It is time to get week two of my "Horror Movie Marathon" underway! I stumbled upon a theme for this week and I'm calling it "Evil Abodes". From Haunted Houses, to a Motel run by cannibals, and even a creepy spaceship or two, all these locations have one thing in common: Evil deeds are done in these places and you probably don't want to spend too much time in them. So now that we've got that sorted and you now know what you're in for this week, lets get this baby moving and dive right in!
Movie #3: The Amityville Horror (1979)
Director: Stuart Rosenberg
Starring: James Brolin, Margot Kidder, Rod Steiger
Plot: A family moves into a new house where the previous occupants were brutally murdered. Soon they start to experience supernatural activity and the father starts to mentally unravel.
Opinion: Considered by some to be a classic but I've got to say I'm sorry but I just don't get it. The film is far too long, refuses to build any real tension, and is extremely reliant on cheap jump scares for its thrills. If you do choose to watch it you will get to experience some exquisite overacting from Brolin and Steiger, so I guess its got that going for it.
Movie #4: The Conjuring (2013)
Director: James Wan
Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Ron Livingston
Plot: Paranormal Investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren help a family under attack from paranormal forces.
Opinion: Wan is a modern day master of this macabre genre and is at absolute tip top form with this modern day classic entry into the "haunted house" subset. Wan is one of my favorite directors working today and this film is one of my favorites that he has helmed in his career.
Movie #5: The Amityville Horror (2005)
Director: Andrew Douglas
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Melissa George, Jimmy Bennett
Plot: A family moves into a new house where the previous occupants were brutally murdered. Soon they start to experience supernatural activity and the father starts to mentally unravel.
Opinion: Whereas I do not like the original film, I actually have a bit of a soft spot for this remake. I have a fond memory of taking my now wife on a date to go see this in high school so there is some sentimental association, but mostly I like how relentless and well paced this version of the story is. In addition this is one of the few films that Reynolds gets to play against his normally lovable type.
Movie #6: Motel Hell (1980)
Director: Kevin Conner
Starring: Rory Calhoun, Nancy Parsons, Nina Axelrod
Plot: A cannibal brother and sister team run a motel/meat smoking business.
Opinion: This is one of my favorite horror comedies of all time sheerly for the fact of how bizarre and outrageous it is. I mean how could you not love a movie that ends with a chainsaw duel between the county sheriff and a maniacally laughing man wearing a pig's head as a mask/helmet?
Movie #7: The Conjuring 2 (2016)
Director: James Wan
Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Madison Wolfe
Plot: The Warren's are back and this time they're making a trip "across the pond" to England to help another family who are having trouble with the supernatural.
Opinion: At times this sequel is even scarier then the first film and in a lot of ways is a better movie. Wan once again knows just what buttons to push and his timing for scares and building of dread is impeccable. Unfortunately it falls apart a bit at the end when it relies a bit to much on some sub par cgi effects. Check out my full review for the film here.
Movie #8: Event Horizon (1997)
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Starring: Sam Neil, Laurence Fisburne, Kathleen Quinlan
Plot: A deep space rescue crew travel to Neptune to investigate the "Event Horizon". An experimental space ship thought lost long ago to a black hole.
Opinon: Unpopular opinion time! (As far as the horror community goes at least.) I hate this movie. I think the following its gained over the years is completely unwarranted. For a film that claims to be "Sci-Fi Horror", it would have been nice if it did either genre justice, or well for that matter. The science is terribly laughable, and the horror consists of nothing but cheap nonsensical jump scares and crude unnecessary gore. The set design cribs from better films from both ends of the spectrum but is done cheaply and the result only ends up looking like a mismatching smashup of leftover furniture from "Pinhead's" apartment and the wreck of the "Nostromo". It is a shame though considering the concept of a spaceship that has literally been to hell and back is interesting, and the cast is full of wonderful actors that deserve so much better than this.
Movie #9: Baskin (2015)
Director: Can Evrenol
Starring: Mehmet Cerrahoğlu, Görkem Kasal, Ergun Kuyucu
Plot: A squad of five police officers respond to a call at an abandoned building and stumble upon a black mass being preformed.
Opinion: This Turkish surreal horror film is insanely strange, disturbing, and often horrifying and I never want to experience it ever again. Its just one of those horror films that you're glad that you've watched it, but once is definitely enough.
Movie #10: Pandorum (2009)
Director: Christian Alvart
Starring: Ben Foster, Dennis Quaid, Cam Gigandet
Trailer
Plot: Two crew members on a long distance starship journey awake from hyper sleep with no knowledge of where they're going, who they are, or where the rest of the crew are, but they are not alone...
Opinion: Oh look another Sci-Fi/Horror hybrid with a great cast and an interesting concept that it doesn't live up to. This time around though the poor quality it is due to some horrible editing and a film that seems like it was just never even finished before being pushed out half baked.
Well that wraps up week two! I'd love to hear any of your opinions on the films I watched and am always open to suggestions for what to watch next, so feel free to hit me up in the comments below. As always thank you for reading and I'll see you next week!
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