Redwood Massacre

When it comes to horror movies I typically go back to the 80's for my mix. Modern horror just doesn't seem to entertain me as much, or the genre has turn to supernatural horror and that's just not my jam. While every once in awhile I'll run across a modern slasher flick that captures my attention, it's rare so I was a little reluctant going into Redwood Massacre. This is a movie I yet again found on TubiTV and was able to stream for free.

Anytime you see on a horror movie poster or in the movie trailer that it's based on a true story, beware as you might as well drop your expectations at that very moment. As I browsed Tubi for a movie to watch I gotta admit that this movie poster caught my attention. Decent looking protagonist, check. Creepy looking house, check. Massacre in the name, check. I figure with the movie just clocking in under 1 1/2 hours I had nothing to lose.

How many movies have you watched (or at least heard of) where a camping trip in the woods goes awry? That's what Redwood Massacre is. A group of campers are out to party on the 20th anniversary of some gruesome murders at the scene of where it all happened. Or so the legends goes. Slowly but surely the campers start to go missing as they become the prey of a serial killer wearing a scarecrow mask.

I heard someone else refer to this as a Scottish ripoff of Friday the 13th...which I can see. Going into this movie I had no idea it was Scottish, but as soon as you meet the cast you realize it. While I give the movie a thumbs up for being different, the delivery of said actors and actresses falls flat.

In the opening scene of the movie you are introduced to the killer and lots of blood. You have no idea who this is, who he is killing or why he is killing. It's only until 20 (?) minutes into the movie before we get the backstory and this comes after meeting the main cast. The cast included your normal horror movie tropes...the boyfriend, his new girlfriend (who no one else likes), the trashy girl and the "final" girl.

Sitting around a campfire the new girlfriend expands on the legend of the Redwood murders to her fellow campers. This story is also told with cut away flashback scenes. The story goes a farmer started hearing voices and goes mad, killing his wife, daughter and son (who is never shown), but when the authorities arrive the son's grave is empty.

There were a few redeeming qualities I found in this movie.

1) The set was pretty creepy. The house that was used had a cool exterior architecture, was old and run down and the grounds were large and overgrown.
2) I thought the scarecrow mask was done well. The sewing across the eye holes and mouth made the mask look more scary than cheesy.
3) The actor that plays the killer is huge and intimidating looking. His mannerisms, the way he moved were great. At times he really did remind me of Jason Vorhees of Friday the 13th fame. His brooding size, his head quickly turning to look at the camera and his jerky movements were all spot on.

However that is about the only positive things I have to say as the negatives far out weight the positives. For starters, let's address the blood. Notice I didn't say gore because I didn't think this movie was all that gory. Well maybe one scene in the flashback story. The amount of blood used in this movie is up there, but I didn't find that to be a good thing. Now granted I've never taken an axe to a fellow human being, but the amount of blood you see flying through the air during a kill is crazy. So. much. blood. While it looked pretty authentic, it just seemed over the top. This is especially noticeable when the killer punches a few of his victims and you see buckets of blood flowing. Seriously?

The other issue that got on my last nerve was the sound made whenever the killer would pick up a bladed weapon. Whomever was in charge of the sound was having too much fun running blades against each other to create that metallic sound. It didn't matter if the killer was drawing his blade, swinging his weapon or inserting it into a victim, the same sound was used. Argh, I can't tell you how much that bugged me! I just couldn't get past it.

Of all of the movies I've streamed thus far in celebration of Halloween, this was by far the worst. What I thought was going to at least be a decent movie was just ruined by the lack of scares, flat acting, the amount of blood used and of course the over the top metallic sound used. I did see that a sequel is being made and is set to be released sometime in 2020. Why? I have no idea.

Motel Hell

Thanks once again to TubiTV, I was able to watch another 80's cult classic to celebrate the upcoming Halloween season. Motel Hell is yet another (VHS) movie I remember seeing on the shelves of my local video rental store back in my youth. Unable to watch it as a youth, I had to wait nearly 30 years before I was able to view this classic. Come on, with a tag line like "It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent Fritters", how could you not watch this? 

There are several different movie posters for this movie, but some of them don't portray the movie in the best way. The poster shown above however does paint a better picture.

Motel Hell stars Rory Calhoun as farmer Vincent Smith, local proprietaire of Motel Hello. He runs the hotel with his sister, Ida (Nancy Parsons) along with their side business of selling smoked meats. People come from miles away to sample his various meats, which we see at the beginning of the movie. He's somewhat of a local celebrity, but do the people of Grainville, CA know that he is peddling cannibalism?  

I've seen a lot of horror movies and the 80's served up some of the best in my opinion. This movie however marched to the beat of it's own drum. It was odd, yet satisfyingly fun. I can't say this is a scary movie because of the main story. I'm not sure if it was meant to be tongue in cheek, but the campy story is hard to take serious. The movie isn't bloody or gory either, despite what you may think from alternate movie posters that are out there.

What I couldn't figure out initially while watching the movie was the purpose of the "secret garden". You see Vincent unlocking the vine covered gate located away from the hotel itself, looking around to make sure no one else was near by. However it's later in the film before you get to see what is in the actual garden. After Vincent would find people for his recipe, he would bury them in the ground in the garden. This didn't make sense to me, then during a later picnic scene he references his mother not having an ice chest. I'm going to assume he dug holes to put the bodies in to keep them cold/fresh while he waited for the bodies to be ready to be "prepared".

Since he left the heads above ground, he would sever their vocal chords so they wouldn't make noise. He would then place a burlap sack over their heads. At one point in the movie you see him inserting an eight track cassette into a player, assumingly to drown out any noise made by the bodies inside the garden.

Nina Axelrod plays Terry, a young girl that Vincent saves from a motorcycle accident early in the movie. His motivation to save her isn't known at first, but later you realize he had hoped he could "convert" her and bring her into the family business. Vincent's sister, Ida, is skeptical from the beginning and shows aggression towards Terry on multiple occasions. Enter the younger brother, Bruce (Paul Linke) who happens to be the town's sheriff. It's unknown if he really knows what the family business is, but he almost instantly falls head over heels for Terry.

The family dynamic is odd and much of the movie I feel revolves around the relationship between Terry and Vincent as well as Terry and Bruce. After learning of Terry and Vincent's pending wedding, he takes the news by checking up on Terry. He thinks she is being forced into marriage, only to learn this is what she wants. He takes the rejection by looking into his brother as he feels something is up. This is when he learns the secret behind the family business and becomes the knight in shining armor to eventually save our damsel in distress.

The smokehouse scenes featuring the dueling chainsaws and the bloodied pig mask is what most people think of when this movie comes up. However it plays such a small part in the overall story. I read somewhere that this scene took the longest to film and wasn't in the original script, added at the last minute. I guess they thought the inclusion of a chainsaw would help sell tickets as this movie was released a few years after The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Pieces.

Overall this was a more of dark comedy than a horror movie in my book, however it was still a lot of fun and yet another 80's movie that I'm glad to mark off my list.

The Initiation

The 1980's were a great time for horror movies. The slasher sub-genre in particular enjoyed a plethora of movies during this time. I have no idea how many of these types of movies were made, but I'm still discovering to this day movies from this sub-genre that I've never heard of. The Initiation is one of those movies that I recently came across and watched. Now I'm scratching my head in disbelief of how I've gone this long never hearing of this movie.

The Initiation is about a group of girls pledging to a sorority and part of their initiation is to break into a department store building to steal the uniform of the night watchman. The lead actress suffers from a reoccurring dream and seeks answers from a college professor. While all of this is going someone is stalking them from the shadows, killing the girls and their friends.

I went into watching this movie with no real idea of the story or any expectations. I didn't even realize that it started Daphne Zuniga (Space Balls, Melrose Place) until she appeared on screen. What sold me on watching this movie was the interesting movie poster.

The Initiation was released in 1984 and set in Texas. It was originally directed by Peter Crain, but was later replaced by Larry Stewart. It stars Vera Miles (Psycho), Clu Gulager (The Return of the Living Dead), James Read (Legally Blonde) and Hunter Tylo (The Bold and the Beautiful).

In most horror movies you know who the antagonist is, but in The Initiation it's not clear who the killer is. There are times that you may think you've figured out who it is, but it's not revealed who it is until the end of the movie. Speaking of the end, there is a plot twist that I didn't see coming nor did other reviewers of the movie.

The movie opens up with a young Kelly Fairchild (Daphne Zuniga) sleeping in bed, a storm just outside her window. She wakes up and hears something so she walks down the hall to her parents room. She sees what she thinks are her parents making out in bed, until she realizes that the man isn't her father. She stabs in him the leg (it's not clear where she got the knife) before another man walks into the room and is caught on fire from the fireplace in the bedroom. Her mother carries her out of the room with her looking over her shoulder and the man lying on the floor, fully engulfed in flames.

Kelly then wakes up, only to be in the sorority dorm being hovered over by one of the lead sorority sisters in charge. Kelly and 3 of her friends are the last of 20 original pledge members to Delta Ro Kai and are being lead downstairs where they learn of their fate. They are tasked with breaking into the Fairchild building, which is essentially a giant department store (or mall if you will) that her father owns and where Kelly happens to be working. They are to steal the night watchman's uniform to complete their task. However one of the sisters has other plans for them...essentially to have a little fun at their expense and scare the crap out of them.

Before the night of the break-in, Kelly tells one of her instructors that she wants to do her term paper on dreams. He thinks she is trying to be a brown nose as that is the subject he is working to get is degree in. They strike up a conversation and she reveals to him the re-occuring dream she has been having from her childhood. This is where we also learn that she has amnesia after falling out of a tree house at the age of 12, losing all of her previous memories. This is played up too much, but does factor into the ending.

We also see a private sanitorium that is located 300 miles away from the Fairchild's home (the mileage is given by Clu's character). There an over the top nurse is trying to relay some information to her patients when she sees the gardner out the window. She starts tapping on the window, yelling at him to leave. All we see of this guy is his disfigured face and hands as he takes his large garden trowel and continues to dig into the ground. Later that evening several of the inmates escape the sanitorium, killing the nurse. The next day is when the Fairchilds receive a call regarding the escape. This made me wonder if there was some sort of connection between the two.

The second half of the movie takes place in the Fairchild building, which actually was a real working mall. Much like the crew in the original Dawn of the Dead filmed in the real Monroeville Mall at night, the crew had 12 hours each evening to film before they had to wrap up and get out. This mall doesn't look like your traditional mall. From the outside it looked more like an office building, but as the cast runs around the mall you can clearly see individual stores. The setting helps add to the fun and suspense once the killer shows up. I don't want to say too much more about the movie because it really warrants a view, if not a purchase.

The kills in this movie aren't all that original, but they get the job done. The killer's weapon of choice (for most of the kills) is a large garden trowel, however other instruments of destruction are used such as a knives, a machete and even a harpoon gun! A few of the kills are done on screen with practical effects. The character Alison (Hunter Tylo), one of Kelly's friends probably has the bloodiest, most gruesome kills.

I thought the acting at times was bad, however Vera Miles comes through playing the role of Kelly Fairchild's mother. Clu Gulager is good, however is killed off fairly early in the movie. What I didn't know is that The Initiative was the first cinema role for both Daphne Zuniga and Hunter Tylo. Both of them are great throughout the entire movie.

Lately I've watched a lot of bad 80's horror movies so it was refreshing to watch a good movie for a change. While The Initiative didn't reinvent the slasher sub-genre of horror movies, it did a good job keeping the viewer guessing who was the killer. Now that I've seen it I was able to piece things together from earlier scenes that I originally missed. This is far from the perfect horror movie, but it is a fun movie nonetheless and one that I'm glad I stumbled across on TubiTV. Arrow Video recently released a 2 disc collector's edition Blu-Ray in late 2018 that I may have to track down because I enjoyed the movie that much.

The Sand

There is an old saying that you can't judge a book by it's cover, but does that extend to movie posters? Going into this movie I figured it would be true and this movie would be as silly as the poster. Was I right? Was I wrong? Before I get into the movie, why not watch the trailer.

Some movies start out slow, introducing you to the various characters and setting the stage. The Sand jumps right into the thick of it. The movie opens with shaky cell phone video of young adults (?) partying on the beach at night. Most of the main characters are shown partying, but outside Kaylee (girl in the red bikini top on the poster) you really don't know these other people will be part of the main staff. The party scene happens over the course of just a few minutes and doesn't show much outside of partying and two guys carrying some large slimy round thing. What?

The next morning Kaylee wakes up in a lifeguard hut on the beach. She walks outside to the ramp and sees 4 others a sleep in a car sitting just below, one girl asleep on a picnic table and one other guy still asleep that was stuck into a garbage can. The movie doesn't really address what happened to everyone else, just has the camera pan across the beach showing empty sleep bags on the beach.

Immediately everyone starts to wake up and when the girl on the picnic table steps off and onto the sand, her foot is immediately stuck in the sand. The others question how she could be stuck and give her crap. Then she falls over and catches herself only for her hand to become stuck. One of the guys in the convertible decides not to be a jerk and jumps out to help her. This is when you really know that something is up. This is also the first (and only) gory scene in the movie. The special effects I thought were pretty good...too bad they couldn't keep that up as the movie progressed.

Something carnivorous is under the sand and anything with a heartbeat that directly touches the sand is basically food. If I still have your attention and you're thinking this is one of those bad SyFy movies...you'd be right. While I've not seen another other movies with killer sand, I know of at least one other horror movie that I believe has a similar plot. Thankfully the movie clocks in at just under 1 and half hours because I have better things to do. I didn't hate the movie, but I've seen better.

The acting was OK. I've seen worse. The special effects started off great, but quickly fall apart. The CGI used in both attack scenes and of the monster underneath the sand aren't well done and comes across as cheesy. The ending of the movie leaves it open for a sequel...but Lord I hope that never happens.

I streamed this movie on TubiTV for free. Had I paid to rent this movie I would have been highly dissapointed, but seeing how I didn't have to pay a dime to watch it made it a little easier to swallow. I can't recommend this movie, but I also can't say it's the worse thing out there.

Sleepaway Camp

I have a confession to make. I've seen a lot of horror movies and the slasher genre is one of my favorites. The 80's produced a lot of movies, some good, some bad and some down right unwatchable. Sleepaway Camp is one of those movies that has grown into a cult status over the years and just about every horror fan has seen it...except for me.

Again, thanks to TubiTV I was finally able to sit down this weekend and watch this movie. Going into this movie I knew all about the killer and the shockingly, twisted ending of the movie...yet I've never seen even a scene from the movie. It's highly regarded in a lot of horror fan circles so I thought I owed it to myself to watch it.

I doubt at this point much can be said that hasn't already been said about this movie. If you're reading this I'm going to guess you've seen the movie or at least know about it's premise. The story centers around a young 14 year old girl, Angela, who is sent off to the summer camp with her cousin. However years earlier she was traumatized on the same like that Sleepaway Camp is located. All throughout the movie Angela is bullied and picked on, by both her fellow female campers as well as the boys. Then one by one many of these same people end up dead. The camp owner tries to keep things down, worried the camp's reputation will take a hit and no parents will want to send their kids the next year. Eventually the killer is revealed...in a manner most shocking.

I know this will be not be popular opinion, but I just didn't care for this movie. From very early on a sexually pervasive undertone is set and that just made my stomach churn. A large majority of the cast are young children and the early comments were just too much. The mannerisms and language of many of the children/young teens is horrible. The way they treat each other is pretty over the top and at times they seem to go overboard. I'm a child of the 80's so it's nothing that I haven't seen or heard, it was just crazy the way a lot of the kids behaved in this movie.

Slasher movies are usually about the kills and Sleepaway Camp does offer a pretty large body count. I didn't find the movie to be over the top bloody or gory, but many of the kills do use practical special effects. The kills are violent, but usually not too bloody. One kill (involving mother nature) I thought was interesting, but not realistic. Most of the kills weren't drawn out either, happening rather quickly. Some you don't even see happen, just the after effects.

The acting was hit and miss. The camp owner I couldn't understand most of the time either because of his acting or his accent. The kids were brats and one in particular camp counselor wasn't so great either. The setting of the movie wasn't bad, in fact we've got a camp near where I live on a lake that I was reminded of while watching. The score and sound effects were standard fare, nothing that stood out to me. 

Fun fact, the late father of the great James Earl Jones has a small role a cook in this movie!

All in all I really thought this movie to be average. Perhaps if I had went in completely and totally spoiler free I may have a different opinion. I'm glad to have finally checked this one off my list, but I was expecting more based on this movie's reputation. I'd give this movie a C.

Mil gritos tiene la noche (Pieces)

I remember seeing the VHS jacket for Pieces in our local Video Visions movie rental store back in the 80's. I knew my parents would never let me watch a movie like this when I was young, but I've always been curious about this movie for some reason. Thanks to TubiTV, I was finally able to watch this movie in all it's 80's, grainy (and bloody) glory.

What I didn't know before watching this movie that it was a Spanish film, pretending to be American. The movie is set in Boston, MA and was partially filmed there, but the producer (Juan Simon) was Spanish himself and most of the movies he's known for were filmed in his native country.

The movie opens in 1942 and you see a little boy sitting on the floor of his room, singing a line from Humpty Dumpty while working on a jigsaw puzzle. When the camera pans up over his shoulder you can see the puzzle is a painting of a nude women. The boy's young mother stands at the door of his room, watching. When she enters and sees the puzzle, she instantly goes beserk, hitting her son. She starts tearing apart his room looking for more "filth", while threatening to kill him if she ever finds this sort of items again. She commands the boy to go get a trash bag so she can clean up this mess, only he returns with an axe and brutally kills his mother. A concerned neighbor goes and gets the police after no one answers the door bell and while that is happening, the young boy begins to cut up his mother with a hand saw. Yup, this movie is "exactly what you think it is".

The movie fast forwards to 40 years later (1982), to the campus of a New England college. A young female, studying out on a lawn somewhere on campus is attached by a masked man wielding a chainsaw, decapitating the girl. When the police show up to investigate, the find the body...but the head is missing. Hmm...

The police detective, Lt. Bracken is played by Christopher George. His assistant was Sgt. Holden, played by Spanish actor Frank Brana. I immediately recognized Christopher George, but I couldn't place him in any other movies I had seen. Then later it hit me as he played Peter Bell in Lucio Fulci's cult classic, City of the Living Dead. George's wife, Linda Day, also plays a roll in the movie as the undercover cop, former tennis pro. 

While I like Christopher George as an actor, the rest of the cast wasn't that great. Now knowing that it's a Spanish film makes a little more sense with some of the casting. There are several plot holes and goofs in this movie that it's hard to take it seriously. That and some 80's movies just haven't aged that well. However the special effects and gore, while tame to today's standards, were really good. I can imagine this movie causing quite the stir with audiences and the media when it was original released in 1982. 

Obviously the idea behind the killer wielding a chainsaw as their weapon of choice had to come from Tobe Hooper's classic Texas Chainsaw Massacre, however don't mistake Pieces for just being a knock off as the two films are quite different from one another. Texas Chainsaw wasn't that gory of a movie, cameras cutting to a different view at the last scene so the viewer could imagine in their mind what was happening. Not in Pieces. If you're squeamish in the least bit, then there are a few scenes you'll want to close your eyes to or turn your head.

I'm glad I finally watched this movie because while it was silly and comedic at times (which I believe were unintentional) it was a fun ride. I can see why this movie has a world wide cult following and has become a horror classic. It's gritty, dark, gory and centers around a perverse and corrupted killer (who has style...they wear a fedora!). If you like 80's slasher movies and you've never seen this movie, then do yourself a favor and head over to TubiTV using this link and watch the movie for free.

Hell House LLC 3: Lake of Fire

After watching the first Hell House LLC movie and discovering it was actually part of a trilogy, how could I not watch the two sequels? I found part 2 on YouTube, however part 3 recently debuted in September 2019 as an exclusive to Shudder.com. Thankfully I found a promo code on Shudder's Twitter account that gave me a two week trail to the horror movie streaming service. I signed up for the free trial just to watch the third and final (?) installment to the Hell House LLC franchise.

Lake of Fire continues the narrative that was hinted at in the original movie. However like part 2, this movie relies on re-using footage from the first two movies to help advance the story. I've read some reviews where decision was criticized, but it kind of makes sense in a way. This is yet another documentary style movie and it tells you that the footage has been assembled from various sources. If you've watched the first two movies you know there is a lot of filmed footage regarding people entering the Abaddon Hotel, whether it was the Hell House staff, people that broke into the Abbadon Hotel after the events of Hell House, or the Morning Mysteries staff that filmed their own journalistic investigation. So to set the record...the first movie was a journalistic investigation to what happened the night 15 people died at Hell House. The second movie was a journalistic investigation to what happened to the team that investigated the events in the first movie. Finally we have yet another journalistic investigation into what happened to the previous two events. Original, huh?

The premise of this movie really is to wrap up the story and put a bow on it. In the second movie it was eluded but not elaborated that the hotel was purchased by multi-millionaire and owner of Wynn Media Group, Russell Wynn, right before it was scheduled to be demolished. For reasons unknown, Russell decides to move his interactive drama show, Insomnia, out of New York and into the Abaddon Hotel. He invites the new host of Morning Mysteries, Vanessa Sheppard, behind the scenes all-access to Insomnia in the days leading up to opening night. From what I could gather this Insomnia show is a play that moves from room to room in the hotel. It has a Faustian basis...which I admit I had to Google. Basically the theme is good versus evil...which spills over into the movie's story.

Vanessa, being a reporter, has done her homework and is a little anxious about this assignment. You later find out she accepts the job (and stays) because 1) she's only been on the job a few months and 2) she doesn't want to be labeled or viewed in a weak way that sometimes women in the workforce can be. While she knows the history of what has happened at the infamous hotel, Russell claims he wasn't aware of what happened just a short time before he purchased the hotel...or was he?

In typical fashion, the camera catches all sorts of mysterious images and figures. The camera will drop or turn, only to go back to it's original point of view and you see something. Lights go out and come back on and you see something. It's the same tricks used in the previous two movies, just with a different cast. Speaking of the cast, most of the cast are "actors" in the Insomnia show so they lay it on thick. While I wouldn't call the acting outright bad, it wasn't good either. Elizabeth Vermilyea plays Vanessa Sheppard and her character comes across as pretty authentic. Gabriel Chytry's Russell Wynn character is supposed to be shrouded in mystery, but it just doesn't work. Much like the super fake looking scar he sports on his face. There are some scenes in the movie where I couldn't take my eye off the scar because it was so obviously fake.

Acting aside, this movie uses a little more special effects (i.e. CGI) than the previous two movies and it's not great. I assume the budget for each consecutive movie was increased, but I don't know about this one. The interior of the hotel has been changed, altered for this movie. This makes sense since the hotel was abandoned yet again after the events of Hell House. I like some of the changes made to the "set", but again this is more of the same. I've seen this before. Give me something different. Thankfully as the movie and the story progresses, more and more info is given to the viewer. I went into this movie spoiler free, but it didn't take long for me to start piecing everything together to figure out just what was going on. By the time the movie is over, the overall story is wrapped up. There is a conclusion...but for some it wasn't satisfying. I found it to be interesting and can say I honestly didn't see the movie ending this way.

In my opinion producer Stephen Cognelli could have let Hell House LLC be a stand alone film and it would have been fine. However I assume this was always meant to be a trilogy based on the third movie. While the first movie was great and I highly recommend it, the second movie was average. However if you've seen the first or second movie you might as well finish off the trifecta and watch this one. I believe the movie will lose it's Shudder exclusivity in early 2020 so if you don't want to use the free trial like I did to view the movie, give it time and I'm sure you'll be able to view it somewhere else online.

If you do decide to watch this movie, make sure you stick around through the credits as the real ending of the movie is told between said credits.



** SPOILERS **


I don't normally divulge too much about the movie to spoil things, however I have a few issues with this movie.

1) We know the Abaddon Hotel was sold to Russell Wynn in the 2nd movie, but who owned it before this sale? It almost sounds like it was owned by the city and if that was the case, why wasn't it demolished after the first movie?

2) Why are the clowns still in the house in the 3rd movie? If they were essentially gutting the haunted attraction for the Insomnia play, then why are there still so many Hell House props in the house?

3) Why do so many people keep going into the house...and the freakin' basement?!

4) What does the priest send Russell towards the beginning of the movie? Towards the end of the movie he can be seen doing something with the safe in the attic.

5) Similar to Sara Havel in the second movie, are we to believe that Russell isn't really Russell throughout the whole movie?

What I gathered from this movie is that Russell Wynn was "in the picture" before the group of friends transitioned the Abaddon Hotel into Hell House. We know from the previous movies that the original hotel owner, Andrew Tully, was searching for the literal gateway to Hell...which he found in the basement of the Abaddon Hotel. We know that the hotel was essentially using all of the various filmed footage to "invite" more and more people into the hotel so their souls could be claimed. The priest confirms that once the gate is opened, no man can close it...only an angel. We know that at some point Russell "died" in a car wreck is now said angel. This is who we see confront (the devil?) in the basement at the end of the movie.

Russell is successful in closing the gate to Hell and everyone that perished in the house has been restored...but they are trapped in the house. Does this mean they aren't dead? Are they spirits? The movie doesn't really say and this drives me crazy.

Basically the overarching story of this trilogy is good versus evil, or more or less Heaven versus Hell. I know Christianity and horror don't really go hand in hand, but I've seen several movies with a similar premise now and this is one of the better ones...despite some of my criticism.

Hell House LLC 2: The Abaddon Hotel

I enjoyed the first movie so much that when I discovered it was actually a trilogy, I sought out the sequel. Luckily someone recently (at the time of this post) uploaded the entire movie to YouTube. I looks like this movie was exclusive to the movie service, Shudder, so I'm not sure if it'll stay on YouTube or not.

This movie is basically a re-tread of the first Hell House LLC. Some may think that is a good thing, but for me it wasn't. The movie isn't bad, but it's not as good as the first movie. In the original, the producer/writer, Stephen Cognetti, did a good job at leaving bread crumbs for the viewer to figure out what was going on in the movie. He didn't give too much away (well the ending did) which left me and I'm sure others scratching their head at the end of the movie. 

This sequel gives away a little too much for my tastes. While I like that it expands upon the story in regards to the original hotel owner, Andrew Tully, and what happened in the hotel before it became the Halloween haunt, there are other parts that just show too much. Like in the first movie however, you really have to pay attention to catch some of the more subtle details.

When I said this movie is more of the same it's because the premise of this movie is another documentary investigation. This time it's a group of people lead by Jessica Fox after she is mysteriously given information there is proof stored in the hotel of what really happened with Andrew Tully. Jessica recruits Mitchell, the guy who organized the documentary footage from the first movie. His co-worker and friend, Diane was the one seen entering the house after interviewing the sole survivor from the Hell House cast. It turns out Mitchell is just as curious as to what really happened to Diane as Jessica is to find this supposed proof in the house. They decide that they'll work together and enter the house to find the answers they seek. Oh yeah, the proof is stored in refrigerators and of course not in the kitchen but in the...you guessed it, the basement.

With just about every horror movie the viewer puts themselves in the shoes of one of the victims and starts yelling at the screen not to go upstairs, open the door or in this case go down into the basement. Through out the movie you see various clips from social media of young people entering the house to fulfil a bet or a dare, only for them to go missing afterwards. Combine that with all of the footage from the first movie and why on earth would anyone want to go inside that damned house?!

I know the first movie had a relatively low budget and I imagine the sequel had a bigger budget, but there were times where the movie felt cheaper. For the most part, I found the acting to be worse. Vasile Flutur who plays Mitchell did a good job, but Joy Shatz' character, Molly was so annoying. I was rooting for her to die just so I didn't have to hear her annoying voice!

After viewing the movie I found it to be entertaining, but not without it's flaws. If you've seen the first movie you might as well watch this one too. If nothing else it may confirm what you thought happened in the first movie...or it may leave you with more questions than answers. Your mileage may vary. As long as you can view the movie for free, I still give it my recommendation.

Hell House LLC

With October upon us I felt the desire to revisit the horror movie genre and seek out some new films. While my normal go to is either Netflix or Redbox, I recently stumbled upon Tubi TV and their massive library of free movies. I immediately started to browse their horror movies and added several to my que. The first one I fired up was Hell House LLC.

Directed by Stephen Cognetti and released in 2015, this horror "documentary" found footage movie caught my eye as I was browsing the listings. The movie's description reminded me of another well known documentary style movie called The Houses October Built. While I need to revisit that movie, what I remember from it I didn't particularly care for. While there may be similarities between these two movies, Hell House LLC I believe separates itself from the competition with it's story telling.

The movie revolves around a ground of friends that set out to create a haunted attraction inside an old abandoned hotel in upstate New York in 2009. As the team starts to create their venue inside the old Abaddon Hotel, things aren't what they seem as the group of friends become on edge as opening night gets closer and closer. On opening night, 15 people, including most of the crew are killed. But why are the police and the town essentially covering up what really happened?

I know the found footage type movies aren't for everyone, but the directer did a great job at using multiple camera view points to help set the stage and tell the story. In addition to the main story, you have a story happening in current time as well. The story is told via flashbacks of the footage from the group of friends, a leaked YouTube video, interviews with the media and even a 911 call. Most of the movie is done in a way where if you are sensitive to movement you shouldn't get motion sick. Towards the end of the movie however I can't say the same thing.

While I knew this was a movie, there were times while I was viewing it that I could have sworn this was real. The acting was good and the aforementioned uses of various media used to tell the story was great. While I personally don't care to attend haunted attractions, I love the idea of them and I've always wondered what kind of work goes into these type of things. Perhaps this is another reason why I enjoyed this movie because you get to see this group first visit the old hotel and then slowly have their vision come to life.

The setting of the hotel is creepy enough, but you really don't get a lot of history on the hotel itself and why it was closed. Not at first at least. Slowly but surely pieces of the story are revealed, leaving the viewer the opportunity to piece things together. The group stays in the hotel while they work on transitioning it into the haunted attraction and this is where things begin to pick up. While there are some jump scares, most of what makes this movie so spooky what you don't necessarily see. You see the effects of things, but not always what (or who?) is behind them. I know that may sound a little cliche, but the noises and weird things that occur are done in a way that aren't cheesy. Just like you get bits and pieces of the back story and are left putting what is happen together, the same thing can be said with what is happening.

Alfred Hitchcock did a great job at cutting the camera away as tragedy would strike, knowing what the viewer could and would imagine what was happening was more frightening than what he could actually show. While special effects have come a long way since then, I can't help but to agree with that mindset. The director must have had that on his mind at times as you never really see who is behind the murders.

Apparently there is an extended cut of this movie as well that delves into a little bit more of the story. I've seen a few still images and I've read reviews, but I've not actually viewed this extended cut. It appears the few extra minutes that were cut from the version I viewed contained some crucial info as it pertains to the story. I'm really puzzled as to why they cut it. Perhaps it gave away too much information and took away from the intentional gaps in the story?

The movie obviously had a low budget, but they did a great job at stretching their dollar. The hotel used in the movie was great, very creepy. The acting was pretty good and the special effects were equally as good. The one main gripe viewers tend to have with this movie is the ending. While I'm not going to spoil it because I highly recommend watching this movie, most people either love the ending or down right hate it. I'll just say I could take it either way.

Apparently there have been two additional sequels made, which caught me by surprise. I've yet to watch them, but I do intend on trying to track them down as I enjoyed Hell House LLC. Thankfully this one is easy to view (if you don't mind a few commercial interruptions) as you can stream it for free at TubiTV. Just use this link to jump straight to the fun. 

Cargo

Halloween is almost here and I have only managed to watch a few new horror movies this month. Shameful, right? The other night I made the decision to watch a movie, but what movie? Would I re-watch something I've seen before? Grab a DVD off my shelf? Or search out something new. I opted for the latter and began to browse the offerings on Netflix.

I've said before in the past that I've been disappointed in modern horror for the most part as most new movies seem to fall into the supernatural sub-genre, a genre that I just usually don't care for. I was having a hard time finding a movie until I ran across Cargo and instantly stopped. Why did that name sound so familiar? Then I remembered a 7 minute short film from years ago my older brother told me about that shared the same name. I was a fan of the story, though short, and had no idea it had been turned into a feature length film. 

Before I jumped into the new movie, I had to re-watch the original short from 2013. If you haven't seen it before, you need to watch as it's a clever film and take on the zombie genre.

The 2017 version of the film was produced by the same people that brought us The Babadook, another recommended film I'm told. This new full length movie takes the core of the 7 minute short and expands on it, giving more of the backstory and continuing the story in a sense.

Cargo stars Martin Freeman as Andy and Susie Porter as his wife Kay and a pair of twin babies that play the role of their infant daughter Rosie. The movie opens with them on a house boat floating down the river in the Australian outback. You know they are trying to escape to safety, a military base, but you really don't know what's going on or why. You just know that they "acquired" the house boat and while trying to get to the military base their food supplies are running low.

You get more of an idea of what's going on after his wife is attacked, Andy looking through a pamphlet of what appears to be a part of a government supplied safety kit of sorts. Apparently there is a virus going around effecting people and turning them into zombie like creatures. I will point out the zombie description/word is never used and most of the attacks are implied and not shown. In fact, the "zombies" are actually called "diggers" once or twice, thanks to their desire to dig holes and stick their heads in the ground. Something about being attracted to darkness that leads them to do this.

Andy's main mission is to get his family to safety, but after his wife is infected he knows that mission has just become a lot tougher. Fast forward the story a bit and Andy becomes infected himself...which is partly his fault. In the kit he went through earlier was a large needle like device that an infected person could use to end their life, thus not spreading the infection further. The infection by the way may have seemed to be airborne at one time, though the cause of the outbreak is never mentioned, but hinted at in a few scenes. The infection spreads through biting a non-infected person.

If you're like me then you wonder "what if?" a lot of times during movies. Andy's wife was set to accept her fate and be left behind, yet Andy thought he still had time to get her to a hospital and save her before the 48 hour time frame for the infection to spread had elapsed. Because he dragged her back into the car she wound up dying and turning, biting Andy in the chaos.

If Andy thought his mission to protect his family was tough before, well he just jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. He has 48 hours before he is completely infected to find a safe haven for his daughter in this post apocalyptic world. 

I really don't want to give away any more of the movie than I already have (even though I really haven't spoiled much, especially if you watched the original short film), but let me just say that there is a reason Netflix categories this film more of a thriller than horror. There isn't much gore, again with a lot of things happening off camera. The language isn't too harsh and there isn't any sex or nudity. At the core of the story is human survival and how fragile life can be. Martin Freeman does an excellent job in this film and you quickly find your heart going out to his character of Andy and their daughter Rosie. It's a slow burn at times, but the pacing I thought helped the overall story. There are some incredibly sad moments and even I felt I would become emotional at times, however if you'll stick with it you'll see that it's not all doom and gloom.

I really enjoyed this re-visioning of the Cargo short flick and had wished my wife had stayed up to watch it. She doesn't always care for horror, but since this is movie doesn't follow the traditional horror tropes I believe she'll like it. If you have a current Netflix subscription and enjoy zombie movies or just horror/thriller movies in general, I suggest you check this one out while you can.

Hell Fest

Happy Halloween! Even though it's not quite October 31st, it is time to gear up the horror movies! I found myself with a little extra time recently while out of town for work and had credits on my Regal account that were about to expire, so I thought I'd see what is playing at the theater. It's not often I see many movies in the actual theater these days because of the high cost, so I really had no clue what was playing. I pulled up the Regal app and began to browse and I ran across Hell Fest. I had no idea what this movie was about, but I did recognize Tony Todd's name. I watched the preview and then proceeded to get a ticket.

IMDB.com sums up the story:

A masked serial killer turns a horror themed amusement park into his own personal playground, terrorizing a group of friends while the rest of the patrons believe that it is all part of the show.

While I haven't attended a haunted attraction in quite some time, part of me understands how terrorizing this story is because of how "real" it could be. Today it seems as if many if not most amusement parts have some sort of Halloween theme event in October. I know the local theme park in my area, Cedar Fair's Carowinds has their annual Scareowinds event. The older I've gotten the less I like these type of events and would rather just sit down in the comfort of my home to be scared.

First of all let me say how refreshing it was to see a new movie that returns to the slasher format...even if it did fall short in a few areas. While overall I enjoyed the movie I did leave with a few questions. Of course I don't want to give too much away because I would encourage you to go and see the movie yourself. 

The movie introduces you to the killer right off the bat, but gives you ZERO backstory. What is his incentive to kill? How is he able to obtain a mask that allows him to blend in seamlessly with the other actors at the venue? Where are the rides at Hell Fest? I joke about that last question, but seriously the only ride depicted in the group's trip at Hell Fest is a small cart that drives along a track inside a house...something you'd see at your local county fair. Regardless, the formula of the movie hearkens back to the days of Scream or I Know What You Did Last Summer in a way. The killer wears a mask and uses whatever tools he can get his hands on. Think Michael Myers. He'a a silent killer that shows patience, waiting for his moment to strike.

I wasn't familiar with any of the actors or actresses minus Tony Todd and his role was rather small. The acting, while not horrible, was on par with your average horror movie. Each college kid played up to their typical stereotype pretty well, however if this is a real depiction of how young adults act in real life then I'm glad that our paths don't cross because several of them really came across like real jerks.

If you're like me and tired of all the Conjuring type movies and grew up with the slasher type movies, then you may want to see this one. It's not full of gore, but what flashes we got were done well. A lot of silly jump scares, but that should be expected seeing where the movie takes place at. Kudos to the writer/producer for not throwing in the gratuitous sex and nudity that young adult horror films are known for! Overall I'd give the move a B minus. Parts could have been better, but the whole movie could've been much worse too. 

Texas Chainsaw 3D

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre family of movies is a mess from a story perspective. The series was rebooted by Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes in 2003. While I'm a big fan of the reboot, the series was then rebooted with 2013's Texas Chainsaw 3D. Several key aspects of the characters from the Chainsaw franchise has been changed again...but for the better?

Texas Chainsaw 3D is actually a sequel to the original 1974 movie, basically ignoring the original TCM sequels. The beginning of the movie opens up with the local sheriff at the home of the Sawyers asking them to turn over none other than Leatherface himself. Sally Hardesty escapes Leatherface in the original movie and obviously alerts the local authorities...hence the sheriff being at the home to make the arrest. Just then many of the townsfolk of Newt, Texas show up ready to lynch the whole family. It doesn't take long before chaos ensues, gunfire is traded and the Sawyer home is burned to the ground. It is believed that the entire Sawyer clan died in the fire, but one of the locals finds Loretta Sawyer, and her child, Edith Rose Sawyer. The mother is killed and the baby is taken and raised as their own.

Fast forward years later and Edith Rose Sawyer (played by Alexandra Daddario) is now all grown up and goes by the name Heather that her adopted family gives her. She receives a letter in the mail from her late grandmother, Verna Carson. She was not privy to knowing she was adopted. She learns not only of her being adopted, but of the inheritance she was left in Newt, Texas. She packs up the van with her boyfriend Ryan (played by Trey Songz), best friend Nikki (Tania Raymonde) and her boyfriend and hit the road.

During this trip they come across a hitchhiker. Like in the original and the 2003 reboot, they pick up the hitchhiker and take them with them. The inheritance turns out to be Verna's home. It appears to be a an elaborate older home and oddly untouched after all of these years. There are sheets over some of the furniture, but the house seems to be very clean for a house that has sat empty for that long.

Up until this point the movie was pretty boring, but as they leave the hitchhiker alone in the house as they go into town for supplies (who does that? leave a stranger in their new home alone?) the action starts to pick up. The hitchhiker eventually finds Leatherface in the basement (or does Leatherface find him?) and from here on out it's on. 

It takes awhile for Heather to find out that her relatives are crazy murderers, but eventually finds out through old police files while she seeks refuge from being chased by Leatherface. This is the turn in the story that myself and a lot of fans didn't care for. The sheriff kidnaps Heather and takes her to the local slaughter house to lure out Leatherface. He intends on killing the last of the Sawyers, but as Leatherface spices a family tattoo on her chest, he lets her go. Heather now basically goes over to the dark side herself and fights alongside her cousin. Yeah, I didn't see that coming either.

In the letter from her grandmother, Verna tells Heather/Edith that as long as she takes care of Leatherface, he'll take care of her. It seems that Edith has finally found the family she's been longing for and decides to take up residence in the house.

There are a lot of things I don't like about this movie, yet I still find it more fascinating than Tobe Hooper's 1986 sequel. The 3D effects are just a part of the time the movie was released and not necessary. The sudden attitude change you see the main character, Heather/Edith take when she is released by Leatherface is crazy. Most of the movie she is being chased by this maniac and now all the sudden she wants to fight along side him? Despite the sudden fork in the road the movie takes, its still a fun watch. I thought Alexandra's performance was pretty good, yet I'm not too sure how I feel anout Dan Yeager's Leatherface. He'd have to be well in his 60's during this movie, yet he's more mobile than you think he could be. 

Mariluyn Burns (Sally Hardesty) and Gunnar Hanson (Leatherface) from the original 1974 movie, both have small roles. Sally plays Verna and Gunnar plays a new Saywer family member, Boss Sawyer.

Texas Chainsaw 3D isn't great, but it's not as bad as some of the fans and critics make it out to be. I believe it was planned to make another movie exploring more about Heather / Edith and Leatherface, but ultimately that never came to fruition. A prequel to the original 1974 movie, Leatherface, was released earlier this year (2017), but at the time of this post I've yet to watch it.

The Belko Experiment

The Belko Experiment is one of those movies that I remember seeing advertised on TV, but as quickly as the movie came into theatres I forgot about it just as quick. That is until I saw it at my local Redbox. 

A few weekends ago I promised my girls they could pick a movie out so while I was standing there helping them, I saw this movie was in stock and wouldn't you know Redbox threw a 50 cent off coupon at me upon renting the kids movie.

I purposefully didn't look up much about the movie prior to watching it. I wanted to be surprised. I couldn't remember much from the original trailer that was aired on TV so all I had to go by was the movie poster and it's tag line, "Office Space Meets Battle Royale".

There isn't a lot of backstory on who the Belko Company is, other they than are a company that stands to supposedly make this world a better place. The movie takes place in Bogota, Columbia where 80 Americans are working in a Belko highrise. It appears to be your typical day at the office until a mysterious voice comes over the building's intercome insisting that everybody plays along in a deadly and twisted game.

I wasn't familiar with many of the actors/actresses outside of John C. McGinley, Michael Rooker, Sean Gunn and Tony Goldwyn. The story was written by James Gun (Slither, Guardians of the Galaxy) so I knew the movie at least had that going for it. One of the movie's main characters is Mike Milch, played by John Gallagher Jr. I kinda compared him to John Krasinki's The Office character, Him Halpert. He puts forth a pretty good effort in the movie and you can't but help root for him as many of his co-workers go over to the "darkside" when the stakes of the game (or experiment if you will) takes a turn.

If you work in a highrise or in an office type envirnoment then you may act differently to this movie than others that can't relate to the setting. Parts of the movie are a little disturbing at times and you do stay on the edge of your seat during most of the movie. The violence can be graphic at times and blood does splatter. Not overly gory however.

Overall I really enjoyed this movie. It didn't seem to follow the traditional horror / thriller / suspense movie mold. I like the idea behind the story and the fact that we don't get much info on the Belko company just piqued my curiousity that much more...especially after witnesses the area. If you're looking for something just a little different that most modern horror / thrillers, give The Belko Experiment a try.

The Babysitter (2017)

Too lazy to head to the nearest Redbox to look for a new horror movie, I fired up Netflix and began to browse their selection. The Babysitter wasn't listed in the Horror category, but in Comedy. Netflix lists the movie as comedy/dark comedy. While it does have some humor, the gore alone should have puts it in the horror genre.

Just released on 10/13/17, The Babysitter is a story about a 12 year old boy, Cole (Judah Lewis), and his babysitter, Bee (Samara Weaving). Cole is your typical 12 year old kid, just trying to fit in. Bullied at school and in his own neighborhood, Bee comes to his defense. It's not made know how old Bee is, but I'm guessing early 20's? Cole's best friend, Melanie, who lives just down the street teases Cole of what babysitters do after the kid goes to sleep...fooling around. Cole doesn't believe her, but says he really doesn't know what Bee does after he goes to sleep.

When his parents go out of town for an evening, Cole decides to wake up to see just what Bee does. Later that evening he spies from upstairs on Bee and her friends who come over play a game of spin the bottle. Earlier, you see Bee befriend a nerdy looking guy (Samuel) at the local convience store. This guy is at Cole's house with the others. The spin the bottle game turns into truth or dare and Bee is dared by her friend Max to kiss everyone in the room. After she makes her way around the circle she kisses Samuel. During the kiss she pulls out two daggers from behind her back and stabs them into Samuel's head. This is the beginning of the messy parts for all the gorehounds out there.

Needing a sample of Cole's blood as well for the human sacrifice Bee and her cult are preparing, Cole has to hurry back to bed and pretend he's asleep. Bee stays in his room after they have gotten the sample they needed, only to see that Cole's escape plan doesn't quite work out as planned...passing out.

From here on out it's basically cat and mouse. Cole is the mouse and the other cult members are the cat. Chaos (and gore) ensues as Cole is chased all over his house, yard and the near by neighbor's house (Melanie, his friend). I don't want to spoil anymore of the movie than I've already done, go watch it yourself. 

I enjoyed the movie even though it's obviously not aimed at my demographic. You really know nothing about Bee's friends, the cult members...they just show up after he goes to bed. To think they could kill a a guy in Cole's living room is kinda absurded, the clean up that would be involved with the parents coming home the next morning. You do learn that Bee as a young girl wanted everything and she made a deal with the devil. She brings an old book with her that describes how to handle the sacrifice, but again there isn't much back story here at all.

I'm not a fan of the supernatural horror genre that seems to be so popular these days. I grew up on suspense, thriller, slasher type movies so that's why I ended up choosing The Babysitter. I've seen better, but I have to say I enjoyed the movie from beginning to end. Made me think back to the days I had a babysitter...but she didn't look like Bee!

Jeepers Creepers 3

The long awaited 3rd installment of the Jeepers Creepers series finally made it's way to movie theatres...for one night only on 09/26/17. My older brother informed me of the screening and asked if I'd like to go. It's been ages since I've watched either of the two previous movies, but I'm always down for a good horror movie, especially if it doesn't fall under the supernatural genre.

I remember hearing that this movie was basically in "developmental hell" for several years. I wasn't sure this movie was ever going to be made if I'm being honest. In fact, the the movie's overall story has been changed at least once since the script was originally written.

Jeepers Creepers 3 takes part between the first and second movie, however originally it was to take place 23 years after the second movie. From what I've been able to gather, the movie was originally subtitled Cathedral. Trish Jenner, Darry's sister from the first movie, is now a mother of a teenage son anmed Darry, after her brother she lost 23 years ago. Trish has a reoccuring nightmare where her son suffers the same fate as her brother did, killed by the Creeper. Determined to prevent his from happening, Trish, who is now a rich and powerful woman, sets out on a final quest with Jack Taggart Sr. and Jr. to end the Creeper's reign of terror once and for all.

After watching the movie, I almost wished this story was the one they went with. Jeepers Creepers 3 wasn't bad, but for me it really didn't help advance the story. I still had a lot of questions about who the Creeper is and where he came from.

Now it wasn't all bad. While you can tell the budget was lower than the previous two movies, it was nice getting to see the Creeper out in the daylight as much as he was shown. His armored truck also played a big role in the movie, even more so than in the original. It was cool seeing all of his weapons and other surprises his truck had inside.

The other good part was that the original actor portrayed the Creeper yet again. The make up was very nice looking and some of the special effects were good. It wasn't an overall gory movie as many of the kills were done off camera, "Hitchcock" style. I was fine with that as I don't always have to see the brutal kill for it to have the same effect. In fact, I'd rather not see the kill and rather see the aftermath if the budget retrains the on screen kill from looking authentic.

I'm told Jeepers Creepers 3 will make it's way back to theatres for one night in October, so if you missed your chance in September you may want to head on over to Fathom Event's site and check to see if it'll be playing in your area. In my opinion it's not better than the first movie, but I've also seen far worse movies. I will say that it really makes me want to go back and watch the second movie now.

It's time for more Halloween Horror Movie Reviews!

For several years now I've been reviewing a few horror movies during the month of October...just in time for Halloween. While I won't be doing a movie a day as I've done in the past, my goal is to share my opinion movies I've watched. May be on cable TV, may be from a Red Box rental or a Netflix movie. None the less, I'm ready to go. If you want to get caught up w/ movies I've reviewed in the past, you can check out the archive HERE or via the link on the side bar.

Rites of Spring

Happy Halloween everyone! I figured I better get at least one more horror movie review in before we turn the calendar to November. While I didn't get as many new movies reviewed this month as I had wanted to, partly due to some movies I watched were just so horrible they didn't deserve reviewing (looking at you Hayride 2). However enjoy this last movie review before I get back to a stack of new toys just waiting for their spotlight.

Finding a good slasher movie these days can be hard. It seems the horror movie trend has moved past the iconic 80's slasher flicks like Friday the 13th and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Now all you find are demon possession and supernatural horror. Blah. Thankfully I took a chance on Rites of Spring while browsing through the not so impressive horror line up recently on Netflix.

This movie is from 2011 by producer Padraig Reynolds (also credited for writing this movie). The description of the movie is rather simple.

A ransom scheme turns into a nightmare for a group of kidnappers who become victims of a horrifying secret that must be paid every spring.

Looking at the original movie poster and reading that description one should be able to put two and two together and realize this movie has something to do w/ sacrifice. The farmhouse and stalks of corn is a dead giveaway that this ain't taking place in a big city.

For starters let me just say this movie's story is a mess. It's all over the place. I feel like the producer/writer takes way too long to fill in the holes of the story. None the less I'll try to break it all down.

The movie has two main story lines at the beginning that don't see related at all. It opens up w/ two girls at the local watering hole. Upon leaving their car has a flat...how original. Before they know it some guy knocks them off w/ chloroform I'm guessing on a rag and throws them in the back of his van.

The story then switches to two guys discussing their plans to kidnap some little girl. You hear the plans, but there is no real motive behind what they are doing. The story follows up the plan complete with the kidnappers taking refuge in a abandoned school while they wait for the ransom money to arrive.

By the time all of this unravels you are already 40-45 minutes into the movie. Still not knowing how these two stories relate to each other, one of the women that is kidnapped at the beginning of the movie finally frees herself and finds that she is being chased by the movie's nemesis, something called Wormface. You see very little of the assailant, which is a bad thing as it appears the special effects used on this guy are pretty good. He carries some sort of bladed farming tool. Not quite a scythe or a sickle, but it appears to be something that could be found on an old farm. The woman running for her life eventually finds the school and meets up w/ the kidnappers in the middle of an argument. Finally the two individually stories collide...but why?

The acting, while not great, isn't horrible. The special effects seem to be of a lower budget, but instead of having a campy looking death scene many of them cut away via Alfred Hitchcock style. Outside of the story having some holes and taking way too long the flesh out, my biggest gripe is not seeing more of Wormface on screen. Who is the real star to most slasher movies? It's Jason, Michael Myers or Leatherface. Wormface just feels forced and not used properly.

Overall I'd give this movie two and half stars. Unlike some horror flicks I found on Netflix this Halloween that left me feeling like I just wasted and hour or so of my time, Rites of Spring was still enjoyable. It's broken and could have benefited from maybe 15-30 more minutes to round out the story, but by no means is it unwatchable,

Month of Horror continues with Berkshire County (Tormented)

Growing tired of sifting through all the boring horror movies Netflix had to offer me, I decided to stop by a Red Box on my way home from work to see if their horror flick offerings were any better. I remember reading the description for Tormented on Red Box's website, but none of the kiosks around my home stocked the movie. Needlessly to say I was surprised when this one popped up.

From what I can gather, this movie, originally released as Berkshire County in Canada, is an independent Canadian film. Apparently it was given a new name (Tormented) and a new cheesy movie poster for it's U.S. home video release. Despite the poster and it's equally lame tag line, the movie isn't that bad.

There are a lot of sub-genres of horror these days. To me it seems like most of the modern horror movies being released are of the possession, ghost, supernatural type. I could care less for these in most cases. Every once in awhile I may come across a decent movie of that style, but where has the modern slasher movies gone to? While Berkshire County isn't exactly your typical slasher movie, it's the closest I've found in my recent search for horror movies in the month of October. With previous movies such as "When a Stranger Calls", "The Strangers" and "You're Next", there is a new sub-genre of horror...home invasion. 

Berkshire County doesn't really offer anything new to this genre. It's your typical movie where a girl is stuck in a house w/ invaders trying to get in. However don't write it off just yet. Where as the protagonists in "You're Next" wore creepy plastic animal masks, the protagonists in Berkshire County wear some pretty awesome looking pig masks. It seems as if these killers have a real pig fetish too. There isn't a lot of gore in the movie, but what there is was handled quite well and looked fairly realistic.

The movie opens up w/ your female lead, a high school girl who battles low self-esteem, getting a little friendly with a guy at a Halloween party. Let's just say the whole ordeal is video taped and quickly spreads through the High school. Now the purpose of this I'm not sure. Are we supposed to feel even more sorry for the lead female as we already know she is going to be victimized and terrorized in a house at some point in the movie? Personally they could have left out the sexual innuendo part and came up with something a little better to set the stage for the main character. Thankfully though the rest of the movie is free of anything sexual.

I don't want to give much of the story away. Kind of hard too when the story isn't really explained. Much like with "The Strangers", there doesn't appear to be a story. It seems as if it's just another movie where the protagonists are killing "just because". Frankly I hate crap like that. I wish there was a little more back story on why the killers were doing what they were doing...or at least a tiny tidbit of background info on them and their "pig-mobile" they drive around.

The acting I found to be pretty good. Actress Aylsa King (lead character, Kylie) I thought gave a pretty good performance. She appeared to be genuinely frightened through most of the home invasion scenes. I'm not quite sure however that I bought her "bad ass" self that appears later in the movie. I also wondered why she didn't appear to be limping or why she didn't appear to be in pain towards the end after what had happened to her. I already commented on how good the pig masks looked, but how on earth did the big hulking guy make such authentic pig noises?! I wasn't expecting that. The only real gripe I have is the ending scene. It seems forced and pegged on at the last minute. Once you watch the movie I think you'll see what I mean and agree with me.

Overall I'd say this is a slightly above average movie. It's by far the best movie I've viewed in the first 9 days of October for sure. This movie did make some noise in it's native land of Canada and I can see why. To be a independent movie, it's well put together for the most part. I hear that this was the first movie for the director Audrey Cummings. In my opinion it's not a bad start to a directing career. I should mention there is a brief post-credits scene so make sure you don't stop the DVD when the credits first roll. If you're interested in this movie make sure to check out your local Red Box or you can rent and stream it on Amazon.