Darko's Recently Viewed Diary

Day 30 of 31 Days of Fright was marathon of films.

First up some 80s John Carpenter cheesy fun with Prince of Darkness. A group of scientists and a priest investigate an vial of ooze the has spent a thousand years locked up beneath a church. As the night wares on things take a turn for the worse when the local homeless population led by Alice Cooper blocks all exits and then inside the ooze begin
s to take on a mind of it's own. Prince of Darkness is very much lesser Carpenter but it's not without it's charms. There are a number of great ideas in play, mirrors as a doorway to alternate dimensions, the ability that dreams are messages from the future and the ooze it's self are all fantastic ideas but sadly Carpenter does nothing with them. The films biggest problem is that for most of it's running time it's little more than people chasing people down long corridors. There really is a great film in there but it get's lost amongst the horror cliches. Still it's not a bad film and there's a great score, some wonderful imagery and a sense of fun.

Next up was C.H.U.D. which is a perfect slice of 1980s cheese. An inventive, tongue in cheek film that understands the absurdity of the set up and just runs with it. As the underground homeless begin disappearing a cop, a reporter and a slightly demented preacher team up to investigate. Journeying beneath the city they find that cannibalistic monsters are devouring the population and in true 80s style things go crazy. C.H.U.D. is not high art but it is a lot of FUN which at the end of the day is all you want from a film whose title is an acronym for "Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller".

Continuing the 80s theme, next up was Dead Heat which to this day remains criminally unseen. Writer by Shane Black's brother Terry, Dead Heat is a classic of the horror genre and brilliantly pokes fun at the zombie genre while lovingly homaging some of the classics. I could go on for days about just why the film is one of the greatest films of the 80s but nothing is going to convince you more than sitting down and watching it. It's funny, sweet, has buckets of great looking gore and some of the best practical FX work you will ever see.

To end the night I decided on a second John Carpenter film, his remake of Village of the Damned which was the only film he made I had never seen. Made in the mid 90s it's decidedly lesser Carpenter and looks like it was made a good decade before Prince of Darkness. Visually it's a drab and uninteresting looking film with little of Carpenter's trademark style. The score is drab, performances are mediocre and the script is poor. The most interesting thing about the film is seeing a young Thomas Dekker as one of the children. Beyond that there's little to recommend here and while it's not a terrible film it's just so average that you can't help but be bored.

Day 31 of 31 Days of Fright was a triple bill consisting of Children of the Corn, The New Daughter and Stigmata.

Children of the Corn is one of those fondly remembered films that really isn't all the great. The set up is fantastic and for the first hour it's an interesting and enjoyable little horror with a great set up, a real sense of tension and some fun kills. Sadly the final third manages to kill the tension thanks to far too many jump scares and a creature that ranks amongst the least threatening ever put on screen. It really is hard to figure out the lasting appeal of the film and even harder then to know why anyone deemed it necessary for 5 sequels and a remake, none of which really added anything new to the mix. The original is not a bad film it's just a little bit too bland to leave an impression.

Next up was The New Daughter, a Kevin Costner starring slow burner based on a short story by the talented John Connolly. Much like any film based on a short The New Daughter feels over long and padded. There's a great set up and a hell of a lot of potential but for the first 90 minutes not a whole lot happens and when the **** hits the fan it's far too rushed and lacking a sense of urgency. Visually it's a great looking film with fine performances and an ending which is deserving of a better start. Were the film to lose 30 minutes from the mid section and a script which focused more on teh mystery behind the mound then this could be something special. On it's own merits The New Daughter is an watchable time killer that could have been something truly special.

Finally to end the night it was Stigmata. Stigmata isn't a bad film it's just overlong and not that interesting. The plot is pretty basic and the ending tries to add pathos and depth but it doesn't ring true when the preceding film is little more than an overcooked music video. Yes there are some memorable moments and the cast are fine but there's nothing here that hasn't been done a dozen times before. Visually Stigmata is something of an oddity. The cinematography is gorgeous and there are a number of wonderfully inventive shots but the whole thing is desperately trying to ape the style of Se7en in such an obvious manner that it takes away from the overall experience. Stigmata is the kind of inoffensive time waster that desperately wants to be something more than a generic genre entry but sadly it just isn't interesting or fun enough to be in any way memorable. The only lasting affect the film has, is leaving you with an desperate need to rewatch End of Days so that you can see a film with Gabriel Byrne and religion where he's actually allowed to have fun.

Not watched a whole lot of horror over the past month but did finially sit down last night to watch The Awakening.

It's a refreshingly old school ghost story with an interesting premise, a good script, a fine cast and some really interesting ideas. There's nothing we haven't see before in films such as The Innocents, the Others, Woman in Black and a few others but like the better examples it's a well thought out and intelligent story that offers a lot to think about. There are no easy answers and I imagine that it will lend itself nicely to a rewatch.

Been awhile since I've poster here but in the past weeks I've watched a few horror films.

The Factory - This really is one of those films that promises so much yet fails on pretty much every level. The set up is interesting and the story progresses nicely till it all falls apart thanks to a cliched, lack struck script, a cast who phone it in and an ending that ranks up there with the worst things ever put on screen. The final 5 minutes are so retarded, so down right stupid and insulting to the viewers intelligence that you do feel stupider for having watched it.

The Girl and Hitchcock - Neither is a horror but both deal with one of the genres finest auteurs. Hitchcock is a loving tribute to the man and Hopkins is wonderful but it's all style and little substance as it really hasn't a lot to say. The Girl is the more interesting film as it concerns it's self with depicting Hitch's more unsavory habits. Both films are interesting and entertaining but you can't help but feel that you could make one truly great film by cheery picking the best bits of each film. I'd love to have seen Imelda Staunton's Alma in Hitchcock alongside Hopkins.

Tales From the Crypt: Demon Knight - No one will ever mistake this one for a classic but for a low budget genre entry it remains one of my favorite. It's a witty, tongue in cheek homage to the comics with great performances, some wonderful FXs work and more ideas than most big budget blockbusters will ever manage. Any horror fan owes it to themselves to grab a pizza, a six pack and a copy of the DVD. It really is one of the most entertaining 90 or so minutes you will ever spend in the company of horror cinema.

A few from the past months.

My Bloody Valentine (remake) - Rewatched this for the dozenth time and it remains a damn great film. Filled with great kills, a fine cast, a great script and some of the best uses of 3D yet. It really does deserve to be held in much higher esteem and the lack of a sequel is criminal.

Underworld 1-4 - Watched the series and really enjoyed it. Have seen the first two a few times but sitting down to watch parts 3 and 4 I expected something a lot less interesting. Granted the mythology is somewhat convoluted and the films are over long but they're never boring. Perfect fodder to kill a lazy evening in.

Drive Angry - Perhaps my favorite use of 3D ever. It's little more than a Ghost Rider ripoff and by christ is it entertaining. Cage is brilliant and Fitchner is equally great. Really cannot recommend it enough to anyone who enjoys a little slice of trashy action.

Pries - Little more than a sci-fi remake of the Searchers, Priest is an entertaining if not exactly original sci-fi film that sadly squanders great source material. It's relatively short and fitfully entertaining and while easily kill 90 minutes.

Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters - A few fun moments but overall a bland, long and drawn out horror that hasn't a single original moment. Really is a shame considering just how much fun Dead Snow was.

Phantoms - good fun that manages to do a lot before falling apart at the end. O'Toole is slumming but having fun and it's a joy to watch. Had the film concentrated a little more on him and a little less on ropey CGI fx and this could have been a winner.

Night Train - A poorly made and uninteresting film that squanders a great cast on a script that feels like a rather poor episode of the 80s Twilight Zone. It could have made a great short but at feature length it's at least 60 minutes too long.

Stag night - A far better than average slasher with a good cast and nasty sense of glee attached to the various deaths. The performances are good and the script packs a few interesting idea making this one to seek out.

The Prophecy - A fine example of what low budget horror can do when a filmmaker has a good idea. Intelligent, well made and featuring Christopher Walken's best performance in many a year.

Slaughter of the Innocents - One of the lesser Silence of the Lambs wannabes, SotI is a completely bonkers serial killer flick with the great Scott Glenn being given not a whole lot to do. The killer is good fun and his reasoning behind his murders are interesting but the kid is annoying as hell and the film has the cheap early 90s shot on the quick look. That said the ending is just too odd not to like.

Hypothermia - Quite possibly the worst film of the past decade. A cheap, cheap looking film with a woeful script, performances that are one note and a look that screams "we shot this over a weekend with a few friends". The creature FX is cool in a retro way but it looks crap and there's not a hint of menace to it and there's not a single bit of tension generated in the film.

Blood and Chocolate - One of the more interesting love will conquer all wannabe horrors of the past decade. It's not exactly all that good and the story has been told a dozen times before but it's a hundred times more entertaining than Twilight and a thousand times better made.

Piggy - A interesting revenge tale that loses itself near the end as it leaves far too many questions unanswered. The cast are excellent, the violence is visceral and tough to watch and it looks great but sadly the script simply isn't good enough.

The Hidden - One of the finest films of the 80s. Any self respecting horror or sci-fi fans owes it to themselves to watch this at least once a year.

John Dies at the End -John Dies at the End is one of those films that shows just what can be down with a limited budget when given to a director with some vision. The meager budget is used to create one of the most involving and bigger worlds than pretty much any 200 million dollar blockbuster. Every cent is on screen and Coscarelli knows exactly what the viewer wants and has created one of the silliest, zaniest, down right charming films ever made.

There's an awful lot going on in John Dies at the End and to try and condense it down into a paragraph would be a disservice to the film but in order to convince you to give it a chance, I'll try my best. John Dies at the End tells the story of two, slacker twenty somethings, Dave and John who after a nights partying take a drug know as "soy sauce". From here things get weird as the sauce throws open the doors of perception and as such, the rules go out the window and were treated to a dog driving a jeep, a monster made of meat, an topless alternate world right out of Eyes Wide Shut and a dozen other inspired moments of lunacy. Words really cannot do justice to the sheer brilliance of the onscreen insanity. It's the most ridiculous film I've seen in many a year and also the most entertaining.

Adding a little prestige to proceedings are the always brilliant Paul Giamatti and Clancy Brown. They play their roles just the right amount of tongue and cheek and while our leads Williamson and Mayes are both excellent, one can't but imagine just how great a film where Giamatti and Brown's characters team up.

Back to the film. John Dies at the End is not a straight forward narrative and the film has fun jumping around the place. The episodic nature won't appeal to some and there's no doubt that it can be a jarring experience but when a film is this much fun you really couldn't care less. The first act has John and Dave as a pair of bargain basement Ghostbusters, the second act is exposition heavy and the third act introduces an alternate reality with some poor green screen but there's not a single moment that I'd lose from the 90+ minutes. It really is just the oddest, most down right brilliant thing that I have seen in many, many years though I can easily see why many will hate it. There's an oddness to the film that must be accepted in order to enjoy the film.

And those that accept the lunacy are in for a treat. As the credits roll I was left wanting more. this is the kind of project that if there was a kickstarterfor I'd happily give every cent that I could afford to. I could go on and on about just how much I loved the film but really, everyone should just take the time to watch it. And there's really no excuse now that it's been added to US Netflix

Manhunter - The best Hannibal Lector film by far and one of my all time favorite films. Just an all round classic with a number of brilliant set pieces and a finale that is perfect.


ParaNorman - A kids film that manages to be far more affecting and emotional than most. A wonderfully realised world with a great script and some truly beautiful moments. Really cannot recommend it enough.

The Purge - A bland, lifeless thriller that manages to take a great set up and do absolutely nothing with it. It feels like a cheap remake of Judgement Night.

Dead Mine - A damn fine low budget horror with some wonderful locations, an interesting set up and a cast multi national cast who all impress. It ends rather abruptly and leaves you praying for a sequel. It's never going to be considered a classic but it's far more deserving of your time than say the latest Paranormal Activity.

No One Lives - Some decent looking gore but overall a missed opportunity that manages to be boring beyond belief with a cast made up of some of the stupidest characters ever put on screen. Real shocking just how poor this is considering that it's from the director who gave us Versus and The Midnight Meat Train.

ABC's of Death - Talk of a mixed bag. Some of the shorts such as D is for Dogfight are amazing and manage to be amongst the years best while entries such as F is for Fart manage to be the worst things ever put on screen. It's mixed bag but it's usually interesting and rarely boring.

Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter - A real hammer classic with some brilliant moments. Real shame that the proposed franchise never came to be as I'd love to see what Kronos did next.

The Condemned - The WWE does Battle Royale and it sure is fun. Steve Austin is great as a big lug who can punch someone to death and the kills are all well done. Again, like many I list here it's not big and it ain't clever but it is fun which is all you want for a lazy Friday night in.

Odd Thomas - An enjoyable adaptation that does a hell of a lot right. It's a shame that the film has seen such post production trouble as it's superior to a lot of this summers big blockbusters and deserves far more than being dumped to DVD in Hungary.

World War Z - Enjoyable if not exactly all that good adaptation that throws away everything that was good about the novel in favor of telling a cliched tale of globe hopping. Pitt is good but it's not like he has much to work with and the script is really stupid. That said I am looking forward to watching the extended R rated version when it hits Blu-Ray next month.

Wolfen - One of those forgotten horrors of the 80s that places the emphasis on a good script above all else. Albrt Finney is excellent and the mythology is brilliantly implemented though it is slightly over long and the ending is a bit WTF. Still it's well worth a watch and a lot of modern filmmakers could learn a whole lot from it.

Desperation - A long, boring, drawn out King adaptation that's a chore to sit through. Really not worth your time or money.

Eerie 13 - One of those great low budget treats. A zombie film that takes the time to set up the story and introduce us to the characters before letting the carnage ensue. The make up FX is excellent and there's some great kills and vest of all the script is decent and performances are impressive. It really is one of those films that deserves a whole lot more than being dumped direct to DVD.

Zombie Massacre - A truly terrible piece of inept filmmaking that fails on every level. It looks incrediably cheap, the acting is atrocious and there's not a single original or interesting idea in play. It really has to be seen to be believed just how poor it all is.

The Seasoning House - One of those great little low budget gems that no one expects anything from. It's one of the grimmest films in recent memory and takes place in the Balkans at the height of the genocide and focuses on a deaf girl whose job involves preparing kidnapped girls for their work in the worlds least appealing brothel. It's a claustrophobic tale that's unrelentingly grim and while the final third is a departure from what came before it remains a highly effective and nasty little horror thriller that deserves to be seen.

100 Bloody Acres - Bloody good fun is all you need know about this horror comedy that does almost everything right. A smart script, strong performances, superb direction and just the right amount of blood an guts make this standout from the glut of forgettable horrors released every week. It's just a joy to watch and Reg is one of the most likeable horror antagonists in the history of cinema.

R.I.P.D. - R.I.P.D. IS pretty much a big screen version of GvE meets Men in Black without the wit of either. Still it's far better than it has any right to be and Bridges and Reynolds are excellent and have great chemistry. It's just a shame that it all feels so familiar. From the very first scene it's obvious who the big baddies going to be and there's not a single surprise in the films entire 90 minutes. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, it's rather refreshing to find a summer release that comes in under 90 minutes and doesn't try to be anything other than some light, easy to digest entertainment. R.I.P.D is the kind of film that you'll have forgotten 10 minutes after its over but while it lasts its never boring and manages to raise more than a few smiles. It's not a film I'd go out of my way to see but I can see myself thrown it on at some time in the future when I want something easy to kill a few minutes. .

The Frozen Ground - Another John Cusack serial killer film, another waste of time. One of the most generic, plodding and dull thrillers in many a year. Cage is decent and Hudgens impresses but it's 50 Cent whose the real standout. Playing somewhat against type he shows a range that no one expected of him. Shame that Cusack is so uninterested, he doesn't even bother to phone it in favoring instead to have his assistant fax it in for him. Really was looking forward to this one but sadly it was for the msot part a waste of time.

Beowulf - Not the big screen motion capture one but rather the late 90s, Christopher Lambert starring steam punk one. Visually it's gorgeous with some of the best production design around but sadly the low budget means that at it's best the film is only really adequate. Lambert is decent and the script isn't half bad but you get the feeling that the whole thing was little more than a set up for a sequel that never came.

You're Next

So here are my quick thoughts on You're Next. For those too lazy to read it all, I'll sum it up by saying that You're Next is for me, the best film of 2013 and destined to be remembered as a classic.

Last year's A Horrible Way to Die from writer Simon Barrett and Director Adam Wingard was an exceptional piece of work that stands as not just one of the best genre films of the past decade but, a damn fine film that put pretty much every big screen release to shame. Wingard and Barrett further collaborated on the wonderfully witty short Q is for Quack from last years ABC's of Death, as well as entries from both V/H/S and it's sequel. And now, their latest feature length horror opus, You're Next, has received a wide mid-week release, something which is almost unheard of for anything other than a 200 million dollar CGI infused blockbuster and as such expectations are high with many claiming that You’re Next is a game changer, a film that was revolutionizing the horror genre as we know.

From the start it's only fair to point out You’re Next is not a game changer, nor is it a film which will drastically alter the horror landscape, and that is not a criticism of the film. Hyperbolic statements such as those do little more than create expectation in the viewer and it's unfair to saddle any film with such expectation.

You're Next tells the story of Paul Davison, his medicated wife Aubrey and their dysfunctional, grown up kids and significant others coming together to celebrate Paul and Aubrey's 35th weeding anniversary. As one expects, things are far from cosy and it's not long before old rivalries and childish squabbles are reignited. Things come to head during a particularly heated family dinner when just as things are about to explode the not so quiet tranquility of this family gathering is shattered by a crossbow bolt, followed swiftly by the introduction of a gang of murderous, animal mask wearing party crashers.

You could be forgiven for reading the above plot description and assuming that You’re Next is yet another in the seemingly never ending line of home invasion slashers and while there's nothing striking original in the set up, You’re Next manages to be one of the most satisfying entries in the genre to date.

Wingard and Barrett playfully toy with genre conventions and expectations in such a refreshing and impressive manner that nothing here feels stale. Even the pre-credits death, one of horrors most generic and tired conventions is playfully mocked in a manner which defies expectations. There's a visual punch and a symmetry between imagery and sound that creates some genuine tension in these opening moments. The closest comparison one could make is to the infamous opening death in Scream, only You’re Next manages to surpass it both stylistically and inventively.

The manner in which viewer expectations are toyed with in You’re Next is perhaps the films ace in the hole. The opening invites us to sit back and enjoy a familiar ride but once the mayhem kicks in You’re Next takes the path less traveled. Genre expectations and the rule book are thrown out the window and the mid film twist is a thing of beauty that few will see coming. Thanks to the smart script and assured direction the transition from slasher flick to revenge thriller never feels jarring. It feels like a natural progression for the genre and one that opens up a whole host of possibilities that the film gleefully embraces.

One of the films more striking aspects is the score, which is highly reminiscent of many 80s genre classics, most noticeably the work of John Carpenter. It's deeply unsettling and adds a real sense of foreboding to the film. It works as both an homage to the films Wingard and Barret so clearly love as well as welcome change from the more heavy metal orientated scores of modern horror. The use of this old school synth score is perfectly offset by the repeated use of the wonderfully toe tipping and upbeat Looking for the Magic by Mind the Gap, a song that would feel more at home during the final moments of an episode of Gossip Girl than in a traditional horror film. The juxtaposition of such an infectiously happy, pop number with such unrelentingly grim violence is a stroke of genius on the filmmakers part and perfect highlight the streak of dark humour running throughout the film.

You’re Next is the perfect balance of horror and fun and manages to craft a truly unnerve sense of dread throughout. This is not some generic, sanitised teen friendly horror but rather a superbly acted, brutally violent and unrelenting ride with a number of truly inventive and memorable kills. It's a messy, messy ride that once our villains appear rarely stops for breath and has so much fun subverting audience expectations that one can't help but fall in love with they mayhem. Genre fans owe it to themselves to experience You're Next and everyone would be a fool to miss what is by far, the cinematic highlight of the summer.

World War Z UNRATED Cut - The addition of a little of the red stuff adds absolutely nothing to a run of the mill zombie film. There's so much potential that one can't help but be disappointed by a film that really has no idea just what it wants to say or do.

Autopsy - A gleefully sick and twisted romp with some really inventive gore and a pitch black streak running throughout it. It may not be the most original of films but it has a lot of fun picking off our various characters and the hanging organ scene is a work of genius.

Riddick - Not a patch on Pitch Black or Chronicles but a damn good old school sci-fi flick with some excellent creature FX. The opening 30 minutes is a wonderful piece of cinema and you have to hand it to any film brave enough to spend it's opening third with barely a word of dialogue. Shame then that the middle section is overlong and unexciting and the ending, fun as it is is seriously rushed.

Doom - One of the better game to film adaptations and a real nice throw back to those sci-fi horrors of the 80s. Some wonderful creature FX is the highlight but like many contemporary films the director mistakes dark murky corridors for atmosphere.

Remains - The kind of low budget horror that you can't not think that a child would do a better job. The set up is interesting but the whole thing looks cheap as hell and could pass for a mid 90s afternoon sitcom. The writing is atrocious and seems to blunder from one set up to the next with little joining the random events. Defiantly one to miss.

Friday the 13th Part 2 - A watchable slasher but it's little more than a remake of the original and feels over long. There's some good gore but the script is formulaic and lacks any surprise. It's a decent way to kill 80 minutes but there's so many better slashers out there that it's hard to recommend.

Lord of Darkness - Quite a bit of good fore and FX work but the script is really, really poor and the ending is so stupid that it's insulting. The whole thing works better as a calling card for ti's talented director and FX crew but that's not reason enough that your film should be watched by anyone outside your friends and family.

Silent Hill Revelations - Quite simply one of the poorest films ever given a mainstream release. It's 80 minutes of poor acting, bland direction and Sean Bean tripping over an accent that sounds ludicrous. The FX work is fantastic but that's the only aspect where the film doesn't fail miserably.

Hannibal - A decent if uninspired thriller with some interesting deaths and good performances. Moore is rather good and Hopkins gives the second best Lector performance but watching it one can't help but think of just how superior Manhunter is.

Rites of Spring - A damn fine low budget horror that's more concerned with plot than it is cheap scares. The creature himself looks good but there's no enough of him on screen and you're left wishing that we'd spent a little more time with him and a little less with our bungling kidnappers. The somewhat open ended closing leaves the door open for a sequel and it's one of the few occasions where you'd like to see a sequel/

Texas Chainsaw - There's so much potential here to create a sequel that does something a little bit special and early on it appears as if Texas Chainsaw may actually be doing something interesting. The opening scene where the Sawyer family is massacred is rather well handled and offers an interesting take on just what i justice but the status quo of slasher films is soon restored as we follow a group of attractive young adults on a trip to Texas. And given that title it's not long before out heroes cross paths with Leatherface and all hell breaks loose and things play out exactly as you expect them to until around the 45 minute mark where our heroine goes to the towns people for help only for the tables to be turned and we realise that leatherface may not be the worst evil in town. There's so much that could have been done with the idea of Texas justice and if two wrongs can make a right but sadly the script manages to make it all as interesting as the preceding 45 minutes, which isn't all that.

It's nice to see a sequel actually strive to do something a little different but sadly when it's this dumb and poorly handled you kinda wish that they'd instead stuck to cutting up attractive ladies and not tried to shoe in one of the laziest and dumbest social commentaries in the history of cinema.

The Expelled aka F - One of those low budget genre films that surprises you by just how good it is. While it'll never be mistaken for a great film it does manage to surpass expectations and do a lot right. The set up is pretty much Ils in a school where 11 months previously a student assaulted a teacher whose now a drunken, cowardly mess whose terrified of his students and spends his days telling everyone of how much danger they're in. Of course no one believes him and then on one fateful evening a gang of hoodie wearing homicidal maniacs attack the school. From here things kick into gear and teachers are viciously assaulted as things go to hell. The Expelled,at 74 minutes doesn't have a lot of time for character development and instead opts to focus on slowly building tension. The Gore is rather restrained and so much more effective for it. It's nice to find a genre film not solely concerned with blood and guts and instead invests it's script with a few well thought out scares. Still it's not as if there's anything original here and the refusal to answer any of the pressing questions is somewhat irritating but the downbeat ending does leave an impression.

Decided to once again do my 31 Days of Fright so began the month with Mama. Been awhile since I watched such an odd genre film and it was obvious that Mama started life as a short. The initial set up was fun and promised a much darker film than what we got. Mama herself was a cool character and the use of an actor over CGI was a nice choice but for some strange reason the filmmakers decided to make Mama into little more than a comedic figure who seemed to enjoy spending her time flying the kids around the rooms. She did get a little envious at times and terrorise the adults but for the majority of the run time she felt more like a slightly more demented Mary Poppins than a figure of evil.

The final 10-15 minutes was where the film really came together and was by far the most interesting. Granted it did feel like a cheap late 90s Tim Burton knock off but it was genuinely creepy and went to a rather dark place. It's a brave move for a film maker to end a film on such a downer. You're left hoping that if we get a sequel the film will follow our survivors and involve them facing a police investigation over what happened the therapist, the aunt, the now dead kid, etc.

Day two was a double bill of Scourge and Dracula 2: Ascension.

Scourge was a pretty generic direct to disc creature feature that felt like something someone dug up from the 80s. The cast made up of who ever walked on set that day are atrocious and can barely deliver a line between them. The script isn't any better and in one memorable moment we have the most wanted man in town show up to a heavily policed crime scene who manages to avoid being seen thanks to the careful placement of his hand. It's the kind of ridiculous moment that would feel more at home in a Scary Movie entry than in a somewhat serious film. The one area where the film does succeed is in the FX department, which includes one of the best jaw being punched off scenes of all time. Scourge is one of those films that feels like a calling card and while there's a lot of potential on display it simply isn't all that interesting or entertaining.

Dracula 2: Ascension is a far better sequel than anyone would ever have thought. Rather than simply churn out a cheap quickie, writers Joel Soisson and Patrick Lussier invest their script with a little wit and intelligence. The story picks up soon after the events of Dracula 2000 where the charred corpse of everyone's favorite blood sucker is wheeled into a morgue where the attendees quickly realise that they have a vampire on their hands and set about exploiting it for their own gain. The rest of the film follows our heroes as they attempt to use Dracula's gift for eternal life for both financial gain and their own health. Running alongside this story is the tale of a priest with superpowers thanks to an encounter with two of Dracula's brides and his quest to track down the first of the undead and kill him. There's an awful lot going on in Dracula 2 and it's a whole lot of fun. It's the kind of cheap, direct to disc sequel that you wish all sequels aspired too. It shows up trash such as the later Hellraiser and Halloween sequels for the utter crap that they are.

Day 4 was the rather decent Outpost: Black Sun. The original Outpost is one of those great direct to disc genre films that does a hell of a lot more than most big screen releases. A well made horror with a good script, some fun ideas and a game cast. Black Sun takes a similar approach only thanks to a bigger budget turns things up to 11. The set up involves two Nazi hunters who find themselves teamed up with a few soldiers in a bid to turn off the Nazi regeneration machine. The entire thing is hookum and by the time we get to the machine you realise that the films biggest asset is the manner in which it plays such ridiculous material completely straight. It would have been very easy for the film makers to poke fun at themselves but by playing it straight you find yourself far more invested in the film. It may not be anything ground breaking but it is a lot of fun and the Nazi zombie/ghost make up is brilliant and as the credits roll your left eagerly awaiting part 3 which is due for release early next year.

Yesterday was in fact Day 4 so I decided to watch Rise of the Zombies as I figured it best to get the trashy Asylum film out of the way early. Threw it on around 3am after an evening in the pub and had to turn it off after 30 minutes as it was just so badly done. Finished it this afternoon and it wasn't any better when viewed sober.

There are some interesting ideas in play and the cast are decent but it's all so poorly put together. The cast aren't so much phoning in their performances as having an assistant fax it in. Danny Trejo, Chad Lindberg, Ethan Supple and LeVar Burton turn in the worst performances of their careers. The cast are so dull and lifeless that you half expect the final twist to be that they were zombies all along. French Stewart is the only one who escapes with his dignity intact as he just has a little fun with his ridiculous role and accent and tbh it's not like he has much dignity left to begin with.

The most disappointing aspect of the film is that it actually has a few good ideas in play but the atrocious script does nothing of note with them preferring instead to feature scene after scene of early 90s grade CGI explosions, terrible zombie deaths, poor make up and some of the least convincing CGI blood you'll every see. There's not a whole lot of reason to get excited for a film from the Asylum and while Rise of the Zombies is in the upper tier of the companies output, that doesn't mean it's any good.

Day 5 of 31 Frights was Pumpkinhead, one of those lovingly remembered 80s horrors that I'd never managed to see all of. From the very start it's obvious that this isn't another generic creature feature where the creature will remain hidden till the last reel reveal.

The wonderful practical FX work is seen early on and then repeatedly throughout the film. Pumpkinhead is a beautifully realised character who has real presence and looks absolutely fantastic. He's a testement to the simple fact that CGI will never have such a psychical onscreen presence. What's most spectacular about him is how he evolves throughout the film to slowly resemble Lance Henriksen. It's a wonderfully understated effect that enhances the film and helps it standout from the crowd.

While the overall city folk do bad things plot is a little old hat there is an intelligence and insight here that gives it a more grounded and realistic feel than most similiar films. Sure it's not exactly high art but it sure is entertaining and let's be honest, no one is here for the humans. Pumpkinhead is all about that name on the cover and it's here that it truly impresses.

Day 6 was a double bill of the original Invasion of the Bodysnatchers and the Gate.

Invasion is a true classic and one of those great old school sci-fi films that's more about what we don't see than what we do. It's a low budget, shot in a matter of weeks horror that features one of the 1950's most intelligent and enduring social commentaries. There's a real intelligence to the film aswell as a genuinely creepy sense of unease running throughout the entire film. Initially it was planned by Allied Artists to be a "monster picture" but director Don Siegel went another way and utilisesd the monsters sparingly and relied instead on creating tension through suggestion rather than cheap rubber FX.

The Gate much like Invasion is very much a product of it's time. It's a low budget monster film from the early 90s starring Stephen Dorf before he became the king of smug. The plot is a load of old hookum and deals with a gateway to a world of demons that opens up in the middle of a residential neighborhood and it's up to two scrappy kids to save the day. Thanks to some great, low budget FX work and a sense of fun it manages to be quite the enjoyable 90 minutes. It's not going to be considered a classic but for throw away fun it's the perfect easy watch.

Day 7 was an old favorite, the wonderfully underrated Ravenous. Ravenous is one of those lovingly remembered films of the 90s by the handful of people who actually saw it. It's a dark and twisted tale of cannibalism in the old west inspired by the Donner party massacre. Starring Guy Pearce and Robert Carlyle the film is a dark, unsettling and pitch black comedy that features one of the most wonderful scores ever recorded. It would be easy to spend all night discussing just what I love about the film but, it's one that you really need to watch for yourself.

Day 8 of 31 Frights was Borderland, a rather damn good low budget horror that's heavy on the ideas and low on gratuitous, pointless bloodshed. the tale of three friends heading south of the border for some cheap booze and cheap women before getting tangled up with some nasty killers is hardly original but thankfully the cast are good and most importantly of all the script has a few tricks up it's sleeves. it does do a lot wrong but these missteps are easily forgiven due to just how well put together it all is.

Day 9 La Horde

To quote myself, Le Horde is pretty much Left 4 Dead meets Assault on Precinct 13 the film, a high-octane, breakneck thrill ride with some truly fantastic moments of violence. More of an action film than straight up horror but even still it's years ahead of the crap the Romero has been churning out lately. Die Hard of the Dead is perhaps the most apt description of what is one of the most entertaining zombie film of the past few years. Still that's hardly high praise given that most zombie films are piss poor and La Horde really does annoy given the characters the aversion to shooting the undead in the brain, even though it's repeatedly shown that a bullet to the brain is the best way to stop the oncoming enemy. Yet for some strange reason our heroes repeatedly waste entire mags shooting the zombies everywhere but the head.

Day 10 was the brilliant The Wicker Man - The Final Cut

Went to The Wicker Man - Final Cut in the cinema and loved it every but as much as I did when I first watched the film way back when I was 12 or 13. It remains of the greatest films ever made and it's influence can be felt on the work of many of the great directors.It's a perfectly pitched horror film that's all about the ideas and crafting a uniquely uneasy tone. It's at heart a study of contrasts and examines how conflicting ideologies clash. Really could talk all night about just what an amazing piece of cinema is but you owe it to yourself to watch it in the cinema during it's short theatrical re-release.

Day 11 was a double bill of The People Under the Stairs and Night of the Creeps.

People Under the Stairs ranks up there with the all time great missed opportunities. It starts with so much promise and there are a few glimpses of it throughout but Craven wastes this promise on a script that favors cheap spectacle and ludicrous villains over telling a competent or insightful story. The material is rife for a little social commentary but much like all of Cravens post Nightmare, pre Scream fare it's little more than a shameless attempt to create the next Freddy.

Night of the Creeps fares slightly better in that it has some great creature FX and a fun script that playfully pays homage to entire genres. It is a little long, which is odd considering it's barely 90 minutes in length but it's never boring and the final moments are one of cinemas true wtf moments

Day 12 of 31 Frights was the forgotten 90s Sci-fi horror Screamers. Starring Peter Weller it's one of those dark abd dreary dystopian pictures that paints an unpleasant portrait of the future. Initially it's a somewhat generic futuristic action film but as time passes it nicely evolves into an unsettling creature feature/slasher/paranoia hybrid with some genuinely good ideas and fun moments. Weller is excellent and there's a lot to like here, even if there's nothing groundbreaking or earth shattering on display. It just a good old fashioned slice of fun.

Day 13 of 31 Days of Fright was Waxwork, one of those fondly remembered films of my youth that really isn't all that great. The premise is interesting and there's a lot of fun to be had but the whole thing feels like a best of album from a middle if the road band. Sure we get done of the classic horror villains but none of them have any presence and are given nothing original or interesting to do.

The overall plot is something of a mess and really is just window dressing. There's at once so little and far too much going on that the whole thing just gets messy. The film feels less like a feature and more like an anthology thrown together by someone with weekend access to a props warehouse. It's not a terrible film by any stretch of the imagination but it could and should have been so much more.

Day 14 of 31 Frights was the rather damn good Asylum Blackout starring Hellboy's very own intrepid human sidekick Rupert Evans. Asylum Blackout is as you may gather from the title predominantly concerned with a power outage in a home of the criminally insane.

It's one of the bleakest and most unrelentingly grim horrors in quite some time and all the better for it. There's a real sense of menace running throughout and things never feel quite right. The ending is one of the more interesting and unique in recent years and while it is very much a complete wtf, it does open up the entire film to various interpretations and I can see a rewatch being rather rewarding.

Asylum Blackout isn't a film for everyone and those who like a little light to the horror won't find a lot to enjoy here as this is a dank, dark and depraved slice of terror that has an intelligence and sense if style that lifts it above similar fare.

Day 15 of 31 Days of Fright was the remake of The Crazies. It's sad that Romero is happy to churn out boring, poorly made trash like Survival of the Dead while the genre he helped shaped sinks further into down right awfulness. Well made and entertaining zombie films are few and far between and not many people were excited by the news of a remake of The Crazies. The original is one if those low budget gems that's very much a product if its time and place and as such any remake will lack the social commentary so vital to it.

Thankfully this remake wisely dumps the social commentary in favor of telling a straight forward tale of terror in which a small town finds it's self under siege on two fronts, from the townsfolk turned insane by a downed military plane carrying biological weapons and from the military brought in to contain the situation. Slap bang in the middle of all this is the town's Sheriff and his pregnant wife.m and as you no doubt gathered things don't go too well for them.

The Crazies is at heart a zombie film but instead of the undead we have what look like meta addicts searching for that next fix. There's something oddly charming about these crazies and the way they behave. Theres no limits to how far they'll go to cause pain and will happily turn on one another the second a pitchfork is near by. Sadly the film never explores this or just what the disease is, instead preferring to tell a rather cliched and somewhat uneventful tale of escape.

Reliant upon cheap jump scares and loud noises to scare The Crazies really is an example if a film that could have been so much more. It's certainly watchable and far better than it has any right to be but when you've a horror film where your own government is the boogeyman then you really should do something with it.

Day 16 of 31 Frights was a double bill of In the Mouth of Madness and Dracula III: Legacy.

In the Mouth of Madness has long been a favorite of mine, mixing as it does the best of Carpenter with some blatant Lovecraft creatures and ideas. The set up is simple, Sutter Cane, a best selling pulpy horror author has gone missing amid reports that his work is driving people insane and turning them into axe wielding murderers. John Trent, an insurance investigator is hired to find Cane and see if the whole thing is just a carefully orchestrated publicity stunt.

In the Mouth of Madness is one of those rare gems that the less you know the more you'll enjoy. It's very much a loving tribute to H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King and as such their most iconic themes and imagery is integral to the story. As Trent grows closer to the truth his fragile grip, on reality is slowly unwinding, till like the viewer he has no idea just what is real. peppered throughout the film are a number of well handled creature FX's with more tentacles than you'd find in your average Hentai. There's something uniquely charming about creatures so obviously made of rubber yet in Carpenter's capable hands they are also rather unnerving.

For all the fun it contains, In the Mouth of Madness does become something of a victim of it's own ambition with the whole meta nature of the set up being used to absurd lengths. There are a number of ideas that the film spends quite a lot of time setting up only to simply discard in favor of more shots of Sam Neill looking half mad. Still it's a rather unique and chilling horror that stands amongst Carpenter's best and is the perfect finale to his long talked about Apocalypse trilogy and I've always liked to think of the creatures behind the doors as being the same who dwelled withing the mirrors in Prince of Darkness.

Dracula III: Legacy is one of those rare direct to disc sequels that does far more than many big screen outings. It's low budget trappings are obvious but thanks to a strong script, good acting and best of all some fine direction it manages to overcome the limitations of the budget to deliver one of the more interesting takes on the whole Dracula mythos.

Picking up shortly after the events of part 2, we once again find ourselves following Father Uffizi and Luke as they traverse cheap to shoot in Eastern European locales in search of Dracula. Along the way they run into quite a variety of oddballs including a vampire on stilts, who must rank up there with the all time great wtf moments.

The films strongest element is the cinematography which excels in creating some genuine atmosphere. The locations all drip with unease and there's a real sense of foreboding and at times the film manages to strike a rather nice Hammer Horror look and fell. Legacy isn't a film that wants to reinvent the wheel but what it does is keep the old familiar spinning in a rather nice fashion. The action is well handled and Jason Scott Lee is obviously having a blast and best of all Hauer's Dracula is far more interesting than most.

Legacy is not a film that those seeking art will enjoy but anyone who likes a little fun on a Friday night could do a whole lot worse. It's an well made, efficient and fun 90 minutes that looks good and offers up just enough ideas of it's own.

Day 17 of 31 Frights was Primeval also know as Primeval Kill. After a trip to the cinema and a few pints it looked like the perfect fodder to kill 90 minutes before bed, as lets be honest it would be hard to mess up a film about a 25 foot crocodile going on a rampage.

Unfortunately Primeval commited the cardinal sin of genre cinema by being boring. The croc scenes were few and far between with the film favoring instead to concentrate on telling a generic story of apartheid. There's a lot to be said about the massacres in Africa but not in a cheap, trashy creature feature. Things do pick up in the second half but as the 90 minute mark approaches most will have tuned out or turned the film off in favor of something like the classic Alligator.

Day 18 of 31 Fright was the remake of the 80s trash classic Maniac. Few expect great things from a remake of a nasty, grotty, 80s sleaze picture starring Elijah Wood but against all expectations the film manages to be one of the most impressive horror films in years and a damn fine sequel which actually improves upon the original.

The film is a technical achievement that makes great use of POV and there's real dark sense of despair to it all. Wood is fantastic as the haunted and tortured Frank and the violence is visceral and gritty. There's a rawness that impresses and it's refreshing to find a slasher that doesn't trivialize murder or turn it into entertainment. Maniac is not a film to recommend to casual genre fans or those on the lookout for a little light entertainment but genre fans will find a lot to love and those looking for something a little different will be in heaven.

Almost forgot to mention the score by Rob which is one of the coolest and most atmospheric in years. It perfectly captures the sound of so many 80s classic and works fantastically well on it's own

Day 19 was another double bill, some giant snake a rampaging in New Alcatraz followed by the decidedly superior Dagon.

New Alcatraz is one of those dumb films that you can't help but enjoy. It's stupid, full of plot holes and doesn't make much sense but when you got a snake bigger than a city bus going on a killing spree you can kinda forgive a lot. The biggest problem with the film is that for most of it's running times it concentrates far too much time on the human characters and much fun as it is watching Superman and his wife argue I'd sooner sit back and enjoy a little slithering murder. It's hard to write much about New Alcatraz. It's a crap film but it manages to be rather entertaining and let's be honest, you get exactly hat you would expect from a film about a giant killer snake and sometimes that's all you want on a lazy Saturday night.

Dagon, from director Stuart A. Gordon is based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft and manages to be one of the few films that captures the look and feel of Lovecraft's work. Visually it's gorgeous and Gordon shows what a master of his craft he is by making a tiny budget look like a 100 million plus. There's a real sense of foreboding to events and the sense of building dread is superbly used to unsettle the viewer. Most Lovecraft adaptations have no understanding of what makes Lovecraft so unnerving but Gordon knows how to adapt the writing in such a way as to keep the unnerving feel and enhance it. Really cannot recommend the film enough.