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Nothing in this life is more exciting than the idea of a new Rob Zombie movie. I mean, the man reinvented Halloween and who doesn't love those movies? So when I heard about 31, I waited in awe for it to come out so that I could watch it. I missed the advance screening but thankfully it has finally come out to the mecca known as iTunes.
This movie did not disappoint. The opening scene was beautifully shot, engaging, and set the tone for the whole movie. The film is about a group of rich people who play a game every Halloween. They take a group of people and lock them in an abandoned factory. They must stay alive for 12 hours in order to be set free. It isn't as simple as it sounds, think of this movie as a horror movie taking the best parts of the Pest and Running Man. They take the surviving for a set time from the Pest and the idea of trained killer hunting you down in a maze trying to kill you from the Running Man. Rob Zombie gave us the horror movie remake of the Running Man that we didn't even know we wanted! Zombie doesn't shy away from the gore. The deaths in the film are bloody and exciting. Some of the fights in the film are down right cringeworthy! This is a fun twisted film that any fan of horror or any fan of Rob Zombie needs to watch!
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As I've stated before, I am a huge fan of anthology films, but they tend not to do well so studios avoid them. What is so cool about this film is the way it skates between an anthology and a traditional stand alone story all at the same time. The film has what seems to be a bunch of disconnected stories that slowly link up, you never know how or when. It is a very ingenious idea.
Now if you are into straight up scares than maybe this movie isn't for you, but if you like dark humor mixed in with your horror, along the lines of Leprechaun or Bride of Chucky than this movie is perfect for you. You can't help but find yourself laughing at parts of it. But make no mistake, it does fit all the check marks for a good horror movie. It even has it's own morality tales, which all good horror should have. After all, Karma is a . . . well you know. The movie also jumps around in time a bit. You go through the story from start to finish and some of the information you need is just out of your reach, or lightly hinted at but than it resets to earlier in the night as more of the story is fleshed out and it sometimes even gives you a different perspective on what you saw before. When it comes to movies like this one, you can tell that a lot of time and effort was put into the story telling. Everything had to link together but not until the perfect moment. It really does play with your expectations, as any good movie should. Pardon the pun, but this movie is a hell of a treat! You should be sure to check it out. Oh, and don't forget to keep your Jack O' Lantern lit! I thought for this installment of Bound By Horror I'd switch things up a bit and talk about an older horror movie. The movie Demon Knight. In case you don't know what that it is, it is the first of the Tales from the Crypt movies. Tales from the Crypt is one of my favorite TV shows and this movie can hold it's own with the best of episodes.
I remember the first time I watched it the film sucked me in. I couldn't wait to find out what happened, it just filled my head with so many thoughts. My mind raced with ideas for stories of my own. It is the type of film that just inspires you. The story involves William Sadler, an amazing actor, who has a relic that is filled with blood that allows him to keep demons from crossing. The main demon is after the relic, which we learn is filled with the blood of the last guardian that protected the key as they die. The relic makes the guardian immortal so that they can protect it for as long as possible. It's a job that must always exist because there will always be someone after the relic even once you destroy the collector demon. It may sound like a simple story, and maybe on it's head it is, but there is just something about it that draws you in in a way that other movies don't. The idea of a relic being so important that it must always be protected is just such an interesting concept that my imagination can't help but run away with the idea. Now to be fair it isn't the only film to have this idea, it isn't even the only film to do this idea well, we must never forget Indiana Jones and the last crusade, my personal favorite of the series. There is just something about having a destiny that is so important, so much bigger than yourself that it defines you that just speaks to me. Maybe it's the romantic in me, but as a child that was all I ever wanted. To be important, to be special. To do something with my life that had meaning, even if no one else knew about it. A lot of movies deal with having an important destiny but they tend to reward the hero with fame and that takes away from it. I've always felt that if you do something good and take credit for it than you didn't do it to help people, you did it to get credit for it. That doesn't make you a hero, that makes you a celebrity and who wants that? Demon Knight on the other hand, is a movie about a mysterious hero, a knight if you will, who shows up late at night saves the day and moves on. Well, that's the idea it portrays. To find out what really happens you need to watch it! There is always something about writer/directors and their first movies that suck you in and give you an insight into their artistic voice and Babadook does just that for Jennifer Kent. Unlike most horror films that follow the adventures of youth, teens in particular, Babadook follows the journey of motherhood.
We follow Amelia Vanek as she does the best think she can as a widowed mother of a lonely boy. She is over-worked and doesn't get near enough sleep and all of this is made worse when her son starts to act weirder and weirder. He can't sleep and starts building weapons to fight a monster that haunts him. It drives her insane, and well that's the point. Over the course of the film we see how the lack of sleep and the meddling of the Babadook in her life slowly pushes her over the edge. It's all made worse when her son brings a crossbow to school, let me just say that the fact that this little kid can build his own weapons is very cool, needless to say he gets in trouble and his mother now has to deal with other people trying to get involved in their lives. She'll have none of it and takes her son out of school. Her son and his "imaginary" monster pushes away all of his mother's friends and family leaving the two of them alone. Pushing her farther along down the crazy train. This film, unlike a lot of horror movies, really dives into the lives and hardships of it's characters. While yes, there is a monster in this film, that's not what the film is about. The film, at it's heart, is about a single mother attempting to do everything on her own and her son who being a kid can't make it easy for her. Without wanting to give too much away, when Amelia confronts Babadook, she is really confronting the outside world and the way in which it views single mothers. It makes her overcoming the Babadook that much more significant. It really is a single mother standing up and telling the world that she can do, she can make it on her own, raise and protect her son as well as any man. Amelia also grows to accept her sons eccentricities, embracing his making of weapons and his cute magic tricks. Their little family grows closer and she accepts her own place in the world. This is a truly inspiring and empowering film about motherhood and I believe everyone should give it a view. Good Evening horror hounds. Tonight I talk about a film I just saw entitled Don't Breath. Now going into this film I didn't know much about it but I wanted to keep an open mind. The film starts off as we follow three friends who steal using the keys they steal from the sheriff who happens to be the father of one of our leads.
Like every good movie we start off with a love triangle. Our hero, the son of the sheriff loves his best friend but she is taken by a jerk of a guy. The girl is a single mother who just wants to steal enough money to start a new life for her and her daughter. The boyfriend finds out about a blind man who has enough money stored away in his house to set them up for life. Up till now the movie is just a fun heist movie with a love story hidden inside. It isn't till we get inside the house that everything flips. The old man wakes up and kills the boyfriend. We then spend the rest of the movie with the two best friends trying to escape but the blind man has them locked inside where only his keys can get them out. We learn a lot more about the blind man that gives the movie so much depth but I don't want to give that all away right now. Needless to say it keeps you on the edge of your seat, waiting with baited breath to find out how it all turns out. It is one of the more exciting films I've ever seen. And the best part about this movie you ask? Well, if you have ever seen People under the Stairs, this movie is like a modern day retelling. That was one of my favorite movies growing up so it was nice to see a new spin on it, to see it paid such a loving tribute. If you love movies, if you love characterization in your stories than this is the film for you. I can't remember the last time I got so hooked into a film, as if everything falls away and the movie is all that's left. You know, the feeling we all go to the movies to feel. This movie delivers in spades. Hello Horror fiends and welcome back to Bound by Horror! The blog where I dive into the modern horror world and all it has to offer. Today's fright-filled movie is an anthology film entitled Holidays. It hearkens back to our youth, or well our parents youth that we like to pretend to be our own, with the greatest anthology of them all, The Twilight Zone!
In this film we have 8 different holidays, each being a stand alone story written and directed by a different person. Each one setting up it's own world and delivering an intriguing story with a powerful twist to close it out. The holidays in the film are; Valentine's Day, St. Patrick, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Halloween, Christmas and New Years Eve. Each film uses not only the holiday they were assigned as a back drop for the story but tried to fit it in as much as possible. We start off with Valentine's Day was all about a coach who needed a new heart and a loved sick girl on the swim team trying to do her part. Next up with have St. Patrick's day where we dive into the roots of the holiday and deal with the creepiest little girl you could ever imagine. Easter is the closes we come to an old school horror story complete with a monster, only he doesn't kill the little girl, he just turns her into one of his own! Mother's Day follows the world's most fertile woman as she tries to find a way to stop getting pregnant all the time. It backfires when she comes across a den full of barren women. Father's Day follows a young girl as she tries to reconnect with her dead father. Halloween, written by the one and only Kevin Smith, involves a man who runs a house full of sex web cam operators and what happens when they get fed up with the way he runs things. Christmas involves Seth Green letting a man die in order to get a gift for his son. A gift that shows inside his own heart and plays the death for him over and over again. It also gives his wife, who is evil, the push she needs to kill her boss. These two are the couple from hell. The final story of the night is New Years Eve, where a serial killer goes out on a blind date only to find out that his blind date is also a serial killer. The night heats up! The excitement builds and builds with each new holiday, giving you twists and turns as you go. The movie, through it's different stories deals with concepts of revenge and unrequited love, ideas that some of the best horror films tend to deal with. It's a common known fact that anthology films don't do well but I've never understood why, when you watch movies like this one and the Twilight Zone movie, you can't help but love them. I mean really for a horror film made in 2016 it has all the markings of what is sure to be a cult hit. If you haven't seen it yet, be sure to check it out! |
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