[4] There really isn’t a compelling reason for those ghosts to continue haunting poor little Carol Anne (Heather O’Rourke). But if it were a stand-alone movie outside a famous franchise, Poltergeist III might not have been half bad. There’s inventive use of mirrors throughout the movie (it’s how the spirits travel this time around), and the aspect of a broken family trying to reforge itself …
[5] There’s a good concept at the core of this Wes Craven/Kevin Williamson (Scream) collaboration — a brother and sister coming to terms with the fact that they may be werewolves. But serious werewolf fans will bemoan the cheesy Hollywood setting and the sub-par computer-animated effects. I liked Jesse Eisenberg as the brother, but Christina Ricci and pretty much the rest of the entire cast …
[8] A young man’s soul is transferred to a mysterious portrait that bears the decay and debauchery of his lifestyle. The most interesting thing about this Oscar Wilde tale is that you are never told what Dorian Gray’s sins are, though the film adaptation hints at everything from drugs and alcohol to carnal sins with both men and women. Hurd Hatfield plays the icy cold …
[6] A small, isolated village of puritan-like people come under siege by a killer in their midst, as well as woodland monsters that may not be what they seem… Whether or not you like M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village ultimately hinges upon two big conceits (or twists, if you will). I’m okay with the first, as it comes organically from the hopes and fears of …
[7] Robert Rodriguez directs from a script polished by Kevin Williamson in this fun high school body snatchers horror flick. Piper Laurie, Jon Stewart, Salma Hayek, Robert Patrick, Bebe Neuwirth, and Famke Janssen play the title characters, members of an Ohio high school who are the first victims of a parasitic alien invasion. Once the brainwashed grownups start infecting the student body, it’s up to …
[5] Hammer’s third Frankenstein film (following Revenge of Frankenstein) is more of a one-off than a sequel, having little to do with the films before or after it. Despite the return of Peter Cushing to the role of Baron Frankenstein and Hammer Films’ terrific sets (the laboratory sets are especially good here), the story is too much of a re-tread to stand out in the …
[8] [Warning: This review contains spoilers.] Joanna moves with her husband and children to idyllic Stepford, where the women love making cookies, cleaning house, and servicing their husbands. Yes, ladies, it’s a horror movie. And one that holds up remarkably well. Sure, it’s a little campy. But a dose of dark humor hardly lessens the film’s horrific revelation — that the men of Stepford are …
[6] A sexually infatuated twelve-year-old boy does what his teddy bear tells him to, which includes feeding the locals to a pack of monsters who dwell in a pit in the woods. I don’t know what the teddy bear and the pit monsters have to do with one another, but the first half of The Pit is remarkable in its depiction of a nascent psychopath. …
[6] The ‘alternate universe’ aspect of Lovecraftian horror is something I don’t think I’ll ever appreciate, but if that’s your bag, Stuart Gordon’s From Beyond might float your fancy. I like the psycho-sexual stuff going on, especially when everyone’s pineal glands are unknowingly stimulated, causing Barbara Crampton to don a dominatrix outfit and straddle an unconscious man. I’d like the movie to have been more …
[5] An odd and perhaps ill-fitting choice of material for director Mike Nichols (The Graduate). Jack Nicholson and Michelle Pfeiffer give decent performances, but James Spader leaves a greater impression as a backstabbing protege. Wolf focuses more on the psychological effects of becoming a werewolf and skimps on the visceral thrills. I have a problem with the way Nicholson reacts to his transformation — he …
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