Of all the horror/thriller performances I’m looking at this October, Anthony Perkins’ in “Psycho” is arguably the best.
Credit for the 1960 masterpiece also has to obviously go to the brilliant direction of Alfred Hitchcock as well as Janet Leigh who played Marion. However, it’s undeniable that Perkins’ acting was an integral part of making this a film for the ages.
Continue reading “Halloween Horror Fest 2016: Honoring Anthony Perkins’ performance”
Just a warning to start, this post will have spoilers.
Like “The Exorcist,” “Carrie” was a 1970s horror flick that managed to snag some attention from the Oscars, something that’s become rare in today’s award season.
In this case, both lead actresses Piper Laurie and Sissy Spacek were nominated for their performances in the 1976 adaptation of the Stephen King novel. Looking back at the picture, there’s no doubt that both women deserved the nominations.
Hello movie fans and welcome to the first installment of Halloween Horror Fest, a month long special on Matthew Liedke on Film all about the genre that’s around to create chills and thrills.
For this year’s HHF, I’ll be looking back at horror movie performances and celebrating the best of the best. This will go over what makes them good, memorable and in some cases downright award worthy.
Continue reading “Halloween Horror Fest 2016: Honoring Lugosi and Lee”
This true sequel to the 1999 found footage picture brings audiences back to a familiar place, and that’s not just in reference to the location. On top of the movie’s setting, this edition also borrows heavily from the first film’s formula.
Ignoring the 2000 film “Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2,” this flick opts to just be a direct sequel to the original and follows the character James. James is the brother of Heather Donahue, who was one of the people who went “missing” in the original picture. Since her disappearance in rural Maryland, James has been obsessed with trying to discover her whereabouts and finds a clue by way of an internet video.
In response, James and a group of his friends go out into the same woods that the previous crew ventured into in an attempt to pick up more pieces of the puzzle. However, once they enter, eerie things start happening to the protagonists.
Take note horror characters, never go in a creepy looking house.
“Don’t Breathe” tells the tale of three home robbers trying to make enough money to get out of a dilapidated area of Detroit. The trio, including Rocky (Jane Levy), Alex (Dylan Minnette) and Money (Daniel Zovatto), get a major opportunity for a big score when they are tipped off about a blind man who is sitting on hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The three eventually begin their plan to break in and pull off the heist, but they don’t get very far. It’s not long before the would-be robbers find out that the person their stealing from, despite being blind, has complete control over his senses. On top of this, they also find out that the Blind Man (Stephen Lang) is aggressive and ready to kill all of the trespassers without mercy.
“Lights Out” likely could have been a better horror flick if it had handled one aspect better.
The movie centers around the character Rebecca, played by Teresa Palmer. Rebecca is trying to make the best of what she has in life but is troubled by her mother’s clinical depression and the effects it has on her younger brother, Martin (Gabriel Bateman).
The situation becomes extraordinarily worse when Martin sees his mother, Sophie (Maria Bello) speaking to some sort of dark being and it doesn’t take long for Rebecca to believe him.
Continue reading “REVIEW: Poorly Handled Subtext Pulls The Plug On ‘Lights Out’”
If you enjoyed “The Purge: Anarchy” from 2014, you may not need to see “The Purge: Election Year,” since they are so similar.
Returning from the 2014 feature is former police sergeant Leo, played by Frank Grillo. After the events of the second film where he was involved with helping a group of individuals survive the Purge, Leo is now the lead security official for U.S. Sen. Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell).
Roan is a presidential candidate and is running on a platform of ending the Purge and moving the country in a different direction, making her a target for those in favor of the newest American holiday. For this reason, Roan and Leo are forced to go on the run on Purge night after an assassination attempt and they have few people to trust. However, they do get some help from others trying to survive the night.
Known for her work in “The Walking Dead,” Lauren Cohan switches to the big screen in “The Boy,” playing a recently hired nanny who is being sent to work for a family in a rural area of the United Kingdom. Her life takes an unexpected turn, though, when the young women, named Greta, finds out that her employers want her to look after a doll.
The problem is that her employers, Mr. and Mrs. Heelshire (Jim Norton and Diana Hardcastle) actually think the doll is their real child Brahms and subsequently, want Greta to treat the object as a real boy, too. While Greta is skeptical at first, strange occurrences start to make her believe there is more to the doll than she initially thought.
While the first act of “The Boy” comes off as a bit silly and hokey because of its obnoxious subject matter, the film does in fact start to get really good in the second act. Despite having a wacky story about a doll that may be alive, the movie is able to build up a pretty solid, creepy atmosphere and it was actually interesting to watch Greta’s character lose her mind because of the doll. Heading into the final act, the film had won me over.
Director:
Michael Dougherty
Cast:
Adam Scott
Toni Collette
David Koechner
Emjay Anthony
Conchata Ferrell
Rated: PG-13
“Krampus” is a horror and dark comedy that centers around a dysfunctional family who have gathered just a few days before Christmas. The youngest in the family, Max (Anthony), is having a tough time with the whole situation, though, because the holiday just doesn’t feel as enjoyable anymore.
In a fit of anger he tears up his letter to Santa and tosses it out the window. It turns out to be a bad decision, though, because it summons the evil spirit Krampus who punishes those who don’t honor Christmas.
To those who’ve followed my work, it’s no secret that I love “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” I find it to be one of the best horror films ever made thanks to its style, detail, setting and more. I also admire its sequel for being a legitimate attempt at a horror-comedy which focused more on humor than downright scares.
Following the original two, though, the series took a complete nose dive with two more films that may or may not have been sequels to the original. Now, with all fairness, there was a reboot in 2003, and for all its faults, I think the 03 film comes close to at least trying to recapture the original film. I don’t consider it a horror classic and still think it pales in comparison to the original, but it’s an OK horror picture.
Continue reading “Halloween Horror Fest 2015: The mess that was the ‘Texas Chainsaw’ franchise”
