All posts by Amie

Antiviral

antiviral_01

 

Antiviral is about an evolution in the way people view celebrity. Placed in a future bathed in clean white settings, the film centers on Syd, a salesman at a popular clinic, where the commodity is live infections taken from celebs. A celeb gets sick with whatever—herpes, the flu, etc.—and sells their virus to the clinic for a price, who in turn sells it back to super fans who want to be as close to the celeb as possible.

Gross, right? Imagine paying to be injected with Kim Kardashian’s … whatever. Anyway, things get even more complicated, as it turns out Syd works with a friend who runs a “celebrity meat” butcher shop (cells from celebs are used to grow “steaks” that fans can buy and eat) that’s also a black market business for the viruses. And when Syd steals a deadly virus from a beautiful young star, it turns out he’s interfering with a much larger plan.

Director Brandon Cronenberg’s work is clearly influenced by dad (David)’s sick and twisted visions. It’s a beautifully done cautionary tale bathed in horror. Be prepared for lots of poking, prodding, needles, and bizarrely disgusting human tissue creations.

It’s not covered in blood and gore and the horror is more subtle and cerebral  but given the stark white backgrounds, you can imagine that when the blood happens — it like, HAPPENS. In a big way. And that last shot. Oh man. SO UNCOMFORTABLE!   

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by Amie on April 19, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Amie on April 19, 2013

http://ilovesplatter.com/2013/04/19/antiviral/

Evil Dead (2013)

Evil Dead 2013

{Cross-posted to Three Imaginary Girls}

Holy shit you guys. Holy. Shit. I was really hoping the Evil Dead reboot would be awesome, but I had no expectations that it would be as fantastically amazing as it turned out to be. As a horror fan, I gotta tell you that this is one of the finest examples of the genre that I’ve ever seen. Ever.

Fans of the original don’t need to be worried—it’s not a straight-up remake. It’s more of a reboot that uses the basics of The Evil Dead story as a starting point to create a new legend, combined with some really clever nods to Raimi’s work. Which include a new take on his signature camera moves and some great twists on everything you loved about the 1981 flick.

The opening sequence sets you up for the glorious splatter that follows in a surprisingly original way. And you probably know the rest, more or less: five friends head to a cabin in order to help their heroin-addicted friend Mia (Jane Levy, I will never be able to look at you on Suburgatory the same way again) dry out. The group includes Mia’s somewhat estranged brother, David (Shiloh Fernandez); his blonde girlfriend, Natalie; dark-haired nurse Olivia, and bespectacled hipster-nerd Eric. (more…)

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by Amie on April 5, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Splatteriffic Reviews, Awesome Splattery Things
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Posted by Amie on April 5, 2013

http://ilovesplatter.com/2013/04/05/evil-dead-2013/

Room 237

Room237 poster{Cross-posted to Three Imaginary Girls}

“This is not “The Making of The Shining.” This is not a biography of Stanley Kubrick. This is: After the film has left the filmmaker’s hands, how does the audience grapple with it and make sense of it?” ~ Director Rodney Ascher from an interview with Vulture

After viewing a film (in particular, viewing a film over and over and … over) some fans latch onto the tiniest details, stringing them into clues that they then weave into a larger meaning that is personally important to them—and then convince themselves that the Director obviously meant that ONE THING.

In Room 237, the film in question in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, and those “one” things include The Holocaust, the massacre and betrayal of the Native Americans, something-something about a Minotaur and the maze, an analysis of impossibly constructed rooms and hallways, a look at the interesting imagery created when it’s played backwards and forwards at the same time, and awestruck respect at how the whole thing is inlaid with hidden meanings. (more…)

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by Amie on April 3, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Awesome Splattery Things, Splatteriffic Reviews
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Posted by Amie on April 3, 2013

http://ilovesplatter.com/2013/04/03/room-237/

The Following

The Following

I was so excited when I heard about the bunches of new horror TV shows following the success of American Horror Story, especially about The Following—starring one Mr. Ren McCormack Kevin Bacon.

A handsome, charismatic serial killer who uses the works of Edgar Allen Poe as inspiration for his murders and the basis for his cult? A band of unhinged followers willing to do whatever it takes to earn and keep his love? And a defeated ex-FBI agent still entangled in his mess? Created by Kevin Williamson??!?!? COUNT ME IN.

But while I thought the pilot was pretty strong, The Following disintegrates a little bit more with each episode, and it’s starting to lose me. (more…)

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by Amie on March 7, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Not So Awesome Splattery Things, Splatteriffic Reviews
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Posted by Amie on March 7, 2013

http://ilovesplatter.com/2013/03/07/the-following/

Bereavement Vs. Chained

Creepiest scarecrow, EVER. Nice job, Bereavement.

Moving on from the Craven madness, here are #16 and 17 of my 31 Days of Horror Films (which I may or may not have to extend into November): Bereavement and Chained. 

I picked up a few new’ish horror released lately at my favorite video store: Chained, which is Jennifer Lynch’s latest, and Bereavement, which I didn’t know is a prequel to Malevolence (as yet unseen by me).

Both have a similar premise: a serial killer kidnaps a boy and tries to teach him how to be a serial killer; however, while Bereavement kicks some serious splatter ass, Chained has so many problems I don’t even know where to begin. (more…)

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by Amie on October 29, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in 31 Horror Movies in 31 Days, Splatteriffic Reviews
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Posted by Amie on October 29, 2012

http://ilovesplatter.com/2012/10/29/bereavement-vs-chained/

My Soul to Take

 

I honestly couldn’t bring myself to watch this one again, so here’s my immediate reaction to it when I watched it last year, followed up by what I remember.

 My Soul to Take has sort-of an interesting premise, but it’s also sort-of a lame one. Alex Plenkov, AKA “The Riverton Ripper” is a serial killer who has been terrorizing and murdering families. And one night his brain flips a switch and murders his own (pregnant) wife and gets shot while trying to murder his daughter. (It’s worth noting that this opening, right up until they get to the hospital, is actually pretty decent. LOTS of splatter! And madness!)

But then, and here’s where it starts to lose it: RIGHT at the moment of his death, 7 kids are born in the same hospital, and Plenkov’s soul is transferred to one of them. BUT WHO?!?!?

Flash-forward to 16 years later, when all the kids born on that night hang out near the sight of the Riverton Ripper’s shooting, and uh—I guess “reenact” the scene or something? I’m unclear on this part. Because it’s so lame.

 SPOILERS AHEAD (more…)

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by Amie on October 27, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in 31 Horror Movies in 31 Days, Not So Awesome Splattery Things, Splatteriffic Reviews
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Posted by Amie on October 27, 2012

http://ilovesplatter.com/2012/10/27/my-soul-to-take/

Cursed

 

Starring Jesse Eisenberg before anyone knew who Jesse Eisenberg was (pre-Zombieland & The Social Network) and Christina Ricci, Cursed is a Craven/Williamson pairing that failed MISERABLY.

I was super excited at the prospect of a Werewolf tale from these two, especially one with Pacey Joshua Jackson, but unfortunately. Uggggh. There is so much terrible here. So, so, so, so much.

Ellie (Ricci) and Jimmy (Eisenberg) are a brother and sister who hit get into a car accident because of an animal running across the road, and then get scratched by whatever the animal is while trying to save the girl in the other car.

Jimmy seems to realize right away that all signs point to a werewolf, but Ellie insists that can’t be true while simultaneously struggling with her new, heightened senses and having crazily detailed nightmares about eating her boyfriend Jake (Jackson) alive.

 SPOILERS AHEAD (more…)

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by Amie on October 23, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in 31 Horror Movies in 31 Days, Splatteriffic Reviews
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Posted by Amie on October 23, 2012

http://ilovesplatter.com/2012/10/23/cursed/

A Whisper to a Scream (Quadrilogy)

This is kind of cheating (again. I know. I KNOW), since I’ve written about both Scream and Scream 4 before, but I wanted to cover all the Wes Craven films I’ve seen, so I decided to talk about all the Scream movies again.

My theory (and I don’t know if it’s right, because I haven’t read this anywhere) is that Craven hated how Nightmare 2-6 turned out, and decided he wasn’t going to let anyone else direct the Scream films, so he took charge of all of them. And he didn’t do a terrible job, but he did make some mistakes.

The first Scream was AMAZING. I was literally on the edge of my seat, chewing nervously on my fingernails and squirming around uncomfortably for the entire film. The opening scene with Drew Barrymore as Casey is fucking brilliant, and I love it with all my heart—enough that my blo0d-soaked Casey costume has been a go-to for several Halloween parties.

Scream is the perfect marriage of Craven and Screenwriter Kevin Williamson; they both compliment each other perfectly here, and leave very little to pick at, except of course, “death by garage door”, which I have always, and will always call bullshit on. But the rest of the film is so strong, I can let it slide.

The best thing about Scream is that it made horror films fun for me again, after getting burnt out on carbon-copy slasher flicks. The script does an apt job at throwing suspicion on EVERYBODY, so you’re not sure who the killer is until it’s revealed.

And YES, I do still think it’s scary, even though I watch it at least once a year.
(more…)

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by Amie on October 22, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in 31 Horror Movies in 31 Days, Splatteriffic Reviews
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Posted by Amie on October 22, 2012

http://ilovesplatter.com/2012/10/22/scream-quadrilogy/

A Nightmare on Elm Street & Wes Craven’s New Nightmare

 

I’ve written a few times before about Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street, why it’s so important to me, and why I love it so. But, I’m gonna go ahead and tell you again, and then cover New Nightmare too.

 A Nightmare on Elm Street was made in 1984, and I hear teenagers now say all the time that it’s stupid and not scary. And I want to punch them in their stupid mouths. (Just kidding! Kinda).

Look, I understand. The 80s were an amazingly awful time for fashion and hair, and everybody looks horrible and dated. And there is such a flood of gory, scary movies now that there’s no way a dude with knives on his fingers that haunts your nightmares is going to creep you out. But I still think it’s brilliant.

There is so much to love here—the creation of the glove at the beginning, the splatteriffic death of Tina in front of her boyfriend, Rod; “Screw your pass!”, the origin of Freddy (before that ridiculous “son of a 100 maniacs” crap in part 3), the fountain of blood that erupts from Glen’s bed, “I’m your boyfriend now!”, and Nancy totally kicking some serious ass when she’s done with Krueger killing all her friends. (more…)

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by Amie on October 18, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in 31 Horror Movies in 31 Days, Splatteriffic Reviews
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Posted by Amie on October 18, 2012

http://ilovesplatter.com/2012/10/18/cravensnightmares/

Shocker

Image

Craven’s Shocker is similar to the terribleness of Deadly Friend.

There are elements of ridiculousness that have elevated it to kind of a cult status—most notably Mitch Pileggi (Skinner!) as foul-mouthed, over-the-top serial killer Horace Pinker, and the rockin’ soundtrack which includes the title song Shocker by The Dudes of Wrath, sort of an 80s hard rock super group made up of members from Kiss, Def Leppard, Whitesnake, Mötley Crüe, and Van Halen.

Shocker was released in 1989, at almost exactly the same time another similar movie called The Horror Show was released. I don’t remember much about THS now, but I do remember that when I finally watched it, I thought it was much better than Shocker. Which is weird, right? That I remember Shocker much more clearly even though it’s cheesier? And even though I thought the other film was scarier and better done overall.

Ah well, the power of Craven, or something.

Shocker is about a serial killer nicknamed “The Family Killer” (clever, huh? Since he kills…families) who is terrorizing an L.A. suburb. The police have no leads, until local college football hero Jonathan gets a concussion after running into the goal post at practice and somehow ends up dream-linked to the killer, Horace Pinker, just as he is about to murder the police chief’s (and co-incidentally, Jonathan’s own) family.

SPOILERS AHEAD (more…)

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by Amie on October 17, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in 31 Horror Movies in 31 Days, Not So Awesome Splattery Things, Splatteriffic Reviews
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Posted by Amie on October 17, 2012

http://ilovesplatter.com/2012/10/17/shocker/

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