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Carriers
Directed by: Àlex Pastor & David Pastor
Starring: Lou Taylor Pucci, Chris Pine, Piper Perabo, Emily VanCamp
Release Date: September 4, 2009
Length: 85 minutes
Category: Viral, Post-Apocalyptic, Road

Carriers is an interesting melding of genres, infusing the tropes of road films into a post-apocalyptic, virus-plagued setting. Our four main characters aren't particularly likable in any way, all doing deceitful things to each other and to other people not in their group. Carriers puts human drama first, challenging the viewer by putting them into the characters' shoes, revealing all too little before gut-punching you with some hard decisions along the way.

I really like how the film is presented. A lot of the film takes place in a car, with stops along the way that each feel like separated vignettes, each with their own story and revelation to tell. Each stop escalates tension, whether through death, separation, abandonment, some human opposition, or the simple truth. With a short running time, Carriers does not settle for long; the characters always get back in their car, shuffling us off to the next chapter of this cruel new world. It's not interested in letting anybody catch their breath, and that includes the viewer.

The performances are well done, even if the characters they portray are a little typical. Pine plays your typical apocalyptic asshole, Pucci's the weaker brother, and you got Perabo as the asshole's girlfriend and VanCamp as a love interest. I can accept the stereotypical characters; as a group, they are the perfect little storm of post-apocalyptic chaoticness, and Carriers' message is all the more powerful for the viewer because of this. Two stand-out characters however are a man, Frank, and his infected daughter. They're not in the film for too long, but they easily have the most memorable and most poignant scenes in the film.

Ultimately, Carriers demands just as much participation from the viewer as it does the characters. You are taken along for this ride, and you feel the danger with every scene. It puts the dark side of humanity in the spotlight, and you will feel pretty bad and uncomfortable for a lot of this film. It won't be the most groundbreaking story you'll see, but it's one road trip that you certainly won't forget.

Rating: 8.5/10
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Did anyone ever check out Outcast? I think it's a really good show so far.
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Quick Review:

Pet Sematary Two
Directed by: Mary Lambert
Starring: Edward Furlong, Anthony Edwards, Clancy Brown, Jason McGuire
Release Date: August 28, 1992
Length: 100 minutes
Category: Supernatural

Yet another unremarkable Stephen King sequel, Pet Sematary Two attempts to capture the magic of the original to amazingly bad effect. It's a complete re-hash of the story, complete with resurrected animal and later person. The one good performance in this film is from Clancy Brown, who hams it up as a resurrected stepdad with some pretty funny scenes there. The rest of the film is completely typical; the school bullies, the local legend, dead mother, been there, done that! One thing of note is there's an astounding amount of animal cruelty in this film: dogs get shot, kitties get eviscerated, rabbits get skinned. There's nothing particularly gut-wrenching about it for regular horror fans, but the animal lover might get turned off. Pet Sematary Two offers no originality to the genre, and it thus flounders in mediocrity and boredom.

Rating: 4.5/10
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Haha, remake would probably net a 5/10.

jcgamer107 posted...

You guys....Steven Universe referenced the Amigara Fault manga:

https://66.media.tumblr.com/7b7d495c9c82f4d33cf400593668feb6/tumblr_njbpohNxKf1tpjn6jo1_500.png

http://steven-universe.wikia.com/wiki/Kindergarten#Trivia

From the episode "On the Run". Amazing.

I should really check out this show.
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Poltergeist
Directed by: Tobe Hooper
Starring: JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, Heather O'Rourke
Release Date: June 4, 1982
Length: 114 minutes
Category: Supernatural

Poltergeist is a classic for a reason. it has all the quotes you love (They're here!), a great family archetype with terrific performances, so many memorable scenes, and best of all, it has a sense of humor. Poltergeist has a winning horror formula that just works; Tobe Hooper and producer/writer Steven Spielberg just get it. This is the basis for modern day Paranormal Activities. This is ghost haunting 101.

Firstly, I want to zero in on the performances. Every one in this cast gives their character something to remember them by. JoBeth's Diane is one of my favorite protagonists and mothers in any horror film. She's near unfazeable, with a sense of humor and childlike wonder at the initial hauntings, and sheer bravery as she rushes headfirst into danger to do anything to save her kids. Nelson's Steven Freeling is the classic dad, hard-working company man, caring to his family, and appropriately deadpan during the bulk of the hauntings. And who could forget the adorable Carol Anne, played by Heather O'Rourke in one of the best child performances out there. Her mix of innocence and fear is portrayed quite well for a girl her age. Lastly, Zelda Rubinstein, a mainstay of obscure horror (plus a cameo in Behind the Mask) and of the Poltergeist series, delivers a really intense performance that commands the screen and your attention.

Then there's the scenes. The gruesome face-tearing scene is high up there, and everyone remembers the creepy as hell Clown Doll attack. It's really quite shocking how much hilarity is in this film too; no modern day haunting film would dare include a slapstick "guy falling off bike" scene or a petty war between neighbors over a shared TV remote signal. One of the best scenes in the film is also one of the funniest; Diane putting a helmet on Carol Anne to be slid across the kitchen floor by the poltergeist is knee-slapping hilarious in so many ways. Truly scary scenes like slipping into a pool of (real, not prop!) skeletons and the absolutely intense Carol Anne rescue are what truly makes Poltergeist the special film it is however.

You have done yourself a disservice if you haven't seen Poltergeist, whether a horror buff or film fan in general. It wrote the book on paranormal haunting films and I love the way it builds character, universe, and tension while providing fantastic moments of levity. Quite simply put, it's a gem of a movie.

Rating: 10/10
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Friday the 13th gameplay

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Yeah I love Twin peaks, I can't wait for the new season.
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Looks interesting, maybe a little close to Ex Machina copying territory, but we'll see. It's not only being produced by Ridley Scott, it's being directed by his son Luke as well!
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McBonesII posted...

this is my first time in this topic, a lot to talk about! are the lists in the OP actual board 8 lists or just really big lists that someone else made? just curious.

They're lists I personally made.
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Cry of the Banshee
Directed by: Gordon Hessler
Starring: Vincent Price, Essy Persson, Elizabeth Bergner, Patrick Mower, Hilary Dwyer
Release Date: July 29, 1970
Length: 91 minutes
Category: Supernatural, Religious

I did not even plan to follow up The Witch with another witch film, but it ended up being a happy little accident for an otherwise unremarkable horror film.

Cry of the Banshee again deals with the paranoia of witches in the 16th century, in which a cruel magistrate decides to eliminate all witch activity in their area and gets his house and family cursed for it. In comparing it with The Witch, both films open up with a court sentence, involve a family turning on each other in a confined house, and have a strange dancing witch coven scene. I'm on to you Robert Eggers.

The cast tries to work with the script they got, which reportedly what a source of contention, getting sent back for a re-write. No performance is especially strong, even Vincent Price's, who is serviceable but not much else as the witch-hunting magistrate Edward Whitman. The rest of the cast are varying degrees of hammy and over-the-top, especially Elizabeth Bergner's witch leader Oona.

Cry of the Banshee has a lot of nudity and cruelty towards women in the film, common for many of its contemporary low-budget horror films at the time. It's very trashy and a little uncomfortable, but it comes with the era.

The film builds a decent mood and atmosphere; the titular "cry of the banshee' is the classic spine-chilling sound of classic horror films. There's good lighting, a good use of extras to keep scenes lively, and it's eerily quiet when it needs to be. The themes of the film don't exactly carry any subtlety to them, and there's nobody to really root for as both sides are cruel in their own way, but you can stay for the atmospheric and have a slightly creepy late-night time.

Keeping it from the dark dregs of obscurity is a neat animated opening sequence from Terry Gilliam, who you will know as a member of the Monty Python comedy troupe and the director of films like Brazil and 12 Monkeys. The Gothic rock band Siouxsie and The Banshees were named after the film as well.

Ultimately, Cry of the Banshee is not a horror essential by any means, even with Vincent Price leading the cast. It's very slow at parts, and the acting really is not very good. Unless you're a horror completionist, you can skip this film and not feel an ounce of shame for it.

Rating: 5.5/10
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Those with an Xbox can watch Southbound free this weekend, please try!
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The VVitch: A New-England Folktale (The Witch)
Directed by: Robert Eggers
Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie
Release Date: February 19, 2016 (Wide Release)
Length: 93 minutes
Category: Supernatural, Religious

First off, The Witch will not be for everybody. It's a very, very slow-burn horror film, and you truly got to have patience for it. It may seem like nothing is happening for long-periods of time, but every scene is important, blink and you may miss something important. Eggers shows a true talent here for long, lingering shots that are perfectly framed. You always see what you're supposed to see, nothing is obscured or shaken around or quickly cut, given everything the sense of weighty importance a horror film should have.

In 16-century New England, a Puritan family is exiled from a plantation for an unknown religious crime. They establish a farm on the edge of the woods far from the plantation, and things start going down the drain mighty quick. Their new baby they just welcomed into the world is stolen by a witch, and their oldest daughter Thomasin is blamed by her mother. Crops start dying, the twins claim they can hear the family's black goat talk to them, and eventually their son Caleb is taken by a witch and returned to the family with a deadly disease.

This film perfectly encapsulates a sense of religious paranoia as the family turns on one another, the twins claiming Thomasin is a witch while she counters that claim saying the twins talk to the goat. Their father starts to get angry, the mother slowly goes insane; the performances in this are off-the-charts and everyone commits 100% to their roles. Eggers used period authentic dialogue (some lines lifted directly from sources written at the time), clothing, and accents to perfectly sell this film as a idealistic folktale. Ultimately, it's less about the witch than it is about a family in shambles struck by misfortune and false piety. No character in this is really a good person; everyone lies and snaps at each other, and then they want protection and salvation from God. The Witch can certainly teach everyone a lesson in hypocrisy.

There's no scare-a-minute thrills here. Everything about The Witch is deliberate and well-paced and focuses on telling a good story first, and scaring second. I have a feeling this will turn some horror fans away, like it did many audience members. Even if you're not a fan of slow films like this, you at least have to appreciate the accuracy of which Robert Eggers portrays this time period. It's artful and the message is fantastic, and horror films like this deserve to be praised and remembered forever.

Rating:
9.5/10
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The Forest
Directed by: Jason Zada
Starring: Natalie Dormer, Taylor Kinney
Release Date: January 8, 2016
Length: 93 minutes
Category: Supernatural

Could it be possible for a film to be more generic and lifeless? The Forest is a grating exercise in jump scares, horror cliches, and scene shuffling so quick you'll be left wondering where the substance is.

The Forest sees Natalie Dormer dual-playing the characters Sarah and Jess, identical twins who lost their parents at a young age. Jess is the rebellious bad twin, who went to Japan to teach children there English. Jess goes missing in Japan's famous suicide forest, Aokigahara, prompting Sarah to fly over and find her twin.

In the first 5 minutes of the film, a taxi window jumpscare by a weird old guy made me roll my eyes so hard. The first half hour is filled with these length padding jumpscares that are just the worst thing. There's no atmosphere build-up, no tension as our main character Sarah is about to enter the forest; they waste time with senile grannies in flickering hallways and basements with dead bodies. Sarah just meets this guy Aiden (Taylor Kinney) in a bar, and then oh, I guess they're entering the forest now. Aiden's sub-plot is just the flimsiest thing ever; he claims to be a journalist, recording Sarah's statements on her family history, and there's a hint he's lying but it's never really brought to any sort of head or satisfying conclusion and he kind of ends up being forgotten about by the end.

The Forest tries to do some psychological stuff, like river flows shifting (the one kind of creepy part in the film) and hanging bodies haunting Sarah. Ultimately, it's just more damn padding for the next jumpscare. I will say Dormer's acting as Sarah is good, but it's not enough to carry it. The shots are really flat and don't do anything interesting. It's either: this is the slow, quiet part now, or this character is running now! I hate when directors flail their camera around, failing to show any part of the thing for too long that we're supposed to be scared of.

The Forest is your typical, skippable horror fare. I expected so much more out of this. The location it's based on is such a creepy area, with lots of scarier real life stories that have happened there. If you want something to keep you up at night, read those instead. If you want to take a nice nap, The Forest is for you.

Rating:
3/10
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Yeah it'll be just be better for everyone to stay as far away from PT as possible.
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Fuuuuuuuck Allison Road got cancelled whyyyyyyy
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Conjuring 2 is getting good reviews.

I feel like I'm the only person who didn't care for the first.
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Holidays
Directed by: Dennis Widmyer & Kevin Kolsch (Valentine's Day), Gary Shore (St. Patrick's Day), Nicholas McCarthy (Easter), Sarah Adina Smith (Mother's Day), Anthony Scott Burns (Father's Day), Kevin Smith (Halloween), Scott Stewart (Christmas), Adam Egypt Mortimer (New Year's Eve)
Release Date: April 22, 2016 (Wide Release)
Length: 105 minutes
Category: Anthology, Black Comedy

If Southbound was this year's Trick 'r Treat, Holidays is definitely this year's ABCs of Death. Holidays revels in the goofy side of horror, an unapologetic romp through 8 of the year's primary holidays, aiming to be as stupid, random, and pointlessly shocking as humanly possible.

This collection of bite-sized stories is unbelievably shaky. I can really only say I fully enjoyed two of these stories: "Easter and Christmas." The rest were basically complete misses. For an anthology film, this is unacceptable. The worst of the lot are frustratingly inconclusive; I'll tell you straight up that "Mother's Day" and "Father's Day" are complete wastes of time. "Father's Day" was especially annoying, since I actually enjoyed the direction quite greatly until I realized Burns had really no idea how to end the segment. "St. Patrick's Day" was an effort to make the randomest story ever, with theming, shots, story elements, and characters going nowhere fast. I was really looking forward to Kevin Smith's segment, as he's done horror well before (Red State is criminally underwatched and I'm probably one of the few to enjoy Tusk), but it's nothing but sexual shock value. "Valentine's Day" and "New Year's Eve" were decent, but ultimately too predictable.

On to the ones I actually did like. "Easter" is terrifying, with an absolutely terrific "Easter Bunny" design. I think Easter is legitimately ruined for me now! I'll never look at the Easter Bunny the same way again. Most importantly, it gets right to the point and the ending is a stinger. "Christmas" features an Oculus Rift-esque device and features some hilariously cruel scenes that are actual black comedy and not just random goofball stuff.

I was never a big fan of these types of horror offerings. The humor and sheer strangeness of these crooked stories never seems to gel with me. Or maybe Southbound was just too good. My recommendation? Watch Valentine's Day, Easter, Christmas, and New Year's Eve and fast forward the rest. You'll be all the happier for it.

Rating:
4/10
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Yeah, you'd just miss a lot of the cooler meta parts of the film, they really compliment each other.
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Southbound
Directed by: Radio Silence (The Way Out & The Way In), Roxanne Benjamin (Siren), David Bruckner (The Accident), Patrick Horvath (Jailbreak)
Release Date: February 5, 2016
Length: 89 minutes
Category: Anthology

Oh boy are anthology fans in for a treat with this film! Southbound will take you on a journey through a stretch of Middle-of-Nowhere, USA, on a highway paved with monsters, blood, unfortunate coincidences, and a dash of weird that's the mark of any good anthology film or series.

Southbound has one of the most cohesive worlds of any anthology film I've ever seen. Each segment slides seamlessly into the next (which is an important part to the overarching plot of the film), and each story feels like it belongs even as the subject wildly differs. Above all, Southbound is a film about human desperation and evilness, peeling back layers of the world that are always there but not always visible to the naked eye. The tone is always grounded and harrowing, rarely tearing the camera away from our protagonists' viewpoint, even as stories shift from Lovecraftian demons to more realistic stories like a man hitting a woman with his car. The film shows an impressive level of restraint. The vignettes are quick and fleeting but punch hard, and they're not interested in answers or final showdowns or satisfying conclusions; the directors tell what they need to, and leave you wanting so much more in a good way. This is simply excellent storytelling, tying perfectly into the film's ultimate message, as the radio DJ says: "...We're all on the same endless highway... the one with no name and no exits... looking for a way out of tonight and into tomorrow. Well, they're going to try to stop you but you gotta say "fuck it" and keep moving..."

If I had to choose a favorite segment, it would definitely be the third, "The Accident". It is unabashedly brutal, gory, and strange, as man named Lucas hits a woman with his car while looking at his phone (this woman is in the previous segment too, which makes it all the more gut-wrenching). Bruckner does some amazing things with the camera, keeping us firmly planted into Lucas' shoes as he struggles and panics his way through helping this woman he just hit. There's an abandoned hospital, and gruesome surgery scene and it's just the stuff excellent horror is made of. Anthology films seem to always have their weak story, but I can honestly say Southbound is strong from beginning to end.

Southbound is a must watch for any horror fan or anthology fan. It may even be better than one of my all time favorites Trick 'r Treat, and I don't say that lightly! I urge you to brave this highway, but be warned: you may never be able to leave.

Rating:
10/10
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Anyone hear of the upcoming series Outcast? The pilot leaked, and I watched it, and it's pretty solid stuff! Patrick Fugit is really great. It's based on the Image comic.
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http://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3391405/psst-wanna-see-samara-rings/
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hahaha
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The Town That Dreaded Sundown
Directed by: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Release Date: October 16, 2014
Length: 86 minutes
Category: Slasher

Taken by itself, you'd be forgiven for thinking The Town That Dreaded Sundown is a by-the-numbers horror remake without any of the grit or soul of the original. I could totally see someone watching this without any knowledge of the real life murders or the real film and being totally unimpressed with its banal slasher scares and structure.

But Town is not a remake, not technically anyway. And it's not really a sequel to the original 1976 film either. The original film is completely acknowledged throughout Town; like in real life, the film is shown every Halloween in the Texarkana area to remember the Phantom Killer. The original is a completely essential element to enjoying this film; the Phantom's murders are the same in both and frequently inter-spliced together. With the original already presented as a pseudo-documentary, 2014's Town exists as a very interesting, nebulous film to classify.

The film must still be taken by itself though. Town is a film ripped right out of the 70s; it's a slow-paced thriller to its core, with the Phantom getting minimal screen time but making the most of it. Our main character is Jami Lerner, your typical "final girl" but played confidently by Addison Timlin. Rewatching this after seeing Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon nearly makes this trope laughable, and in general, I don't think many horror fans will find the film's scares, kills, or structure very new or exciting. I did enjoy some shots and scenes, the cornfield scene is especially good and one scene near the end with the constant turning on and off of street lights that ends with a good scare.

It's highly recommended you watch the original first. It's still a decent film without it if you have the patience for it, but you'll have a higher appreciation for it with the original film in mind. Sure, it may not be in a film's best interest to bank on a cult 1976 slasher, but usually the best and most interesting films are the ones that take risks like that. View it as more than a slasher movie, and you'll see that 2014's Town That Dreaded Sundown definitely has a few clever tricks up its sleeve and is a lot more than what it appears to be at first glance.

Rating:
7/10 (w/o original)
9/10 (with original)
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Silent Hill
Directed by: Christopher Gans
Release Date: April 21, 2006 (Wide Release)
Length: 127 Minutes

Rarely is a video game adaptation this good. Silent Hill is a film that does not sacrifice faithfulness for originality. Whereas as a film series like Resident Evil takes the slow, atmospheric games and makes them action spectacles, Silent Hill takes core themes and elements from the games and injects them into a world that feels wholly its own.

The film mirrors the plot of the first game very closely. Instead of Harry Mason, we get Rose Da Silva, but the basic premise still is that she brings her adopted daughter into Silent Hill, crashes her jeep, and gets stuck in the crazy town that is Silent Hill. Rose feels like a survival horror protagonist brought right onto the silver screen; an everywoman out of her league but determined to see the nightmare through. I really like her character and performance, but almost everyone else really underwhelms, aside from an underutilized Sean Bean and a hammy Alice Krige as main antagonist Christabella.

The film draws plenty of inspiration from the games, including a near replica of the first game's camera angles during Harry's very first encounter with the Otherworld after losing Cheryl. Rose even uses a lighter to light her way through the darkness, and encounters a man tied up with barbed wire. I got a little laugh when Rose bunks into some garbage cans like she's been moved with tank controls. Monster design is taken from the first game and Silent Hill 2, including Grey Children, Lying Figures, and of course Nurses, and everything looks good, no cheap effects here. Pyramid Head appears in two scenes, and he's responsible for a pretty brutal death scene. He's there for fanservice, pure and simple, and his scenes are quick; I can live with him being there even if there's no real meaning behind it.

I was happy with that fact that the film does not try to jumpscare, it's really all atmosphere and tense monster encounters. It's a really slow moving film with an unusually long running time for a film like this, and it can feel like it meanders at times, but overall it's a horror film that will keep you glued to your seat. The cinematography and directing is good, and the film has a great looking Otherworld transition effect (that would later be used in the game Silent Hill: Homecoming).

It's not perfect, and I wouldn't even call it one of the better horror movies out there, but it's solidly crafted horror fun and a faithful crowd-pleaser for fans of the series. The term "video game adaptation" can hold a bad stigma to it, but don't pass up Silent Hill for that. Any horror fan will feel right at home in this film.

Rating: 7/10
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jcgamer107 posted...

Can we also talk about how no one goes through more shit in a horror film than Mary Elizabeth Winstead?? Between this and The Thing prequel, goddam. She can't catch a break. Just brutal.

Not to mention Death Proof and Final Destination 3.
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I'm going to write horror reviews to get some new life into this topic!

10 Cloverfield Lane
Directed by: Dan Trachtenberg
Release Date: March 11, 2016 (Wide Release)
Length: 103 Minutes
Category: Sci-Fi, Thriller

10 Cloverfield Lane is a near perfect horror thriller. It was a film that snuck up on us this year, with a frankly bizarre campaign that had people questioning; was this a Cloverfield sequel, spin-off, something tangentially related, or just coincidentally named? And after seeing it I think the answer is all of them.

The set-up here is simple. The film wastes little time with backstory; our film's lead Michelle leaves her fiancé behind after an argument and within the first 10 minutes of the film Michelle is in that bunker with our other enigmatic lead, Howard. He claims the world above is contaminated, throwing out theories like a Russian invasion or alien attack, and he seems helpful enough despite his large temper. Michelle of course thinks he sounds completely nutso. There's another character in the bunker too, Emmett, a could-have-been track star who alleviates Michelle's fears with friendship and the fact that he WANTS to be in Howard's bunker and was not kidnapped. The film eternally leaves the question of whether or not there is an actual apocalypse happening dangling over our heads for a majority of the film's runtime and leaving you in the dark increases film immersion greatly.

John Goodman's Howard is the best part of the film, a true psychopathic performance that ranks among the greats. His towering girth, outbursts followed by soft-spoken reassurance, and monstrous-sounding movement make him one of the scariest human threats since Patrick Bateman. And yet somehow, it's hard to call Howard a villain. He's done some bad stuff and is hiding secrets galore, but it's true that he's done nothing but help Emmet and Michelle survive despite some insane anger issues. Howard keeps film tension high and will keep you wondering if he really is a necessary evil for survival.

As Dan Trachtenberg's directorial debut, he proves himself a genre master. There are some terrific shots in this, one scene late in the film lit only by a car's flashing alarm lights stood out to me, along with the initial scenes of Michelle in her bunker room that show a sense of claustrophobia and danger. I can't wait to see what he does next.

10 Cloverfield Lane does fumble a bit in its final act. As Michelle eventually escapes the bunker in the last 20 minutes, and sees that there is indeed an alien threat, Howard and the bunker become something of an afterthought with Howard definitely not getting any sort of satisfying end to his story. The alien scenes are fun and actually pretty scary, but the cliche ending of "attacking the alien's weak point for massive damage" had me groaning. Howard was scary enough, I don't think we needed the overblown alien spectacle ending.

Despite some tonally wrong fumbling towards the end, 10 Cloverfield Lane is a film I highly recommend. It's a master thriller throughout, and the final scenes are still well shot and scary. A pleasant surprise that almost anybody will enjoy.

Rating: 9/10
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So you tried to put a fire out, but you used gasoline
http://tinyurl.com/jqx883t - http://tinyurl.com/zqwzc9a - http://tinyurl.com/hzod5pn

Because #2 purged. Or is it viral marketing for the new Purge film?

Movie Recommendation Guide:
http://www.listal.com/list/horror-films-guide

Games Recommendation Guide:
http://www.listal.com/list/survival-horror-video-game-guide

Suggestions welcome all the time!
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Spiral out, keep going...
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