31 Days of Halloween 2019: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. I've done this the last few years on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. We'll see if I can pull it off this year.] 

Review by Bob Ignizio

There’s no new cemetery ground being broken in SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK, but to a degree that’s part of the appeal. The series of books of the same name by Alvin Schwartz collected various spooky stories and urban legends. The film takes those tales and incorporates them into a fairly standard issue “revenge from beyond the grave” template to deliver a film that favors thrills and chills over violence and gore. But thanks to the skillful direction of André Øvredal (TROLLHUNTER, THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE) and a visual aesthetic that takes its cues from the creepy illustrations in the original books, the film finds ways to be scary without being bloody.

The screenplay by brothers Dan and Kevin Hageman (with contributions by producer Guillermo del Toro, Patrick Melton, and Marcus Dunstun) centers around a group of teens in 1968. Stella (Zoe Colletti), Auggie (Gabriel Rush), and Chuck (Austin Zajur) are a trio of outsiders who plan to get revenge on bully Tommy Milner (Austin Abrams) and his toadies. Their plan works, but later they, along with teenage drifter Ramon (Michael Garza), wind up trapped in the neighborhood haunted house.

31 Days of Halloween 2019: Spook House 2019 Halloween Special

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. I've done this the last few years on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. We'll see if I can pull it off this year.] 

Review by Bob Ignizio

Time for a comic book break. For last year’s 31 Days of Halloween, I reviewed the first issue of ‘Spook House 2’, a four issue anthology miniseries that operated under the concept, “scary stories fit for kids”. This year ‘Spook House’ is back, but sadly only as a one issue Halloween Special. But hey, a little ‘Spook House’ is better than none at all.

The first story this time around features Megaghost, star of his own Albatross comic. In “It’s the Candy Kaiju, Megaghost!”, young magician Martin Magus goes trick-or-treating with his ghostly pals. But his arch enemy Ultra Ghoul has plans to ruin the festivities by unleashing a giant monster made of puked-up candy. Gross? Sure. But it’s the kind of gross that kids love. Gabe Soria’s story features the same blend of humor, horror, and action that makes his regular Megaghost comics must-reads, and Gideon Kendall’s art recalls “Jolly” Jack Davis while still having a personality of its own.

31 Days of Halloween: Willow Creek

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. I've done this the last few years on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. We'll see if I can pull it off this year.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

So this one has been out for a while, but I’ve held off watching it until now. I like Bobcat Goldthwait as a director, and for my money SHAKES THE CLOWN is one of the finest comedies ever made. Subsequent films like WORLD’S GREATEST DAD and GOD BLESS AMERICA were intriguing dark comedies as well, even if I didn’t love them quite as much. So I’m generally interested in seeing anything the guy makes. And yet, the idea of Goldthwait directing a found footage horror movie about Bigfoot just didn’t grab me.

Turns out, my instincts were wrong on this one, as WILLOW CREEK is one of the better found-footage horror films to come out in the wake of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT.

31 Days of Halloween: The Head Hunter

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. I've done this the last few years on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. We'll see if I can pull it off this year.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

THE HEAD HUNTER pares itself down to one actor, one set (with a bit of outdoor location shooting), and a few very simple effects. To say it’s a minimalist film is perhaps an understatement, but director Jordan Downey (who also co-wrote the screenplay with Kevin Stewart) shows that limitations can be a virtue.

I was reminded of Bela Tarr’s last film, THE TURIN HORSE, in the way that much of THE HEAD HUNTER is comprised of repetition. In that film, we saw an old man and his daughter coming together at the end of each day of drudgery to eat a single baked potato in silence over and over again until it became almost hypnotic. Here we have a medieval warrior (Christopher Rygh) heeding the blow of a horn signifying that monsters are about. He then heads off to do battle with the creatures off-screen, later returning to his tiny stone hovel to heal his wounds and impale the head of his latest kill on the wall. He does this all in hopes of one day finding and killing the monster who killed his daughter.

31 Days of Halloween: Three From Hell

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. I've done this the last few years on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. We'll see if I can pull it off this year.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

It’s understandable that Rob Zombie couldn’t resist going back to the well one more time. Since the critical and commercial success of THE DEVIL’S REJECTS and the more mixed but still profitable response to his remake of HALLOWEEN, subsequent projects (HALLOWEEN 2, THE LORDS OF SALEM, THE HAUNTED WORLD OF EL SUPERBEASTO, 31) haven’t fared nearly as well. So why not get the old gang back together and return to the franchise that made Zombie an above the title name in horror?

Despite having been pelted with a hail of gunfire while Lynard Skynard’s “Freebird” blared on the soundtrack, the murderous Firefly clan of THE DEVIL’S REJECTS somehow survived. They did not, however, escape. After recovering from their wounds, the family are tried and sentenced. They also rise to infamy and even outright hero worship among some segments of society in a sequence that feels more than a little reminiscent of NATURAL BORN KILLERS.

31 Days of Halloween 2019: In The Tall Grass

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. I've done this the last few years on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. We'll see if I can pull it off this year.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

Becky (Laysla De Oliveira) is pregnant, and since her boyfriend Travis (Harrison Gilbertson) isn’t ready to step up and be a dad, she’s decided to give the baby up for adoption. So she and her doofus of a brother Cal (Avery Whitted) head off on a road trip so she can have the baby and give it up for adoption. Along the way, though, they become lost in a field after responding to cries for help from a young boy named Tobin (Will Buie Jr.). Also in the all-encompassing greenery are the boy’s father Ross (Patrick Wilson) and his mom Natalie (Rachel Wilson). Soon, everyone is walking about aimlessly in the field, and as night falls with seemingly no way to escape, things keep getting stranger, and more dangerous.

31 Days of Halloween 2019: Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. I've done this the last few years on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. We'll see if I can pull it off this year.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

First of all, I missed a day. Real life has been busy, what can I say. Hopefully I'll get caught up and still end the month with 31 reviews, but it's looking rough. Ok, on with the review.

The creepy old Abaddon Hotel that has been the site of murder, mayhem, and reported paranormal activity is saved from demolition by tech entrepreneur Russell Wynn (Gabriel Chytry) who plans on turning it into a performance space called Insomnia. His troupe of actors will be putting on an interpretation of ‘Faust’ while a camera crew from local paranormal program Morning Mysteries, including host Vanessa Shepherd (Elizabeth Vermilyea), films the events leading up to opening night.

All this is shown in past tense, along with interviews and other relevant footage, in the faux documentary and Shudder original HELL HOUSE LLC: LAKE OF FIRE. We don’t know what exactly happened on Insomnia’s opening night as the film begins. We only know it was yet another strange and terrifying event at this seemingly cursed location.

31 Days of Halloween 2019: Annabelle Comes Home

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. I've done this the last few years on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. We'll see if I can pull it off this year.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

Although Annabelle get’s top billing, ANNABELLE COMES HOME is more of a monster rally in the HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN or DESTROY ALL MONSTERS mold than a star vehicle for the demonic doll. Still, the title isn’t entirely misleading as the film begins with Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) takin the titular menace away from the clueless college kids who she was last terrorizing, and tossing her in the backseat for a late night ride to their home. Once there, the terrifying toy is placed in a special locked and blessed display case in the Warren’s museum of the macabre from which she can never escape.

Sure.

31 Days of Halloween 2019: Creepshow Season 1, Episodes 1-3

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. I've done this the last few years on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. We'll see if I can pull it off this year.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

We’re three episodes into Shudder’s reboot of CREEPSHOW, the comic book inspired horror anthology series that originated with Stephen King and Berni Wrightson’s graphic novel and its companion film adaptation by George A. Romero in 1982. With each episode delivering two stories at roughly 45 minutes long, that adds up to a little over 2 hours total so far. So more or less the length of a feature film. Seems like as good a point as any to analyze what we’ve seen so far.

In general, just like the original film, each story aims for a tone similar to fifties horror comics ala EC's "Tales From the Crypt". That means lots of bright primary colors, black humor, and a host in the form of The Creep. Unlike The Crypt Keeper, however, The Creep is essentially mute, only offering the occasional raspy laugh. Now on the the specifics.

31 Days of Halloween 2019: The Banana Splits

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. I've done this the last few years on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. We'll see if I can pull it off this year.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

I’m hardly the first person to point out that THE BANANA SPLITS movie bears a strong resemblance to the premise of horror video game/merchandising cash cow/upcoming feature film FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S. Nonetheless, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention it, since it’s painfully obvious that the producers were intentionally copying that premise as closely as possible.

And I’m not even bothered by that. That’s been the B-movie production model for decades. Just ask Roger Corman, whose New World Pictures did their best to crank out cheap imitations of big studio hits throughout the seventies and eighties, occasionally even beating their inspirations to the big screen just as this film has.

31 Days of Halloween 2019: Hagazussa

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. I've done this the last few years on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. We'll see if I can pull it off this year.] 

Review by Bob Ignizio

 

Set in 15^th century Germany, Lukas Feigelfeld’s HAGAZUSSA is a stark tale of misogyny and ostracization. After her mother, a suspected witch, dies, Albrun (Aleksandra Cwen) is largely shunned by the nearby townfolk, tending her goats and raising her infant daughter. Surprising Albrun, one of the women from town, Swinda (Tanja Petrovsky) befriends her. But that friendship takes an ugly turn, resulting in horror and tragedy.

While the film alludes to witchcraft and the supernatural, they seem to function in a more symbolic manner. One should not necessarily take them as a reality in the world of the film. This especially the case once the film takes an overtly psychedelic turn in its third act.

31 Days of Halloween 2019: The Curse of La Llorona

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. I've done this the last few years on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. We'll see if I can pull it off this year.] 

Review by Bob Ignizio

THE CURSE OF LA LLORONA is based on the Mexican folk legend of the crying woman, said to be the spirit of a woman who drowned her two sons and is now condemned to wander the earth looking for her children, murdering other kids along the way. Widowed social worker Anna Tate-Garcia (Linda Cardellini) doesn’t believe her client Patricia (Patricia Velásquez) when she says the reason she has locked her children in their room is to protect them from this vengeful spirit. She thinks they’re being abused, and with the help of police backup frees the kids.

Later that night, Anna gets a call that the children have died, drowned in a river. In shock, but still forcing herself to do her job, Anna heads to the crime scene with her own kids, Chris (Roman Christou) and Samantha (Jaynee-Lynne Kinchen) in tow.

31 Days of Halloween 2019: Daphne & Velma

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. I've done this the last few years on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. We'll see if I can pull it off this year.] 

Review by Bob Ignizio

I’m not sure if I should call it a reboot, an update, a prequel, or a spin-off. Whatever you call it, DAPHNE & VELMA is another installment of the Scooby Doo franchise, live action division. And since continuity has never really been a major component of the adventures of Scooby and his mystery solving pals whatever their format, it doesn’t make too much of a difference.

Anyway, as the title implies, DAPHNE & VELMA focuses on the ladies of the Scooby gang. The film begins with teenage Daphne (Sarah Jeffery) posting videos about aliens and the paranormal. Velma  (Sarah Gilman) has a more skeptical viewpoint, and comments on Daphne’s vids that everything has a logical explanation. Despite their different points of view, the two consider each other good friends, even if they’ve never actually met.

31 Days of Halloween 2019: Satanic Panic

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. I've done this the last few years on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. We'll see if I can pull it off this year.] 

Review by Bob Ignizio

The basic premise of SATANIC PANIC is that the rich are amoral devil worshipers willing to sacrifice anything, even their own children, to hold on to wealth and power. So not a whole lot of suspension of disbelief required. But before we meet the moneyed monsters, we are introduced to our protagonist, the considerably less well-off Sam (Hayley Griffith), a teenage singer/songwriter who just started her first ever job delivering pizzas.

At the end of a tipless shift, Sam agrees to take a delivery out of the pizza shop’s zone in the wealthy Mill Basin section of town. This turns out to be a very bad idea, and not just because the mansion she delivers to doesn’t tip her, either. When Sam gets mad and goes in to demand a tip, she finds herself in the midst of a Satanic ritual. The problem is, the coven’s virgin isn’t one anymore. Sam, however, is, and coven leader Danica (Rebecca Romjin) figures the pizza girl will do in a pinch.

31 Days of Halloween 2019: Howard Lovecraft and the Frozen Kingdom

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. I've done this the last few years on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. We'll see if I can pull it off this year.] 

Review by Bob Ignizio

Using the writings and personal biography of horror/science fiction author H.P. Lovecraft as the inspiration for an animated kid flick is an odd, but intriguing premise. And having a young son who shares my interest in the horror genre, HOWARD LOVECRAFT AND THE FROZEN KINGDOM seemed like a potentially good way to introduce the boy to Lovecraft’s bizarre creations.

The film begins with Howard Lovecraft (Kiefer O'Reilly) wanting to help his father recover his sanity so he can come back home to his family. To this end, he reads from the Necronomicon (never a good idea, as anyone familiar with Lovecraft’s stories is aware) and finds himself transported to the frozen land of R’lyeh. R’lyeh is populated by strange beings including a winged, tentacle-faced monstrosity Howard befriends and names “Spot” (Sean Patrick O’Reiley).

31 Days of Halloween 2019: Possum

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. I've done this the last few years on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. We'll see if I can pull it off this year.] 

Review by Bob Ignizio

Matthew Holness already had major horror cred in my book for writing and starring in the amazing Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place, which he co-created with Richard Ayoade. But where that program had a laugh mocking the sort of low budget schlock one might have seen on eighties British television, and poking fun at pompous horror writers who take themselves a bit too seriously, there’s precious little to laugh abut in POSSUM, Holness’ feature film debut.

POSSUM is a textbook case of quiet horror, and all the more disturbing because of it. The plot is that Philip (Sean Harris), a children’s puppeteer whose twisted dark stories and horrific puppet ensure he doesn’t get too many referrals, returns to the run-down apartment where he was raised by his abusive uncle Maurice (Alun Armstrong). It is not a happy family reunion.

31 Days of Halloween 2019: Crawl

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. I've done this the last few years on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. We'll see if I can pull it off this year.] 

Review by Bob Ignizio

Competitive swimmer Haley (Kaya Scodelario) is returns to her old home with the intent of finding her father (Barry Pepper) and making him leave before a major hurricane hits. Unfortunately, it turns out dad is trapped in the crawlspace under the house with severe injuries inflicted by a mean spirited alligator. Said gator still being there, he also goes after Haley. She manages to avoid becoming dinner, but getting out with her dad won’t be easy, especially with the flood waters rising. Oh, and the gator has friends.

It’s a simple but effective premise, and director Alexandre Aja has the necessary chops to make it tense and compelling.

31 Days of Halloween 2019: Nightmare Cinema

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. I've done this the last few years on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. We'll see if I can pull it off this year.] 

Review by Bob Ignizio

Not many patrons enter the mysterious movie theater in NIGHTMARE CINEMA, but those who do come to regret it. That’s because The Projectionist (Mickey Rourke) doesn’t show just any old movies. The films he shows are personal nightmares ripped straight from the minds of those watching them.

The first moviegoer to get more than they bargained for is a Samantha (Sarah Withers), a young woman who sees herself thrown into what appears to be a by the numbers woodland slasher film in which she is pursued by a killer known as “The Welder” (Eric Nelson). Writer/director Alejandro Brugués (JUAN OF THE DEAD) almost holds off too long on revealing the twist. But when it finally comes, it’s the sort of cheesy, fun surprise you’d expect from an episode of an eighties horror anthology series like Tales From The Crypt or Monsters. B-

31 Days of Halloween 2019: Incident in a Ghostland

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. I've done this the last few years on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. We'll see if I can pull it off this year.] 

 

Review by Bob Ignizio

In 2008, Pascal Laugier wrote and directed MARTYRS, a visually stunning, thought provoking, and transgressive horror classic. Laugier was hailed as a new icon of horror cinema. There was an English language remake of MARTYRS, and there was talk that Laugier would helm a remake of his own, of Clive Barker’s HELLRAISER. But the MARTYRS remake fared poorly, and due to disputes with the producers, Laugier left the HELLRAISER remake.

Instead, for his first English language film he made the stylish but disappointing thriller THE TALL MAN in 2012, which deservedly went straight to video. Still, I was hoping INCIDENT IN A GHOSTLAND might be a return to form.

31 Days of Halloween 2019: Tigers Are Not Afraid

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. I've done this the last few years on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. We'll see if I can pull it off this year.] 

Review by Bob Ignizio

Okay, enough with the walking dead. Real life has more than enough horror, anyway. At least that’s the case in TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID, in which a group of Mexican orphans are being pursued by violent gangsters who want something the kids have. And if they have to kill the kids to get it, that’s just how it goes.

That probably doesn’t sound like the premise for a horror movie, but when you bring in elements of the fantastic and supernatural, as TIGERS does, it starts to make sense why streaming horror service Shudder picked this one up as an exclusive.