Ancient Evil 2: Guardian of the Underworld (2005) | Film Review

(Originally published on LivingCorpse.com on March 18, 2005) - Ancient Evil 2: Guardian of the Underworld (originally titled, Anubis: Guardian of the Underworld) is an extremely low-budget horromedy about a group of apathetic teens who accidentally summon Anubis, the Egyptian God of Death, and ultimately pay for it, with their lives. However, it is not a sequel to Ancient Evil, another low-budget mummy movie. (The name was changed for distribution purposes.)

Paul (Christopher Kann) and his girlfriend—and town prude—Jen (Victoria Campbell) are experiencing your typical teenage relationship woes. Paul wants to get it on while Jen wants to wait for marriage. Paul’s sexual frustration isn’t the only thing that tries Jen’s nerves; his best friends, Mark (Alex Whall) and Wheezer (Adam Lipskey) aren’t much better.

Victor Frankenstein (2015) | Film Review

(First viewing via VOD) - A horrible trapeze accident leads to a chance encounter between a mad scientist and a nameless hunchback clown at the circus. When the nameless hunchback saves the woman with a pocket watch, the mad scientist decides to free the hunchback and make him apart of his grand experiments. What experiments you ask? To render death a temporary condition.

I don’t know how this one got by me back in 2015, but I have no memories of Victor Frankenstein ever coming out. So when I stumbled upon it while looking for something to watch, and noticed it featured Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter, Guns Akimbo) and James McAvoy (X-Men First Class, Split) in the lead roles, I figured it would be worth a watch. Then I  noticed it was written by Max Landis (Chronicle, Bright), and my intrigue was tainted a bit. I decided to press on thinking this would either be a pleasant surprise, or a total train wreck. In a way, Victor Frankenstein wound up being a bit of both.

Carrie (2013) | Film Review

(Originally published on Letterboxd on Jan 18, 2014) - Carrie, as a horror film, has officially been made four times. One of those four is technically considered a sequel, but other than the main character being named Rachel and not Carrie, everything else is pretty much identical, so to call it anything other than a remake would be a bold-faced lie. It's not hard to see why Hollywood would go to the Carrie well so often, either; it's got a great premise: An unpopular teenage girl is tormented by her classmates, and upon learning she has telekinetic superpowers, uses them to seek revenge. And in Brian De Palma's original 1976 version, it was magnificent!

In every other version since… not so much.

Abigail (2024) | Film Review

(First viewing via VOD) - When a group of seemingly disconnected criminals are hired to kidnap a child and hold her for 24 hours for an easy $7 million dollar payday each, what could possibly go wrong? How about everything when it’s discovered not all is as it seems. And the results end up having deadly consequences.

I’ve been a fan of the directing team known as Radio Silence (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett) for sometime. I remember first seeing their bit in the first V/H/S film, and subsequently found their YouTube channel, which I thought was a real hoot and a half. Ready or Not was a crapload of fun, and after they successfully resurrected the once thought dead Scream franchise, I consider myself to be on board for just about anything they do moving forward. Add to that the stellar cast and seeing Abigail becomes a no brainer.

Dangerous Game: The Legacy Murders (2022) | Film Review

(First viewing via VOD) - Imagine taking Succession, the Saw franchise, and one of those murder/mystery games, removing all of the elements that make them fun or compelling, tossing those elements into a dumpster, and tossing what's left into a blender, and you'll have Dangerous Game: The Legacy Murders. A lot of watered down promise that isn't any fun to play, watch, or experience in anyway.

When a wealthy family comes together to celebrate their ailing patriarch's birthday, festivities turn sour as they're presented with a game with deadly consequences. The rules: Only one will survive, and you must play the game or die. Seems pretty interesting in the setup, especially so when it's revealed early on that none of these people actually like each other for one reason or another. The father is a prick. The brothers are distant because they've never had each other's backs. The kids are entitled. This family is a real mess. But at least their rich, so I guess that's something.

X (2020) | Film Review

(First time watch via Paramount+) - When you have a family, and no one else is really into horror movies like you are, and said horror movies revolve around sex and murder, you find yourself watching the film by yourself, in the basement, with the volume turned down low. I promise I wasn’t watching this film with one hand free — I was working, I swear! 

X comes to us from writer/director Ti West, and it tells the story of a group of dreamers already living on the fringes of suitable society, embarking on a vision quest that will hopefully change their lives for the better. Unfortunately for them, the destination they chose in rural Texas comes with unexpected consequences when they encounter the elderly owners of the house they’re staying in. Sex, murder, and some really creepy shenanigans ensue. 

I felt a little funny watching this movie, but not in the way you’re probably thinking (like when you climbed the rope in gym class). I can’t really argue that this is a bad film. The script is tight. The characters are well written and well acted. The setting is suitably creepy. The gore is shocking and believable. Everything looks great. And when the fit hits the shan, you’re off to the races. Due to the opening half of the film, you really get a feel for these characters, who they are, why they’re doing what they’re doing, and because of that, I’m sure it’ll implore many viewers to feel for them as they meet their ultimate demise. But I didn’t, and I don’t really know why, although I have a theory.