HORROR YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: THE FIELD GUIDE TO EVIL (2018)

THE FIELD GUIDE TO EVIL (2018)

(Remember, clicking the highlighted links brings you to other reviews and articles here at The Movie Madhouse!)

The Field Guide To Evil is an anthology flick that has folktales from around the world presented by directors from those countries. It’s simply stories, told from the title book, whose pages we flip through between these tales of the bizarre and the macabre. A simple set-up to bring to life eight horror stories of various styles and from a diverse selection of cultures.

As a collection of stories from around the world, each told by different filmmakers in their own style, Field Guide works very well together as a whole and the chosen stories all blend together nicely. Most take place in days of old though there are a few contemporary tales to chill ones bones. We get Die Trud from Austria and filmmakers Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz (Goodnight Mommy), a tale about a vengeful entity who stalks sinners. Turkey’s Can Evrenol (Baskin, Housewife) directs Al Karisi about a demonic entity that preys on newborns. From Poland comes The Kindler and The Virgin directed by Agnieszka Smoczynska about a man enchanted by a witch. From America comes Calvin (V/H/S) Reeder’s The Melon Heads about a rural North American urban legend come grotesquely to life. From Greece comes What Ever Happened to Panagas the Pagan and director Yannis Veslemes answers that question. The Palace of Horrors comes from India by way of filmmaker Ashim Ahluwalia and tells of a castle filled with nightmarish creatures. From Germany and filmmaker Katrin Gebbe comes A Nocturnal Breath, a story of a demonic entity and possession. The final tale is the most fairytale-like, Cobblers’ Lot from Hungary and director Peter Strickland, which tells of two shoemaker brothers who are both in love with the same princess…obviously, it doesn’t end well. The stories are all atmospheric and have their own unique visual style with Die Trud, Al Karisi, A Nocturnal Breath and Cobbler’s Lot being the most effective. The Melon Heads comes up the weakest, as it’s a thin story, loosely based on folk tales about beings said to roam the woods and the contemporary American setting doesn’t quite gel with the more old world style settings of the other stories. That being said, it still has it’s disturbing moments. Collectively, the film looks great for a movie that was crowd-funded, the cast all perform their stories well and there is some very heavy gothic imagery in most of the tales. Spooky fun!

In conclusion, this is a very entertaining, spooky and, quality-wise, consistent anthology. The folk stories from around the world make it very intriguing and give it a nice gothic flavor, with the different tales and styles mix very well. Even it’s weakest story still has some disturbing moments, with the best really enchanting and chilling at the same time. A highly recommended movie!

-MonsterZero NJ

Rated 3 and 1/2 (out of 4) field guides.

 

THE LIGHTHOUSE GETS A TRAILER!

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The new film from The Witch director Robert Eggers has got a trailer. The Lighthouse stars Willem Dafoe and new Batman Robert Pattinson and opens in limited release 10/18/2019 after playing festivals earlier this year. The release will expand in the following weeks. The film was written by Eggers and his brother Max.

-MonsterZero NJ

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source: Youtube

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE ESTIMATES JULY 26-28

Complete estimates are in for the weekend box office

(Remember, clicking the highlighted links brings you to the reviews here at The Movie Madhouse!)

1. “The Lion King” $75.5 Million

2. “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” $40.3 million

3. “Spider-Man: Far From Home” $12.2 Million

4. “Toy Story 4” $9.8 Million

5. “Crawl” $4 Million

6. “Yesterday” $3 Million

7. “Aladdin” $2.8 Million

8. “Stuber” $1.7 Million

9. “Annabelle Comes Home” $1.6 Million

10. “The Farewell” $1.55 Million

 

source: Box Office Mojo

 

COOL STUFF: CRITERION ANNOUNCES GODZILLA-THE SHOWA ERA FILMS 1954-1975!

CRITERION ANNOUNCES GODZILLA-THE SHOWA ERA FILMS 1954-1975!

Godzilla fans rejoice! Criterion has offically announced what we have been hearing about for months…the Godzilla: The Showa Era Films 1954-1975 collection blu ray! This magnificent set of the original Godzilla films streets on 10/29/19 right before Halloween 🎃 and will include the following films…

Godzilla 1954

Godzilla Raids Again 1955

King Kong vs Godzilla 1963

Mothra vs Godzilla 1964

Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster 1964

Invasion of the Astro Monster (Monster Zero) 1965

Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (Godzilla vs the Sea Monster) 1966

Son of Godzilla 1967

Destroy All Monsters 1968

All Monsters Attack (Godzilla’s Revenge) 1969

Godzilla vs Hedorah 1971

Godzilla vs Gigan 1972

Godzilla vs Megalon 1973

Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla 1974

Terror of Mechagodzilla 1975

Direct from Criterion themselves, features will include…

• High-definition digital transfers of all fifteen Godzilla films made between 1954 and 1975, released together for the first time, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks
• High-definition digital transfers of Godzilla, King of the Monsters, the 1956 U.S.-release version of Godzilla; and the 1962 Japanese-release version of King Kong vs. Godzilla
• Audio commentaries from 2011 on Godzilla and Godzilla, King of the Monsters featuring film historian David Kalat
• International English-language dub tracks for Invasion of Astro-Monster, Son of Godzilla, Destroy All Monsters, Godzilla vs. Megalon, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, and Terror of Mechagodzilla
• Directors Guild of Japan interview with director Ishiro Honda, conducted by director Yoshimitsu Banno in 1990
• Programs detailing the creation of Godzilla’s special effects and unused effects sequences from Toho releases including Destroy All Monsters
• New interview with filmmaker Alex Cox about his admiration for the Showa-era Godzilla films
• New and archival interviews with cast and crew members, including actors Bin Furuya, Tsugutoshi Komada, Haruo Nakajima, and Akira Takarada; composer Akira Ifukube; and effects technicians Yoshio Irie and Eizo Kaimai
• Interview with critic Tadao Sato from 2011
• Illustrated audio essay from 2011 about the real-life tragedy that inspired Godzilla
• New English subtitle translations
• Trailers
• PLUS: A lavishly illustrated deluxe hardcover book featuring an essay by cinema historian Steve Ryfle, notes on the films by cinema historian Ed Godziszewski, and new illustrations by Arthur Adams, Sophie Campbell, Becky Cloonan, Jorge Coelho, Geof Darrow, Simon Gane, Robert Goodin, Benjamin Marra, Monarobot, Takashi Okazaki, Angela Rizza, Yuko Shimizu, Bill Sienkiewicz, Katsuya Terada, Ronald Wimberly, and Chris Wisnia

Set is available for preorder through Criterion’s website for $179.96 before tax and shipping!

https://www.criterion.com/boxsets/2648-godzilla-the-showa-era-films-1954-1975

-MonsterZero NJ

source: Criterion

BARE BONES: CRITTERS ATTACK! (2019)

CRITTERS ATTACK! (2019)

Revival of the classic franchise is sadly disappointing as the Krites…or Critters…return to earth after last being seen here in 1991’s Critters 3. They land near a small town, much like in the first two features and start to chow-down on the inhabitants. They cause trouble most specifically for a babysitter (Tashiana Washington), her two charges (Jack Fulton and Ava Preston) and her younger brother (Jaeden Noel), who find a friendly Krite female while hiking. Luckily Dee Wallace shows up (reprising her role from the first flick…maybe?) and goes Critter hunting!

Sequel is directed very by-the-numbers by Bobby Miller from a witless and dull script by Scott Lobdell. It’s so low budget, it looks like someone’s homemade fan film and the acting is strictly amateur, save for the veteran Wallace. Aside from the female Krite our teens adopt as a pet, there is little new or innovative here and not much reason to revisit this franchise. There is some decent gore…when they bother to show it, and the Critters are delightfully still rubber puppets, but there is little fun in their new exploits. At least there is a cool 80s-ish soundtrack from Russ Howard III.

A sadly underwhelming direct-to-digital sequel that begs one to revisit the originals instead…at least the first two anyway. While on the subject, there is also Shudder’s Critters: A New Binge web series, which is supposedly not much better.

-MonsterZero NJ

 

BARE BONES: DREAD (2009)

DREAD (2009)

Dread is a dark film that surprises by having deeper things going on than the deceiving coming attractions would have us believe. It’s a simple but gruesome tale, of college students doing a study on fear…and what could possibly go wrong with that?

The film, written and directed by Anthony DiBlasi (Extremity, Last Shift), from a story by Clive Barker, is actually well made and tries to accomplish something beyond just portraying unpleasantness and pain. DiBlasi gives his sometimes cruel and brutal film, some depth and emotional resonance. That’s the difference between this and the recent trend of torture horror. The violence in the last act is part of the downward spiral the story slowly makes and is not done for it’s own sake, or to outdo the last torture themed flick. It’s not the subject of the film, but an unfortunate result of a character’s unraveling. There are cruel moments, but they are brief and have impact. We feel horrified for the victims, not numbed, as they are people and not just subjects for some SPFX team’s expertise. Not an enjoyable film, on an entertainment level, but an interesting one that was released as part of the After Dark Horrorfest and produced by Barker himself. Stars Jackson Rathbone, Shaun Evans and Hanne Steen, who all perform the material well.

-MonsterZero NJ

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE ESTIMATES JULY 19-21

Complete estimates are in for the weekend box office

(Remember, clicking the highlighted links brings you to the reviews here at The Movie Madhouse!)

1. “The Lion King” $185 Million

2. “Spider-Man: Far From Home” $21 Million

3. “Toy Story 4” $14.6 Million

4. “Crawl” $6 Million

5. “Yesterday” $5.1 Million

6. “Stuber” $4 Million

7. “Aladdin” $3.8 Million

8. “Annabelle Comes Home” $2.7 Million

9. “Midsommar” $1.6 Million

10. “The Secret Life of Pets 2” $1.5 Million

 

source: Box Office Mojo

 

BLUMHOUSE and JOHN CARPENTER ANNOUNCE 2 HALLOWEEN SEQUELS!

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Blumhouse and legendary director John Carpenter have announced today that there will be, not one, but two sequels to the hit Halloween 2018. Carpenter, Jamie Lee Curtis, director David Gordon Green and co-writer Danny McBride will supposedly all return for Halloween Kills on 10/16/2020 and Halloween Ends on 10/15/2021. Will this finally conclude this decades spanning franchise? We’ll find out in 2021!

-MonsterZero NJ

Source: instagram

BARE BONES: TRESPASSERS (2018)

TRESPASSERS (2018)

Run of the mill home invasion flick has two yuppie couples (Angela Trimbur, Zach Avery, Janel Parrish and Jonathan Howard) taking a vacation at a remote desert house. Unknown to them, the previous tenants were kidnaped and murdered by a group of mask wearing thugs…and those thugs want something that is still there. But first, there is a ton of self-absorbed yuppie relationship drama and even a murder to wade through before our home invasion begins.

Orson Oblowitz unremarkably directs this flick from a very derivative and unimaginative script by Corey Deshon. It’s a movie one struggles to find a reason for existing, as it is just tired ideas paraded out without anything new to add or any innovation in the telling. It’s a ho-hum mix of home invasion flick mashed-up with the angry douche-bag kills someone and holds his friends hostage flick, as a strange woman (Fairuza Balk), who shows up at the house, pushes uber-jerk and coke-head Victor (Howard) too far. And that’s another problem, the four main characters are such a-holes that when the thugs finally show up, you can’t wait to see them tormented and get what’s coming to them. How are we supposed to have any sympathy for these characters when they are so self-centered and unlikable and one is now a murderer? Victor would be the villain in any other flick. Angela Trimbur (The Final Girls, Halloween II) tries to give her Sarah a bit of a soul, but the rest are such cheating, drugging, ass-clowns that we find ourselves rooting for and not lamenting their demises. Let’s not even get started on the generic “bad guys” who show up. There are a few effective moments, very few, but otherwise this is a soulless copy of films from sub-genres that, in themselves, were never that thrilling to begin with. Sad, flicks like this get made and released and so many talented young filmmakers struggle to get financing for far more worthy projects. Waste of time.

-MonsterZero NJ

 

MONSTERZERO NJ’S 12 NATURE RUN AMOK FLICKS TO WATCH!

Similar to Crawl, Burning Bright has a tiger, instead of gators, loose in a house during a hurricane!

Crawl has brought the nature run amok flick back into the limelight, so, while everyone is in the mood for critters and carnage, here are a dozen fun nature run amok flicks, old and new, to satisfy your creature cravings! You’re going to need a bigger couch!

Cutie Missy Peregrym has a problem with the local wildlife in Backcountry!

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(To get to the reviews of the titles listed that were covered here at the Movie Madhouse, just type the title in the search engine to find the corresponding critique!)

-MonsterZero NJ