Category Archives: Horror

Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant

Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant.        3 suns

For my final film of the festival, I saw something really bizarre: Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant in the Midnight section. In this British comedy a young woman gets pregnant via engaging in a sex act with the neighbor boy who is half alien as a result of his mother being abducted by aliens before he was born.  The comedy all centers around the very exaggerated trauma that a woman goes through while pregnant.  There is plenty of screaming and vomiting and slimy fluids involved while the young woman keeps blaming the half alien for her trouble.  There is even a vacuum cleaner involved in a bizarre abortion attempt. We get a peek at what an alien penis looks like and after many antics the baby alien finally arrives.  The movie was a riot in the theater, and the actors even brought baby alien with them and allowed fans to have their picture taken with him.

Rock Springs

Rock Springs.      4 1/2 suns

One movie getting a lot of buzz here is Rock Springs by director/ screenwriter Vera Miao. This movie is in the Midnight section that is reserved for the very weird, sometimes gory films. Rock Springs certainly fits that description as it concerns an Asian mother, her daughter and her mother-in-law who move into an isolated home in the woods only to discover that there is something monstrous hidden in the woods. I can’t say a lot about it without giving away the plot but can say it concerns a small forgotten chapter of the racist history of the US. I really liked the way the story was told in chapters from different characters’ points of view and in a non-linear fashion. It is a monster movie that ends with a hopeful message. And the special effects were very impressive.

Send Help

Send Help            4 stars

If you’ve ever seen a Sam Raimi directed horror movie you know you are in for plenty of comic violence, bloody gore and perhaps a moral message as well. And it’s certainly going to be fun. In Send Help you get all that and more from the Director of The Evil Dead movies and Drag Me to Hell and Executive Producer of Hercules and Xena: Warrior Princess. When I saw the preview, I knew I had to see this one. In the headquarters of a nameless corporation, Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams in a role unlike any of her earlier ones) has been faithfully working in the Strategy and Planning Department for seven years and has been promised a position as vice president by the president if she sticks with it. She is very smart and well read at survival techniques (being a big fan of the TV show Survivor) but not well liked by her co-workers. Bradley (Dylan O’Brian) arrives as the new president after the sudden death of his father, the previously mentioned company president. Bradley doesn’t appreciate Linda’s disheveled looks and openly mocks her. He then promotes his fraternity brother, who has been there only six months to the coveted vice president position leaving poor Linda in shock. Bradley can’t get rid of Linda because she is too valuable to the company. So, he takes her along on his private jet to an important meeting concerning the impending merger in Bangkok. But before the plane lands it encounters a terrible storm that causes the plane to crash somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Linda survives the crash and finds herself on a deserted island. Before long though she finds Bradley has washed up on shore, unconscious and with an injured leg. She nurses him back to health and the two of them survive on coconuts, native fruits and fish. All that survival knowledge comes in handy, and she relishes this environment where she is the one in authority, but Bradley resents the circumstances where he has no valuable skills and must be subservient to Linda. Their stay on the island becomes a battle of wills with each eventually feigning a spirit of cooperation but also holding something back from the other. Along the way there is conflict growing between them, plenty of exaggerated gore (in Sam Raimi fashion), injuries (real and implied) and vomiting. McAdams really sinks her teeth into this role, gleefully relishing the circumstances she finds herself in. O’Brien is convincing as the obnoxious rich kid who has had everything handed to him, smirking at those who are less privileged. You really want to hate him. The dark comedy accelerates to a dramatic and violent conclusion that only Sam Raimi can pull off. I was laughing my head off. So go see the movie and have a great time for two hours.

The Lighthouse

The Lighthouse                 4 stars

The Lighthouse is a very dark moody horror film that follows the interactions of two lightkeepers who must work together on an isolated island somewhere in New England in the 1890’s.  This film is by the horror movie master, Robert Eggers who made The Witch a couple of years ago.  This movie may not have quite the supernatural elements that that excellent horror movie did, but certainly scores on its hopeless mood using black and white filming, a smaller screen and some very mournful music and sound effects.  The two actors portraying the lightkeepers give us amazing performances.  Willem Dafoe is the aging experienced man who gives the orders, instructing the younger worker, Robert Pattinson in some of the worst back breaking, miserable work you can imagine.  Both give us haunting and masterful performances.  If there were an Oscar for the best curses uttered by an actor, Dafoe would win easily.  The story centers on the conversations and interactions between the two men as they alternate from hating each other to showing genuine concern for one another.  But ultimately the movie is about a slow descent into madness with a few fantasy elements thrown in.  It is up to the viewer to interpret what these fantasy scenes are about.  And since it is a horror movie there are some very unsettling scenes involving human bodily functions and sexual images.  This film is definitely a downer about humans in a deteriorating situation, but does it in a most impressive manner.  It is not a movie for everyone.

A Quiet Place

A Quiet Place                     2 ½ stars

Last year’s hit monster movie, A Quiet Place, was a type of post-apocalyptic movie in which humanity has been nearly wiped out by ravenous creatures that have ultra-sensitive hearing, but are completely blind.  Thus, the remaining humans can only survive by remaining absolutely quiet in all that they do.  The story focuses on one family living in a house in the woods who have learned to live without talking and raising food without making any sound.  This movie was well received by critics and audiences, but there was too much for me to get over.  There were good performances I am sure, but the holes in the plot were obvious, like how could they possibly raise a field of corn without making any noise.  And there is no real background about how this all came about.  Any good horror movie has to provide some explanation for how the disaster came to be.  I actually enjoyed this year’s Bird Box more than A Quiet Place.  The movie earned an Oscar Nomination for Sound Editing, presumably for the sounds that the monster makes, but I feel like I’ve seen this before in horror movies.  It may have been the best horror movie of 2018, but then I couldn’t find one from last year that I really liked.

Frankenstein

Frankenstein     5 stars

For his entire adult life Guillermo Del Toro has been obsessed with Frankenstein. The famed writer/director and winner of three Oscars previously brought us Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water. He reportedly has thoroughly researched all previous works on the subject of Mary Shelley’s gothic novel, even building a room in his house dedicated to the story of Frankenstein. His own version of the story is now on-screen starring Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis, Ex Machina) as Victor Frankenstein, the brilliant doctor obsessed with the creation of a living being made from dead body parts and Jacob Elordi (Saltburn, Priscilla) as the misunderstood monster. The viewer is amazed at the elaborate sets that include Frankenstein’s laboratory complete with glowing nineteenth century electrical equipment and a complete sailing ship trapped in Arctic ice. The story is largely true to the original novel (which I read around thirty years ago). Isaac plays the doctor with high intensity and makes us believe he sees himself as a sort of god but who is lacking in empathy toward his creation. Elordi, with his large frame and soft eyes makes us sympathetic toward the naïve creature, but fearful when he goes into a rage against those who would harm him. His appearance is startling with elaborate makeup, making it appear he is put together with many parts. The carving up of dead bodies and assembly into a new body looks horrifyingly realistic. The movie will certainly earn an Academy Award nomination for Makeup and Hairstyling as well as Visual Effects. Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained) puts in an appearance as Harlander, a collaborator of Frankenstein who has his own agenda. Mia Goth (X, Pearl, Suspiria), the new scream queen, is Elizabeth, the beautiful fiancé of Victor’s younger brother, who is the only one that can see the beauty and the suffering of the monster at the hands of Frankenstein. As in the book and unlike some of the film adaptations, this monster becomes fully articulate and can express the torment that the world heaps on him. He comes to hate Frankenstein for creating him but giving no thought as to what would come after, forcing him to be alone in a world that despises him. Much of what the creature says comes straight out of the Shelley novel. It’s clear that del Toro is sympathetic toward the monster as he characterizes him as someone desperate for human affection but then changes him into an instrument of vengeance against his creator. This may not be del Toro’s best movie. But it’s certainly a close second to The Shape of Water from 2017, a movie that shares some of the elements of Frankenstein.

The Invisible Man

The Invisible Man                             4 stars

If you are ready to experience something more terrifying than the Coronavirus you can check out the new remake of The Invisible Man.  This film by Leigh Whannell reimagines the 1933 classic horror movie setting it in modern times and bringing several surprises and shocking moments with it.  Cecelia (Elizabeth Moss in Us last year) does a daring nighttime escape from her violent boyfriend, Adrian who is essentially holding her captive in his luxury home.  She is aided by her sister and a childhood friend James, a police officer (Aldis Hodge of Straight Outta Compton).  Adrian also happens to be a wealthy and brilliant scientist who has some interesting projects he is working on.  Before long while Cecilia is still in hiding she learns of the suicide of Adrian, but refuses to believe it.  She suspects it was faked and that it is just part of his scheme to control her.  At this point things get interesting when strange things start to happen in James’ house where she is hiding.  The film uses many slow panning shots where the camera shows us parts of the rooms with no one in them, but Cecelia is certain there is a presence there nonetheless.  As the tension rises so does the certainty that Adrian is out there but he is unseen, because, well, he is invisible.  The filmmaker comes up with an ingenious explanation for how this is all accomplished which I cannot share with you.  The shock comes from experiencing it for yourself.  But rest assured, many people will die before the end of the movie which you had to expect.  Leigh Whannell is probably best known for his work in the Saw series of films, only one of which I ever saw.  They weren’t movies that I cared to see, but The Invisible Man is well worth the ticket if you are in for two hours of shock and terror.

Annihilation

Annihilation                                        2 ½ stars

Annihilation by Alex Garland is a movie I was curious about when it came out in 2018 but didn’t see then.  It has a look of a fantasy adventure from the previews with its characters venturing into a strange landscape full of new plants and creatures giving it a biodiversity look.  Let me assure you that that is not what it is like.  It’s a full-fledged science fiction horror movie with a strange alien presence that has invaded earth.  For reasons I won’t go into the biologist character Lena (Natalie Portman) volunteers for a mission to enter an area on the Florida coastline taken over by the alien presence that is referred to as The Shimmer. It’s an area surrounded by a strange force field defeating all communication with those inside.  She is joined by psychologist Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh), physicist Josie Tessa Thompson), paramedic Anya (Gina Rodriguez), and anthropologist Cass (Tuva Novotny).  It doesn’t help our confidence to hear that a previous expedition has never been heard from again.  The group discovers that they have lost some of their memories after entering and encounter strange plants and animals that are growing and taking on characteristics of other species.  Soon one member is attacked by a giant crocodile that the women dispatch with heavy machinegun fire.  (They are very well armed.)  One by one, the group are either picked off by strange creatures or by their own actions as their minds turn them against one another.  Until Lena must face the alien presence alone.  One can compare this movie to the science fiction film Solaris as there is a similar theme.  The film is based on a book, Southern Reach by Jeff VanderMeer and has been compared to the ancient myth of Orpheus.  It has a very slow moving and menacing tone to it with plenty of ominous music.  It’s very pretty to look at with some shocking surprises but it doesn’t make my list of great science fiction films.

Corporate Animals

Corporate Animals                                           2 stars

Here is another of the movies I heard about at Sundance and was curious about.  Corporate Animals is a dark comedy about office politics by Patrick Brice, the director who brought us The Overnight.  Lucy (Demi Moore) is a self-absorbed CEO of a small company that is launching a new product: edible cutlery.  She is taking her staff of about eight people on a team building exercise in the desert in New Mexico.  The expedition guide, Brandon (Ed Helms) is in charge of leading the group.  Since Lucy wants to really challenge her staff she decides they should take the more dangerous path on their journey, leading them into a deep cave.  Once there the group becomes trapped underground after a cave in which also kills Brandon.  When it becomes clear that there is no way out the group descends into bitter accusations, fear and hate filled rants.  Revelations emerge of office affairs, corporate mismanagement and a little friendly cannibalism and a hallucinating assistant.  There were a few clever one liners, but the comedy got old after a while despite the film’s length of under 90 minutes.  Much of the movie happens in the dark making it hard to tell who is speaking all the time.  There are some good comedic actors including Isiah Whitlock, Martha Kelly, Dan Balledahl and Nasim Pedrad.  Look some of them up and you will probably recognize some.  For a really good time, look up Brice’s earlier creation, The Overnight , a much funnier movie.  Sorry, but I can’t recommend Corporate Animals.

The Hunt

The Hunt                                             2 ½ stars

Since I haven’t been to a theater in a long time, I went looking for a new release. I landed on The Hunt which has been called one of the most controversial recent movies. The Hunt is a violent political satire horror action movie that features the hunting down of people for sport on an isolated patch of land by a few rich elites.  The elites are believers in the usual left-wing issues like climate change, follow leftist authors and are led by Athena (Hilary Swank), a left winger who hates the kind of people who love Donald Trump.  A group of twelve people awake to find themselves in an unknown countryside and discover that they are all believers in the conspiracy theory that there is a place called The Manor where right wing types are hunted down by leftist elites. There are a few utterings of second amendment rights and the evils of immigrants. In a clearing there is a giant crate, that when opened reveals a pig and a giant cache of arms. It doesn’t take long till the shooting starts and the group finds that they are the prey. They gather the weapons available and try to escape while each is gunned down in ever increasing bloody and violent fashion.  The violence level is high in this one, (comparable to Revenge from a couple of years ago). There is an assortment of well known actors playing the right wingers. There is Emma Roberts who is Yoga Pants who doesn’t last very long. Justin Hartley from This Is Us is a hunter of exotic wildlife. Ike Barinholtz of The Mindy Project is Staten Island. Wayne Duvall is Don??. Ethan Suplee of My Name is Earl is Shut the F*** Up Gary. There is another character referred to as Target for reasons that become clear. As the body count increases one person emerges as more than Athena was counting on by the name of Crystal (Betty Gilpin of the TV show GLOWS) who is quite proficient with a gun and various hand to hand weapons. While it may not be entirely appropriate for our times, the movie effectively satirizes the common behavior of believing conspiracy theories without checking out the facts.  If you feel like combining political lunacy with bloody violence, then The Hunt might be for you as there is something in it for both sides. Who knows? President Trump might even like it.