Tag Archives: Stephen King

31 Days of Horror: The Mist (R; 2007; 126 min.)

Posted on October 12, 2022 | Leave a comment

Considering this movie is 15 years old, I was shocked I hadn’t given it a go yet, especially knowing it is based on a Stephen King novella (yes, huge fan here). Plus, this cast: wow! I must say, I’m so glad I did watch it, as the story was so, so much more than creepy goings-on and dying townspeople. As always, King’s story got to the heart of the horror in more ways than one, plus add in great directing, top-notch special effects, and acting that’s superb all around and you’ve got yourself a must-see movie.

In small-town Maine, a freak storm one night causes widespread damage. David and Steff Drayton live with their young son Billy, who notices a strange mist advancing toward town the next morning. As David, Billy, and neighbor Brent head into town for supplies in the local grocery store, the mist overtakes people outside, causing them to scream and run in fear and pain. One makes it to the store, where about thirty townspeople then hunker down for basically the whole movie. Here, they must begin to fight not only what is in the mist, but also what is in their hearts and heads, revealing prejudices, how fear grows and turns people against one another, human fallacy, questions of faith, and other issues both big and small. As factions form and the death toll rises from evil both within and without, David knows he must take a final big chance if he is to save himself and Billy.

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

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

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31 Days of Horror: Oculus (R; 2013; 104 min)

Posted on October 21, 2014 | Leave a comment

oculus

 

Ever feel like a horror movie has the possibility of being a great scare, yet it falls just short? That’s how I felt about Oculus. Even though it did have some scary-ish moments, and a decent horror movie premise underlying it all, it never managed to pull me out of my living room and into the spirit world like it could have.

Switching back and forth – sometimes quite confusingly (the director’s intention) –  between today and ten years ago, Oculus is the story of two siblings, Tim and Kaylie. Tim has just been released from a mental institute where he was being treated after murdering his parents as a young boy a decade ago. But Kaylie wants to prove via an elaborate set-up of alarms, switches and cameras that the murderer was actually an evil spirit residing in the antique mirror hanging in their father’s office, known as the Lasser Glass, and that the spirit has been murdering its owners for hundreds of years. A la Stephen King’s IT, Kaylie also wants Tim to keep his promise of coming back and helping her to take care of the spirit once and for all. The problem is, Tim doesn’t remember the events quite the same, until he is caught up in Kaylie’s efforts and starts to relive the night in question. But the evil that resides within the mirror has many tricks up its sleeve, all designed to prevent Tim and Kaylie from accomplishing their goal. The question is, who will be victorious?

  •  Top Scare: Evil Spirit in office
  • Heartbeats: 2 1/2 out of 5
  • Gore Factor: 3 out of 5
  • Suspense Factor: 2 1/2 out of 5
  • Recommended for: 15 and up

 

 

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31 Days of Horror Movie: IT (1990; Not Rated; 192 minutes)

Posted on October 28, 2011 | 2 comments

What’s more creepy than an evil clown? An evil clown holding a fistful of balloons, with fangs and a cackling, maniacal laugh (portrayed by the genius Tim Curry no less), who can take the shape of the thing you are most afraid of. A clown who lures and murders the children of a town (Derry, Maine) every 30 years, for hundreds of years, and who only the children can see and hear. A clown called Pennywise by name, but IT by a group of misfit 11 year-old friends who have formed The Losers Club, and who are being targeted and hunted not only by a group of bullies from their school, but by this evil entity in clown form as well. A clown that claims, “I’ll drive you crazy and I’ll kill you all…I’m your worst dream come true. I’m everything you ever were afraid of!”

Based on the pulse-pounding book by horror master Stephen King, IT is set in two main time periods, thirty years apart, and follows the same group of seven friends (six boys and one girl) as they realize they must stick together to survive. As children, Bill’s younger brother Georgie is one of IT’s victims. He is visited by Pennywise first, then one by one the others are too. Finally, each one admits that the clown has visited and threatened him or her, and they form a plan to kill IT. But they do not succeed, and all but one move away, losing all memory of what happened thirty years ago.

Flash forward thirty years and children are once again dying. Mike, though, has stayed as librarian in Derry, and he calls each one back to fulfill a promise they have made to kill IT if it ever returns, and put an end to the evil once and for all. As each receives the call, the memories start to return, and they merge on Derry to face Pennywise. But IT has other plans for them…

My take: all in all, a great premise, likable characters (and a fabulous cast) and lots of scares, even if some of the ending does feature some B-movie type hijinks. Plus I guarantee you’ll think twice before attending the carnival again!

  • Top Scare: All with Pennywise
  • Heartbeats: 3 1/2 out of 5
  • Gore factor: 2 out of 5
  • Suspense factor: 3 out of 5
  • Recommended for: 14 and up

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31 Days of Horror: Let Me In (2010; R; 115 min)

Posted on October 12, 2011 | 2 comments

When Stephen King, the King of Horror himself, says a movie is “the best American horror film in the last 20 years,” I pay attention. Honestly, I’m not sure I agree with him on the “best in 20 years” part, but I do agree this is a great horror movie, and do highly recommend it.

Let Me In, based on a Swedish film and book called Let the Right One In, is a lovely, haunting, sad vampire love story where no one sparkles and no one becomes a werewolf. Set in a wintry 1980’s small southwestern town (yes, I said wintry southwestern town), Let Me In is the quiet story of how two people can be drawn to one another, even if and when they know it’s an impossible thing. It’s the story of friendship and love. And it’s a story of youth in all its complexities.

Owen, a lonely 12-year-old who lives with his mother, sees an odd girl about his age (Abby) move into an apartment next door one night. Seems she never gets cold and doesn’t wear shoes in the snow. She arrives with an older man, her “father.” Right off, Abby tells Owen she can’t be his friend. And boy, does he need one, as he is mercilessly bullied at school by Kenny and his two sidekicks. Nevertheless, a shared love of puzzles brings Owen and Abby together, and they begin to develop a friendship, hanging out and talking in the evenings in the building’s snowy courtyard.

Meanwhile, teens in the small town are going missing, and we learn that Abby’s “father” is the reason. He must bring blood to Abby and others so they can survive. When he is in a crash, however, and sets himself on fire to escape recognition, Abby’s world starts to unravel and the only one she can turn to is Owen. But will he accept her for who, and what, she is? Or does friendship and love have its limits?

  • Top Scare: Not really scary
  • Heartbeats: 3 1/2 out of 5
  • Gore factor: 4 out of 5
  • Suspense Factor: 3 3/4 out of 5
  • Recommended for: 15 and up due to some nudity and cussing

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Posted in 31 Days of Horror, Blood, Horror Movie, Movies, scary movies, Vampires

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Horror Movie: The Shining (R; 1980; 144 min.)

Posted on October 29, 2010 | Leave a comment

One of my top five horror movies (gotta love Stephen King…he can really dream things up, can’t he?), The Shining is about why no writer-wannabe should live for the winter in a snowy, isolated, mountain-top lodge where murders occurred. Write that tip down now!

No, actually, The Shining is about a former teacher, the amazing Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance, who is trying his hand at writing. He takes a job as winter caretaker of a remote lodge, The Overlook Hotel, in the mountains of Colorado. In 1970, the previous caretaker had murdered his wife and two daughters there. But that history doesn’t faze Jack, because he’s looking for peace and quiet for his writing. Sorry, Jack, ain’t gonna happen!

Soon after he moves his wife and son there, Jack begins to change, becoming a mean, cussing, hallucinating still-wannabe writer (he does finally complete a manuscript…more on that later). His son Danny sees the two murdered girls around the hotel (“Hello, Danny. Come and play with us. Forever and ever and ever.”) and visions of blood gushing from elevator doors. How can that be? Well,  according to Dick Halloran, the bowlegged hotel’s chef who met him before leaving for the season, Danny shares Dick’s special abilities known as “The Shining,” where they can “see” things and talk to each other without speaking. Danny’s pointer finger, known as Tony, also talks to Danny in a creepy, gravelly voice, telling him things. Hmmm.

As a record snowstorm hits, and Jack gets meaner and Danny’s visions get more bloody (don’t go near room 237, REDRUM!, REDRUM!), Wendy Torrance, Jack’s wife, discovers his manuscript. Hundreds of pages long, she reads just about every single one for the camera to show us they all say “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” Now she’s SURE he’s gone bonkers, so she hits him with a bat, locks him in a walk-in freezer and takes off to save Danny.

Well, a ghost has soon freed Jack (!), and Jack is soon chasing his wife and son. Wendy manages to shove Danny out of their bathroom window onto a conveniently located two-story snowdrift below, but she can’t fit herself through the opening. Jack begins axeing down the door (Here’s Johnny!), but is distracted when he hears the motor of a snowcab outside. After easily disposing of this nuisance (the chef who came back to help when Danny sent him a mind message), he’s back looking for his family again. What follows is a great chase scene through a snowy outdoor maze where Danny tricks his dad. And meanwhile, Olive Oyl/Shelley Duvall is running/jerking through the hotel looking for Danny carrying a large knife, encountering various bloody elevators and ballrooms full of dead people herself! Will Wendy and Danny escape Jack’s crazed efforts at killing them? Will Danny stop talking to his finger and use it to pick his nose again instead? Will the snow ever melt in Colorado? You must watch to find out!

  • Top Scare: Tony the talking finger
  • Heartbeats: 3 1/2 out of 5
  • Gore Factor: 4 out of 5
  • Suspense Factor: 3 1/2 out of 5
  • Recommended for: 15 and up, mainly due to cussing and gore

Next up: Friday the 13th

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Horror Movie: Guess the Name (R; 1976; 98 min.)

Posted on October 15, 2010 | Leave a comment

I was too tired last night for subtitles (The Orphanage), so chose to watch a classic instead. My husband had never seen it, so  that made it even better. It was a literal bloodbath, or bloodshower I should say (in two scenes!), starring The Coal Miner’s Daughter, Urban Cowboy, Greatest American Hero, and Mrs. Bradford…can you guess its title?

Okay, hopefully you said Psycho…nah, just kidding. Carrie, of course! Now I know I just reviewed another Stephen King adaptation yesterday, Salem’s Lot, but he is the King of Horror after all, so I thought another so soon was okay.

Carrie is set in the land of true horror, aka High School. Raised by a fanatically religious mother, Carrie is “different” from the other kids. Not only does she become the world’s oldest girl to start menstruating, she discovers she has special abilities to move items, close doors, break mirrors, and make young, bratty boys riding bikes fall to the ground when she gets angry! Okay, take away the crazy mother and it sounds like a pretty good life to me so far, right?

Wrong! Carrie’s prom is coming up, and the most popular boy in school’s girlfriend, played by the young and beautiful Amy Irving, encourages him to ask Carrie to the prom to make up for a mean prank she pulled on Carrie with her classmates. Carrie accepts, but her mother says, “They’ll make fun of you!” in an incredibly creepy voice. Carrie says, “Things are going to change around here, Momma” as she throws her mother onto the bed (twice!) using only the powers emanating from her huge, round eyes.

Off to the prom she goes, and is having a great time dancing and being a “normal” kind of girl, but little does she know another classmate, who has been banned from the prom due to her participation in the cruel prank on Carrie, is seeking her revenge that night. Enlisting her boyfriend’s help, the Urban Cowboy, this classmate will soon learn that hell hath no fury like a teenaged girl drenched in blood!

Carrie is the ultimate high school girl’s revenge fantasy; revenge for all the wrongs that have been done to her over the years, for all the pointing and laughing and “cold shoulder-ing.” One of my favorite scenes is during Carrie’s walk home following the prom, when a quick cut-away shot shows Carrie/a creepy doll-like figure in the road diverting a car from hitting her. Second favorite scene: the final minute…got my husband good on that one!

  • Top Scare: Ending
  • Hearbeats: 3 out of 5
  • Gore Factor: 2 out of 5
  • Suspense Factor: 3 1/2 out of 5
  • Psycho Factor: 4 out of 5
  • Recommended for: 16 and up, due to lots of cussing, date and teacher/student violence, sex scenes and general themes

Next up: The Orphanage

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Posted in 31 Days of Horror, Blood, Hell, horror, Movies, psychosis, scary movies, Telekenesis, Thriller

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Horror Movie: Salem’s Lot (1979 TV Miniseries; 3 hours)

Posted on October 14, 2010 | Leave a comment

I found in my collection an old VHS tape of this movie which appeared on TV in 1979, and which used to terrify me. Based on a book by one of my favorite authors (Stephen King) and starring three of my favorite actors from the time period (David Soul, Lance Kerwin and James Mason), I just had to watch it again.

David Soul stars as a Ben Mears, a writer who returns to his hometown of Salem’s Lot, Maine, to discover some creepy, weird things are going on. Mears wants to write about the old Marston House in town, a purportedly haunted house where Mason (as Richard Straker) is living while preparing to open an antiques store with a colleague, an always-absent partner named Barlow.

Now, it seems young boys have been disappearing from Salem’s Lot for years, but people don’t seem to be too worked up about it. Weird. When a local boy once again goes missing, and other townsfolk begin dying off (or “not-dying” off), Mears and a local kid named Mark Petrie figure out that Barlow is really an ancient vampire and Straker is mixed up in helping him to “relocate” to Salem’s Lot.

Much killing and biting and mayhem ensue, plus we get to see what a Master Vampire looks like (picture this: white, glowing eyes, gray skin on an elongated skull, disgusting teeth and claw-like hands). Can Mark and Ben kill off the vampires and escape their evil clutches? Or will they too become one of the undead in Salem’s Lot? Only VHS can tell…

  • Top Scare: Vampire scene
  • Heartbeats: 3 1/4 out of 5
  • Gore Factor: 1 3/4 out of 5
  • Suspense Factor: 3 3/4 out of 5
  • Recommended for: 13 and up, due to the aftermath of a bedroom scene

Next up: The Orphanage

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