horror movies

“Kwaidan (1964)” movie review

Posted by MartialHorror
/ April 23, 2012

I firmly believe that enjoying a movie comes down to a balance between its objective quality and our subjective response to the film, with the percentage differing from person to person and sometimes movie to movie. Prior to watching “Kwaidan”, I was in a sour mood due to some technical difficulties surrounding my latest episode of “Critiquing the Critics”. It was ruining my entire week and I wanted to get my mind off of it. In retrospect, perhaps watching "Kwaidan" during this time was a mistake. I was not in the right state of mind to deal with something this methodically slow, which is a shame because the concept of a 'samurai ghost story' really intrigues me. Did all of this effect my enjoyment of “Kwaidan”? Possibly, as I was utterly bored while watching it.
Read more
“Murder by Decree (1979)” movie review.

Posted by MartialHorror
/ April 20, 2012

Imagine the old wet streets of London, complete eerie fog and the echoing of horse shoes on cobblestone, masking the presence of a sadistic menace. It's Jack the Ripper and he has struck again. The police are baffled. How did someone butcher their victim in such a condensed area like Whitechapel and not get caught? In reality, Jack the Ripper was never captured or even identified. “Murder by Decree” answers the question of if the Ripper would've evaded the law had Sherlock Holmes taken the case. If that isn't awesome enough, what if the movie in question decided to be a horror film directed by the man who brought us the creepy “Black Christmas”? If that's not the best idea conceived by man, I don't know what is.
Read more
“The Cabin In the Woods (2012)” movie review.

Posted by MartialHorror
/ April 14, 2012

"The Cabin in the Woods" seemed like a doomed project, considering it was made in 2009, looked like it belonged in the 1990's and wasn't released until 2012. The trailers felt spoilery and overly clever. Joss Whedon might be a hero of television, but his work on the big screen never impressed me that much. Yet the positive reviews managed to win my interest over and I left the theater feeling completely satisfied. Ambitious, creative, funny, intense, clever...it's the type of genre piece that anyone will like. But it's also the type of genre piece that horror fans such as myself will love.
Read more
“Open Water (2003)” movie review.

Posted by MartialHorror
/ April 10, 2012

“Open Water” is based on a very interesting but tragic real life story that 'almost' sounds like it would work on film. After all, the thought of a nice, young couple being stranded in the middle of the ocean sounds intriguing, especially when you throw sharks into the mix. But while I watched the movie, I realized that the concept doesn't leave a whole lot of room for actual material. How can you make a compelling movie about a couple floating around in the water? I guess it can be done, but it requires master filmmakers and while the crew present have nothing to be ashamed about, they are not masters of their craft.
Read more
“[REC] 2” movie review.

Posted by MartialHorror
/ April 5, 2012

For some strange reason, I often forget about “[REC]” whenever I'm discussing my favorite found footage films. It confuses me because it is easily one of the better examples of its kind. The movie took a simple, maybe even predictable concept and somehow delivered an intense, startling and even scary genre film. It's greatness was even sometimes captured in the pointless remake, “Quarantine”. I've grown to believe that the title works against the movie. Whenever I try to explain it to people, I sound really stupid because you have to explain the title when you say it. Anyway, “[REC 2]” got fans excited, but I was weary. It was the execution of the material that made the first film so riveting, not the idea. Ultimately, the film was sometimes effective and it tried to do something different. But I'm really not sure if it worked...
Read more
“Hellraiser IX: Revelations” movie review

Posted by MartialHorror
/ April 3, 2012

You know, having reached the final (and most reviled) entry within the Hellraiser franchise, I realize that I am holding my own metaphorical Lament Configuration. Except instead of a puzzle box, it's a DVD copy of “Hellraiser: Revelations”. Instead of opening it, I place it into my DVD player and instead of Pinhead and his cohorts appearing and ripping my flesh into pieces, I had to endure an awful movie. But much like Pinhead's victims, deep down I wanted “Hellraiser: Revelations”. I wanted to satisfy some sadomasochistic urges, or at least the film equivalent of sadomasochism. I knew this would suck, yet it was my discovery that this film existed which inspired me to do “Hellraiser Month”. Clearly, deep down, I enjoy the torments of bad movies.
Read more
“Hellraiser VIII: Hellworld” movie review.

Posted by MartialHorror
/ March 30, 2012

“Hellraiser: Hellworld” is awful. Not awful in an amusing way like “Hellraiser 3”, nor was it a (somewhat respectable) misfire like “Hellraiser 6”. It is just bad. Every idea it produces backfires, either being an awful concept to begin with or it's executed so poorly that they might as well have been lame ideas to begin with. I guess I have to respect that they tried to make it different than the previous films, but by different I mean they decided to make it like every other horror franchise that ever existed. It's like the filmmakers took a good look at the franchise and determined that the Hellraiser films had become too conventionally unconventional, so the only way to remain unconventional was by becoming conventional itself.....
Read more
“Hellraiser VII: Deader (2005)” movie review.

Posted by MartialHorror
/ March 27, 2012

Whatever hopes for the franchise that had been born from “Hellraiser V: Inferno” had died a tragic death with the mundane “Hellraiser VI: Hellseeker”. I approached “Hellraiser VII: Deader” with caution because the reviews were all over the place. Some thought it was good, some thought it sucked, some thought it was on the same level of quality as its predecessor. The director had also done the previous film too, although that didn't sink my hopes because I believe it was the script that sunk the movie, not the direction. I also thought the subtitle was rather silly, but in a dull kind of way, so expectations remained low. But I opened this puzzle box to see what horrors lurked inside and honestly? I thought “Hellraiser VII: Deader” was okay.
Read more
“Hellraiser VI: Hellseeker (2002)” movie review.

Posted by MartialHorror
/ March 21, 2012

“Hellraiser 5: Inferno” had left fans either fuming or glowing, and I happened to be one of the latter. It made me feel everything it wanted me to feel, even if it was far from the conventional Hellraiser entry. It's even more shocking considering its bizarre back-story, that should spell out "epic failure". “Hellraiser 6: Hellseeker” had a similar back-story in that the studio took an acquired script that had nothing to do with the franchise and converted it into the next Hellraiser entry. You can see that the filmmakers tried to recapture that same surreal energy of its predecessor, but it fails. It fails badly.
Read more
“Silent House (2012)” movie review.

Posted by MartialHorror
/ March 19, 2012

From the creators of "Open Water" comes "Silent House", a film that boasts to be one continuous take throughout the entire film. An intriguing concept, but it wasn't enough to win over audiences and at best, it's a polarizing film. At worst, it's just a disappointing one. The more I think about it, the more I realize that this movie is "Open Water" all over again. Like that film, it can feel real and is continuously edgy, but it's also redundant and it's more cinematic moments don't gell with its attempts to be realistic. It's not a bad film. Hell, sometimes it's even a good film, but it runs out of steam long before its 85 minute run time is up.
Read more

Sign in to your account