Category: Horror
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The Lazarus Effect (*) is deadening
The Lazarus Effect – 2015 Director David Gelb Starring Mark Duplass, Olivia Wilde, Donald Glover, Evan Peters, Sarah Bolger Screenplay Luke Dawson, Jeremy Slater The Lazarus Effect is an amazing accomplishment. It’s a miracle that a film that is this bad could get even a relatively small budget of 3.3 million, and then somehow translate that investment into over 10 times that…
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It Follows (*****): A tribute but not a ripoff
The work is a tribute but it manages to transcend. See this film if you want to know fear that opens the mind.
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Oujia (**1/2): You made her play the game and now she’s dead
Ouija – 2014 Director Stiles White Starring Olivia Cooke, Ana Coto, Daren Kagasoff, Douglas Smith, Bianca A. Santos, Lin Shaye, Shelley Hennig Screenplay Juliet Snowden and White For an actress that has been in so many Farrelly Brothers films, Lin Shaye is something of a staple in horror. In fact, she is to horror what Leslie Nielsen was to comedy. In this…
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The Pyramid (*1/2) Kill the light
The Pyramid – 2014 Director Grégory Levasseur Starring Ashley Hinshaw, Denis O’Hare, James Buckley, Daniel Amerman, Christa Nicola Screenplay Daniel Meersand, Nick Simon I think it’s the part where one guy holds the head of a girl who has been impaled and asks her “Is that better?” This is the moment of truth. Another 89 minutes down the drain. The very next…
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Housebound (***1/2) – Animal on the loose
Housebound – 2014 Written and Directed Gerard Johnstone Starring Morgana O’Reilly, Rima Te Wiata, Glen-Paul Waru, Cameron Rhodes, Ross Harper, Ryan Lampp A New Zealand film that was a hit at SXSW this year, Housebound is an effective thriller with some comedic elements thrown in for good measure. Morgana O’Reilly gives a game performance as a street wise crook…
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The Purge: Anarchy (**) needs to improve if it wants to be the new Saw, Paranormal Activity
The Purge: Anarchy – 2014 Writer and Director James DeMonaco Starring Frank Grillo, Carmen Ejogo, Zach Gilford, Kiele Sanchez, Michael K. Williams In the second take of the dystopian series, we go outside the confines of the home to the streets of L.A., where, presumably, no one is safe. This is especially true for the lower and working class people. It…
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Deliver Us From Evil (***) survives
Deliver Us From Evil – 2014 Director Scott Derrickson Starring Eric Bana, Édgar Ramírez, Olivia Munn, Sean Harris, Joel McHale Screenplay by Derrickson and Paul Harris Boardman Scott Derrickson has a way of making things seem really bad. Not just movie bad, but real, we’re not gonna make it bad. Sinister was replete with all sorts of things we’d all seen before, but…
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Annabelle (***): Solid, but nothing you haven’t seen before
Annabelle – 2014 Director John R. Leonetti Starring Annabelle Wallis, Ward Horton, Tony Amendola, Alfre Woodard, Kerry O’Malley, Brian Howe, Eric Ladin, Ivar Brogger, Tree O’Toole, Kiera Daniels, Morganna May, Michelle Romano, Christopher Shaw Screenplay Gary Dauberman There is a consistency about the horror films of James Wan, from the Saw franchise through Insidious and The…
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As Above, So Below (***): Isn’t great, but at least it follows course
As Above So Below – 2014 Director John Erick Dowdle Starring Perdita Weeks, Ben Feldman, Edwin Hodge, François Civil, Marion Lambert, Ali Marhyar Screenplay Drew and John Erick Dowdle Sometimes in the rush to consider a movie a failed venture, we miss the ones that, while not great, certainly are good. Let’s be honest, the found footage route has more than run it’s…
Ebert Did It Better: Gasbag Reviews 