SXSW ’16 Review: ‘DON’T BREATHE’

March 12, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Festival Reviews, Most Popular Tagged Daniel Zovatto, Don’t Breathe, Dylan Minnette, Fede Alvarez, Horror, Jane Levy, Reviews, Stephen Lang, SXSW 2016 3 Comments

Let me be clear, you probably can’t handle Don’t Breathe. Hitchcockian in concept and French New Wave in execution, the batshit bonkers new horror film from Fede Alvarez is a sanguine-stained guillotine of heinous intensity. The Uruguayan director has issued French extremity an American passport, inviting a true-to-form, heart-stopping gang bang of insane tension to inseminate the United States homeland. Consider everyone at last night’s world premiere unmistakably impregnanted by its brutal brilliance. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘THE WITCH’

February 13, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Most Popular, Out in Theaters Tagged Anya Taylor-Joy, Craig Lathrtop, Ellie Grainger, Harvey Scrimshaw, Horror, Jarin Blaschke, Kate Dickie, Lucas Dawson, Mark Korven, Movies, Ralph Ineson, Reviews, Robert Eggers, The Witch 2 Comments

What do 1630, a silver cup, Christian fervor and a goat named Black Phillip have in common? The Witch. Unholy goodness through and through, Robert Egger‘s feature film debut is a horror masquerading as a costume drama that’s as beady, black and misshapen as the center of a goat’s eye. Beneath the dirt-stained, leather-bound waistcoats, the perfumed, toity language of the New World, the white bonnets and constrictive girdles, The Witch has a vicious, illicit and suspicious center and though admittedly scaled back on “scares” is deeply atmospheric, deeply disturbing and deeply great. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: THE GHOST DIMENSION’

October 23, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Brit Shaw, Chris J. Murray, Dan Gill, Gregory Plotkin, Horror, Ivy George, Out in Theaters, Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension, Reviews Leave a comment

By and large the same product albeit in slightly different packaging, Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension manages a suitable end for the found footage phenomenon that took the world by storm. In tying the many disparate series elements into one cohesive mythology, this sixth Paranormal Activity has given meaning and context to all those that came after the first. In that regard, first time director Gregory Plotkin fifth sequel is one of the series strongest entries. Read More

The Deepest Cuts: ‘THIRST’ (1979)

October 21, 2015 by Madelyn Sutton Posted in Retrospectives Tagged Horror, The Deepest Cuts, Thirst 70 Comments

The Deepest Cuts is a weekly invitation into some of the sleaziest, goriest, most under-explored corners of horror and cult film online. Every title will be streamable and totally NSFW. Whether it’s a 1960s grindhouse masterpiece, something schlocky from the 90s, or hardcore horror from around the world, these films are guaranteed to shock, disturb, tickle, or generally blow your mind.

I hate to make generalizations, but having seen a number of amazing, totally fucked up horror movies from Australia, I can’t help but think there’s something up down under – and I’ll tell you right now, whatever it is, I’m into it. After watching 2009’s The Loved Ones (a viewing inspired by the 13 Most Disturbing Horror Movies of the Last 13 Years list) I was looking for some righteous Ozploitation to stream, and I found it, in spades, in Thirst.

Out in Theaters: ‘CRIMSON PEAK’

October 15, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Charlie Hunnam, Crimson Peak, Guillermo del Toro, Horror, Jessica Chastain, Jim Beaver, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Tom Hiddleston 1 Comment

Only in a Guillermo del Toro yarn would the setting – a decrepit Victorian estate housing buried, but not forgotten, secrets – literally drip blood. His is the humor of a tongue buried deeply in a cheek, almost to the point of popping through to the other side. It’s not actually blood that is dripping but there’s no mistaking what the globular rouge streaks running down the wallpaper is supposed to resemble. In the world of Crimson Peak, it is but red clay that sullies the interior of the far flung mansion from which the title takes its name. The house is literally sinking in it. As the winter snow decorates the earth around this distinctly haunted house, it grows blood red from the clay beneath. So it’ll likely catch you off guard to hear that for a movie ostensibly soaked in blood, Crimson Peak is actually pretty restrained. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘THE FINAL GIRLS’

October 9, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters, Uncategorized Tagged Adam DeVine, Alexander Ludwig, Alia Shawkat, Angela Trimbur, Horror, Malin Akerman, Nina Dobrev, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Taissa Farmiga, The Final Girls, Thomas Middleditch, Todd Strauss-Schulson 3 Comments

The premise for The Final Girls – a group of teens are inexplicably sucked into a slasher movie and must survive its 92 minute runtime in hopes of returning to their world – is questionable to say the least. One might think to find such a movie buried deep down in and amongst the filth of Netflix; hidden amongst those low-budget wanna-be’s masquerading as the real deal. It doesn’t take the aid of Sherlock to prove that this is not the case. Not only is The Final Girls not atrocious, it’s rather excellent. As in, it’s goddamn righteous. Read More

The Deepest Cuts: ‘THE BURNING’ (1981)

October 7, 2015 by Madelyn Sutton Posted in Retrospectives Tagged Horror, The Burning, The Deepest Cuts, Tom Savini Leave a comment

The summer camp slasher happens to be one of my favorite sub-subgenres, for a number of reasons: the woods are inherently creepy, particularly after dark; the lone nut seeking bloody vengeance is a great set-up for suspense; and then you’ve got all the sweaty group dynamics that develop among pubescent youths in short shorts, left to their own arts-and-crafts-related devices. And while Friday the 13th and Sleepaway Camp, just to name the most popular two, are undeniable gems, The Burning gives them both a bloody-good run for their money.

Out in Theaters: ‘DEATHGASM’

October 2, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Daniel Cresswell, Deathgasm, Horror, James Blake, Jason Lei Howden, Kimberley Crossman, Milo Cawthorne, New Zealand, Nick Hoskins-Smith, Sam Berkley, Stephen Ure Leave a comment

*This is a reprint of our 2015 SXSW review.

Many have tried to imitate the cinematic fine art that is The Evil Dead and few have been able to ape Sam Raimi‘s splatterhead mesterpiece with as much boundless, bloody guile as Peter Jackson. Yes, the blockbusting king of Middle Earth Peter Jackson. Though most know the frumpy Kiwi from his work on the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies, Jackson actually began his career making low-budget, amateur horror flicks using friends and recycled cameras. The more you know. Read More

‘SCREAM QUEENS’ “Chainsaw” Review

September 30, 2015 by J Simpson Posted in Reviews, Television, TV Reviews Tagged Ariana Grande, Emma Roberts, Fox, Glen Powell, Horror, Jamie Lee Curtis, Keke Williams, Niecy Nash, Oliver Hudson, Scream Queens, Skyler Samuels, TV Recaps, TV Reviews 2 Comments

2015 has been a pretty horrorshow year for horror television. Between the high-profile, high-production-value extended Slasher Flick of MTV’s Scream: The Series and Fox’s frankly hilarious horror/comedy Scream Queens, 2015 stands to be remembered as a gold standard year for the format, helping us all to move on from the mostly underwhelming snorefest that was True Detective Season 2 and the uncertainty in our hearts towards Fear The Walking Dead. Read More

The Deepest Cuts: ‘SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE’ (1982)

September 23, 2015 by Madelyn Sutton Posted in Retrospectives Tagged Horror, Slumber Party Massacre, The Deepest Cuts 2 Comments

Movie nerds of a certain age will recall fondly the days of wandering the aisles of their local video store, pondering the VHS tapes on the “Staff Picks” shelf and pining for a glimpse into that forbidden zone, the “adults only” back room. In the horror section, some of the cover art is planted so firmly in the horror fan’s psyche, it’s a wonder the films themselves aren’t viewed more often, from the painted decomposing, disembodied hand ringing the doorbell on the cover of House, or the demonic-looking monkey-and-cymbals toy of Monkey Shines. One of the most memorable, for me, has always been Slumber Party Massacre. With a title like that, and the image of scantily-clad teens cringing up at an drill-wielding killer, all in colors reminiscent of a Babysitter’s Club cover design, it should be immediately obvious that Slumber Party Massacre is not your typical slasher film.