REPO: THE GENETIC OPERA

Hands-down the best film of 2008 (and boasting one of the all-time greatest soundtracks), Repo: The Genetic Opera is a relentlessly original “horror” movie with 99% of its dialog delivered in an operatic fashion laced with heavy gothic undertones. Steampunk styles mixed with mind-blowing set designs make for an extremely effective and unforgettable movie watching experience. The thoroughly-engrossing story concerns Shilo (Alexa Vega – Spy Kids), a young girl with a rare blood disease who is secluded from the outside world by her overprotective father (Anthony Stewart Head – Buffy the Vampire Slayer). What Shilo doesn’t know is that her “perfect” dad is actually a contracted killer who repossesses organs from various victims who default on...

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CANDYMAN: FAREWELL TO THE FLESH

1992 saw the release of a brand-new genre classic unlike any horror film before. That movie was Candyman, a classy, effective entry into the overly-saturated market of mediocre and highly-forgettable fright flicks. It was a new era for the horror film – disturbingly realistic violence, original story, solid performances, and a haunting musical score all presented in an operatic manner that could not be easily dismissed by critics as “just another slasher film”. In fact, the reviews were anything but bad. Candyman was here. And it was good. Three years later (which, in “horror sequel” world is an eternity), the hook-handed killer returned for an exceedingly well-made follow-up to the stylized original. Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh continues...

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HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES

Filmed in 2000 and shelved for three years due to NC-17 rating concerns and being dropped by BOTH Universal and MGM studios after they saw the finished movie (and later picked up by Lionsgate, home of Saw – go figure!), rocker Rob Zombie’s directorial debut, House of 1,000 Corpses, is an all-out assault on the senses and good taste. It’s disjointed. It’s sick. It’s depraved. It’s disturbing. And it’s fantastic. The story concerns a group of four friends who are traveling the country backroads in search of serial killers and other local legends – most notably, the one of a sadistic madman known as “Dr. Satan”. When they stop at an intriguingly weird gas station/circus sideshow hybrid, they unknowingly step into a world of murder, cannibalism,...

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WOLFEN

Veteran director Michael Wadleigh delivers a heavy-handed horror film about the consequences of man’s encroachment on nature and society in probably one of the finest examples of a great “werewolf” movie to ever hit the screen. Released in 1981 (the same year as the wildly-popular werewolf movies An American Werewolf in London and The Howling), Wolfen is one of those rare horror films from the 80’s that showcases great skill – both in front of and behind the camera. Albert Finney, Diane Venora, Edward James Olmos, and Gregory Hines star as members of the NYPD embroiled in a gory murder mystery surrounding the death of a successful architect, his wife, and their chauffeur. At first, the murders appear to be the work of a ritualistic killer,...

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SILENT SCREAM

This odd horror film is neither scary nor bloody but, rather, a fairly entertaining thriller that was released in 1979 (which, by the way, was a GREAT year for horror movies). While Silent Scream is undoubtedly a “bargain-basement” cheapie, the story is actually pretty solid. Four college students rent rooms at an old mansion run by a creepy family with some dark secrets of their own. When the teenagers start showing up dead, two detectives set out to uncover the mystery. Although the ending is a bit of a letdown, the journey getting there is actually pretty entertaining. The film is competently made and its entertainment value has not waned over the years (remarkably, it has aged extremely well). However, it does seem to suffer from an ending...

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CHOPPING MALL

1986 was a great year for cheesy horror films. The “slasher” craze was at the top of its game and new horror movies were being cranked out almost weekly - either as “straight-to-video” releases or to cinemas in a very select amount of theaters. Many of these films got lost in the endless parade of new titles and often served no other purpose than to help fill up shelves at the local mom & pop video store. Some were bad, some were good, but all managed to find some type of an audience. To me, one gem stood out in particular and, while overlooked and forgotten about for many years, is now poised to find a new audience thanks to its recent debut on DVD which can finally replace the long out-of-print VHS copies that are scarcely available....

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INSIDIOUS

Over the years, I’ve seen literally hundreds of “haunted house”-themed horror films. Many were lackluster (Paranormal Activity), many were decent (The Amityville Horror), and many were actually quite good (Burnt Offerings). Regardless of how good and/or original they were, they always managed to pale in comparison to the seminal ghost film, Poltergeist – that is until I saw Insidious. This tense, believable and well-researched horror film may have de-throned the Steven Spielberg-produced/Tobe Hooper-directed fright flick as the “greatest haunted house film”. A very impressive feat considering that its creators James Wan & Leigh Whannell (the talented creators of Saw and the criminally overlooked Dead Silence) managed to outdo one of the...

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