The Pact

So after a Sun Dance appearance the Pact went to straight to video on demand, which is a shame because this movie has potential if a studio marketed it properly, and changed the name. As I never saw any indication of a pact being made . The Killer in the Walls while more fitting would not put butts in seats either. While on a sparse budget writer/director Nicholas McCarthy made the most with what he was working with using lighting and the tension of silence to create scares. The story has a familiar Lovely Bones them of I'm haunting you til you find my killer/body/bury me peacefully theme. The little blood is negligible.This one clocks in at only two scenes of bloody violence. As far as boobs go normally not into blonds Caity Lotz runs around well in a confused break down wearing her under pants and has a tied up over head shot of her as a damsel in distress. I can't seem to place her 3 episode role in Mad-men, but remember her from the Mtv mockumentary style horror reality show about vampire killing cops . Haley Hudson does a good job of playing a spooky meth'ed out psychic. The concerned buddy cop role, is left cut in card board, but that is one of the movie's few flaws. This movie is smartly made the typical soundtrack builds precluding the boo! moments are non existent and even with some of the Paranormal Activity moments stays pretty realistic, unexplained disappearances not included. So fans of the haunting sub-genre of horror will find this worth there while, even though a serial killer plays a plot point role, true crime gore-hounds need not apply. Sure without Sam and Dean's zaniness at times it might feel like a across between Momento and Supernatural. Sure we get the twists coming from a mile away and the plot shift occurs earlier than you would expect, but was handled well and takes the tension up a notch. The film has enough creep and supernatural to be horror, though leans in the direction of thriller.Not unlike metal fans who expect double bass and growls in order to be metal, this movie plays it with restraint so rigid genre fans might not classify this as horror. The happily ever after ending in my book doesn't help it's case as a horror movie.But I was on the edge of the bed with the no don't go in basements for a few seconds here and there, though I'm a sucker for a haunting.

Chernobyl Diaries

This makes up for Dark Shadows, and I'm always a fan of movie monsters that aren't Zombies, in aside from World War Z, I think I'm done with zombie movies though I'll give rec 3 a shot. The deceptive trailers made this appear to be a found footage movie and it's not. Though it does have kind of raw cinematography to it that bring to mind 28 days later, Cloverfeild or Monsters. The premise is a little more Hostel at the beginning, the escapades of tourists in Russia. I assumed it to be a little more Silent Hill and though in tone that element is present in some ways it has more grit and not based in supernatural. Sure some mutant on tourist rape would have been a wonderful addition, what it doesn't show you is whats scary, the director plays his cards very close to his chest While the characters fall into the don't go into the basement victim cliches, the claustrophobic tension is maintained, not unlike the Descent. The scares are smart and effect minimal. The acting is convincing enough, even though only Devin Kelley's character comes across as likable, however, Olivia's Dudley's cleavage could have used higher billing and more of a starring role, here's where the mutant rape could have been put to good use. The gore is minimal, and the deaths happen off screen. The creatures for the most part are kept in the shadows and this plays to a effect than if they had shown up looking like the Toxic Avenger. The movie's atmosphere and the feeling of the characters peril is the movie's selling point. The only flaws really lie in how annoying some opf the characters becoming when they are coming unhinged, but perhaps his was what the director was trying to illicit. Considering the competition as far as horror goes this film is with out peer in the current market...unless you count Cabin in the woods, which almost seems like a different genre in comparison. So if you are a fan of horror who has been starving by the current drought of movies, then don't miss this ...as how sure can we be Prometheus is going to be horror and not sci-fi? Does Abraham Lincoln Vampire hunter even count ? All these questions and if the Apparition is going to be worth a damn will all be answered by the summers end.

Tim Burton's Dark Shadows

Well, this movie is getting reviewed on the basis of the iconic show it was based on. Ed Wood was not a horror movie and I suppose Sleepy Hollow is the closest Burton has come to making one. Depp whose work with Burton is now becoming formulaic, was in one of my top 50 horror movies the 9th gate. While this movie was mildly entertaining and not as bad as the trailers suggested it would be, it followed the mold already cast by the two on Charlie and Chocolate Factory, in fact Depp's Sweeny Todd was made of more horrific stuff than Barnabas Collins. Sure the movie did not use the same visual flare as a typical Burton movie. The melodrama of the television show was touched upon but by and large it was Depp who was shouldered with this task. The man out of time gag ran thin and the only laughs were in one scene..where Depp's Collins makes his first appearance interacting with the family at the table. Granted I'm not a fan of comedy and the genre as a whole is lost on me, but I do know it is supposed to illicit laughs. The attempts at this were so vague they could have been done away to better effect, and like the show which played it straight to get unintentional laughs more effectively than the ones this film was going for. The hue of the blood was enjoyable as well the scene showing Depp as he stalked the lava lamp. The cast got the job done but felt very color by numbers with little invested in their characters. eEva Green looked good on screen and either her psuh up bra worked wonders or is more stacked than I thought as he clevage was her primary prop. Helen Bonham Carter, had her moments as well, though lost it midway through, the remainder of the ensemble was largely card board cut outs. The movie threw in the kitchen sink by the end of the film,not unlike some of Burton's more recent work where the endings have seemed rushed.Much like a band who keeps re-writing the same song, Burton's inspiration in making this homage seems as muddy as his vision. While aside from the rushed ending and often mixed tone of the movie it is otherwise enjoyable and managed to suceed on some level. The most notable being escaping from the dismal failure the trailer predicted, at the same time I am glad I did not throw down the 11.00 to see it in theaters.