NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD

PLOT

Barbara and her brother Johnny, stop by the cemetery to visit their father’s grave. Though she’s obviously uncomfortable, he decides to make her life a living hell by pretending that things are coming after her. Suddenly a pale man enters the cemetery, goes after them and eventually eats Johnny. She’s rescued by a stranger named Ben, who takes her to a seemingly abandoned house. As the zombie infection rages across the world, those in the house, fight for survival.

TRIVIA

The film cost just $114,000 to make, but grossed over $12 million in the United States and launched the zombie craze.

THOUGHTS

Night of the Living Dead is one of those movies that everyone talks about and every horror fan should see. Between the special edition copy I own and all the copies that come in the boxed sets, I probably have six copies of the damn thing. The part that always gets to me, no matter how many times I see it, is that ending. It’s something you have to see, to understand.

Hush

So-so.

PLOT

Helen and Jackson are a young couple, living in the city. He takes her home to visit his over protective mother, who doesn’t seem all that thrilled with Helen. She also makes it clear that she’s ready for him to move back and take over the horse farm. When Helen finds out she’s pregnant, they have a wedding at the farm and she meets Jackson’s grandma, who doesn’t trust her daughter-in-law at all and blames her for her son’s death. Then she’s attacked by a man outside their apartment and convinces Jackson to move back home. Once there, his mother makes it clear that she only cares about her son and would be happy to get Helen out of the picture.

TRIVIA

Jessica Lange received a Golden Raspberry nomination for Worst Actress.

THOUGHTS

I was honestly surprised when I saw how badly this movie was panned by critics because I think it tends to grow on you over time. It has some great actors and it even has a few jump worthy moments. I admit that when a bunch of rats falls out of the ceiling, I started feeling a little squeamish. I know this isn’t the type of movie I usually review on the blog, but it definitely falls under the thriller/horror category.

Dark Reel

Not that great given the cast.

PLOT

Edward Furlong plays Adam, a fan picked for a walk-on role in a studio’s pirate movie. Not long after he appears on set, some of the major players start dying under mysterious circumstances. Rather than shut down production and lose a lot of money, the studio head decides to expand Adam’s role. It doesn’t help when Adam starts seeing the ghost of a dead actress on screen and learns that she was killed under mysterious circumstances back in the 1950s.

TRIVIA

Mercedes McNaab played on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel”; also stars Lance Henriksen.

THOUGHTS

I’ve seen a lot of bad horror movies and reviewed a lot and this one isn’t the worst, but it certainly falls down on my list. The odd thing is that I saw three horror movies with Edward Furlong in the span of a week and this one kind of falls in the middle. I made it through the movie, but the ending doesn’t make sense. The killer is someone that couldn’t be the killer, based on the timeline. It also stars Tiffany Shepis, which should have been my first clue to pass it up.

Razor Eaters

Eh…

PLOT

A young man named Zach leads a group of young guys on a crime spree, killing anyone they feel deserves to die, which naturally includes a few high ranking politicians, professional athletes and other famous people. A detective then goes on the hunt for the group, trying to find the killers before time runs out.

TRIVIA

Leigh Whannell filmed scenes that were later cut from the finished product.

THOUGHTS

Let me tell you about this movie: I was looking at Hollywood Video during their closing sale and had a friend grab this one, knowing that I love bad horror movies. I told him I had it, he asked what it was about and my mind went blank. I literally only saw the movie the night before and already had no idea what happened. I’ve read a lot of great reviews for the movie, which makes me think that I should give it another chance. On the other hand, I did pay less than $2 for it new, so I’m not sure if it’s as great as others say.

Cruel World

Bad.

PLOT

Phillip appears on a reality show where a beauty (Catherine) chooses from a group of average looking guys. The producers switch things up, by bringing in some hot guys and Catherine ends up choosing one of them over Phillip, telling him that she couldn’t give him what he wanted. Phillip retaliates by later breaking into the house they set her up in and killing both her and her boyfriend. He and his brother then take over the mansion and build a reality show. The contestants don’t realize until too late that when they lose a challenge or get voted off, that they’re actually killed.

TRIVIA

Was filmed and released in other countries years before its American release.

THOUGHTS

My first thought when I saw this was, “what the heck is up with Jamie Pressley’s career?”. Then I learned that it was filmed before “My Name is Earl” and released a few years later and it suddenly made sense. There’s not a whole lot to say about this movie except that it’s pretty lame. All of the characters fall into a stereotype: the gay guy, the jock, the pretty girl, the survivor. I kept waiting for something different to happen, but it was just disappointing all around.

Hindsight

Better than I thought.

PLOT

Dina gets picked up while hitchhiking and uses the time to tell the story of her life, particularly the last few months. She and her boyfriend Ron were hustlers, who stole from everyone and stayed on the run. When she found out that she was pregnant, they decided to use the baby as one last big score. Dina picked out Maria and Paul, a wealthy couple and began corresponding with her. Eventually they all meet, but things aren’t what they expected. Ron discovers a dossier of information on them and notices that Paul isn’t exactly trustworthy. When Paul realizes that the couple are trying to scam them, it turns into a game of cat and mouse.

TRIVIA

Jeffery Donovan also starred in The Blair Witch Project 2: Book of Shadows.

THOUGHTS

I usually don’t expect a lot from movies that come in a pack. This one was part of a four-movie set that I found for $5 and this was the best of the movies. That might not be saying a lot, given that the other movies were pretty lame. The movie sometimes drags and with the exception of the actress playing Dina and Donovan, the acting is a little poor at times, but it’s still entertaining. The best parts are towards the beginning and middle, when she’s talking about the big scam. Then it almost turns into a different movie.

Scary Movie

Funnier than expected.

PLOT

Drew Decker is killed in much the same way as the girl in Scream. The movie then launches into a parody, following Cindy Campbell, Bobby, Brenda, Buffy, Ray and Greg. If you’ve seen Scream, then you pretty much know the plot of this one. Watch for Ray, who’s gay, but not gay.

TRIVIA

I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scream, The Blair Witch Project and The Sixth Sense are all spoofed in the movie.

THOUGHTS

I have a confession to make: I never saw any of the Scary Movie series until the last one was released on DVD. I watched the trailers, rolled my eyes and figured that they were pretty lame. They aren’t as bad as I expected, but I still don’t understand how they got away with the first one. There are entire chunks of dialogue ripped from other movies and used here and frankly, I’d be pretty pissed if I was Kevin Williamson!