brothers were fantastic in their directing debut, giving us perfect atmosphere by employing truly creepy sets and giving us fantastic camerawork that kept us out of the loop at just the right times, and in the loop at the right times as well. This is a rare occurrence in POV films as only the great ones use this style of filming to potential, and The Vicious Brothers did so on their first attempt. They used this great camerawork to deliver some of the best scares I have seen in recent time, and in a very simple yet creative fashion that shocked me every time as I never saw them coming, and in unashamed fashion – an indicator that they did the scares just right. While the horror was the biggest selling point, it came complimented (and aided) by good acting performances that sold the terror and the feel of such “reality” shows, which added more fun and made for even more engaging material than what was already at hand. We get a fair amount of gore thrown into this piece, which looked great and was used to good potential and in creative fashion, showing that these “brothers” really do have a solid future in the genre if they can replicate the terrific horror we were given in this debut effort.

Overall, Grave Encounters is an awesome horror experience that finally gives us a “reality” TV show giving real results, and paying for it dearly. The storyline is a cool one that despite some silly ideas still manages to stay mature in its execution, and The Vicious Brothers do a fantastic job directing this story. They managed to provide intense horror that I never saw coming nor expected, making this not only an underestimated film but one of the best I have seen this year. Highly recommended.

Rating: 8/10

Director – Fernando Barreda Luna

Cast – Jose Masegosa, Cristian Valencia, Chus Pereiro, Rafael Amaya

Release Year – 2010

Reviewed by John of the Dead

Boy was this a film that I was really looking forward to. After hearing of this piece and watching the debut trailer a while after, I was very stoked to go into this one given I do mostly enjoy the POV style of filmmaking (if it’s done right of course) and seeing that it came from Spain (REC anyone?) I expected good results, but boy was I let down.

On April 4th 2010, the Quintanilla family was found brutally murdered in their countryside home. Authorities confirmed that roughly 37 hours of video recordings were found at the scene due to an attempt by Christian and July Quintanilla to document the Legend of the Girl in the Garraf Woods found adjacent to their home. This movie contains the evidence Christian and July collected before their deaths.

The storyline had me interested because I absolutely love films involving people investigating a creepy legend, but it was the storyline that really held this film back. While the overall story is one that contained much potential, little of the potential was attained due to the sole fact that very little happens throughout this 70 minute piece. We get way too much development for such a short film, and it takes around 37 minutes for the first element of horror to kick in, and it is a measly one at that. From the on out the horror slowly builds and builds, but we are never given anything to scare us and are simply forced to watch our protagonists run and scream from an unseen force for the majority of the third act, which for all we know there is not even a killer – until the film’s harrowing climax. The climax really was the best that the film had to offer as it gave me a twist ending that I never saw coming, but it was far from enough to remove the stench left from what should have been a much better story. Oh, and there is a heavy REC presence/ripoff during the final sequence, so it was not THAT creative after all.

Writer Fernando Barreda Luna also serves as the film’s director, and he did little to right the wrongs provided by his screenplay. His atmosphere was great and he used highly engaging sets to deliver this film to us, but his lack of providing any scares whatsoever was what really held back his direction. What could have provided more scares was an abandonment of the POV-only style of filmmaking and the using of still cameras like those set up in Paranormal Activity. This would have allowed a better field of view for the viewer to see and potentially allow for Luna to provide better scare sequences, so long as his lame story allowed for it.

Overall, Atrocious is a film that had the breathing room to deliver a solid and fast-paced scarefest but instead failed to reach the potential the overall storyline provided. Instead we were given a story that delivers virtually nothing scary to the viewer, and direction that did little to aid the storyline that had the flick doomed from the start.

Rating: 5/10