The Visitor

(1979)**

Ugh.
Watched it with Catfreeek for the reason of seeing a young Lance Henriksen in all of his glory, but that was cut short since he was only in it for maybe a half hour.
You can read her review hereThe Visitor, which includes the psychedelic trailer.
The trailer made it look interesting, yet a little cheesy. Well to me, it was 90% cheesy!  Including a cheesy Jesus! It's taken me two weeks to write this with a straight face.
An annoying evil little girl has an annoying pet hawk that she uses for her evil doings against her good nannies and her mother. She is bent on destroying her mother who owns a magical lady part, that Lance Henriksen is trying to get pregnant for the "evil side". Typical good vs evil with trippy visuals and old man with a bad back(God?) who tries to take out the evil force.

Oculus

(2013)***1/2

Great effects but can be confusing and predictable at times. I wish it ended differently.
Kaylie is reconnecting with her brother Tim, who was just released from a psychiatric home. Ten years ago their father killed their mother, resulting in little Tim shooting his dad. After having a brief lunch together, Kaylie takes Tim to their childhood home that has been left to them. She shows him the "Lasser Glass" mirror which she believes caused the family tragedy.

It really is a cool mirror

Kaylie has spent the last ten years making sure that she acquires the mirror, becoming  an antiques dealer to do so. Ever since she had it in her possession, she has been seeing things and having flashbacks to her childhood and their first encounter with the mirror in their new house.

She explains to Tim on how they need to "kill" the mirror, seeing it has caused 37 deaths over the centuries. Tim isn't convinced that its true, but goes along with her plan. She is annoyingly controlling and makes you wonder why she wasn't put away too!

Things are set on a timer, when to eat, when to drink, no phone calls allowed in the room and when an anchor will be set to smash the mirror. She even brought a dog for the mirror, since their childhood dog became sick and went missing inside the room that the mirror was in. 

This part of the movie has a ton of flashbacks between the two and makes you wonder what really happened. Also many confusing parts on what is reality too. In the end, it is worth the watch.

Backcountry

(2014) ***1/2

Alex and Jenn travel to Restoule Provincial Park in southern Ontario for a weekend of hiking and camping.  Alex is excited to bring Jenn to a secluded lake where he spent time with his family as a child.  Upon arrival to the park a ranger informs them that the trail they intend to hike is closed for the season and it is a $500 fine per person if they are caught travelling on it.  Determined to share his childhood memories with Jenn, Alex ignores the ranger’s warnings and the two begin hiking the closed trail.  After setting up camp on the first day a mysterious stranger, Brad, shows up carrying fish.  He informs the couple that he is a professional trail guide.  Jenn invites him to eat dinner with them as Alex stews in the background annoyed that his romantic getaway is being interrupted. Eventually Brad gets the hint and takes off but it is not the last we will see of him.  Meanwhile Alex is becoming increasingly concerned about bears after encountering tracks and other evidence.  He hides his concerns from Jenn not wishing to worry her however he is unable to keep his worry to himself when they wake up the next morning and find all of their food eaten.  Alex’s deepest fears are realized when they come face to face with a mammoth grizzly bear, an unstoppable force who pursues the couple as they desperately try to escape the forest. 

Supposedly based on a true story, Backcountry illustrates the perils of hiking in the wilderness without the experience or no-how of how to stay safe while camping.  Alex and Jenn are naïve and woefully unprepared to deal with the various threats the forest has to offer.  The film is a slow burn with a horrifying third act.  Crisp, wide shots of the forest and a frightening use of sound help drive home just how scary and dangerous it is to venture into nature.  A solid entry in the “animals run amok” genre with a terrific soundtrack score.   

Pay the Ghost

(2015) ***

Mike Lawford is an over-worked English professor with a 7-year-old son who loves to spend time with his dad.  On Halloween night, Mike's son begins seeing random ghost people and vultures.  Mike takes his son to a Halloween carnival.  the son asks his dad, "Can we Pay the Ghost", at which point he promptly vanishes.  Mike spends the next year searching for his son.  He spends the first 362 days focused on area sex offenders, but then starts to see/hear visions and think something supernatural may have taken his son.

Pay the Ghost has 6% on Rotten Tomatoes, and it's very obvious why.  There is nothing original about this film whatsoever.  It's a family-friendly horror film, biddy-safe and such, with nothing novel.  You've seen everything in this movie before with bits from The Changeling, Mama, The Others, Poltergeist, etc.  All that said, it's still not a bad movie, just nothing new.  Nicolas Cage's career is a funny one.  He's still good in this movie in his Nicolas Cage way, even though he seems far too old to be the father of the 7-year-old, and he looks to old to be the husband of Walking Dead's Sarah Wayne Callies.

I give this film an extra star for taking place around Halloween, which adds some nice atmospheric touches, and for making Callies far more likeable than her Walking Dead role.  Also, some good creepy kids make for some nice moments and genuine jump scares.

A Christmas Horror Story

(2015) ***1/2

Four interlocking Christmas horror stories narrated by increasingly drunk DJ William Shatner tell the tales of Bailey Downs, an idyllic town that experienced a terrible tragedy a year prior when two teenagers were found murdered in the basement of the local high school. The unresolved murders were believed to be the work of a convent.



In the present, spunky teen, Molly, convinces 3 classmates to break into the high school to film their own investigation of the murders for a homework assignment. Sarcastic friend, Caprice, is forced to back out at the last minute due to a family obligation to visit a creepy rich aunt 4 hours away in a remote location. Meanwhile, a cop who previously investigated the murders takes his wife and young son deep into a forest past a “No Trespassing” sign to find the perfect Christmas tree. While all of these events are transpiring Santa is busy at the North Pole preparing for Christmas when one of the elves begins to act strange.

Soon Molly and her friends find themselves locked in the basement of the school while experiencing strange phenomena. Caprice’s visit to her aunt ends badly when her bratty younger brother intentionally breaks a figurine of Krampus and unwittingly brings about the demon’s wrath. After briefly losing and finding their son in the forest, the cop and his wife bring him back home but begin to notice that their son is acting strangely. Santa has more than his share of trouble as his elves begin turning into zombies. All the while William Shatner imbibes on spiked eggnog having a jolly good time on the radio.



Now this is more like it! I previously complained that ‘Tales of Halloween’ had the right look but was varying in quality with its generally humorous tales. ‘A Christmas Horror Story’ is the perfect bookend to Trick ‘r Treat with its four tales of the macabre. Two of the tales are generally creepy and the other two are just plain fun. If I had one complaint it is that the stories are not told separately but instead the narratives are inter-cut with one another which saps the suspense a bit. Just as Trick ‘r Treat and ‘Tales of Halloween’ perfectly captures the essence of Halloween, ‘A Christmas Horror Story’ portrays Christmas with all the holiday fixings from candy canes to glittering lights, Christmas trees, presents and Santa. And death. This one was fun!

Vanishing On 7th Street

(2010)***

Several people wake up and discover that everyone else in the town has disappeared. There seems to be something lurking in the shadows and only remaining in the light will keep them safe. They hold up in a local pub which has a generator but they must figure out a way to escape as the days seems to be growing shorter and the fuel for the generator runs low.

A very interesting plot concept delivered fairly well I just wasn't exactly sure where it was all going. The ending is left for you to draw your own conclusions, not that there isn't resolve it's just a rather open resolve. Not bad but I'd call this one forgettable in the vast sea of horror films that we are wading through.

Alone With Her

(2006)***1/2

Ever met someone who was just perfect for you? They like all the same movies, read all the same books have all the same interests, in essence the perfect mate. Amy meets just that guy at a video store and his name is Doug, he happens to be returning the very same movie she watched the night before and he loved it too in fact his favorite scene was even the same as hers. She begins running into Doug pretty regularly and they become friends, good friends. Doug seems to always be there for her at just the right time comforting her through an onslaught of bad luck she has been having, what a guy. What would she think of Doug if she knew the real reason he knew just the right things to say was because he had stalked her, broken into her home and installed cameras in every single room.

This found footage style film knocks the creep factor right out of the park. Just stop and think for a moment about all the things you do in the privacy of your home. Your phone conversations or when you're in your bathroom or your bedroom for that matter. Now imagine that someone was watching every move and listening to every word. He even wore a button cam to capture his "chance" meetings with her. The film kept me engaged throughout waiting for that disastrous moment of truth to be revealed and it doesn't disappoint. Found footage junkies will love it.

Mockingbird

(2014)

Set in 1995, a married couple Tom and Emmy find a camcorder on their doorstep along with news that they were selected to participate in a contest for an opportunity to win $10,000. They are to be known as “The Family”. That same morning Beth, a boring college student with literally zero friends, is given a camcorder as well. She is dubbed “The Woman”. The 3rd participant in the competition is Leonard, a chubby 30-something doofus who still lives with his mother. He is dubbed “The Clown”. They are all given instructions to film their lives. It all seems like a fun little competition until Tom and Emmy are given a copy of a jarring snuff film featuring a young boy. Simultaneously Beth is given a video tape that features herself sleeping, revealing that her apartment is less than secure. Both parties are told to keep filming or face deadly consequences. 

Meanwhile Leonard is delighted to receive a clown costume in the mail. He is determined to steal the show on what he believes will be the latest reality television sensation. All 3 parties are given various assignments until they eventually encounter one another at a house on Mockingbird Lane… with shocking results!

I must say that this derivative low-budget found footage film unexpectedly held my interest. Leonard is such a complete tool that part of me yearned to see watch his nerdy demise, though it’s also slightly painful to watch the idiot used as a pawn in such a murderous game. I’m giving it an extra half a Gretch because clown.

Grabbers

(2013) ***1/2

On a small island off the Irish coast an alien invasion is taking place. After a local fisherman accidentally hauls up a creature in one of his lobster traps he brings it home and puts it in his bathtub. In an attempt to suck blood from the fisherman’s head, the creature immediately shoots its tongue across the room (think of a frog grabbing a fly) landing squarely on the fisherman’s forehead. The fisherman survives, laughs it off, and labels the creature a “Grabber.” After examining this sea oddity the town scientist determines that the Grabber only needs blood and water to survive. It is later discovered that the creature is only deterred by a high blood-alcohol level. The townsfolk conclude that the only way to remain safe and fight the creature is to be inebriated and armed. Gleefully packing into the local tavern, the town denizens happily imbibe in preparation for battle.

Like ‘Shaun of the Dead’ (2004) Grabbers strikes the perfect balance between humor and action. Despite the low budget the “Grabbers” are serviceably rendered and actually pretty gross. The characters are loveable and setting the film in an Irish own makes it extra-funny to me because of the heavy accents and expressions such as “feck” instead of “fuck”.

Tales of Halloween

(2015) ****

As stated below, ten short horror stories, not really connected except that they take place in a small town on Halloween night, emulate the format set out by Creepshow and yes, the superior Trick 'r Treat, to offer lots of fun horror with a Halloween emphasis.

As with any of these, the quality of each story varies, but overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality that this VOD pick had to offer.  The first three stories were my favorite - each had a surprise ending, and an amusing amount of gore and scares.  The picture above is of "Sweet Tooth", the Halloween monster with a penchant for candy.  The middle got bogged down a little bit with some weird styles and a couple anti-climactic conclusions, but the quality picked up in the last few segments.

The quality of VOD rentals is usually pretty poor, but sometimes you find a good one.  I definitely recommend this one.  And, for our time-crunched 'thoners.  Each story is only 8-10 minutes, so you can watch this one in small snippets and still get the whole experience.  I recommend it.

Marty arrives from the past today!

I had to take a break from Horrorthon action to point out today is the Future Day from Back to the Future 2.  Know this!  Okay, now go back to what you were doing.  Don’t dwell on the lack of flying cars.

JPX sez,  Check out today's USA Today!  Pick up a copy post haste!