When I picked up this “part-sequel part-remake” of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre second-hand from a video store for a couple dollars, I was fully expecting a very bad movie. And, hoo boy, it did not disappoint! This film actually warrants the description “so bad it’s good.” It loosely rips off the plot of the original,…
Frontière(s) is the best horror film I’ve seen from the last decade. It’s been characterised as “torture porn” or a French ripoff of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and while neither description is completely inaccurate, they don’t capture the blistering intensity, the bone-shaking strength of the film. Frontière(s) is set after the election of an unseen…
Severance is a good office comedy, a decent slasher, and an excellent, enjoyable film when those two halves mesh. An example of this: A motley collection of office workers from a weapon manufacturing company have gathered in a remote lodge for a team-building exercise. They’ve begun to share scary stories about the “true nature” of…
Black Christmas is one of the first slasher films. Like its contemporaries, it has a tame level of violence and gore by modern standards, though it lacks the gonzo realism of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or the restrained artistry of Halloween. Instead, Black Christmas is content to rest on the laurels of its creepy premise,…
All the Boys Love Mandy Lane could have been an average slasher film, but it doesn’t even reach that benchmark thanks to a lazy, ill-conceived twist. Sometimes twists can retroactively redeem a story, but in many cases a twist can actually harm the film that preceded it. That’s the case here. The twist isn’t entirely…
Composed with restraint, obvious talent and populated with believable characters, The Innkeepers is a minimalist version of The Shining. Like Kubrick’s eerie classic, it’s set in a near-abandoned hotel, but here it’s a small inn in a small town. The Yankee Pedlar Inn may not have the intimidating grandeur of The Overlook Hotel, but director…
The Pact is a classic example of wasted potential. It takes the scariest single concept I’ve come across and squanders it on clichéd haunted house scares. Warning: spoilers follow.
The Shaft, a straight-to-video release (that took a couple years to see the light of day in the States) is a slasher movie, except with a twist – the killer is…an elevator! Seriously. It’s an inherently silly premise which doesn’t have to prevent it from being an enjoyable B-movie. There’s a promising jokey tone early,…
Triangle is an atmospheric, unnerving puzzle-box of a film, chilling and cerebral. Enigmatic opening scenes scored with foreboding music establish a mood of dread, matched by Jess (Melissa George)’s deathly pallor and discomfiting vagueness. Flashes of dreams or flashbacks suggest a non-linear narrative. There are sinister mentions of Jess son’s…something’s off, and references to Sisyphus…
A French Deliverance with a satanic twist, Sheitan focuses on a group of crass twentysomethings who travel into the countryside following a flirtatious girl. These characters are exceedingly unlikable, and if you’re anything like me, fifteen minutes in you’ll be eagerly looking forward to whatever unpleasant plight awaits them. You’ll be waiting a while. The…
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