It’s been a week or two (ok fine, two and a half) since I’ve updated things ’round these parts after all the holiday hubbub so there’s quite a bit on today’s dockets. In theaters, things have ratcheted down to a much more steady cadence of one or two flicks a week in theaters. Last week, I caught screenings of Horrible Bosses 2 (I found it quite funny), Foxcatcher (review written but embargoed for now) and A Most Violent Year (ditto on the embargo.) I also missed screenings of Tim Burton‘s Big Eyes and Wild which was kind of a bummer but oh well, I’ll catch them later and be spared the pressure of writing up full reviews. At home, I continued to count my way through all 21 of Ridley Scott’s films in preparation for tonight’s screening of Exodus: Gods and Kings (fingers crossed that that’s actually half-way decent) among more horror movies as I build my way towards a Top Ten Horror Movies of 2014 (I can sense your glee from here.) So strap in for another shot to the heart of Weekly Review.

THE HOUSES OCTOBER BUILT (2014)

What a conversation starter this one could be at the haunted house queue next Halloween. Being a bit of a dedicated haunted house aficionado, the dramatic tension that exists in The Houses October Built is is one any person who’s second-guessed an interactive horror experience can reason with: but what if they actually kill me? I went to one haunt this Halloween season in which I had to sign and fingerprint a waiver that basically said everything was hunky-dory if I, welp, died. This found footage flick is basically what if that basic premise went wrong. I won’t spoil anything beyond that, just know that it’s a rather calamitous and eerie ride. (B-)

HOUSEBOUND (2014)

Keeping in the great tradition of New Zealand horror comedy, Housebound is an irreverent splatter fest with chewy characters living through absurdist situations. When the criminally angsty Kylie Bucknell (Morgana O’Reilly) is put under house arrest with her “delusional” mother, she starts to realize that maybe there is truth to her mum’s belief that the house is indeed haunted. This NZed debut from Gerard Johnstone is stuffed with sardonic wit, mocking the tropes of horror movies past, while offering enough new wacky twists and turns to make it a fiery, often dazzling watch. Fans of Peter Jackson‘s early work and/or Cabin in the Woods will find much to love in this underground horror comedy gem. (B)

V/H/S: VIRAL (2014)

The third edition to this wearing anthological franchise, Viral represents everything wrong with the whole V/H/S brand. First off, they have no idea what they’re doing with their overarching tie-in story – a fact self-evident from the overabundant and incredibly hackneyed use of it here. It’s a utter mess that detracts from the shorts themselves and an artifice that needs to be axed entirely going forward – ABCs of Death doesn’t bother with it and is all the more successful for it. Having said that, the shorts themselves are all fairly effective. Nacho Vigalondo‘s “Parallel Monsters” is an esoteric trip to another dimension, Gregg Bishop‘s “Dante the Great” is like a Skinemax version of an Are You Afraid of the Dark episode and Marchel Sarmineto‘s “Vicious Circles” is a stupidly entertaining zombie gore-fest. But that egg in which it’s all encased in just so unforgivably bad. (C-)

ABCS OF DEATH 2 (2014)

A marked improvement over the original A-to-Z horror anthology, The ABCS Of Death 2 makes great use of more than half of the alphabet. Directors from E.L. Katz to Rodney Ascher each take on a letter and massage them into some half-relevant short and the percentage of hits to duds is super impressive. Amateur, Capital Punishment, Deloused, Falling, Knel, Masticate, Questionnaire, Roullette, Split, Vacation, Xylophone, and Zygote each offer a diverse look at how to approach a short – from mucky animation to grotesque physical horror and violent psychological mind games, making a true collection of weird, offbeat horror shorts definitely worth digesting. (B-)

POINT AND SHOOT (2014)

Marshall Curry was a man without much of a point. He kind of hobbled through his early life before going in search of a sense of himself that lands him smack dab in the middle of the Libyan Revolution. Curry’s doc, Point and Shoot, was the winner of the Best Documentary Award at this year’s Tribeca Film and it’s not hard to see why. You don’t often witness a documentarian insert himself into the action like Curry does and witnessing his struggle with his fluctuating identity is an experience of great unease. Unsure if he’s a filmmaker or a revolutionary, Curry’s command over his camera is shaky at best but he gets shots in and amongst the action unlike those on the sidelines. (B-)

RESCUE DAWN (2005)

Werner Herzog‘s true account of an American pilot shot down over Laos at the onset of the Vietnam War wastes no time getting down to business. In a jiffy, Dieter Dengler (Christian Bale) is in the hands of hostile forces, imprisoned in bamboo shackles and forced to work with a selection of other POWs (with excellent performances from fellow inmates Jeremy Davies and Steve Zahn) in order to plan an escape through unforgiving jungles. No one takes on the plight of man amidst nature quite like Herzog and his shot at one man’s survival instinct is unabashed, commanding and unsentimental. Not to mention the absolutely gorgeous cinematography. (A-)

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