Category Archives: Teenagers

31 Days of Horror: The Gallows (R; 2015; 81 min.)

Posted on October 29, 2020 | Leave a comment

Remember when horror movies required a cast of teenage characters, a plot set in or around high school, and a big body count à la Carrie? The Gallows harks back to this tried and true formula without being formulaic, all while offering up some good scares, suspense, a few laughs, and a nice twist or two along the way.

Featuring “found footage” and set twenty years after a horrific accident during a school’s play starring a boy named Charlie and a noose on a platform (can you guess the accident?), the main characters are part of a drama group which is honoring the victim by re-staging the same play in the school’s auditorium (hmmm….not sure how that one got past the school board). When one of the leads gets cold feet, he and his friends decide to break in and destroy the set the night before the show opens, so that the show can’t go on. But there are forces at work behind the curtain (seemingly) trying to exact revenge for Charlie’s death, and no one (seemingly) is safe in the (seemingly) endless hallways and backstage/basement rooms in which the teens (definitely) seek safety.

Top Scare: Involves Cassidy (Gifford, of Kathy Lee fame)
Heartbeats: 3 out of 5
Gore Factor: 1 1/2 out of 5
Suspense Factor: 3 1/2 out of 5
Recommended for: 16 and up

31 Days of Horror: Hereditary (R; 2018; 127 min.)

Posted on October 19, 2020 | Leave a comment

I have seen this movie listed at the top of people’s favorite horror films since its release, and was eagerly anticipating watching it on a rainy, cool October afternoon with the blinds drawn and the door locked. So imagine my surprise and disappointment when my response afterwards was a lukewarm, Meh.

Starring the impeccable Toni Collette as Annie, whose mother has just passed away, Hereditary embraces the supernatural/demonic posession trope, but in an almost laughable way. When Annie’s daughter Charlie, an oddball loner with a special connection to Grandma, has a freak accident, Annie’s mourning grows deeper and weirder. Her son Peter also begins to behave oddly at home and at school. In fact, the only stick in the supernatural mud is hubby/dad Steve, who thinks his entire family is deep-sigh worthy and tries to pretend nothing is amiss. As Annie discovers a way to “reconnect” with Charlie and pulls her family along into her madness, things quickly spiral out of control. This movie starts oh-so-slowly, finally adding a couple of nice creepy scares, but ending with an eyeroll-worthy descent into ridiculousness. If you’re looking for a new horror fave, Hereditary is not it.

Top Scare: Annie-related
Heartbeats: 2 1/2 out of 5
Gore Factor: 3 3/4 out of 5
Suspense Factor: 2 1/2 out of 5
Recommended for: 16 and up

31 Days of Horror: Don’t Breathe (R; 2016; 88 min.)

Posted on October 12, 2020 | Leave a comment

I love when I’m surprised with a great movie I hadn’t even counted on for my 31 Days of Horror. Don’t Breathe was that movie today.

Rocky, Alex, and Money are three Michigan teens with a penchant for burglary. Looking to make one last big score so Rocky can move with her little sister to California and away from her oh-so-creepy mother, the trio hear about an isolated blind war vet who is stashing a large cash settlement from his daughter’s accidental death. As the three manage to break into his house and begin to search for the money, they soon realize this helpless vet isn’t so helpless after all, but is in fact ruthless, determined, and smart. As battle after battle occurs inside, and new horrific surprises and creepy layers to the vet’s story are discovered, the burglars must fight for their lives over and over in hopes of escaping not only Detroit, but this dilapidated house in the slums as well.

Top Scare: Several good ones to choose from
Heartbeats: 3 1/2 out of 5
Gore Factor: 3 1/2 out of 5
Suspense Factor: 4 out of 5
Recommended for: 16/17 and up

31 Days of Horror: Unfriended (R; 2014; 83 min.)

Posted on October 3, 2015 | 1 comment

While what’s truly scary is how much time teenagers spend online nowadays (was that a giveaway that I’m a bit “older”?), this scary movie uses the young generation’s uber-connectedness in its favor. Seen entirely from the viewpoint of teenager Laura, while she is chatting, IMing, researching, viewing, and flirting with friends who are each on their own computer one evening, Unfriended lets us join the group chat as they learn each others’ secrets and lies. But they aren’t giving up these scandalous tidbits willingly. They have another “guest” in their chat room who is pulling all the strings and forcing the teens to play a game designed to show how each teen is connected to the recent death of Laura’s friend, Blaire, while exacting revenge as the night unfolds.

Unfriended starts out a bit slow, and you have to be prepared to read A LOT during the movie to keep up (the movie itself is actually a shot of Laura’s computer screen as she pulls up various videos, websites, etc. and clicks away during the chat). Yet it picks up the pace nicely and lets us see only exactly what the teens are seeing, so it feels realistic and we understand the fear the teens are feeling. All in all, a decent movie, though if you are looking for true scares, you won’t find many here.

Top Scare: At the end
Heartbeats: 2 1/2 out of 5
Gore Factor: 3 out of 5
Suspense Factor: 3 out of 5
Recommended for: 17 and up due to gore and adult content

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Posted in 31 Days of Horror, Facebook, horror, Horror Movie, Movies, Paranormal, scary movies, Teenagers, Unfriended

Tagged Entertainment, Ghosts, haunting, High School, Horror, Horror Movies, movie, Revenge, teenagers