Notable Cast: Sharni
Vinson, Carlyn Burchell, Steven Ward, Zino Ventura, Gustav Gerderner, Dimitri
Bailanis, Zelmia Bezuidenhout, Nicole de Klerk
One of the things that I love and hate about IFC Midnight as
a distribution company is that the films that grab for release can be of
varying quality. Not just in the scope of various niche genres underneath the
banner of modern cult cinema, but even in quality of execution. House on Willow Street was a flick that
I had decent expectations for. The trailer was solid, it had lofty production
values, and the simplistic concept had me sold right away as four kidnappers
accidentally kidnapa young woman who
may not be what they think she is. Unfortunately, the film is much more hit and
miss in its execution than it should have been. For every fantastic moment and
inspired horror punch, there is one that’s almost stunningly silly and off the
mark. It leaves House on Willow Street
to be an entertaining film in the end, but hardly as effective and impressive
as one might expect.
Notable Cast: Katee Sackhoff, Lucy Boynton, Javier Botet,
Nick Moran, Jordan Bolger, Pooneh Hajimohammadi, Richard Mylan, Ania Marson
Looking back, I guess it’s pretty easy to say that the new
trend in horror is creepy and demonic witches. Replacing the long dark haired
young girl ghosts and pretty vampires of the last few trends, this does seem to
be a welcome change of pace as it feeds into the recent trend of atmospheric
horror that dominated the genre last year. The latest entry into this style is Don’t Knock Twice. Don’t let the gimmicky,
tongue-in-cheek, throwback title fool you though, Don’t Knock Twice is less about being a quirky homage to decades
prior of the entire ‘don’t’ title horror movement and instead it’s a modern
atmospheric witch film to be lumped in together with the likes of Lights Out or the recent spin on Blair Witch. Of course, that does mean
that the film does have a certain mainstream consumable nature to the entire
thing with its high production values and easy to understand plotting. However,
it does retain a few aces in its sleeve to make it a fun and enjoyable horror
experience and one that deserves more attention than it has received thus far.
There is only enough
time in the day to write so many reviews, edit them, and format them for the
site. Yet we still receive a ton of requests to cover films that may not fit
into the schedule. So Blood Brothers has developed a series called The Blood
Splatter where our reviewers do three quick takes on various films for our
readers that may have not fit into the full review schedule.
Notable Cast: Samuel Davis, Gage Golightly, Matthew Daddario, Nadine Crocker, Dustin Ingram
I’ve always tried to make it quite clear that remakes are
not inherently evil/bad/dumb/awful. With the proper execution and a fresh voice
behind it, remakes can actually be effective new movies that bring classics or
overlooked stories to a whole new generation. With that approach in mind, even
I had a hard time swallowing the announcement that Cabin Fever was receiving the ol’ remake treatment. The original is
only a decade old, the style of horror comedy on display is still a relevant
approach (if not more relevant now with the massive amount of successful horror
comedies released just last year), and it’s essentially the same generation of
people that will be the prime audience for it. There have been a lot of
unnecessary remakes released in the last handful of years, like the new Carrie or Let Me In, but this latest Cabin
Fever makes them look like glorified, shining gold. Cabin Fever ’16 is simply uninspired and irrelevant for most any horror
cinephile. Perhaps if you are part of the 3% of horror fans that didn’t see the
original, you might find a fun movie…but that’s really the only way I can see
being impressed by this film on almost any level.
Notable Cast: Graham Skipper, Josh Ethier, Vanessa Leigh
The impact of John Carpenter recently is something else.
Whether it’s the mainstream release homage in The Purge: Anarchy or the
low budget worship that is contained here in the science fiction horror of Almost
Human, his presence is becoming such a force in the young filmmakers that
it’s impossible to ignore. This low budget flick owes so much to Carpenter that
at times it’s startling and unlike the other film I just mentioned, the
execution of that influence is not nearly as impressive this time around. There
might be an underground midnight cult film to be found in Almost Human,
but it was hard for me to get through some of the massive flaws to even enjoy
it in that manner.
Two years previous, Seth (Skipper) finds himself running
from some menacing lights in the night sky. In the process of hiding, his
friend Mark (Ethier) goes missing. No one knows what happened and Seth’s memory
is a bit fuzzy about the events. Mark has returned though and he’s not himself.
He seems driven by an unearthly force and his intentions seem less than humane.
Mondays always get me down too.
Almost Human is one of those films that I desperately
want to like as it’s obviously made with a lot of effort on a very, very low
budget. Unfortunately, there are some aspects of this film that make it
extremely hard to do. Firstly, the acting is borderline atrocious. Outside of
some fun The Thing inspired ‘possession’ work from Ethier in the latter
portions of the film the rest of the cast struggles to pull off the rather
intriguing concepts and scenes. Their dialogue certainly doesn’t help so that
when Seth confronts Jen about the return of her missing husband it comes off as
cringe worthy rather than an emotional beat to really drive the final act
forward. The film also suffers from its budgetary restraints when it comes to
the special effects. I have to admit, that for what they had they did
particularly well, but the results are still a rather mixed affair as it blends
a bit of Invasion of the Body Snatchers into the pot with its plot
progressions.
That being said, there is an underground cult status
atmosphere emanating from Almost Human that will play to certain crowds.
The film randomly takes some grindhouse swings at time in the final act with
its bursts of violence (and a sequence where Mark attacks his ex-wife that
comes out of nowhere, but certainly made me pretty uncomfortable and worked to
really solidify him as a villain) and in these moments of extremity, one can
see that there might be some underground appeal. For this reviewer, the
attempted blends of serious science fiction character beats with the grindhouse
horror elements didn’t quite gel as well as one would have hoped.
Reality TV? No way!
Almost Human is simply a disappointment overall. The
John Carpenter influence partnered with some of the solid atmosphere and charming
low budget elements make me want to enjoy this film more, but the sub-standard
acting and messy plot progressions bog the film down to the point that it was
hard to get into it. For some various people that are willing to overlook its
issues, the film will work. For me though, it was a missed opportunity to
create a thrilling and impactful sci-fi horror flick.
Notable Cast: Najarra Townsend, Caroline Williams, Matt Mercer, Simon Barrett, Alice MacDonald
When it comes to body horror flicks, the results can be
varied. Early Cronenberg rocked the genre to the core (including the vicious
and thoughtful The Fly remake), but usually if it’s a miss it’s a wide
miss. Which is what makes Contracted such an intriguing film. I had
heard some various reactions to it from friends, but the resulting film is a
mixed bag through and through. Director/writer Eric England certainly has the
right idea for Contracted with its strong visuals and tense moments, but
the rest of the film comes off as a rather hollow and disconnected experience.
For Sam (Townsend), life has been a little rough. Her
girlfriend has become distant, her friends seem occupied, and her career with
gardening seems to far away to be real yet. So when a party goes sour with a
rather unwanted one night stand, Sam feels like it couldn’t have come at a
worse time. Then the symptoms start…
Mornings can be rough...
As an independent horror flick, there is still a lot to
admire about Contracted. It has ridiculously high production values for
its budget and the director seems to understand the core of what is needed to
make the film work as a horror film. He cakes the film in some solid
atmosphere, utilizing the lead actress’ acting abilities to a wide variety of
angles to pull off her ‘deterioration’ for the audience. When the film gets
intense, including a few gag inducing sequences as her body starts to decay, it
works. By the time we get to the final act, I had a squeamish look for most of
the time and in that sense Contracted works in spades as a body horror
film.
Contracted
fails to feel real despite the amazingly effective special effects and horrific
tension. I was never disinterested with the film as it kept a solid atmospheric
tension throughout and I was curious to see what was going to happen to Sam,
but rarely did I care emotionally about the outcome and in the end it cuts this
film short. This is not a film for the weak of stomach or those unwilling to
buy into the forced plot progressions. If you are willing to overlook them, the
film works on a variety of levels. It’s still disappointing overall.
Notable Cast: Abigail Breslin, Stephen McHattie, Eleanor Zichy, David Hewlett, Michelle Nolden
Ghost films. It’s like the oldest horror story in the book.
People live on in spirit form and fuck around with the living in a house or
some sort of location. As a horror fan, it’s hard not to assume at this point
that I’ve seen it all when it comes to the sub-genre. When it comes to Haunter
though, I have to admit that I was intrigued. How do you tell the tale from the
point of view of the ghost? This little Canadian horror/thriller is a breath of
life into the ghost genre in many ways (pun intended) and while it does suffer
from a bit of predictability in the latter half, I was hooked into the story
and the strong visual style of the film.
While the basic concept of the film is not very original (Oh look! We have to
figure out how the girl was killed and then set her spirit free!), the idea of
basing it around the ghostly young girl adds a bit of unique spin to the rather
tried and true format. Abigail Breslin struts some pretty solid acting in the
lead role as we follow her in her discovery that her family has been re-living
the day they died over and over again for decades. Here is where director
Natali (director of the oh so awesome Cube) shows his talents as he
crafts a very solid mystery film concerning what happened to the family and why
it seems to be covered up. The supporting cast is equally as fantastic with
particular mention to the diverse moments for the father, played by
Outerbridge, and the ever brilliant Stephen McHattie as the villain of the
film.
All in all, Haunter is still going to end up being
one of those massively overlooked gems in the independent horror scene.It’s smarter than 80% of the ghost films out
there on the market and with Natali’s touch it certainly adds an aura of
artistic panache that most of them lack. This might not be a film for everyone,
it certainly lacks some stronger horror elements that are replaced with mystery
thriller ones, but for this reviewer it was quite the pleasant surprise.
Director: Alastair Orr
