THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE (2005)

I have to admit I was very pleasantly surprised with this one... It started off a little slow ..... Much like any exorcism movie I guess.....  but what separates this one from a multitude of  exorcism / possession films that have come before it is that much of it takes place in the court room, so its like cross over exorcism flick meets court room drama, which I find really take on what could have been a very run-of-the-mill exorcism flick.

The movie recounts from the witness stand and the mouth of Father Richard Moore, the catholic priest that conducted the exorcism of Emily Rose,  the events of which could have either been a demonic possession or a psychotic episode depending on which side of the proceedings your sense of logic takes you, which led to the untimely death of young Emily, a university student who'd just started studying after winning a scholarship. The gore levels aren't too high but the movie never looses its focus, it is always interesting and keeps the viewer captivated, this would cross over well with non-horror fans and horror fans alike. The movie is well thought out and its obvious the creators have researched the subject matter (or had a thorough prior knowledge)  in the occult and cases of demonic possession which really makes this feel authentic. I really can't say enough good things about this film.

Some people say the mark of a good movie is to make you believe and in many cases I tend to agree with that. When recounting the events of the Emily Rose trial Fr. Moore's testimony and the films depictions of the events really  do make you question whether or not demonic possession can occur. On side issue I couldn't help but wonder, testimony  involving the supernatural (much less demonic possession) generally wouldn't be taken seriously in any court, yet most western world court rooms are quite happy to have you swear on a bible.

All I can do is tell you to check this movie out for yourself if you can find it on youtube in the 'available to rent' format and I'm sure any  dvd retailer should have it

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WYRMWOOD (2014)

Wyrmwood is an Australian made horror flick. What separates this from the multitude of zombie flicks before it you ask? Well not that much to be honest if you've seen a million zombie flicks before this may not be the ground breaking experience you were hoping for. It is however a pretty cool attempt at injecting a little freshness into what can be a stale genre at times , and while it doesn't add anything ground breakingly new to the genre the zombies have been done really well, and gore effects are top notch, a definite step above many zombie flicks that came before it....

Plot wise it centres around a few unrelated Aussies in the outback who find themselves knee deep in a newly formed zombie apocalypse.......  many gratituous zombie killings follow as the few left alive band together in the hopes of staying staying that way. Pretty standard fare really plot wise but its the classic dialogue moments that could have only come from an Aussie flick that make this stand out... classic one liners from an ocka Aboriginal bloke like "Thats fucked eh?"  and some very casual Australian moments when faced with a zombie holocaust really add an air of Aussie humour to the whole thing.

The actors are unknown to myself but overall its a pretty convincing attempt at a zombie flick and well worth a watch, is it a classic? Nope, not by any stretch but indeed a worth watch and good fun from start to finish. Also good if you have friends around a want to have a few beers, missing the odd moment of this won't ruin the story continuity either and you all may get a few chuckles out of it too

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GRUESOME / SALVAGE (2006)

Hmmm? Luck was not on my side at the flea market today when I bought this one. Initially attracted to the cover and the title of "Gruesome" I held high hopes for a splatter fest of epic proportions... I had a friend over on first attempt to watch it and I have to say it was pretty painful and didn't seem to go anywhere, until he requested I turn it off after which it almost went into the bin. We decided to  watch reality TV cooking shows instead........ :/ not a good sign.

One good thing about the film is that the main starlet is fairly cute in that 'girl next door' kind of way (she reminds me of Marcia from the Brady Bunch a bit) . It was in fact the only thing that kept us watching as long as we did. The film appears to be about a girl who is experiencing lucid nightmares about a guy who is trying to kill her, and in the dreams he manages to catch her again and again as she relives her own horrifying death. The premise of the movie is pretty cool actually and has some definite potential but I have to say it is poorly executed.

On subsequent research the next day it seems that the movie had been getting half decent (but far from good) reviews in some of the other online sources such as wikipedia and imdb (where it is also known as "Salvage") so i decided to give it another shot and see how it went...... for what is worth I do see some small amount of  merit in it, especially since finding out the whole movie only cost $25000 to produce, but sadly on second viewing I fell asleep and woke up in time to see the ending and it just didn't do it for me.

I won't be trying for a third time. Recommended only for those who are bored out of their skulls basically best left as a last resort

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SHOCKER (1989)

Directed in 1989 you know anything with Wes Craven as director is going to be a pretty solid film. Shocker is no exception. Violent killer Horace Pinker has been terrorising the town for a while now and nobody can get a lead on who he is, except high school football player Jonathon who after a series of on field head blows develops an ability (maybe a psychic dream connection) to meet the killer in his dreams and see the brutal crimes for himself.... witnessing the brutal murder of his own family. Jonathon's dream connection to the serial killer allows him to lead the police to Horace and have him captured (in spectacularly violent fashion) and eventually put to the chair.

The main problems is that true evil like Horace doesn't die, and after a black magic ritual conducted in his cell before his execution, neither does Horace's spirit, as a result ...after his physical body is executed Horace's spirit continues inflicting his atrocities in a more supernatural fashion, possessing the bodies of still living to hunt down Jonathon. There's a little more to the plot than that but I'll leave a few surprises for the viewer..... Overall its a really cool flick and the attention to detail is pretty good, especially the way that the hosts infected by Horace have the same gimpy leg that Horace does.

It has a similar feel to another Wes Craven movie, "A Nightmare on Elm St" in many regards and I'd say it would appeal to a similar crowd.  The movie has a deliciously 80's hard rock / heavy metal soundtrack featuring Megadeth, Iggy Pop, and "The dudes of Wrath" featuring hard rock icons Tommy Lee, Paul Stanley, Rudy Szarzo and Vivian Campbell which provided a huge bonus for an old metal head like myself!



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BLACULA (1972)

I didn't go into this one with any great expectations as I'd read about the film being a "blacksploitation" peice of B grade crap........ But I have to say I was pleasantly surprised, not to say that it's a classic, because it definitely isn't, but it is a rather watchable movie and in my humble opinion is worth the time taken to watch it.

The plot focuses in on Mumawale (spelling?) an African prince who travels into Europe with his wife to meet up with Count Dracula to try and convince him to stop the slave trade he his involved in. Dracula does not see any reason to give up his slaves or pay them and the meeting degenerates into a brawl and the Count subsequently turns Mumawale into a vampire while his wife is imprisoned and eventually dies, while Mumawale spends the next 200 years in an undead slumber.

As fate would have it the coffin that housed Mumwale's body is purchased by a couple of american antique hunters and shipped to america (well the 1970's America) where he awakens to find new victims, and persues a young lady who he believes is the re-incarnation of his dead wife from 200 years ago.

Like I said the movie is quite watchable with a low level of horror so pretty much anyone can watch it.... and some very funky 70's style wardrobe which do add to the eye-candy aspect of the film and special attention must be given to the great facial hair that Mumawale grows when the blood lust takes him..... I dare say Samuel Jackson took a leaf out of his book in "Pulp Fiction".

Overall a great spin off on the Dracula Legend and an enjoyable watch

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CLASS OF 1984 (1982)

Ok, this isn't strictly a horror movie as it probably falls in the "film noir" category, but in many ways it is rather horrifying that a school or even society in general can get to a point as depicted in this movie. Whilst it probably seemed a far off or bleak view of the future of education when it was made back in 1982, the sad thing is that it doesn't seem all that far out of the bounds of reality these days.

The film revolves around Andy a young teacher who gets transferred to a new school... where gang violence and drug dealing is rife. At the centre of said violence and mayhem is gang leader "Stegman", a brilliant but perverted and down right evil kid who has the cornered the drug dealing market and has whole school trembling in fear of him and the law too afraid to do anything to a minor. The guy who plays Stegman (Timothy Van Patten) does a brilliant job of bringing the character to life,  the viewer feels nothing but contempt for him and horror in the way that he manipulates a system designed to help and protect high school students. Also notable for one of the first appreance by a very young Michael J Fox who plays the role of one of the kids that get victimised by the gang

Teacher Andy tries his best to sort out the school but instead the school descends into horrific violence and even a student death. Then it ramps up a notch or two as the gang target Andy for sticking his nose into their business. This is quite a violent and dark film with some decent gore when the shit hits the fan towards the end. If you liked films like "Clockwork Orange" or even "Soylent Green"

Not sure how this one went at the box office, as I'm sure it was refused screening in many countries as there is some high impact violence but I wouldn't say its as full on as "A Clockwork Orange" it is however a pretty cool watch and definitely worth any horror movie fan's time to watch!  As an added bonus it has a song by shock rocker Alice Cooper as a major part of the films soundtrack! very cool!

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