PyreworksShow

So, earlier this very evening I was in the mood for a spooky flick and decided to head to Shudder to see if they had anything that could scratch the itch. I began browsing through titles and came across this. The poster wasn't terribly intriguing, nor was the title, but the description really caught my attention. It described the movie as a documentary style flick that featured in a horror-based film festival, and that its storied centered around the strange disappearance of an Australian girl, and the even stranger events that occurred in the aftermath of her disappearance. It sounded like it had a solid mystery and the supernatural elements were hinted at just vaguely enough that I decided to give it a try. This is one of the best movies I've seen in the orbit of the found footage horror genre. The director and writer do a fantastic job of building tension and dropping really interesting and unpredictable twists. They take their time and let you start getting comfortable with what appear to be genre standards, only to flip them in some fascinating way. The most interesting thing to me is that, while the reveals are pretty dramatic, the folks behind this film do a great job of keeping everything understated, which keeps you invested in this film. It's simply a wonderful film with an engaging story and a thread of unease that's tugged at just exactly the right time by the film makers.

The original film underwent a fascinating journey just to exist as we know it today. It started life as a series of stories told on a radio show by Jean Shepherd. A friend of his thought that the stories were so good that they should be put into a book and spread to a wider audience. Shepherd wasn't sure how well this would work but did it nevertheless. The books were successful, so much so that a producer reached out to Shepherd in the interest of making a Christmas movie based off of some these stories. Shepherd ran with the idea and, after encountering a few hurdles, he released the film we know as A Christmas Story. It flopped, which is hard to imagine now but, like It's a Wonderful Life, it gained a second wind thanks to television replays over the next few decades. It has its issues (most notably the scene at the end in the Chinese restaurant) but it's still a rightfully beloved classic to this day. It stays with people because of how it portrays middle class family life and childhood at Christmas in the Rust Belt. It hits the right notes not only with the trials of living such an existence but also the warmth that comes from having the rare gift of a close family.

A few attempts have been made over the years to piggyback off of the success of the film, including by Shepherd himself, but they're all either virtually unknown or disliked across the board by those who do know them. With all that said, I was worried for this movie. It means a lot to me since my childhood was a lot like Ralphie's, albeit some four or five decades later. My family didn't have much but each other and was founded in the end of the Rust Belt that reaches into Western New York. I also schemed to get the gift I wanted every year, though without the kind of success that Ralphie had in the film. I went into it with no small amount of trepidation but I'm really pleased with the end result. Peter Billingsly reprises his iconic role as Ralphie, now middle aged and muddling through the '70s with his wife and two kids. Ralphie is frustrated as he's trying to break into the writing game, but nobody is going for his lengthy sci-fi treatises. He's running out of time on a self-imposed deadline but has to put that aside when he hears the news that the Old Man has passed away. He and his family expedite their yearly trip to visit Ralphie's parents to that same day and as Ralphie tries to comfort his mother, she gently rebuffs this and instead insists that Ralphie help her come up with a Christmas worthy of the Old Man. This sends Ralphie into a series of hijinks that help him reconnect with his past through both old friends and enemies. It's absolutely charming and the writers did a great job handling the heavier subject matter featured in this script. There are a few flaws, though.

The biggest one is that it relies just a little too much on the original film. The heart and vision of the writers and director is clear here and I feel that could have played it a little less safe, especially as the portions that didn't based themselves off the previous film feel like they came right from the pen of Jean Shepherd himself. Actually now that I think about it that was really my only complaint. Now on to the stand-out positives. First, full credit to the actress who they got for Ralphie's mom. It's sad that the original Mr. And Mrs. Parker have passed away in real life, but Julie Hagerty did an admirable job taking on the role. It was wise to not try and recast the Old Man because, as those forgotten sequels have proven, only one guy has ever gotten it right. The next big one was the sense of continuity. As I mentioned, they set the film almost 40 years after the original and the designers really nailed the little touches of middle class living in the '70s. My last big one was the kids. The actor and actress really seemed to understand what film they were in and brought the right energy and an excellent sense of comedic timing. The cast was great in general, but the kids and Peter Billingsly really ran away with the thing.

It's not perfect. Neither was the original, though it's a lot closer than this film is, but that's not to say that it's bad by any means. It really brings the heart and charm of the original film and Shepherd's works. If you're on the fence, please give it a try. It's worth it.

This is a film I hadn't heard of it until I first got a Shudder subscription. This surprises me as found footage is my bread and butter in horror. This film is presented as a tape that was found in the aftermath of a five year old girl's birthday party. The entire titular family disappeared and this tape purports to show how this came about. What we see is a family enjoying a peaceful evening in a quiet, cabin-type home a ways away from a city. The family includes three brothers, their elderly mother, the wives of two of the brothers and the daughter of one of the couples. It's all being recorded by the youngest of the three brothers, who I believe is a teenager. The power suddenly goes out and this ultimately results in the family coming up against a group of aliens. There's a lot of unsettling atmosphere here and great acting, but the story's pacing is a little janky and all the atmosphere is kind of deflated when you finally see the aliens. I get that it was a low budget flick made in 1989, but, well...they should have stuck to what they were doing earlier in the film, which was using the darkness in this heavily wooded area and the fuzzy distant shots of an '80s camcorder to obscure the aliens. Great film ruined by goofy alien costumes, though the actors in the costumes did a great job with making their movement unsettling, at least.

This movie is great, but don't go by the trailer on this one. It sells the atmosphere but does the story a bit of a disservice. It makes it seem like a murder mystery or kidnapping mystery that will all too predictably turn dark and supernatural as it goes along. The reality is far more surprising and unsettling. It's a great mystery and the reveals, of which there are many, are handled in very clever fashion. In fact they save the latter half of the movie. The acting and atmosphere are just as great as the first half but the story just drags. Then the movie drops another stunning reveal and keeps you wanting to get the end and figure out the rest of it. It's a great movie that evokes The Strangers, albeit far less tense and disturbing.

Haven't written a review in a while. My brother and I decided to sit down and watch this just this evening since we'd just gotten Shudder and had both gone on a bit of a spree adding to our combined watch list (we have very similar tastes in horror). I added this one because of how much I adore the first Houses that October Built film and this shares quite a few similarities. This, however, is not found footage, and has a far less ambiguous ending. It centers around a half dozen friends who get bored on Halloween night and leave a noisy club looking for some excitement. While attempting to ditch somebody following them (whom the main character suspects is her abusive boyfriend) they end up in a pretty shoddy looking extreme haunted house. At first it appears to be a series of cheaply built sets housing a few surprising and effective scares, but very quickly devolves into a fight for survival. The premise is pretty basic as horror movies go, but the movie does a good job not overplaying its hand so you're caught off guard as often as the characters. The group of villains is written very smartly and are absolutely fascinating as horror movies go, especially as there's a very subtle implication of cult ideals driving them, and their visual designs end up going from simple and effective to incredibly memorable. The over arching story contains a rather Scream-like take on character progression, but, as I stated, it doesn't overburden it with unnecessary backstory or too much personal drama. The one real knock against it is that the characters do occasionally suffer from that classic horror movie trope of anti-logic, but it's pretty infrequent and all the actors do such a solid job (particularly after they leave the club) that the moments are pretty easy to overlook. This makes me excited to look into Shudder's other original properties, and is an easy recommendation to my fellow horror fans.

The first time I saw this movie, I fell in love with it. The atmosphere was what caught my attention first and foremost. I expected a gore fest, but instead got to watch a highly intelligent killer mess with my head to a chilling soundtrack (it's actually my ringer at the moment :P). The fact that I couldn't predict when he'd kill and when he'd disappear was a major plus in my book. Predictable horror movies bore me. Now, I know the storyline had some discrepancies, but, if you're like me, you don't even notice them until long after the movie's over and you're laying in bed mauling over the fact that you just witnessed a masterpiece in motion. Finally, as I mentioned, the soundtrack is timeless. It's one of my all time favorite theatrical scores, so I was very happy to hear that Rob Zombie is leaving it untouched in his remake. Speaking of the remake, I read a very comprehensive article on it and, now that I know that Mr. Zombie reveres John Carpenter, I have high hopes for his take on this classic. This movie is great for any time you have a craving for a spine tingling, but it's the perfect addition, opener, finale, you name it for an All Hallow's Eve movie marathon. :)

As was said above, this is basically 90210 on Acid. From the very beginning one can tell that this film is going to be a major head trip, and would likely be best watched while high on some manner of substance. Still...I'm no stoner, but was able to watch and enjoy it without difficulty. The movie chronicles a typical day of the average 90s teenager, but with perspectives from all orientations and view points: lesbians, gays, bisexuals, stoners, drunks, the whole nine yards. The acting was excellent, and the plot, though difficult to see at points, was quite good. The thing that threw me was the addition of the alien that apparently only Dark can see. It seemed to simultaneously interrupt and fit the story line. Conclusion: this is easily one of my favorite indie films, and I hope I can find time to see it again.

The first time I watched an episode of Invader Zim I concluded that Mr.Vazquez was in some way related to Tim Burton. Up to that point I was sure that only Burton had such a skewed perspective on reality. Nonetheless, I was proved wrong. Upon watching a few more episodes I found out that the twisted brilliance and dark inanity of Vazquez made this cartoon so endearing and hilarious that I couldn't help but finish watching the rest of the DVD that I have. One can't help but love Zim's characteristic spastic paranoia and GIR's off the wall randomness. Between those two, I sometimes wonder why the characters of Dib and his little sister Gaz were even put in there, but then I hear lines like, "Arms...like...NOODLES!!" and realize that Mr. Vazquez's genius is not something to be questioned, but simply to be enjoyed. Pick up the DVDs by all means. If I'm correct, you should still be able to find them in Wal-Mart and other stores.