Free Horror

April 10, 2009

Ticks 1993 Horror Movie Review

Filed under: Horror Reviews — Tags: — Griff @ 7:24 am

ticks-movie-1993Problem teens in Los Angeles join an inner-city wilderness project in and attempt to get back in touch with life’s priorities, led by do-gooders Holly and Charles. When they get to the campsite, they begin having problems adjusting to the wild life, particularly local marijuana growers using herbal steroids to accelerate plant growth, and the mutated ticks that the leaky steroid system has created.

What a great cast. Ami Dolenz, Seth Green, Clint Howard, Alfonso Ribeiro, (Clint and Ron Howard’s father) Rance Howard and Peter Scolari. Can’t have one much better. The gore was great, the blood was plentiful, the movie was campy and cheesy and it was a very fun watch! I can sense that a lot of gore was cut from the film, I just hope that one day this makes it to DVD uncut. It’s such an underrated film in many ways, I mean– K.N.B. Studios did the special make-up effects, so that’s pretty impressive alone, right?

The story was cheesy, and not very interesting, but alot made up for it. It’s not a good story if you think about it and I’m not a huge “killer critter” fan aside from movies like Squirm, SLUGS and Piranha. The movie goes from fun to boring in matter of second. Like I mentioned before, if this movie was an all-out gore-fest it would make it a lot easier to enjoy. There’s one part in particular where Alfonso Ribiero’s character morphs into a tick– classic shit!

Probably one of the more underrated movies of the genre. I thought the directing and gore was superb. Ami Dolenz did another great job, and I thought Alfonso Ribeiro’s death was great. I used to have the biggest crush on Ami Dolenz when I was younger, and man… she still is hot. The ticks were a bit disgusting, oozy and just downright nauseating, but small things like that make up for bad writing and bad acting from a few of the cast. I am not a fan of bugs and they really get to me… so yeah, this movie gave me the creepies.

April 2, 2009

The Wolfman (1941) Movie Review

Filed under: Horror Reviews — Tags: , — Griff @ 6:28 am

wolfmanMade during the horror movie heyday of the late 1930s and early 1940s, this classic suspenseful thriller introduced audiences to one of the most well-known movie monsters; Lon Chaney Jr.’s “Wolf Man”.

Chaney plays Larry Talbot, who is returning to his home in Wales after spending eighteen years in the United States. Larry’s brother was recently killed in a hunting accident. Claude Rains stars as Larry’s father, Sir John Talbot. Upon returning home, Larry helps his father install a new lens in his telescope. While peering through the lens, Larry discovers a beautiful girl in the window across the street. Her name is Gwen Conliffe (Evelyn Ankers). Larry goes over and introduces himself, and the two agree to go for a walk together that evening.

Gwen invites her friend Jenny Williams to come along. The three decide to go to have their fortunes told by a group of gypsies who have set up camp in town. Jenny goes first. Gypsy Bela (Bela Lugosi) reads Jenny’s fortune. He is immediately disturbed when he sees the shape of a pentagram appear in Jenny’s palm. He immediately tells Jenny to leave. Meanwhile, Gwen and Larry have walked off on their own. Minutes later, they hear a blood-curdling scream. Larry runs to investigate and finds a large wolf attacking Jenny. Larry manages to kill the wolf with his silver-handled cane, but he is bitten in the process.

Gypsy Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya) tells Larry about the legend of the werewolf, and if a person is bitten by a werewolf and survives, they too will become a werewolf. Maleva gives Larry a charm to wear around his neck to protect himself, but he gives the charm to Gwen. On the night of the full moon, Maleva’s predictions come true, as Larry Talbot is transformed into a werewolf. Will the charm protect Gwen, or will she suffer the same fate as her friend Jenny?

This movie has remained a classic for over sixty years, and it takes the viewer back to a time before the blood-and-guts horror films were popular, and movie producers relied on psychological terror to scare audiences. There is no blood in this movie, but the viewer is still scared by the unique movie sets, the fog rolling through the trees, and the haunting musical score. Lon Chaney Jr. made his role as the wolf man famous, and he’s the only actor to have ever played the wolf man. Although the character was originally designed for Boris Karloff, Chaney made this his signature role. He will always be remembered as the wolf man. The other actors, especially Maria Ouspenskaya and Claude Rains, give good performances as well.

I give this movie my highest recommendation. This film takes me back to when I was a young child, and I used to stay up late on weekends watching the scary movies on television. Remember, “Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolf bane blooms, and the autumn moon is bright”.

March 4, 2009

Babysitter Wanted – Horror Movie Review

Filed under: Horror Reviews — Tags: , — Griff @ 9:29 pm

babysitter-wantedOne of the most screwed up but awesomelly funny horror movies I have seen in some time! What a wild ride! I had been contemplating this movie since I saw it on the shelves for sale and a few days ago I went and brought it. Do I regret it? Do I wish I had used my money for another avenue? Hell no!

The story starts with naive Angie, a devout catholic girl, who is attempting to make a life for herself. Enrolling at a college quite a way from her mother’s she finds her room is shared by the cliched character of her roommate who drinks and smokes herself into oblivion, in an attempt to make some cash she takes an advertisement for a babysitter on the bulletin board outside the college. After being offered the position she meets the family. A mother and father who seem too good to be true and an adorable little boy.

Cue the night she babysits. Everything begins well and then the phonecalls start and from there it gets even scarier; intense.

Given that this was a low-budget film it works everything well. The tension throughout the beginning when she is babysitting is palatable, the gore factor whilst never OTT is done brilliantly given the money spent on the film.

What initially pulled me into the movie was the character of Angie (played by Sarah Thompson): a devout catholic when she moves away from home suddenly the safe surroundings are gone and she is vulnerable as anyone would be in her situation. But my heart went to her. Trying to make an honest wage and being as true to herself as possible she made me fall in love with her in a very short amount of time.

Hence Rick (Matt Dallas), the almost too good to be true guy who treats her kindly and grows closer to her throughout the film. While I am not one for romantic sub-plots I adored how well it was handled and not made to be cheesy yet in keeping of the movie. It served a real purpose.

Father, Jim Stanton (wonderful performance by Bruce Thomas) and mother, Violet Stanton (Kristen Dalton) of the son Angie is to babysit are wonderful in their roles. Squeaky clean and kind something doesn’t ring true about them from the get go but you allay those feelings until the truth emerges.

Bill Moseley as Sheriff Dinelli was great and you garner a certain amount of affection for the character he portrays. And lastly Kai Caster as little lad, Sam Stanton. Wow is all I can say, really! For such a young age he has a considerable amount of talent and he played the role so adeptly, he was brilliant in every scene he appeared.

Lighting as par usual is done to great effect and given the lesser budget they managed to eke it to greater effect. I loved! loved! the music, tense and in your face it raised the hairs on the back of my neck in the creepy, darker scenes.

The one other thing about this movie that struck me was how it changed from a straight forward slasher movie into something else entirely and for once I did not see this twist coming which is where the strength of the movie lies. It’s bloody strange but oh so fun in the process!

It’s been a long time since I have seen a movie that disgusts me, surprises me and thrills me in equal measure but this did!

Dark, funny, strange as hell this movie has to be seen to be believed.

Fantastically arranged, this is a treat in any horror fan’s collection. In simply term, BLOODY, BLOODY awesome!! Watch it!

The Shining Movie Review

Filed under: Horror Reviews — Tags: , — Griff @ 9:22 pm

theshiningI love the beginning of the movie, seeing the road that lead to the hotel is rather amazing. I don’t care how old the movie is, it’s still one of the best horror movies ever made. I must admit the little kid is rather scary. Seeing him talk with his pinky in the bathroom mirror gets me every time. Well that and the fact that little Tony lives in his mouth. I also found it strange that the family takes a drive and talk about cannibalism as if it’s nothing wrong with it, as if it was okay to talk about something like that in front on a child.

The film itself is rather confusing and making a review on this is rather hard. I think there are different ways to look at it but of course i will go only with the way i saw it. It’s a slow movie. This for me made it hard for me to keep my focus on the movie. It’s the story of a normal family that goes off to take care of an old hotel with a bad reputation. A murder happened in room 237 and people started to tell ghost stories about this. Apparently the guy there went crazy. Same thing that is going to happend to Jack and in my opinion Danny.

Now the actors. I think there is nothing to say about Mister Jack’s performance. The man is a pure genius. Period. The leading lady is okay but for some reason i have trouble believing in her character. She doesn’t seem like a real person to me. As for Danny I think the kid is bloody brilliant. The way he talks and the voice he has when Tony talks to him is just not something you would expect in a kid.

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