ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON SEPT. 11, 2003 By Steve Newton Writer-director-producer Brian Helgeland attempted to turn the medieval action film on its ear with 2001’s A Knight’s Tale, which was best known for incorporating ’70s rock music into its 17th-century tale of an underdog jouster (Heath Ledger) out for love and glory. With The Order, Helgeland … Continue reading Heath Ledger is wasted in The Order, a silly exercise in satanic nonentertainment
Horror review: Jeepers Creepers 2
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 4, 2003 The first Jeepers Creepers movie (2001) started out promisingly, with suspenseful scenes involving a sinister character dumping bodies and a Duel-like truck-from-hell chase scene. But half an hour through it turned into a routine, monster-on-the-rampage gore flick about a winged man-beast that, every 23 years, has … Continue reading Horror review: Jeepers Creepers 2
Horror review: Gothika
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, NOV. 27, 2003 I got my first hint that Gothika might be a bad movie from the hokey newspaper ad, which depicts a shocked and dishevelled-looking Halle Berry staring out from behind a pane of wet glass, the words not alone carved across the underside of her forearm. Then … Continue reading Horror review: Gothika
Horror review: Freddy vs. Jason
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, AUG. 21, 2003 I think I’ve seen every Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street movie ever made. I’m not proud of that; in fact, I’m kind of ashamed. As the Straight’s on-call horror reviewer, I’ve had to view some of these films as part of the job, … Continue reading Horror review: Freddy vs. Jason
Horror review: Dreamcatcher
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MARCH 27, 2003 Several Stephen King novels have been made into films and TV shows shot in B.C., including the 1990 miniseries It, the ’93 feature Needful Things, and the current cable offering The Dead Zone. But none of them has been as suspenseful, horrifying, and engrossing—with an accent … Continue reading Horror review: Dreamcatcher
Wrong Turn is a decent backwoods-slasher blend of Deliverance and Friday the 13th
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JUNE 5, 2003 By Steve Newton This horror flick about young campers stalked and slaughtered by gruesome backwoods barbarians is a fairly decent crossbreeding of Friday the 13th and Deliverance. Despite the typical hunky-guys/babes-in-tank-tops Hollywood cast, Wrong Turn is gritty and uncompromising, and it includes several suspenseful and shocking moments. Unlike Deliverance, … Continue reading Wrong Turn is a decent backwoods-slasher blend of Deliverance and Friday the 13th
Horror review: Identity
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MAY 1, 2003 You know how it feels when you’re driving on the highway at night and, just when it seems like it couldn’t rain any harder, a truck hauling a semitrailer whips by, momentarily blinding you with its spray? There’s that split second before the wipers do their … Continue reading Horror review: Identity
Horror review: House of 1000 Corpses
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON APRIL 17, 2003 By Steve Newton That Rob Zombie is one sick puppy. Of course, anyone who’s ever listened to the L.A. shock rocker’s CDs or seen his grotesque concert act already knows this. But with the release of his film debut, the depth of Zombie’s depravity is unearthed for all to … Continue reading Horror review: House of 1000 Corpses
Horror review: Willard
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MARCH 13, 2003 Why would anyone bother to remake a 32-year-old rampaging-rats flick that was never much good in the first place? Sure, the original Willard did boffo box office in ’71—enough to spawn an awful sequel (Ben) that also made money—but its story of a mother-dominated, boss-abused office … Continue reading Horror review: Willard
Final Destination 2 is one sick, gruesomely over-the-top flick
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JAN. 30, 2003 By Steve Newton In his 1981 treatise on horror, Danse Macabre, Stephen King wrote: “I recognize terror as the finest emotion and so I will try to terrorize the reader. But if I find that I cannot terrify, I will try to horrify, and if I find that I … Continue reading Final Destination 2 is one sick, gruesomely over-the-top flick
John Butler’s deep-groove bassist brings the Snoop Dogg beats
Australian roots-jam singer-songwriter John Butler is quite the groove monster on his new album, Flesh & Blood, but he got a lot of help on one of the funkier numbers from his bassist Byron Luiters. As Butler explained on the line from New York the other day--on a tour that brings him to Vancouver's Commodore … Continue reading John Butler’s deep-groove bassist brings the Snoop Dogg beats
Horror review: Darkness Falls
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JAN. 30, 2003 On the Darkness Falls Web site, there’s a poll question that asks: “If you were forced to die in one of the following ways, which would it be?” Between the five options available—being buried alive, eaten alive by insects, burned alive, dismembered, or beheaded—85 percent of … Continue reading Horror review: Darkness Falls
Horror review: They
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 5, 2002 The makers of They thought that by throwing the name of horror master Wes Craven around—as in “Wes Craven Presents They”—they would garner interest in the film from the millions of moviegoers who made the Craven-created Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream series so successful. But … Continue reading Horror review: They