With both the social message and plenty of splatter, The Crazies is at times dated but still appealing for horror aficionados.
The Crazies (1973)
Directed by George A. Romero
In the same vein as Fahrenheit 451 and Soylent Green, and pre-dating Stephen King’s The Stand (by quite a few years), The Crazies has a similar story, but on [...]
Wasting no time establishing its premise, The Crazies begins as a taut horror film and remains en effective journey through paranoia and conspiracy theories
The Crazies
Directed by Breck Eisner
Fear Thy Neighbour
The Crazies is about the inhabitants of a small Kansas town systematically plagued by insanity after a mysterious toxin contaminates their water supply, when a plane [...]
Completely entertaining and dripping with fan appreciated details, Watchmen is a gift to comic book nerds and film enthusiasts alike.
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Watchmen: Director’s Cut
Directed by Zach Synder
Trying to determine the value of a film based on a book (or graphic novel in this case), is a dangerous undertaking. Separating the downfalls and offering credit can be near impossible [...]
You Can’t Stop Progress.
Hardware
Directed by Richard Stanley
In a post-apocalyptic future somewhere in a radioactive desert, terminally ill Moses Baxter (Dylan McDermott) has just returned from scavenging for whatever waste he may find that could be of use to him either back home or for sale. Along his journey he discovers some robotic parts from some [...]
Land of the Dead
Directed by George A. Romero
Although the fourth installment in George A. Romero’s influential zombie series may not have the overall impact of the groundbreaking Night of the Living Dead, 2004 entry Land of the Dead proves that after four nearly four decades, he’s still got the undead touch. The horror maestro has come [...]
The Stepfather (1987)
Directed by Joseph Reuben
Despite collecting positive reviews, director Joseph Ruben’s The Stepfather was a box office flop, lost among the flood of slasher films saturating the market at the time. Still, the film managed to garner a small cult following, which has increased since its home video release.
The Stepfather works for one reason: [...]
Paranormal Activity
Directed by Oren Peli
There’s nothing more terrifying than things that go bump in the night while we lay awake helpless under our bedsheets. Writer-director Oren Peli obviously recognizes this, as he expertly exploits this fear to create the genuinely frightful paranormal thriller Paranormal Activity.
Adding to the fear factor, Paranormal Activity opens with no title [...]
Antichrist
Directed by Lars von Trier
Plunging headfirst into a realm of depraved evil, leaving behind him any and all polite norms of filmmaking (mainstream, independent or otherwise), Lars von Trier has unleashed his most audacious creation to date, which has been branded everything from “misogynistic” (according the Cannes` Ecumenical Jury, who awarded it a special “Anti-Prize”) [...]
This kind of assertion gets thrown around too much, but The Revenant has a real shot of becoming a cult classic. It has enough gore and violence to satisfy the horror set, but it also has a sharp wit, a surprising heart, and a unique story.
The Revenant
Directed by Kerry Prior
Undead horror has had [...]
The House of the Devil is at heart an exercise in tension, and West and Donahue deserve serious credit for stringing the audience along while revealing little of the horror to come.
Ti West
I can’t yet speak to Ti West’s 21st century output, but with The House of the Devil West has proven [...]
Survival of the Dead
Directed by George A. Romero
George A. Romero. the undisputed king of socially relevant zombiedom. delivers his sixth entry into his Dead series with Survival of the Dead. Unlike Land of the Dead. set several years after the dead first began to rise up and eat the living, Survival opens a few days [...]
The Stepfather 2
Directed by Jeff Burr
The Stepfather, one of the most effective psychological thrillers made in the early 80’s, may have been a flop in theaters, but it found a second life on cable and videocassette, gaining enough of a cult following to result in a sequel. The original Stepfather was a complex thriller about [...]
Mandrill
Directed by Ernesto Díaz Espinoza
Chilean director Ernesto Diaz Espinoza and his action star collaborator, Marko Zaror, are three films deep now, with a fourth (in 3D!) on the way. Clearly they’ve found a formula that works for them, but I’m not as convinced. There’s plenty of buzz around these guys, and they’re [...]
Love Exposure is often gratuitous, low-brow, and even tasteless–you will never again see as many shots of young girl’s panties in one place–but is also sneakily poignant.
Directed by Shion Sono
Sion Sono’s new film covers a lot of territory. It’s a romance, a revenge tale, a heartbreaking tragedy, a truly zany comedy, a blood-splattered action [...]
Surrogates
2009, USA
Directed by Jonathan Mostow
Written by Michael Ferris, John D. Brancato, Robert Venditti (graphic novel), Brett Weldele (graphic novel)
Starring Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell, Rosamund Pike, Ving Rhames
The idea of creating an imaginary persona as a replacement for reality is nothing new, at least for those of us who try to pick up 16-year-old girls on [...]
