Horror Thoughts ‘15—Dracula Untold (2014) ***

PG-13, 94 min.

Director: Gary Shore

Writers: Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless, Bram Stoker (characters)

Starring: Luke Evans, Sarah Gadon, Dominic Cooper, Art Parkinson, Charles Dance, Diarmaid Murtagh, Paul Kaye, William Houston, Noah Huntley

“I’m so sick of origin stories.” That seems to be becoming a mantra from filmgoers in this age of the comic book movie where origin stories are everything. I’ve never been much of a mind to think that way. A story is a story, origin or otherwise. What people are sick of is the same superhero origin story over and over again. How many times have we seen the origin stories of Batman, Superman and Spider-Man? Now, Dracula… that’s one we haven’t seen before.

Of course, one of my big problems with so many of today’s vampire stories is that the storytellers have forgotten what the vampire mythology is all about. All too often vampires are turned into superheroes, which is just wrong. Unfortunately, this is just that type of vampire movie. It lacks all the classic themes of the vampire mythos. Considering that those tropes seem all but forgotten today, I’m willing to give into the fact that this is going to be a vampire superhero origin story. Once you give yourself up to that fact, it’s not such a bad movie. It ain’t scary, but it’s enjoyable.

Horror Thoughts ‘15—Manhunter (1986) ****

R, 124 min. (director's cut)

Director: Michael Mann

Writers: Michael Mann, Thomas Harris (novel “Red Dragon”)

Starring: William Petersen, Denis Farina, Tom Noonan, Kim Griest, Joan Allen, Brian Cox, Stephen Lang, David Seaman, Benjamin Hendrickson

So, the best show to get canceled from television this year was “Hannibal”, which remarkably made it through three very dark and twisted seasons. Of all things Hannibal Lecter related, it is by far my favorite. But, Lecter has certainly made an impression before. In celebration of those three wonderful seasons, I decided to watch all five of the Hannibal franchise films for Horrorfest.

The police procedural aspect of most of these films generally places them outside of the horror genre in my mind, yet Hannibal Lecter is one of the greatest movie monsters ever created. So I wanted to look at them from a horror mindset. Certainly the television show is rooted solidly in horror, yet its creator, Bryan Fuller, intended to keep references to the novel storylines throughout the series. So, how much of that horror do the movie versions of these stories contain?

“Manhunter”, the first adaptation of Thomas Harris’s novel “Red Dragon” and first movie appearance of Hannibal Lector, retains the least amount of horror movie aspects of the bunch. Directed by Michael Mann in full 80’s gear, it retains the crisp “Miami Vice” feel to his imagery. Note that in this vision, the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane is depicted with entirely white walls and features. No colors of any kind. This is, of course, how Mann envisions the clinical, completely sanitized. It is 180 degrees removed from the grimy, dungeon-like depictions of the institution in “The Silence of the Lambs” and the later adaptation of the same story.

Crimson Peak / **½ (R)

Edith Cushing: Mia Wasikowska

Thomas Sharpe: Tom Hiddleston

Lucille Sharpe: Jessica Chastain

Dr. Alan McMichael: Charlie Hunnam

Carter Cushing: Jim Beaver

Universal Pictures presents a film directed by Guillermo del Toro. Written by del Toro & Matthew Robbins. Running time: 119 min. Rated R (for bloody violence, some sexual content and brief strong language).

After “Pacific Rim”, which played as a minor improvement over a “Transformers” movie, I couldn’t wait for director/writer Guillermo del Toro to return to his horror fantasy roots with “Crimson Peak”, a gothic horror romance that has del Toro reminiscing about horror traditions of the past. Del Toro has a grand palette, especially in horror environments, making “Crimson Peak” a film that plays to his strengths as a director. The beautiful images are there, in a script that feels a little stilted, making this one a disappointment on some levels, but exactly what it should be on others.

Horror Thoughts ‘15—House (1977) ***½

NR, 88 min.

Director: Nobuhiko Ôbayashi

Writers: Chiho Katsura, Chigumi Ôbayashi (original story)

Starring: Kimiko Ikegami, Miki Jinbo, Kumiko Ohba, Ai Matsubara, Mieko Satô, Eriko Tanaka, Masayo Miyako, Kiyohiko Ozaki, Saho Sasazawa, Asei Kobayashi

Have you ever seen one of those Japanese variety shows where you are wondering just what the heck is going on? Well, the 1977 cult horror film “House” comes from the same mindset. In it you will witness a floating head attack a friend, a piano eat its player, a girl who loves to clean killed by linens, a man turn into a pile of bananas, a woman taking a bath attacked by hair, an old woman who likes to hang out in the broken refrigerator, and a skeleton dancing in the background of many scenes without any explanation. But, even that list of absurdities fails to do the movie justice. It is one that must be witnessed to be believed.

Horror Thoughts ‘15—It Follows (2015) ****

R, 100 min.

Director/Writer: David Robert Mitchell

Starring: Maika Monroe, Kier Gilchrist, Lili Sepe, Olivia Luccardi, Daniel Zovatto, Jake Weary

It’s always a bit of a cheat for a critic to come to a movie after both sides have had their chance at it. As is often the case with underground hits, after an initial wave of incredible praise for the project comes an almost equal wave of disparagement against it. With the indie horror flick “It Follows”, initial reviews hailed it as the most original work of horror in the past ten years or so. It has since been reduced to “meh” is many circles. The most public of the charges against it came from director Quentin Tarantino, who praised its originality, but accused writer/director David Robert Mitchell of breaking his own mythology. Perhaps the greatest praise I can give the movie is that while I watched it, all of these opinions from others dropped from my mind and I was immersed into a narrative that I never could have foreseen.

Horror Thoughts ‘15—Horns (2013) **

R, 120 min.

Director: Alexandre Aja

Writers: Keith Bunin, Joe Hill (novel)

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Max Minghella, Joe Anderson, Juno Temple, Kelli Garner, James Remar, Kathleen Quinlan, Heather Graham, David Morse

So, I seem to have gone for a Stephen King related start to my Horrorfest ’15. For those of you who aren’t aware Joe Hill, the author of the novel “Horns” upon which this movie is based, is the son of King. His writing is very similar to King’s. From what I’ve read of his, he might be even better than his father. I have not read “Horns”, however, so I came into this movie fresh. I’m a little shocked at how similarly this story is structured to some of his father’s work. It definitely shares some character structure with the stories of King’s “It” and “Dreamcatcher”. It also may share King’s curse of having horror maestros mishandle the material.

Horror Thoughts ‘15—Maximum Overdrive (1986) *

R, 97 min.

Director/Writer: Stephen King (also short story “Trucks”)

Starring: Emilio Esteves, Pat Hingle, Laura Harrington, Yeardley Smith, John Short, Ellen McElduff, J.C. Quinn, Christopher Murney, Holter Graham, Frankie Faison, Pat Miller, Jack Canon, Barry Bell, John Brasington, J. Don Ferguson, Leon Rippy, Bob Gooden, Giancarlo Esposito, Stephen King

It is well past time I began posting for this year’s Horrorfest, which I began over two weeks ago and already includes five titles (posts for each coming soon?). Anyway, I started this year’s Horrorfest off with a fizzle, for a change. I usually try to kick off each Horrorfest with one of the year’s better horror flicks. This year I said, “Screw that!” I literally did. I said, “Screw that. I’m going to kick this year’s festivities with a piece of crap.” And, there are few horror flicks that are as big a piece of crap as Stephen King’s directorial debut—and luckily only feature length directorial effort—“Maximum Overdrive”.

Horror Thoughts ‘14—Dark House (2014) ***

R, 102 min.

Director: Victor Salva

Writers: Charles Agron, Victor Salva

Starring: Luke Kleintank, Alex McKenna, Anthony Rey Perez, Zack Ward, Lacey Anzelc, Ethan S. Smith, Lesley-Anne Down, Tobin Bell

Well, we get an unplanned Horrorfest entry with “Dark House”, which is a good thing since I like it better than any of the final three films I watched as official festival entries.

“Dark House” is a unique horror flick. It has some of the signature standbys of the genre, like and isolated location and a select number of cast members to be taken out one by one in bloody fashion. However, its story is a little more unique than the cookie cutter elements that generally inhabit most horror flicks these days.

Horror Thoughts ‘14—Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013) **

PG-13, 109 min.

Director: James Wan

Writers: Leigh Whannell (also characters), James Wan

Starring: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Ty Simpkins, Lin Shaye, Barbara Hershey, Steve Coulter, Leigh Whannell, Angus Sampson

I was a fan of the original “Insidious”. I very much enjoyed the way director James Wan played with lighting and sound to create a film where it was impossible to escape the frights it contained. I liked its unique take on the haunted house story by presenting a different kind of poltergeist that haunted individuals instead of merely their dwellings. It did a good job handling the horror standby of the child in peril. It had a nice smattering of humor to prevent it from becoming overly oppressive. And frankly, I had trouble getting its images out of my head when I went to bed that night.

Horror Thoughts ‘14—Sinister (2012) **

R, 110 min.

Director: Scott Derrickson

Writers: Scott Derrickson, C. Robert Cargill

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, Fred Dalton Thompson, James Ransone, Michael Hall D’Addario, Clare Foley

*sigh* There is so much misguidance in today’s horror filmmakers. Remember how in art class you were taught that you had to learn the rules before you could break them? Yeah. Nobody ever told Scott Derrickson that one, apparently.

Horror Thoughts ‘14—You’re Next (2013) **

R, 95 min.

Director: Adam Wingard

Writer: Simon Barrett

Starring: Sharni Vinson, Nicholas Tucci, Wendy Glenn, AJ Bowen, Joe Swanberg, Sarah Myers, Amy Seimetz, Ti West, Rob Moran, Barbara Crampton, L.C. Holt, Simon Barrett, Lane Hughes, Kate Lyn Sheil, Larry Fessenden

I was surprised with “You’re Next”, because it had received pretty universally positive reviews. It doesn’t deserve them. I can’t imagine what impressed so many reviewers who are often in contention with the popular acceptance of horror movies. I suppose the fact that the villains of this horror movie are fallible is a slightly different take on this type of torture porn approach, but I felt the movie wasn’t really sure what it had to say about anything.

Horror Thoughts ‘14—Kill Baby… Kill! (1966) ***½

PG, 83 min.

Director: Mario Bava

Writers: Romano Migliorini, Robert Natale, Mario Bava, John Davis Hart

Starring: Giacomo Rossi-Stuart, Erika Blanc, Fabienne Dali, Piero Lulli, Max Lawrence, Micaela Esdra, Franca Dominici, Giuseppe Addobbati, Mirella Pamphili, Giana Vivaldi

With every Mario Bava movie I watch, I enjoy his filmmaking and stories more. The acting leaves something to be desired, but Bava saturates every film with such atmosphere that the performances hardly matter.

Fury / **** (R)

Don ‘Wardaddy’ Collier: Brad Pitt

Norman Ellison: Logan Lerman

Boyd ‘Bible’ Swan: Shia LaBeouf

Trini ‘Gordo’ Garcia: Michael Peña

Grady ‘Coon-Ass’ Travis: Jon Bernthal

Captain Waggoner: Jason Isaacs

Columbia Pictures presents a film written and directed by David Ayer. Running time: 134 min. Rated R (for strong sequences of war violence, some grisly images, and language).

“Ideals are peaceful. History is violent.”

                                   —Sgt. Don Collier, “Fury”

French filmmaker Francois Truffaut is often cited as having said, “There is no such thing as an anti-war film.” I’ve always had a problem with this notion. I’ve been a fan of war films almost my entire life. I suppose it’s a statement like that one that would inspire Truffaut’s belief that to make a war film is to glorify war. Most critics of war films cite Hollywood’s insistence upon some sort of sentiment as the glorifying factor. But it is sentiment that allows us an entry into the human aspect of war. While war films have given me an appreciation for what it takes to be a soldier and a pretty good appreciation of history, what they have never done is make me want to be a soldier or experience war in even the most peripheral way. There is a degree of sentiment to the new war film “Fury”, but it would be hard for anyone to argue that it glorifies war.

Horror Thoughts ‘14—Steadfast Stanley (2014) ***

NR, 5 min.

Director/Writer: John Kim

“Steadfast Stanley” tells the story of the as yet untold during the inevitable zombie apocalypse—the story of the family dog, the ever-devoted bastion to the family dynamic. We’ve seen families broken up by zombie apocalypses before, but how often have we followed the travails of the tiniest members of the family. I say tiny, because in this zombie flick our hero is the family dog, in this case a Pembroke Welsh Corgi.

Horror Thoughts ‘14—Zodiac (2007) ****

R, 157 min.

Director: David Fincher

Writers: James Vanderbilt, Robert Graysmith (book)

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards, Chloë Sevigny, Dermot Mulroney, Elias Koteas, Donal Logue, Brian Cox, John Carroll Lynch, Philip Baker Hall, Zach Grenier, John Terry, Adam Goldberg, Clea Duvall, James Le Gros, Charles Fleischer, Jimmi Simpson, Patrick Scott Lewis, Pell James, Ciara Hughes, Lee Norris, Ione Skye

David Fincher’s “Zodiac” seems to be the moment in his career when he transcended all that had come before and entered a new era of his work. I don’t know if it’s because everything he’s done since “Zodiac” has been based on a book, or if he just broadened his scope in terms of depth and drama. But, “Zodiac” was certainly the start of a new phase in Fincher’s career.

What makes “Zodiac” such a powerful film is the way it captures how the investigation of the zodiac killer disintegrated after years of mistakes, lack of coordination, and just plain bafflement. It also parallels the obsession that drives a serial murder with those of the cartoonist Robert Graysmith, who was not part of either the law enforcement investigation or the journalistic one, but was responsible for the book upon which the film is based. The dramatic rewards, however, are not what concern me on this Halloween evening. I’m more interested in the horror aspects of the movie.

Horror Thoughts ‘14—Black Sabbath (1963) ***

UR, 92 min.

Director: Mario Bava

Writers: Mario Bava, Alberto Bevilacqua, Marcello Fondato, Anton Chekov (story “The Drop of Water”), F.G. Snyder (story “The Telephone”), Aleksei Tolstoy (novelette “Sem’ya vurdalaka”)

Starring: Boris Karloff, Jacqueline Pierreux, Milly Monti, Michèle Mercier, Lydia Alfonsi, Mark Damon, Susy Andersen, Massimo Righi, Rica Dialina, Glauco Onorato

The anthology format is one that seems to fit horror better than any other genre. I was quite surprised to find that Italian maestro Mario Bava had directed an entire anthology film. Filmed after Bava had moved into the color film format, it’s a good place to see the roots of the Italian horror movement’s signature look where lighting gels are used heavily to influence the atmosphere and moods of the most tense horror sequences.

Hosted by Boris Karloff, the movie tells three tales from short story sources. Almost as surprising as seeing Boris Karloff in a hosting role is learning that one of the tales is based on a short story by Anton Chekov and another is taken from a novelette by Aleksei Tolstoy. After seeing the movie, I’d be very interested in reading some horror by either of these literary masters.

Horror Thoughts ‘14—A Haunted House (2013) *½

R, 86 min.

Director: Michael Tiddes

Writers: Marlon Wayans, Rick Alvarez

Starring: Marlon Wayans, Essence Atkins, Marlene Forte, David Koechner, Dave Sheridan, Nick Swardson, Alanna Ubach, Andrew Daly, Cedric the Entertainer, Affion Crockett, J.B. Smoove, Robin Thede, Jordenn Thompson

The art of the spoof is a delicate art indeed. The Wayans family has long been some of the few who could actually pull one off. They know what works and what doesn’t in terms of structure, but the success rate is still very low, even if you know what you’re doing. Marlon Wayans’  “A Haunted House” is a send up of the recent surge in found footage horror movies sparked by the success of the original “Paranormal Activity”.

Horror Thoughts ‘14—The Signal (2014) ***

PG-13, 97 min.

Director: William Eubank

Writers: Carlyle Eubank, William Eubank, David Frigerio

Starring: Brenton Thwaites, Olivia Cooke, Beau Knapp, Laurence Fishburne

The last movie called “The Signal” that I watched for Horrorfest is one of the better zombie movies out there. This “Signal” is a very different one than in that film, however. This time instead of some sort of broadcast signal that turns people into mad savages, this signal is from an IP address used by a hacker, who lures three unsuspecting MIT students out into the American southwestern desert. The hacker’s purpose and identity provide the movie’s twist in a story that isn’t entirely original, but is well told here.

Horror Thoughts ‘14—The Walking Dead, season 4 (2013-2014) ****

TV-MA, 16 45-min. episodes

Developer: Frank Darabont

Directors: Greg Nicotero, Guy Furland, Dan Sackheim, Tricia Brock, David Boyd, Michael Uppendahl, Jeremy Podeswa, Ernest Dickerson, Seith Mann, Julius Ramsay, Michael E. Satrazemis, Michelle Maclaren

Writers: Frank Darabont, Robert Kirkman (also graphic novels), Tony Moore (graphic novels), Charlie Adlard (graphic novels), Scott M. Gimple, Angela Kang, Matthew Negrete, Channing Powell, Nichole Beattie, Curtis Gwinn, Seth Hoffman,

Starring: Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun, Lauren Cohen, Chandler Riggs, Danai Gurira, Melissa McBride, Scott Wilson, Emily Kinney, Chad L. Coleman, Sonequa Martin-Green, Lawrence Gilliard Jr., Alanna Masterson

Guest starring: Melissa Ponzio, Kerry Condon, Kyle Gallner, Vincent Martella, Sunkirsh Bala, Brighton Sharbino, Robin Lord Taylor, David Morrissey, Audrey Marie Anderson, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Meyrick Murphy, Kirk Acevedo, Enver Gjokaj, Kyla Kenedy, Juliana Harkavy, Sherry Richards, Aldis Hodge, Brendan Fobbs, Michael Cudlitz, Josh McDermitt, Christian Serratos, Jeff Kober, Marcus Hester, Denise Crosby, Andrew J. West

What could’ve been the season where “The Walking Dead” jumped the shark, the show runners pulled back on where they were headed and brought the series back to the basics of the zombie genre. Things got heated in season three with the introduction of The Governor, which was an interesting line of exploration but took focus away from what the zombie analogy is really about. Characters skittered on the edge of betraying everything they were about, but season four focused them in a deliberate manner.

ZAM Review—World War Z: Unrated Version (2013) **

This review was originally written for and published in Zombie Apocalypse Monthly.

UR, 122 min.

Director: Marc Forster

Writers: Matthew Michael Carnahan, Drew Goddard, Damon Lindelof, J. Michael Straczynski, Max Brooks (novel)

Starring: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, Daniella Kurtesz, James Badge Dale, Ludi Boeken, Fana Mokoena, David Morse, Matthew Fox, Peter Capaldi, Pierfrancesco Favino, Ruth Negga, Mortiz Bleibtreu, Sterling Jerins, Abigail Hargrove

In the year since the theatrical release of Brad Pitt’s big screen adaptation of Max Brooks’ zombie apocalypse fictionalized history novel “World War Z”, the general consensus on the film version has been that of disappointment. This is despite the fact that the film grossed over $200 million in the U.S. theatrically after an expensive reshoot of the film’s original ending. In fact, it was more like a reshoot of the entire last act of the film, which was totally rewritten.