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...