Dying Breed (2008)

Rating: 8

Director: Jody Dwyer
Release Date: 6 November 2008 (Australia)

Dying Breed is a bit slow through the first half with not a whole lot happening but it makes up for that in the second half. I really enjoyed it.

After the death of her sister in Tasmania, Nina and her friends travel there to finish what her sister started. They are trying to find proof that the Tasmanian Tiger still exists. Instead, they find proof that cannibalism still exists.

Dying Breed is well acted and overall a pretty cool movie. Not a lot happens in the first half but the gorgeous scenery makes it entirely watchable. Once the action starts, it's bloody good fun. There are some really creepy characters....specifically the little girl and the old 'Pieman'. In my opinion, this one is definitely worth a watch.

Martyrs (2008)

Rating: 6.5

Director: Pascal Laugier
Release Date: 3 September 2008 (France)

Martyrs is a brutal French horror film. It has an interesting story and some great acting.

It starts out in 1971 with a child, Lucie, breaking free of the torture chamber she had been held in. She's taken to an orphanage of sorts and there she befriends Anna. Then the movie flashes forward to the present day and Lucie wants revenge for the abuse and torture she suffered as a child. With Anna's help they try to get that revenge. Things don't go according to plan though and both the girls and us, the audience, are in for some surprises. We find out what all that torture was for. It was all for a very specific reason.

Martyrs has a very good story for a horror movie. It is sad though to see what Lucie and Anna go through. It's obvious that Lucie was deeply scarred both physically and mentally by what happened to her as a child. While I thought it was a good story, it's really not one I think I'd watch again. Like I said, it was brutal. It had some pretty scary, edge-of-your-seat moments which were pretty cool. Overall, if you aren't bothered too much by watching torture (it is only a movie after all) and you can handle some goriness, then this is worth checking out. But be warned....it's very sad.

Addams Family Values (1993)

Rating: 9

The Addams family are back at it in this hilarious sequel. It's right in line with the first movie so if you enjoyed that one, then you should enjoy this one as well.

In this sequel, there is a new addition to the family in the form of baby Pubert. The kid is adorable with his Gomez hair and baby moustache. There is definitely some serious sibling rivalry though from Wednesday and Pugsley. They try, unsuccessfully, in a variety of creative and amusing ways, to kill poor baby Pubert. An evil nanny is hired, who has her sights set on Uncle Fester. She talks the parents into sending the older children away to summer camp to get them out of the way of her schemes on Fester. And that's where the fun starts. Seeing dark and dreary Wednesday and Pugsley at cheery and bright summer camp is a sight to behold. Needless to say, they don't fit in.

It's kind of rare to see a sequel live up to it's predecessor. I wasn't expecting Addams Family Values to be as good as it was. I enjoyed it every bit as much as the first movie. So, if you are a fan of this family, you must check this movie out.

The Gate (1987)

Rating: 7

Director: Tibor Takács
Release Date: 15 May 1987 (USA)

The Gate is a pretty fun (in a cheesy campy sort of way) horror flick. I was certainly entertained while watching it...though there was beer involved so that probably helped.

The Gate is about a brother and sister who find a gateway to hell in their backyard. An old tree is removed and a big hole is left in it's place that a young kid can't help but explore. With some backmasking (this is 1987) and a blood sacrifice these kids unwittingly unleash a horde of miniature demons. These little demon guys looked really cool! Some of the effects in this movie sucked and some were really cool. I guess you have to take the bad with the good. So, with the parents out of town for the weekend, it's up to the kids (with a little help from their friends) to find a way to close the gate.

This would be a good horror movie for a younger audience. There's no sex or nudity and very little profanity. And the frightening sequences aren't really frightening...unless you're under the age of like 10. I really enjoyed it though. Half the fun was making fun of it. One of the girls had some distractingly crazy '80's hair. But the acting is actually very good (especially by the lead boy) and overall this is a fun one to check out.

Wild Country (2005)

Rating: 4.5

I really wanted this to be better. It's not a terrible movie but there are things I wish the movie makers would have done differently.

What I did like about Wild Country is the setting. It takes place in Scotland with a group of young people (I love the thick Scottish accents) doing an overnight hike on the moors. They end up being terrorized and picked off by a creature that's supposed to be a werewolf. The werewolf actually looks (and sounds) more like a cross between a black bear and a wild boar. Whatever it was, it didn't look good. It looked very fake. The movie takes place mostly over the coarse of one night. The lighting was bad. I watched it during the day so I'm sure that didn't help, but I don't think it really made too much of a difference. The movie was so dark that you couldn't see what was going on through big chunks of it. Most of the action was hardly visible (which may have been a blessing....the fx seemed pretty bad) and you had to kind of figure out what was happening based on the audio. The script was cool so it wasn't all bad just listening to the movie. I liked the dialogue and I actually had the urge to turn on the subtitles just to make sure I was catching it all.....the accents were very thick. There really isn't much to Wild Country, but I guess I wouldn't say it was a complete waste of my time.

C.H.U.D. (1984)

Rating: 8

I was pleasantly surprised by how good C.H.U.D was. I expected a bunch of '80's cheese but there was actually very little.

C.H.U.D., Contaminated Hazardous Urban Disposal, actually creates C.H.U.D., Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers. There are many homeless people that live underground New York City. When hazardous waste is illegally dumped down there and then covered up, the radiation turns these people into grotesque creatures who have a taste for human flesh. The story is creepy. They did a good job of building up the tension in this movie. I thought the story was pretty original. The C.H.U.D. themselves don't look too bad for being made in the '80's. The eyes glow a bit too much, but in my opinion, this movie would be a prime candidate for a remake just to see how realistic and scary they could make the C.H.U.D.. The acting in this was really very good. I liked the characters, especially Daniel Stern's character who runs the soup kitchen. If you're in the mood for a horror movie that has a good story and good acting, with a decent amount of gore, then I suggest you check out C.H.U.D..

The Addams Family (1991)

Rating: 9

I'm a big fan of the old The Addams Family t.v. show. The dark humor of this peculiar family is wildly entertaining. I thought the makers of this movie did an excellent job bringing this distinctive family to the big screen.

If you like the old t.v. show then I don't know how you wouldn't also enjoy this movie. The movie starts with Gomez lamenting the loss of his missing brother Fester. Meanwhile, a plan is hatched by outsiders to introduce a fake Uncle Fester into the family in hopes of cleaning out their substantial money vault. The Addams soon suspect something amiss with Fester and lots of laughs ensue. The whole cast did a great job. Christina Ricci definitely stands out as the serious and woeful Wednesday Addams. I also thought Raul Julia did a brilliant job as Gomez. And I have to mention Christopher Lloyd as Uncle Fester just because he's fun to watch no matter what role he plays. The sets are wonderful and appropriately gloomy. The story is fun. Watching The Addams Family, delightfully macabre, is a great way to spend a rainy afternoon.

Kick-Ass (2010)

Rating: 10

Kick-Ass is one of the coolest movies I've seen all year. I was so excited to see this for months before it came out and when I finally did see it, it most definitely met my expectations.

Kick-Ass is about an average high school student who decides to become a superhero. He calls himself Kick-Ass and orders a costume online. Being a superhero doesn't really work out the way he expects though. In fact, he ends up in the hospital on more than one occasion with serious injuries. He persists though and soon he gets to meet the real thing. Real superheros in the form of Big Daddy (a delightful Nicholas Cage) and Hit Girl, Big Daddy's potty mouthed daughter, and they end up saving his butt. Big Daddy and especially Hit Girl stole the show for me. Every scene that she was in rocked! I was probably sitting in the dark theater with a big grin on my face during her scenes. So Big Daddy and Hit Girl befriend Kick-Ass and this is where the storyline comes in. It involves drug deals and stolen Coke and the very wealthy head of some underground organization. His people are killed by Big Daddy but he believes it was Kick-Ass. The wealthy head has a son who then becomes Red Mist in order to lure in Kick-Ass. There is a lot of very cool action and some one-liners that had me laughing out loud. This movie has a lot to offer: cool action, comedy, a bit of romance, a really cool soundtrack and characters I really liked and could care about. Kick-Ass easily makes it on my favorite movies list.

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)

Rating: 10

This horror mockumentary is so funny and entertaining. I enjoyed every minute of it.

Behind the Mask is about a reporter and her two crewmen following around and filming an up-and-coming new killer who's dream is to become the next Freddy Kreuger or Michael Myers (in this world these guys are real). He explains, in a refreshingly open and sincere way, what it takes to do what he does. He takes them through it step by step, from picking out a victim, the set-up and the eventual killing itself. Many well loved horror movies are alluded too. I loved the playful nod to all the rules and conventions in the horror genre.

The acting is really great. Nathan Baesel did a fantastic job playing our aspiring killer Vernon. The character of Leslie Vernon is very likable, which makes it so amusing that he's a killer. He's so charming that he even gets the reporter to participate a bit (think Man Bites Dog). All the acting in this is entirely natural and believable.

The first two thirds of the movie are the reporter interviewing Leslie and him basically showing the reporter and crew the ropes. The final part is all slasher flick. Behind the Mask is a must see for all fans of the horror genre.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)

Rating: 1.0

This movie sucks! I thought the first The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was pretty good. I was expecting this second one to be worse. I wasn't counting on how much worse.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 takes place some years after the incidents of the first film. Lieutenant 'Lefty' Enright, played by Dennis Hopper, is looking into the deaths of a couple of guys killed by a chainsaw. He's interested in the case because his brother's kids were killed by chainsaw (in the first The Texas Chainsaw Massacre). A radio disc jockey, called Stretch, was on the phone with the guys as they were being murdered and she has the tape of their murder. So Stretch and Lefty are trying to catch the Chainsaw killer while trying to stay alive themselves.

I was really bored while watching this. I kept checking to see how much time was left in the movie. It was pretty bad. I didn't like anything about it. Bill Mosley's character got on my nerves with his over-the-top silliness. They made Leatherface into a pathetic character who wasn't a bit creepy. The dialogue was dumb. And as far as the effects go.....well this is not Tom Savini's best work. This movie isn't scary or funny. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre part 2 is a dull waste of time.