HEMOGLOBIN / BLEEDERS (1997)

This is a strange one indeed... Also known as "Bleeders" and coming out of Canada, the main thing that attracted me to it was the fact that Rutger Hauer was in it. Since writing this blog I've become a big fan of everything I've seen him in. He plays a more subdued role as Dr. Marlowe than the other stuff I've seen him in so far, but the movie itself is pretty good.

This one follows the exploits of a young couple John and Kathleen .... John has a history of blood borne disease which seems to require constant medical attention, luckily for him he has a substantial trust account, and the pair are trying to find out who left it to them and presumably reconnect with their family tree. Their investigations take them to a small island.  The couple cross paths with Dr. Marlowe when John falls ill and requires treatment for his blood condition. Upon investigation, it is found that John may be descendant from Dutch royalty who were based on the island and had basically ruined their bloodline by inbreeding. As investigations progress John starts to feel a 'bond' so to speak with the island. But I won't divulge any more of the plot from there. 

This is a creepy story, whilst not huge on the gore (there are some great creature effects and fair level of horror later on in the film) this is definitely an unsettling film in a few regards, especially the incestuous theme that runs through the plot. I later found out this movie was based on a HP Lovecraft story the Lurking Fear (which I think I've read...) but didn't make the connection until trying to find out a little more information about the film online. 

I think the film itself is rather well shot, but it would seem I'm alone on that one as all the reviews I've seen tend to pan the movie rather harshly. I feel this film is produced quite well and it held my interest the whole way through. I really can't fault it in any way. This like every other of the HP Lovecraft based movies I've reviewed on here is well worth seeking out if you can find a copy of it around.

For more great horror movie reviews and other stuff be sure to check out http://www.gorenography.com on a regular basis! 

BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974)

This one is kind of a sleeper as far as horror films go. I think its pretty cool but its more a psychological thriller rather than a flat out horror film, despite the "R" rating on the cover its actually pretty tame aside from some coarse language. I'd seen the 2006 version of this film and it was so shitful I couldn't even sit through it, so it was with some trepidation that I threw this one into the trusty old DVD player.

This one revolves around a university sorority house (mostly attractive girls) who are receiving obscene phone calls from an unidentified pest. Serial pest is not taken seriously until one of the girls is found dead asphyxiated with a plastic bag in the dorm. Who's next? And who is the killer? Of course I won't ruin this one for you.... you'll just have to watch for yourself! 

Black Christmas bills itself as a pre-runner to the 'slasher' film genre, to some degree I agree, it was a few years before Friday 13th and Halloween but for my thinking the jury is still out. Regardless it was a much better film than the modern remake, it doesn't rely so much on gore or explicit killings but building an atmosphere, which it does with a fair degree of success. The movie is well shot and the plot is pretty cool with enough twists to keep it interesting … There's nothing in this film that really lets it down. Basically I'd rate it as a pretty solid watch without being particularly outstanding in any way.

One cool thing about this film is that it stars a very young and attractive Margot Kidder as Barb (who went on to be Lois Lane in the 70s/80's series of films) … I had no idea she'd been acting since the early mid 70's and a younger John Saxon (Nancy's dad in A Nightmare on Elm St) 

Overall, I thought this was pretty cool as something to watch and I'm quite happy to have this one in my collection! 

For more great horror movie reviews be sure to check out http://www.gorenography.com on a regular basis! 

Thanks to the magic of youtube you can see it for yourself!

RESIDENT EVIL (2002)

It surprises me that this movie is actually this old... But come to think of it, it's been a while since I've seen it, so I decided to chuck it back in the DVD player and give it another spin! This is hardly an intellectual experience or a particularly complicated plot (sure there's few twists...) but it is a hell of a good ride and a great excuse to just let go and sit back and watch the colours and explosions happen across the screen.

Milla Jovovich is rather easy on the eyes and the same can be said about co-star Michelle Rodriguez the two of them play rather similar roles to everything else I've seen them in so no real stretching for either of them here. I'm not a big gamer and never played this one so I have no idea how closely this one followed the plot of the game, but as a movie the plot, set in the not too distant future, revolves around an underground research facility owned by mega corporation "Umbrella corp" who have been working on a biological weapon called a "T-Virus" which escapes through the aircon contaminating the research facility and turning everyone in it into zombies. Alice (Milla Jovovich) and team of mercenaries / operatives are charged with figuring out what's going on down there. This of course lends itself to an array of cool zombies, violence, action moves by Milla and toughness from Michelle Rodrigues. The effects are really cool, and there was obviously a fair bit of cash thrown into this one and it shows. Its quite visually spectacular and rather enjoyable! 

This movie was obviously intended to cash in big time at the box office and that it did! The gore content is not too full on so you can watch it with your non gore-obsessed friends but there's enough of it to keep it interesting plus the action is always faced paced and entertaining! 

For more great movie reviews be sure to keep checking http://www.gorenograpy.com on a regular basis!

SLAVE OF THE CANNIBAL GOD (1978)

Another of the fine tradition of Italian Cannibal flicks....This one has all of the usual traits such as nudity, animal cruelty, natural violence and of course cannibalism. I find this one to be one of the more watchable of the genre, it doesn't have the same violent extremity as say Cannibal Holocaust but still weighs in fairly heavily on the depravity scale and would have been rather graphic at the time. This one was one of the earlier films of the genre basically after Man from Deep River (1972).

The film itself revolves around Susan (played by Ursula Andress, the bond girl from Dr No) with her team of trekkers and guides going into Papua New Guinea to find her missing husband, they endure the usual hardships of going into the jungle, evading predatory animals, and the natives whilst witnessing some strange rituals and customs of the indigenous folk of the country. Having Ursula Andress in this film gave this film an air of credibility and nobody is acting above their abilities an there's nothing too corny, and you don't feel like you're watching a  film that is trying to be offensive for the sake of it.

Overall it moved well and I found it quite entertaining and if you're thinking of getting into the cannibal genre this is as good a place as any to start. Definitely worth checking out of you can find a copy of this... If you can't (and its a hard one to find)... here's a streaming version of it …. 

NOTE: My DVD of this isn't that very sharp as far as picture quality goes so I'm not sure if I got a VHS transfer or the film. My DVD is missing some of the footage you may as well watch it here AND this version  to has what is a more complete version with more of the gruesome / explicit content included

For more great horror movie reviews be sure to check out http://www.gorenography.com on a regular basis!

THE OTHERS (2001)

This one falls into the category of 'supernatural thriller', at least that's what I think. The movie follows the trials and tribulations of Grace (played by Nicole Kidman) who lives in a large mansion with her two kids. Her husband is missing after the conclusion of the 2nd world war and the house she is staying in would appear to be haunted. Grace is approached by a housekeeping team who had previously worked at the house.

Things get darker as the children and deeply religious Grace are made aware something is going on in the house. The children have seen things and Grace does not want to believe (or more to the point her religious convictions prevent her from believing) but eventually she comes to the realization that something more than the family and housekeeping has taken residency in the house

Nicole Kidman of course does an exemplary job of acting out her character and the two child actors are marvelous as well. This would not be strictly a horror movie but more a thriller but the acting and plot development make for a gripping tale that is expertly executed by director Alejandro Amenaber (from Spain) who to be honest I'd never heard of before. The film won a raft of awards in his home country and for good reason. The attention to detail and dialogue really puts this a level above most horror movies … and many movies in the mainstream as well.

This is not a typical horror movie  you have to be in a settled frame of mind and be prepared to give it  your full attention and for that you will be well rewarded with a great film! 

For more great movie reviews be sure to check out http://www.gorenography.com on a regular basis! 

BOOGEY MAN

This particular film, I decided to buy for no other reason than Sam Raimi was featured as the producer... I loved his work on the EVIL DEAD and more recently "DRAG ME TO HELL" so thought this one would compare nicely, plus it said "This is the scariest movie - Ever" on the cover.

Don't get me wrong, this is not a bad film at all, and quite a reasonable play on childhood fears... but whoever decided to past the moniker "This is the scariest move - Ever." across the front of the DVD obviously had just suffered a massive head injury. This would qualify as a thriller, but not so much horror, let alone trying to sell it as the scariest movie ever.

The film centers in on young Tim (aged around 6, I believe) who believes his father was abducted by the boogieman and dragged off into the recesses of the closet never to be seen again. (This part was somewhat scary). Then we cut to grown up Tim who as an adult is having trouble coming to grips with the 'disappearance' of his father and goes to visit him mother who has also taken a turn for the worse mentally. Unfortunately she dies before he gets there, Tim then meets a childhood friend at his moms funeral, and then decides to investigate the house he grew up in s a child and meets a young girl named Frannie (who is aslo having 'boogieman' visions) hiding out on the old house. Tims childhood fears play on his mind when he's in the house and begins to see things ….. or is he?

The film itself is well produced at features known actors as Lucy Lawless (Xena warrior princess) and Emily Deschanel (lead on "Bones" TV series) and its really a pretty cool watch, its just not what it says it is on the cover

For more great horror movie reviews and other stuff be sure to check out http://www.gorenography.com on a regular basis!

GAG (2006)

Another one bought on spec.... and unfortunately this one was a bit of a let down... amateurish production, shitty acting (no actors I'd ever seen before or likely to see again)  and a story line that felt really slapped together make this one a little hard to watch.

The only thing this has going for it is the violence depicted in the film. If for some reason you just feel like sitting down and watching a series of atrocities committed by humans to other humans this film has some value. This fits into the genre the movie "Saw" started off (Torture porn) and to be fair takes it to new depths of depravity... In fact they even use "Saw" as reference on the DVD cover but unfortunately for them "Saw" is a quite reasonable movie this is just a sequence of torture interlaced with beyond shit storytelling and abysmal dialogue.

I was able to sit through the film, but past the half way mark I didn't give a crap about the plot and started playing with my phone. The film itself tells the tale of a pair of would be burglars who break into a house hoping to score some loot only to find themselves in the middle of a sick serial killers torture fantasy trying to save other captives of the house. There's a plot and it does have a twist but again the movie just generally to crappy to follow it closely.

If you're in the mood for something like this I'd say watch Saw or Hostel if for some reason you're bored shitless enough to watch this, don't pay more than a couple of dollars for this film, I'm sure you'll find it in a bargain bin sale somewhere.

For more great horror movie reviews be sure to check out http://www.gorenography.com on a regular basis.