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Showing posts from 2020

Zo's Reviews: The Mimic (Jang-san-beom)

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  The Mimic is a horror mystery written and directed by South Korean filmmaker Jung Huh and stars Jung-ah Yum, Hyuk-kwon Park, Jin Heo, and is about a mother of a missing child who takes in a lost girl she finds in the woods, but soon begins to wonder if she is even human. I literally just finished watching this film, and even though I shouted it out on my Twitter feed, I just had to come here to write about it right away. I find myself loving Asian horror lately. Between this, Metamorphosis , and Impetigore , I'm finding that there are some very intriguing and intense films coming out of that region that really need to get more eyes on them. So, let's talk about The Mimic ... As per usual, I won't drop any spoilers, but I will talk about the technical aspects of the film, going over what I liked about it, what I didn't like about it, etc. So, what didn't I like? Well...the main character of the mom was pretty damn annoying. But I suppose if I were a mother dealing ...

Zo's Reviews: The Vast of Night

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  The Vast of Night  is the directorial debut of Andrew Patterson and is a sci-fi/horror thriller about a small town in the 50's where a strange signal is captured by a young switchboard operator and a local radio host. The pair then decide to go investigate the signal and find others who are also being influenced by it. The film stars Sierra McCormick as Fay, the switchboard operator, and Jake Horowitz as Everett, the radio host, and they are phenomenal as they race through this one single night in their small New Mexico town to figure out just what is going on. To begin, I'll say there's nothing really I disliked about this movie. The color gradient looked a bit weird at times, but it wasn't enough to distract me. That's it. That's the bad. Now to rant about the good... The acting in this film is just amazing. Both Sierra McCormick and Jake Horowitz have amazing back and forth and chemistry on film. The way they interacted made me feel like they had known each...

Zo's Reviews: The Hunt

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  The Hunt  is a horror...thriller...comedy...(?) directed by Craig Zobel and is about a group of 12 people who awaken in a field for a specific, violent, and bloody purpose...to be hunted by rich elitists with a bone to pick with them. The film stars Betty Gilpin, Hilary Swank...and a bunch of random people who are there to do nothing more than get blown the f*ck up or bleed to death the end. OK, not really the end...I guess I may as well talk about the elephant in the room so...**SPOILER ALERT** from here on out. This movie was and is one of the most controversial of the year. It got delayed a bunch due to the fact the media attacked it, stating that it was ultra violent and shouldn't exist. To be fair, it was about to come out during a time when there was quite a bit of gun violence going on in the country and would've been released in poor taste...? I dunno, I disagree with what the media were saying. I think the movie, and here's the spoiler part, is a satire of the cu...

Zo's Book Reviews: Survivor Song

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  Holy frikkin shit... Survivor Song  is the latest novel by American author of science fiction, horror, and dark fantasy Paul Tremblay, and follows doctor Ramola Sherman and her best friend Natalie, as Rams helps her friend get to a hospital in time to give birth to her child. But here's the catch...this is all happening during a lock-down of New England, as a rabies-like virus has a strong grip on the entire area, infecting people and animals alike. What we're treated to with this story by Tremblay is something eerily similar to what's going on in America today with the current pandemic. We're seeing lock-downs, we're seeing people panicked and scared, we're seeing people getting sick. The amazing thing of it all is that this isn't straight up horror or just about the outbreak. It's scary, definitely, especially in the times we're living in, but that's all surface. The ways the infected animals and people act is somewhat standard 'zombie...

Zo's Book Reviews: The Traveling Vampire Show

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  So...uh...trigger warning cause this book I'm reviewing is pretty offensive... The Traveling Vampire Show is a novel written by infamous author Richard Laymon. The book follows three 16-year-olds on an idle summer day in 1963. The narrator, Dwight, and his best friends Rusty and Slim (a tomboy), find flyers for an exotic vampire show. They make a journey to a local clearing called Jank's Field in an attempt to sneak a peek at Valeria, who is billed as the world's only living captive vampire, but they are attacked by a dog and separated, leading to a series of misadventures. Meanwhile, Dwight's attractive sister-in-law Lee purchases four tickets from the show's frontman, Julian Stryker. Later that night the group is reunited and attends the titular Vampire Show, where they discover a sinister plot involving the 'vampires'. Speaking on the plot itself, it involves a lot of the sexual awakening of the teens...and it's a lot. Like, it's kind of disturb...

Zo's Reviews: Metamorphosis

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  Holy crap... Metamorphosis (original title Byeonshin ) is a South Korean horror film directed by Kim Hong-Sun and is about a family that move to a new house and town after a tragedy befalls their uncle, a Catholic priest named Joong-Soo (played by Bae Sung-Woo) who participated in a failed exorcism. The family was bullied and forced to move. At their new home, however, strange incidents begin to happen and the Devil himself walks among them, disguising himself as members of the family, and attempts to tear them apart. The only thing the father of the family, Gang-Goo (played by Sung Dong-Il) can do, is turn to Joong-Soo to help him save his family. And...I mean...well...I don't want to spoil it, so you're gonna have to find out... Some parts of this movie did bother me at times. I was treated to a spectacle of slow-burn style horror, which culminated in some of the most disturbing events and visuals I've ever seen from Korean cinema. I cannot describe just how messed up s...

Zo's Reviews: Impetigore

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  Woo…what the heck did I just watch?! (Sorry, Doug ! Go follow him for some awesome content!) Impetigore (original title Perempuan Tanah Jahanam ) is an Indonesian folk-horror film written and directed by Indonesian director Joko Anwar ( Satan’s Slaves ) and stars Tara Basro as Maya, a young girl living in the big city who, after being attacked randomly by a machete-wielding psycho, begins to unravel a mystery about her life and must return to her home village where she will uncover the dark history (and curse) that plague it. With her is her friend Dini, played by Marissa Anita, who thinks she’s the heir to a big fortune and a massive mansion. But things soon begin to unravel the more the friends discover about the curse and the mystery of this village. To begin, I’m going to let everyone know that this was my first Joko Anwar film. I’m unfamiliar with his previous works (which by the way are on Shudder so I have no excuse!) but I hear they’re great. I’m also a little unfami...

Zo's Reviews: HOST

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Wow...it's been a while since I did one of these. Welcome back, dear readers! I've missed you all. So, I've been busy as a senior contributor/editor over at one of my favorite websites ever,  Horror Bound , where I've created a great deal of fiction, made some amazing friends, and haven't really had some time to create one of these reviews lately. Thought I'd change that with my take on a new horror classic that recently hit Shudder , which by the way, if you haven't...seriously consider getting a subscription. It's inexpensive and you get tons of great content. So, without further ado, let's dive into this gem... HOST was directed by Rob Savage, written by the team of Gemma Hurley, Rob Savage and Jed Shepherd, and stars Haley Bishop, Jemma Moore, Emma Louise Webb, Radina Drandova, Caroline Ward, Edward Linard, and Seylan Baxter as a group of friends who hire a medium (Seylan) to perform a seance via a Zoom meeting during the Covid-19 lock-down. Some...

Zo's Reviews: The Turning

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I...what? I mean...huh...? So I just got out of The Turning  and...I guess...it's a movie? There's moving pictures...and dialogue...and people.......I think....? So, where to even begin with this...oh, right... The Turning  was directed by Floria Sigismondi and stars Mackenzie Davis as Kate, a young woman hired to be a tutor? Nanny? Uh...let me check my notes here...ah, a governess (lolwut) at a...big friggin house...to take care of two kids, Flora (Brooklynn Prince) and Miles (Finn Wolfhard). What Kate doesn't know, is that there are sinister (OOOO SCARY!) things happening at this place and...yadda yadda, creepy kids, maybe ghosts, maybe losing her mind, etc etc etc. I don't know guys, I can't take this one seriously, at all. I have to make fun of it, because that's the only entertainment I got out of watching this piece of crap. Let's start with some of the way this movie was put together before I even get into my "why this movie sucks...

Zo's Reviews: The Grudge (2020)

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So because I wrote about this in the past on here, I figured I'd go back to my original blog to talk about this newest entry into this universe. Also, I'm changing my scoring system from a out-of-ten score to an A,B,C score. So, without further ado... The Grudge (2020)  was directed by Nicolas Pesce and stars Andrea Riseborough as a mom and police detective who just moved to a small town in Pennsylvania, and is investigating a murder that has connections to a house, a house where other deaths have occurred and people have reported sinister happenings. Soon after beginning her investigation and stepping into the home, she starts being stalked by the very same malevolent force that has taken so many lives before. Let's start out by saying that this is not a remake or reboot. This movie fits in between 2004 film, and the sequel which came out afterwards, that means it's more like a side-story or a soft sequel. It's also not a very good sequel. I'll flat out...