Good lesser known 80s horror

If you're in the mood for something different, here are some 80s horror movies that seem lesser known to the general population..


After Midnight (1989)

After midnight is a product of the trend of horror anthologies released in the 80s. While it's not the best anthology made, it's not a bad movie at all. It has 4 segments, if you include the wraparound.

Allison's Story

This is the wraparound segment. We have Allison who is taking a course called 'The Psychology of Fear'. The professor seems off, but also very enthusiastic about his topic. He invites the class to his home for a special lesson. The students start telling scary stories.  Unlike most wraparound segments, this one is actually it's own story and not just filler to lengthen the movie. The end is a little odd, with some not so great effects, but still not bad.

The Old Dark House

Segment one... not much to this one. A couple on an anniversary dinner who's car breaks down by an old abandoned house. They go inside to look for a phone and things get weird. That's all I'm gonna say because I don't want to ruin anything.

A Night On The Town

Four girls having a night out get lost and run out of gas in the bad part of town. They stop at a creepy looking gas station where they run into a scary man... but he's the least of their problems.

All Night Operator

An all night operator for an answering service receives many phone calls from a crazed man obsessed with one of her customers. His obsession continues to grow and things get intense. This is probably the best segment in the movie and definitely could have gotten beefed up for a longer runtime.

Paperhouse (1988)

Until I read about this movie in a blog a few weeks back, I had never heard about it. It was apparently a sleeper hit that was overshadowed and forgotten. Sadly, a lot of good movies get lost in time due to this. This movie is more of a fantasy than a horror movie... however it's not without it's dark and creepy moments. Also, it was directed by Bernard Rose, director of Candyman, one of my favorite movies.

We start with a girl, Anna. She makes a drawing of a house while in school. Later that day, she faints and dreams about the house. She continues to add things to her drawing, including a boy, Mark. As she does this, she continues to faint from time to time and the things she draws end up in the house. The dream however slowly transforms into a nightmare as there seems to be more and more of a connection between Anna and Mark.

This movie is filled with amazing visuals, some of which look like something only Tim Burton could dream up. I highly recommend this one. This movie is awesome.

Forever Evil (1987)

Get out the popcorn and enjoy this cheese fest! After seeing a trailer for this, I had to see it. It just looked so amazingly cheesy... which it is, but it really isn't bad. Despite the cheesy acting and effects it actually has a pretty good story to it.

Marc, his girlfriend, and some friends decide to spend a weekend in a house in the woods. Things get moving pretty quickly for an 80s movie. One by one weird things happen and one by one each person is killed by an evil force leaving Marc the sole survivor.

Marc is suspected of the murder, but due to lack of evidence is let go. He meets a woman, Reggie, who encountered something similar before. They team up to find the cause of these events. 

Turns out it is an ancient God, and they have to find a way to stop it.  Again, as I said, don't watch this for a riveting thriller, academy award nominee, or something that will go down in your top ten, but watch it for the sheer pleasure of 80s cheese at it's best!

Finally.... V/H/S/2

Ok, so I wanted to watch this movie twice before writing my review of it. Just to get a thorough opinion on it. I will say I was very pleased with this movie. It was a very good sequel. Is it better than the first? In some ways yes and in some ways no. First I'll go over the segments.

Tape 56:
This is the wraparound segment. We start off with a private investigator who was called by a woman claiming her son is missing. The detective and his partner go to the son's house and break in to see if they can find anything out. Upon entering the house, they come across a room with a laptop, tv's vcr's and vhs tapes.The one detective looks around the house while the other stays in the main room and begins to watch tapes. The only thing I really enjoyed about this segment was that it went a bit further into the tapes. It is hinted at that there is some sort of black market with collectors of these tapes. There is also a theory that is touched on about a transmission in the analog tapes effecting the brain in some way which plays out later in the story. Unlike the first V/H/S, we get started on the first tape pretty quickly.

Phase 1 Clinical Trials
The first tape/segment in the movie takes a very unique approach to found footage. We have a man who has lost an eye, and has had an experimental bionic eye installed. The catch is, this eye is recording. The doctor tells the man that the eye will be recording for the first couple weeks so that the doctors can analyze the footage and see if everything is going ok. Later that evening the man starts being haunted by dead people. The next day he has a knock on his door, there is a girl who saw him at the doctors office and tracked him down to warn him about his new eye. She tells him that she herself was born deaf and had an implant put
in her ear and now she can hear dead people. She warns him that the more attention he pays to them the more they can affect him. This is my least favorite of the stories, however that doesn't mean it was bad. As I said, I loved this unique approach to found footage.

A Ride In The Park

This segment is a fresh take on a zombie story. We start with a guy riding his bike through the park with a goPro cam on his helmet. He encounters a group of zombies, is bitten, and turns into a zombie himself. We now have, for the first time ever, a zombie story from a zombie's pov. It's not really scary, but it's a very fun segment to watch. It's campy at moments, but still exciting with a strange ending.

Safe Haven

The third segment kicks the entire movie into high gear. Not only is this the best segment in the movie, but it's one of the most intense segments I've ever seen in any anthology. I will warn you, this one was filmed in Indonesia and is mostly subtitled. I know some people have issues with foreign movies, but put that aside for this segment... it's worth it, I promise you.  We start with a film crew interviewing the leader of a cult. They convince him to come to his compound to give the world an unbiased look at his group. Once on the premesis, they are walked through the compound and they begin to interview the leader again. Then, without giving much away, all hell breaks loose.... literally. What starts off as an atmospheric slow burn quickly turns into an intense, violent, and just plain batshit crazy climax. 

Slumber Party Alien Abduction
While this isn't my favorite segment in the movie, it is a close 2nd. This segment is fast paced, intense, and a lot of fun. Also we have another interesting take in this one.
A good portion of this one is filmed from a cam mounted on the family dog. The story in this one is pretty simple. We have 2 brothers and a sister left home alone for the night with some of
their friends. The evening starts out fun with pranks and jokes, but quickly takes a turn when aliens show up.

Overall, I think this was a very good sequel, and even more impressive is the fact that it turned out so well being as rushed as it is. In some ways, it's better than the first. The stories are more beefed up than the first. The thing missing for me tho, this one, while still intense at moments, didn't grip me as much as the first one did. The first one also had a more amatuer feel to it. This one felt a little more polished. I think the amatuer feel of the first one made it feel more realistic and scary. I really hope to see a part 3, and if we do get a part 3, I hope that it delves more into the background of the tapes and/or the effect of the tapes on people.

A Found Footage Horror Idea.....

Abducted
       By Jason Nickey

We start with a group of 5 friends going to a cabin in the woods for a weekend away.
While driving to the cabin they see something odd in the sky, they continue filming it while driving, discussing/debating whether it's a UFO. As they get closer to their destination, they notice that the UFO is getting lower and lower.  They arrive at the cabin and begin bringing their bags in.  The one friend (we'll call him Scott, I haven't thought much on character development yet) goes outside and we see through the camera through the doorway, Scott standing in the middle of the front yard of the cabin looking up. Suddenly we see a bright flash of white light, almost blinding, and Scott disappears. Scott's girlfriend (we'll call her Tessa) runs outside screaming for him, the guy holding the cam (we'll call him Jeff) runs out behind her. The only thing we see is the UFO flying away. They try to call for help, only to see that they have no signal (have to throw that cliche in there). Next they try starting the truck, only to find out that it won't even attempt to turn over (possibly due to an EMP from the ufo which is discussed soon after). They go back into the cabin and lock it up, discussing what to do from here. We go forward about an hour where they hear a strange noise outside, followed by a knock at the door. They open the door to find Scott, standing there naked and disoriented. They bring him in, he gets some clothes on, and begins to tell them the small bits he remembers while he was gone. After talking a while, Scott and  Tessa go to their room in the cabin, and in discussion from their friends, it is implied that they are probably having sex.
Cut to the next morning. Scott and Tessa come out of their room and the friends all start discussing leaving because of what happened. Scott makes it clear that after what he's been through he wants to stay and relax some. While eating breakfast, Jeff notices a small lumo on Scott's arm. After some poking at it, Jeff asks if it may be a tracking device. Jeff places a magnet over the lump and it sticks. Then the magnet starts moving wildly up and down Scott's arm.  They advise Scott to leave and get it checked out but he refuses.
Throughout the course of the day, Scott's behavior slowly changes, acting weird and creepy. That night, 2 of the friends disappear over the course of time. This is unseen to the camera. We are left with Scott, Tessa and Jeff now.  The power in the cabin goes out, so Jeff turns on night vision. Once the NV is on, we see Scott is missing. Jeff goes looking for Scott and Tessa goes with him.  He is nowhere to be found in the cabin, so they venture outside, where in looking they find the body of one of their friends. They quickly run back to the cabin and lock it.  Once inside, Jeff puts Tessa in a closet and tells her to stay there while he looks around. As Jeff is searching the cabin a 2nd time, on his way back into the hallway we see Scott at the doorway, only now his body looks altered and his eyes are strange. Scott lunges at Jeff, the camera falls to the floor and we see Scott ripping Jeff to shreds. Scott walks away, then a few minutes later we see Tessa's feet walking by Jeff's body, she picks up the camera and see's Jeff's body and screams. She goes to run out of the cabin and we see Scott at the front door. He lunges at her, pinning her to the ground. Sniffs her some, we now see his body completely shapeshift into an extra terrestrial being. He takes off out the door.
Cut to the next morning. We have Tessa, with the camera walking through the woods trying to find the main road, when she does, she get's a ride with someone to get help. The screen goes black. We cut to a title screen that reads "9 Months Later" and we see footage of Tessa giving birth in a delivery room.  We hear a doctor say "Here comes the head" and the camera pans over, only to see a look of horror on the doctor's face. We realize what Tessa is giving birth to is not human. A creature emerges from her and chaos ensues in the delivery room. The camera falls to the floor and fade to black.

Learn Your ABC's

I was really anticipating this movie, however, I'm still not sure if I like it as a whole or not. With 26 segments, there are bound to be good and bad one. Let's break it down:


A - I really liked this one, It was definitely different, but in a good way. Great way to start the film
B - Decent, wasn't amazing, good build up, ended kinda flat.
C - I like the twist with the title, kinda reminded me of the movie 'Triangle'
D - One of the better segments. Interesting change up in the last portion.
E - I liked this one mainly because it played on one of my biggest fears.
F - One of the dumbest things I have ever seen.... seriously WTF Japan?
G - Boring and pointless
H - Pointless, but visually stunning
I - Honestly, I didn't get it.
J - Again... really Japan??
K - This one, while pointless, was still a fun watch.
L - This one was crazy.. Really pushed some boundaries.
M - Sick... not in a good way &
N - Kinda funny, but nothing exciting. Seemed more like a commercial.
O - Visually Stunning.
P - Boring, Pointless, crossed a big line for me at the end. &
Q - One of the best in the film... Should have been I is for Irony
R - Wasn't pointless, but wasn't a fan of this one.
S - Seemed like it was going nowhere, then pretty cool twist at the end.
T - Probably the best in the movie. Claymation can still be awesome!
U - This goes right under T for 2nd best, would love to see this played out as a feature.
V - Cool effects, needs feature length. Seemed like too much was crammed into small segment.
W - Different, kinda has the same idea as Q, but Q was better
X - Goriest by far, disturbing ending... Loved it
Y - Interesting, that's all I'm gonna say
Z - Yet again, Japanese nonsense.

One thing I will say, this movie SHOULD be watched. I can guarantee you haven't seen anything like it, and probably never will again.... unless they make a part 2.

Most anticipated of 2013!

So, 2013 is here, a new year with some hopefully good new horror. There are many to come, however here are some of my most anticipated releases.

S-VHS: The sequel to V/H/S. Little is known about this one just yet, only that it will be another anthology of found footage shorts. So far this is the posted plot for the movie 'Searching for a missing student, two private investigators break into his abandoned house and find another collection of mysterious VHS tapes. In viewing the horrific contents of each cassette, they realize there may be terrifying motives behind the student's disappearance.'
Hopefully this sequel will be at least close to as good as part 1. It will be premiering at Sundance on January16th, hopefully VOD release not too long after.

THE ABC's Of Death:  Now this film really has me intrigued. An anthology consisting of 26 segments, each by a different director, each depicting a different cause of death. All of the segments will be in alphabetical order. For instance 'A is for Apocalypse' and 'B is for Bigfoot' etc. There are segments in foreign language, there is an animated segment, and even one in claymation. This movie looks to be a fun trip, and with 26 segments, there are good odds that at least a few will be kick ass!

THE Evil Dead: I'm not normally a fan of remakes, but considering Sam Raimi is not only involved in this one, but he also personally picked out the director, I think we're in store for a remake that does it's original justice. It looks to follow the same basic story, however appears to be more intense... at least the trailer makes it look that way.

Mama: A man and his wife take in his nieces who have been left alone in the forest for 5 years. However over time it appears they may not have been alone. I really hope this movie lives up to it's trailer. 

World War Z  : Based on a novel by the same name, this is a zombie apocalypse story about a UN employee traveling the world to try to stop a zombie epidemic. From reviews I have read on the book this looks to be a great movie, also with Brad Pitt staring, it should be pretty awesome. Anyone who has seen Kalifornia, Fight Club, or Inglorious Basterds know Brad Pitt can play a good bad ass.

 

Amber Alert - A setup for disappointment.

As you may already know, I'm a huge fan of found footage films. I normally only review movies that I like or recommend, however this one was so disappointing that I had to share. When I first heard about this movie, I was really excited to see it, it has a great premise, it was just executed terribly.

So we have a couple, Michael and Samantha who are filming a day in their lives for a reality show audition. Their friend Nathan is filming this for them. While out on the road they see an Amber alert posted and shortly after notice the exact car from the alert in front of them. They decide to follow the car while calling the cops. At one point they follow the car to a gas station where the driver gets out to go into the store. While the driver is away, Samantha goes up to the car and sees a little girl sleeping in the back seat, she knows she doesn't have much time, so she places her microphone into the car through a crack in the window.  When the driver returns and drives away, they continue to follow him until at one point he pulls over and confronts them.

He tells them that he knows they are following him because of the amber alert and that it's nothing to take seriously. He is going through a divorce with a nasty custody battle and his ex-wife called in the alert to get him back. They believe him and drive off. Shortly after they hear the microphone over their radio. They hear the man telling the little girl she isn't going home and to lay down and shut up. Michael and Samantha quickly turn around to find the car, in the process of doing this, they get pulled over, they tell the cop what is going on and he calls it in on the radio. They still proceed to find the man again.

They manage to figure out where the man lives and proceed into his house to rescue the girl. I won't give away anymore on this, but this sounds like a great movie, right? Well, it could have been, except for the fact that despite a few good key points, this movie is basically 90 minutes of Samantha and Michael arguing. Arguing to the point where it gets just about unbearable to watch. At the risk of being a copycat, I would love to see a film maker take this basic premise and execute it properly. In the right hands this could be an epic movie....