Tag Archives: haunting

31 Days of Horror: Goosebumps 2023 Series (2023; TV-PG; 10-Parts/60 mins each)

Posted on October 18, 2023 | Leave a comment

 

Though based on five of R.L. Stine’s classic books from the 1990s, this 10-part series on Hulu and Disney+ has been updated for the modern viewer (don’t worry, there are plenty of Easter eggs thrown in for diehard fans). And with episodes being released each Friday, viewers will be able to finish the new series before sitting down for a Thanksgiving meal.

The series’ first five episodes are origin stories for the main characters, high schoolers who unleash supernatural forces. In the final five episodes, their stories connect, and they “must all work together thanks to and in spite of their friendships, rivalries, and pasts with each other in order to save [their town], learning much about their own parents’ teenage secrets in the process.” 

The first episode, “Say Cheese and Die!” was released on Friday, October 13th, and provided some nice creepy vibes, a good jump scare or two, and some humor thrown in as well. With aged-up characters (the characters in the books were younger), it’s not your classic Goosebumps for middle grade kids; this series is able to go darker and appeal to an older audience, adults included. I’m looking forward to seeing how the storylines play out and where the series takes us, since the creators hope to continue this collaboration down the road.

  • Top Scare Episode 1: In Basement
  • Heartbeats: 2 1/2 out of 5
  • Gore Factor: 2 1/2 out of 5
  • Scare Factor: 2 1/4 out of 5
  • Recommended for: 12 or 13 and up, due to blood, cussing, some gore

 

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Posted in 31 Days of Horror, Entertainment, Family, Faves, Ghosts, Goosebumps, Halloween, horror, Paranormal, Reviews, Streaming, Teenagers, Television

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31 Days of Horror: Tales of Halloween (2015; R; 97 mins.)

Posted on October 14, 2023 | 3 comments

tales of halloween

 

After reading rave reviews of this horror anthology created by some of horror’s top directors (“the best horror anthology since Trick ‘r Treat” by Fangoria and “among the best Halloween-themed horror movies ever made” by DailyDead, according to IMDb), I had to check it out. And WOW…this is truly a Halloween gorefest full of dark themes, so be forewarned!

Tales of Halloween is a loosely-connected story with ten tales full of monsters, aliens, murderers, and more on a single Halloween night, set in one suburban American town. Starting off with a classic-style tale, the stories soon become more imaginative, creepy, and disturbing. Featuring attacking pumpkins, candy-obsessed kids AND parents, more tricks than treats, and lots of blood and internal organs, these tales are not for the casual horror watcher. So if you’re really into this genre and can roll with the gross stuff and darkness, go ahead and give it a go; otherwise, you’ll want to steer clear of this gorefest.

  • Top Scare: Kids’ Tricks
  • Heartbeats: 3 3/4 out of 5
  • Gore Factor: 5 out of 5
  • Scare Factor: 3 1/2 out of 5
  • Recommended for: 17 and up, due to violence, gore, sex, and dark themes

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Posted in 31 Days of Horror, aliens, Blood, Entertainment, Halloween, Hell, horror, Horror Movie, Movies, Reviews, scary movies, Streaming, Trick-or-Treat

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31 Days of Horror: Vivarium (2019; R; 97 mins.)

Posted on October 5, 2023 | 2 comments

I like the idea of mixing dystopia with horror, but when I stumbled upon this movie I hadn’t heard of starring Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots, I wasn’t sure it was for me. “You’re home. Forever.” as the tagline was a bit of a flashback to shutdown during the Covid pandemic, after all. Still, I’m a sucker for suburban tales in the horror genre, and gave it a go.

Vivarium, on the surface, is about a young couple looking to buy their first home. They are convinced by an oddball sales agent to “just take a look” at a home in an unusual development soon to open, where every house looks the same. When they enter the neighborhood, it is a maze of carbon-copy houses, yards, and streets. The sales agent shows them #9, a mostly-normal home with some unusual features. Yet, the agent suddenly disappears, so they decide its time to high-tail it out of there. This is when they discover that is easier said than done, as the neighborhood truly is a maze, one they can’t escape. Boxes of supplies mysteriously appear for them, with food and other necessities, and time marches on. They are isolated, angry, and at wit’s end when a new box arrives with a baby boy inside. This is when the dystopian storyline really kicks up a notch or five, when we discover meaning to the story which becomes even more clear throughout the remainder of the movie, when the couple truly begin to lose their minds, and unfortunately…when the story starts to drag. About 20 or more minutes could easily be cut without affecting the story, but I’m guessing is left in to show the agonizing passage of time for this couple. Nevertheless, the drag had me filing my nails instead of biting them. Finally, in the final 10-15 minutes, much is revealed and we learn how this family will fare in the future.

All that said (or not said, so as not to spoil the surprises), Vivarium is more than what it seems, as many decent movies are. If you’re willing to look deeper, you’ll find themes and metaphors aplenty. You’ll find some humor. You’ll see great acting by Eisenberg, Poot, and Senan Jennings (who plays a child). You’ll get that Twilight Zone feel. What you won’t get: scares or horror. This is billed as a horror movie, but that’s a stretch, in my opinion. So, watch if you like dystopian, slow-build, metaphorical movies with a psychological component thrown in, but not for your 31 Days of Horror.

  • Top Scare: Child
  • Heartbeats: 1 out of 5
  • Gore factor: 1/2 out of 5
  • Scare factor: 1 out of 5
  • Recommended for: 16 and up due to sex scenes

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Posted in 31 Days of Horror, Entertainment, Halloween, horror, Horror Movie, Movies, mystery, Paranormal, Reviews, scary movies, Streaming, Thriller

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31 Days of Horror: The Sandman (R; 2017; 88 min.)

Posted on October 3, 2023 | 4 comments

Haylie Duff (sister of the famous Hilary Duff) stars in this so-so Peter Sullivan-written and directed outing which warns viewers, “Don’t fall asleep.” Maybe not the best tagline for a movie which doesn’t always keep your attention, eh?

Here’s the plot: a young girl named Madison, who was born en caul (inside an intact amniotic sac), and thus has special powers, is now older but having night terrors in which a “Sandman” from her nightmares takes revenge upon anyone who tries to hurt her. After her father is killed in what looks like a swirl of gritty beach dirt, she goes to live with her Aunt Claire (his sister/aka Haylie). Meanwhile, nefarious men in dark suits are investigating a string of deaths they attribute to her father, a social worker doesn’t like Claire’s line of work as an ahem, boudoir photographer, and is trying to take Madison away, Claire’s airhead boyfriend and suspicious neighbor complicate things, and every time Madison goes to sleep, The Sandman gets stronger and more evil.

At first Claire doesn’t believe The Sandman is real. But soon, she sees him in action, and tries to help Madison. As the body count increases and the suit-men move in, Claire knows that help must defeat not only the humans who want Madison, but The Sandman himself.

  • Top Scare: In morgue
  • Heartbeats 2 1/4 out of 5
  • Gore factor: 3 out of 5
  • Scare factor: 2 1/2 out of 5
  • Recommended for: 16 and up due to gore and violence

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Posted in 31 Days of Horror, Entertainment, Halloween, horror, Horror Movie, Movies, Reviews, scary movies, Streaming

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31 Days of Horror: Barbarian (R; 2022; 102 min.)

Posted on October 30, 2022 | Leave a comment

It’s important to me when reviewing movies to not give too much away or provide spoilers that affect your watching experience. Yet, it’s also important to give enough information up-front for you to know whether or not a movie is your type of movie in the first place. This is one of those instances where I hope to walk a fine line but also paint a picture vivid enough to help you make a decision for your 31 Days of Horror.

When a movie starts out with one vibe–and it’s going great and leading down a certain path–I don’t usually want to suddenly be jolted into a new vibe. With Barbarian, the first third of the movie is a slow-build, psychologically-tense guess-fest of personal darkness, featuring great acting and suspense. Within the space of a minute or two, though, it turns into horror-weird, before morphing once again. And I’m still not sure how I feel about it.

But let me back up.

Tess has arrived in Detroit for a job interview. She has rented a house on Airbnb, arriving late at night to discover it is in a bad, derelict neighborhood and was double-booked: a man named Keith is already staying there. However Keith is kind and slowly puts her at ease, offering to let her stay the night while taking into consideration concerns she may have about the weird situation. Reluctanly, Tess agrees. The two get to know one another a bit more, and Tess starts to let her guard down.

When Tess needs to head to the basement to find a spare roll of toilet paper, the basement door closes and locks, and she is stuck down there with no phone and very little light (never a good situation in any horror movie!). And that’s when she discovers there’s more to the house, much more, right before Keith finds her in the basement. That’s also when the movie veers in a second direction, one which will later converge with this first one in a creepy, horrific way. And fair warning: certain scenes you’ll see will make you cringe and just simply can’t be unseen.

  • Top Scare: Nighttime Outside
  • Heartbeats: 3 out of 5
  • Gore Factor: 3 out of 5
  • Scare Factor: 2 3/4 out of 5
  • Recommended for: 17 and up, due to gore, extended nudity, and violence

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31 Days of Horror: The Watcher (Netflix Limited Series; MA; 2022; 5 hours, 32 min.)

Posted on October 27, 2022 | Leave a comment

Because I’d heard of the real-life case this show was based on, and had been fascinated and horrified by it, I was eager to watch this seven-part Netflix series, hoping for tingly vibes and slow-building tension. However, what I found instead was the tiniest kernel of the true case applied to a much-too-long storyline where weird townspeople abound, eyes are wide shut, and so many suspects emerge you stop caring which one it is and just want it all to be over. In addition, in the end I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be watching a horror show or a horror comedy, with several characters drawn so large they resembled bad sitcom characters from the 80s.

When Dean and Nora, along with their children Ellie and Carter, decide to move from the city to the burbs, they discover the most amazing home and MUST have it. So Dean puts every single penny they have into the enormous home. But wait…they still have enough to go ahead and renovate the kitchen, drink great wine, and hire a local contractor to install security cameras around the entire property after they start receiving unusual letters in the mail from “The Watcher.” These letters praise the home and say this Watcher is one of a long line of Watchers. It also lets the family know they need to care for the home, and how happy the home is to have young blood in it.

Obviously Dean and Nora are creeped out and are determined to discover which neighbor is sending the letters. There is quite the cast to choose from, but no spoilers here! Nora’s friend and realtor who sold them the house begins to suggest they should sell and, how convenient, she could help them! (This continues for the next several episodes.) Also, the police commissioner is hiding the fact that the previous owners were receiving similar letters, and refuses to help them. He does, however, suggest a private investigator type who might be able to, and they hire her (with their extra funds, hmm) to look into people and events. As the letters continue to arrive and become darker while other more dangerous things happen inside their home, and everyone around them gets weirder by the episode, their lives spin out of control until The Watcher is finally revealed (unlike in real life). But don’t reach for that remote yet! The show goes on, and on, and on for another hour or so at least. The question is, will anyone still be a WATCHER?

  • Top Scare: Scene with Carter
  • Heartbeats: 1 1/2 out of 5
  • Gore Factor: 1 1/2 out of 5
  • Scare Factor: 2 out of 5
  • Recommended for: 15 and up due to sex and mature content

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Posted in 31 Days of Horror, Entertainment, Ghosts, horror, Horror Movie, Movies, mystery, Reviews, scary movies, Streaming, Television, The Watcher, Thriller

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31 Days of Horror: Don’t Listen (MA; 2020; 97 min.)

Posted on October 23, 2022 | Leave a comment

I wasn’t sure I wanted to give this Spanish movie (dubbed in English) a go since it’s based on the trope of “family moves into house that locals know is haunted; disaster ensues” and I’ve had my fill of that lately. But I’m actually glad I did watch it as it has some great scares, a super-creepy vibe throughout, non-stop action, and a nice twist at the end.

When Daniel, Sara, and Eric move into an enormous country house while Daniel is restoring it, Eric begins exhibiting strange behaviors and hearing voices through walkie-talkies and other electronic devices. So far, ho hum, right? Also, Daniel disovers a fly infestation during renovation. Zzzzzz. But before long, the voices in the house are proving how clever they are, and young Eric drowns in the closed-off pool. Devastated, Sara leaves to stay with her parents while Daniel continues work on the house so they can sell it. But when he hears his son’s voice on his cell phone, he seeks out a writer/paranormal investigator German who agrees to come to the house with his daughter Ruth to check things out. Sara returns as well. As each person works to do their part in the investigation, the spirit and voice of the house is also working to do its part: isolate, imitate, and drive them to their gruesome ends. Yet, Ruth has discovered who the spirit is and maybe, just maybe, how to beat it once and for all.

  • Top Scare: Several in Bedrooms
  • Heartbeats: 3 3/4 out of 5
  • Gore Factor: 3 1/2 out of 5
  • Scare Factor: 4 out of 5
  • Recommended for: 17 and up, due to gore and disturbing images

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Posted in 31 Days of Horror, Entertainment, Ghosts, Halloween, horror, Horror Movie, Movies, Paranormal, Reviews, scary movies, Streaming, Thriller, witches

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31 Days of Horror: The Woman in Black (PG-13; 2012; 95 min.)

Posted on October 20, 2022 | Leave a comment

If you’re looking for an eerie movie with a nice slow build and plenty of scares, this period ghost story starring Daniel Radcliffe is definitely worth a look.

Radcliffe broods with the best Londoners as Arthur, a young, distracted solicitor (that’s lawyer for those of us stateside) still grieving his wife’s death in childbirth a few years ago. His boss offers him one last chance to keep his job by sending him to a remote village to examine a recently-deceased client’s documentation left behind in her fog-shrouded mansion. With his young son in the care of a nanny for three days, he travels by train, where he meets Sam, a resident of that village. Turns out Sam and his wife are the only ones who want Arthur around though. That’s because if Arthur sees a ghostly woman dressed in black at the mansion, a child in the village will die. But Arthur must do his job, so he heads to the mansion to sort the paperwork as quickly as possible. There he experiences creepy musical toys, shadowy figures, crazy rocking chairs, and plenty more to set his heart racing. Yet he stays, trying to finish his job and solve the mystery of the woman in black and the dying children of the village, before his son and nanny are due to arrive and his son’s life is also in peril.

Atmospheric, melancholy in parts, and with plenty of scares, The Woman in Black also features a great ending perfect for the storyline and characters. Add this one to your 31 Days of Horror!

  • Top Scare: Windows
  • Heartbeats: 3 1/2 out of 5
  • Gore Factor: 2 1/2 out of 5
  • Scare Factor: 3 3/4 out of 5
  • Recommended for: 13 and up

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31 Days of Horror: Train to Busan (NR; 2016; 118 min.)

Posted on October 18, 2022 | Leave a comment

With a 94% score on Rotten Tomatoes, I was eager to give this South Korean zombie-fest a go despite my laziness with subtitles of late. I am so glad I did! Train to Busan is a bullet-train of a ride–with fabulous acting by Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, the young Su-an Kim, and many, many others–as well as great suspense and special effects all combining to make a top-notch zombie movie I rank right up there with World War Z.

Gong Yoo is Seok-woo, a business-driven father in Seoul whose has custody of–but little time for–his daughter, Soo-an. All Soo-an wants for her birthday is to spend it with her mother in Busan. Reluctanly, Seok-woo agrees to accompany her on the bullet-train for her birthday visit. The timing is both very good and very bad: outside, a new infection causing people to turn into white-eyed/pop-locking/blood-sucking/fast-running zombies is spreading like wildfire; inside, an infected woman has managed to board at the last second. Both occurences are unbeknownst to those on the train.

But soon, word spreads via media outlets about the zombie apocalypse in Busan, and the train riders are both shocked and relieved they are safe. We get to know many of the key passengers: a pregnant woman and her snide husband, a teenage baseball team and a young woman who is infatuated with one of the players, two elderly sisters, a homeless man who has made it onto the train, an older, egocentric businessman, and three of the train’s crew. But, of course, the riders aren’t really safe: the infected woman on the train only needs to infect one more before the train cars become crazed blood baths. Father and daughter are soon fighting for their lives along with their fellow passengers…some of which are new friends; some, new enemies.

With plenty of twists and turns, suspense, non-stop action, full-on emotion, and an ending that is both heartbreaking and hopeful, this movie was a fantastic addition to my 31 Days of Horror. Don’t let the subtitles scare you away!

  • Top Scare: Fellow Passengers
  • Heartbeats: 3 1/2 out of 5
  • Gore Factor: 3 1/2 out of 5
  • Scare Factor: 2 3/4 out of 5
  • Recommended for: 15 and up, mostly for gore

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Posted in 31 Days of Horror, Entertainment, Halloween, horror, Horror Movie, Movies, Reviews, scary movies, Streaming, Thriller, Undead, Zombies

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31 Days of Horror: The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (R; 2021; 112 min.)

Posted on October 7, 2022 | Leave a comment

I’m a sucker for the tales of Ed and Lorraine Warren and their real-life fights against demonic possession and paranormal tomfoolery. Especially when portrayed by the fantastically talented Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. But even those two can’t save this ho-hum, meandering installment in the otherwise powerful Conjuring franchise.

Depicting the posession of two brothers over time, this movie does start out strong with some decent scares and spooky feels. However, about forty-five minutes in, my eyes were glazing over as I tried to care about what was happening–knowing it was the basis for the first courtroom defense for murder due to demonic possession in U.S. history. The storyline just wasn’t compelling enough, or maybe the stakes weren’t high enough. Either way, I was no longer spooked, and watched the movie while only half paying attention. That’s a disappointment for me, as I consider the first/original in this franchise to be a heart-thumping, sweat-inducing scare-fest that ranks up there with the best.

Save your time (and screams), friends, for a different horror movie tonight.

  • Top Scare: Morgue
  • Heartbeats: 2 3/4 out of 5
  • Gore Factor: 3 out of 5
  • Scare Factor: 2 1/2 out of 5
  • Recommended for: 16 and up

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