bloodtypeonline

Tales From The Crypt (1972)

bloodtypeonline — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 00:53:47 +0000

Ahhh, another horror anthology movies. But this one in my opinion is one of the best horror anthologies of all time. It’s a Freddie Francis film (The Creeping Flesh (72), Paranoiac,Nightmare) starring a all star cast of actors. In Tales, you’ll see Joan Collins (All through the House), an excellent performance by Peter Cushing (Poetic Justice), Patrick Magee (Blind Alleys) and many more. The stories all have a nice wraparound for all of the stories and this one is excellent. Especially because the first horror film I ever saw was Creepshow, I’ll always have a soft spot for horror anthologies……….but this one is geniunely good. Also might I saw that this film also deserves it’s own official DVD release. I have a DVD-R copy that I found along the way, but with the point we are at with DVD releases and everything under the sun coming out………..it’s about time someone gets this one out there. Highly recommended.

Rating – ***
-Ed Demko

The Hills Have Eyes (2006)

bloodtypeonline — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 00:53:01 +0000

I must admit when I heard that this was being remade, I wasn’t pleased. See as a horror fan, Hills is my favorite Wes Craven movie. I know I know, the collective gasps as I didn’t say it was Last House on the Left or Nightmare on Elm Street. I love how the original Hills was gritty, different, and it worked on several different levels. So when I heard this was getting remade, I was instantly soured at the idea of a bunch of pretty actors running around with bad makeup and a script that would be garbage. Then I heard who was directing it. Alexandre Aja. Now for those of you unfamiliar with the name he is the same director who brought us High Tension (aka Haute Tension/Switchblade Romance depending on what country you’re talking about), which is a film that I highly recommend if you are in the mood for one hell of a slasher flick. Then I saw the list of actors that were cast in the role’s of the infamous cannibal family. I saw the names of great veteran horror actors like Robert Joy (Land of the Dead, Amityville 3-D)and Billy Drago (Charmed, Masters of Horror – Imprint). Also I was thrilled to see Ted Levine (Silence of the Lambs) cast as Big Bob, the Dad of the family. Everything was in place and when I went to see this film in theatre’s I was literally blown away. In an age of either terrible remakes (The Fog, When A Stranger Calls) or alright ones (Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Dawn of the Dead) I finally felt like the remake of Hills was what a remake should be. It doesn’t blatantly use a classic films title just to get by. It had more to offer and stayed true enough to the original to be a damn good horror film. Last night I sat down to watch the unrated version for the first time and I must say…..great job. I really enjoyed the extended cut as there wasn’t a TON of stuff put back in, but the added pieces of gore really did help out. This movie is pretty graphic and I must say that as usual, KNB effects comes through again with awesome gore, and great looking family member. The Unrated DVD is loaded up with all kinds of goodies like 2 commentary tracks (one with Aja, the writer of the Hills remake Gregory Levasseur, and producer Marianne Maddalena and the other with Wes Craven and the original producter peter Locke) trailers, and a Making of documentary. In case you were wondering what the movie was about in general, you apparently need to do yourself a favor and checkout the original if you already haven’t. It’s about a family going on a vacation while driving in an RV. They cut through the desert and decide to take a shortcut in doing so. They end up stranded on a back road after an accident and the film starts from there. Great performances in this film by Levine, Joy, and newcomer Daniel Byrd. Considering that Byrd is a 20 year old actor with a few film credits under his belt and two of those directors are horror legends Tobe Hooper (Mortuary) and Aja (Hills). I think we’ll be seeing more of him to come in horror flicks unless mainstream Hollywood pulls him away. I wish I could say that we saw a great performance from Billy Drago but he barely gets to show what he’s got as his screen time is severely short. But Hills is a damn fine horror flick that stands on it’s own two feet and doesn’t depend on the legacy of the original film to put it over in the minds of fans. Hell, if the family would have been given more personality (like they were in the original), I would have easily liked the 2005 Hills better than the original. Rating – ***1/2
-Ed Demko

Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971)

bloodtypeonline — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 00:49:45 +0000

This 1971 film directed by John Hancock (Weeds – 1987) and is a chilling a subtle tale of mental health. It’s about a woman named Jessica (Zohra Lampert), her husband Duncan (Barton Heyman), and their friend Woody (Kevin O’Connor) move to a little deserted town to start life over. They moved there to get away from the hustle and bustle of New York City and find that small town living isn’t what it’s all cracked up to be. It’s also mentioned at the beginning of the film that another reason for the move is to help out Jessica who was just released from a doctor’s care for mental health problems. From this point on the movie becomes a exercise in paranoia and some down right creepy things ensue. When they first get to the home they notice that a squatter by the name of Emily was already living there. She figures into some of Jessica’s issues with the property and it’s surrounding area that are also very interesting. I really enjoyed the movie and it’s especially enjoyable because films of this type just aren’t made anymore. Zohra Lampert does and excellent job in the role of Jessica and really makes you feel bad for her character. There aren’t too many films out there that show mental health in this light and it makes it for all the more frightening experience. Poor Jessica is constantly struggling through the movie with the things that she see’s and what she hears. She doesn’t want to divulge everything to the others and have them think that she is loosing her mind. It’s truly a brilliant movie and John Hancock (as Ralph Rose) and Lee Kalcheim (as Norman Jones) deserve major decoration for doing such a job. This film is one of the reasons why if you want it too, PG horror films can work. It’s chilling, strange, and at some points disturbing. It’s a thought provoking film that after you watch it, will have you thinking about how difficult life can be for people with these type of issues. Also, this film deserves a proper release on DVD and apparently now
Paramount is finally going to do it soon. Too bad
Paramount has a knack for disrespecting it’s horror catalog, so I wouldn’t expect anything more than a bare bones DVD.

Rating – ***
-Ed Demko

The Descent (2005)

bloodtypeonline — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 00:49:00 +0000

I must admit. Before I sat down to watch this film, I was just giddy to get it in my hands. I’ve heard so much about this film before I saw it, I must say……it already had high standards to live up to. The Descent exceeded those already high expectations. This film is plain and simple, excellent. I can’t rave about the film enough actually. I was a fan of director Neil Marshall’s last effort Dog Soldiers, but he’s come a long way if this is the type of film that he’s going to start churning out. The film is centered around a group of women (one of which has quite the tragedy in her life that they cover in the film) who attempt to go cave dwelling at a tourist attraction in a remote wooded area. It seems as if they uncovered a lot more than they cared too. I won’t give too much away because it’s worth it for ANY self respecting horror fan to either get a copy of this film or check it out in theatre’s when it arrives this August. It’s THAT damn good. I was litterally blown away at the effects, the story, the pacing, the “monsters”, etc etc. Literally, I could go on and on about this one. I thought to myself while watching this movie a thought that I haven’t had during a new horror film in a long time (actually, I can’t remember having this feeling watching something new at all outside of MAYBE Rob Zombie’s recent Devil’s Rejects)……..and that thought was “WOW, this has everything a horror film SHOULD have”. That is one hell of a feeling to have during a film and I hope that everyone else gets to see this one as it was originally intended. The reason why I’m bringing that up is because Lions Gate films is thinking of changing the ending when it’s finally released here in the US this August. Hopefully they won’t be so stupid because the original ending of the film is brilliant. This one is highly recommended and I would certainly call it a MUST SEE.

Rating – ****
-Ed Demko