Movie Review: "Pumpkinhead" (1988)

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Movie: "Pumpkinhead" 

Director: Stan Winston
Year: 1988
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 26 minutes

After his son is accidentally killed in a dirt bike accident by a group of vacationing college kids, Ed Harley seeks out the help of a witch to conjure up a demon known as 'Pumpkinhead' to exact revenge on the group of city folk who wronged him.

It's Halloween! All of the Jack o' Lanterns are out and ready to go, and it's the last day of our Halloween horror movie marathon. We are ending our month-long horror extravaganza with the 1988 film "Pumpkinhead." It is directed by the Stan Winston, who is known more for his special effects work than he is for his directorial work. "Pumpkinhead" stars Lance Henriksen as Ed Harley, the owner of a small town general store and single father of a young spiky-haired boy with glasses named Billy, played by Matthew Hurley. When a group of college-aged "city folk" visit the country on vacation, one rowdy member of the group named Joel, because every group has to have that one asshole, decides that after having a few beer, he wants to go dirt-biking outside Harley's general store. When Ed leaves the store to get some livestock feed for a customer, Billy is in an unfortunate accident when Joel hits him with his dirt bike. Fearing jail time, Joel takes off, because apparently hit and run is a less serious offense than vehicular manslaughter, while the others go off looking for help. When Ed gets back, he is understandably distraught and angry, but instead of contacting the police or taking his son to the hospital, he seeks out the help of a witch who will summon Pumpkinhead, a towering demon who will take revenge on your enemies in exchange for your soul...because that was obviously the rational decision in this situation. 

"Pumpkinhead" is a horror movie inspired by a poem. Yes, a poem, one you can read here if you are so inclined. Much like the poem, this movie is short and simple. It is a tale of revenge and regret. It isn't very deep and mostly consists of a giant pumpkin patch demon tormenting some college kids. It stars more of a collection of stereotypes as opposed to characters, including the loudmouth bro type who causes the conflict and the unwarshed hillbilly kids ridin' 'round in the backs of pickup trucks. The acting isn't exactly good. Anyone can put on a Southern accent, but to be truly successful at it takes practice, and no one here does a great job with it. Despite this, the movie excels in two areas, the special effects and makeup work. This is particularly true for Pumpkinhead and the witch who conjures it. They both look super impressive. That's to be expected since Sam Winston is a renowned FX artist.

In "Pumpkinhead," there is a little bit of tension, numerous jump scares, and a little bit of gore that winds up making this a mostly fun watch, though it is still a rather basic creature feature.

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My Rating: 5.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 6.5/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 65%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?

Movie Review: "Found Footage 3D" (2017)

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Movie: "Found Footage 3D" 

Director: Steven DeGennaro
Year: 2016
Rating: NR
Running Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

A group of independent filmmakers documenting the making an independent 3D found footage horror movie find themselves in a real-life horror situation.

A documentary about making a found-footage horror movie becomes a found-footage horror movie. It's sooooooo meta. Found-footage films have been around for a long time. One of the earliest examples is "Cannibal Holocaust" from way back in 1980. Some of them work really well, and some don't work at all. They are often nonsensical and loaded with cliches. Writer/director Steven DeGennaro attempts to do something a little different with the genre by making a self-aware found-footage flick in "Found Footage 3D." It is about a film crew making a low budget found-footage horror movie. They are shooting it at what the locals claim is a haunted house with a tragic history. While they shoot their movie, weird things begin to happen as the crew members become victims of an actual haunting. The movie star Carter Roy, Alena von Stroheim, Chris O'Brien, Tom Saporito, Scott Allen Perry, and Jessica Perrin, who make up the members of the cast and crew of the movie within the movie.

It would seem Steven DeGennaro wants to do to the found-footage genre what Wes Craven did with "Scream" and the slasher genre: he wants to make a movie that spends much of the time pointing out the tropes and cliches of that style of filmmaking, only to fall into the tropes and cliches of the genre. By pointing out they are aware they are making a cliche-riddled movie, the hope is that it will make it perfectly acceptable to make a cliche-riddled movie. This can work...up to a point. The problem is "Found Footage 3D" spends so much time being meta that it forgets to be anything else. The vast majority of the film is insufferably boring and consists of a separated couple arguing while they are pretending to be a married couple whose relationship is falling apart for their movie. This winds up being more annoying than engaging or interesting. The film slogs along for about the first hour and thirty minutes as it builds to its final conclusion. The last ten minutes is when the audience finally gets an all-out horror bloodbath, and we will admit, this last little bit has some really satisfying gore in it. Unfortunately, these precious few minutes aren't enough to justify the molasses-slow 90 minutes leading up to it. "Found Footage 3D" easily could have been 30 minutes shorter. In fact, this material may have been better suited for a short film. It fails to build the necessary tension and suspense needed to make a found-footage movie successful, and the satire just isn't good enough to make the entire thing funny on a consistent basis. In the end, the movie winds up being even less tolerable than most of the found-footage films it is making fun of for nearly its entire runtime.

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My Rating: 4.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 4.5/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: NA%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?

Movie Review: "Nightbreed" (1990)

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Movie: "Nightbreed" (Director's Cut)

Director: Clive Barker
Year: 1990
Rating: R
Running Time: 2 hours, 00 minutes

A young man named Aaron Boone has weird visions of demons and a place called Midian. After he is framed as a serial killer, Aaron seeks out the place from his dream, but when he is gunned down by police, he decides to take up residence in Midian and join the demon-like creatures he once feared.

Clive Barker is a fairly well-recognized name when it comes to the horror genre. Despite that recognition, he has actually only directed three theatrically released feature-length films. The first is his movie, 1987's S&M inspired "Hell Raiser." Another one of his features is the 1995 flick "Lord of Illusion," and the last is this film, "Nightbreed." It stars Craig Sheffer as Aaron Boone, a young man who regularly dreams of demon-like creatures and the place called Midian where they are said to live. He tells his psychiatrist Dr. Decker, played by David Cronenberg, about his dreams. Dr. Decker then convinces Aaron he is responsible for a string of murders that have happened and that he is a serial killer, but doesn't know it because of his mental condition. After hearing this, Aaron goes in search of Midian and discovers it is very much a real place. Unfortunately, the police catch up with Aaron and gun him down. Once he is dead, he is allowed to join the monsters of this town, but their home is threatened and he must now lead them in a battle against the invading humans.

The one thing we can say about Clive Barker is he has quite the imagination when it comes to dark and macabre visuals. We saw the manifestation of his visions in "Hellraiser" and he continues that trend here in "Nightbreed." No matter how poorly constructed the narrative may be, it is at least visually interesting and awesomely bizarre. There is a lot of fabulous makeup work and tons of excellent visual effects implemented on the creatures of "Nightbreed," both of which are brought to life by Bob Keen and Geoffrey Portass. As we mentioned, the story isn't the best and the characters aren't exactly well developed. There are still a lot of tropes going on, like the easily manipulated police officers who seem to be a horror genre staple. That being said, we were still fairly entertained by the action and the visuals and were kept fairly engaged all the way through. It's not the greatest movie film ever, but still a fun time and is worth checking out for those who want to see all of Clive Barker's films.

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My Rating: 6/10
BigJ's Rating: 7/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 36%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?

Movie Review: "Maniac Cop" (1988)

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Movie: "Maniac Cop"

Director: William Lustig
Year: 1988
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 25 minutes

A man dressed as a police officer goes on a murder rampage across New York City.

The police uniform represents authority and is supposed to be a symbol of security. So imagine the surprise of someone expecting help, only to get murdered by one of the boys in blue. That is the general premise of William Lustig's "Maniac Cop." Besides this film, Lustig is known for directing the original "Maniac," and two of the "Maniac Cop" movies, so it's safe to say he likes maniacs. In fact, more than a third of the non-pornographic films he has directed have been about maniacs. The movie is written by Larry Cohen and is about a cop murdering people in New York City. Simple enough, but can it be effective? It stars Tom Atkins as detective Frank McRae, who is investigating the murders. Joining him are Bruce Campbell, Laurene Landon, Sharee North, who are all suspects or suspected accomplices in the killings. Also in the film are Richard Roundtree and William Smith, who play horror movie stereotypes in the form of dumb figures of authority.

This flick is a clumsily made, poorly constructed 80's slasher flick that is only interesting at all because the antagonist is a cop. The feature starts out like any other whodunit mystery as detective McRae looks for evidence to find the killer. It becomes very apparent very quickly this is not a true mystery. There are no real twists or turns, and the only reason we don't know the killer is that the character hasn't been introduced. There is a false suspect, but that individual is not there for our benefit since we know immediately they are innocent. They are only there to be placed in circumstantial situations. As we mentioned above, what kind of horror movie would this be without there stereotypical dumbass authority figures? These idiots keep pointing the finger at the innocent suspect all while the killer goes free. This all happens despite the fact that the lead detective on the case has already told them they have the wrong guy since he was attacked by the killer while the patsy was in custody. UGH. The script is extremely poorly written and doesn't exactly make a whole lot of sense. There is no rhyme or reason to anything, and there is no organic narrative whatsoever. This movie would be alright if the slasher elements were good, but even the murder parts are mediocre. The only redeeming quality of this movie is Bruce Campbell and a 'blink and you miss it' social commentary about police abuse of power that still remains relevant today.

Sadly, "Maniac Cop" is a dull affair.

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My Rating: 4/10
BigJ's Rating: 4/10
IMDB's Rating: 6/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 50%
Do we recommend this movie: No.

Movie Review: "The Fly" (1986)

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Movie: "The Fly"

Director: David Cronenberg
Year: 1986
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 36 minutes

Scientist Seth Brundle has just developed a matter transporter, but when he tests it on himself, a fly gets in the transport chamber with him, causing their genes to unintentionally splice in the process.

Just recently, we watched and reviewed Kurt Neumann's 1958 horror classic "The Fly," which was more of a slow-paced drama with a little horror thrown in to keep it interesting. We decided to watch David Cronenberg's 1986 version of "The Fly" for comparison's sake. It just goes to shows all remakes aren't inherently a bad idea. Much like the original, this is a film about a scientist who is working on developing a matter transporter. Once he tests it on himself, his genes get spliced with the genes of a fly when it sneaks into the transporter with him. The major difference is, in the more modern version, the scientist becomes a single, slowly evolving hybrid version of the two creatures instead of two separate ones. This remake stars Jeff Goldblum as Seth Brundle, the aforementioned scientist attempting to perfect matter transportation. Joining him is Geena Davis as Veronica Quaife, a reporter for a tech magazine who is trying to get a scoop on the story of Seth's discovery, but winds up falling in love in the process. The final major player in the film is Jon Getz as Stathis Borans, Veronica's editor and former lover who becomes a point of contention throughout the movie.

We're not always fans of remakes, but in some cases, they actually wind up being an improvement on an old story or concept. Such is the case with Cronenberg's "The Fly." He has taken a classic story and truly made it his own bizarre, disgusting, engaging and entertaining story. Jeff Goldblum is the perfect casting choice as the rambling, somewhat hyperactive scientist Seth Brundle. Goldblum would go on to play similar roles many more times throughout his career, but this is one of his best performances. Geena Davis does a great job as a driven reporter who is put in an extremely worrisome situation later in the film, which leads to a very unnerving visual moment.

Speaking of unnerving moments, you can't talk about "The Fly" without talking about the insane visuals. They are brought to life by some impressive makeup work and tremendous creature effects by Chris Walas and Stephen Dupuis. Their work on the fly creature is astounding and utterly disturbing. These visually unsettling images help make the film the success that it is, and they took home a much deserved Acadamy Award for their efforts. These aspects still hold up extremely well today.

Though the story of "The Fly" is a fairly simple and effective horror story, it also deals with personal identity and explains a tale of one man's Icarus Syndrome. It demonstrates our desire to fly but shows how someone flying too high too quickly without taking proper precautions will cause them to get burned. David Cronenberg is known for making weird and unnerving films, and "The Fly" is certainly one of his best and one of our favorites. We love Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis here, and when all of these aspects are combined with its incredible visuals, you've got one hell of a horror for the ages.

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My Rating: 8.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 8.5/10
IMDB's Rating: 7.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 91%
Do we recommend this movie: Yes!

Movie Review: "The Fly" (1958)

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Movie: "The Fly"

Director: Kurt Neumann
Year: 1958
Rating: Approved
Running Time: 1 hour, 34 minutes

A scientist who developed a matter transporter suffers a terrible side effect when he tests the invention on himself. 

Movies have always loved to warn audiences of the dangers of striving for scientific advancement. "The Fly" is one such film. It starts out as sort of a murder mystery where Helene Delambre, played by Patricia Owens, is being investigated for crushing her husband's head in an industrial press. She admits to doing it, but the only question the police have is why. This is what we find out as Helene tells the story of the weeks leading up to her husband's death, about the experiment he was working on, and how it all horribly went wrong. Joining Patricia Owens are David Hedison, who plays her husband Andre, Vincent Price, who plays her brother-in-law François, and Herbert Marshall, who plays Inspector Charas, the man investigating Andre's death.

Like many old-school horror films, "The Fly" is a slow-burning drama that is meant to have a shocking climax. It isn't so much what happened, but the visual of finally seeing the results as post-accident the character of Andre spends most the film with a towel over his head. It's clear what happened to him since we can see his hand multiple times, which is included in all its grotesqueness for a little shock value before the big final reveal of his head. There is also a lot of talk about a white-headed fly which plays into the final iconic moments of this film that have been homaged and parodied by many in the decades that followed.

"The Fly" isn't steeped in tension, but it is an intriguing tale showcasing an example of Icarus flying too high and getting burned. In an attempt to change the world, Andre found only his own destruction. There is quite a bit of tragedy to "The Fly" and you really feel for the characters, especially Helene, who has to deal with the moral implications of her actions. In the end, though a little slow at times and quite dated, it still is an interesting story with epic acting.

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My Rating: 6/10
BigJ's Rating: 6.5/10
IMDB's Rating: 7.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 95%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?

Movie Review: "The Craft" (1996)

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Movie: "The Craft"

Director: Andrew Fleming
Year: 1996
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 41 minutes

A group of high school girls who practice witchcraft starts to use their magical powers for revenge and personal gain. Things quickly get out of hand.

See, this is what happens when you give catty teenage girls magical powers! "The Craft" is a film about four of the most powerful teenage witches to come out of the 90's who are not named Sabrina. It stars Robin Tunney as Sarah, the new girl at her Catholic school. She has just moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles with her family. A short time after arriving, she becomes ostracized when star football player Chris Hooker, played by Skeet Ulrich, starts a nasty rumor about her sexual practices and prowess. Now that she's a bit of a pariah, she starts to hang out with three other outcast girls named Nancy, Bonnie, and Rochelle, played by Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell, and Rachel True. This group of girls just so happen to dabble in witchcraft, and Sarah becomes the key fourth element in their group. It turns out, she was just what they needed to make their spells work properly. The girls, being the bitter catty teenagers they are, use their powers to get even with those who have wronged them, and really, most of the people in their crosshairs deserved it. Of course, things start to spiral drastically out of hand when people start dying.

"The Craft" is a typical 90's horror movie that has been targeted to a teenage audience despite its R rating. The film was clearly shot with a PG-13 rating in mind since there really isn't much in the way of gore, language, or sex. Despite that, the film still got slapped with an R rating dues to its occult themes and an attempted rape scene.

This really isn't a "good movie" in the traditional sense. The acting is pretty bad all around. Robin Tunney can barely do anything convincingly, and Fairuza Balk is so over the top when delivering all of her lines that it's laughable. Everyone else in the movie is pretty one-note in terms of their performances and their characters. The story is relatively weak. When it comes down to it, it's little more than a high school drama with some witchy magic thrown in for fun. The narrative is comical at times, and there is a point when the witches turn on each other the catalyst for which is a bit ridiculous. Despite everything wrong with "The Craft," we would be lying if we said we weren't entertained by the absurdity of it all.

Despite its bad acting, writing, and 90's CGI, we still had a really fun time watching "The Craft" in all its campy emo witchy teen drama glory. It's these kinds of movies that are destined to become classics down the line and we're glad we gave it the time.

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My Rating: 6.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 5.5/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 50%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?

Movie Review: "Puppet Master" (1989)

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Movie: "Puppet Master"

Director: David Schmoeller
Year: 1989
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

A group of colleagues, each with a form of ESP, are invited to a hotel owned by an old acquaintance who recently committed suicide. They believe he may have uncovered the secret of Toulon the puppet master and hope to find where he hid it. However, they are met by a group of murderous puppets who seem determined to eliminate them one by one.

Oh, look, another killer doll movie! As you may have seen from our last few reviews, the late 80's contained a treasure trove of movies featuring murderous toys. It started with "Dolls," then "Child's Play, which popularized the subgenre, and eventually in 1989, we had director David Shmoeller's "Puppet Master." The film stars Paul Le Mat, Irene Miracle, Matt Roe, and Kathryn O'Reilly, who play four colleagues named Alex, Dana, Frank, and Carissa. Each person has a different form of ESP. After they all have a separate vision, they believe an old colleague of theirs named Neil Gallagher, played by Jimmie F. Skaggs, has learned the hiding place to the secret of Andre Toulon the Puppet Master. So, they head to the Bodega Bay Inn that Neil and his wife Megan, played by Robin Frates, had recently acquired in order to search for the secret of Toulon. Once there, they learn of Neil's untimely death and find out they may be about to meet their doom at the hands of Toulon's puppets.

We really enjoyed "Dolls" and "Child's Play," so we decided to continue our killer doll mini-marathon with "Puppet Master." It was while watching this feature that we hit a brick wall of boredom and our awesome little killer doll adventure was derailed. What we were hoping for was a movie focused on Toulon's killer puppets, and though they eventually show up at the tail end of the film, far too much time is spent focused on the human characters. We neither care for or care about what happens to these four abrasive psychics with piss poor attitudes. We found ourselves waiting for the puppets to show up and do their business and then proceeded to root for them when they did. It really takes too damn long for this movie to get going, and in all the time before the puppets show up, "Puppet Master" is slow paced, devoid of tension, and just not engaging at all. Luckily, the puppets themselves look cool, and we get a little stop-motion animation and other FX work that brings them to life. Each puppet has its special trick and different attribute, so we get a bit of creativity there, but beyond that, there isn't much else with this flick. It's poorly acted, badly written, and not well directed, and it is one of the more forgettable killer doll movies. It's a bit of a mystery to us how it spawned so many sequels.

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My Rating: 3.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 3.5/10
IMDB's Rating: 5.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 43%
Do we recommend this movie: No.

Movie Review: "Dolls" (1987)

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Movie: "Dolls"

Director: Stuart Gordon
Year: 1987
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 17 minutes

A family on summer vacation gets stuck in the mud on a stormy night. They seek shelter in the home of a nearby toymaker and his wife. They are allowed to stay the night with a few other storm-weary travelers, though it may wind up being their last night alive as the toys in this house may not quite be what they appear to be.

Beware kind, old couples who readily let strangers stay in their doll-infested home. Killer doll movies seem to have been all the rage in the late 80's. "Child's Play" is obviously the most notable of the genre, but a year prior in 1987 came Stuart Gordon's "Dolls." Gordon is known for directing numerous horror films like "Re-Animator," "From Beyond," and "Dagon." The feature is written by Ed Naha, who worked on movies like "Troll" and "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids." It stars Ian Patrick Williams as David Bower, a very bad father who neglects his daughter and is more interested in his wealthy new wife Rosemary, played by Caroline Purdy-Gordon, who is the definition of a wicked stepmother. Joining them is Carrie Lorraine, who plays David's mistreated daughter Judy, as well as Guy Rolfe and Hilary Mason, who play Gabriel and Hilary Hartwicke, the toy makers who invite the Bower family into their home when they get stranded in a storm. Also in the film Cassie Stuart, Bunty Bailey, and Stephen Lee as the three more weary travelers who get stuck in the torrential downpour and are invited into the Hartwicke home. The Hartwick couple seems too kind to be true, but these stranded travelers could not imagine what tests they would endure in the night to come.

Remember that scene in "Toy Story" when all of Spike's toys come to life and attack him? Well, that's basically what happens in "Dolls." This is a fun, creepy story where seemingly innocuous toys and dolls come to life to kill the morally reprehensible. Many horror films offer a moral tale to go along with gore and mayhem, and this one is no different. If you are mean, nasty, cynical, and self-serving, you can be sure these toys will come for you in the night.

The magic of bringing these toys to life seems to be achieved through both puppetry and stop-motion animation. The stop-motion aspect gives the film a really cool look. There is a lot of humor in the movie as well. We get a lot of little jokes and darkly humorous situations. Stuart Gordon has a knack for these low budget comedic terror films, and if you have liked any of his other work, you will enjoy this one as well. The acting isn't great and the dialogue is often super cheesy, but it still manages to be a really good time none the less. It is every bit as good as almost any other killer doll movie we have seen.

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My Rating: 7/10
BigJ's Rating: 7/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.4/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 62%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?

Movie Review: "Child's Play 2" (1990)

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Movie: "Child's Play 2"

Director: John Lafia
Year: 1990
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 24 minutes

The Good Guy toy manufacturer has been trying to cover up the incident with Chucky while simultaneously reconstructing Chucky to prove he's just a normal doll. They were wrong. Meanwhile, after his mom is placed in a mental institution, Andy is put in foster care, but the family who has taken him into their home doesn't seem to want him and all his baggage.

Chucky is back and is ready to play "hide the soul." Much like the first film, "Child's Play 2" is about a murderous doll possessed by serial killer Charles Lee Ray trying to put his soul in the body of a young child named Andy so he doesn't have to stay a doll forever. Josh Lafia takes over as director for this installment, but Don Mancini does return to write another in-depth and nuanced screenplay...OK, OK, the film is about as deep as a kiddy pool and is as nuanced as a plain hamburger from McDonald's. That doesn't mean it isn't fun. Returning to the cast are Alex Vincent as Andy Barclay and Brad Dourif as voice of Chucky. New to the cast are Jenny Agutter and Gerrit Graham, who play Andy's foster parents Joanne and Phil Simpson, and Christine Elise as their older foster daughter Kyle.

One may ask how a sequel to "Child's Play" got made when Chucky wound up burned and blown to bits in the original film. Clearly, they needed a plot device to set this sequel in motion, and that device is the greed of a big toy manufacturing company. This is a company so afraid of the bad press from one their dolls possibly being a murdering psychopath that they completely rebuild the doll in question to prove he wasn't a murdering psychopath, only to find out he was......oopsy daisy!! Apart from that small difference, the same story from the original Chucky applies almost beat for beat. Chucky tries to find Andy, nobody believes that Chucky is real until he comes to life right before murdering them, wash, rinse, repeat until almost everyone is killed.

Despite being mostly a rehash of the first film, we still managed to have a decent time watching "Child's Play 2" mostly thanks to Brad Dourif's voiceover and the bits of comedy that get sprinkled into this horror flick. It really is the character of Chucky that carries these movies and makes them so much fun. For the most part, Andy simply runs around yelling about how the doll is going to kill him while everyone else is a single-dimension character who keeps insisting that Andy is just a little off his rocker. In a world full of silent lumbering slashers, the foul-mouthed, loud-mouth Chucky is always a nice, frequently funny change of pace.

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My Rating: 6/10
BigJ's Rating: 6.5/10
IMDB's Rating: 5.8/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 40%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?

Movie Review: "Child's Play" (1988)

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Movie: "Child's Play"

Director: Tom Holland
Year: 1988
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 27 minutes

A dying serial killer named Charles Lee Ray transfers his soul into a 'Good Guy Doll,' which winds up in the hands of a six-year-old boy named Andy. Now, Chucky wants to transfer his soul out of the doll and into Andy so he can live again, and he is willing to kill anyone who gets in his way.

Dolls can be very creepy. We think it's the soulless looking eyes that do the trick. They have been a go-to antagonist in horror movies for quite some time. Chucky may not be the first killer doll in a horror movie, but he is certainly one of if not the most memorable. Director Tom Holland, no, not THAT Tom Holland, is known for his other horror films like "Fright Night" and "Thinner." He takes a bit of a twist on the standard eighties slasher and adds a supernatural element by making the killer a possessed two-foot tall doll.

The story is about a serial killer named Charles Lee Ray, played by Brad Dourif, who, in a desperate attempt to save his own life after being fatally wounded, transfers his soul into a 'Good Guy Doll.' He's just lucky he wasn't around a display of Barbies or Cabbage Patch Kids because that may have changed the entire tone of the movie. The doll eventually becomes the property of a six-year-old boy named Andy, played by Alex Vincent, who received it as a birthday present from his mother Karen, played by Catherine Hicks. She unwittingly purchased the possessed doll from a homeless peddler in the alley behind her work, which is always the best place to find discount children's gifts, didn't you know?!

"Child's Play" is a fun, slightly tongue in cheek horror film that we love watching during Halloween time. It has plenty of gore and tons of horrific moments, the most memorable of which involves a voodoo doll and the breaking of some limbs. There is a hefty dose of absurdity to everything that happens here, and as the series went farther and farther along, it started to embrace those comedic elements more and more. This first installment does have its fair share of humor beyond the fact that full-grown adults are constantly wrestling a very small doll. Chucky himself delivers a lot of quips and insults that certainly make the audience chuckle. The final conflict between Chucky and Andy is extremely unsettling and really gross. The acting in this film isn't great, but it's actually not all that bad either. Catherine Hicks and Chris Sarandon, who plays Detective Mike Norris, are very capable performers. Brad Dourif also does some awesome, now iconic voice-over work as Chucky. The plot is as simple as they come and the film does have the occasional jump scare, but it doesn't really overdo it.

In the end, "Child's Play" is a good damn time (before the series got wildly out of hand). Fans of cheesy 80s horror will rejoice while watching this film.

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My Rating: 7.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 7.5/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 69%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?

Movie Review: "Tales of Halloween" (2015)

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Movie: "Tales of Halloween"

Director: Darren Lynn Bousman, Axelle Carolyn, Adam Gierasch, Andrew Kasch, Neil Marshall, Lucky McKee, Mike Mendez, Dave Parker, Ryan Schifrin, John Skipp, & Paul Solet
Year: 2015
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 32 minutes

An anthology of ten Halloween-related horror stories.

"Tales of Halloween" consists of 10 loosely connected short films that all take place on Halloween night. Here's a recap of the individual shorts.

"Sweet Tooth" is written and directed by Dave Parker. It's about a candy-craving monster who kills those who don't share their candy with him. This entry boasts a strong premise that is a lot of gruesome fun. It's a little slow at first, but the payoff is worth it.

"The Night Billy Raised Hell" is up next, which is directed by Darren Lynn Bousman and is written by Clint Sears. When a young trick-or-treater is pressured into egging a house, he finds out the house belongs to the actual devil, who is about to show him what a real Halloween prank looks like. This short film is a raucous good time with a good dose of silly dark comedy.

"Trick" is the third short, which is directed by Adam Gierasch and is written by Greg Commons. A group of adults gets a bad trick from a group of trick-or-treating kids. It's a bit of a different take on the slasher film with a few extra twists thrown in. A worthy entry into this anthology.

"The Weak and the Wicked" is directed by Paul Solet and is written by Molly Millions. A teen attempts to summon a demon to exact revenge on his childhood bullies. Unfortunately, this short is one of the weaker entries. It doesn't quite fit the flow of the rest of the shorts and is also sort of boring.

Next, we have "Grim Grinning Ghost," which is written and is directed by Axelle Carolyn. A woman is tormented by a ghost who steals the eyes of anyone who looks at it. This one is an excellent entry. It is simple but has great tension. It successfully creeped us out.

"Ding Dong" is written and directed by Lucky McKee. It is about a witch who wants a child and a husband who did his best to prevent her from getting one. This is a bizarre entry that's weirder than anything else in this anthology, and we weren't huge fans of this one.

"This Means War" is written and directed by Andrew Kasch and John Skipp. This short pits two neighbors with different ideas on what makes Halloween great against each other. They both have varying ideas on how one should decorate and act during the holiday, so they battle it out in a fight to the death to prove their side is right. This is a basic short film that doesn't have much tension but is full of silly fun.

"Friday the 31st" is directed by Mike Mendez, who also wrote the short along with Dave Parker. A deformed psycho killer meets his match in a small trick-or-treating alien. This is BigJ's favorite entry and it's one of the funniest. It is an over the top, hilarious bloodfest reminiscent of "Evil Dead 2" or "Army of Darkness."

"The Ransom of Rusty Rex" is written and directed by Ryan Schifrin. Two kidnappers snatch who they believe is the son of a wealthy man to be held for ransom. What they get, however, is a nightmarish demon who gets very attached to those he likes. This interesting concept turns the tables on the villains. This is a successful and overall solid entry in the anthology.

"Bad Seed" is the last short in the bunch. This one is written and directed by Neil Marshall. A genetically engineered pumpkin becomes a killer man-eating jack-o-lantern. This is a fun final entry that gives a few nods to some of the earlier ones in the anthology, as well as a few homages to certain horror classics. "Bad Seed" is definitely a good time.

When it comes to anthologies, they can be hit or miss. Often times, there are more bad entries than good ones. "Tales of Halloween," however, has an overwhelming number of good entries compared to bad and mediocre ones. We enjoy the mostly tongue-in-cheek comedic approach it takes with its short films, and we think this is a great way to get into the spirit of the holiday. You may have to sit through a couple of lulls, but the high points more than make up for them. This anthology is a pleasant surprise.

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My Rating: 7/10
BigJ's Rating: 7/10
IMDB's Rating: 5.4/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 79%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?

Movie Review: "The Frighteners" (1996)

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Movie: "The Frighteners"

Director: Peter Jackson
Year: 1996
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 50 minutes

A spiritual medium/paranormal investigator/scam artist is thrown into a real investigation when he discovers that a ghost is killing from beyond the grave.

Before Peter Jackson became known for making big-budget fantasy epics like "The Lord of the Rings," "King Kong," and "The Hobbit," he spent much of his early filmmaking career making horror comedies like "Bad Taste," "Dead Alive," and, of course, "The Frighteners." This film stars Michael J. Fox as Frank Bannister, a paranormal investigator, and spiritual medium. A tragic experience many years prior gave Frank the ability to see and speak to the dead. He uses this power in a shady way by having his ghost friends haunt houses so he can be paid to clear them. He seems to be running a decent racket, though he lives in a shabby, unfinished house. All of this changes when he comes face to face with a spirit that is actually killing people from beyond the grave. Now, he has to actually do what he has only been pretending to do up until this point. Joining Fox are Chi McBride, Jim Fyfe, and Jon Astin, who play Frank's ghostly pals, as well as Trini Alvarado, who plays love interest named Lucy Lynskey. For fans of cult classic horror films, Jeffery Combs from the "Re-Animator" series stars here as well, alongside Dee Wallace, who is a horror icon and has appeared in numerous films in the genre.

This movie starts off very fun and light in tone, then takes a dark turn part of the way through. "The Frighteners" is rated R, but watching the first half, we started to wonder why. It almost feels like a goofy ghost comedy that would be fun for the whole family. It is silly and filled with CGI ghosts doing ridiculous stuff, then suddenly, it gets a more horror-focused. By the second half, the mood has totally changed. That's not to say the comedy element is completely gone, but the story becomes far less silly by the latter half and contains much more violent imagery.

Michael J. Fox does a great job in his part. It helps that he was a comedy staple in the 80's. He has a pretty solid story to work with that keeps us engaged almost entirely. Jeffery Combs' character, FBI agent Milton Dammers, also offers a lot of funny moments and is a real highlight of the film. Apart from the acting, the CGI is extremely dated. The technology was very new at the time, and it appears, like most children with a new toy, Peter Jackson just wanted to see what he could do with it. Much of what happens here winds up looking super fake and really cheesy in retrospect, especially considering much of what was done could have likely been made more convincingly with practical effects. We are sure "The Frighteners" was groundbreaking at the time, but there is something to be said for knowing your limits and the limits of the technology you are working with. This is a mistake Jackson still makes even today. Just because something can be done with CGI, doesn't mean it necessarily should be, especially if the alternative will look better.

Despite its dated visuals, "The Frighteners" is a fairly entertaining ghost feature. It's got a lot of laughs and some good performances. The shift from super silly comedy to downright violent horror midway through its runtime will keep the audience guessing what's yet to come.

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My Rating: 6/10
BigJ's Rating: 6.5/10
IMDB's Rating: 7.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 62%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?

Movie Review: "Halloween: Resurrection" (2002)

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Movie: "Halloween: Resurrection"

Director: Rick Rosenthal
Year: 2002
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 34 minutes

When a group of college kids joins a reality internet show being filmed at the childhood home of Michael Myers, the infamous killer comes out of hiding to go on another Halloween murdering spree. 

So here we are, yet again, on another Halloween with another group of young adults just waiting to get murdered. You may be thinking, hey, wait a minute, didn't Michael Myers have his head chopped off at the end of "Halloween: H20"? Don't worry, the writers of this movie have an easy solution for that whole situation to allow for Myers to return and kill again.

"Halloween: Resurrection" is directed by Rick Rosenthal, who is best known for directing "Halloween 2." One would hope Rosenthal's return would signal a return to form for the series. It had been over twenty years since the last installment, and at this point, the series is just too stale and unimaginative to be resuscitated properly. Enter "Halloween: Resurrection," just when we thought it couldn't get any worse.

Jamie Lee Curtis once again reprises her role as Laurie Strode, though her appearance is brief and apparently done out of a contractual obligation according to Curtis herself. Once Strode is out of the picture, Michael Myers finds new targets that have nothing to do with familial ties and have everything to do with the group's proximity to his childhood home. A group of college kids has signed up to be part of an online reality-style show where they investigate the old Myers house to discover why Michael went bat-shit crazy and started murdering people. The cast includes Bianca Kajlich, Sean Patrick Thomas, Katee Sackhoff, Luke Kirby, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Daisy McCrackin, Tyra Banks, and Busta Rhymes, yes, that Busta Rhymes.

What we have here, as you may have guessed by our disdain thus far, is a recycled slasher story trying to squeeze whatever money is left out of a floundering franchise. This is a horror film filled with meaningless fake-out jump scares and tons upon tons of bad acting. There is an added little twist as this movie is partially filmed in the found-footage style as the would-be Myers victims all wear body cameras... as if what was missing from the franchise was shaky, poor quality camera work. "The Blair Witch Project" had come out a few years earlier, and our guess is the filmmaker must have figured found-footage was all the rage... it must be what the public wants nowadays! They couldn't have been more wrong. Sure, there is a bit of blood and guts and some gore here and there, but since we don't give a shit about any of the characters, we don't care if any of them survive. We actually get a little mad when some of them do live to tell their tale.

If we had to sum up this entry into the "Halloween" series in one word, that word would be pointless, which probably applies to every Halloween entry since 1988. "Halloween: Resurrection" is useless, irrelevant, and dull, a tired has-been that only wishes it was as good as the worst installment in this franchise.

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My Rating: 2/10
BigJ's Rating: 2/10
IMDB's Rating: 4.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 12%
Do we recommend this movie: AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!

Movie Review: "The Cell" (2000)

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Movie: "The Cell"

Director: Tarsem Singh
Year: 2000
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 47 minutes

A psychologist goes into the mind of a serial killer in order to find out where he has imprisoned his latest victim.

Is"The Cell" a well thought out psychological mind-bending sci-fi horror crime thriller or is it just an excuse to get Jennifer Lopez and Vincent D'Onofrio into cool looking outfits and makeup? Lopez plays Catherine Deane, a psychologist who must literally go into the twisted mind of serial killer Carl Stargher, played by D'Onofrio, to help Agent Peter Novak, played by Vince Vaughn, and the FBI find his latest abductee before it's too late. Inside Stargher's mind, we see a surreal landscape, an S&M and art-inspired world controlled by an idealized version of himself, who is often wearing outfits that are creepy but colorful and lavish when he isn't simply a monochromatic demon. The makeup work, costuming, and set designs in the world inside his mind are spectacular looking.

This movie is the feature film directorial debut Tarsem Singh, who prior to this had mainly directed music videos. You can clearly see the influence of this experience in the final product of "The Cell" if you look at the aforementioned art inspired design. This project also serves as the debut of writer Mark Protosevich, who would go on to write screenplays for "Poseidon" and "I Am Legend," though the writing is probably the weakest part of this particular film.

Behind all of the gorgeous costumes, makeup, and the surreal dream world of the mind, at its core, "The Cell" is a fairly basic crime thriller. An abducted girl is trapped in a cell and there's a ticking time clock to her death via some sort of inefficient killing method designed by a wannabe James Bond villain. Though much of it takes place in the mind of a serial killer, it doesn't really add anything to the overall plot. Catherine is hired to find where this woman is being held captive, but nothing she does seems to work. By the end of the second act, it's Catherine herself that needs to be rescued from the situation. It's a bit of a spoiler, but there's no evidence in the mind of the killer that didn't exist outside of it.

We would hope there would be some greater meaning to all the weird visuals, but there really isn't. The isn't much depth or metaphor in play. It all seems to be about what Singh thought would look cool and having an "outside of reality" dream world act only exists as a place where all these visuals could become a reality. There is no greater purpose to these sequences, they just look really bitchin' on film. That being said, despite not adding much but filler to the overall story, it is those visuals that make "The Cell" worth watching. Without them, this movie is handicapped by its derivative nature.

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My Rating: 5.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 6/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 46%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?

Movie Review: "Sleepaway Camp" (1983)

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Movie: "Sleepaway Camp"

Director: Robert Hiltzik
Year: 1983
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 24 minutes

An introverted teenage girl and her protective cousin head to camp for the summer. A short time after arriving, a string of murders breaks out, threatening to end their summer early, if they make it out alive at all.

With the success of "Friday the 13th" back in 1980, horror filmmakers would spawn numerous summer camp slasher flicks in the years that followed. "Sleepaway Camp" is one of those films. This movie is written and directed Robert Hiltzik and it is his feature film debut. In fact, it would be the only feature he would write or direct until the release of the series' only official sequel: the direct-to-video "Return to Sleepaway Camp," which came out in 2008. The film stars Felissa Rose and Jonathan Tierston as Angela and Ricky, two cousins who are spending their summer at Camp Arawak. Angela is very introverted and doesn't talk much, which makes her a target for the numerous camp bullies. Her cousin Ricky is very protective and lashes out violently at anyone who messes with her. One might think he would even kill to protect her. When campers and counselors start turning up dead, the camp's head honcho Mel, played by Mike Kellen, tries to write them off as accidents, as one would do because money is clearly more important than the lives of a few camper kids. In order to save his camp, not necessarily the lives of the campers, just his camp, he is now determined to catch the killer.

The 80's were certainly a different, wild time. There are some scenes in "Sleepaway Camp" that are pretty off-putting, but hey, this is a horror film and it was the 80's, so that makes it okay, right?? The camp's head chef openly refers to many of the young female campers as "baldies" as his co-workers laugh off the comments like he is just a joker. He attempts to assault the film's female protagonist in a refrigerator, and despite being caught just short of having his pants down, he is never close to being reprimanded. It's abhorrent and disgusting to watch. ***SPOILER ALERT*** Needless to say, he becomes the killer's first victim (and rightfully so) ***end spoiler.***

This is a little bit of a whodunit-style mystery, though it doesn't really do a great job at creating a whole heck of a lot of suspects. The possible list of suspects is at max three people deep and really, there are only two solid suspects if we are truly looking at motives. Though the mystery aspect of "Sleepaway Camp" is weak, there are some cool looking death scenes with a lot of creative makeup work on the corpses. Boiling water and bees make for neat, gross looking gore effects. The film does capture summer camp life pretty well, mainly the fact that kids can be total dicks to each other when given a lot of free time and little supervision. The ending of this feature is probably the most well-known part of it. It is shocking and jaw-dropping, only because of how out of left field it is and how far away it was from the conventional norms of the time. BigJ had seen this movie before, but I certainly had no clue where it was going.

Despite some mediocre acting, the worst of 80's fashion, some extremely questionable plot points which are super dated and unbearably creepy to watch, and heaps of cheesy dialogue, "Sleepaway Camp" is still a decent horror flick, especially if you don't know the ending.

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My Rating: 7/10
BigJ's Rating: 7/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 83%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?

Movie Review: "The Strangers" (2008)

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Movie: "The Strangers"

Director: Bryan Bertino
Year: 2008
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 26 minutes

After returning home from a wedding, and in the middle of a fight, a couple is threatened by a group of random home invaders who want to terrorize and possibly murder them.

Sitting at home, awake, between the late hours of the night and the early hours of the morning when the light is at its darkest, a loud knock can be heard at the door. This is never a good sign, especially when in an isolated vacation home in the woods. This is a fear perpetuated by the media every day, the fear that at any given moment, someone out there wants to do you harm just for the hell of it. It's enough to send chills down your spine.

Writer/Director Bryan Bertino plays on these most basic fears in his movie "The Strangers." The film stars Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman as seemingly long-time couple Kristen McKay and James Hoyt. They have just returned home from a wedding reception. They have clearly been fighting as James's planned marriage proposal did not play out as expected. Unfortunately, neither does the rest of their night. As they hear a random knock on the door, they find a woman who is going door to door supposedly looking for someone. A short time later, she and two other people in masks randomly decide they want to harass this couple for seemingly no reason. It turns what was already a rocky night into an even deadlier one.

Unsettling tension is the name of the game in "The Strangers." This film is built on the most basic concept imaginable but is very effective for the most part. The three strangers have a very simplistic look. One of them has a standard burlap sack over their head, and the other two are wearing baby doll and pinup girl masks. The film centers around their entirely random act of violence that, in many ways, is the most frightening fear of all. Random acts like this are often associated with serial killers and cults like The Manson Family.

There are loud noises here and there that will make you jump, but they are never cheap or unnecessary jump scares. The jump scares are always within the context of the story and it's never some random raccoon jumping on trash cans making a loud bang. Most of the terror comes from the attackers being present in the room in plain sight while our protagonist is unaware of it. The movie does start to fall into typical tropes midway through its runtime as people separate from one another. They also fail to call the police and never really get the hell out of there. Of course, without these tropes, there would be no movie at all. The killers also seem to have this unique ability to vanish at the drop of a hat or cover very large spans of distance quickly and silently. We can't say Liv Tyler or Scott Speedman are all that impressive as far as their performance goes, but they are more than serviceable as they have to act out the scared and sometimes dumb actions of these characters.

There are some genuine scares in "The Strangers," and we found ourselves on the edge of the seat several times while watching it. Director Bryan Bertino tries to keep the tension high for most of the film, so that's a huge plus. It probably helps the scare factor that we watched this late at night and our dog started furiously barking at the back door as if we had an unwelcome visitor.

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My Rating: 6.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 6.5/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 45%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?

Movie Review: "The Howling" (1981)

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Movie: "The Howling"

Director: Joe Dante
Year: 1981
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 31 minutes

A television news reporter is assaulted by a stalker and is left traumatized. She is invited to a therapeutic retreat by her doctor, who may have sinister intentions for inviting her there. 

The year 1981 offered moviegoers a showdown of films featuring werewolves. One could even say it was the year of the werewolf. The most notable from that year is, of course, John Landis' classic "An American Werewolf in London." Another werewolf flick from that year is "Wolfen," directed by Michael Wadleigh. Before either of those titles hit theaters, in April of 1981, Joe Dante released his werewolf feature called "The Howling." The film stars Dee Wallace as TV reporter Karen White, who has been convinced by police to act as bait in order to catch wanted serial killer Eddie Quist, played by Robert Picardo. The killer has made contact with her numerous times, so she is asked to meet him in an adult video store where Quist makes contact right before police gun him down. This leaves Karen a bit traumatized, understandably so. Her doctor George Waggner, played by Patrick Macnee, recommends she and her husband visit his seaside retreat where he attends to many other patients. At first, this retreat seems like a therapy group full of decent people, but as time passes, they start to realize not everyone is exactly what they seem, and that many of Dr. Waggner's patients may actually be lycanthropes.

It's a little unfortunate "The Howling" was so massively overshadowed by "An American Werewolf in London" because it is a very solid werewolf flick. It has some tremendously good makeup work and special effects in its own right. Of the two, this movie is more horror-driven, mostly trying for a spine-chilling tone, tension, and plenty of gore. It has a pretty cool looking transformation scene towards the end of the flick, and we actually prefer the design of the fully-formed giant bipedal werewolves here as opposed to the quadrupedal werewolf seen in the John Landis feature. The lycanthropes here are extremely well designed and very scary looking, offering a traditional werewolf design. Many scenes involve gross blood and gore makeup as well, especially towards the end of the film to go along with the transformation scene. This movie has a lot going for it in terms of horror elements.

Its biggest detriment is that it's a bit poorly paced. It is slow to start in the early portion of the film. Luckily, we like the lead actors here and think Dee Wallace and Christopher Stone offer good performances, so whenever we're feeling a lull in horror, their performances still keep us entertained. Unfortunately, many of the actors in the supporting cast have wild, cheesy, over the top performances, which makes for a jarring tone at times. We also like some of the themes "The Howling" deals with and we think the ending provides an interesting way to wrap it all up. The way many other characters react to the climax also says a lot about society as a whole (but we won't go into too much detail, you'll just have to see it for yourself).

Despite numerous other lycanthrope-related options from 1981, "The Howling" is a werewolf feature that's still worth your time.

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My Rating: 7/10
BigJ's Rating: 7.5/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 67%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?

Movie Review: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1992)

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Movie: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"

Director: Fran Rubel Kuzui
Year: 1992
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 1 hour, 26 minutes

A high school cheerleader finds out she is the chosen one and that it is her destiny to rid the world of vampires.

Before becoming a wildly successful television series that ran for seven seasons, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was a cheesy early 90's vampire comedy. This original film version is directed by Fran Rubel Kuzui. It was only the second feature she had directed and it would turn out to be her last. After seeing some of her directorial choices, we can kind of see why it wasn't really her bag. As many may or may not know, this film is written by Joss Whedon, who would go on to write and direct "The Avengers." Whedon also created television shows "Firefly" and the aforementioned "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" series. It should probably be mentioned that the film is Whedon's concept and is mostly based on his script, but it is said he was very unhappy with how the studio handled his material. What wound up on screen is apparently not his original vision.

This film stars Kristy Swanson as the titular Buffy, a vapid valley girl type whose main concerns are cheerleading, boys, shopping, and her social life. Her life drastically changes when she meets Merrick, played by Donald Sutherland, who tells her she is the chosen one and that it is her destiny to battle and destroy all of the vampires in the world. As her life turns upside down, she gets help from a very unlikely place, a drunk slacker named Pike, played by Luke Perry at the peak of his "Beverly Hills 90210" popularity. Also in the film are Rutger Hauer, Paul Reubens, Hilary Swank, and David Arquette. If you look hard enough, you can even see a real quick appearance of Ben Affleck in an uncredited performance as Basketball Player #10.

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" winds up being a mostly goofy lighthearted teen comedy that happens to have a central plot involving vampires. It would be most closely related to a film like 1985's "Once Bitten," or 1987's "My Best Friend is a Vampire." Overall, it's a very formulaic comedy with bad acting and poor character and story development. That being said, some of the dialogue is over the top hilarious and we laughed quite a bit while watching this movie (whether intentionally or unintentionally so). So many moments are so ridiculous that they are hilarious. For example, the action sequences aren't well choreographed. They are so over the top and so poorly constructed that they are somehow entertaining. The technical aspects of the film itself are pretty abysmal. The poor audio quality is most distracting, and this is not even something we notice most of the time. Most of the dialogue clearly had to be looped and the re-recordings sound like they were recorded in an empty echo chamber room with high ceilings.

It's surprising how two properties with the same concept and even same title and writer turned out so drastically different. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" spawned one of the defining television shows of our youth whether we watched it or not, so to go back and see where it all began is sort of a trip considering how off-the-wall goofy this film really is. It's sort of fun to watch, sure, but the technical aspects are so bad that it makes it a little hard to digest.

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My Rating: 5/10
BigJ's Rating: 5/10
IMDB's Rating: 5.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 34%
Do we recommend this movie: Meh.

Movie Review: "The Funhouse" (1981)

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Movie: "The Funhouse"

Director: Tobe Hooper
Year: 1981
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 36 minutes

Four teens decide to spend the night in the funhouse of a traveling carnival. Once inside for the night, they witness a murder by one of the carnies, which makes them the killer's next target. Now, they must find a way out of the funhouse before the killer finds them.

Ahh, the carnival, a place where people can have fun, eat junk food, ride rickety rides, and play fairway games that will cost more than any prize is worth. There is also a bit of a perceived underlying shadiness to the carnival worker. Maybe it's because of their nomadic lifestyle or the fact that they are strangers in every town where they travel. They are, more often than not, portrayed as unsavory characters in films. In "The Funhouse,"' this is no different. Famed horror director Tobe Hooper, who is best known for his iconic film "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," plays on our pre-existing fears by bringing in the most unsavory elements of the carnival and amplifying them. A group of teens, played by Amy Harper, Cooper Huckabee, Largo Woodruff, and Miles Chapin, attend the carnival one evening and being the horny, rambunctious people they are, decide to spend the night in the funhouse. They plan to hang out and have some sex, but what they didn't expect was to witness a murder. When the group is discovered, they become the killer's next target in order to make sure there are no witnesses.

This movie starts off with what could be called an homage, though some may call it a ripoff, of other classic horror films like "Halloween" and "Psycho," played mostly for laughs. From there, the movie takes a long break from any horror elements in order to introduce the four main characters as well as the carnival setting. Hooper and his makeup and costuming department do try to make the carnival barker and the other carnies look as creepy as possible. It isn't until well past the halfway point where anything truly violent or horrific happens. Once the kills start unfolding, the pace is pretty frantic from that point on as this mutant killer chases the four teens around an unbelievably large funhouse, picking each of them off one by one. There are a few really gross, bloody moments that will please most horror fans, and there is some tremendous looking makeup work on the mutant killer antagonist. There is, however, an odd subplot involving the main character's younger brother as he sneaks out and goes to the carnival himself. He pops up throughout the majority of the downtime and his little subplot ends without much excitement or horror which made us wonder why he was included in the first place. His whole little adventure seems like superfluous fluff to increase the runtime. The main meat of the movie lies in the tale of the older teens, and though their story takes a while to get going, it ends in spectacular, often bloody fashion.

"The Funhouse" might not be Tobe Hooper's best film, but it's a solid entry into his filmography.

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My Rating: 5.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 6/10
IMDB's Rating: 5.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 67%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?