Runtime: 88 minutes
Release Date: October 1, 2010
Rating: NR
Director: Christopher Saint Booth,
Philip Adrian Booth
This documentary is the perfect
example of why you should never read the description on Redbox
without finding out more about a film. Described as a documentary
about the true story of The Exorcist, Redbox described it more as a
found footage movie that deals with that story. I didn't really get
either thing.
The Exorcism Files: Haunted Boy is
a documentary from The Booth Brothers that should have been more
interesting than it was. The author of the book drew inspiration from
a case he read about in the local paper. Hoping to keep the identity
of "Robbie Doe," as he was known at the time, William Peter
Blatty agreed to change the character in his book into that of a
little girl.
While researching an idea for a
book, I wrote about a local college that is supposedly haunted
because some of the artifacts used in the actual exorcism were stored
there. Writing that article led to more research into the true story
and some info on both the book and film. All that information was
fresh in my head when I sat down to watch this movie, which might
have tainted my experience a little.
The original boy is still alive,
but he naturally doesn't want to talk about his experiences. The
filmmakers then went to one of his relatives to get an idea about
what he went through. They also tracked down archival footage from
priests involved in the case and some who knew the original priests.
That gave the documentary a "he said, she said" sense that
left me wondering what was true. I can tell you what so and so said
to me on camera, but does that mean I'm telling the truth?
They also try way too hard to make
a connection between the actual case and the hauntings in the area.
The former hospital where Doe once stayed was torn down. They talk to
men who saw or moved some of the furniture that he used, and they all
claim that they felt weird things and saw strange shit. They also
talk to some of the people involved with the demolition of the
hospital, who also say his former room was haunted. Plus, we get to
see a big crack in the parking lot, which is supposedly the same spot
where his former room was.
Even more ridiculous is the
in-depth exploration of the house where Doe once lived. The owner of
the house bought it because it was "the exorcist house," so
you know anything he experienced there is tainted. It doesn't help
that he basically cleaned out Doe's former room and doesn't use it
for anything. A completely empty room in the middle of a big house?
Yup, that wouldn't seem creepy at all.
At one point, my roommate checked,
saw there was still 40+ minutes left, and threatened to live the room
if I made him watch anymore. Sadly, we stuck it out. I would
recommend it for those interested in learning more about the true
story, but that explains my roommate and he barely made it through.
Runtime: 90 minutes
Release Date: January 28, 2014
Rating: NR?
Director: Cody Calahan
Sam is just like any other college
student except that she's in love with a total tool. After talking
with her boyfriend, who seems anything but a good boyfriend, via
video chat, she tells him that they need to talk about something.
Sensing that she wants to break up, he decides to pull the plug on
their relationship and end things completely. Upset, she turns to
RedRoom, the Facebookesque site everyone on campus uses to keep in
touch, where she learns that he spent the night with another chick
the night before.
Luckily, she has her best friend
and the much cuter Mark by her side. As it's New Year's Eve, he
suggests that she come over to his house for a party. Though she
isn't really in the mood to party, she agrees to stop by, which was
probably a huge mistake.
See, there's a virus sweeping the
country that seemingly uses RedRoom to spread. Kaitlin wants nothing
more than to party and have fun with her boyfriend Steve, while Jed
seems more interested in video chatting with one of his friends
online. While Kaitlin does a strip tease for Steve upstairs, Jed's
friend warns them of the upcoming danger.
A knock on the door reveals that
one of their friends from earlier in the night came back. Jed warns
them that he's infected and showing some of the more common symptoms,
and they agree to send him away. Sam throws up in the kitchen sink,
but no worries, she's not infected. She's actually pregnant, which is
what she wanted to tell her boyfriend about earlier.
After checking out RedRoom on his
phone, Steve becomes infected. It doesn't take long before he starts
showing symptoms, so you know Kaitlin is infected too. Sadly, the
whole group is stuck inside a house that they locked down and
barricaded from the world, so who knows who will make it out alive?
Well, I know, but if you want to know, you need to just watch the
movie.
I first heard about Antisocial a
few months ago while checking out trailers on XBOX Live. It looked
really interesting and made me tell my roommate about it, but I
promptly forgot about it. Picked it up at Redbox the other night, and
I'm glad I did. Antisocial was a refreshing change of pace from the
Hollywood hack films that came out lately.
It's hard to explain what the movie
is because it tends to jump around. It's definitely a plague/virus
film, but it later turns into something of a zombie flick. We've all
seen too many bad zombie films lately, so it's nice that this one
offers something a little different. We all use Facebook or some form
of social networking nearly every day, and this one might make you
think twice before you log on the next time.
Antisocial does a good job of
setting up the plot early in the film. Sam, while still chatting with
her boyfriend, sees a man seizing on campus, who later turns out to
be one of the first victims. We also see some video clips from two
young girls on their blog as they succumb to the virus. When the
movie jumps into an explanation of what happened and how the virus
spread, I started to lose focus. When it jumped to a cure for the
virus, I was all in.
I know I’ve said this a few times
lately, but Antisocial is one of my top horror picks for the year. It
had characters I cared about, some nice acting, and a strong story
that hooked me in and made me keep watching.
Runtime: 76 minutes
Release Date: October 18, 2013
Rating: NR
Director: Rob Kuhns
You know how you sometimes watch
the "making of" and special features on DVDs and just kind
of roll your eyes because all the information documented is something
you've seen before. That's pretty much how I felt about Birth of the
Living Dead.
I've watched a number of
documentary films on Netflix, and I have a tendency to love the ones
that cover B movies, cheesy films, and horror movies. When this one
popped up as a recommendation for me, I added it to my queue and sat
down to watch it when I had a few minutes. I assumed it would be
something like The Elm Street Legacy, but it came across as a been
there, done there kind of film.
When I discovered that this has a
fairly high rating, I was shocked. Do people really enjoy it that
much, or is just a case of giving it a high rating because it
involves George Romero. I kept waiting for it to touch on something
new or at least give me some inside stories that I never heard
before, but it just felt like a rehash of information I can find
dozens of other places.
Maybe it's because I’ve owned and
watched DVDs on everything from Night of the Living Dead to Survival
of the Dead, but it felt more like an ode to Romero than a
documentary that would actually cover the making of the film. Oh,
Romero lost the rights to the film and now every one and his brother
can sell copies? Gee, that must explain why it turns up on EVER
horror movie compilation of all time. Oh, he didn't mean to make a
statement when he cast a black man in the lead role? Where have I
heard that before? Oh that's right, on every single interview he ever
gave in his life.
If you're looking for something
basic that gives you a brief introduction on the original Night of
the Living Dead, head on over to Netflix. If you want an in-depth
documentary on the actual making of that film, keep looking.
Runtime: 91 minutes
Release Date: March 10, 1972
Rating: PG
Director: George McCowan
Pickett Smith, who I absolutely did
not realize was Sam Elliott, is a photographer working on taking
pictures of animals and nature. While working in a canoe in the
swamp, siblings Clint and Karen speed by in their boat, which causes
his canoe to tip over. After snapping at them about losing his work,
Clint offers to replace all his damaged equipment. They take Pickett
back to their family home, which is the Crockett Estate on an island
nearby.
There, he meets the head of the
family. Jason is stuck in a wheelchair and doesn't seem too happy.
Though he wants to celebrate the Fourth of July and encourages
Pickett to remain for the festivities, he can't stop complaining
about the snakes and frogs living near the house. He sends one of his
workers out to use some pesticides to kill the animals. Pickett finds
the man's dead body and notices that he's covered in snake bites, but
despite learning of the problem, Jason decides to push forward.
You know exactly where this is
going. As they start planning for the holiday, amphibians keep
flocking to the island and killing everyone in new and not so
interesting ways.
Frogs is a film that I added to my
Netflix queue when I went through a "killer animals" phase
last year. There's a good chance that the movie's been in there since
I had an account 6-7 years ago too. When I noticed some of those
older movies expiring, I decided to take some time to watch some of
the older horror movies before they disappeared too. Frogs was the
first one on my list, and if it's any indication of what might come,
it's probably time to weed out my queue.
Frogs is easily one of the worst
movies I've seen. It wasn't one of those "so bad it's funny
movies" either. My roommate and I giggled once or twice, but for
the most part, we just kept checking how much time was left. At one
point, he even begged me to just shut off the movie or move on to
something else. I persevered and got through the movie but it's
probably not something I should brag about.
This came out at a time when
directors mixed existing footage with new footage to make a film.
While that sometimes works in the right way or the funny way, it
didn't work here. You get multiple scenes of frogs, snakes, and
crocodiles moving through the wild before seeing someone thrashing
around on the ground and screaming in pain or mock horror.
The one funny moment came when a
man was attacked by a crocodile. The way he was rolling around in the
water made us laugh and contemplate whether he was fighting or
playing with it. This was one of the smaller crocodiles, and the way
he kept looping his arm around it and dragging it around make it look
like the poor thing just wanted to escape the bad movie.
If there's one reason to see the
movie, it's for Joan Van Ark. Given the frightening way she looks
today, it was kind of fun to see her back when she looked normal and
even pretty.
