Tag Archives: Saturday is Horror Day

Saturday is Horror Day #180 – Arcadian

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Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

Arcadian


The world as we know it doesn’t exist, and those who survive do so by the skin of their teeth against fierce creatures the like of which have never been seen. Paul (Nicolas Cage) is a single father taking care of his two sons, Joseph (Jaeden Martell) and Thomas (Maxwell Jenkins). It’s a difficult existence, and primitive in ways, but they do what they can. They don’t dare to venture far from home, and definitely not after dark.

 

Thomas has a working relation with a neighboring farm and helps them with their work when he can. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that they have a daughter about his age, Charlotte (Sadie Soverall), with whom he forms a friendship.  Joseph cleverly puts together a vehicle, which means they can go farther during the day.  Paul sends the boys out one day, and the two go their own ways, Thomas heading to the farm. He doesn’t meet with his brother at the appointed time, so eventually he leaves and Thomas heads home later, only to meet with an accident, forcing Paul to search for him.

 

This is basically a movie about survival, about doing what you can when the odds are against you and 


there are terrible creatures who want nothing more than to kill you and… more.  I have to believe I liked the movie as much as I did because Nic Cage was in it, and I am a huge fan. The story itself is believable if you like movies that deal with crises that threaten the existence of mankind, the creatures a bit less so. To hear them talk, they are like insects, but also like werewolves. I know, doesn’t make sense to me either. I don’t remember hearing an actual explanation of what happened. At least you get one in a Quiet Place, and even a prequel now. So what we’re left with here is large hairy insectoids (is that a word? I’m not sure)

At the end of the day, it’s a decent Nic Cage movie and worth watching for that alone. I’ll give this film a generous 4 Stars because of that, so take that with a grain of salt.

Saturday is Horror Day #179 – The Wicker Man (1973)

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Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

The Wicker Man (1973)

Sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward) is sent to a Scottish island village after a report is received of a missing young girl, Rowan Morrison. From the moment of his arrival by seaplane, Howie is met with a definite lack of cooperation, beginning with the locals at the harbor who tell him to go away. But of course he won’t do that, he’s an officer on official business. So they reluctantly send a dinghy to bring him to shore.

Whenever he asks the villagers about the missing girl, they all say they don’t know her and there has never

been anyone by that name there. Even the woman is supposed to be her mother says she only has one daughter, and she is right there. Whenever Howie tries to look at official records, he is told to seek the permission of the lord who owns this place, Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee).

Howie takes a room at the local inn that is also above the pub. His puritanic nature is offended by the familiarity of the locals with the barmaid, Willow (Britt Ekland). She doesn’t hesitate to flirt with him, and wantonly tries to lure him into her room with a lewd song and dance in the room next to his, which he has to fight against with all his strength. When he investigates the girls’ school, he sees an empty desk, but no one will admit it belongs to Rowan. He finally takes the class register by force and finds Rowan’s name and knows they have all been lying to him. But where is the girl and what has happened to him. These people have some very strange beliefs, and they are very open in their sexuality. In fact, the teacher, as he came to the classroom, was openly discussing the subject of the penis. But Howie is determined to get to the bottom of this mystery, or else…..

Do not confuse this with the 2006 Nic Cage version which is the same story basically but badly done (love Nic Cage, but not this film). The older version has Edward Woodward, who will later become the Equalizer, and talented actor Christopher Lee. It’s not perfect, it is a 70s film and it has the feel of one. I would argue that the script isn’t the best, but I read that Lee very much liked it and it gave him a chance to actually act in something than a horror film. If you don’t look at the Wicker Man as a horror film, it actually becomes a battle between the strict Christianity of Sergeant Howie and the paganism that the people of the island wholeheartedly embrace. At the same time, the things they do are… well, you have to see that for yourself.

I would have watched this just to see Christopher Lee in a skirt and a dress. Edward Woodward does a fine job of playing the baffled uptight policeman who never quite understands what is going on until it’s too late. You recall Britt Ekland as one of Peter Sellers’ wives. I wonder if her character was meant as an offering to Sergeant Howie to convince him to either join them or leave them alone. It’s worth mentioning that there is some nudity, mostly bare bosoms and Ekland’s derriere. She does what must have been a very risque “dance” (I use the term loosely) which mostly consists of moaning and writhing.  All I can is is I am very glad I don’t live on this island. I’ll give this film 3.5 Stars.

Saturday is Horror Day #178 – Paranormal Activity

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Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

Paranormal Activity

Katie and Micah move into their dream home in San Diego. But something is not quite right. There seems to be someone… or something else…. there. When Katie reveals that she has been followed by a demonic entity since the age of eight, Micah is skeptical. But he wants to reassure her, so he sets up cameras all over the house and they call in a demonologist, a Doctor Frederichs. He leaves this feeling no more reassured than when he arrived. Katie quickly tires of Micah constantly filming her. And when he suggests they bring in a Ouija board, she emphatically vetoes the idea.

However, it quickly becomes obvious, even to Micah, that something is going on. The camera is capturing

evidence of paranormal activity, but they can’t see the entity, just its tracks. Such as slamming doors. Noises in the middle of the night… and foot prints. Katie knows it’s useless to run, as the thing will just follow. What’s a girl to do?

This is a very low budget film, as the action takes place all within this house. But don’t let that fool you into thinking it can’t be a good movie, because it is. I know the reviews are split on this one, but my opinion is that it’s very scary just because it is so believable, and you can imagine yourself in this situation – and that is a terrifying thought. The actors weren’t working from a script, they were given guidelines to work within, which makes the dialogue all the more realistic. After living through this terror for days, I would be losing my mind too. Imagine someone is in your room, watching you sleep, but you can’t see them. And then it pulls on your sheet…

I plan to rewatch all these films. I’ll give this one 4.5 Stars.

Saturday is Horror Day #177 – Infested

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Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

Infested

Kaleb (Theo Christine) hasn’t had an easy life. Almost 30, he’s fighting with his sister Manon (Sofia Lesaffre) over the inheritance left by their late mother, an apartment located inside a rundown French apartment building. Although they are at odds, she attempts to help with the maintenance of the apartment. Kaleb is also estranged from his one time best friend Mathys (Jerome Niel). Kaleb’s one passion is exotic animals. He has a number of them in his bedroom, but he becomes upset whenever his sister turns off the power to his room because it endangers his animals. To help make ends meet, he resells designer footwear illegally.

One day, Kaleb acquires an unusual spider. He takes it home and makes it as comfortable as he can. But

the spider gets loose, to his chagrin. He searches for it high and low throughout the apartment building. Which is when he discovers that this is no ordinary spider – not only does it reproduce rather rapidly, but each generation is progressively bigger than the one before. But the worst part is that they aren’t afraid of humans, and will be more than happy to kill them…

I ran across this French film on Shudder and I didn’t know what too expect. But I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. The characters are well-written and interesting, especially Kaleb. He seems much younger than his years would indicate, but in some ways, he also seems worldly-wise as well. He tries to portray himself as tough, but you know he is hurting inside for the people in his life that he has loved. I thought the acting was good, as was the direction and editing. And spiders… already creepy by nature, these spiders would paralyze me with fear too. There are scenes where I don’t know what I would do, and I’m very glad not to have to decide or be in that situation.

Altogether is was an enjoyable but creepy film to watch. Probably not advisable for people with arachnophobia. I give this film 4 Stars.

Saturday is Horror Day #176 – Warning: Do Not Play

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Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

Warning: Do Not Play

Mi-Jung(Seo Ye-ji) is running out of time to get her horror film finished. The trouble is she’s been working on one for 8 years and has gotten nowhere. But then she hears about a student film which was banned and she begins to research the film and its director. When she steals a clip of the film, she posts it online, only to be contacted by someone demanding she delete the post. Of course, she refuses, only to learn that the request has come from the film’s director himself, Jae-Hyun (Jin Seon-Kyu). She agrees to meet with him, and he tells her to forget about his film, Warning. Of course, she doesn’t listen.

I think what began as an interesting premise needed a little work. It becomes more of a mystery than a

horror film, including some jump scares. I would have liked to know more about Mi-Jung, and why, if she is so determined to make a horror film, she feels the need to steal one. I would have liked more horror and less obsession on Mi-Jung’s part. That being said, I think it was worth watching, however, and I’ve seen far worse. I’ve been told the director of the film has a better film called The Butcher. Might have to check that out. I’ll give this film 3 Stars.

Saturday is Horror Day #175 – The Advent Calendar

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Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

The Advent Calendar

Once a graceful dancer, Eva (Eugenie Derouand) has been a paraplegic for three years. Her job and her boss are terrible and her love life nonexistent. For her birthday, her best friend Sophie (Honorine Magnier) gives her a gift she brought from Germany, where she is working – an unusual wooden Advent Calendar. But this calendar is not your typical advent calendar – it comes with rules. One is that if you eat one candy, you eat them all. Another is you obey all the rules, or you will die.

As she opens the candy for each new day, Eva is finding that the effects are both good and bad. Is it

possible they will eventually lead to her walking again?

I found this French movie on Shudder and wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. The calendar says sacrifices must be made if she wants to walk, and Eva very badly wants to walk again. At first she is determined not to hurt anyone, but as the days go by, she is forced to continue to open the calendar at midnight, and she finds herself on the slippery slope of a dark descent. Into what? See for yourself.

I thought Eugenie Derouand was excellent as Eva. The writing was good, so was the direction of Patrick Ridremont. It’s definitely worth watching. I’ll give this film 4 Stars.

Saturday is Horror Day #174 – MaXXXine

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Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

MaXXXine

Maxine Miller (Mia Goth) has dreamed of becoming ever star ever since she was a small girl, coached by her preacher father Ernest (Simon Prast). She began her journey to stardom by acting in porm films, determined to do whatever it took to get to the top. No matter what. She put the unfortunate events that occurred in Texas in 1979 behind her and she was Hollywood-bound!

It seems she’s about to get her big break, as she reads for a part in Puritan II, the sequel to a film which has

the Christian community up in arms. Los Angeles is currently being terrified by a serial killer dubbed the Night Stalker. But when Maxine’s friends and co-workers start to turn up dead, the police arrive at her door to question her as to what she knows. But she refuses to talk to them, having no wish to be in their radar, or to give them cause to check into her background. A mysterious VHS tape arrives for her, showing scenes of the ill-fated porn film that was never finished. She asks her best friend Frankie (Brad Swanick), who owns the video store next to her apartment, to see what he can find out.

A private detective turns up, John Labat (Kevin Bacon), and tells her that his employer wants to talk to her, although he won’t name him. Reveals that they know things about her past she wouldn’t want revealed as they might harm her image and her career. Maxine turns to her agent Teddy Night (Giancarlo Esposito) for help. Good thing he is also her lawyer.

Maxine lands the role, but she learns that her new director, Elaine Casting (Deborah Geffner) is not

easy to deal with. But Maxine doesn’t mind. Her dream is about to come true, and besides, she’s a tough woman herself. But more people are dying and the two police officers are putting pressure on Maxine to work with them. How can she take care of this situation once and for all?

MaXXXine is the third part of the Ti West trilogy that began with X and then went on to the prequel Pearl. I actually got to see this in the theater, as it just opened, and I am glad that I did. West has come a long way since X and even Pearl. Clearly a bigger budget. Lots of recognizable 80s music. He got composer Tyler Bates on board. And Giancarlo Esposito and Kevin Bacon! How often do you find yourself rooting for a serial killer? At least, not since Hannibal Lecter stole our hearts lol As the titular character, Mia Goth is awesome, and it’s hard not to cheer for her to succeed – both in her film career and in taking care of certain bad people. I liked this one almost as much as Pearl, which is my favorite film of the trilogy. I highly recommend seeing it, but only after watching the first two. I give this film 4.5 Stars.

Saturday is Horror Day #173 – Christmas Bloody Christmas

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Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

Christmas Bloody Christmas

The hottest item this Christmas is a life-size robotic Santa Claus, a fun AI for kids of all ages, with a vocabulary of over 90,000 words! Who wouldn’t love to see this standing beside their tree Christmas morning?

Tori (Riley Dandy) owns a bar which has become her whole life, and her sex life has become nonexistent.

It’s Christmas eve and all she wants to do is get drunk and get laid. As she closes up the bar with her employee/friend Robbie (Sam Delich), he keeps trying to get her to go with him but she says she has a date, although she sounds less than enthusiastic over this particular prospect. It isn’t hard for Robbie to talk her into going to a party with him, where they hang out with mutual friends (it is a very small town, so everybody knows everybody).

Afterwards, as Robbie walks Tori home, having a lively discussion along the way, things begin to heat up – and I don’t mean just in the bedroom. The robotic Santa has suddenly gone amok, and he’s targeting everyone in town on his murderous rampage. Ho, ho, ho!

I had high hopes for this one when it started, photography looked good, and the soundtrack is a driving sort of techno/metal. And playing the demented Santa is one Abraham Benrubi, probably best known for playing Jerry on ER. Yes, there is blood, plenty of it. I was confused as to why Santa went bad, so I looked it up. It is actually explained at the beginning, so pay attention (unlike me). However, that is offset by the continuing banter between Tori and Robbie, discussing and arguing about music and bands and whatever. While they do sound like a typical couple, this went on for so long, I rapidly began to lose interest and not pay as much attention.

The last portion of the film went on too long, with Tori against the robot Santa, and again I found myself losing interest and wishing she would stop screaming and stfu. I had stopped caring for any of the characters long before. So okay, it makes more sense now, doesn’t save it ultimately. I’ll give this film 2 Stars.

Saturday is Horror Day #172 – X

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Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

X

A group of young people want to make a porn film. It’s 1979, and they can’t exactly do this anywhere, as those types of films are more underground than acceptable. So they rent a cabin in Texas from an elderly couple. Wayne (Martin Henderson) is the director and his girlfriend Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow is the star). Jackson (Kid Cudi) is the lead male, and RJ (Owen Campbell) is cameraman while his rather naive girlfriend Lorraine (Jenna Ortega) holds the boom mic. Maxine (Mia Goth) is the other female actress.

The old man who owns the farm, Howard (Stephen Ure) lives at the main house with his wife. They find him creepy, and they are determined he not figure out what they’re doing, sure he wouldn’t like it. Yet they go so far as to shoot scenes in his barn, taking a chance on being caught. In their downtime, they discuss porn and why there is nothing wrong with it, and Lorraine decides she wants to be part of it, to RJ’s dismay. That’s about the time when everything takes a turn for the worse.

X is the first film in Ti West’s trilogy. I reviewed Pearl last week which, although being made second, comes first chronologically.  Where Pearl was very psychological, X is more of your standard slasher film. But that isn’t to say that it’s not worth watching. Having seen Pearl already, I anticipated different things, but you can watch them in either order.  Again, Mia Goth is outstanding as Maxine. The third part of the trilogy is Maxxxine, which comes out July 5 and picks up where X left off. I am looking forward to that. I’ll give X 4 Stars.

Saturday is Horror Day #171 – A Nightmare Wakes, Pearl

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Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

A Nightmare Wakes

A very pregnant Mary Godwin and her lover, Percy Shelley, arrive for a summer visit to their friend Lord Byron, along with Mary’s stepsister Claire and the renowned physician Dr. John Polidori. Byron demands to be entertained. He wants to hear ghost stories, and comes up with the idea of a competition to see who can tell the best one. This becomes the birthplace for Mary (who will become Mary Shelley) to write her masterpiece Frankenstein.

This should have been an interesting story, but bad acting and bad writing and an acute case of boredom caused me to give up after about fifteen or twenty minutes. I advise you avoid this film entirely.

Pearl

It’s 1918. The world is a scary place. The Spanish flu is rampant, and the first World War, known then as the Great War, rages on. Pearl (Mia Goth) has gone back to live on the farm with her parents as her husband Howard (Alistair Sewell) has gone off to fight. Life on the farm is hard. Her mother Ruth (Tandi Wright) is harsh and demanding. Pearl has to look after her infirm father (Matthew Sunderland) who sits helplessly in his wheelchair. Pearl dreams of being a famous dancer, and practices whenever she can. But her mother catches her and belittles her and tells her to forget such foolishness.

Pearl’s sister-in-law Mitsy (Emma Jenkins-Purro) tells her of a dance competition that will be held in a

nearby church. The winner will get to dance with the group through several cities! She doesn’t want to go alone, so has Pearl promise to get away from the farm and come with her. Pearl sees this as her big chance, her first step to stardom.

Pearl loves the animals on the farm. Even the crocodile she has befriended and whom she fees. It’s people she has trouble with, never feeling quite right around them. One day, her mother sends her to town to pick up her father’s prescription of morphine and she decides to go to the movies to see a film called Palace Follies which has a lot of dancing. Afterward, reluctant to return to the farm, she is standing in the alley behind the theater when a man comes out and strikes up a conversation with her. Turns out he is the projectionist (David Corenswet) and he invites her inside. They talk and he offers to let her see another film, but she has to go. He tells her to come back sometime.

Pearl is the story of a young woman on the verge of madness, who has dreams and aspirations she desperately wants to achieve but her life is very bleak. She can’t relate to the people around her and her mother doesn’t understand, while her father is beyond reaching. The dance audition is her breaking point, but even before that there was something off about her and she had a cold, cruel nature of her own, perhaps verging on being narcissistic.

Pearl is like a twisted, dark version of The Wizard of Oz. When I saw Pearl on her bike, I was reminded of Elmira Gulch (Wicked Witch of the West). The scene with the scarecrow in the field and the scene where Pearl throws water on her mother are also reminiscent of the classic film.  In Oz, Dorothy too wanted to get away from the farm and see the world, as she tells the traveling salesman. In Pearl, he is the projectionist, who tells her he can take her to Europe. Of course, he has his own agenda but she is too naive to see that. There is even a character named Dorothy in Pearl. Some found the scene with the scarecrow disturbing, but I did not. I wonder what those people thought of the explicit (for that time) movie the projectionist showed Pearl.

Pearl was directed and co-written by Ti West (Mia Goth is also listed as a writer), who brought us The House of the Devil, which I reviewed previously. Whereas I found that film forgettable (in fact, I started to watch it again, having actually forgotten I’d seen it), Pearl is a masterpiece. a veritable tour de force of a horror film. Engrossing from beginning to end, I could not even imagine what was going to happen. Mia Goth’s performance is brilliant. It is both criminal and not surprising that she was not nominated for an Oscar. I have come to disregard those as being far too political and having little to do with actual excellence. The best actress Oscar that year went to Jessica Chastain for The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Go figure. I highly recommend Pearl and I give it a rare 5 Stars. Pearl is actually the prequel to X, but you can watch Pearl first. After X comes Maxxine. I look forward to reviewing both.