Slither (2006)

My Rating : 2/5 STARS

Slither is an edgy blend of heart-stopping terror, wry humor and surprising humanity from genre-bending screenwriter James Gunn, whose Dawn of the Dead became one of 2004’s most surprising… Slither is an edgy blend of heart-stopping terror, wry humor and surprising humanity from genre-bending screenwriter James Gunn, whose Dawn of the Dead became one of 2004’s most surprising hits. The sleepy town of Wheelsy could be any small town in America – somewhat quaint and gentle, peopled with friendly folks who mind their own business. But just beneath the surface charm, something unnamed and evil has arrived…and is growing. No one seems to notice as telephone poles become clogged with missing pet flyers, or when one of the town’s richest citizens, Grant Grant (Michael Rooker), begins to act strangely.

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But when farmers’ livestock turn up horribly mutilated and a young women goes missing, Sheriff Bill Pardy (Nathan Fillion) and his team, aided by Grant’s wife Starla (Elizabeth Banks), uncover the dark force laying siege to their town… and come face-to-face with an older-than-time organism intent on absorbing and devouring all life on Earth. Slither is the feature film directing debut of screenwriter James Gunn (the recent hit re-envisioning of Dawn of the Dead) and stars Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks, Gregg Henry and Michael Rooker. It is also written by Gunn. Slither – a Universal Pictures and Gold Circle Films presentation of a Strike Entertainment Production – is produced by Paul Brooks and Eric Newman.

While She Was Out (2008)

My Rating : ****

MovieStudio Quote >> “Thrilling and Spine Chilling Hunting Adventure”

Kim Basinger proves she’s worthy of her L.A. CONFIDENTIAL Oscar with this nailbiter of a thriller. The actress stars as a wife and mother who is abused by her husband (Craig Sheffer), as her young… Kim Basinger proves she’s worthy of her L.A. CONFIDENTIAL Oscar with this nailbiter of a thriller. The actress stars as a wife and mother who is abused by her husband (Craig Sheffer), as her young children look on.

While She Was Out

But when she is faced with a life-or-death situation, the woman ably steps up to the plate and shows that she may not be a victim. After giving a nice performance in BRICK, Lukas Haas continues his trend of playing creepy villains.

Silent Hill (2006)

My Rating : ***.5

It’s always been said that a video game cannot be successfully adapted into a film. With SILENT HILL, director Christophe Gans (BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF) and screenwriter Roger Avary (KILLING ZOE) have the benefit of the atmospheric and… It’s always been said that a video game cannot be successfully adapted into a film. With SILENT HILL, director Christophe Gans (BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF) and screenwriter Roger Avary (KILLING ZOE) have the benefit of the atmospheric and often terrifying game series of the same name. With a budget reportedly in excess of $50 million, they wisely eschew dense plot in favor of a kaleidoscopic nightmare–culled from several volumes of the game series–designed to give horror fans what they crave.

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Radha Mitchell (PITCH BLACK) stars as Rose Da Silva, a young mother whose adopted daughter Sharon speaks of the eponymous West Virginia mining town as she sleepwalks. Rose decides to take Sharon there in an attempt to discover why it haunts her dreams–but Silent Hill has been a ghost town since a series of underground coal fires in 1974, and the residents who stayed behind are the stuff of nightmares. SILENT HILL is notable for having a largely female cast (the male characters were reportedly added at the studio’s behest), with Mitchell, Deborah Kara Unger, Alice Krige, and Laurie Holden in the principal roles.

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But the film’s real star is production designer Carol Spier (known for her frequent work with David Cronenberg), whose work makes the deserted town into a true vision of hell. Utilizing an effective combination of CGI and latex makeup effects, several of the creatures on display may upset more sensitive viewers, as will some of the carnage, which is strong for an R rating. On the other hand, seasoned horror fans and gamers who have been waiting to see a joystick-free version of SILENT HILL are likely to come away feeling like they’ve just taken a nightmare vacation to the spookiest town in America.

Underground (2007)

My Rating: ***

An illegal underground tournament offering a big money cash prize pits twelve fighters against each other in brutal no-holds-barred fights. The competitors are each skilled in a different fighting style – from boxing to Wushu, wrestling to mixed martial arts – and each has their own reasons for taking part.

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Observing the event is a group of businessmen and high-stakes gamblers, each of whom chooses two of the fighters as their own before deciding which fighters will face each other in each round. The loser of each round is out of the competition – whether they walk or are carried out…

P2 (2007)

My Rating : ****

MovieStudio Quote >> “This will make you forget parking in P2!”

Most people who have been alone in a parking garage have probably felt vulnerable to an attacker amidst the silence of the cold concrete walls, but what would you do if your assailant were the attendant? That’s the question posed by P2, which fits into that sub-genre of thrillers that unfold in one primary location (think Mario Bava’s KIDNAPPED, PHONE BOOTH, or WIND CHILL).

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The script, co-written by Alexandre Aja (THE HILLS HAVE EYES, HIGH TENSION), Franck Khalfoun, and Gregory Levasseur, offers a basic cat-and-mouse tale with a couple of jolts of bone-rattling gore. It’s Christmas Eve, and young New York executive Angela (Rachel Nichols) is the last to leave her office before heading to New Jersey for a holiday with the family. Already late, she is dismayed to find that her car won’t start. The handsome, seemingly helpful garage attendant, Thomas (Wes Bentley), checks out the car for her, but to no avail.

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The next thing she knows, Angela wakes up in the garage office in a dress, chained to a chair, with a Christmas dinner laid out before her. Thomas has been watching her for a long time, and with everyone else gone for Christmas, he finally has her alone. Angela will have to fight with everything she has to make it through to Christmas morning. Under the first-time direction of co-screenwriter Khalfoun, P2 is a solid thriller that delivers ample action, despite being an amped-up two-person stage play.

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Nichols is an appealing heroine in a physically demanding role, while Bentley’s wacko Thomas never veers into cartoonishness. This isn’t one for the SAW crowd, though the two brief moments of splatter are certainly of that gross-out caliber. Vintage Christmas songs are also used to strong effect.

The Hills Have Eyes II (2007)

My Rating : ****

MovieStudio Quote >> “Every second gives me a grip! – Horror redefined”

After a group of hapless National Guard troops fails a training exercise, their commanding officer (Flex Alexander, SNAKES ON A PLANE) orders them to deliver supplies to some scientists in Yuma Flats, New Mexico.

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The mutants from the first film (the unfortunate victims who live on nuclear testing ground) have returned to terrorize a group of Department of Defense researchers. The unlucky soldiers happen upon the remains of their camp (and its denizens), and the horrors begin.

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The inbred family of cannibals stalks the soldiers and picks them off, one by one, in gruesome fashion. Alejandre Aja (HIGH TENSION) directed the 2006 remake, but this sequel replaces Aja with Martin Weisz, whose first feature, ROHTENBERG, was banned in his native Germany. Written by genre master Wes Craven and his son Jonathan, THE HILLS HAVE EYES II is a sequel to the remake of Craven’s original 1977 film.

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It’s no coincidence that Craven changed this sequel’s victims from a band of motorcyclists to a group of unlucky soldiers, giving the film political undertones. For a brief moment, this film addresses the idea that war may be the worst kind of horror, even when it’s judged against mutant cannibals.

The Hitcher (2007)

My Rating: ****

MovieStudio Quote >> “Thrilling, Killing and Grilling all the way!”

Music video director Dave Meyers’s debut film is an updated version of the 1986 shocker of the same name, featuring Sean Bean (THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy) in the title role of a chillingly sadistic hitchhiker. Twenty-something couple… Music video director Dave Meyers’s debut film is an updated version of the 1986 shocker of the same name, featuring Sean Bean (THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy) in the title role of a chillingly sadistic hitchhiker. Twenty-something couple Grace (a mini-skirted Sophia Bush from ONE TREE HILL) and Jim (Zachary Knighton) embark on a road trip across the American Southwest to meet up with Grace’s friends on vacation. Things get off to a bad start when they almost run over a hitchhiker in the middle of a rainstorm, and then leave him to fend for himself.

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When they later run into the man who calls himself John Ryder (Bean), at a gas station, their consciences get the best of them, and they agree to give him a ride to the next town. The couple’s passenger quickly turns on his hosts, and although they manage to escape, he follows them and makes their lives a living hell. Soon, Grace and Jim find themselves framed for John Ryder’s vicious crimes, and they are on the run from both the authorities and the Hitcher, of whose existence no one but they are aware.

the hitcher

As their flight gets increasingly desperate and the Hitcher’s methods of torture more brutal, Grace and Jim struggle desperately to discern what the man wants, and why he has chosen them. The film benefits from its beautiful, desolate desert setting, as it highlights the solitude and desperation of the couple’s situation. Despite a few problems of plausibility and the frequent foolishness of the protagonists–of which horror fans are well-accustomed–THE HITCHER delivers fright in all the right places, as well as beautiful women and plenty of gore.

Borderland (2007)

My Rating : ***.5

When three Texas University students travel to a Mexican border town on the eve of their graduation, the last thing they expect is to face their own deaths. Without warning, they fall prey to an ancient blood cult hellbent on finding… When three Texas University students travel to a Mexican border town on the eve of their graduation, the last thing they expect is to face their own deaths.

borderland

Without warning, they fall prey to an ancient blood cult hellbent on finding candidates for human sacrifice.

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Based on true events, Borderland tells a story which blends the raw fear of Texas Chainsaw Massacre with the stark reality of In Cold Blood, evoking a world soaked in paranoia, fear, and dread.

Saw V (2008)

My Rating : ****

MovieStudio Quote >> “You surely won’t believe how it ends!”

Continuing on with its story despite the death of namesake killer Jigsaw in the third installment, SAW V concerns itself with detailing who will carry on with his bloody work. Director David Hackl, the production designer on the previous three films, retains their familiar charnel house look.

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Though there are fewer grisly death sequences, faithful viewers will enjoy the creative plot twists. The film opens with a man strapped to a table above a pendulum. As the sharp blade begins swinging over his stomach, he has only a minute to stop it by inserting his hands into a device that will crush them. When the machine malfunctions, it’s clear that it wasn’t the work of the meticulous Jigsaw. Meanwhile, FBI Agent Strahm (Scott Patterson) continues the investigation he began in the previous film, only to wake up to find himself wearing a glass helmet filled with water.

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With a minimum of self-mutilation, he escapes and continues his investigation with the hunch that Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) is somehow involved in the new rash of killings. Before long, a new group of strangers wakes up in Jigsaw’s lair to face a series of brutal tests, and Jigsaw’s ex-wife, Jill, is given a mysterious box at the execution of his will. An enormously popular and critic-proof series, SAW gives its fans what they want–creatively executed blood and guts. The fifth installment in as many years, SAW V is more subdued in that department, but the sequences it does contain deliver the goods. Several lengthy flashbacks also allow Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) to make a few appearances. While SAW V isn’t the place for beginners to start, those who have stuck with the story this far will find it a fitting entry, happy that SAW VI is just around the bend.

Return to House on Haunted Hill (2007)

My Rating : ***

Sarah Wolfe, the only remaining survivor of the horrific Vanacutt Mansion massacre, has recently committed suicide–or so it seems.

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Now it’s up to her sister to find out what’s really going on in this gruesome, ghost-filled horror flick.

return to house on haunted hill