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Candyman (2021)
Stick with the original 92 version.
I have been trying to see this for the last 4 years now and finally got the chance yesterday after renting the dvd from my library.
This started off well the feel was there however I felt the story was trying to hard and to do too many things, like making the Anthony character into the next
Candyman because apparently there have been many over the centuries, this is something that wasn't included in the original films. The scary parts or death scenes are mediocre imo most of them the few that are you don't really see much just some blood spills it's only at the very end that Candyman goes postal but that's too little too late.
The problem with this remake is that it's bland and uninteresting unlike the original 92 version, the original the acting was far better they actually created fear and a creepy atmosphere while still having a story that could be followed and was not convoluted like the 2021 version, it's not really surprising to me considering how a lot of these modern remakes turn out, this is worth checking out for the sake of seeing it but having said that it's very forgettable.
Subspecies V: Blood Rise (2023)
A prequel of the series.
Its crazy that it took decades for this latest installment to finally be released and even crazier that many of the cast from the 90's films were in this, I thought this was gonna be a continuation of the previous entries but instead this is a prequel which I think they(Full Moon) wanted to explain the origins of Radu probably from the beginning of the series. The story is very well presented and there was much more to work with in terms of CGI and special effects than in the previous films which made for more dramatic scenes and the story is easy to follow along with the pacing as well, I would
really like to see another installment in the series to follow up on the events of Blood storm because this wouldn't make sense as the final film in the series but have no problem with this either.
Really recommend this especially if you're a fan of the 90's films for the back story to how Radu became what he is and this also explains the spin off of Vampire Journals as well, it was well done and worth the watch for sure.
Barbarian (2022)
Finally an original idea.
I just got finished watching Barbarian and must say it was well worth it,I had saw the cover art work before and knew it was a current movie in theatres so put it on and was hooked from the first 20 minutes the writer made sure there would never be any moments where the viewers attention would slip with so much anticipation of what will happen next and also taking the story into different
directions very well done. The acting was excellent everyone involved was believable the atmosphere,pacing was all there,at times you're not quite sure where things are going but it makes sense
in the end.
This reminded me of Stuart Gordon's Castle Freak from 1995 not 100% identical obviously but not far off either so check that out if you liked this.
Camp Blood (2000)
The first of a series that spawned 9 sequels.
I bought the trilogy back in 2010 of Camp Blood after watching part 1 on youtube, I knew it was low budget but at the time was on a horror/slasher binge and the reasoning for buying the dvd set
was simply to see the other entries in the series at the time 2 and especially Within the woods.
Now about part 1 this is obviously very low budget horror movie but with an open mind you will find there is an equal amount of good and bad here,starting with the positive aspects the kills I must say are pretty believable and gruesome like the first one the knife through the chest brutal to say the least the blood very realistic except for the early version of the U. S release the one killing where the person in burned horrific then there's the acting honestly I know many will say it was garbage and it was definitely not Hollywood A level or anything close to that but given what they were working with I'd it was not bad Ritchkoff being the most believable for me also the story while some what cliche they at least gave a full explanation as to a motive for the killer and some back story overall the entertainment factor was there for me which for those reasons alone I gave it a 4 out of 10 stars I couldn't rate this higher for the reasons I'm gonna state in the next paragraph.
The downfalls of this film unfortunately with all the good just mentioned to start off is the shoddy camera work if you notice during the fight scene around the waterfalls there is a delay or when
they're sitting around the camp fire its horrendous. The next strike against this film is the killer himself while the kills are brutal the clown just isn't really that menacing as what the back story makes it out to be they could have used someone much larger so that's a problem also the sound effects when someone is punched totally unnecessary then I come to my biggest pet peeve of all towards the very end while Ritchkoff's character is in the mental institution and the previous actors that were killed off are reused once again this is unforgivable what were they thinking how hard would it have been to hire a few different people for such a short scene for that reason alone I can't possibly give this above 5 so the rating of a 4 is simply for the entertainment factor because there is for sure even with the bad aspects and I don't regret buying the trilogy.
Frightmare (1983)
A hidden horror classic
I was browsing through Tubi one night in the horror section not sure what to choose came across Frightmare thought the cover art was intriguing enough so decided to put it on. This film moves along at a pace for sure which at the start I thought this would drag on but it was necessary to explain the opening about the aging horror star and how he was at the end of his days surrounded
by mostly people that wished him death which he knew obviously,he already hatched a plan to return back from the dead by a medium where he will take revenge on those that wronged him.
After all this is out of the way the fun begins and I must say the cast here are great all of them,this is not the style of a slasher but more supernatural especially the kills you could there was some
pretty decent stunt work going on here towards the end there is an incredibly brutal death scene that the next day after watching this I thought that was crazy at the end made me think this was
solid horror flick which it is definitely worth the time.
Wrong Turn (2021)
This should not be titled Wrong Turn.
By now there has been many horror remakes some terrible some really outstanding this one I never even knew about but was very surprised it had a remake because of being a huge fan of the series. The film itself is really well done good acting nice scenery for the story to take place in and great build up to the main event of the evil lurking within the woods however when it finally reaches that point I am utterly baffled at seeing the robed men with the deer or buck skulls over their heads at this point I'm confused as someone who knows this series pretty well and the villian's in the original I'm scratching my head wondering why all of a sudden the victims are now in a cave talking with what seems to be a cult made up of people from all walks of life that speak and look as normal as anyone.
To find out that this is what has replaced the original villian's is disappointing to say the least especially with all the good stuff they had going with atmosphere and pacing to simply make an unforgivable mistake of taking the single most important ingredient of the Wrong Turn series that being crazed primitive inbred killers that stalk any poor unlucky souls that happen to venture in
the wrong direction with a cult really how moronic of an idea that totally killed anything the film had going for it.
Its pretty sad because if this wasn't called Wrong Turn it would be a solid 7.5 on the rating scale easily for the acting,story and atmosphere that was created alone too bad someone decided to be
too ambitious in taking the story in a direction that betrays the essence of what the series is about, personally I'll stick to the original.
Red Woods (2021)
What just happened.
So it was that time of the evening where I choose a film to watch and Red Woods was the next in line on my watch list so I said what the hell. It starts with two guys discussing abandoned structures
and how there planning a trip to the Appalachian.mountain region from here on out it is very hard to follow or keep track of what the hell is going because there is a larger group that meet up but
you literally can't really hear what they're saying half the time and when you can it is nothing but meaningless dialogue while walking through the forest going to dilapidated houses where more of
nothing happens.
There are quite a few characters but I honestly had no clue who was who but at one point they meet up with other inhabitants of the forest that live there but again the story and characters are so underdeveloped that's its hard to follow what the hell is going on. Eventually you figure out there being picked off by the previous mentioned inhabitants of the forest but nothing is quite clear its just a bunch of running around and screaming and you have one meat head guy that seems to be the leader of the group named Cross such a stupid character.
Honestly watching this was a really strange event for me because I did sit through it and pay attention yet I have no idea who was who or when certain key events took place or why,also the running time was an hour and thirty four minutes but it felt like I had watching this for 2 hours lol. I guess all the meaningless dialogue combined with poor acting and poor writing kept me lost as far as being able to follow this.
I do not recommend this at all if you want your time wasted be my guest.
Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin (2021)
Very impressed.
Never knew anything about this entry into the series just happened to come by this on Amazon and immediately watched it hoping that it wouldn't be a slow boring plot with a jump scare every 20 minutes and I am glad to say they never went in that direction the Blumhouse company did a good job here.
Without revealing too much of the story a girl who is seeking to find out about her mother and past travels
to the place where her mother lived an Amish settlement in upstate NY while there she begins to realize that the inhabitants are hiding a deep dark secret and things aren't what they seem to be,there is
a definite foreboding feeling during the early part of the film which sets a great tone and atmosphere for whats to be revealed later on.
The acting in my humble opinion is all around good everyone involved did a great job,the story it self was well written and thoughtful unlike a lot of these kind
of reality based camera shot horror flicks the scares are
not cheap and there is a mystery aspect throughout the film leading up to the climax at the end.
Overall the Paranormal series has been good over the years and this entry in my opinion stands near the top of the series for me maybe not the best of them but pretty close,so I wouldn't pass this up if you come by it.
Fender Bender (2016)
Properly done modern horror thriller.
I had this one on my watch list so last night picked it out usually I like the 80s horror films much more because the stuff in the 2020s so far hasn't been very good.
As for this film going by the title I expected it to be similar to like a hitcher scenario where there is a following chase on the highway but it wasn't its about
a serial killer going cross country stalking victims and
stealing their licences,he purposely rear ends cars to gain information on victims so to set them up and
kill them.
The characters are not that bad and story moves at a good pace this was well executed in my opinion the kill scenes are violent and believable all in all this is much
better than a lot of the new 2020 B horror movies its worth checking out.
Child's Play (2019)
Not totally bad but nowhere near as good as the original.
Seen this last night and was going into it expecting it to be unwatchable but it turned out to be not that bad it kept my attention enough to watch the whole way through.
If you're a fan of the series then this is quite a bit different than the other films in the series for one the doll seems to be not possessed but rather programmed in a way where it has no safety mechanism to prevent it from injuring or killing people so its more of an AI gone wrong instead of the spirit of a killer inside of a doll which is a decent attempt at changing the story up.
The feel is very modern which is fine it is 2019 film the characters are not bad
the kill count is not that high but the kills are vicious the way the doll is piss poor it doesn't look evil just like CGI this was a mistake but nowadays everything is being done this way overall not that bad but also nothing special it felt like a r rated version of R.L Stines the haunting hour this can sound bad but truth is I was entertained enough.
Final Exam (1981)
Great characters out shine the villian.
Been on a tear of watching 80's horror films which are the best in my opinion been seeing the cover of this one for a while and sat down one night and watched it on youtube the surprising thing about this was that at the beginningthe stage is set by the killing of a couple making out at this point I'm how predicable and this will be another killer stalking students on a campus which it is but the majority of the film is actually the close nit group and frat guys playing pranks which are hilarious it kinda reminded a little of Porky's which I love andmuch of the film is focuses on these characters which are all likeable and then towards the end the killer starts making his move and offing people the strange thing for me was that the killer was not revealed nor was there much back story on why he was doing the killings but for the great characters and the comedy aspect this is worth it.
The Dinner Party (2020)
A story that's been done before but been done much better.
I had this saved on my Amazon next movies to watch this and it was late I didn't want to really put it on because of the 2 hour length but decided to anyways and for the first 30 minutes or so there is not really any indication of what is gonna happen but there is an evilness under with how strange and decadent the hosts are acting towards the couple the entire time telling stories that have no significance to the plot and drags on forever with not much happening but evenbefore that its kind of clear the direction this is going with the talk of eating human livers and then eventually the evil hosts make their move which was of no surprise at all and its the typical set of events that take place in these kinds films but without the build up or twists and the ending was kinda of unneeded and taking it too far pointless so overall I wouldn't recommend this way too long for no reason when nothing happens and a lot of useless dialouge.
I would recommend the 2015 film that is on netflix called the invitation much better than this in every way.
Uncle Sam (1996)
Finally seen this popular 90's horror gem
This is one of those movies that for years and years I've seen in video stores and online but never actually got around to watching it but finally I found it on youtube and I've been on a 90's horror movie exploration considering I always focused on the 80's so thought it was time to look at the 1990's.
When I started watching this it was kind of annoying mostly the kid Jody who was so over the top patriotic and obsessive about his uncle Sam that was killed in action
in Kuwait and this attention on this character went on for about a half hour which at this point I was like this is so stupid but at about the 40 minute point things
switch gears and the uncle Sam character emerges and starts killing the residents of the town many of which are unpatriotic and crap on the veterans and
American anthem and so fourth,the killings are very creative its not your typical
quick cliche stabbing or anything like that very elaborate which is exciting and while this is happening the killer is among the residents but they don't have a clue of what is happening except for a blind kid and a war veteran that knew the
Sam character these these three including Jody team up to stop the evil Sam.
All in all this is worth seeing just to say you've seen it some people would appreciate it more than others but for me its just passable I would say that another horror flick from the same era called night of the scarecrow (1995) is
better than this.
The Graveyard Story (1991)
A must see mystery/Horror that still stands the test of time.
I thought this movie was another one in the early 90's about a ghostly vision that led to a mystery but it wasn't the one that I was thinking of despite that this turned out to be so entertaining for me at least the story while I don't want to reveal too much to put it in a nutshell a man has a vision of a young girl that has been dead for years and wants to get to the bottom of who she is so he hires a PI and from there the story takes off with lots of twists and turns and interesting characters along the way all leading up to a big plot twist put this along with the scenery and great locations this was filmed and it is a classic in my opinion very well done and has that awesome 80's feel even though it is 91.
Coffin Baby (2013)
Chilling atmosphere and brutal kills are the hallmark for this sequel.
Having seen the original 1978 film and becoming an instant fan and later learning of a sequel I immediately didn't have high hopes for this considering it was decades later little did I know that this was in fact the sequel to not the 78
film but the 2004 remake which I hadn't even know about which I will now check out.
As for the film itself once the opening credits started rolling and the flashy metal music started to blare I was thinking cheapness and just another young director making a quick buck on an old classic and was beginning to have serious doubts about what was to come but I kept an open mind and while this isn't perfect it has its strong points and weak for the good the setting is a abandoned warehouse in L.A which is a plus because the original was in that
city and this was a creepy setting for such a deranged killer to be hiding out
and this film unlike the original focused more on the main victims internment
against her will and what she had to endure which in the original that angle was only explored during the last few minutes so I did like the fact that they
went a different direction,the kills in this movie are as gruesome as you can get especially the part where the killer is cooking a victim in a over and basting the corpse absolutely brutal not to mention the shocking treatment
dished out to the female victim who eventually goes semi insane but still had
the will to live and used her smarts to escape the situation also with the help
of other vagrants living within the same warehouse.
Now the bad I would have liked some connection to the original maybe some backstory as to why the masked killer is doing what he is doing or if he is a relation something or you never get to really see the killer in action stalking or picking out victims you only see him bring the people back,there was a confusing part for me in this film where in the beginning Samantha comes
home to find her sister murdered by the killer and she is told to come to the
police station while waiting in the back of a cruiser she is harassed by a vagrant and she shuts the backside passenger door and a minute later the vagrant violently killed by the masked killer who then abducts Samantha
but while she is later trapped in the warehouse this being after the incident
I just described she has a flashback of being interviewed by a black detective
about who the killer could be and she is outside and its daylight she is with
her boyfriend talking so I don't know how this could be when in the beginning she was taken from the murder scene but a different cop and it was night time
when she was abducted it gives the impression that she was at the scene two
separate times when in the beginning the very first time she was at the scene
is when she was abducted unless the flashback took place on the same day then it doesn't make sense.
Not bad for something that is clearly B level and couldn't possibly live up to the original it was one of those films that started out weak and slowly got
bit by bit better and the actress Chauntal Lewis did a great job in my opinion
at playing the part and one key thing she did well was not screaming in such
a way where it is like nails across a board which was realistic very well done
so if you've seen the original or the remake I'd recommend seeing this just
for the fact that it is part of the series and tbh its not terrible its alright.
Circus Kane (2017)
Much better than the cover lets on.
I seen this last night and was expecting a very low budget uninspired attempt at a survival style horror movie but to my surprise it turned out to be actually interesting keeping me glued to the screen in anticipation of what was going to become of the group trapped in the fun house,a bunch of horror fans receive emails I believe for a chance at winning $250 000 all they have to do is be the last one standing at the end in the clown/circus house little did they know that their lives would be on the line.
The cast while not veteran hollywood material still fit the role well and I especially liked the scene where the one guy in the group is sawed in half meanwhile the rest of the group is behind a plate glass window witnessing this and when its over half of the group are shocked and not sure if what just happened was real and the black man in the group tries to reasure everyone that most likely the victim was a plant even though his blood is splattered all
over the glass window very amusing attempt at trying to downplay what had
just occurred.
All in all very entertaining for being a B horror flick and gives Saw a run for its money the evil clown character Kane is actually a solid villain that should be picked up developed further so if you come by this I suggest giving it a chance.
Hellraiser: Judgment (2018)
A pleasant surprise
This movie has been on my radar ever since I heard about it a couple years ago and that Heather Langencamp would be in it having finally gotten around to seeing it I had not much of an expectation considering how a lot of remake/reboots are fall short but I was surprised by the solid story line and acting and like the new actor that is playing pinhead along with the new characters it all worked and there were no loose ends in the story everything
gels together quite nicely including the ending which led me to believe there
will be another sequel which I would gladly welcome and think Tunicliffe should also direct as he did a good job here in my opinion.
As for the people giving a low rating and trashing the film I would say to ignore that and give this one a shot because if you didn't like the hellraiser
films that came out in the 90's I can assure you this is better than those I
happen to own the other films and would rate this entry higher on the list
than most of them maybe except for hellworld so if you get a chance to see it
I would recommend it.