WAGES OF SIN
2006 / d. Aaron Robson
  
Limp thrills and an easily forgettable story make this one a ninety-minute snoozefest. After Sue Walker inherits a house in the middle of no-where, she takes her boyfriend and two empty-headed friends for a weekend getaway. Supernatural thrills ala POLTERGEIST 2 and gratuitous stupidity abound. Filled from start to finish with horror homages -- try and count how many. It may be the only way you stay entertained.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
WES CRAVEN'S NEW NIGHTMARE
1994 / d. Wes Craven
    
After a slew of sequels transformed Freddy Krueger into a joke-toting supernatural psychopath, Wes Craven stepped in and gave the bastard his balls back. Infusing mythology and a clever film-within-a-film plot, Craven re-invented the character as an ancient entity of supreme evil. A well spun and effective end to the Nightmare franchise, NEW NIGHTMARE brings the series full circle and ends on a high-point.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
WHEN THE SCREAMING STOPS
1974 / d. Amando de Ossorio
   
Early 70's eurohorror originally released as THE LORELEI'S GRASP. Somewhat obscure, poorly dubbed, but generally accepted as a decent monster-flick by the horror community. Ample nudity, grotesquely graphic heart removals, and even a bit of real life mythology make this a worthwhile watch if you can get your hands on it. Also entertaining for the "red flash warnings" that periodically pop up to prepare the squeamish for upcoming scenes of explicit violence.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
WHITE NOISE 2: THE LIGHT
2007 / d. Patrick Lussier
   
I’m not normally a fan of the unrelated direct to video sequel, but this tale of near death experiences, EVP, and the White Light versus Lucifer was surprisingly well done. The original WHITE NOISE wasn’t too bad, though it was played more for the scares than this one. Not super scary; but solid emotion and ghostly, freaky montages add enough for some food for thought.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
WILD ZERO
2000 / d. Tetsuro Takeuchi
   
Lock and loll! Ridiculously over-the-top acting, poorly animated UFOs, gender-confused transvestites, and Japanese gut-munching zombies, come together to create this highly entertaining but outright bizarre Asian flick. Do yourself and favour and play the drinking game to really enjoy the movie to its full potential.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
WITCHFINDER GENERAL
1968 / d. Michael Reeves
    
Also released as THE CONQUEROR WORM, mis-marketing and misrepresentation are the worst things here. This tale of the lawlessness and witch-hunts during the English Civil War is completely different from Price’s Poe films -- not another loose rehash as the title change would have the viewer believe. Daylight filming, real castles, cinematic brutality, and a seriously fine performance by Price shine far beyond the studio packaging. (KB)
RETURN TO THE GUIDE TO GORE |