Film Review: UNSANE (2018)

Sawyer Valentini (Claire Foy) voluntarily checks into a hospital to see if she can get some help dealing with the fact that she has no friends and just moved away from home in order to get away from a stalker that she’s never told anyone about especially her mother (Amy Irving).  When she is forced to stay at the hospital for a mandatory 72 hours after she reveals to a doctor that she’s had thoughts about killing herself her world will be turned upside down.  This is the premise for UNSANE (2018) a new psychological thriller from director Steven Soderbergh (and written by Jonathan Bernstein and James Greer).  Sawyer’s quest starts off as a woman who just needs someone else to tell her story to that she can trust but the nurses, hospital staff, and doctors have a different agenda which is to keep as many patients in their beds for as long as possible or until the insurance money runs out.  In addition to having to deal with the politics of her incarceration she also has to deal with the fact that her stalker may have tracked her down and is posing as a nurse at the hospital to get to her.

Soderbergh has crafted a tense thriller that manages to balance the current hospital and insurance politics with the psychological breakdown of the main character to great effect.  Foy carries most of the film by herself as she is not a weak character who will stand to be taken advantage of even in the face of her greatest fear – a relentless stalker that will stop at nothing to possess her.

Filmed entirely with an I-phone the film has a very personal touch and keeps you engaged from beginning to end.  Soderbergh has a lot to say with this film (as he does with most of his great films) and this is definitely one of his films that should not be missed.

Film Review: TRUTH OR DARE? (2018)

Olivia (Lucy Hale) is the perfect college student who during Spring Break is supposed to be volunteering for a good cause until her best friend Markie (Violet Beane) convinces her to go to Mexico with all their friends for one last great week together before their adult lives kick in.  Therein, is the catalyst for TRUTH OR DARE? (2018).  On their last week of Spring Break, Olivia befriends the seemingly harmless Carter (Landon Liboiron) who takes them all to an abandoned church to drink and party and play a game of Truth or Dare.  Everything seems harmless until Carter reveals to the group that they have now become part of a game that if they refuse to play will be the end of their lives.

Now, Olivia and her friends must film a way to beat the game before they all find themselves dead or worse.

The mythology of the film/game, although convoluted, is not all that bad even at it’s most ludicrous as the cast does a good job of selling the premise.  Written by Michael Reisz, Jillian Jacobs, Christopher Roach, and Jeff Wadlow (who also directs) the film comes off as over written as everything in the film fills like it needs to be explained and justified.  This unfortunately prevents the film from having any real suspense and is not nearly as interesting as it could have been.  This being said, the film looks great and has a very good musical score from Matthew Margeson.  This is just one of those films where less could have been more in order to craft a compelling and terrifying horror film.

Film Review: THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT (2018)

It’s been ten years since the previous film polarized audiences but now, THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT (2018) seeks to do for modern audiences what the original did a decade ago.  Unfortunately, it’s a little too late.  Dollface, Pin-Up Girl and the Man in the Mask (Emma Bellomy, Lea Enslin, and Damian Maffei, respectfully) have hit the road after the previous massacre to now menace a new family that have found their way to a summer trailer park that’s currently off season.  Their latest victims are husband and wife Mike and Cindy (Martin Henderson and Christina Hendricks, respectfully) and their two children Kinsey and Luke (Bailee Madison and Lewis Pullman, respectfully).

Mike and Cindy are driving Kinsey to a new school after being kicked out of the previous one as she has become unruly and uncontrollable.  Kinsey’s attitude has finally tested the resolve of the family for the very last time.  They plan to stop overnight at the trailer park which is run by other family members but right off the back things are strange as no one greets them upon their arrival and everything seems to be too quiet.  When a strange girl shows up at their doorstep looking for someone else their nightmare truly begins as they must find a way to escape the trailer park when there is a killer at every turn watching and waiting.

Written by Ben Ketai and directed by Johannes Roberts the film retains the atmosphere and dread of the previous film even though the location has been opened up to more than just a single house.  What the film lacks are compelling characters as all the characters either make bad decisions or (regularly) act like victims instead of fighting back in a logical way.  Most of the film’s visual and suspenseful techniques are wasted on clichés and things done better in other similar films.

Not a completely horrible film but you expect more from a sequel that took a decade to finally see the light.

Film Review: AMITYVILLE: THE AWAKENING (2017)

Writer/director Franck Khalfoun is the latest to tackle the undying Amityville franchise with AMITYVILLE: THE AWAKENING (2017).  The style and suspense from Khalfoun’s previous films P2 (2007) and MANIAC (2012) are lost in this remake/reboot of the Amityville story that at times acknowledges the existence of the original two films as a means to keep the story fresh in an age where every possible franchise is being rebooted.

Joan (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is desperate to move her invalid and comatose son James (Cameron Monaghan) to the hospitals and doctor that can best be able to help him recover.  This is contrary to her daughter Belle (Bella Thorne), James’ twin who believes that her brother is too far gone and they should just let him die in peace.  Moving into the infamous Amityville house is supposed to help the family financially but it doesn’t take long before Belle realizes that something in the house has nefarious plans for her and the rest of her family.  When James starts to magically recover from his condition, Belle seeks out answers to prove whether or not the house is to blame but it leads her down to some deep family secrets and trauma.

This all seems like an interesting plot to delve into but most everything on display has been down in previous films in the franchise including The Haunting in Connecticut (2009), another “based on true events” ghost story.  No gore is on display and for the most part the film plays it completely safe.  Rumors say that Khalfoun originally made a Rated-R film that was then trimmed down to a PG-13 but regardless, without more original ideas the end result probably would have been the same.  This is a sleek and great looking production with a very good cast that just cast elevate this mediocre material.

Film Review: ZOOMBIES (2015)

No one is ever going to mistake a film from The Asylum to be high art much less all that good, but they have a knack for crafting some ridiculously entertaining films sometimes of which ZOOMBIES (2016) almost hits all the right marks.

A strange monkey virus threatens to spread throughout a new safari park on the cusp of opening up to the public just when the new interns are getting assigned to their jobs.  Although there are no regular attendees yet, there are plenty of park workers that become cannon fodder for the savage zoo animals soon infected with a zombie-like virus.  It is up to the employees to stop the spread of the virus before it reaches the outside world and threatens all life on Earth.

Dr. Ellen Rogers (Kim Nielson) must find a way to navigate her employees to safety in the park while zombie gorillas, giraffes, lions, and all other manner of critters make food of everyone they come into contact with.

The film is filled with colorful characters and enough gore to satisfy even the most diehard horror fan and even though it lacks the polish of a Hollywood studio film (the CGI is pretty bad) there is plenty of entertainment and zombie carnage to keep you occupied from beginning to end (especially if you like these types of films).  Fans of The Asylum films know what to expect and the film delivers in spades.  If you’re not fans of The Asylum or don’t have an open mind then this film is definitely not for you as you need to be “in” on the joke in order to enjoy these types of films.

Film Review: HORROR STORY (2013)

Seven friends decide that after a night of drinking that the best way to cap off the night is with a trip to an abandoned hotel that is rumored to be haunted in the film HORROR STORY (2013).  Now, I’ll forgive the film for the oblivious cliché of a horror set up even though there is no logical explanation given for these seven friends to ever even be interested in going to an abandoned and rumored haunted hotel but without these characters’ bad decisions we wouldn’t have a horror film to watch.

There is not an original story element to be had in this Hindi horror film which borrows heavily from horror films from the ‘90s.  Characters make stupid choices that usually end up pretty bad for everyone.  This being said, the film itself looks really good with some amazing production design for the abandoned hotel.  The film is very creepy and the actors, despite doing the best that they can with the material, are not all that bad either.  The film has a lot of atmosphere with some engaging cinematography that fits the story and moves the plot along.

Unfortunately, all these great elements are lost in a film that is over twenty years past its expiration date.  An interesting film for horror fans looking for something else but little else.

Film Review: TERROR ON TOUR (1980)

There’s nothing like a film that tries to mix horror with rock ‘n roll which is exactly what you get in TERROR ON TOUR (1980).  Written by Dell Lekus, the film follows a rock band called The Clowns that are on tour when several prostitutes start getting killed by someone looking in their iconic clown get up.  While not the most engaging of characters, the band members just want to play good music while someone keeps killing random people and fans alike.  As the killings get closer to home it becomes very clear that someone in the group or associated with the group is at the center of the murders.

The film itself is pretty bland and has aged horribly.  In addition to the bad acting and mediocre gore, none of the characters are at all interesting and neither are the deaths on display.  The film was released at the height of the slasher boom of the ‘80s and was released before ROCKTOBER BLOOD (1984), TRICK OR TREAT (1986), and BLACK ROSES (1988), to name a few, and therefore doesn’t have the gloss of those more cult films.

This is not a film that you need to seek out, not even for horror fans as it is completely forgettable.

Film Review: STAKELAND II: THE STAKELANDER (2016)

Writer/actor Nick Damici returns to the post-apocalyptic world of vampires with STAKELAND II: THE STAKELANDER (2016).  The original film was a surprisingly refreshing new look at a world in which vampires are the dominant species and the humans have almost been run to extinction.  In the new film Martin (Connor Paolo) is all grown up and is on a quest to search for Mister (Damici) the only person he thinks can help him defeat The Mother (Kristina Hughes) who is responsible for the death of his wife and child.  Martin will stop at nothing to get revenge but on his journey through what’s left of the world he will discover new enemies that may be more dangerous than the vampires.

Damici again writes this film which sees Martin take center stage while Mister is depicted as a vamp hunter nearing the end of his days.  There are a lot of new characters added for this film including new companion The Lady (Laura Abramsen) who is a mute and feral women attached to the hip of Mister and some old friends Bat and Doc Earl (A.C. Peterson and Steven Williams, respectfully) that add flavor to the film.  The film is directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen and even though they are nearly as adept as Jim Mickle with the original, this film still does have it’s moments.

This film’s greatest weakness is that nothing seems fresh or original any more as it all comes off as something seen better in other films.  This being said, fans of the original film (and vampire films in general) will find something interesting in this film including the fact that it’s open ended for a possible sequel.