Jack and I took in a triple play of horror movies last night and I thought I would discuss them herein.
1) Drag Me to Hell- This just came out earlier in the year and is already on DVD. I got the unrated version (of course) but there is probably just more grossness here than anything else. This movie is all about the slapstick horror and bodily fluids. If you like Sam Raimi's style of grossout horror in the Evil Dead movies, you should dig this. A young loan officer in a bank (Alison Lohman) is cursed by a gypsy who is denied an extension on her mortgage payments. Kind of topical for a bit but really, this is just an excuse to terrorize Ms. Lohman with all manner of indignity. She puts up with even more than Johnny Depp did in Sleepy Hollow. This is just plain fun and not especially scary. You could spend your money in worse ways is what I'm saying.
2) Trick R Treat- Bryan Singer (Usual Suspects, X-Men) produced this movie set in a small Ohio town that takes Halloween very seriously. Four stories intertwine and help each other pay off. You can't really remove one story from the others or the impact sort of falls apart so, in that way, it is a pretty clever movie. Dylan Baker has a story about a high school Principal who is also a serial killer. Some kids visit a maybe-haunted quarry. Anna Paquin is out looking for Mr. Right in all the wrong places. Brian Cox is an old man haunted by the ghost of Halloween. This is a nifty flick with some good creepy moments but nothing especially awesome. Again, there are worse ways to spend your time.
3) Rec- This is a Spanish Language picture that was the basis for Quarantine. Now, I have not seen Quarantine but this had some good chills. Like Paranormal Activity or Blair Witch, this is based on the idea of found footage. A reporter and her camera man follow a Fire crew around for a late night show and end up locked inside a building with some 28 Days Later zombies inside. The movie drags for the first 15 minutes, screams and runs like crazy for the next 30, and then settles into a much better pace once the frantic action slows down a bit. Still, exposition is rushed through, characters a roughly sketched and motivations are shaky at best. However, the movie doesn't really give you time to ponder these things before things are going from bad to worse to apocalyptic. The small set, the restricted point of view and the darkness of the building add to the creepy feel. The final night vision sequence is also pretty freaking awesome. I would recommend this.
Josh
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