MONSTERZERO NJ’S 10 REASONS NOAH SEGAN IS AN UNSUNG HERO OF HORROR!
Noah Segan may not be the first name that comes that comes to mind when thinking of Halloween, much like Vincent Price, Bela Lugosi, George Romeo, John Carpenter and Barbara Crampton, to name a few, but you’ll probably watch at least one, if not more, of his movie roles during the spooky season. A fixture in recent horrors like Tales of Halloween, Some Kind of Hate,Deadgirl and Starry Eyes, he’s definitely a familiar face in contemporary fright flicks. The versatile actor is also a regular performer for director Rian Johnson with a cameo in The Last Jedi and roles in Brick, Looper and the upcoming Knives Out. So, hit the couch, open a brew and check out 10 reasons Noah Segan is an unsung hero of horror!
Noah Segan as Krauss, trying to run from Some Kind of Hate, a film he also produced.
Segan as a gang member about to meet retribution for past deeds in Tales of Halloween.
(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’S 25 HORRORS CURRENTLY ON NETFLIX THAT ARE WORTH WATCHING!
Netflix seems to be the go-to place to watch horror movies these days, so MonsterZero NJ has put together a list of twenty-five worth watching fright flicks screaming…oops, streaming…right now!
(for reviews of all these flicks pop the title in the search engine above to get MZNJ’s full review!)
We’re just past the first quarter of 2015 and I have already seen quite a few damn good horror flicks. Hopefully this trend won’t fade out and we’ll have a banner year for horror movies… only time will tell! Here’s 12 flicks that got my horror year started with a bang!
(Just click on the links below the poster gallery to go to our reviews of these outstanding new flicks!)
2015
(A lot of these flicks first made their presence known in 2014 but, I only caught up with them in 2015!)
Woman have always played a role in horror. Whether it be fiendish femme fatales, the damsels of yesteryear or the final girls of the modern era, they have always played a part. As this is Women In Horror Month, I’ve decide to look back at the past year and some very strong roles/performances from the ladies. 2014 was an exemplary year for female horror roles, as there were a lot of very strong performances from actresses in the lead parts of some of the year’s best flicks…and some movies where the performances was the only thing worth watching for. Which to me is solid proof that the ladies ruled horror in 2014!…
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(Clicking the highlighted links brings you to corresponding reviews and articles here at The Movie Madhouse!)
Starry Eyes is a very disturbing and at times, gruesome horror flick that may be a metaphor for loosing one’s soul in the pursuit of fame and fortune…in this case, literally. The film tells the story of emotionally fragile, wannabe actress Sarah (Alex Essoe) who lives with a group of hipster acting hopefuls and works at a degrading Hooters-esque fast food restaurant. She answers an ad for a horror film to be made by Astraeus Pictures, a company renown for such films and gets a strange audition to say the least. The more auditions she goes on for the film, the more bizarre the auditions get till she meets the creepy producer (Louis Dezseran) and he wants something very inappropriate from her. At first Sarah refuses but, the more hopeless her quest for stardom appears, the more she may be willing to give in to his demands. Unbeknownst to Sarah, Astraeus is far more than just a film studio and wants something far more than simple casting couch behavior…and Sarah might sacrifice literally everything to get what she wants.
This movie is a very disturbing horror that evokes Rosemary’s Baby and the work of David Lynch at times, with it’s sinister cult, somewhat surreal approach and explosions of vicious and gruesome violence. It is an exaggerated telling of someone sacrificing their life and soul for a chance at Hollywood stardom and writers/directors Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer use the cult-like Astraeus Pictures to symbolize the inner circle of Hollywood fame that some might even kill to become part of. They place their already emotionally fragile Sarah into a situation where she is desperate enough to sacrifice everything for her dream, but, as this is a horror film, that ‘everything’ is literal as is the application of the word sacrifice. They skillfully and effectively follow Sarah’s transformation, as the person she was dies away and a new person evolves, one that will kill those she feels have wronged her or, are in her way. The results are chilling, especially when Sarah turns violent towards her one-time friends. It’s a very unsettling ride and even to a hardened horror movie fan, some of the violence is savage enough to evoke a strong response. Graphic violence aside, the film is just very creepy at times with the bizarre employees of the sinister studio and mysterious cloaked figures that seem to follow Sarah, as her physical and mental downward spiral continues toward whatever end is coming. Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer also have a simple yet effective visual style and their atmospheric film is aided by some nice shadowy cinematography by Adam Bricker and a John Carpenter-ish score by Jonathan Snipes.
As for the cast, it’s mostly Alex Essoe’s show and she is really strong here and helps make this work so well. She at first gives us a sweet but, somewhat damaged young woman who wants to give meaning to her mundane life by achieving the Hollywood fame she’s always dreamed of. Once she gives herself over to the strange people at the studio, the actress takes us on a startling and disturbing transformation that would be just as effective without the well-executed make-up effects. Essoe gives it her all and she is downright scary at times whereas moments before, she seemed unable to ‘hurt a fly’ as Norman Bates would say. A really good performance and she is supported by an effective cast of relative unknowns as her actor friends and cult members alike. Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer get good work out of their players and it helps make this film effective as it is.
I liked this movie, if ‘liked’ is a word that can be applied to a film that is creepy and sometimes absolutely vicious. It is a very effective horror and gives a very literal and sinister nature to the whole concept of sacrificing all to become one of Hollywood’s elite. It has an effective cast, including a knock-out performance from Alex Essoe as Sarah and some very gruesome gore and make-up FX. A very unnerving and sometimes savagely violent horror with a chilling atmosphere that lasts after it’s over. Also stars The Innkeepers’ Pat Healy as Sarah’s boss at The Big Taters fast food restaurant.
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