Joseph Howell
Horror has always been a pretty big business, especially on home video. So, in the advent of Blu-Ray, DVD, and Digital Download, which titles are worth seeing? Which ones are worth avoiding? Well, read on to see the best, worst, and most “eh, whatever” titles in genre films available now.
Next to “The Conjuring”, I would say that the best horror movie of 2013 was Adam Wingard’s “You’re Next” (Lionsgate), which took the largely worn out home invasion subgenre and gave it a much needed kick in the ass. Granted, the movie at first seems like you’re typical home invasion movie-a bickering family in a large house find themselves under siege by three killers in animal masks, who at first seem to have no goal other than to kill them. As the film goes on, it turns out things aren’t what they seem, as these three actually have some interesting motives behind their actions. Oh, and one of the people in the house (Sharni Vinson) is definitely not what they seem to be…
As you can see, this soon becomes more than just another “people are hunted in their home” movie. That’s because Wingard and writer Simon Barrett know you’ve seen this kind of movie before, and instead of going with the same old same old, they decide to have fun with the idea. And boy do they have fun, largely by injecting the proceedings with a welcome dose of black humor. As the movie goes on, you get scenes like two people still arguing whilst one of them has an arrow lodged in his back to a man who won’t die and a creative use of a blender. This is a wonderful example of the kind of horror movie you watch with a large audience, as everyone cringes, screams and laughs at equal abandon.
Also sporting some largely strong performances, (in particular from indie director Joe Swanberg, returning Scream Queen Barbara Crampton and especially Vinson, who steals the show) excellent direction that understands how to balance scares and gruesome laughs, a great script, solid cinematography and enough twists and turns that thankfully manage to come off as fresh instead of tiresome, and you get one of 2013’s most surprising little treats. This sucker couldn’t be more recommended.
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Now it’s time to go back to the 80’s with the cult favorite “Night of the Demons” (Scream Factory) In it, a group of teens are invited by creepy Goth girl Angela (Amelia Kinkade) and her best friend Suzanne (Scream Queen Linnea Quigley) to have a bit of a party at Hull House. Things are fine until the batteries in the boom box die out. But have no fear, because they decide to have a séance! Well, this turns out to be
Because this awakens something evil in the house, and the next thing you know, it begins to possess and kill these kids one by one.
You know the saying “familiarity brings contempt”? Well, NOTD is an exempt of familiarity being okay. Yes, the acting is largely bad, and little about this is original (it’s pretty much “Evil Dead” with some “Nightmare on Elm Street” style puns and pretty lowbrow humor) but dammit if this isn’t the kind of horror movie you and your friends watch with beer and some pizza. Thankfully, director Kevin S. Tenney (who also directed “Witchboard”) and writer Joe Augustyn know what kind of movie this is, and make no pretensions out of it (though in the special features, it is interesting to hear one of the actors make a parallel between the possession scenes as a metaphor for the AIDS epidemic.) They also get away with some surprisingly inspired directorial choices (dig the shot of everyone’s faces being reflected on shards of broken glass), memorable moments (you’ll never look at lipstick the same way again) and what may be the best use of the band Bauhaus in movie history. Oh, and the requisite gore and female nudity, and one of the best stupid lines ever said in the annals of horror (“Eat a bowl of fuck!”) It’s nothing that will change your life, but it is a hell of a lot of fun.
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“The Banshee Chapter” (Xlrator) actually manages to do something that on paper shouldn’t work—a modern day update of H.P. Lovecraft’s “From Beyond” that sometimes uses found footage techniques—work really well for the most part. Here, an investigative journalist (Katia Winter) is trying to find out what happened to a friend of hers that went missing. What she discovers involves government experiments involving experimental drugs that were tested on American citizens. As she digs deeper, she begins to find help from a man (Ted Levine) who is connected to these experiments. She also begins to find unexplainable radio transmissions and what seem to be deformed entities that pop up out of nowhere.
TBC largely works because it understands that suspense and fear of the unknown is what usually makes found footage movies work, and it plays with that thanks to old tropes like loud noises and haunting visuals, not to mention moments of genuine suspense instead of gore and splatter. It’s also a very well-acted film, with Winter making for a believable person who actually makes you understand why someone would do all of this, and Levine in particular standing out as a haunted man who just happens to use the drug regularly. Granted, the movie does run out of steam a little at the end (honestly, I wasn’t too impressed with the conclusion), but for the most part, this is a fun, creepy little sleeper that manages to get a lot right.
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On a more disappointing note is “Ritual” (Lionsgate), which comes from the “After Dark Originals” series. Here, Tom (Dean Cates) and his estranged wife Lovely (Lisa Marie Summerscales) finds themselves standing over the body of a dead man in a hotel. Apparently, this man was an abusive dick, and Lovely claims that his death was accidental. Lo and behold, Tommy boy finds a VHS tape that suggests his ex was about to be sacrificed by this guy and his Satanic cult buddies. They decide to scram, but Tom realizes he left some incriminating evidence back in the hotel, and some men have a particular interest in them…
I really, really wanted to like “Ritual”. For a second time effort (writer/director Mickey Keating previously did a movie called “Ultra Violence”), it has a great premise that has tons of potential, the acting is actually better than what you usually get from a straight to video effort, and the cinematography helps to create a creepy atmosphere. The problems though, start with the fact that it goes from being an interesting mystery style horror film into yet another “couple is terrorized” film that doesn’t leave a whole lot of surprises, and all leads to a conclusion that could best be described as unsatisfactory at best. Also, whilst the acting is strong, we don’t get much in the way of interesting characters here, especially from Lovely, who I felt grew more and more uninteresting and unlikeable as the film proceeded. What you end up getting is something that could have been a little surprising, but ends up being little more than a Redbox rental or future Netflix streaming.
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We end this edition with “Sorority Party Massacre” (Anchor Bay), which is…well, it sure is a movie. As far as plot is concerned, the title says it all. There are girls, a sorority party, and a killer, so there’s that. Oh, and Ron Jeremy, Kevin Sorbo, Richard Moll and Leslie Easterbrook are there because…well, because I guess.
The only thing that almost is of interest (apart from Easterbrook, who at least seems to be trying to have fun) is that this is a movie that tries to be a mix of an 80’s slasher movie and something like “Scream”. However, it lacks the gumption and fun of the former and the wit and style of the latter, and what you get instead is the kind of straight to video horror movie that puts forth no real effort from the people involved, and is nothing more than a lazy retread made for undemanding 13-18 year olds that already have low standards. Oh, and for the world’s most diehard Kevin Sorbo fans, even they will be depressed to watch a movie that he clearly doesn’t want to be in. This is essentially not worth it, not even as an “it’s 1:00 AM and nothing else is on” viewing.
Next Time: Sam Raimi enters the foray with “Darkman”, whilst Paul Schrader lets the world know about “Cat People”
