Sense of Dread

Well y'all, the end of 2018 is finally here! We had a lot of great fun this year, and had a lot of horror movies come out in cinemas, on streaming services, and direct to DVD/Blu-Ray. Some of them were downright chilling, some were made just to entertain and for the viewer to have fun with, and some were done just for a cash grab (I'm looking at you, The Nun). But something we can all agree on, is that the horror genre is not dying, it's not going stale, there are still a ton of original, interesting ideas out there, and there are a ton of films that deserve to be seen. For me, personally, this was the year where independent cinema really grabbed hold of me. There was a lot of very very good indie films that came out in 2018, and a few of them dug deep into my very soul and chilled me to the bone, so expect to see a few indie titles on this list. I couldn't really rank these movies from 1-10, so instead I'll do a mini review of each one with my score for each one. I...

AQUAMAN was directed by James Wan and stars Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson (who also stars in Wan's 'The Conjuring' films), Nicole Kidman, Dolph Lundgren, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Temuera Morrison. Arthur Curry learns that he is the heir to the throne of Atlantis and must return to the underwater kingdom and reclaim his birthright before his half-brother, Oceanmaster, declares all-out war on the surface world and become a hero to both worlds. This is, of course, the follow up to the absolutely terrible Justice League film, and I was kind of wary because of just how bad that one was. I wasn't sure what direction Warner Bros. and DC were going with their film franchises. There was some bright lights that came out of that terrible movie, which I'll probably review some day, and one of those bright lights was Jason Momoa's portrayal of Aquaman. He was funny, charming, and just an all-around badass, so when they announced he'd be t...

You asked for it, and you got it! GREMLINS was directed by legendary filmmaker Joe Dante, written by legendary writer/director Chris Columbus, and stars Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, a young Corey Feldman, and Hoyt Axton. While shopping around Chinatown looking for a gift for his son, a man stumbles across Gizmo, a Mogwai, and buys it for him but leaves 3 very important rules for him: keep out of direct sunlight because it can kill him, do not get him wet not even to drink, do not feed him after midnight...and as you'd expect, all 3 rules get broken within a 20 minute time span! And we have one of the coolest holiday films of all time! Let's get right down to it! So the bad part of this movie...it ends. Nah, I'm kidding. The movie has some editing moments which kind of make me wonder what they were thinking. Also, some parts of the script are confusing. Like (spoilers ahead) why are the cops in this movie so absolutely terrible at their jobs? They see people being att...

SPIDER-MAN - INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE is an animated film directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman and stars the vocal talents of Shameik Moore as Miles Morales, Jake Johnson as Peter Benjamin Parker, Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy, John Mulaney as Spider-Ham, Kimiko Glenn as Peni Parker, Nicolas Cage (OMG!) as Spider-Man Noir, as well as Mahershala Ali, Lily Tomlin, Zoe Kravitz, Liev Schriber, and Chris Pine. And...yes...Stan Lee... Welcome to Brooklyn, where Spider-Man is loved, there are comic books about his real life, there are stores dedicated to selling his merchandise, and he's been New York City's protector for a decade. But when young Miles Morales gets bitten by a radioactive spider, he must come together with heroes from alternate universes to stop all of existence from getting wiped out. And holy cow what an adventure! This film was handled with a lot of care and time, and they really did try to cater to the Spider-Man fans everywhere. Let's d...

So some of you may have noticed on my Twitter feed this weekend, that I had taken it upon myself to sit through a trio of films that are getting the reboot treatment next year. That trilogy is, of course, The Grudge, a film that goes deep into Japanese mythology and superstition. The Grudge describes a curse that is born when someone dies in the grip of a powerful rage or extreme sorrow. The curse is an entity created where the person died. Those who encounter this supernatural force die, and the curse is reborn repeatedly, passed from victim to victim in an endless, growing chain of horror... The Grudge (part 1)  was directed by Ju-On (of which The Grudge is adapted) director Takashi Shimizu and stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jason Behr, and Clea Duvall, and is about an American nurse living and working in Tokyo who is exposed to a mysterious supernatural curse, one that locks a person in a powerful rage before claiming their life and spreading to another victim. This fil...

So earlier today (12/7/2018) we got a glimpse, and FINALLY a title, for Avengers 4 aka Avengers - Endgame, and I thought 'hey, why not re-examine and review Avengers - Infinity War?' So here's my review on my favorite of the Avengers trilogy of films, and this goes without saying...but there will be major spoilers throughout. You've been warned! AVENGERS - INFINITY WAR was directed by Anthony and Joe Russo (who also directed Captain America - The Winter Soldier...my favorite of all of the MCU films...and Captain America - Civil War) and stars Robert Downey Jr., Tom Holland, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Don Cheadle, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesal, Karen Gillen, Elizabeth Olsen, Josh Brolin, Chadwick Boseman, Tom Hiddleston, Paul Bettany, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Idris Elba, Pom Klementieff, Peter Dinklage, Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow, Benicio Del Toro, Letitia Wright, and Stan ...

There are no words I can use to describe just how terrible I felt after reading this story. It's been a long time now, but I am experiencing a very similar unknown force as the one that's been plaguing me since childhood. It's been well known now, that the demonic attempt to break us, to oppress us, to force us to give up our souls willingly, to steal our very lives from us. That is something that has happened to me before, but nothing as utterly terrifying as this. Nothing as horrible as what happened to a very good friend of mine. Without further ado, prepare yourself for this true story...of the thing with those damn red eyes... " It was cold as shit, and I was bored. My mind was wandering, like usual, and something used that opportunity to work its way into my brain. I remember that I was with my Grandpa and my Father. We were 5 feet into the ground, huddled next to a propane heater and looking through the branches that covered our duck blind. It was cold as s...

Jeremy's Journal November 21st, 2018 I did it again. I killed someone. These dreams...I'm starting to think they're not dreams. I can...taste it...the metallic flavor of blood. It's not a dream. It's not a nightmare. It's real. Everything I've...he's...done. The...whatever it is that's inside me...he whispers to me at night. He promises that this Father of his will give us things, make us powerful. He says there are others out there like me, who are doing His work. I have no idea who He is or what is inside me, but I know I want it out of me. I can't keep killing people. The other night, he spoke to me. When I finally took back control...or maybe he let me take back control. I gotta figure out what this thing is, or else how can I fight it? How can I take back my life? I saw a news report...young girl...shit, she was from my dorm...I know her smell...I know her taste...I know her...blood...I can still taste it on my lips. I drank from...

BLOOD RAGE  was directed by John Grissmer, written by Bruce Rubin, and stars Louise Lasser, Mark Soper (and Mark Soper), Julie Gordon. As kids, Todd is institutionalized for a murder whilst his twin goes free. 10 years later, on Thanksgiving, Todd escapes and a killing spree begins in his neighborhood. But since Todd and Terry are twins...it's hard to know which is which, which is the killer, and which is the innocent brother (spoiler alert: you find out in the first 4 minutes). If you thought your arguments at the dinner table on Thanksgiving were killer...you ain't seen nothin' yet! Blood Rage is here, it's on Shudder, and it's absolutely bananas! This isn't one of those feel good, happy ending holiday films. It's definitely a messy, cheesy, stupid, insanely bloody, and ridiculously over-the-top slasher films. I'm not even going to go into the bad, because this entire film is definitely BAD! The acting is almost tragically bad, the editing (if yo...

Jeremy's Journal November 15th, 2018 Blood...so warm, so precious. Something I cannot live without. I must see it, I must use it, I must...release it. Watching it flow from the bodies of men, women, children...it excites me. I collect it, you see. I bathe in it. My Father, being the Old One and wisest of us all, taught us to respect the blood, to never let it go to waste. Blood...it soothes us, it makes our flesh strong...and it's needed to fulfill our duties to our Father. See, I say we, our, us...because there is more than the One. We are the many. We may look like some fragile brat...but deep within? Within, we have true power. The blood? Our fuel that keeps us going. I don't drink it, I'm not a vampire, those don't exist except in superstitions and myths from some Eastern European nation, although I have visited there before and I must admit, I prefer the victims there. A certain naivety amongst the population. They bare witness to what I've done, a...

CHILDREN OF THE CORN was directed by Fritz Kiersch, based on a short story by Stephen King, and was written by George Goldsmith, starring Peter Horton, Linda Hamilton, and R.G. Armstrong, and is about a young couple who become trapped in a remote town in Nebraska where a dangerous religious cult of children believe everyone over the age of 18 must be killed and sacrificed to a Higher Power that may or may not be, God. So...I admit...I watched this once before as a kid, on Halloween (as most kids do). It was on TV and was edited for television (meaning all the blood and gore was taken out...not like there was much to begin with). I own it on Blu-Ray (and digital) and decided for this series on 80's horror, I'd watch it and review it and...I...I really do regret that decision. As always, I start with the things I disliked, of which there are many...For starters, the acting is absolutely atrocious (I frikkin HATED Malachi...that was one kid I wished would just shut up and di...

VIDEODROME was written and directed by legendary Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg, also known as the master of body horror, and stars James Woods, Debbie Harry, and Sonja Smits. When TV executive Max Renn acquires a different kind of show for his sleazy cable-TV channel that specializes in sex, violence, and any other kind of depravity you can think of. As he delves into the show that he acquires, Videodrome, he begins to see his life and the future of media spin completely out of control, as he starts to hallucinate, see things that are and then aren't there, and becomes an unwilling assassin for a secret organization hell-bent on controlling our very thoughts. There really isn't much I can say badly of this movie, except maybe that it was a bit unsettling, the body horror using incredibly well done practical effects, that will probably turn off a lot of audiences. James Woods is incredible in the film, and that's it. The rest of the cast is kind of just there? No...

POLTERGEIST was written by Stephen Spielberg, directed by Tobe Hooper, and stars JoBeth Williams, Heather O'Rourke, and Craig T. Nelson. A young family are visited by ghosts in their home. At first the ghosts appear friendly, moving objects around the house to the amusement of everyone, then they turn nasty and start to terrorize the family before they take the youngest daughter. This film is a classic ghost story and one of those movies that I find constantly on my Halloween lists every year. It's got everything you could ask for, a spooky house, a great cast, and some very interesting special effects. The film has a few things I have issue with, primarily the fact that it goes from very tame to downright terrifying. It's something that's plastered all over the film. You have these two huge creative minds in Spielberg and Hooper going up against one another, and you can definitely tell which scenes were crafted by Spielberg, and which by Hooper. Personally, I wan...

Have you ever had a nightmare or a dream that felt so real, that you couldn't tell if you were awake or still caught in that dream? Has it ever happened where, a day or so after you had that nightmare or dream, that it happened for real? My good friend Joshua Pond (@JoshPond10 on Twitter) has submitted to me some of these dreams that have both terrified and have come to pass. I'm not saying that these things are supernatural in nature, but they most definitely are hard to say they're not. Today...we explore this phenomenon. Let's get right to it. "Dreams...This hasn't happened too often, but a few times I have had dreams that all into the category of ‘things that I can’t deny, but can’t explain.’ Four times I have had incredibly vivid, lucid dreams, about something very odd that turns out to be either what you’d call prophetic or somehow tapping into events happening at the same time as the dreaming. I don’t dream, or, rather, I never remember dreaming. Ev...

OVERLORD was written by Billy Ray and Mark L. Smith, directed by Julius Avery, and stars Jovan Adepo, Wyatt Russell (yes, son of Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn), and Mathilde Ollivier. On the eve of D-Day, American paratroopers are dropped behind enemy lines to carry out a mission crucial to the invasion's success. But as they approach their target, they begin to realize there is more going on in this Nazi-occupied village than a simple military operation. They find themselves fighting against supernatural forces, part of a Nazi experiment. And hot diggity dang what a movie! This review may be short because...as hard as I could try, I did not find anything wrong with it. Not one thing. Maybe the length because I didn't want it to end? I saw the trailers a while ago at a screening for another movie, then read the press-releases that this was going to be a Cloverfield film, and then they said it wasn't (which was confusing the heck out of everyone everywhere) and what did w...

AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON was written and directed by legendary master of horror John Landis and stars David Naughton, Griffin Dunne, and Jenny Agutter and is about two American college students who are backpacking through Britain and are attacked by a werewolf. One is killed, the other is mauled. The werewolf is killed but reverts to its human form, and the local townspeople are unwilling to acknowledge its existence. The surviving student begins to have nightmares of hunting on four feet at first but then finds that his friend and other recent victims appear to him, demanding that he commit suicide to release them from their curse, being trapped between worlds because of their unnatural deaths. Soon, the surviving student begins to transform, the curse of the werewolf being passed on to him... I first saw this film back in the early 90's on VHS, my aunt being a huge horror film fan, and she kind of forced me to watch it with her. Of course, me being the curious type, i...

THE SHINING  was directed by Stanley Kubrick based on a the novel by Stephen King, and was written by Stanley Kubrick and Diane Johnson. The film stars Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, and Danny Lloyd as a family who head to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil spiritual presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future. Let's begin with saying that this is a classic tale of horror, one that has terrified audiences for years. The Stephen King novel is one of my favorites and is downright chilling. The film, however, took some liberties, Kubrick putting his own touches, creating his own vision for the movie. Despite all that, this film is labeled as a classic. So let's get to it... To begin, let's talk about the things I dislike about the movie. The dialogue at the beginning of the film is downright cheesy to listen to. The back and forth between the characters was really hard to watch, ...

SUSPIRIA  was written by David Kajganich based on characters created by Dario Argento and Daria Nicolodi and was directed by Luca Guadagnino. The film stars Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton, and Mia Goth and is about a darkness that swirls at the center of a world-renowned dance company, one that will engulf the artistic director, an ambitious young dancer, and a grieving psychotherapist. Some will succumb to the nightmare. Others will finally wake up. The film itself is being released to limited audiences and I was lucky enough to be a part of a Halloween special screening at my local Alamo Drafthouse. Let me start by saying that it was a very weird night. The entire day leading up to the screening, I had a weird feeling. Sure, I might just be paranoid or something, and yes it was on Halloween night, but the things that happened during and after the film kind of freaked me and the others that were there out. For starters, just before a very freaky scene happened, t...