Shameless Promotion and Self-Promotion UPDATE

Just yesterday (27.01) the wonderful "TROLL 2" facebook-page posted a link to my review of "BEST WORST MOVIE". Well, thank you guys!

 

btw: if you want to add me on facebook... go ahead!

---- UPDATE 31.01. ----

Now they've posted my Best/Worst List too! Thanx again, guys.

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DETOUR

DETOUR

Alternate Titles:
Hell's Highway / Cannibal Detour: Hell's Highway

German Title:
Hell's Highway - Der Tod lauert in der Wüste

USA, 2003
Director: Steve Taylor

3/10

"Detour" is simply a poor imitation of Wes Craven's "The Hills Have Eyes", 

no more, no less. The plot is stale and formulaic, the script is badly paced and every single characters is annoying as hell (especially that guy who looks and acts like some kinda retarded Vanilla Ice). It's never really thrilling or atmospheric, there's nothing special about the soundtrack or the camera work and it's painfully packed with dull backwoods-horror stereotypes (no mobile reception, something on the street causing a crash, a weird gas station attendant...).

Fortunately, there are lots of gruesome and gory kills (especialy the fabulous opening scene), a few atmospheric scenes and a couple of quite funny dialogue lines - but other than that it's just forgettable nonsense.

Imdb

LET SLEEPING CORPSES LIE

LET SLEEPING CORPSES LIE

Original Title:
Non si deve profanare il sonno dei morti

Alternate Titles:
The Living Dead At The Manchester Morgue / The Living Dead / Don't Open The Window

German Titles:
Das Leichenhaus der lebenden Toten / Invasion der Zombies

Spain / Italy, 1974
Director: Jorge Grau

7/10

A quite unique and impressive but overlooked 70s zombie movie.

I have some issues with the plot which is quite silly and there are also a few scenes which are a bit too tedious - apart from that I totally liked it. It's packed with loads of terrific suspense and absolutely amazing atmosphere, the camera work is pretty fabulous and the settings are all brilliantly chosen (beautiful countryside, awesome-looking cemeteries and crypts...). 

The zombie scenes are all excellent: sinister and creepy, gory but never over-the-top. The look and the movements of the undead are great, and it's just amazing to see them breaking doors with tombstones and grave crosses.

Furthermore: the acting is solid, the bizarre soundtrack with all the moaning and breathing noises is extremely fitting, the script is superbly written (nice plot twists, an outstanding ending...) and, last but no least, it contains one of the most amusing inspectors I've ever seen, constantly delivering hilarious one-liners like "I wish the dead come back to life you bastard, so then I could kill you again.", "Button up, man. You're wearing a uniform, not a pair of pyjamas." or "You're all the same the lot of you, with your long hair and your faggot clothes.".

Highly recommended to fans of flicks like "Grapes Of Death", "Beyond The Darkness" and "Night Of The Living Dead".

Wiki ~ Imdb

SNOOP DOGG'S HOOD OF HORROR

SNOOP DOGG'S HOOD OF HORROR

Alternate Title:
Hood Of Horror

USA, 2006
Director: Stacy Title

2/10

Please, don't ask me why I had the need to watch this because I really don't know. For whatever reason I expected this to be a somewhat enjoyable cheesefest... well, hindsight is always 20/20.

"Hood Of Horror" is a lame and boring HipHop/Horror anthology flick, unfunny, unsuspenseful and uninteresting. All 3 stories are totally unoriginal and predictable, the animated fill-ins are unnecessary and Snoop Dogg's in-between narrations are just dumb, mainly because Snoop sucks at acting.

The rest of the cast is not an awful lot better: nearly everyone in this mess delivers a dull or bad performance. Besides, camera work and lighting are quite dilletante, all the cliché-ridden gangsta shit is almost unbearable and most of the hiphop music is rather flat.

At least some of the kills are cool (death by beer bottle, death by caviar...) and I pretty much like Danny Trejo's cameo - but aside from that it is just unwatchable rubbish.

Wiki ~ Imdb
Horrorfest 2006

BLACK SWAN

BLACK SWAN

USA, 2010
Director: Darren Aronofsky

9/10

The only flaw about "Black Swan" is the fact that its plot is too similar to Michael Haneke's brilliant adaptation of Elfriede Jelinek's brilliant novel "The Piano Teacher" - apart from that it's just amazing.

It's an impressive and rousing psycho-horror-drama, excellently written, paced and filmed, and reminiscent to the works of Polanski, Haneke, Kubrick & Argento.

Visually it's absolutely magnificent: awesome camera work, loads of wonderful shots, camera angles and tracking shots, loads of cool and sinister settings. The score is also top notch: a perfect blend of the haunting music of Clint Mansell and Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake".

However, the best thing about "Black Swan" is the acting: Natalie Portman's oscarworthy performance is so stunningly intense and mindblowing, it almost knocked me outta my seat. Furthermore, there are some top notch performances from Vincent Cassel (great as always), Mila Kunis (a huge surprise), Barbara Hershey (very believable) and Winona Ryder (cool).

In addition, I have to mention various things which are just adorable: Aronofsky's uber-brilliant direction, the fantastic erotic scenes, all the creepy, brutal and disturbing stuff, and the mega-outstanding grand finale.

Believe the hype: this movie is great!

Wiki ~ Imdb

EARTH VS. THE SPIDER

EARTH VS. THE SPIDER

(the original title was 'Earth vs. The Spider' but the film company finally changed it into 'The Spider'. However, the original 'Earth...'-screen-title was never changed.)

Alternate Titles:
The Spider / Vengeance Of The Black Spider / Earth vs. The Giant Spider

German Title:
Die Rache der schwarzen Spinne / Die Spinne

USA, 1958
Director: Bert I. Gordon

3,5/10

A tacky and super-silly "Tarantula" rip-off from the master of shoddiness Bert I. Gordon, the man who's also responsible for disasters like "Food Of The Gods" or "Empire Of The Ants".

The story is quasi non-existent: a giant spider goes apehsit and attacks a small American town until it finally gets electrocuted - that's it. We don't get to know why the creature is so large, where it comes from and why it's able to scream and growl. The special effects are horrendous: the spider's web is obviously a rope net, the bodies and skeletons in the cave all look extremely cheap, and the spider constantly seems to change its size. The acting is mostly lame, the dialogue is simply dumb and I totally hate the fact that they repeatedly refer spiders to insects, which is absolutely wrong!

Still, there are at least a few really entertaining scenes: the spider attacks which are all fun, the surprising opening kill, the hilarious scene where the spider gets re-awakened by a rock'n'roll band and the outrageous scene where the sheriff kills a normal-sized spider in his office (made me ROFL).

50s trash at its best/worst.

Wiki ~ Imdb

THE ALPHABET KILLER

THE ALPHABET KILLER

German Title:
Alphabet Killer

USA, 2008
Director: Rob Schmidt

6/10

A pretty solid serial-killer thriller with horror and drama elements, based on the 1970s' alphabet murders - not bad but also not too great.

Starts out surprisingly quite weak with an opening that feels incomplete and rushed, but it gladly gets better after the first 20 minutes or so. The terrific ending compensates for a few too tedious scenes in the middle.

The cast is cool, especially because of a super-amazing Eliza Dushku and some nice performances from Timothy Hutton and Cary Elwes. There are also some excellently scary moments and jump-scenes (check out that scene with the cross under the bed - what a shocker!), some beautiful camera work and a few incredibly well-chosen settings.

Nothing special but at least somewhat enjoyable.

Wiki ~ Imdb

NIGHT OF THE DEMON

NIGHT OF THE DEMON

German Titles:
Der Teufel tanzt weiter / Night Of The Demon - Der Teufel tanzt weiter / Rituals - Der Teufel tanzt weiter

USA, 1980
Director: James C. Wasson

5/10

"Night Of The Demon" (not to be confused with the "Night Of The Demons" films") is a mega-cheesy kinda-backwoods-slasher with a Bigfoot-like creature that looks a bit like a blend of Chewbacca and Dr. Zaius.

On the one hand it's quite bad: most of the acting is pretty dull, except for Melanie "Crazy Wanda" Graham's performance which is just terribly annoying. The soundtrack is often unbearably bad, the dialogue is mostly rather stupid, Bigfoot looks unintentionally silly, the plot is one helluva mess and there are too many tedious or boring scenes.

On the other hand it's surprisingly unique: I totally love the surreal tone of the movie with all the flashbacks, some cool slow motion scenes and loads of impressively haunting atmosphere. I also love how violent and gory it is: people impaled on branches and pitchforks, people hacked to death, ripped off penisses, ripped out intestines etc. There's also a disturbing but interesting rape sequence and the gorefest finale is just awesome.

Overall, a weird but decently entertaining trashfest.

Wiki ~ Imdb

KILLER PARTY

KILLER PARTY

Alternate Titles:
The April Fools / Macabre Party

USA, 1986
Director: William Fruet

6/10

A fun and nice april fools slasher that entertained me about as much as the similar-themed "April Fool's Day" and "Slaughter High".

It's not perfect: the script is a huge mess with many plot holes, confusing plot points and unanswered questions. It's also annoying that the film's flow constanstly gets interrupted by various unnecessary genre jumps.

Aside from that, I totally enjoyed it: it's filled with amusing characters, nice 80s pop music and hilarious dialogue / one-liners ("I myself prefer a big, fat cucumber." / "Ok, slime-buckets!" / "Mom? I hope... I hope YOU ROT IN HELL, YOU OLD WITCH!").
The kills, although mostly offscreen, are all quite cool and the killer itself with his oldschool wet suit looks just terrific. Furthermore, it has one of the most hilarious openings I've ever seen (an ingeniously cheesy film-within-a-film music video), the april fool jokes and the initiation are cool, and the kinda-possession scene at the end is just terrific.

Definitely a must-see for every fan of glorious 80s cheese.

Wiki ~ Imdb

TERROR ON TOUR

TERROR ON TOUR

Alternate Title:

Demon Rock

USA, 1980

Director: Don Edmonds

2/10

Another 80s hardrock horror flick, sadly it's clearly the worst I've seen so far. "Terror On Tour" is a superboring and supertedious snoozefest that totally fails to offer you anything of interest. The acting is below average, the story is lame and the script is horribly written. The killer is an annoying douche and the kills are dull and ungory. Furthermore, the opening is quite bland, the ending is completely disappointing, that fake band "The Clowns" looks silly and their music sounds rather lame.

Some nice nudity and a few cool and atmospheric backstage scenes - but apart from that, I suggest you to skip that and watch "Black Roses" instead.

Imdb

MR. WRONG

MR. WRONG

Alternate Title:

Dark Of The Night

German Title:

Fahrt ins Grauen

New Zealand, 1985

Director: Gaylene Preston

4/10

Finally I've seen a New Zealand movie that is NOT from Peter Jackson - sadly it's quite a disappointment.

"Mr. Wrong" is one of many 80s low budget ghost stories that try hard to be suspenseful and scary but sadly end up slow and tedious (see also: "The Hearse", "The Nesting"). 

The plot is highly confusing and packed with many plot holes and open questions. The script is one helluva mess, especially because it seems as if the writers just didn't know if they should do a supernatural film, a stalker film, a drama or some kinda horror comedy. The acting is mediocre, the soundtrack is quite vacuous and overall it's just way too boring.

At least the cinematography is pretty wonderful (many cool camera angles and beautiful shots), it's full of eerie atmosphere, the first third is quite thrilling (most notably the superscary scene with the deep breathing inside the car) and I also enjoyed the finale.

Nevertheless, it's a strange and forgettable film.

Imdb

DEVIL

DEVIL

(first part of M. Night Shyamalan's "Night Chronicles" trilogy)

German Title:
Devil - Fahrstuhl zur Hölle

USA, 2010
Director: John Erick Dowdle

7/10



    

A solidly entertaining little horror flick which quite came up to my expectations. It's extremely tense and thrilling, but also pretty scary (loads of heartstopping moments and scenes that made me jump outta my seat) - and most important: it's only about 80 minutes long and it never gets boring.

The acting is for the most part neat and convincing. Shyamalan's story is interesting and "Hard Candy" writer Brian Nelson's script is superbly written and paced, including a few really nice dialogue lines.

Highlights: the incredibly rousing soundtrack and the absolutely wonderful cinematography (especially the disorientating opening shots).

Flaws: the annoying Mexican character and the unnecessary very last scenes after the twist ending (the twist itself is ok but felt a bit underwhelming).

Overall, an enjoyable film, highly recommended to people who love suspense cinema, director Shyamalan ...and of course "The Lift" :-)

Wiki ~ Imdb

Grindhouse: DEATH PROOF & PLANET TERROR

GRINDHOUSE

Wiki ~ Imdb

note: haven't seen the US full feature of Grindhouse because here in Europe the 2 films were released separately. 

That's why I'm doin' 3 reviews:
one for "Death Proof", one for "Planet Terror" and one for the fake trailers.

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DEATH PROOF

Alternate Title:
Quentin Tarantino's Thunder Bolt!

German Title:
Death Proof - Todsicher

USA, 2007
Director: Quentin Tarantino

7/10

It may be not Tarantino's best film but it's at least a really fun and worthy tribute to all the 70s carsploitation flicks. Though it's much too long and filled with waaay too many dialogue scenes, I pretty much enjoyed it. It's packed with loads of great settings, cool-looking cars and stunning performances from terrific actors (most notably Zoe Bell, Kurt Russell, Vanessa Ferlito and Tracie Thoms). Like in every QT movie, the soundtrack is just fabulous (incl. excellent songs from The Coasters, Joe Tex and Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich), the camera work's wonderful and the editing's just brilliant (R.I.P. Sally Menke).

Highlights: all the deliberate errors (jump cuts, sound errors, the replaced title insert...), Stuntman Mike's first appearance, the outstandingly brutal and gory car-crash kill, the black-and-white scene and the awesome car-chase finale.

Wiki ~ Imdb

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PLANET TERROR

USA, 2007
Director: Robert Rodriguez

8/10

Hell yeah, "Planet Terror" totally delivers. It's a wonderful tribute to all the 70s and 80s zombie movies (especially to the European ones, like "Nightnare City" or "Hell Of The Living Dead"), action-packed, fast-paced and extremely entertaining.

It's packed with gallons of glorious over-the-top gore, tons of kills, executions and disembowelments, and loads of ugly and really nasty zombie-creatures. It's fun and thrilling, but also quite atmospheric (incl. a few cool Carpenter-like fog scenes). There are many great dialogue lines and one-liners 

("Where's... the... shit???" / "It's go go, not cry cry." / "I like the way you say 'fuck'. - "Good. Fuck you." / "I'm gettin' my dick wet." - "She's only got one leg!" - "Easier access." - "Oh, that is a good point!" ...), 

the cast is pretty great (Rose McGowan, Josh Brolin, Jeff Fahey, Bruce Willis, Tarantino...), the kinda-80s synth soundtrack is just fabulous and the whole look of it (grainy pictures, deliberate errors, scratches...) is just awesome.

Highlights: the machine gun leg, Willis' and Tarantino's deformations, every single gore scene, the boy who kills himself, the syringe scene, the 'balls' collection and the amazing finale.

Wiki ~ Imdb

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The FAKE TRAILERS

MACHETE

Terrific and fun trailer for a Mexploitation flick from Rodriguez who later turned it into a real full-length film.

WEREWOLF WOMEN OF THE SS

Rob Zombie's fabulous tribute to all the obscure 70s nazisploitation films.

DON'T

Brilliant homage to the hammer house films and the giallo genre, from Edgar Wright.

THANKSGIVING

Eli Roth's outstanding teaser for some kinda holiday-based slasher-gorefest.

HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN

The winner of Rodriguez' SXSW Grindhouse trailer contest, an extremely cool trailer for a violent revenge film (from Jason Eisener).

9/10

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Overall I'd say: the whole Grindhouse package is absolutely delightful and highly enjoyable; exploitation fans get their money's worth here.  

8/10

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SHARK ATTACK

SHARK ATTACK

USA / Israel / South Africa, 1999

Director: Bob Misiorowski

2/10

Actually I expected this to be some kinda entertaining sharksploitation flick but it eventually turned out to be a superboring 90s-thriller with only a few sharks thrown in.

It's incredibly tedious with absolutely no single tense or thrilling moment. The acting is lame, the characters are all annoyingly stereotyped and the plot is so unbelievably predictable, it's almost unbearable.

The shark scenes are quite ok but sadly that doesn't help much. This movie just sucks.

Wiki ~ Imdb

THE SUPERNATURALS

THE SUPERNATURALS

German Titles:
Rebellen des Grauens / Rebellion der Zombies / Die Rückkehr der lebenden Toten IV - Die Endabrechnung

USA, 1986
Director: Armand Mastroianni

2/10

Yawn, what a bore-fest! Next to "Killing Birds", this is undoubtedly the most boring and most disappointing zombie flick I've ever seen. 

Reasons:

(a) It's only about 1 1/2 hours long but due to a bad script, lame pacing and bad directing, it feels like it's 3 or 4 hours long.

(b) There are only about 10 zombies or so and they all look pretty lame.

(c) The zombie scenes are all incredibly blank: nothing thrilling, nothing scary, hardly any gore.

(d) Most of the acting is rather substandard, especially the untalented girl soldier and the dumb-looking boy.

(e) The story is vapid, it's full of plot holes and the ending is extremely underwhelming.

(f) The soundtrack is so horribly annoying, it's almost unbearable.

I admit that there are some cool-looking and atmospheric shots, and I also liked Nichelle "Lt. Uhura" Nichols' performance very much, but apart from that "The Supernaturals" is just a waste of time.

Imdb

OCTAMAN

OCTAMAN

German Title:

Octaman - Die Bestie aus der Tiefe

Mexico / USA, 1971

Director: Harry Essex

1/10

Watch out, "Manos"! Step back, "Troll 2": here comes a 'new' contender for the worst movie of all time: "Octaman", an awfully bad piece of trash, so incredibly shoddy, cheesy and silly, it's hilarious.

Filled with incredibly untalented below-average actors, filled with absolutely horrible and tedious dialogue, filled with loads of unbelievably boring and totally uninteresting scenes. The poor soundtrack is a complete joke and the special effects are outstandingly lousy (when I first saw the god-awful baby octopus, I really didn't know if I should laugh or cry).

Worst of all is of course the Octaman himself: a hyperactive actor in a cheap-made and super-ugly rubber costume with a blow-up-doll-like mouth and the most unrealistic tentacles I have ever seen.

Recommended only to people who survived the experience of watching "Manos" or similar crap :-)

Imdb

HIT AND RUN

HIT AND RUN

German Title:
Hit And Run - Abstecher in die Hölle

USA, 2009

Director: Enda McCallion

4/10

 

A movie so weird, messed up and fucked up, it actually makes you wonder if the script writers were high on drugs while writing. "Hit And Run" constantly jumps between horror, thriller, drama, slasher and torture porn, and there are even some kinda zombie and supernatural elements in here - ANNOYING!. The acting is quite mediocre (most notably Laura Breckenridge's lame performance) and the characters are all completely unlikable; the plot is a complete question mark and the dialogue is mostly pretty stupid.

At least, there are many intense and thrilling scenes, a few great scares and lots of cool gore. I especially dug the last half hour which is full of terrific scenes and images (death by forced gasoline drinking, a wonderful eye-stabbing scene, the main actress tied to the Jeep's front bumper with a Xmas light chain...). The opening with that cool Modest Mouse song is nice and I also enjoyed the ending.

Still, I definitely don't recommend it.

Wiki ~ Imdb

BIRDS OF PREY

BIRDS OF PREY

Original Title:

El ataque de los pájaros

Alternate Titles:

Beaks: The Movie / Evil Birds

Mexico / Spain, 1987

Director: René Cardona Jr.

2/10

An awful and totally unnecessary "The Birds" rip-off which is about as bad as...
um... yeah, "The Birds II".

It's unbelievably slow and tedious, and it contains absolutely no atmosphere or tension. Half of the movie consists of annoyingly endless slow motion scenes of flying birds, nearly every single actor delivers a lame performance, nearly every single line of dialogue is unimaginative and/or idiotic, the soundtrack is horribly poor and it's packed with mega-stupid scenes where the birds fly through train compartment windows or push door handles. I admit that the bird attacks look quite neat and I also enjoyed the gore but, well, that's just not enough.

In the end, it's just another crapfest from René Cardona Jr., master of shoddiness.

Imdb

CASTLE FREAK

CASTLE FREAK

USA / Italy, 1995
Director: Stuart Gordon

8/10

Hey, another terrific Stuart Gordon flick! I'm becoming more and more of a fan of this guy.

"Castle Freak" is a really strong but sadly extremely underrated gothic horror film, loosely based on H.P. Lovecraft's "The Outsider". It's brilliantly written and paced, and filled with loads of incredible suspense and super-creepy atmosphere (check out the amazing opening!).

The Italian castle looks just beautiful: it's full of eerie-looking rooms, dark corridors and sinister cellars, all wonderfully filmed and shot. We also get an excellents score from the great Richard Band, some surprisingly awesome acting performances (most notably Jeffrey Combs who has outdone himself here), some neat dialogue an outstanding-looking creature and a few fabulously gruesome kills (bitten off tits, bitten off faces, a skinned cat...).

It's a mystery to me why this movie is not more popular. It's a lost genre classic that definitely deserves to be rediscovered!

Wiki ~ Imdb

Horror Blog Of The Month: THE GIRL WHO LOVES HORROR

I'm doing this blog thing since June 2009. It's fun and it definitely became my personal favorite hobby.

However, I know that my blog is nothing special and there are many, many other horror blogs who are vastly better and more interesting than mine.

That's why I thought it would be nice to pay tribute to all these passionate bloggers 

- and so I created this brandnew column, called "Horror Blog Of The Month" (not very inventive, I know)

The idea is to present one excellent horror blog including a survey where I ask the blogger a couple of horror-related questions.

I start with

THE GIRL WHO LOVES HORROR, an absolutely wonderful blog, created by Michele, a nice young lady from Missouri. She's a keen and passionate writer, composing inspirational and powerful blog entries about all kinds of horror flicks.

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Maynard:
Hi Michele. Who are you and why do you blog?

Michele:

My real name is Michele aka The Girl Who Loves Horror, 25 year old gal from Mid-Missouri. I blog for two reasons. 
The first is the obvious - that I love horror movies and having my own blog and reading other peoples' blogs is the best way for me to stay in tune with my favorite genre and learn about movies I need to see, as well as getting to know the numerous other fans out there. People in my real life just stare at me all glassy-eyed when I talk about horror movies and that makes me sad. Blogging makes me happy.
I also blog because for most of my life I've wanted to be a writer. I love to write and keeping up with my blog lets me practice my writing skills so I don't forget. It's my head in the clouds talking when I say I'd love to do this as a career - writing about things related to horror films - but I can dream, can't I?
 
Which movie made you a horror fan (and why)?

I didn't realize my horror love until later in life, although when I look back now I've always been attracted to media in that genre. My first love was books (like I said, I wanted to be a writer). But one of my favorite things to do in high school was to go to the video store and rent all the stupidest looking horror movies I could find and have a ball watching them. A friend told me to watch Evil Dead 2 once, but when I got to the video store I couldn't remember what she said and rented Dead Alive (Braindead) instead. When I spent the entire time watching that movie laughing my ass off, I knew I was hooked on the genre and couldn't wait to find more films like it.

Who is your favorite horror director (and why)?

I'm going to have to go with Wes Craven. His films are no doubt incredibly influential on the genre, but what I look for in a filmmaker other than technical skill is balls. Who has the balls to really go for it with a horror film - not just present scenes to shock us but to show us those things that are truly evil in the world, the evil of real people. I also love his overall attitude about himself and what he makes. He's not cocky or some big fan of the genre spouting off about his knowledge; he's soft spoken and kind - someone you'd never expect to make the kinds of movies he has.

Your all-time horror movie favorites are...

Number 1 is Poltergeist, all the way! 

Then I'd say The Omen, Carrie, The Last House on the Left 2009, The Descent, and Child's Play. All these movies had a pretty big effect on me, in different ways, and are all examples of the different types of horror films that I like and how beautifully shot and produced a horror film can really be.

What's the worst horror movie you've seen so far?

Oh, with so many low budget pieces of crap out there how can I pick just 

one turd? :) But I'm going with Wrong Turn 2. I love, love, love the first Wrong Turn but this sequel was so bad that I didn't even finish watching it (which is something I rarely do) and I don't care to try to watch it again. Terrible!

Most of my friends don't like horror films. How about your friends?

Friends and family alike are not opposed to watching the occasional (and by occasional I mean RARELY EVER) horror flick, but they mostly like those stupid comedies that are pumped out twice a month. If I tell my girly friends how much I like horror and they say "Oh, I don't like horror movies, they're too scary!" I just want to bash my head against the wall. I've learned to not talk about it and just come on my blog and give praise to the horror lovers of the world.

Choose: Freddy? Jason? Leatherface? Michael? The Tall Man? Other?

Chucky. Chucky, Chucky, CHUCKY CHUCKY. 

He may only come up to my knees but that little fucker is scary as all get out. I used to have nightmares all the time when I was younger with Chucky trying to kill me. I used to have to sleep with my legs curled up to my stomach because I had a clear vision of Chucky coming up from the end of my bed and cutting my toes off in the night. I remember watching Child's Play in my very dark basement once and my cat came up behind me and scared the ever-loving shit out of me. Nothing from a horror movie has ever freaked me like Chucky has.

Choose: US horror? European horror? Asian horror? Other?

Mmm, I don't really want to choose. So many amazing movies have come from all parts of the world. My top 20 list has US, French, Spanish, Japanese, and British films on it. Everybody has something bloody, gory, and scary to bring to the table, it doesn't matter where they come from.

Do you prefer watching horror at home or at the theater?

At home, mos def. If I go to the theater, it's usually a matinee when I can guarantee no more than five other people in the theater to disturb my movie-watching. I don't need other people's comments or reactions, I want to have my own experience with the movie.

What music do you like?

My taste is all over the place. Mostly I just like songs, and not really any particular band or anything. I do like a lot of the 70s American rock, and more recent rock and metal stuff. 

If you need some band names, I love Korn, Rammstein, Aerosmith, The Eagles, Rob Zombie, AC/DC, The Rolling Stones...

What do you read?

Anything that's NOT romance. Stephen King is my god, but my book reading is not limited to horror, either. Basically I'll read any novel that looks good (most recently I've become obsessed with Stieg Larsson's Millenium trilogy - so good). I love the Harry Potter books and loathe the Twilight books. I also like to read a lot of true crime, although sometimes I wish I didn't because I've read about a lot of fucked up people and the fucked up shit they do. Some favorite books include my two best King novels - The Long Walk and Bag of Bones - along with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Battle Royale, The Jungle, The Girl Next Door, and my favorite book from childhood, The Phantom Tollbooth.

Tell me the first 3 things that come to your mind when you think about Austria.

The Alps, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Josef Fritzl, that guy who kept his daughter locked in his basement for 24 years.

Anything else you wanna tell us?

Nope, just that I hope that the 3 people who read my blog enjoy it and learn something in the process - either about the movies I'm discussing or about myself in general. I love thinking about my blog during the day and rushing home to write down that one witty sentence I managed to think of. This is a great community of horror lovers and I hope we'll all be around for a very long time!

Thank you, Michele! 

 http://thegirlwholoveshorror.blogspot.com/

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THE LOVED ONES

THE LOVED ONES

German Title:
The Loved Ones - Pretty In Blood

Australia, 2009

Director: Sean Byrne

10/10

This movie is sick. Incredibly sick. Christ, not since "Inside" have I seen a movie as sick, brutal and demented as "The Loved Ones". However, it's also immensely entertaining and even quite humorous!

The script is terrifically written with an excellent main plot and a hilarious subplot. The pacing is also simply excellent: starts calm and slow  but then it suddenly explodes and gets wilder and wilder with every minute until to the very last frame.

The acting is awesome. Every single actor delivers a really great performance, especially Robin McLeavy as batshit insane teenager, John Brumpton as batshit insane father, Xavier Samuel as the tortured one, Richard Wilson as shy simpleton and Jessica McNamee as hot headbanger chick.

The dialogue is mostly amazing including many remarkable one-liners, f.e. "Bring the hammer, daddy!" & "You've got 10 seconds to go or Daddy's gonna nail it to the chair".

´The soundtrack is effin' brilliant (Little River Band's golden oldie "Lonesome Loser", many neat metal and alternative rock tracks...), the camera work is amazing throughout the whole movie and it's filled with beaitiful settings.

The most amazing thing about "The Loved Ones" is of course all the uber-amazing violence. Not that gory but EXTREMELY painful to watch. Highlights: the knives in the main victim's feet and the gruesome power drill scenes.

An absolutely outstanding and adorable masterpiece!

(The second movie that gets a 10/10 this year - looks like 2011 will be a fabulous horror year :-)

Wiki ~ Imdb

COFFIN ROCK

COFFIN ROCK

Australia / UK, 2009

Director: Rupert Glasson

7/10

A pretty cool and neat Aussie-psycho-thriller, a bit in the vein of "Fatal Attraction" and similar movies.

The plot is cliché-ridden and unoriginal, the first half is often too predictable - apart from that I enjoyed it. It's pretty well written and fabulously paced, most of the time it's quite tense and thrilling, and gladly it never gets boring. The acting was very good, most notably Sam Parsonson, Robert Taylor and Lisa Chappell's performances. The camera work is quite impressive (many beautiful shots of that nice fishing village) and  the soundtrack is highly interesting. 

Highlight of the movie is the ending: totally un-Hollywood and shockingly painful - outstanding!

Overall, a good film, highly recommended to fans of psycho-thrillers and/or Australian cinema.

Wiki ~ Imdb

MONSTERS

MONSTERS

UK, 2010
Director: Gareth Edwards

10/10

Amazing, amazing, amazing - this is undoubtedly the first HUGE highlight of 2011. "Monsters" is one of the most fascinating and intriguing movies I've seen in a very long time, not your average monster flick but a strong and intense mix of science fiction film, love drama and survival horror (in some weird kinda way it feels a bit like a blend of "Carriers" and "District 9" to me.).
Beautifully filmed, brilliantly written and terrifically paced; full of wonderful kinda post-apocalyptic atmosphere, nerve-wracking suspense and many touching moments.

Whitney Able (what a beauty!) and Scoot McNairy's performances are very powerful and believable; the dialogue is mostly remarkably great. The soundtrack is awesome, all the settings look just stunning, the low budget CGI looks surprisingly fabulous and the eponymous monsters look absolutely outstanding.

A fantastic and breathtaking work of art, a masterpiece.

Wiki ~ Imdb

MARTIN

MARTIN

Alternate Title:
Wampyr

USA, 1977

Director: George A. Romero

10/10

Omfg, what was that? This is absolutely amazing; "Martin" totally blew me away! When the credits rolled I just sat there, staring at the screen with an open mouth while hundreds of questions popped up into my head.
After the credits I reflected about it, drank some glasses of juice and finally decided to write this review in a question/answer-form in hopes of fully understanding and digesting the experience of watching this film.

How do you like "Martin"?

I love it. I absolutely love it. It's a stunning movie. I totally didn't expected it to be that awesome.

What exactly do you like about it?

Everything, absolutely everything. It's tense, suspenseful, highly atmospheric and even a bit disturbing - but also pretty emotional and touching. The acting is breathtakingly excellent, especially the performances from John Amplas, Lincoln Maazel and Elyane Nadeau. It's brilliantly written and paced. The plot is fantastic and many parts of the dialogue are just staggering. It's also wonderfully filmed with many great close-ups, 'gorgeous' shots of all the abandoned places and some stunning-looking black-and-white scenes. The soundtrack is also absolutely brilliant.

Besides there are many scenes that are absolutely unforgettable: the opening on the train, the exorcism, the super-stunning stalk-and-attack scene, Martin's fake vampire scare and of course the amazing ending.

Do you like it more than the other films from Romero?

Yes. I mean, I adore his zombie flicks, especially "Dawn Of The Dead" but in some kinda way it seems to me as if "Martin" is the best thing he's ever done.

You often say that you're actually no vampire fan. Is this true?

I'm not so sure about it anymore. I mean, yeah, I never was a big fan of vampire films but in the last 2 years I've seen many so many adorable vampire-themed flicks ("Let The Right One In", "Vampires", "Fright Night"...), I think it's not true anymore.

Now after seeing "Martin" I'm actually definitely interested in checking out some classic 'Dracula' and 'Nosferatu' stuff.

Wiki ~ Imdb

THE FORGOTTEN

THE FORGOTTEN

German Title:
Die Vergessenen

USA, 2004

Director: Joseph Ruben

3/10

A super-weak, super-dull and super-disappointing kinda mystery-scifi-thriller. Starts out quite suspenseful and interesting in the first third, gets lame and boring in the middle and ends with an annoyingly stupid climax and a pointless epilogue. 

The plot is completely ridiculous, badly written and full of large holes. The special effects look poor, it's loaded with tedious dialogue-scenes, the whole mother-child-thing was purely tiresome and for some reason I absolutely could not stand Gary Sinise's character.

At least Julianne Moore is brilliant, the camera work is absolutely terrific and 2 scenes nearly made me jump out of my seat (the car crash and the first sucked-into-sky-scene) - nevertheless it's a weak film that totally failed to entertain me.

Wiki ~ Imdb