Gorehoundhorror

Every week or so I will update this hub with my thoughts on a new release horror film either from the theaters or my local video store (netflix). Check out my other hubs for my inane opinions on the other things I'm into if you care or if you don't and your just bored and if you follow my hubs I will definitely follow yours.

Is it just me or have horror movies become more acceptable and less shocking. I have been watching horror for 20 some odd years now dating back to my childhood, (Evil Dead 2 was my family's Christmas eve movie) and I know the more you watch something the less of an impact it has on you but it just seems like no one is even trying anymore, at least in America the land of the remake. Not that there hasn't been good remakes but enough is enough when you can watch a variety of foreign films that just goes balls out (Martyrs, Inside, Audition, 13 Game of Death) just to name a few and over here in the states we get remakes of the stepfather and crap horror like twilight. There have been some good movies that go straight to DVD and they could be great with the budget of some of the crap making it into theaters. I just don't understand why people continue to go see these PG-13 horror films that are clearly mass marketed with no interest in story or character development. I think it's time that America takes note from some of our foreign friends and goes all out on some insane ORIGINAL horror films.

This is what a remake should be, it takes a not so great movie with an interesting premise and improves all of the flaws. The pace of this movie is far superior to the original by George A. Romero, the acting is better as well as the delivery of the story. A madness inducing biological contagion is released in to the towns water supply when the plane carrying it crashes in the nearby swamp. The social commentary from the original is still present as the U.S. military comes in to keep the order and prove to be just as dangerous if not more so than the shotgun toting townspeople that now plague the streets.

This isn't so much a horror movie with a body count (though it does have that) it's more of suspense horror movie and it works well. Every Time the sheriff (Timothy Olyphant) and his wife (Radha Mitchell) let their guard down some whack job with a knife or gun is leaping from the shadows. Not only do they have to try to sneak through town avoiding detection from the townsfolk and military but the deputy who is accompanying them is slowly succumbing to the contagion. So the choice has to made to keep him as an ally for as long as they can and risk him turning on them at any moment or leave him to die.

Overall the movie surpasses the original effort and proves that not all remakes have to be a shot for shot rehash. I give this film a 9 out of 10. Let me know what you think.

This has got to be the best giant insect movie of the past 15yrs. I believe this movie debuted on the SyFy channel but I just now got the chance to see it. The movie starts off with office slacker Cooper (Chris Marquette) running late to his job and goofing off when he finally arrives. Chris Marquette is dead on with great sense of comedic timing especially when he is called into the boss's office to get fired, which is interrupted by a high pitch noise. And ten minutes into the film and the action starts already, with Cooper waking up in a web then getting attacked by a giant beetle looking thing. The creature effects of this movie are top notch with a mixture of special effects and practical effects which blend together smoothly. After waking up his boss the two try to figure out what the hell has happened when his boss Maureen remembers her daughter Sarah (Brooke Nevin) is downstairs waiting for her. So off they go to wake up Maureen's daughter. When Cooper finally reaches Sarah and manages to wake her up, she thinks he's the one that attacked her! After a brief struggle with a mace can and a rather hysterical confrontation between the two, Cooper manages to subdue her, just in time for Maureen to get carried off by a giant wasp! Thats when the plot starts to come together. Cooper and Sarah wake up a few more people and decide to head to Cooper's dad's house because he has a bunker they can hide in. The journey there is filled with crazy humor, plenty of bug guts, and even some human-bug hybrids. The acting in this film is top notch, something you don't see in these types of movies, The characters are all good, even if they are fodder. Besides Cooper and Sarah you have Cindy (Kinsey Packard) the bimbo of the group and the local weather girl, then you got Albert (Wesley Thompson) who's just kinda quiet but you get the feeling not to mess with him. There's Hugo (E. Quincy Sloan) the big guy of the group who also happens to be deaf, and Ethan (Ray Wise) Cooper's ex-military dad who is just hilarious. The dialogue between him and Cooper is the highlight of the film. After walking forever and running into more hybrids and bugs, Sarah gets taken and Cooper decides that it's time he does something meaningful with his life. By this he thinks he's going to rescue Sarah from the giant bug-spewing hive all the creatures are originating from. This movie is really just a must see if you like creature features or giant bug movies at all. 10 out of 10

So I was asked about the show True Blood and my opinion on it. This has to be one of the best vampire shows ever on television. The writing is excellent and the cast amazing. It has the typical love story we've seen on Buffy and Angel but much darker and mature. It's also nice that the vampires are "out of the coffin" as they call it, so there's no hiding the fact that vampires are indeed real. The relationship between Sookie and Bill is exhausting, there is always something threatening them and their love for each other. But it also has to be one of the most solid relationships because in the end when it really matters they are there for each other. Sookie is a telepath and can hear every one's thoughts even when she doesn't want to, until she meets Bill and discovers she cant hear the thoughts of vampires. Lafayette has got to be one of the funniest characters ever. Every time he is on he steals the scene and they should really use him more. I don't want to give away to much about the show for those who haven't seen it but no one is really who they say they are and almost every episode end with a WTF! moment. Aside from being one of the best horror shows on television it's also one of the best mystery shows as well.

The setting in the fictional parish of Bon Temps Louisiana is amazing you get the hot humid feeling just watching it. and the supporting cast is perfect from Sookies dimwitted brother Jason and her best friend Tara the dialogue between them is always interesting and entertaining. Sam the local bar and grill owner is a great character. His story is very cool and surprising at every revelation without giving away to much. True Blood is on it's third season on HBO

Keep your eyes peeled for the remake of Let the Right One In, retitled Let Me In. A great romantic horror vampire film from Sweden. Oskar a lonely boy befriends a new neighbor girl Eli with a dark secret, she may look like shes twelve but shes really a pretty old vampire. The story revolves around these two as they begin to form a friendship by tapping Morse code back and forth on their apartment walls. When Eli discovers that Oskar has been getting bullied at school she encourages him to stand up for himself, which he does by knocking the lead bully on the side of the head with a pole. When Oskar learns about Eli that's when the movie becomes really intriguing. This not your typical horror film it's not full of blood and guts but rather a haunting feeling. I think anyone sick of American vampire movies should check this film out.

For you guys who love disturbing original horror this movie is for you. You simply must watch this movie to find out what a header is, trust me it will not disappoint. The movie has your typical backwoods hillbilly rednecks who are always in trouble with the law but where the movie shines is the original ways they dispose of the bodies.

The fun starts when Travis is released from prison and moves in with his "granpappy" who want his grandson to get revenge on anyone who has done them wrong with the most twisted and disturbing form of pay back: The Header. Caught up in all this is a crooked ATF agent who while trying to make quick cash to pay for his sick girlfriends medications gets caught up in the string of grisly murders.

This is a straight to dvd release but it is above average for most of the cheap B-movies that plague most video shelves, not that theres anything wrong with that. I give this film a 8 out of 10

This was a decent movie, fair amount of gore and the acting was about average. The story while not original works, a small lake town with a child killer on the loose and the cops under pressure to find him and bring him to justice look to a couple living on an adjecant island and decide they must be the killers. So of course they take the law into their own hands and murder the couple and years later their spirits have come back for revenge against the men who killed them and the real killer dubbed "the seamstress" for the way he liked to sew the mouths and eyes shut of the victims. After the angry spirit kills one of the men his daughter and her friends return to the town to find out whats going on and start to get picked off one by one. 

The setting is in the woods and for most of the scenes if you watch the background you can see the spirit moving through the trees which I thought was a cool touch. Overall the movie is pretty much by the numbers but enjoyable nonetheless. If you like straight forward horror with out the overused twist endings that show up in way to many movies these days then give this movie a try. I give this movie a 7 out of 10.