Rinne (Reincarnation) is a 2005 Japanese horror-mystery film from Takashi Shimizu (Ju-On/The Grudge franchise).
Nagisa Sugiura (Yuka) is a young Japanese actress who comes face to face with a slew of ghosts. These restless spirits begin to appear when she signs on to star in a horror film which tells the true story about a crazed, local professor whose murderous rampage at a hotel left 11 guests dead, including his young son and daughter. The movie is being filmed at the very site where the killings took place.
Pretty good. 2.5 stars. Creepy, a little weird, suspenseful with quite a few jump-scares.
Ghoulies 3: Ghoulies go to College (1990) is the 3rd part of the Ghoulies franchise, I haven’t seen the others, or at least don’t remember them. Its free on TubiTV if you have a VPN (US only). Stars Kevin McCarthy, a classic star of bad films ( and some good films and TV). The characters live in a frat house and there’s bro’s, preps, nerds and the other generics. The Ghoulies are gross and seem really damp looking.
A “Ghoulies” comic book is found in a frat house bathroom. The comic secretly holds powers over three lost Ghoulies that are imprisoned within its pages. They are soon released by Professor Ragnar who uses them in an attempt to stop ‘Prank Week’ where frats play tricks on each other for a tinfoil crown. Skip Carter and his frat house of party animals are destined to take back the crown but he is having problems with his girlfriend who is dating his arch rival, Jeremy. When Jeremy frames Skip, resulting in his expulsion, the Ghoulies are sent to kill Skip and any other frats that stand in their way.
I got what I was expecting, I guess. 2 stars. It is what it is.
The Prowler is a 1981 horror film with Tom Savini manning the gore button. There’s a story line but it is essentially meaningless filler. The gore, limited as it is, is some A-grade Savini though, and the only reason to bother sitting through this.
An unknown killer, clad in World War II U.S. Army fatigues, stalks a small New Jersey town bent on reliving a 35 year-old double murder by focusing on a group of college kids holding an annual graduation dance.
For Savini completist’s only. 2 stars just for his few parts.
★★
#15 – Black Belly of the Tarantula (1971)
The Black Belly of the Tarantula is a 1971 Italian giallo film directed by Paolo Cavara. It is one of many Italian giallo films to be inspired by Dario Argento’s successful debut thriller The Bird with the Crystal Plumage.
A mysterious killer is attacking women associated with a blackmail conspiracy. It is up to the reluctant Inspector Tellini to find out who the killer is, before he or his girlfriend become the murderer’s next target.
Pretty standard Giallo film, nudity, twisted murders, not bad, not great.
Shocking Dark (also known as Terminator II, Terminator 2, Aliens 2, Aliennators, and Contaminator) is a 1989 Italian science-fiction film. Although the film was promoted as a rip-off of James Cameron’s The Terminator, it is primarily a rip-off of James Cameron’s Aliens. It was released in some countries as Terminator II, as it had been made two years before Terminator 2: Judgment Day.Wikipedia In a polluted future Venice researchers work to improve the situation. One day, unknown forces start killing them. A team of soldiers and a couple of civilians is sent to investigate. Soon, they encounter strange murderous creatures. IMDB
What else do you need to know? Italian trash of the highest order. An intensely B-grade rip-off of Aliens so overt yet so trash it has to be seen to be believed. Fucking Bellissimo! 2 stars.
Doctor Sleep is a 2019 film based on a Stephen King novel of the same name, also the sequel to The Shining.
Years after the traumatizing events of The Overlook Hotel, Dan Torrance is now an alcoholic struggling to find a job. He moves to a small town in New Hampshire and becomes “Doctor Sleep”. He then meets Abra Stone, a teenager with the brightest shine he’s ever seen. When he learns that a cult of evil beings called The True Knot are chasing her with the intent to eat her shine, he does everything in his power to protect her…including returning to The Overlook.IMDB
This was good. Extending on the Shining and its mythology and I assume containing elements I have no idea bout from the greater Stephen King universe mythos. All of which I am not very knowledgeable of, and it didn’t really matter. It was a very enjoyable watch, though like many other King book adaptions, a bit long. Creepy, weird, strange, engaging. 3 stars.
★★★
#12 – Tourist Trap (1979)
Tourist Trap is a 1979 American supernatural slasher film.
Four people go in search of their missing friend. What they find is Slausen’s Lost Oasis, a mannequin museum and seemingly abadoned mansion owned by gentle old Mr. Slausen. He agrees to help with their car trouble, but some of the girls decide to look for a working phone inside the house even though Mr. Slausen warned them not too. Hidden within the home is Mr. Slausen’s misunderstood mask hidden younger brother. What they learn is that the mannequins seem very much alive, or is there something much more terrifying behind the mask? IMDB
The music over the credits really sets the mood. The mannequins and mask are creepy as hell. They look heaps like Shaye Saint John. And that’s about it, creepy masks and mannequins and creepy people scare other people. There’s a story, but its rather inconsequential (and often long winded). In many ways this is highly influenced by Texas Chainsaw Massacre, in parts of the plot and style, and also as a “horror” film stripped to its bare bones. A better score/soundtrack, or literally no soundtrack, would have done wonders. I’m giving it 2.5 stars. It doesn’t deserve it, but it really is an interesting almost-rip-off of Texas… but with enough original elements to almost be a good enough film on its own. Its strange and enjoyable.
A biker comes upon a girl with a flat tire and offers her a ride home. He winds up at a drug party with the girl’s sister, then follows her to a turkey farm owned by her father, a mad scientist. The father turns the biker into a giant turkey monster who goes after drug dealers.IMDB
This was pretty slow at moments, bad sound, bad editing, but enjoyably silly with some real odd moments. The limited gore is actually pretty gross. The makers were obviously knowledgeable of drugs and drug use, making any anti drug message more of a parody. A ridiculous idea with a strange and confusing twist ending. I liked it 2.5 stars.
The Dark Half is a film adaption of a Steven King book, which are usually very hit or miss (usually miss), directed by George A Romero which is hopefully a positive. IMDB says…
When Thad Beaumont was a child, he had an operation to remove a tumour from his brain. during the operation, it was discovered that far from being a tumor, the growth was a twin brother of Thad’s that never developed. Years later, Thad is a successful author, writing his serious books under his own name, and his pulp money-makers under the pseudonum “George Stark”. When blackmailed by someone who has discovered his secret, Thad publically “buries” George Stark. From that point on, Thad increasingly becomes the prime suspect in a series of gruesome murders.
Always a joy to see Michael Rooker. This film is 2 hours long though? Steven King film adaptions are, as mentioned above, not always great, this though was pretty good. For the length it didn’t feel oppressively long or slow paced for the most, maybe that’s Romero directing, who knows (Langoliers is 180mins, feels like 3 days). Its a thriller, a cop drama, and kind of a horror. There’s weird scenes and circumstances throughout that keep this film strange and creepy to the end. The “twist”, the killer, is just nonsense. 2.5 STARS. Its enjoyable enough.
Haze is a 2005 Japanese horror film by Shinya Tsukamoto (of Tetsuo Iron Man film fame). Wikipedia says… A man wakes up in a small concrete space bleeding from the abdomen. He can barely move and has no recollection of why or how he came to be there. Crawling forward he eventually meets a woman and they try to piece together their past lives.
I tried typing this out, explaining it, but it became too hard. Its a real weird one. I enjoyed it. Its confusing and has a crazy, and surprisingly deep ending! 2.5 stars.
Childs Play (1988) is the first film in the Childs Play franchise. The always under-rated Brad Dourif is in this. It begings with Dourif is being chased by a cop for some reason, he is shot in a toy store and he is a warlock? so he transfers his soul into a doll? in the process blowing the toy store up? Next day some street peddler has the now possessed toy and sells it to the mother character who gives it to her annoying child. The doll begins to act on its own, killing the baby sitter. The mother discovers there are no batteries in the doll and it is possessed. The mother tries to convince the police officer investigating the babysitter murder that the doll is “alive” and possessed by Dourif, who the officer believes he killed at the start of the film. The cop is attacked by Chucky and is then convinced its actually possessed by Dourif. The mother finds out Dourif was a voodoo practitioner. Chucky/Dourif visits his voodoo teacher who tells him the only way to escape the doll is to possess the child. Chucky kills his voodoo teacher in anger because he wont help him escape the doll and flees. The mother and cop both eventually track down Chucky who is attempting to switch souls the child, the cop is stabbed and a fight/chase ensues through their apartment. The child burns Chucky, the mother shoots the burned Chucky to pieces. Another cop arrives and is attacked by the Chucky remnants. The mother yells for the original cop to shoot Chucky in the heart, he does, and Chucky/Dourif is destroyed. Well, that’s what I watched, or you could read the Wikipedia article.
Its a fun, silly film. Its very much like a Twilight Zone episode but with 80’s horror elements. 3 stars
★★★
#7 Curse of Chucky(2013)
The 6th film in the Childs Play franchise. I’m not typing this one out as well.
A girl in a wheelchair and her mother are sent a Chucky doll for some reason. The mother “commits suicide” before the intro credits even roll… The film continues from there with a really convoluted story until it ends 90mins later. See HERE for the whole plot.
There were a few gross scenes and some scares. 1.5 stars.
The Relic a 1997 horror film about a demonic creature that terrorises a museum killing people. A statue of a mythological creature is shipped to a museum by an anthropologist, and with it comes a bizarre creature. It kills a janitor and police detective Tom Sizemore investigates. More people die as the creature wreaks havoc and biologist Penelope Anne Miller tries to work out what it is… That’s the gist of it, the rest is an interesting monster horror film.
2.5 stars, its good.
★★★
Original Cinema 1-Sheet Poster – Movie Film Posters
