The Loved Ones (2009)

I think the tagline on the poster says it best, "Pretty In Pink meets Wolf Creek" although I saw more similarities to Texas Chainsaw. Wolf Creek must come to mind because it's an Australian film. 

Princess is a very disturbed young woman. When she sets her sights on Brent as her date to prom, nothing will stand in her way. Of course she gets her hands on him but her idea of having her way with him are really on the far side of Out There. Bloody mayhem ensues.

Robin McLeavy steals every scene she is in as the demented and horrifying Princess. Her family is as bad as anything seen in the Texas Chainsaw franchise and they actually bare more than a passing resemblance. There are more than a few cringe worthy moments as she tortures Brent in the middle of her pink colored nightmare. It's really easy to believe these characters and even the sick motivations that fuels them. I haven't been this creeped out by a female since Baby in House Of 1,000 Corpses. And it all comes to a suitably blood drenched ending and a nice sick little twist about half way through that I never saw coming. The final moments really should be considered a Horror Classic. 

There is a side story involving Brent's best friend and his Goth prom date, but it's nowhere near as entertaining as Princess and Brent and if anything detracts from the sick shit going on elsewhere. They provide the comic relief when things are getting intense but in doing so they manage to derail a couple of really terrifying moments. It's a really good film, but could have been a lot better if tightened up a bit. It has a really good air of tension and horror that it could have maintained for the full running time of the film.

It's a sick little Aussie film that may just impress you. Especially if you like to tongue kiss your own father!! The gore is pretty high and plentiful and the squishy moments are pretty hardcore but fans of the genre will feel right at home. 

This is director/writer Sean Byrne's first feature film and managed to garner several awards in different film feasts before landing a distribution deal. The world really does need more Indy Horror that is this well done. 

Red Mist (2008)

I'll admit a little bit of bias with this film. Firstly, I think mister Andrew Lee Potts is about as cute a human being as God could manufacture. And secondly, I've just started to 'discover' Arielle Kebbel. She has played the other sister in The Uninvited and most notably for me she was Lexi in The Vampire Diaries. I was very upset with that show when *spoiler* they killed her off in the very episode they introduced her. She's supposed to be Damien's 300 yr old best friend (fag hag) and they just pop her off like she was a Cullen.

Getting back to the actual review, the movie finds Andrew and Arielle sharing a good 90% of the screen time so I was fairly engaged from the get go. Thankfully the story is a decent one and is played out with a fair amount of gore and really good performances by the main cast.

The story involves a group of med students who do something stupid that ends with Kenneth in a coma. Kenneth is played by Potts and is a stammering, creepy, possibly mentally challenged young man who works in the morgue and has a crush on Arielle's character, Catherine. He only gets a few moments to play the part to the fullest, but he does a really great job of making Kenneth almost painful to watch. Similar to other movies of the kind, the students have to hide what Kenneth knows and all vow to never say a word about their involvement in his eventual collapse into a coma. After some wonder drugs, some questionable choices and even more questionable situations later and Kenneth goes all Jean Grey on people. He can posses people and make them do his bidding, all from deep within his coma. And of course he's out for revenge. Oh no doubt this is very well worn Horror staple story lines but they play out with likable characters and these days that's more than you can hope for in most genre films.

If you have seen all the rest and seek an above average buried treasure, look this one up. It's worth a watch even if you already know how things are going to turn out. I give it bonus points for realistic (and real) medical jargon.

I'll also give a YouTube shout out. Decent Fan made music video from the film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc8wCur99Gs

Catfish (2010)

So the first entry in a Movie Blog about Horror films and a homo who watches them is about a movie I can neither talk about nor would I call it a horror movie.


But it is billed as a thriller. And it's been marketed that way.

"The best film Hitchcock never made..." Maybe not so much.
"The REAL Facebook Movie"? Bingo.

I really can't tell you anything about the film. I can tell you that at some points I was very twitchy and had a hard time with what was being shown on screen. But no one gets eaten. No one jumps out at you. Everyone leaves the movie with arms and legs in tact. That's not at all what this film is about. I can also tell you that it's an unflinching look at the subject it does deal with often to the point of discomfort. It's also a movie that could not have been told before the words "Social Networking" entered the lexicon. But the emotional impact and the ripples it leaves you with are every bit as affecting as the most classic scare films. This is a trip down a rabbit hole many of us know but few of us actually enter. The most impressive thing about the film for those of us who like to buy into the "reality" horror films is that the line is so blurry there has been more discussion on this one than Blair Witch. And because of some of the information given in the film, the reality shown is simply too easy to buy into.

There are those who believe that there is some reality here. There are others who think there can't be. The fact is, the film makers and everyone involved swear it happened just as we see it. I'll be honest with you, I can't make that call. What I saw felt real, especially on the part of Nev.

Part of me hopes it is real so these demons can be put to rest. Everyone in the film really does deserve a chance to move on with their lives.

I really do wish I could say more about the film but to do so would completely destroy the story.
There's seriously no gore, no dead bodies, nothing at all like that. It's all dialog and situational.

It's not a Horror film but it is as compelling a piece of film as any I have seen this year. See it. You won't forget it.

****

Man Candy Alert

If you like fuzzy boys there is some here for you. I personally think Nev is cute and very easy to watch but the story is powerful enough that it didn't matter by about half way through. There is no nudity, but there are a couple of shirtless scenes.

First Post is a Call Out!

In the United States, a new law proposal called The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) was introduced last week, and there will be a hearing in front of the Judiciary Committee this Thursday.

If passed, this law will allow the government, under the command of the media companies, to censor the internet as they see fit, like China and Iran do, with the difference that the sites they decide to censor will be completely removed from the internet and not just in the US.

Please see the following article from the Huffington Post for more information.

Stop the Internet Blacklist

And if you are a US citizen, please take the time to sign this petition
DemandProgress.org - Petition to Stop the Internet Blacklist!
*******************


First off, the US has already appointed itself World Police, do we need them controlling the whole Internet as well?
HELL NO. The Internet is one of the few truly Free Speech places left. Porn, Pirates and Politics aside, this is an answer to NOTHING.

Stop The US From Trying to Police EVERYTHING. Please.