Movie Review: "Thief - Someday You Will Pay" (2017; Moritz Hellfritzsch Film Produktion)

...tis a funny thing how some folks feel about fate and karma. Once things are set in motion, whether on purpose or by chance, the end result...whatever it is...is inescapable and irreparable...or so they say. And the intangible & oh-so transparent driver of that karma is...well, let's just say that it's hardly prejudice towards whether the actions or intentions that put the karma into play, are good or bad...just or unjust...intentional or unintentional. Let's face it: what will invariably happen, will invariably happen; think of it not unlike that of the dark side of Newton's 3rd Law. They say that you can't run from it...you can't hide from it...you can't ignore it...you can't just to a 180-degree turnabout, playin' all goodie-goodie, and not expect the bad, or at the very least the wholly unexpected, to catch up with you, if it was meant to be.....

...uh, point in case.....

Movie Review: The Cemetery (2014; Massacre Video)

...ya know?? One of the biggest problems with being a respectably seasoned, knowledgeable and well-rounded horror genre aficionado (...in truth, I can't admit to have seen everything...and I do relish the occasional surprise, in having finally gotten around in catching something, which I've either ignored, or something that has just merely gotten by me...both instances, for whatever reason...but eh, I feel that I've seen enough to justify respectable commentary)...exuding and giving proper credit to everything seen over the years, from the golden age of silent cinema, to today's big screen offerings, as well as the often-ignored and under-appreciated independent productions, produced nowadays...is that this viewer, often times, finds himself quite torn. Torn, with respects to genre filmmakers, who borrow and tinker with previously used, albeit proven sure-fire ideas, throw them into their own perspective pots, along with a smidgen of ideas of their own, stir vigorously, and proudly...perhaps even shamelessly serve up something 'uniquely homage', for lack of a better term. Hell, Quentin Tarantino's been doing that for years, and for the most part, has been quite successful at it, for those who's been keeping up...

Movie Review: "Farm/Ominous/Evidence of a Haunting/Meadowoods/Deadrise" (2015: Echo Bridge/Green Apple/Midnight Releasing/Brain Damage/Monterey/Brauer)

...OK!! OK!! I admit it. I am an absolute sucker for those Echo Bridge multi-movie bundles. Yes, those bargain-bin, mish-mash cult film collections, often butting the most familiar, up against the most obscure. A treasure-trove of long-time movie favorites, with preferred-to-be-forgotten cinematic fumbles. Big-budgeted matter-of-facts, mated with low-budget, independents oddities. Cheezy, no name direct-to-video fodder...and big starring, director-notable okie-dokes. The 'dumping grounds' for lesser studio efforts and public domain classics. The campy, crazy and nutty stuff, originally released singularly, from distributors like Midnight Releasing, Full Moon Pictures, The Asylum, Brain Damage Films, Alliance Releasing, York, and countless others...

...a buck or two'll typically get ya' four or five of these films, laid out on one disc...four or five bucks'll get ya' ten of 'em, and so on. Most of the film titles on the smaller bundles will usually all be found on the 'step up to eight-or-ten' film' collections, along side one or two rarities. And most of those will be found on the 15-to-20-film collections, along side even more obscurities. And often, it genuinely becomes worth the slight extra cost to double dip on a bunch of others, which might be sitting on one's video shelf, in one previously purchased collection, to get that singularly unique and obscure rarity, which might be only available on that attention drawing second collection (...heck, I remember collectors going all ga-ga over the unceremoniously released, under-the-radar editions of the bloody, 1980 'Bigfoot' horror obscurity, "Night of the Demon", as well as the under-appreciated 1983 slasher entry, "Curtains" in this venue, before a couple of the major cult film distributors picked them up, 'legitimately' and the allure of collectible 'special features' editions)...

Movie Review: SX_Tape (2012; Well Go USA)

...the pursuit, and subsequent taking on of yet another entry, from a tired, repetitive, well-worn and now-way-too-often emulated sub-genre, seems...well, seems synonymously not unlike that of the tired meanderings and lamentations of a certain well-known commercial pastry proprietor...you remember this guy, right?? Up at the wee hours of the morning. dragging his feet out of the bedroom and into the bathroom...murmuring an unenthusiastic groan of "gotta make the donuts"...slowly slogging his way out the front door, and into his car..."gotta make the donuts"...a lethargic, waddling shuffle through the front door of the shop..."gotta make the donuts". Day in, and day out...same old, same old, right??...

...indeed, a comparative and poignant template, not that far removed from applicably describing the readied expectations and ho-hum routine one must endure, in going into yet another supernatural and/or paranormal-themed 'found footage' film production. We've seen them all, right?? Oh, heck...Mickey Mouse roll call, sound off now: ...the shaky, nausea-inducing camera work. The film's singularly assigned or assumed camera operator, barely seen in the film, but insistent upon having the camera affixed to his or her face, to catch every moment, whether important or trivial. The token complainer, often the aim and focus of the camera operator, whining incisively about "why do you have to film this??", "do you have to film everything", and yet, still insistent upon being the 'director', with a pointed finger, saying 'film this', 'film that', and the occasional slinky, sexy, sultry and revealing 'uh, film this'...not to mention the wayward 'did you see/hear that??', only to reveal that it's nothing...right before something does happen. The random inner-splicing of personal footage, amidst the 'discovered' footage of intent, suggesting that the camera operator just grabbed the nearest tape in a huff, little realizing that there was 'personal stuff' already on it (...what, no Radio Shack, on route to the ghostly scene?). And of course, the reveal of the nasty little invasive supernatural entity...playfully and mysteriously moving things, at first...then, progressively frustrated and angered, either materializing at the most impromptu moments, or possessing the nearest hapless person within reach, giving the cautious voyeurs a hard time, and rushing suddenly  & frighteningly face-first into the camera lens...all creeped out, ghastly-looking, unnervingly black-eyeballed and hideously toothsome. Uh, did we forget anything??...

Movie Review: The Life After Death Project (2013, Yellow Hat Productions)

...funny how the strangest of incidents in one's life, drive one towards the strangest of directions...and in the interim, the determinant wrought of that unswerving drive proves pretty much negligible and unrevealing, albeit resignedly procuring a level of speculation which has long since become 'air of mystery' commonplace amongst those privy of the seemingly paranormal and supernatural 'unexplained'. Point in case: An inexplicable and unexplained ink smudge on a piece of paper...a smudge, blotting out some words, which reportedly was not there, when writer/director Paul Davids place the paper down, and walked away from it, for only a moment. Amusingly enough, given certain parables in this particular incident, Paul eventually concluded that the mysterious paper smudge, considering what the smudge was blotting out, was a 'message' from beyond the grave...from none other than genre philanthropist and once-magazine publisher Forrest J. Ackerman...yes, THE Forrest J. Ackerman, of the renowned horror/sci-fi/fantasy publication, which the more seasoned of us grew up with, namely 'Famous Monsters of Filmland', who regrettably passed away some five years previous. In the end, Paul Davids wound up engaging a pursuant study of the paranormal, porting the resources of experts and celebrities, in a chronicle he would moniker as "The Life After Death Project"...which again, in the final analysis, really doesn't provide any answers, per say...merely, that often explored air of speculation and mystery amongst an exclusive fold of 'believers', with shared experiences in ghostly matters...and at the very least, it proves an arcane glimpse at an endearing look at a famed genre celebrity, who according to those who reportedly bore witness to 'strange, bizarre and inexplicable' incidents, is amusingly guilty of carrying on his trademark impish personality...from beyond the grave...

Movie Review: A Haunting at Silver Falls (2013, Outsider Pictures)

...ya' know, one really has to wonder, just what is it about lingeringly restless and supposedly 'wronged' ghosts & specters...in particular, those of the cinematic fervor...and their ethereal and other-worldly stasis, forcibly tethered in this world...a torturous limbo...still managing to take with them, a wholly human, demandantly unswerving, relentlessly unforgiving and self-serving sense of justice and purpose?? Supposed 'unfinished business', as often coined...hauntingly insistent upon commanding the attention of the living, despite their limited and handicapped ability to fully communicate, and yet able to exude frustration, anger, rage and fury...sometimes physically...when those whom they are haunting, just can't seem to get the message, right from the get-go. And what about those haplessly haunted...forced to delve into uncertain mystery and intrigue...sometimes getting in way over their heads...in an effort to appease the haunting spirit, invariably plaguing them...

...come on, 'dead' people (...clap, clap); wake up and smell the afterlife...Let's get on with it, huh!!

TV on DVD Review: Ghost Hunters, Season 8, Part 1 (2012, Image)

...as a certain famed, wise and literary 15th/16th century sage once wrote, "...there are more things in Heaven and Earth, (Horatio), than are dreamt of, in your philosophy..." Eh (...with a shoulder shrug), I suppose that I'd subscribe to that...I'd buy that for a dollar. However, in doggedly engaging the twelve episodes, which make up the SyFy-sponsored "Ghost Hunters: Season 8, Part One" box set collection, I also seem to recall an equally certain...and well, at a specific moment, quite shaken...Dr. Lesh, from 1982's "Poltergeist", who candidly admitted, "...parapsychology isn't something you master in. There are no certificates of graduation, no license to practice. I am a professional psychologist who spends most of her time engaged in this ghostly hobby, which makes me, I suppose, the most irresponsible (sixty-one-year old woman) I know..." Least to say, BOTH convoluting relevations fervently rattled around in my head, while watching this slick, paranormal-themed, investigative reality cable series, which despite the wonderfully varied, eclectic, historical and picturesque locations ventured to, in the course of this series' episode set, the whole of this suggestively endeavorous production seemed more exploitively 'showboat', than 'show-me'...

Movie Review: The Innkeepers (Blu-ray, 2011)

Next to vampire films, the one sub-genre of horror that entertains me the least are films centering on ghosts or paranormal entities. It's not that they're bad. I've seen some enjoyable films throughout the years like The Changeling, The Shining and Poltergeist; it's just they rarely scare or hold my interest. Two years ago, Ti West surprised a lot of people with the superb House of the Devil, now his most recent project, The Innkeepers, makes its way to both Blu-ray and DVD.  Did The Innkeepers put me to sleep, or was it one of those rare supernatural features that passed the test? Let's have a look!

Claire (Sara Paxton, Shark Night, and The Last House on the Left) and Luke (Pat Healy, Ghost World) are a couple of slackers working at the soon-to-be closed Yankee Pedlar Inn. Before the inn closes these ghost enthusiasts want to perform their own ghost hunting on some supposedly haunted sections of the inn.

Movie Review: Haunted Changi (2010, Seminal Films)

Directed by Andrew Lau

Starring~ Farid Azlam, Sheena Chung, Audi Khalis

Plot~ A group of local paranormal investigators/filmmakers begin exploring the famously haunted Changi Hospital in Singapore in the hopes of recording real paranormal phenomena. They interview locals looking for insight into the hospitals history and one of the investigators becomes obsessed with finding a Chinese girl supposedly living in the ruins of the hospital, on the run from her pimp. They start their investigation alongside another group of ghost hunters but quickly find themselves alone, the others packing their shit and splitting after the first sign of something weird going down. They spend the rest of the night filming various shadow creatures and ghostly samurai wielding soldiers.

Buy Haunted Changi on DVD