Movie Review – Page 118

Pet Sematary

“Sometimes Louis, dead is better.” Pet Sematary by legendary writer Stephen King was my introduction to his insanity and brilliance when I was three or four, not much older than poor Gage Creed. To this day the movie still has an impressive talent for creeping the shit out of me and tugging at my heartstrings a bit. The book is equally as good and pretty damn close comparison wise, but I’m getting a little ahead of myself.

Louis and Rachael Creed move into a new house in rural Maine with daughter Ellie, cat Church and baby son Gage. Its a wide, picturesque place; a long road of speeding trucks separates them from there old, kindly neighbors Judd and Norma Crandall. The Crandalls and Creeds hit it off, especially Judd and Louis. Louis is a doctor, and first day at his new job, a young man named Pascow dies on his table after getting hit by a car while jogging. Louis has dreams of Pascow’s ruined body warning him about something Judd once told the family, beyond the old Pet Sematary out back. While the rest of his family is away, Louis finds Church dead. Judd sees the pain on Louis’s face of having to break the news to Ellie. Judd reluctantly takes Louis to a very special place far beyond the ruins of the cemetery to bury Church. Judd tells him it used to be a special place for the Native Americans that used to live there; after a long trek, Judd tells him to bury his own. Days later, Church returns. Not the sweet lovable cat he knew, Church exists with a horrible stench and a lonesome, sometimes hostile temper. Louis asks Judd how the hell church came back. Judd tells him the legend of the land but stops short when Louis asks the obvious question, have ever buried a person up there. Pascow returns to Louis again, warning him away from the ground again. Time goes by and on a fateful summer’s day Louis finds himself with a broken heart and a breaking family when Gage perishes tragically. Against everything, Louis bring Gage to the burial ground and waits for his son to come home with horrific and tragic results…

A story this simple, genuinely genius in how frightening and sad it is proves why King is a legend at the craft. Whether you watch the unforgettable movie or took the extra initiative and read the book, they sync up really well. The characters feel realistic and flushed out well. A lot of the imagery sticks with you; the most memorable image from the movie to me is Zelda, Rachael’s dying sister. That shit stays with you man. Definitely locked in my top 3 favorite Stephen King stories of all time, perhaps even my favorite considering how much it influenced me, I can’t recommend it enough. Thank you as always and just remember, “some lines aren’t meant to be crossed, doc.”

Nightmare on Elm Street 3

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Dream Warriors brings us back to the Wes Craven Nightmare movies. Nancy is back, this time to help a group of kids in a hospital to help kids suffering from a type of group psychosis resulting in nightmares. Kristen has the ability to call the others into her dreams to face the master of dreams, and that master is none other than Freddie himself. Each child has a special ability that can be used to battle in the dream world to buy time for Nancy and Dr. Neil Gordan as they attempt to find the body of Freddie in the real world to bury it on hallowed ground and stop him once and for all and only 1 man can supply that information,the very drunk Donald Thompson father of Nancy.

A lot of things happen in this movie, like finding out from the ghost of Freddy’s mother that he is the bastard son of 100 maniacs and a few other things I won’t spoil just in case someone happens to have not seen it. Be careful when you sleep, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

5 horror movies for non horror fans

Horror is in my blood, it’s grafted onto my soul since birth. Whether you get off on the tension of a good psychological scare, enjoy gallons of blood, or a cheap laugh and some boobs, horror has something for everyone. Most of all, it makes us look at ourselves, our friends and family, and the world around us all differently. But some people insist horror is stupid, tasteless, or exploitative and sometimes yes it is but I wanted to prove there are some great horror movies the haters can enjoy. In no particular order, here we go:

1. IT (2017)- The most recent movie on this list, It not only is a great horror movie but also a wonderful coming of age story. The children have a heart warming chemistry that gives us some great story thread outside the constant threat of Pennywise and some funny moments. Either way, I highly recommend it.

2. Cabin in the Woods- Just as creative as it is funny and badass, Cabin in the Woods took most of us by storm in 2012 as a totally unique and original movie about the ultimate cabin in the Woods horror film…seriously if you never saw it, you’re in for a huge treat as the plot is full of fun characters and monsters from all walks of horror- and a unicorn too.

alien 3. Alien- If you read my review for this sci-fi horror classic, you’ll know how much I loved it but now I’m going to focus on the tension this movie builds. Some beautiful, claustrophobic settings and a terrifying as hell creature hunting relate able characters in space. If you’re a sci fi nerd, definitely should go on your must watch list.

4. Poltergeist- As much of a great horror movie this classic is, there is equally a sense of wonder to it you don’t find in many horror movies. It’s a heartfelt family and a cast of likable characters that doesn’t take itself too seriously but when it’s scary, is scary as hell. Always worth a view.

seven 5. Seven- After Alien 3, David Fincher came back with a vengeance with this freaky crime thriller staring a young Brad Pitt and the always amazing Morgan Freeman. So much creepy imagery as they track down a killer basing his murders on the 7 deadly sins; fans of cop dramas will enjoy the dark, grim atmosphere and the twists and turns.

I hope you all enjoyed the countdown and check these movies out and may the gaming gods be with you.

Nightmare on Elm Street 2

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Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge came out in 1985 and is considered by many to be the black sheep of the original Nightmare on Elm Street movies as well as the worst. That is honestly a debatable opinion I won’t get into but I happen to agree with it. Not to imply the 2 are connected but this also happens to be the only one not written by the late Wes Craven.

Jessie and his family movie into a new home. That home just so happens to be the former home of Nancy from the first movie. And you guessed it, it does not take long for shit to go south. From weird fires in toasters that aren’t plugged in to birds catching fire and exploding in living rooms this movie takes a weird turn from the first one.

Jessie on the other hand slowly becomes more and more possessed by Freddie. After killing the gym teacher and his best friend he sets his eyes on a pool party. The pool party scene may be the most odd in the movie, not bad, it is simply odd seeing Freddie chased off with a shotgun. The ending is also strangely reminiscent of the 1st movies with the school bus. All in all this is a really good horror movie, it is just a bad Freddie movie. Enjoy your Dreams, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Nightmare on Elm Street

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Nightmare on Elm Street is possibly one of the most iconic horror films of all time, or at least of the 80’s. Released in November of 1984 audiences quickly discovered a new face of fear that would last for decades to come in the form of Freddie Krueger played by Robert Englund.

The first movie has our heroine Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) attempt to solve the mystery of her friend that was murdered in her sleep. Whileher police chief father (John Saxon) and the rest of the force believe local hooligan Rod Lane (Jsu Garcia) is responsible Nancy is starting to think the nightmare her group of friends is having has some connection, The boy across the street Glen Lantz (Johnny Depp) attempts to help despite not believing in Nancy and her crazy theory.

As deaths pile up the story takes a wile turn as Nancy discovers her mother not only knew of Freddie, but he was a child murderer that she and the local parents set on fire and killed years prior. Freddie however lived on, haunting the dreams of the Elm street children seeking his revenge on the children of Elm street. And every town has an Elm street. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

The mummy (1999)

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So how about we talk about a good remake of the Mummy and not a Marvel wannabe? This 1999 remake features fun likable characters, pretty impressive effects for the time that can be kinda creepy and it’s just a plain simple adventure. Imhotep was a priest in the days of ancient Egypt who was cursed and mummified alive because he helped kill the pharaoh and used some black magic to try bringing his dead girlfriend back to life. Hundreds of years later, a librarian named Evee out for adventure with her troublesome bother Jonathan save a convict Rick O Connell from the gallows because he swore to have seen the location to the lost city of…Haminaptra (my apologies for the horrific spelling). There, with other explorers, they find Imhotep’s corpse and the book that unintentionally brings him back from the dead. With his resurrection comes the horror of his feeding off of those who originally unlocked his tomb as he tries to unleash the ten plagues and bring back his girlfriend.

Overall, it’s definately a fun movie. Not quite a horror flick per say, there are some messed up parts like watching people getting mauled by scarabs or Imhotep’s first victim shuffling about after having his eyes and tongue ripped out. There’s a lot of cool action scenes and some good humor thrown throughout; it’s one of those rare movies that knows how to serious but not take itself too seriously. I highly recommend it, and as always thank you and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Night Of The Living Deb

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Every so often I come across a movie I know I shouldn’t watch but I do it anyway. Night of The Living Deb is one of them. The main character is annoying the movie itself isn’t very entertaining nor is it very inventive even by spoof movie standards. It is not necessarily a bad movie as I am sure many will feel differently than me, I can see where there would be a certain charm to it for many. However for me, I can not say I would watch it again. Stay safe and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Pod (2015)

Pod is the story about a brother and sister trying to help their delusional brother who has locked himself in the family lake cabin. The movie starts with a man hunting and his dog being killed. After blindly shooting a few rounds he hits something and panics.

This around the time he locks himself in and his brother and sister arrive. What follows is a thrill ride of paranoia delusion that you can honestly believe is happening. The acting is very well done, and they do a very good job of telling the very real story of what so many veterans go through each and every day. Having spent time with a few Vietnam vets I can honestly say this is quite accurate. The paranoia of being followed or having a tracking chip in your gums was greatly done…However in this case our paranoid and delusional soldier really was experimented on by the government and they really did send a creature to kill him. I won’t ruin all the finer details but please go check this one out and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

A Dark Song

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This movie has a nice start to it. Woman buys a house and gets in touch with a guy for a magical ritual for love. Wait no plot twist its to talk to her deceased son one last time. Wait, there is another plot twist…oh wait there is another. Yea its like that. This move tries real hard to be artsy and doesn’t do a very good job at it and the ending is not only badly done but most people will see it coming about a mile away. The idea behind this movie was cool, but they were badly implemented and I can not in good conscience recommend this movie. So good luck, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Dead Awake

dead awake

It is very rare I hop onto Netflix, pick a movie knowing it will be a cliche dumb movie watch it anyways and end up completely wrong and enjoy myself completely. This is one of them. Not only was I wrong, not only did I enjoy myself, but I actually ended up thinking more than I probably should about how so many different cultures from different sides of the world thousands of years ago experienced the same thing.

The story starts out at a party, seemingly a combination birthday party reunion between two sisters that quickly turns to a sleep walking conversation to a sleep paralysis conversation to a fight and someone leaving. I don’t remember her name but honestly because one the same actress played both Kate and Beth Bowan as they were twins and two she ends up dead quickly. The living sister quickly teams up with dead sisters boyfriend Evan to find out what her strange dreams mean that they are now both having before it kills them as well. What follows is a roller coaster ride of trying to stay awake not seen since The Nightmare on Elm Street movies and a war between science and the mystical. With out a doubt if you have access to Netflix watch this movie, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.