Recently Viewed::
BODY SNATCHERS (1993): Jack Finney’s 1954 science-fiction novel INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS inspired an entire sub-genre of film that seems endlessly relevant no matter the time period. There’s just something about the suspicion that once interesting people are being silently replaced by braindead automatons with zero sense of humor that feels completely relatable. In the early nineties cult filmmaker Abel Ferrara took a stab at the pod people invasion tale this time adding themes specifically concerning the conformist nature of militarism. Due the film’s limited setting on a military base it doesn’t quite achieve the goal of convincing viewers of a global threat but thanks to an exceedingly strong cast, updated effects and Ferrara’s natural leaning toward noir-level nihilism, it’s still effectively chilling (I may be a bit biased as one of my very first truly terrifying experiences in a movie theater was watching Philip Kaufman’s 1979 ultimate take on the material which frankly, still haunts the back of my mind to this day). One thing that is absolutely not debatable in regards to this loose franchise entry is the top tier, extraordinary, ice-pick sharp performance by Meg (ONE DARK NIGHT, PSYCHO II) Tilly who offers a record scratching, nuclear bomb-drop admonition that unnerves straight to the bone. Props to the whole cast (Gabrielle Anwar, Forrest Whitaker, R. Lee Ermey and CHILD’S PLAY 2’s punky Christine Elise all excel) but Tilly really nails it and is downright inimitable.
THE DELIBERATE STRANGER (’86) & TO CATCH A KILLER (’92): Who would have thought two of the greatest (and most frightening) films concerning serial killers would be made for television affairs? The format allows the proceedings ample room to breath and stretch and the added patience in relaying the incidents allows you just that much more time to spend with those involved (for better or worse). In THE DELIBERATE STRANGER usually jovial Mark (yay, SUMMER SCHOOL! Mind over matter!) Harmon portrays slippery charismatic killer Ted Bundy with a straightforward butter wouldn’t melt quality that is remarkably restrained and is all the more disturbing for it. He makes it all to easy to understand why someone might make the fatal mistake of trusting such an individual. It’s a performance that makes the miniseries’ 188 minute runtime fly by and rightfully earned Harmon a Golden Globe nomination (dude shoulda won). 1992’s TO CATCH A KILLER features barrel chested everyman Brian Dennehey as John Wayne Gary and let me tell you, he drags the viewer far far away from the cable staple comforts of FX and FX2 (In fact, I’ll likely never watch those films the same way again)! Dennehey is straight up mortifying as Gacy, the emotionless small business man who sometimes dressed as a clown and sometimes tortured young men to death (thankfully not depicted on screen here) and buried them in the crawlspace under his house. This film makes sure you feel the heartbreak experienced by those who lost loved ones and stokes plenty of frustration in law enforcement and how long it takes some folks to add two and two together. Also on board are two legendary horror heavyweights; Meg Foster is in full LEVIATHAN (’ 89) mode as an icy (those eyes help), bureaucratic attorney who is slow on the obvious uptake and the great Margot Kidder portrays an empathetic psychic (displaying an unusually sad and vulnerable side of herself). Dennehy was nominated for an Emmy for his performance which seems to radiate evil in its purest form at times and honestly, petrified me to my very core.
I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU is a 1998 made for television post-SCREAM slasher based on the book GALLOWS HILL by our old pal Lois Duncan (SUMMER OF FEAR, I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER, KILLING MR. GRIFFIN) that did not make much of a dent in the world even though it stars the likes of Sarah Chalke, PUNKY BREWSTER herself Soleil Moon Frye, Ben frickin’ Foster, Neve Campbell’s bro Christian and the ever remarkable late Markie Post. Chalke plays Sarah Zolttanne a confirmed outsider who is new to a small town with a shameful history who may or may not be a descendent of a disgruntled witch who was once burned at the stake and (as one does while being burned at the stake) cursed the town and particularly the lineage of all who thought it was somehow acceptable to LIGHT HER ON FIRE based on rumors and unsubstantiated hearsay (oh, will small-minded, spiteful townspeople never learn?). I’m gonna guess this flick is a far cry from what Duncan had in mind but it’s tons of fun, makes for a nostalgic time capsule, sports surprisingly stylish direction and has a killer dream sequence. And again, above all else, features Markie Post.
WISHCRAFT (2002) is yet another SCREAM-wannabe and what it lacks in logic and artistry it makes up for with a surprising level of all around weirdness. It’s quite the odd blend of slasher mystery (complete with creative kills), quippy jokes that never land and moralistic supernatural horror. I’m a little ashamed to admit that I guessed the identity of the killer completely wrong but the revelation is a satisfying one and the resulting showdown is amusing and nicely done. Michael Weston (CHERRY FALLS) has the honor of playing a character named Brett Bumpers a high school nerd with eyes for a gal named Samantha (Alexandra Holden of the impeccably awesome DEAD END (2003)) who is (we’re told) very much out of his league. No problem, because he also recently received a mummified bull penis anonymously through the mail that grants him three wishes (yes, you read that right). Anyone who has ever seen a WISHMASTER movie (or THIS "Time for Timer" short) knows that there is tons of room for error, and deliberate misinterpretation when dealing with granted wishes but don’t worry, this corny movie is really more about Brett realizing that Samantha digs him even without help from an anonymously acquired bull penis that grants wishes (romantic, right?). Nothing ever seems to properly gel or mesh in this movie and its tonally all over the place for sure but it boasts a few familiar faces (Michael “Meat Loaf” Aday, Alice “Miss DePesto” Beasley, character actor extraordinaire Sam McMurray and the great Austin Pendleton) and I have to give it credit for adding some eccentricity, offbeat charm and even a few surprises to an all too familiar template.
CUPID (’97) & PSYCHIC (’91): While recently re-visiting WAXWORK (’88) and its followup WAXWORK II: LOST IN TIME (’92) I realized I had regrettably not done the best job of keeping up with the genre work of underused legend Zachery Wolfe Galligan, he of GREMLINS (’84), GREMLINS 2: THE NEW BATCH (’90) and perhaps even WARLOCK: THE ARMAGEDDON (’93) fame. It’s possible I overcorrected by committing myself to a impromptu Zach-attack double feature that included his violent valentine CUPID (which also stars HELLRAISER’s lovely Ashley Laurence and would be J.R Ewing assassin Mary Crosby) and the made-for-cable thriller THE PSYCHIC (with the always welcome Catherine Mary Stewart (NIGHT OF THE COMET (’84) and FLASHDANCE (’84) alumnus Michael Nouri) which was directed by George MY BLOODY VALENTINE (’81) Mihalka and seems to include the college campus from BLACK CHRISTMAS (’74) (I could be wrong but it makes sense due to it being made in Canada). Watching these two back to back may have been a bad idea because they sorta blended together in my mind even though Zach plays a psychopathic murderer with an incestuous relationship in the former and an affable fellow with premonitions who tries to thwart a murderer in the latter. Neither jaunt is much to write home about but both are pretty painless diversions. I'm going to give the edge to CUPID for featuring a campy turn from Crosby and several scenes involving a quaint used book store.
PHANTASM II (1988): I was born and bred on the original PHANTASM and have seen it so many times that I think I confuse it with my own childhood. Not so its sequel which I enjoy but always left me with the feeling that it was somehow fraudulent by being doused in Hollywood gloss and switching the actor who portrays its main protagonist. Something about james Lagross’ lantern jaw blondness felt like a betrayal at the time but knowing now years later that he’s a bit of a weirdo himself makes the alteration a bit easier to swallow (the fact that subsequent sequels prove Baldwin’s presence isn’t exactly an automatic fix-all soothes tensions as well). In any case, recently acquiring the movie on VHS has made it eligible for my heavy rotation pile and in a strange way its apocalyptic atmosphere and chronically morbid demeanor somehow perfectly cut paths with my present mood. I’ve always found something hypnotic about road movies even though I don’t drive and can only relate as a passive passenger) and somehow I find PHANTASM II’s dreamy/nightmarish cemetery filled desolate hellscape somehow relaxing and even lulling. Obviously there’s a heavy effort apparent to shoehorn the PHANTASM universe into the then highly lucrative ELM STREET box (much like how the tall man’s minions are compressed) but it’s not a bad fit at all as both series rely heavily on surrealism and a bossy supernatural baddie with powers limited only to the writer’s imagination. If nothing else, in comparing the original PHANTASM to this late out of the gate sequel, you really couldn’t find a better illustration of the vast difference between seventies and eighties film, especially in the realm of horror.
Name That Trauma:: Luis on a Home Intruder and a Beloved Decapitation
I need help with two movies that I watched as a child in the 1970s.
The first one is about a family who moves out of their house. The son appears to be against it or the parents die. He stays in the house alone. When the new owners move in, he takes refuge in a secret room underneath or behind a staircase. Eventually the owners realize that there is an intruder living among them. In the final scene, he is dragged away in handcuffs by the police.
The second is a movie about a mad scientist. Most of the time he out and about seeking victims or rather patients. The experiment is seemingly about placing a neck band on women. If they don't perform to his expectation it is tightened to the point of death, and, decapitation. The end is about his love interest being decapitated and how he expresses his utter loss by holding her head in his embrace. This movie was more along the lines of the Hammer production movies of the time.
Please let me if I dreamed this or if they are in fact worthy of rescreening.
— Luis
UNK SEZ: I've got you covered on the first one, Luis! That Intruder hiding in the house has got to be the Kindertrauma classic BAD RONALD ('74)! It's definitely worth re-screening and you can read a full review HERE! As for the second one involving the decapitated head, I'm confident one of our wise readers might know the answer to that one!
Tarot, The Strangers: Chapter One & The Brain (’88)
I realize reading about the latest “game gone wrong” horror movie may be about as appealing as watching it or writing about it, so my apologies in advance. I just feel compelled to leave a written bread crumb trail for my future self because on a few occasions I have excitedly googled a movie only to find out I had written about it previously and had completely forgot about it. So here I am, leaving this flag in the sand to let myself know that TAROT though not without some merit, is mostly a vaporous generic slog. Although its plot isn’t that different from last year’s excellent (and surprisingly fresh) TALK TO ME, (not to mention jaunts like STAY ALIVE (’06), OUJIA, TRUTH OR DARE and a slew of others, including perhaps guiltiest of all, JUMANJI) this particular cursed young folk flick lacks the spark to be truly memorable.
TAROT (which is theoretically based on a non-supernatural slasher-esque YA horror novel called HORRORSCOPE by Nicholas Adams) concerns a group of pals (complete with comic sidekick) who while searching for alcohol in a rented mansion (you all can afford renting a mansion but no hooch?), discover a deck of strange, apparently hand-made tarot cards. Resident horoscope aficionado Haley (Harriet Slater) reads the group’s futures and thereby hexes them with personality appropriate tragic fates. I have to admit, I found myself a bit excited by the rogues gallery of monsters depicted on the cards as they reminded me of my boos the NEON MANIACS (’86) but sadly as groovily gruesome as the creatures may appear (hats off to the make up/effects crew) they uniformly offer only screaming close-ups as their peak intimidation which gets old and annoying fast. As a proponent of quality PG-13 rated horror and a believer in its potential effectiveness, I gotta say lack of imagination seems more the cause of the film’s overall neutered nature than its rating. On the plus side, TAROT consistently looks atmospheric n’ gothy, sports a likable enough cast and might even be a fun, rote distraction at a teen slumber party; it’s just too bad that checking the boxes and going through the motions seems to be this attractive yet vapid film’s most inescapable curse.
I’m not as devoted to Bryan Bertino’s now-classic THE STRANGERS as some. I’ve heard from many friends that it absolutely terrified them to a mentally scaring degree but for some reason a part of my brain could never fully buy what it was selling. That said, I do admit that the “because you were home” remark is one of the greatest lines ever spoken in the history of horror film. Strangely enough though, I’m absolutely smitten over its audacious sequel THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT and find its over-stylized (and then some), broad stroked neon, flippant flamboyance mesmerizing and relish soaking in its haunting, isolated late night setting and absolutely shameless indulgence in awesome eighties’ tunes. Johannes Robert’s fashionably late (10 years) follow-up rings all my bells by forcibly steering the straightforward home invasion flick into pure unadulterated cult-y slash-a-thon territory. It’s a brilliant stroke in my book that I’ll never stop applauding and what a great springboard it could have been for a third, trilogy making film that conceivably might push the artsy outlandishness even further!
Except no, as my shoelace once said “I’m a frayed knot”. Instead, the board has been erased and we’re back to square one (or perhaps zero) with THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER ONE a movie that intends to kickoff a new trilogy by covering half the ground the original did. Well, you might be saying at least the sometimes fantastic (LONG KISS GOODNIGHT), sometimes reliable NIGHTMARE 4, DIE HARD 2, DEEP BLUE SEA) but let’s face it, non-miracle worker (snooze-fest THE EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING ) Renny Harlan is behind the wheel. It’s probably too soon to say if Harlan can pull this three part serial off but as possible as it may be (isn’t my Pollyanna optimism annoying?), I’m afraid the future does not look bright so hold off on wearing those shades. CHAPTER ONE feels like a shaky, stammering, stalling lurch with close to nothing on its mind. It’s almost like a Cliff notes version of the original but with many of the already abridged pages missing. Harlan does deliver a few frightening moments but they’re sort of unavoidable in the flick’s DNA anyway. There are a few absolutely killer shots of the bag-headed scarecrow faced ringleader stalking ominous woods like a force of nature but they seem designed for T-shirts and magnets at Hot Topic more than striking genuine fear. Will I see CHAPTER TWO? Yes, of course, provided I’m alive, my curiosity will probably get the better of me but damn, even the “Because you were home” line I was pre-sold on somehow gets mangled into the mundane here.
Hey, maybe these newfangled horror movies just aren’t created with oldsters like me in mind and I should just stay home! Turns out yes, that is not a bad idea because I also recently watched 1988’s THE BRAIN and felt like a dying plant being watered. Edward (BLOODY BIRTHDAY) Hunt directed this Canadian sci-fi/horror film that stars David (RE-ANIMATOR) Gale (who once again looses his head), Tom Bresnahan (TWICE DEAD, MIRROR MIRROR and most importantly, SKI SCHOOL) and Cynthia Preston (of the excellent PIN). This baby is Christmas themed, filled with ELM STREET-style surrealism and leans into the gooey practical effects. In this fine film, a literal giant head from another planet teams up with your everyday mad scientist-type lunatic to brainwash a small-town and then eventually, the world. It’s exactly the paranoid fifties-flavored tale told through wacky eighties eyes of a malignant mutation with sights set on world domination that I guess I needed. You’re likely to observe shades of everything from THE BLOB and THE STUFF to INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS and HALLOWEEN 3: SEASON OF THE WITCH with plenty of mirroring toward TERRORVISION thrown in. Funnily enough though, I do believe I caught this movie back in my video store days and didn’t care for its goofy nature or the random flashy inserts of the titular creature who resembles a discontinued marauding Madball. In other words, giving a film a second chance sometimes pays off big time so maybe there’s stiff hope for the aforementioned recent titles TAROT and STRANGERS: CHAPTER ONE after all. You never know (Ignore that noise. I’m just trying to close on an upbeat note)!
Happy Mother's Day
In the back (and front, and side) of my mind I’ve been dreading Mother’s Day this year because my own mother recently passed away (two days before my birthday, no less). It has now become clear that I didn’t fully appreciate the amount of covert comfort my ma’s mere existence provided and now I keenly sense I’m working without a net and pretty much feel like the world’s oldest orphan. I’ve never been good with death and this is the one death (besides perhaps my own) that I’ve feared the most and for the longest amount of time. Luckily, this Isn’t my first square dance with the grim reaper and I know the only way to shoo away the swarm of howling gloom hornets is with some good old fashioned gratitude. I was lucky to have a generous mom who cared about people and animals & I’ve seen enough horror movies (not to mention the 1976 TV mini-series SYBIL) to know that’s not always the case and it's basically a crap-shoot what kind of parents one is designated at birth. I guess I’m saying I realize I lucked out. Now I guess I’m just worried I’m next on the conveyor belt rolling toward oblivion but it helps that I witnessed a spiritual vision of sorts upon the moment of my mother’s passing that leads me to believe that all is fine and as it should be (a story for another day).
In any case, certainly Kindertrauma would not exist without my dear ma, not because she gave birth to me but because she made the life altering decision to allow me to stay up late one night to watch SATAN’S TRIANGLE, the 1975 made for TV movie that activated the spewing fountain of primal fear in my brain that turned out to be the central part of my paranoid personality and the genesis of these pitiful pages. Then there was the time she came to pick me up at a friend’s house and got to gabbing with my pal’s mother. To keep us kids out of their hair, the moms put us in a wood paneled den with a humongous TV fully equipped with a brand new device called a cable box. There was no such thing as “On Demand “ Back then so me and my buddy watched whatever happened to be on HBO at the time and as fate would have it, it was none other than THE OMEN. Religious horror hounded me like a frightened fox back in the Satanic seventies and I missed way to many nights of sleep to count but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I don’t think I would have mentally survived a few of the things that befell me in my life it I hadn’t had that inadvertent training to overcome (or at least dodge) my fears.
I should also thank my mother for never monitoring the VHS tapes my brothers and I would rent from STAGE DOOR VIDEO (a glorified kiosk in King of Prussia Mall) in the very earliest days of the home VCR boom. It may not have been her plan but she was instrumental in making me a horror fan (An aside about the early days of VHS: It’s hard to convey what a luxury it was back then to be able to watch a movie anytime you wanted to without commercials and to be able to rewind and watch it again if it was deemed worthy. Back then, you could also take the actual VHS box home with you as well and if you were like me, you gawked at every image on it, studied the synopsis, reveled in the ominous taglines and gawked endlessly at the poster art. It was all a glorious part of the home video experience).
My mother might not have been the hugest fan of horror herself but she was the type who, when finding out the mainstream movie she meant to see with her best pal Rilene was sold out, spontaneously bought tickets for THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 instead and ended up chuckling at the mayhem throughout. She was also an avid reader and kept up with the popular titles of the day which is how I was first exposed to classic works of literature like AUDREY ROSE, THE OTHER and most frightening of all, THE AMITYVILLE HORROR. How can I repay such a gift?
When me and John first started Kindertrauma my mother was supportive enough to contribute a kindertrauma herself (HERE) something so many of my “friends” would never deign to do and once when she and her friend (Miss Rilene again, natch) were on vacation and came upon something dubbed and disturbing on TV that they could not identify I was thrilled to be able to eventually solve that “Name That Trauma” for her (It turned out to be Argento’s Masters of Horror episode “Jennifer”). Obviously my mother was way more than the few anecdotes I’ve described above (she was a devout spouse, a devoted friend, a loving caregiver to many fortunate pets and sweet enough to travel cross country to celebrate John and mine’s wedding) but these are a few of the things that I feel comfortable sharing here (I mean, it’s bad enough I had to share my mom with my brothers, much less the internet). Suffice to repeat, on this day, sad as I might be, I’m also profoundly grateful and wherever she may be, I know I have an ally out there somewhere. We didn’t see eye to eye on everything (I regret every moment spent butting heads on politics, what a waste of time) but on the things that truly mattered I believe we were on the same page (even if that page was sometimes from THE AMITYVILLE HORROR). So, Happy Mother’s day, mom and thanks for all you did and didn’t do.
Kindertrauma Funhouse
Lisa Frankenstein, Night Swim, There’s Something in the Barn
For a while there I thought Zelda William’s LISA FRANKENSTEIN was right up my eighties-loving alley but that dalley turned out to be a dead end and I ended up walking in circles looking for a viable exit and eventually, exhausted, fell asleep in a pile of trash in the corner and was urinated on by a stray dog (not his fault). The movie looks great, it’s got visual flair to spare and the cast is killer (both Kathryn Newton as Lisa and Carla Gugino as her overbearing step mom Janet are stellar) and the lovingly curated soundtrack is phenomenal ( I’m still stunned that I lived to see the day when The Chameleon’s “Up the down Escalator” was used in an outfit upgrade montage. On the other hand, it may be time to give The Pixie’s “Wave of Mutilation” a rest and one rendition of REO Speedwagon’s “I Can’t Fight This Feeling Anymore” is certainly more than enough). The uneven script is care of Diablo Cody (the underrated JENNIFER’S BODY) so there’s more than a few solid zingers amongst the onslaught of heavy-handed slang but all good intentions are dampened by the deadly decision to prematurely eradicate the film’s lively antagonist, a sin akin to sawing off three legs of the chair the audience is sitting in. Sure, the doomed outsider teen romance aspect may be enough to keep some lovelorn viewers smitten but I kept thinking I’d seen a similar union done far better before in 2013’s WARM BODIES. It’s not a total wash out, it throws you enough bones to make itself watchable but this wonky contraption may be too randomly cobbled together to stand as fully upright as it could have.
I’ve got more than enough backyard swimming pool related trauma in my past to be fully susceptible to the idea of a malignant pool taking out an innocent family Amityville-style. That said, I’m thinking NIGHT SWIM’s premise may be better suited to a short film (apparently, it actually sprung from a well regarded short and I'll have to track that down) or an episode of anthology television. Its already dubious plot is done no favors by a few over the top performances, funky effects and ridiculous reveals yet I gotta admit such broad strokes allow a certain amount of campy comedy to flourish and make the absurdities strangely watchable. Although the movie loiters in the shallow end ( a philosophical pool cleaner tries to inject meaning but his efforts are moot) its undemanding nature is sorta endearing and in the end, super likable Wyatt Russell’s earnestness as a self sacrificing father somehow keeps the sinking ship somewhat afloat. It’s not hard to see why this one was blasted by critics upon release (with the exception of Stephen King who notably compared it to Spielberg’s classic DUEL) but I found it a harmless enough diversion and I figure the world needed at least one killer pool movie anyway.
It’s possible my views cannot be trusted when it comes to Christmas set horror films due to the fact that I love them so much and treasure nearly every new addition to the sub-genre (within reason). I’m also of the mind that Martin Starr (FREAKS AND GEEKS forever) should be in every movie possible. In THERE’S SOMETHING IN THE BARN Starr stars as idealistic American father Bill Nordheim who drags his skeptical family (second wife Carol (Amrita Acharia), son Lucus (Townes Banner) and daughter Nora (Zoe Winther- Hansen)) to his ancestral farm in Norway to live a more peaceful and simple life. Well, you know the old saying “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry especially when your barn is home to a persnickety elf who demands you adhere to certain rules which you ignore thereby condemning your family to an onslaught of non-stop grief and carnage” (BTW:The elf and elves in question here bare a closer resemblance to common bearded/hooded garden gnomes, the kind of which appeared in the 1983 British horror anthology SCREAMTIME). This Hilarious dark comedy romp follows in the snowy footprints of holiday set, regulation-happy, morality fables GREMLINS (’84) and KRAMPUS (2015) and it does both of those classics proud with its well balanced blend of violence, humor and sentimentality. My only regret is that I did not have the opportunity to watch it during the proper season but there’s always next X-mas to fix that pint-sized oversight.
Abigail
How much fun could a movie about a group of mostly dopey criminals being trapped in a mansion with a rampaging child vampire with a penchant for ballet be exactly? Well, tons of fun, obviously. Even if done poorly, I’d venture this particular set-up is fool proof entertainment but happily in this case it is executed by folks with true love and knowledge of the genre ( Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, the talents behind READY OR NOT and the last two SCREAM flicks) and showcases an absolute dream team cast playing characters so contrasting and sharply carved you can almost imagine them on CLUE game cards. MATILDA: THE MUSICAL’s Alisha Weir is instantly iconic as the title character, a supernatural whirling dervish that is part Rhoda from THE BAD SEED, part Pris from BLADE RUNNER and part Carol Kane in SCROOGED sans toaster. With her sly precociousness she effortlessly joins the ranks of other classic “child” vamps that floated before her (Danny Glick of SALEM’S LOT, Homer of NEAR DARK, Claudia of AN INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE, et al.). She’s one of the many reasons this movie is a bloody, demonic party and a half (one scene even strongly references NIGHT OF THE DEMONS) but all involved deserve kudos (and I don't mean the discontinued granola bar).
ABIGAIL introduces us to a group of rag-tag crooks whose get rich quick scheme involves kidnapping a rich kingpin’s kid, taking her to an isolated mansion (I just love a limited location film, what better way to fully block out the outside world than to literally erase it from visual existence?) and collecting some ransom money for her safe return. What could go wrong and how could all involved possibly know Universal pictures was looking to update DRACULA’S DAUGHTER? Things go South mighty quick and soon the rat pack code-named group including level headed ex-junkie Joey (SCREAM 4 & 5’s Melissa Barrera ), conniving short fuse ex-cop Frank (THE GUEST’s Dan Stevens fresh off GODZILLA X KONG and nearly unrecognizable), wacky hacker Sammy (FREAKY’s Kathryn Newton), no nonsense marine sniper Rickles (William Catlet), sweet natured bumbling muscle head Peter (Kevin Durand) and dim-witted psycho thug Dean (the late Angus Cloud in a spot-on performance that makes you reel at the incalculable loss) are fighting for their lives against a fanged pirouetting pipsqueak with daddy issues who is immune to crucifixes, stakes and garlic (like myself, her only true kryptonite is sunlight).
ABAGAIL (much like last year’s LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER) proves there’s plenty of blood left to be sucked from the archetypal vampire tale and although it’s literally explosive at times in its implementation, it works equally well as as a cozy parlor, old dark house flick complete with hidden passages and nods to “And Then There Were None”. Much of the territory may feel familiar but there’s a subterranean wild streak that keeps you on edge right up to its final enthralling surprise. As always, a good film is greatly indebted to its cast and truly, there isn’t a weak link to be found in this crew. Darkly twisted, laugh out loud hilarious, terrifically brutal and ultimately strangely endearing , ABIGAIL is a movie and a character for the ages with an unabashed appetite for horror we can all relate to.
Traumafession: Ben2 on Scarface Claw
Hairy Maclary's main antagonist, the abusive bully of a tomcat Scarface claw, was a mean hateful villain who terrified me as a child & my honest reaction is the exact same reaction as Henry Rhodes from the original Day of the Dead from 1985. He still terrifies me to this very day.
I honestly mean no mistreatment towards the original creator, however I do blame the animated series & the books for making me not want any cats ever in my entire life.
Please understand my honest & extremely controversial opinion.
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