By: Addison Wylie For audiences needing a psychological horror fix, Derek Franson’s Comforting Skin may do just the trick. It certainly did for me. It’s a film that starts unsteadily as our main lead is introduced to us. Koffie (yes, that’s her name, and she’s played terrifically by Victoria Bidewell) is down and out and feeling as if no one wants anything to do with her. She’s dishevelled, has a past that hasn’t been bright,…
By: Addison Wylie Remaking Sam Raimi’s horror cult classic The Evil Dead comes with a price. Much like the film’s killer Book of the Dead, such a task has consequences. The Evil Dead set a bar for low-budget horror when it crept into theatres in 1981. Some claimed it was one of the scariest films ever made while others were too busy howling at the screen. It was a film that obviously left a mark…
By: Addison Wylie It’s almost inevitable to go into The ABC’s of Death with leery reservations. The anthology’s premise involves moviegoers sitting through 24 horror short films – each one involving a letter of the alphabet tying itself to the short’s climactic gruesome activity. One immediate question pops to mind upon hearing this pitch: are audience members going to be too distracted from watching the movie by counting down each letter of the alphabet? Will we…
By: Addison Wylie Dark Skies wants its moviegoers to leave slightly chilled, but, instead we leave feeling cold. As the credit crawl began and the lights dimmed back on, you could feel the waft from everyone’s shoulders shrugging as they huffed out of the theatre. The unenthused reaction isn’t because Dark Skies is a bad movie, but because we don’t like seeing something that had so much potential settle with being “just ok”. One would…
By: Addison Wylie I’ve underestimated filmmaker Jonathan Levine. When he first debuted with The Wackness, he had proven to have a great eye for detail in his mid-90’s settings but nothing else more. I’ll eat my fair share of crow because with 50/50 and now with his zom-com Warm Bodies, he has a resumé that gives plenty of evidence that he realizes how to recognize humanity and what makes us tick. It’s a skill that makes his characters more than just “characters”. He challenges himself with Warm Bodies; what better…
By: Addison Wylie A Haunted House marks the first time, in recent memory, where actor Marlon Wayans has branched independently from his ever-growing-forever-acting family. I suppose he saw a glimmer of spoof-able light in these “found footage” horrors – namely the Paranormal Activity franchise – and decided to strike while the iron was still somewhat warm. It makes sense for Wayans to tackle the spooky, low budget franchise because it screams for the Wayans spoof…
By: Addison Wylie Mama is another horror film “presented by” creep master Guillermo del Toro. So, it’s no surprise that Andrés Muschietti’s new year horror, Mama, resembles 2011’s Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, another film that was “presented” by del Toro. That’s going to be either a deal maker or breaker to those who saw the Katie Holmes driven flick about small, scary creatures that occupy a looming and ominous house. As someone who…
By Addison Wylie As far as sub-standard horror goes, Texas Chainsaw 3D is as by-the-numbers as scary movies go; if you skim the surface. However, I think John Luessenhop’s film is smarter than it looks and deserves more credit than it’s throwaway January release date gives it. Texas Chainsaw 3D takes us to the beginning of the long-running story; except this time, it wishes to wipe the slate clean. This sequel to the original Texas…
By: Addison Wylie The Apparition is one of the worst reviewed films of 2012. It currently resides at a whopping 4% on Rotten Tomatoes and has received plenty of negative word-of-mouth. However, I’m here to defend it – kind of. As a whole, it isn’t good in the slightest and it plods along at a snail’s pace until it exhaustively reaches the finish line at 78 minutes (excluding the credits filled with random spooky filler)….
By: Addison Wylie Silent Hill: Revelation 3D is not only a bad movie, but I can’t remember the last movie that strived and strained so hard to find a purpose for existing. That may sound harsh, but it’s a sentiment that is constantly crossing your mind as you watch the latest instalment in a series that was doing perfectly fine with having only one movie in its holster. Let’s double-back to the first Silent Hill….