1. “Event Horizon (1997)” movie review.

    Posted by
    /
    There are two ways you can approach “Event Horizon”. You can see it as an entertaining science fiction/horror hybrid that is elevated by its inspired ideas, awesome set designs and creative premise. Or you can view it as an action-horror flick that is frustrating because it squandered its inspired ideas, awesome set designs and creative premise in order to focus on dated CGI and dumbed down action sequences. I wanted "Event Horizon" to be much more than what it ultimately was, but that didn't stop me from having fun.
  2. “Dread (2009)” movie review.

    Posted by
    /
    Much to my surprise, “Dread” was more about the victims themselves than it was about them being victimized. Believe it or not, that doesn't automatically cement "Dread" as a success, but you've got to respect the effort.
  3. “Deathwatch (2002)” movie review.

    Posted by
    /
    “Deathwatch” dared to explore territory within the horror genre that most filmmakers tend to shy away from. What happens if you take some sort of War story, but then turn it into a horror film? That has to be one of the most underused concepts with either genre. Why? It's possibly because of tastes. Isn't war horrific enough without zombies or ghosts attacking people? I personally suspect that budget restrictions are the real reason, however. War movies cost a lot and horror movies don't. yet here comes "Deathwatch", a war/horror film that I can swoon over.
  4. “Hellraiser IX: Revelations” movie review

    Posted by
    /
    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.
  5. “Hellraiser VIII: Hellworld” movie review.

    Posted by
    /
    “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.....
  6. “Hellraiser VII: Deader (2005)” movie review.

    Posted by
    /
    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.
  7. “Hellraiser VI: Hellseeker (2002)” movie review.

    Posted by
    /
    “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.
  8. “Hellraiser V: Inferno (2000)” movie review.

    Posted by
    /
    “Hellraiser V: Inferno” is probably the most polarizing entry in its franchise. Regardless of its final impact, there is no denying that no one expected a lot from it. Horror was in a decline and the failure of “Hellraiser IV: Bloodline” proved that while Pinhead had an audience, he wasn't in league with Jason, Freddy or even Michael when it came to box office returns. But since money could still be made off of him, they chose to go the “Leprechaun” route and release the films direct-to-DVD. But instead of delivering a cheap(er) imitation of the previous films (like one would expect), “Hellraiser V” ended up being a tense, psychological thriller. It wasn't anything like we had seen before in the franchise and that's where opinions on this entry differ. Was the change in...everything...a good thing or a bad thing?
  9. “Hellraiser III: Hell On Earth (1992)” review

    Posted by
    /
    "Hellraiser" month has begun! Why Hellraiser? Why March? My Birthday is March 10 and as a birthday present to myself, I've decided that every March I will exclusively watch everything that I wish to watch. The reason why "Hellraiser" gets to be the theme is it's one of the few horror franchises that I haven't fully explored. I pretty much stopped when they sent Pinhead to space and the rest of the films toiled in the hell known as 'direct-to-DVD'. Much to my surprise, after that is when things started getting interesting for Pinhead. So I decided that it was time for me and Pinhead to get chummy again. Although granted, maybe starting off with "Hellraiser 3" was a bad idea.