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
Horror review: Ghost Ship
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, OCT. 31, 2002 By Steve Newton The folks at Hollywood’s Dark Castle Entertainment just don’t know when to give up. After nauseating viewers big time with their lamebrained haunted-house remakes, Thir13en Ghosts and House on Haunted Hill, they’re now polluting the high seas with this dead-in-the-water combo of The … Continue reading Horror review: Ghost Ship
Horror review: Halloween–Resurrection
Two of the most memorable attributes of the original 1978 Halloween movie are revived for this eighth entry in the undying slasher series.
Horror review: Reign of Fire
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JULY 18, 2002 Reign of Fire is one of the most intense and enjoyable monster flicks I’ve ever seen. It’s got throat-clutching suspense, pulse-pounding action, incredible-looking sets, deft direction, stunning cinematography, razor-sharp editing, rich production values, and terrifying creatures. In other words, it ranks right up there with Alien … Continue reading Horror review: Reign of Fire
Horror review: feardotcom
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 5, 2002 I figured feardotcom was gonna be bad news when I saw the TV trailer and noticed it was promoted with the line “From the director of House on Haunted Hill”, as if that was anything to be proud of. William Malone’s special-effects–heavy 1999 remake of William … Continue reading Horror review: feardotcom
Horror review: Eight Legged Freaks
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JULY 25, 2002 By Steve Newton I love watching horror movies starring spiders, mainly because they scare the heck out of me. I don’t mean those pretty gold-coloured ones you sometimes see hanging out in the garden, or those spindly daddy longlegs; I mean those hairy, brown, sinister-looking wolf … Continue reading Horror review: Eight Legged Freaks
Horror review: Jason X
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON APRIL 25, 2002 By Steve Newton I met Jason once. Back in ’89, they were filming Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan at an abandoned high school in Burnaby and I was covering the shoot for American horror mag Fangoria. During a break, stuntman-actor Kane Hodder came lumbering down the … Continue reading Horror review: Jason X
Horror review: Frailty
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, APRIL 25, 2002 Hollywood marketing departments seem more desperate than ever to find sources for the hyperbolic reviewer quotes they splash across TV screens and newspaper ads. There’s no need to rely on established critical outlets like the New York Times and the Village Voice when they can magnify … Continue reading Horror review: Frailty
Horror review: Resident Evil
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MARCH 21, 2002 The TV trailer for Resident Evil features a scene in which a scrappy chick in a red dress takes on a pack of bloodthirsty mutant Dobermans that appear to have been skinned alive. The part where she runs up a wall and then twists around to … Continue reading Horror review: Resident Evil
Horror review: Queen of the Damned
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, FEB. 28, 2002 Awesome vampire flicks are hard to find. The last one that really blew me away was Near Dark, and that was way back in ’87. In the case of contemporary big-budget efforts, Bram Stoker’s Dracula was too grandiose for my tastes, and the pretty-boy adaptation of … Continue reading Horror review: Queen of the Damned
Horror review: The Mothman Prophecies
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JAN. 31, 2002 The Mothman Prophecies is supposedly based on a series of mysterious events that occurred in the mid-’60s in the small town of Point Pleasant, Virginia. Reports of unexplained lights in the sky, strange telephone noises, and sightings of a man-sized, mothlike entity culminated in a bridge … Continue reading Horror review: The Mothman Prophecies
Horror review: Bones
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, NOV. 15, 2001 Lately, it seems as though a deluge of gory, made-in-B.C. horror flicks has been unleashed upon the moviegoing public. First to drench local screens with blood ’n’ gore was Thi13een Ghosts, the noisy and nauseating haunted-house flick that’s about as intriguing as a 90-minute Rob Zombie … Continue reading Horror review: Bones
Horror review: Thir13en Ghosts
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, NOV. 1, 2001 Several times while viewing the Vancouver-shot Thir13en Ghosts, I thought to myself: “This is a complete and utter piece of crap.” But after the movie was over, I decided that glib assessment wasn’t totally called for. The film’s set piece—a sprawling haunted house built mostly of … Continue reading Horror review: Thir13en Ghosts