Chronicle’s trailer appealed to the comic book geek inside of me. Not only did it have “superheroes” but it was shot in the found-footage format. Found-footage is a style that I find effective in certain genres and I was curious to see how it worked in this context. Even with all my love for the found-footage films, I am beginning to feel a bit exhausted; I have seen Grave Encounters, Atrocious, Paranormal Activity 3, and Undocumented in less than half a year and my enthusiasm for the sub-genre has lessened. Chronicle pushed aside that fatigue for me though, the idea was fresh and I am baffled that no one has executed this premise sooner. Cloverfield mixed with X-Men is an altogether appetizing notion, but at the end of my viewing, I felt that maybe the Cloverfield part could have been removed. Chronicle creates some astounding scenes but it stumbles a few too many times with its use of found-footage. Continue reading
Bloody Noses: A Review of ‘Chronicle’
Posted in Movies, Nonhorror, Reviews
Tagged Chronicle, Found Footage, Josh Trank, max landis
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When Good Buds Go Bad: Trippin’ (2011)
Trippin’ is a horror/comedy hybrid much in vein of Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil, from writer/director Devi Snively and Camp Motion Pictures. Six friends take a road trip to a remote cabin in the woods, looking forward to a weekend of sex, drugs, and miscellaneous mayhem. One year later, the sole survivor of said trip, runs into Devi Snively in a bar, offering to sell the rights of the story for the price of being in the film and a case of beer. Continue reading
Troma’s Father’s Day Means Keeping Your Anal Chastity Belt On
Do you remember a time when television stations would go off the air? The National Anthem would play and then white noise or test pattern bars would flash across the screen with your local station call sign. In a time before the 24 hour news cycle, television had its limitations, and those limitations were gradually broken by the ever increasing popularity of the Late Show and the Late Late Show and to a comedic extent, the Late Late Late Show. Well Troma has taken on cable television in all its syndicated, re-run driven, 24 hour feel by including a programming announcement and late night TV bumper on its release of Father’s Day. Get ready to feel as retro as a movie is supposed to make you feel.
Trailer: The Aggression Scale
The Aggression Scale will be premiering at the SXSW Festival this year in Austin and it’s looking to be a great home-invasion flick. This is the first time that I have heard anything about The Aggression Scale and the film stars many people who I have never heard of. There is one face you will recognize in the trailer though; Derek Mears plays a criminal and damn, does he still look scary without a mask. I can’t wait to see him stomp around a house with a loaded shotgun while beating the shit out of little kids. There is something that bothers me though, I don’t know if it was a stylistic choice, but the trailer lacks dialogue, which concerns me. Anytime dialogue is avoided, it never bodes well. But I’m still really digging this film; hope it’s amazing.
What a Mess: A Review of ‘The Theatre Bizarre’
Anthologies are rather prevalent in the horror genre as of late, and by late, I mean in the past few years. Trick r’ Treat seemed to have ushered in an era of anthologies that tried to be similar to Creepshow in that they have all tried to create an image that is lasting. Though many disagree with me, I think Chillerama was competent for what it was trying to achieve. I don’t think it’s amazing or that it will be talked about years from now, but it was not a horrible addition to the sub-genre. Deadtime Stories was a miss but does anyone think that a film with Romero’s name attached with actually be good? So here we are with The Theatre Bizarre, a cheaply made anthology that combines the work of 7 directors (six stories, one connecting thread). Continue reading
DEADMAIL: Episode 1
Welcome to the first edition of DEADMAIL! I discuss shock horror, The Woman, and The Evil Dead remake. Also, the winner of the poster is announced!
Can you stay awake in a dark room for 95 mins? A Review of ‘The Woman In Black’
I have to admit that i have had mixed feelings about the most unlikely of remakes ‘The Woman In Black’ but overall i thought it had the potential to be a gloomy and moody creepfest with georgeous scenery galore. What the film ended up doing for me was to test my endurance in trying to stay awake in a dark theatre for 95 mins. Continue reading
There’s magic out there alright, just not the good kind. A Review of ‘The River: Season One Episodes 1 & 2′
The new ‘Found Footage’ series ‘The River’ from Oren Peli (the writer and director of Paranormal Activity) and the ever infamous Steven Speilberg (who seems to be really jumping into the TV game in a big way over the last year) is actually a surprisingly fun and creepy adventure down into the depths of nowhere. If you are a fan of the creepy found footage style used in Paranormal Activity so effectively i would highly reccomend at least giving the two hour premiere a shot. You might just be very pleasantly surprised with what you see. Continue reading
