October 2011
38 posts
2 tags
28 - Poltergeist III
Synopsis: Carol Anne has been sent to Chicago to live with her aunt, uncle and uncle’s daughter. However, Kane has not given up on her yet.
Year/Country: 1988, USA
Subgenres: haunting, demons
Reason for watching: I had given up on the Poltergeist trilogy after the 2nd one being so horrible, but then a friend was telling me that this movie, years later, still has her freaked out by...
“What makes a movie scary isn’t what jumps out of the closet. It’s...”
– John Anderson
3 tags
27 - The Horde
Synopsis: A group of policemen descend on a gang’s hiding place bent for revenge. They are captured but an alliance must be made in order to survive the zombie apocalypse.
Year/Country: 2009, USA
Subgenres: zombies, apocalypse, gore
Reason for watching: horror movie fest w/ friends
Highlights: The fight between the female officer and a zombie in the kitchen. Intense stuff.
Lowlights:...
2 tags
26 - Heartless
Synopsis: Jamie, who was born with a heart shaped birthmark on his face and trailing down his arm, has dreamed of having a normal life. After a series of murders in his neighborhood, including his mother and his neighbor, he is offered just that…for a price.
Year/Country: 2009, UK
Subgenres: deal with the devil, twist ending
Reason for watching: horror movie fest w/ friends - Jim...
4 tags
25 - Insidious
Synopsis: A family moves into a creepy house. Soon after, one of the sons falls into a coma. His parents a vessel for evil spirits.
Year/Country: 2010, USA
Subgenres: haunting, creepy kid, ghosts, demons
Reason for watching: Horror movie fest w/ friends
Highlights: The “newsie” boy.
Lowlights: Elise’s lines were just ridiculous.
Rewatchabilty: Yes
Overall review:...
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Rankings - Week Four
Here’s my ranking of the movies from last week from best to worst:
The Disappeared
Fingerprints
Darkness Falls
Autumn
Blackout
The Absent
Comparison to IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes AND overall rankings after the cut.
IMDB’s ranking:
The Disappeared (5.8)
Blackout (5.1)
The Absent (5.0)
Fingerprints (4.9)
Darkness Falls (4.7)
Autumn (3.3)
Rotten Tomatoes ranking:
The...
4 tags
24 - The Disappeared
Synopsis: Matthew’s younger brother Tom was kidnapped while Matthew was supposed to be watching him. After spending some time in the hospital dealing with the guilt, Matthew returns home and hears Tom’s voice on an old news recording calling for him. Matthew becomes determined to make contact with Tom and find him.
Year/Country: 2009, UK
Subgenres: ghost, haunting, demon, psychics
...
2 tags
23 - Blackout
Synopsis: Three strangers get trapped in an elevator during a blackout, each of them desperately need to leave. Unfortunately, one of them is a serial killer itching to kill again.
Year/Country: 2008, USA
Subgenres: torture, psycho
Reason for watching: The name! Blackout!
Highlights: I love nonlinear stories.
Lowlights: I wanted to punch Karl in the face, I guess that’s a highlight...
5 tags
22 - Fingerprints
Synopsis: After moving to a new town, a troubled teen is haunted by a ghost of a young girl urging her to reveal the true story behind an urban legend.
Year/Country: 2006, USA
Subgenres: urban legends, ghosts, haunting, creepy kids, twist ending
Reason for watching: The description sounded spooky. I love urban legends.
Highlights: I particularly enjoyed seeing cars pushed over the railroad...
3 tags
21 - The Absent
Synopsis: Oscar’s parents try to kill him so he kills them first. Years later when Oscar is released from jail, he tries to protect his brother Vincent by killing anyone who could reveal his secrets.
Year/Country: 2011, USA
Subgenres: slasher, twist ending, psycho
Reason for watching: Description sounded interesting
Highlights: The first 20-30 minutes were really interesting - I...
4 tags
20 - Darkness Falls
Synopsis: Kyle left the town of Darkness Falls after his mother was killed was a vengeful spirit known as the Tooth Fairy. Years later, after spending his life avoiding the dark, he returns to Darkness Falls after receiving a call from his childhood crush in order to help her and her brother from suffering the same fate.
Year/Country: 2003, USA/Australia
Subgenres: curse, ghost, haunting,...
2 tags
19 - Autumn
Synopsis: At the beginning of autumn, the majority of the human population falls over dead from unknown causes. The survivors have to find a way to carry on which is made more difficult when the dead begin to rise.
Year/Country: 2010, Canada
Subgenres: zombies, post-apocalyptic
Reason for watching: Zombie movie, why not?
Highlights: The evolution of the zombies - people died, a few days...
2 tags
Rankings - Week Three
Here’s my (super late) ranking of the movies I’ve watched last week from best to worst:
Ju-on: Shiroi Roujo
Paranormal Activity 2
Ju-on: Kuroi Shoujo
Aaah! Zombies
Red State
Poltergeist II: The Other Side
Comparison to IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes AND overall rankings after the cut.
IMDB’s ranking:
Red State (6.4)
Ju-on: Shiroi Roujo (6.1)
Paranormal Activity 2 (5.8)
Aaah! Zombies...
1000vultures tells the horrible story of his... →
I’ve been spending a lot of time reading scary stories over at the No Sleep reddit. These are my favorite series. Super creepy. Reading stories is scarier than watching movies sometimes.
3 tags
18 - Aaah! Zombies
Also known as: Wasting Away
Synopsis: A group of friends in unknowingly turned into zombies. A zombie movie from the zombie’s perspective.
Year/Country: 2007, USA
Subgenres: zombies, gore, dark comedy,
Reason for watching: Found when browsing netflix.
Highlights: The premise is excellent. Loved Matthew Davis’s character and his brain eating.
Lowlights: I wasn’t really a...
9 tags
17 - Juon: Kuroi Shoujo
Also known as: Ju-on: Black Ghost, Ju-on: Girl in Black, 呪怨: 黒い少女
Synopsis: Something is wrong with a girl named Fukie. After a series of weird events surrounding her she is taken in for testing and eventually admitted into a hospital where the events continue and the source of her curse is revealed. Like Ju-on: Shiroi Rōjo this film is am series of scenes in non-chronological order.
...
9 tags
16 - Juon: Shiroi Roujo
Also known as: Ju-on: White Ghost; Ju-on: Old Lady in White; 呪怨: 白い老女
Synopsis: This film centers around the horrific murders of an entire family in a series of non-chronological scenes featuring a delivery boy, a taxi driver, his daughter (once childhood best friend of the daughter who was killed), some police officers, and the family themselves.
Year/Country: 2009, Japan
Language:...
4 tags
15 - Poltergeist II: The Other Side
Synopsis: Following the events of the first Poltergeist film, the Freeling family movies in with the mother, Diane’s mother. As it turns out this house is also on an old burial ground and evil spirits are back for little Carol Anne.
Year/Country: 1986, USA
Subgenres: ghosts, poltergeist, creepy kid
Reason for watching: Enjoyed the first one.
Highlights: When Carol Anne talks on the...
6 tags
14 - Red State
Synopsis:Three teenage boys seek out a sex ad online but instead end up in the clutches of a violent, evangelical church set on punishing them. Eventually the FBI gets involved.
Year/Country: 2011, USA
Subgenres: torture, serial killers, religious fanatics, fbi
Reason for watching: I was really looking forward to this movie. I’m a longtime Kevin Smith fan, even though I haven’t...
4 tags
13 - Paranormal Activity 2
Synopsis: Following a break-in where nothing is stolen, a family decides to install security cameras throughout their house which document a series of strange happenings. This film though actually a equal, serves as both prequel and sequel to the original Paranormal Activity.
Year/Country: 2010, USA
Subgenres: haunting, poltergeist, demons
Reason for watching: Loved the first one.
...
Rankings - Week Two
Here’s my ranking of the movies I’ve watched this past week from best to worst:
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
An American Werewolf in London
The House of the Devil
Tales from the Dead
The Gravedancers
The Awakening
Comparison to IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes AND overall rankings after the cut.
IMDB’s ranking:
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (8.0)
An American Werewolf in London (7.5)
Tales from...
2 tags
12 - The House of the Devil
Synopsis: Samantha (Sam), a college sophomore is trying to escape her horrible roommate. She find a decent apartment but desperately needs money so she accepts a one night (lunar eclipse!) babysitting job even though it feels odd.
Year/Country: 2009, USA
Subgenres: Satanic Ritual, Possession
Reason for watching: Chosen on whim on Netflix.
Highlights: Love how ’80s it felt. The creepy...
2 tags
11 - The Awakening
Synopsis: A group of 20somethings who should be too old for this sort of thing, seek out a rave in the middle of nowhere only to discover an ancient curse instead.
Year/Country: 2010, USA
Subgenres: curse, possession
Reason for watching: Initially had it confused with upcoming film The Awakening. But decided to watch it on Netflix anyway.
Highlights: The characters were ridiculous and fun to...
3 tags
10 - Tales from the Dead
Synopsis: Two women exchange ghost stories on a long drive on a dark night.
Year/Country: 2007, USA (Shot entirely in the US with local Japanese talent)
Language: Japanese
Subgenres: Ghosts, Twist ending
Reason for watching: Love Japanese horror. Love short stories. Streamable on Netflix.
Highlights: Simple exploration of human nature.
Lowlights: Somewhat skin deep. Felt more like a TV...
2 tags
09 - An American Werewolf in London
Synopsis: Two American backpackers are attacked by a werewolf in London. One dies while the other has to decide whether to live with the curse or find a way to die in order to set the werewolf’s other victims’ spirits free.
Year/Country: 1981/USA and UK
Subgenres: Werewolf, Cult Classic
Reason for watching: It’s a classic I have never seen. Available to stream on Netflix.
...
3 tags
08 - The Gravedancers
From: After Dark Horrorfest/Films to Die For
Synopsis: Three college friends mourn the loss of a fourth friend at a graveyard where they unknowingly awaken three murderers’ spirits who intend to murder them by the next full moon.
Year/Country: 2006, USA
Subgenres: Ghosts, Curse
Reason for watching: I’ve wanted to watch it for a while since seeing it available on Netflix...
4 tags
07 - The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Synopsis: Dr. Caligari and Cesare, a somnambulist under his control, come into town as a sideshow act; at the same time, a series of unsolved murders occur. Can Francis find out what’s going on before it’s too late for him and his fiancee, Jane?
Year/Country: 1920, Germany
Subgenres: Mind Control, Silent Film, Twist Ending
Reason for watching: It’s a classic and I’ve...
2 tags
Rankings - Week One
Here’s my ranking of the movies I’ve watched so far from best to worst:
Let Me In
The Return of the Living Dead
Carriers
Family
Saw VII
Survival of the Dead
Comparison to IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes after the cut
IMDB’s ranking:
Family (7.3 for the MoH series overall)
Let Me In (7.3)
The Return of the Living Dead (7.2)
Carriers (6.1)
Saw VII (5.5)
Survival of the...
5 tags
3 tags
06 - Survival of the Dead
Synopsis: On an island off the coast of the mainland US, the inhabitants are divided on how to deal with the zombie crisis - one group headed by Patrick O’Flynn wants to kill them all while another group headed by Seamus Muldoon wants to keep their loved ones chained up and “alive.” A rouge group of former military soldiers along with a teenage boy get mixed up in this...
3 tags
05 - Carriers
Synopsis: Brothers Danny and Brian, Brian’s girlfirend Bobby, and their new companion Kate head to the brothers’ childhood vacation getaway in an attempt to hide out while a pandemic destroys the world as they know it.
Year/Country: 2009, USA
Subgenres: Pandemic, Post/Apocalyptic
Reason for watching: Netflix was mostly down and it was one of the few films available for streaming....
4 tags
04 - The Return of the Living Dead
Synopsis: Following the accidental release of chemicals from an old military experiment causing corpses to come back to life, medical store/funeral home employees as well as a group of punk teenagers have to fight off zombies for survival.
Year/Country: 1985, USA
Subgenres: Zombie, Cult Film, Camp/Comedy
Reason for watching/first impressions: Zombie <3 . Streaming on Netflix. Released a...
4 tags
03 - Family
From: Masters of Horror (short form horror film series on Showtime)
Synopsis: Harold has a perfect family save for the fact that they aren’t real. Harold, a serial killer, burns away all the flesh of his victims and then uses their clothing covered bones to build his family. After Celia and David move to the neighborhood, Harold wants to add Celia to his family.
Year/Country: 2006, USA
...
5 tags
5 tags
02 - Saw VII
Also Known As: Saw: The Final Chapter / Saw 3D
Synopsis: Bobby Dagen has released a book and is making a media tour proclaiming his life changed following his survival of one of Jigsaw’s “games;” the only problem is he’s a liar and about to find out if he really has what it takes to survive. Meanwhile Jigsaw’s wife, Jill Tuck, goes to the police to incriminate...
4 tags
01 - Let Me In
Synopsis: 12 year old Owen is bullied at school, ignored at home and is generally pretty miserable until he befriends Abby, a “12ish” girl who moved in next door along with her father bringing a strange rash of deaths involving blood-drained corpses with them.
Year/Country: 2010, USA
Subgenres: Vampire, Vampire Romance, Creepy Kids
Reason for watching/first impressions: Saturn...