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Old 6th October 2014, 04:41 PM
BAKA BAKA is offline
Cultist on the Rampage
 
Join Date: May 2010
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[1] The People Under The Stairs
I’ve often found this to be Craven’s most interesting film, far from his best, but alongside Shocker, a curious oddity that doesn’t quite fit in with its siblings. It plays a little like The ‘Burbs set in a ghetto. Deliciously suffused with black humour, at times frustratingly too silly, but effortlessly enjoyable.



[2] Bloody Homecoming
I found myself hugely in disagreement with the main criticism levelled against this film in reviews, that it doesn’t do anything new. I hate how that is, bewilderingly, considered a negative. Slasher movies have a formula, and it works. Why attempt to fix something that isn’t broke? The makers clearly had the same philosophy, and I respect that. If you have an original twist on the formula, go for it, but if not, don’t waste your audience’s time or insult them by shoehorning something in that doesn’t work. That being said, everything feels a little green in Bloody Homecoming, the cast, the characters and most disappointingly, the execution.



[3] Don’t Go To The Reunion
(Inc. Bonus Shorts: Blood Brothers, Popularity Killer and Teddy)
This is easily the best modern micro-budget slasher movie that I’ve seen. With the killer despatching victims with methods lifted directly from slasher movies, it’s littered with fan service that fans of the subgenre will eat up. Deftly executed, well shot, at times strikingly composed, with some solid performances (bar the odd supporting cast member), it’s surprising the film was crowd-funded. The ending felt a little too Scream inspired, but didn’t spoil the fun. Looking forward to see what the folks at Slasher Studios do next.



[4] The Night Of The Hunter
Many likely won’t consider this a horror movie. Strictly speaking it’s not, but there’s a sense of malevolence in Robert Mitchum’s performance that makes for a chilling experience. I’ve also found the cinematography evocative of many a silent horror classic. That scene where Powell is in the basement and reaches out for the escaping children is oddly reminiscent of Frankenstein’s lurch. Despite appearing to be a deceptively simple tale of good and evil, there’s a rich multi-layered complexity of themes bubbling under the surface.



[5] House On Straw Hill
I think it’s safe to say Linda Hayden isn’t a fan of House On Straw Hill, nor of her co-stars, it would seem. Which is a little sad, because it’s a genuinely effective, sexually charged pulp curio. At it’s core a simple tale, but delivered as a hallucinogenic assault to the viewer. I wouldn’t quite call it top tier Video Nasty, but it’s certainly encroaching.
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