There are bad movies. There are offensive movies. And then there’s I Spit on Your Grave 2, a cinematic grease fire so tone-deaf and mean-spirited it makes Human Centipede look like a UNICEF ad. Directed by Steven R. Monroe — the same man who remade the original I Spit on Your Grave in 2010 and … Read More “I Spit on Your Grave 2 (2013): When Revenge Cinema Finally Spits on Itself” »
Abigail Breslin and the Day That Wouldn’t Die Every once in a while, a horror film comes along that asks the big, terrifying questions—like, “What if you’re already dead, but your parents still make you eat meatloaf for dinner every night?” Welcome to Haunter (2013), Vincenzo Natali’s twisty, atmospheric ghost story that’s less about jump … Read More “Haunter (2013): The Ghost With the Most Existential Dread” »
Spirits, Trauma, and the Terrifying Truth of Human Nature Sometimes, a horror film doesn’t need monsters or gore to make your skin crawl — it just needs a woman, a locked apartment, and a past that won’t stay buried. Espectro (also known as Demon Inside), the 2013 Mexican psychological horror film written and directed by … Read More “Espectro (2013): When the Dead Are Less Scary Than the Living” »
Boogie Nights, Murderous Frights If Saturday Night Fever and Maniac had an unholy love child conceived on a sticky dance floor, it would look a lot like Discopath. Directed by Renaud Gauthier, this 2013 Canadian horror-comedy-slash-disco-slash-maybe-art-school-project tries to answer one simple question: What if disco music made you homicidal? It’s a ridiculous premise that should’ve … Read More “Discopath (2013): Stayin’ Alive? Not for Long.” »
The Abominable Snowman Deserves Better If you’ve ever sat through a Syfy original movie and thought, “This is bad, but at least it’s short,” Deadly Descent: The Abominable Snowman is here to test your faith in humanity, television, and the Yeti mythos itself. Directed by Marko Mäkilaakso (a man who apparently watched Cliffhanger once and … Read More “Deadly Descent: The Abominable Snowman (2013): The Hills Have Fuzz” »
When Zombies Attack — and You Wish They’d Just Finish the Job There are bad zombie movies, and then there’s The Dead 2: India — a film that manages to make the end of the world look like a mild inconvenience. Directed by the Ford brothers (Howard and Jonathan, apparently still recovering from the success … Read More “The Dead 2: India (2013): Apocalypse Now… and Still Boring” »
Welcome to the Madhouse of Mediocrity If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if someone tried to remake Session 9 after binge-watching Ghost Huntersand losing the will to live halfway through, look no further than Dark Feed. Written and directed by Shawn and Michael Rasmussen — the same duo who co-wrote The Ward, and apparently … Read More “Dark Feed (2013): Lights, Camera, Insanity, Boredom” »
The Gospel According to Confusion There are horror movies that scare you. There are horror movies that entertain you. And then there’s Dabbe 4: The Possession — a film that traps you in a 145-minute Turkish fever dream, beats you over the head with holy verses, and dares you to make sense of any of … Read More “Dabbe 4: The Possession (2013): Holy Djinn, Make It Stop” »
The Gospel According to Gore If exploitation horror were a religion, Cross Bearer would be its bloodstained scripture. Written and directed by Adam Ahlbrandt, this 2013 indie gem doesn’t so much walk the line between faith and filth as it does gleefully sprint across it with a hammer in hand. It’s loud, trashy, unapologetically violent … Read More “Cross Bearer (2013): Holy Hammer, This One’s a Blessing” »
The Horror of the Rent-Controlled Dead If you’ve ever lived in an apartment complex and thought, “The neighbors are killing me,” Hideo Nakata’s The Complex(クロユリ団地, Kuroyuri Danchi) takes that sentiment and makes it painfully literal. Japan’s master of subtle dread, best known for Ringu and Dark Water, returns to his favorite haunt — the cursed … Read More “The Complex (2013): Where Ghosts, Guilt, and Apartment Living Collide” »