Ghosts, Grief, and Gym Shorts Every now and then, a horror movie sneaks up and gently pats you on the shoulder instead of screaming in your face. Jamie Marks Is Dead is that ghostly hand — a melancholy, slow-burn supernatural story that trades jump scares for emotional gut punches. Directed by Carter Smith (The Ruins) … Read More “JAMIE MARKS IS DEAD (2014): A GHOST STORY WITH SOUL, STYLE, AND JUST ENOUGH SADNESS TO KILL A SMALL TOWN” »
Hell Is Other People (and Found Footage) Somewhere in Hollywood, a producer once said, “You know what horror needs? More shaky cameras and heroin.” And thus, Inner Demons was born. Directed by Seth Grossman, this 2014 found-footage horror film tries to mash together The Exorcist and Intervention, and the result is like watching a reality … Read More “INNER DEMONS (2014): WHEN YOUR EXORCISM SHOW NEEDS AN EXORCISM” »
Welcome to the Bunker, Boys You know a movie means business when it starts with a mercenary getting released from prison because a shadowy corporation needs him for one last job. Billy O’Brien’s The Hybrid (a.k.a. Scintilla) embraces every glorious cliché of military sci-fi horror — secret labs, dodgy scientists, and creatures that look like … Read More “THE HYBRID (2014): A BLOODY GOOD BUNKER PARTY WITH ALIENS, ETHICS, AND BRITISH GRIT” »
Welcome to Beijing’s Most Haunted Real Estate Listing If Zillow ever lists “Chaonei No. 81” as “charming three-story French Baroque mansion with a history,” run. Don’t walk — run. Because Raymond Yip’s The House That Never Dies turns Beijing’s most infamous haunted house into a dazzling, delirious 3D nightmare that’s equal parts ghost story, tragic … Read More “THE HOUSE THAT NEVER DIES (2014): A GRAND GOTHIC GHOST STORY THAT REFUSES TO STAY QUIET” »
When Marriage Gets… Alien Ah, marriage — that sacred union of love, trust, and occasional alien impregnation. Leigh Janiak’s Honeymoon (2014) takes that classic “newlyweds in a cabin” setup and injects it (literally and figuratively) with paranoia, goo, and psychological dread. It’s a slow-burn supernatural horror movie that asks the question no one at your … Read More “HONEYMOON (2014): ’TIL DEATH — OR BODY HORROR — DO US PART” »
Buzzkill on Arrival Some movies are hidden gems. Others are so bad they’re good. The Hive (2014) is neither. It’s a cinematic virus that infects your patience and slowly mutates it into despair. Written and directed by David Yarovesky, the film is a genre mashup of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Evil Dead, and … Read More “THE HIVE (2014): A SCI-FI HORROR SO INFECTIOUSLY BAD, YOU’LL WANT TO QUARANTINE YOUR TV” »
Welcome to the Scenic Highway to Nowhere There are bad horror movies, and then there’s Haunted Road — a 2014 Chinese–Korean co-production that’s less of a movie and more of a two-hour public service announcement about why you should never take a road trip with people you don’t like. Directed by Yijan Tong and written … Read More “HAUNTED ROAD (2014): WHERE GOOD CINEMATOGRAPHY GOES TO DIE” »
Welcome to Not-So-Happy Camp Every once in a while, a movie comes along that reminds you why horror fans are so forgiving — because they have to be. Happy Camp (2014), the found-footage disaster written and directed by Josh Anthony, is one of those films that makes you nostalgic for the Blair Witch’s shaky cam … Read More “HAPPY CAMP (2014): A FOUND FOOTAGE HORROR THAT SHOULD HAVE STAYED LOST” »
The First Iranian Vampire Western… Unfortunately There are movies that sound so cool on paper you can practically feel the cult status forming before the first frame rolls. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is one of those movies. “The first Iranian vampire Western,” shot in black and white, with a feminist twist and … Read More “A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT (2014): A VAMPIRE MOVIE THAT SUCKS… BUT NOT IN A GOOD WAY” »
Fasten Your Seatbelts — We’re About to Hit Rock Bottom “From the director of The Grudge,” the trailer promised. What it should have said was, “From the director of The Grudge, but this time, with less logic, less horror, and somehow even fewer ghosts that make sense.” Flight 7500 (released in 2016 after spending two … Read More “FLIGHT 7500 (2014): A SUPERNATURAL TURBULENCE OF TERROR, OR JUST A CRASH LANDING IN CINEMA HELL?” »