Horror

[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 …

[5] I’m at a loss for this one. I saw the movie, but I’m still not sure what it’s about. There’s a town that sabotages drivers, all so the community can trade auto parts among themselves and hand the drivers (the ones who live) over to a doctor for medical experimentation. The town’s adults live in fear of their own children, a punkish lot that …

[5] If you like your tunnel-dwelling cannibals all distraught and sobbing, Raw Meat might be for you. Donald Pleasence stars as a quirky detective trying to solve a missing person case that leads to an even bigger fish. Turns out there are inbreds living in the London subway tunnels, and oh deary my, they like to eat people. The film spends fully half its time …

[6] When a WWII vet returns home to find his true love in the arms of another man, the town scores a legendary double-murder. Thirty-five years later, the town decides to throw the same dance… and the killer decides to pay a return visit. It may not be as famous as Jason or Michael’s outings, but The Prowler is a quintessential slasher film nonetheless. Tom …

[7] As much as I hate remakes on the whole, this new Evil Dead movie greatly surprised me with how well made it is and how genuinely scary and tense it is. It also avoids contemporary horror pitfalls — the characters aren’t douche bags and there is none of that bullshit monochromatic photography going on, for starters. Maybe the bar is just really low now, …

[5] Screenwriter Kevin Williamson (Scream, Dawson’s Creek) made his directorial debut with this surprisingly mediocre horror flick about three high school students who kidnap a teacher to try and force her to reconsider a failing grade. Helen Mirren musters some wicked charm as the title character, but the trio of teen characters played by Katie Holmes, Marisa Coughlan, and Barry Watson are surprisingly flat, especially …

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