Maniac

This is a remake of the 1980 film, which while I enjoyed the original I'm not so attached to it that despite my remake burn out was able to go into this film with an open mind. To say at 5'6" Elijah Wood strikes a less imposing figure than the 5'11" Joe Spinell from the original who did such a good job in the role that John Wayne Gacy wanted him to portray him on screen. So the biggest suspension of disbelief here is how Wood can over power some of these women who are not much smaller than he is. Wood however is a convincing enough crazy but he comes across like a cross between a mewling Norman Bates and Gullom.

P2 director Franck Khalfoun works well with the actors, all the performances are very natural to help maintain the gritty realism. A large majority of the movie is shot from Wood's point of view , not unlike a found footage film, with POV close ups on the killing, most of the gore is just scalping. I commend the movie from not bulking at the tone of the source film in trying to be more politically correct in toning down the violence towards women that many of the movies do these days , it keeps the women objectified though a little more dimensional than in the original film. The fact Wood's take on the character is so fittingly demasculinized , I think reflects on culturally where audiences are these days with emo vampires coming out of the coffins , a more sensitive serial while hearkening back to Norman Bates is nothing new, it does seem to flourish in todays over therapized mommy issue culture. But even with this element it think is more of a testament to what works in this movie because it was entertaining.

Sure we get the flash black elements , and these sequences remind me of the Heart is Deceitful Above all Things, with the coke whore mom, but these dont weigh the movie down and later when his ghost come back to haunt him, give those things a little more weight. Wood plays his character sympathetically enough to create an awkward tension where you feel the character can not help it and half the suspense much like Dexter is in the Man vs himself waiting for the other shoe to drop.

If you know the original then the mannequin elements are still intact and there are even certain iconic shoots that are recaptured down to the frame as needed. I think this is the way to do a remake, the different slant of the grainy cinematography still manages to invoke the dirty big city where a coat of crazy lurks under the sleaze. I think this movie is going to slip into the crack and be shamefully overlooked as the tortured serial killer crop of today could learn a lot from this film, it's the more painful awkwardness that Dexter lost after a few seasons combined with a darker and more depraved frosting that makes this work, I think it's the duty of horror films to make us squirm and feel uncomfortable more than just saying boo and this film succeeds where too many film makers over look it , leaving it for films like Enter the Void.

Hemlock Grove

The Netflix series leads off with tits out to let you know they are trying to be more True Blood than Vampire Diaries though it I suppose it might appeal to both, just for the first episode you hope it doesn't get mired down in its own pretentious mythology like the Vamp Diaries do. The Cinematography comes of as more impressive than either show and it's apparent there is some cash sunk into this. But both comparisons are more about content than tone, this being a show about were-wolves who have only good and their own four paws to mixed success on the often cheesier than to Teen-wolf.

The big question for horror no matter then medium is ...Is the Scary? The answer is ...No. Pretty...yes. Pretty people well there are other genre shows that have this one outclassed here, I can see a few subplots which might distance themselves from their peers and that's really what this show needs to do. Say werewolves these days and the first thing people under thirty say to me is...Twilight. Not the Wolf-man, the Howling or Sliver Bullet. These werewolves if you are wondering are big wolves , not my favorite, I have to admit I like even the hybrid element of Teen Wolf better than just a big wolf. My least favorite incarnation , my favorite set to screen in some time is actually Van Helsing , which is all that movie had going for it. But they are going for a tad more realism here despite the more fantastical metamorphosis.

The acting is on the better side of decent. The high school elements don't drag the show down. There is the rich entitled kid and the stereotypical loner who is a bad boy hybrid of a hipster and a hippie who says that an uninverted pentagram is metal, so there are poseurs about in the writing department. Theis show is based on the debut Novel by Brian Mcgreevy which was released march of last year, so the source material has hardly stood any test of time and I would think something like Antia Blake would beg to be brought to life before a year old debut novel. Eli Roth directs the pilot episode and his the shows executive producer so the show hs that going for it.

With Famke Jammson holding down the big name role, she plays the role of a rich British governess like Lady Lannister. I'm am not sure how calculated of a move this is. One of the many acting Skarsgaard boys holds down another role as well. I do want to give the rest of the seasons a chance, though I'm a little suspect as to how this is not going to turn into the Hardy boys meet the wolf man. The gore while present doesn't pose much of a threat to Hannibal which looks to be leading the pack in terms of horror on t.v at least until American Horror Story kicks back up in the fall.

I do think it's intresting Netflix choose to take a stab at horror when casting their hat into the ring, to compete. I think this says something for the genres health on the small screen, granted this fall more under urban fantasy than horror at this point it has atleast shown its not paranormal romance like teen wolf. The initial cinematography has my attention and plays a large part in my continued viewership.

Lords of Salem

Well...I am without a doubt Rob Zombies target market for this film as occult themed horror is my favorite though this plays for and against me as a viewer. I can understand the slower pacing to create suspense, i think this was achieved to a greater level of effectiveness in House of the Devil. Rosemary's Baby is one of my all time favorite movies, and I can almost forgive the blatant rip off if there was more of a pay off. Granted I want to watch this again ...at least the end as I began dozing off during what was supposed to be the movies climax though I think I caught the fit of it it was all done of a Satanic carrot. I would think the witches would want to get more of a return for the work they put into this diabolical plot would want more than a carrot baby , though the perfectly fine baby they did get back I the baby they spit on so what was the end game you might wonder, other than a mass suicide for the women of Salem.

This Sheri Moon vehicle displayed a balance of her naked ass and acting chops, I would prefer her with a little more meet on her bones but I guess she is alright for what she has to work with. The junkie routine cold use a little fine tuning. The rest of the acting worked around dialogue that didn't seem like the sharp crude banter found in his other films. The perverse Priest dream seemed a little forced. The subtle moments worked the best the masked man taking his goat for a walk I think the creep factor is what this film could have stood to have played up.

If you have seen the posters with the corpse paint on the, , this movie has nothing to to with black metal, promos for leads you to believe it's like a remake of Trick or Treat and that's not the case at all. The Lords sound more like a Jarboe album. For the radio station to suddenly have a big ticket push for a Lords concert after only play a track of Ambient dissonance once doesn't make sense and even with a solid dose of suspension of disbelief in tow , there are still a lot of dots that don't connect.

What I liked about the movie, the cinematography was sometimes brilliant it the use of color in some of the shot to create a Kubrick feel at times. Here though it was stylistically all over the place. When this was done in House of a Thousand Corpses it worked as it created more of a Natural Born Killers feel, the movie was taking a more serious tone and would have made the more surreal visuals stand out more . The random goat appearances I like and think the goat alone would have worked better than the devil yeti or the turkey dwarf. The faceless men were ok and worked better than just showing us monsters. When the witches became more protective of the strung out Moon, I think it worked, this could have taken a creepier tone perhaps.

The movie was worth watching, I just feel that what I watched could have had more impact. He knows how to scare you so why are there no scares in this. There was eye candy sprinkled about, he knows how to dress a set for sure. It was a pretty movie for the most part a few slips in the fx dept, the turkey demon costume and the devil yeti, were both out of a 50's b film at best , which would have been fine if it fit the tone of the movie. The budget looks like it was taxed more in post-production. I applaud Zombie for indulging himself and making this movie which he clearly wanted to make as there was no appeasing the studios on this one. I do think that making a horror movie that just isn't scary doesn't make sense and if that's the intention them they should have gone in a more David Lynch or Croenberg route and been stale more often than not.

If you are bored and/ or stoned on a Saturday night and this comes on Cable it's worth a watch but not really even a trip to the theater because I don't want Hollywood to think that I am voting for horror that just isn't scary, in truth I was more afraid for the dog to get eaten by the wrinkled witch at the sink than any of the characters all were hindered by the rough dialogue for you to care about them as it was a collection of jerks and smug bitches. I'll give the ending a another watch and if the parts I slept through change my mind get back to you but im thinking they more than likely won't . Color this the disappointment of the year. I suppose while I'll check out the Purge Nurse is the next one I'm hoping for big things out of.

Evil Dead

No secret I have reached remake exhaustion. I am also not much a Sam Raimi fan. The Original trilogy , while I can appreciate it's entertainment value just get to silly for me. Stuart Gordon films are really the only horror movies whose camp I enjoy, I prefer everything very grim with no survivors. So the fact that this movie took on a more serious tone than the original worked for me , in fact it manage to to that while keeping the tone of a Sam Raimi film. With out the attachments to the first film I think I was able to go in with pretty low expectations as I had heard mixed reviews from my friends.

Really the only let down for me was the Tree Rape scene which was more of a branch slithering up her leg and took away the reap implications which as it is no surprise to any one who is a regular reader was my favorite part with the original. The back story was fine and the premise that they were taking this girl out here to detox made sense to me as well. The fx is a point of contention for some people who want only practical effects and no cgi, I think it used the modern technology but didn't abuse it i like how the blood was such a vivid red. It seemed the make up was a mixed bag, but the gore was pretty fulfilling. I've heard it said this is going to be the scariest horror movie to come out all year and well I'm still rooting for what I have seen of Lords of Salem. It could very well be the goriest horror movie, I think Lords of Salem well be more well made from a cinematic perspective as it looks like Rob Zombie's homage to Stanley Kubrick and of course Nurse has yet to see the light of the screen.

I think fans of the first film will find all the elements they appreciate from the first film unless they are really invested in the camp which when you take away the date effect and silly dialogue takes away that element in the modernization. I think it works better for this movie than it will the Carrie remake. Did Evil Dead really need to be remade in the first place ...well of course not.

I did like the fact despite the acting seemed like it needed to be warmed up into their roles that the characters connected with the viewer more than just some dumb kids going to a creepy cabin in the woods for the weekend. Where there a bunch of don't go into the basement moments, loaded with that type of horror victim thinking , not a good decision made by them until the end.

I like visually the rain of blood, pretty much any blood that splattered , i think the nail gun was the only gore that made me antsy,the rest was pretty low key on the gross out even though the violence was outlandish, the knife split tongue the only real 80's moment aside from when his sister glided over to attack him in the flooded basement.Due to the drought in horror until Lords of Salem hits I think it is worth at least the Matinee prices for this. I can understand if you feel giving your money to Hollywood on this one is more of a vote for remakes than it is to horror. But if you are a fan of the original and otherwise o.k with remakes then its worth checking out.

Cult

Only a few episodes in and I like it though with the whole college campus game subplot that emerges by episode three, I can see where this show might be molded for the Cw, but other than that it is probably the best show you aren't watching. Timing is unfortunate because the Following has a similar theme if you just take it as a horror themed show about a cult, but that would be a very surface judgement as I think Cult has more layers and is closer to being horror than the Kevin Bacon vehicle. Not to say I don't find the Following entertaining, I'm going to post another blog on that this weekend.

Cult is the darkest show on Televison right now, since American Horror Story isnt on and I'll go ahead and say its darker than the Walking Dead where zombies have become the window dressing for the Hatfeilds vs the McCoys. The whole show within a show, element add to it as does the conspiracy elements. The show is set it grimerier locations which might not seem too appealing for the CW demographic and as I watch it I wonder what viewers of shows like the Vampire Diaries and Arrow think of this. Sure Smallville got into conspiracies at some point and there is the claustrophobic feeling of some greater than the characters keeps the desperation alive, which is what a zombie show should capture but I think walking dead has kinda missed the mark there.

It's not weighed down with pretty people's you would expect a show on CW to be though the computer chick and the Indian girl are attractive in way that appeals to me more than the overly groomed way they normally portray girls on the Vampire diaries are arrow where they are just too skinny. I think Cult's writing is better at keeping you on your toes than other show who sometimes try to hard, it feels like a natural spiral into this world, which the show in the show sucks their viewers into this Cult of its own which I'm sure will get brought up sooner or later. The gore is well not at the level of Supernatural we have gotten a suicide and some stabbings , but some of the death has been pretty creative and more Poe like than the Following where Poe was a theme at one point.

I thin there is an audience for it and I hope they reach beyond there normally demographic to capture it, while this isn't there American Horror Story it's closer to that than the Following and despite shared subject matter still a very different showand less of a crime drama.

Bates Motel

So i saw an advance of the new show that is billing it's self as a prequel to the 1960 classic which is not only a crowning achievement but one of the greatest directors Alfred Hitchcock but could also be one of the greatest films ever made , that that is what we are weighing this against...not another teen thriller on the CW but a movie that changed the game and created the horror subgenre we now know as slasher films ...you what paved the way for the likes of Halloween, Texas chainsaw Massacre , Hostel ..etc. In and of it self the show is entertaining when it stays out of high-school, lets face even on their best days the whole highschool thing has been done to death and after Buffy is it even needed to go there, not like there is a lack of that sort of thing on tv in the first place.

The major strike against the show is it's modernized ,now im not sure how a prequel to something set in 1960 ends up in 2013...yes there are ipods and iphones... so a key plot device of the original film is rendered a mute point as Janet Leigh could have gotten on her iphone and looked up triple a or a less creepy hotel or used mapqwest to know a better highway was built. So its silly really, they missed an opportunity to have retro feel , made a horror version of madmen...oh yeah before you say well why copy madmen...well why copy a thousand high-school shows.

Another think is i understand nerd is the new hipster but a car full of girls fawning over a dorky Norman Bates who has a overbearing mother is a little much more me to suspend my disbelief on and he needs to be more fucked up over chicks thats why he grew up to get all his voyeuristic kicks out of the peep hole shower. This show has the momentum of a lot of unfounded hype over it, based off of what commercial? their are a ton of people liking it on Facebook when it was sight unseen so they are all going to feel pretty stupid once they actually watch it. Its not horrible, it for the most part want to be the parts I like least about Dexter the teenage flash backs. But it was still watchable despite this, part of this was there is a rape in the first episode, though a pretty tame on, and on A&E I have low expectations for the shower scenes to come.

The Norman Bates character does capture some of his mannerisms and his awkward communication disconnects though the dynamic with him and his mother needs some work, but im not totally sold on this kid or his mother who is almost too likable at this point, though she is passive aggressive enough for you to see where its going. The problem with prequels is we know whats going to happen, he cant get killed or caught, so the stakes aren't as high as Dexter as in some ways this is the vampire diaries version of Dexter. Sure there wouldn't be a Dexter with out Psycho but that's not stopping these writers.

I don't see this being able to hold its own as a series, the modernization is going to drag the show into lowest common denominator teen fodder, and the horror elements are going to remain on par with Vampire Diaries, though Im not sure the looming Hannibal Lecter series is going to be much better and have yet to check out Ripper Street, though I plan on it once i get caught up with everything else, consider this a lesson in be careful what you like before you see it as its not as offensive as what I expected but misses the mark of respecting the source material.

Last Exorcism 2

I'm not opposed to found footage films, I might be in the minority here. I think you can take what was a gimmick used back in 1999 with the Blair Witch and do some interesting things with it , I mean the fact it's being used fourteen years later says something, I think the first Last Exorcism did this well. I liked the way the tone changed and was not bothered by the more fantasy infused ending. The sequel had some balls to abandon this format and strike out on its own path, but doesn't have the tonal shit just got real shift the first film has.

Ashley Bell reprises her role as Nell Sweetzer and she makes the movie. Her character is more interesting in the setting of a half way house where she is trying to find her way since surviving the backwoods cult. Her acting is on
Ar with the first film though the actually possession doesn't get much screen time. The Demond Abalam is smitten with her and wants to get her back so perhaps this is a horror romance, Nell doesn't play hard to get as much a sorry devil it's not you it's me and I've decided you aren't real.

The coming of age plot uses what most films do sex and it's temptation as the plot device, there's a crush on a boy, a fist kiss, and then listening to a couple in the next room of the hotel she works at fuck that really pulls herin. I liked how the infection of lust seeped out from the wall paper. The scen where her hand is possessed to masturbate is not only very relatable but I think served the film well, in some ways it reminded me of Danny in the Shining.

I think there was a lot of stuff that could have been fleshd out more, the cult in New Orleane , we are aware there were was something sinister going on just like there were the voodoo good guys who came to help I think having the bad guys more defined would have added more tension, I suppose it could be argued Nell was hallucinating someon that but the preacher would have been scarier if there was more of a tie. Ok we got dead ravens and some creepers at Mardi GRAS which which strangely uncrowned for Mardi GRAS . The connection to her room,ate was a little two dimensional, was her room mate reall out to get her , the smiles were subtle. I think the tension level and emotional investment could have been expanded on maybe the zoo trip trimmed down and some of the time spent vacuuming.

I will say the other big thing that hampered the film was its pg13 rating. Horror movies should all be rated r . Make it a law and allow the directors to give audiences what the want, there needed to be a lesbian scen with her and her room mate. The gore was pretty tame, I can understand taking a Hitchcock position and what your imagination sees I your minds eye is always scarirer but it seemed like it was toned down from the first film. The first film felt creepier as you knew they were secluded at the farm house, there needed to be something to make up for that. The whole End of Days feeling could have been expanded upon, I think the first film was just a lot scarier l the opening scene worked great but the tension dropped once we got to the half way house. It was however not a bad movie as sequels go. I liked most of how it was shot I think it could have been darker in tone, and not sure why I felt it wasn't dark enough, it was better than End of days , Stigmata and the Possession and well most other movies of thi silk since the first film with only Devil Inside being better and the second Paranormal Activity. So if you are Adam of this exorcism sub genre or Omen like supernatural end of times sort of thing check it out. If not its worth a rainy day on net flicks.