Prime Time: All Hallow's Eve 2 (2015)

Almost everyone seemed to enjoy All Hallow’s Eve, at least to some degree, the horror anthology movie that introduced horror fans to Art the clown. So it is no surprise to see that a sequel was made. What is slightly surprising, although also an obvious approach, is the fact that this is one of those horror anthology movies created by making use of a handful of talented people all delivering their own tales. Damien Leone, the writer-director of the first movie, was probably already too busy developing the Terrifier movies to deliver more Art “hijinks” for his fans.

The framing device here involves a young woman who has received a videotape on her doorstep. There also seems to be someone watching her. Slightly perturbed, but not half as anxious as I would be, she decides to watch the tape, which contains a mix of tales all revolving around Halloween.

With a film like this, based around so many different writers and directors, using a cast that doesn’t really have any familiar faces in the mix (the only one I immediately recognised was the excellent Bill Oberst Jr), it’s hard to sit down and write out an informative and all-encompassing review. If I went into enough detail here then you would just be reading a page full of names, and there are many other places on the internet to just read film credits.

That is also a good sign though. I don’t have any one person I want to single out, for good or bad, and that shows just how surprisingly consistent this movie is. I still have favourite tales (“Jack Attack” and “The Last Halloween” help the movie get off to a strong start), but I enjoyed pretty much everything presented here. Of course I liked some more than others, but there wasn’t any one take that I loathed.

The biggest downside is the lack of any strong through-line. The Halloween theme may be good enough to loosely link the tales together, but there’s a disappointing lack of flow as we move abruptly from one to the next, and it’s a shame that there was no room for any scenes allowing some more bleed over. There are also some sequences that look worse than others, but that just adds to the feeling of people really putting blood, sweat, and tears into getting their films made.

The cast generally do good work, everyone is clearly making the most of relatively limited resources, and there is a surprisingly high hit rate when it comes to the “punchline” of every segment. Although I didn’t absolutely love it, I would put this on a par with the first film. It’s a perfect choice for the spooky season, providing an entertaining variety of thrills and chills without outstaying its welcome.

6/10

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Synchronic (2019)

I was going to start this review by mentioning the fact that Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (once again both sharing directing duties on a script from Benson) have shown less and less interest over the years in the horror genre. That's not true. They never really set their stall within the genre, and that's not a bad thing. Without being constrained by the expectations of the genre, Benson and Moorhead have managed to consistently entertain fans with intelligent movies that usually explore the concept of time (Resolution has moments showing how an addict fails to keep track of time, Spring has the idea of potential immortality, maybe, and The Endless has lots of time trickery in there). And they've done this while also not having to shy away from moments that show madness, monstrosity, or excessive bodily harm.

Synchronic, their latest movie, is both their most ambitious, and yet also their most simplistic, work to date. It seems to benefit from a decent step up in terms of budget, it has room for some great set-pieces as it develops the plot naturally in a way that draws you all the way in with ease, and it's another one of their films with a very strong heartbeat at the centre of it all.

Plot-wise, Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan are two paramedics who are seeing all kinds of new and mind-boggling traumas on their rounds. It all seems to be linked with a drug named Synchronic. Synchronic seems to take people slightly out of time. And if you're a younger user then you could end up disappearing completely. This ends up happening to a fairly important character, which leads to Mackie figuring out exactly what Synchronic does, and how he can make use of it to rescue the missing party.

Starting off with a number of impressive individual moments, the opening act of Synchronic may put some off slightly if you don't have faith in Benson and Moorhead to start drawing the strings together and providing something that will entertain while it remains thought-provoking. Although they like to set up a lot of questions, a lot of points for viewers to ponder, Benson and Moorhead rarely leave you without the main answers. Sure, you have a lot of things that may remain slightly puzzling as you play catch up and continue to ingest everything else being fed to you, but none of their movies are impenetrable or deliberately obfuscating for viewers who pay attention.

They give themselves bonus points here with the central casting. Dornan and Mackie work really well together, and I mean REALLY well, and Mackie is at his absolute best in a middle section that shows him dealing with a lot of personal pain, exploring the world of Synchronic, and ultimately deciding on a course of action that he knows his friend won't necessarily understand, but also knows that he needs. Going through a full range of emotions, Mackie is the heart and soul of the film, and I hope his name draws his fans here to see how good he can be. Which isn't to detract from Dornan's work, giving a performance that is just as impressive without having the more memorable moments given to Mackie. Elsewhere, Katie Aselton does well in the role of Dornan's wife, and Ally Ioannides is very good as his 18-year-old moody daughter. You also get a small, but memorable, turn from the ever-dependable Bill Oberst Jr, in a role that I like to think of as a small call back to Resolution (there are also some red flowers/seeds mentioned in passing that I am taking as a deliberate reference, and if I am wrong on these points then I'll always be right to me).

Making excellent use of every tool at their disposal, Benson and Moorhead continue to push themselves, in terms of realising concepts and delivering more and more beautiful works of cinema. There are a number of shots here that are genuinely stunning, accompanied by a wonderful score by Jimmy LaValle. This is a film happy to take you through the highs and lows of, well, just what the universe around us has to offer. Time is a gift. It doesn't matter if it's linear, looped, squiggly, or available in different chunks. Every moment is a gift. And this film is another gift from two men who keep giving fans unexpected and wonderful entertainment every time they get their vision onscreen.

You'll kick yourself if you don't make some time for Synchronic.

8/10

Me and my new BFFs (L-R: Aaron Moorhead, me, Justin Benson) 

Krampus: The Christmas Devil (2013)

Independent movies can be a minefield for both film reviewers and genre fans, and I count myself in both camps (even if nobody else views me that way). Sometimes it can be a struggle to look past the low budget and limited resources to see the aims of the film-maker. Some people might say that any flaws still lie directly at the feet of anyone trying to get their film made, and I would agree to some extent, but it's hard to get everything in place to make a movie. Good on those who manage it, but only if they have done so with some effort made, no matter the budget or resources.

Krampus: The Christmas Devil is, for the most part, quite a bad movie. But it has enough onscreen to stop me from viewing it as a waste of my time that would make me angry.

When he was a young boy, Jeremy Duffin (A. J. Leslie) was snatched up by a child-snatching killer. He came to in a sack that had been thrown into icy water. That will do that to you. Many years later, Jeremy is a police officer and that child-snatching killer is at it again. Jeremy doesn't realise that the bad man is actually Krampus, working under the orders of Santa Claus (Paul Ferm). And he may not be the one to worry about, what with a vengeful ex-con (Bill Oberst Jr) just out of prison and aiming to take out his frustrations on Jeremy and family.

Written and directed by Jason Hull, Krampus: The Christmas Devil at least tries to do something a bit different with the familiar (perhaps too familiar in recent years?) Christmas figure. Mixing in the traumatised cop, the people who blame him for lives lost, and the dangerous ex-con all helps to make up for the fact that nothing ever feels all that developed. Some intriguing ideas are hinted at (such as young Jeremy's escape, the instructions from Santa, etc) but nothing is done with them.

Acting-wise, it's generally bad news. I wasn't impressed with Leslie, or Richard Goteri (who plays his Captain). But at least they were bad while still feeling like actual actors, unlike some projects that feel as if the cast was made up of friends, family, and those who allowed filming in their homes. Samantha Hoepfl and Erica Soto are on a par with Leslie and Goteri, but at least we get a few moments of Mr Oberst Jr being as smoothly menacing as he can be, which is a minor highlight.

Viewers will also have to bear in mind that this doesn't manage to hide the fact that it was made on a shoestring budget. The technical side of things, including audio mix and shot choices, is very rough, but at least signs of competence are shown (again, unlike certain titles I could mention).

So I can't rate this highly, there's just too much going against it to make it worthy of even an average score. What I can do is accompany my low rating with a note that you might find this one more enjoyable than I did. It's far from the worst, even in this Christmas horror subgenre, and the short runtime means that, at the very least, it doesn't take up too much of your day.

3/10

You can pick up your copy here.

The Three Dogateers (2014)

Don't judge me. I don't mind watching movies aimed at kids. In fact, most of the time they're absolutely on my wavelength, which supports the many times that my wife has accused me of immaturity. The fact that I respond to that accusation by blowing raspberries may further support the idea, but that's beside the point. Anyway, I had another reason for watching The Three Dogateers. Actor Bill Oberst Jr, a hard-working thespian who I always try to support in everything that he does (although, admittedly, he does so much that I struggle to keep up half the time).

Unfortunately, I didn't like this film.

The story concerns three dogs, of course. They've been left home alone when their master (Dean Cain) has to rush off to meet a client. He wants to get there, make his pitch, and get home as quickly as possible, allowing himself time to get everything ready for the Christmas dinner that his partner will be expecting when she walks back through the door. Anyway, while he's away, a couple of robbers break in and help themselves to the tree and gifts. The three dogs (small, white and cute - not exactly the best guard dogs) decide to track the thieves, which results in them eventually being stranded in the middle of nowhere. Who can help them get home in time for Christmas? Perhaps a Santa Claus (Richard Riehle), but only if they can avoid the clutches of a master dogcatcher named Barney Gloatt (Oberst Jr), a man who only needs to catch three more dogs to break a world record.

My Spidey-sense started tingling when I saw how many hats Jesse Baget was wearing on this movie. Not that I dislike Baget. I wasn't even aware of him before this movie, although checking out his filmography has reminded me of a couple of titles that I've been meaning to see at some point. He wrote, directed and co-produced the movie. He also provides two of the main dog voices, with Danielle Judovits providing the third.

That tingling got stronger when the dogs started "talking". I expected them to talk, of course, but I didn't expect the FX work to appear quite so cheap and ill-fitting. You could say that I was naive there, and the film can only work within the budget it has, but I would counter by suggesting that Baget could have gotten around this problem by either a) simply allowing the dogs to be voicing thoughts that only other dogs could hear or b) simply shooting less scenes that put all focus on a dog with CGI mouth movements stuck in front of its face.

The acting style is broad, no doubt about that, and no crime in it either. This is aime squarely at kids. Movements and quirks are exaggerated, with most of the adults appearing onscreen shown to be stumbling, bumbling figures obviously needing help from, or to be outsmarted by, the three dogs. Cain only has a few scenes, and he's over the top in all of them, while Riehle basically comes in for the final third of the movie and has the easier job of playing a mall Santa. Oberst Jr. has the biggest role, and he has fun being a cartoonish villain. My biggest problem with his performance was the accent, which seemed to start off as Eastern European and then switch, at some point, to French. The man usually isn't so inconsistent, which leaves me to wonder whether or not writer-director-producer-dogateer Baget started the movie with one idea and then decided to change things as he went along.

Younger children should be reasonably amused by this, but only if you catch them at just the right time. There are some amusing verbal gags, a few ill-timed farts, and a sequence in which the dogs make good their getaway by driving a car (never mind the physical impossibility of it all - it's teamwork, dammit). And the dogs are cute.

Everyone else should probably give this one a miss.

3/10

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Bonus Review: The Den (2013)

Another horror movie based around the dangers of interacting with anonymous strangers online, The Den often feels comparable to the majorly flawed Megan Is Missing, but it does just enough to be a better movie. Essentially, this is a film more intent on creating thrills and scares than anything too believable. Taken in that way, it works well enough.

Melanie Papalia plays Elizabeth Benton, a young woman who is doing a study on the various habits of people who use webcams. This means that she spends a lot of her time on a website called "The Den" (which is chatroulette in all but name, from what I can gather). Unfortunately, this leads to her computer being hacked as she's targeted by someone with a sinister, and deadly, agenda.

Directed by Zachary Donohue, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Lauren Thompson, The Den is twisted, sometimes-tense, entertainment. And there are numerous moments that definitely remind you of why you (me, everybody, everybody) should be cautious about who we talk to online, and how relatively unguarded we can leave our computers. How many of you have a laptop that stays on 24/7 nowadays, with the exception of restarts needed to install updates? And how many of those laptops have a webcam, a small portal into your world, for the wrong person with the right skills?

Papalia (who has a solid, if unspectacular, filmography to her credit) does a decent job in the main role, mostly reacting to what she sees online. It's not the most complex performance, that's not what's needed here, but she's believable enough, even as she starts to piece everything together and become afraid for her safety. David Schlachtenhaufen, Adam Shapiro, Anna Margaret Hollyman, and Saidah Arrika Ekulona are all fine as the various "real" people that Papalia talks to both online and off. Matt Riedy is the police sergeant who tries to help, despite having very little to go on. It's also worth mentioning the fleeting, but memorable, cameo from Bill Oberst Jr. Fans will enjoy seeing him appear onscreen in a moment that's both creepy and hilarious at the same time.

Where The Den falls down is where so many of these movies fall down. It is, in case the previous paragraphs didn't make it clear, basically a "found footage" kinda movie. And there are many times when it all makes sense, especially when everything is shown through the main webcam. But it just doesn't feel right when people constantly make videocalls, for example, instead of just using audio.

The other main problem that the film has is the way everything falls apart in the second half. As the horror element becomes stronger, any sense of believability is soon thrown out the window. Believability doesn't ever have to be the main priority in a horror movie, of course, but it's never good when things occur that start to make viewers question how things are playing out.

Worth a watch, and plenty of people have enjoyed it more than I did, but it's also unsurprising, highly derivative, and lacking in logic.

5/10

http://www.amazon.com/Den-Melanie-Papalia/dp/B00JK7QUD0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416658447&sr=8-1&keywords=the+den+dvd

Scary Or Die (2012)

An anthology horror movie that features five tales written by Bob Badway and Michael Emanuel (who also directed various segments, with Igor Meglic taking the helm for one of the stories), Scary Or Die has just enough in each section to make it an entertaining watch. Almost.

The framework is VERY basic. Someone is on a computer and clicking on a website, because that's where the title comes from. Just as Funny Or Die has a variety of comedy clips available, Scary Or Die allows people to choose different scary tales to watch. Simple.

Story #1 - "The Crossing" - this is a tale about some mean Americans who don't take kindly to illegal immigrants sneaking over the border. They set out to do something about it, unaware that they're about to get themselves in some serious trouble. This isn't a bad way to start things, despite a strange coda, but the big plus point here is another solid performance from Bill Oberst Jr (surely one of the busiest men in the independent horror movie scene at the moment, and with good reason).
Story #2 - "Taejung's Lament" - I've seen people who REALLY disliked this one, but I have to say that I enjoyed it. It's a nice mood piece, especially enjoyably coming after the rough 'n' ready style of the first tale, about a lonely widow (Charles Rahi Chun) who ends up rescuing a woman (Alexandra Choi) from a dangerous situation. The woman asks him to visit her home the next evening so she can thank him. But all may not be as it seems.
Story #3 - "Re-Membered" - A man (Christopher Darga) has his night-time drive interrupted when he's pulled over by a traffic cop. Hearing noises coming from the trunk of the car, it seems that this driver may have something to hide in this decent riff on "The Tell-Tale Heart".
Story #4 - "Clowned" - The longest, and best, segment of the movie, this is the tale of a young man (Corbin Bleu) who is bitten by a nasty clown and then starts slowly changing. Mixing comedy and horror, this is an effective tale that surprises in just how well it incorporates all of the expected elements.
Story #5 - "Lover Come Back" - Spending time writing this one up feels like a waste of energy. It feels as if it was added at the last minute, and while some effort is made to give the wraparound structure a bit of resolution there are two big problems. One, the wraparound didn't NEED any resolution. Two, this final short is just rubbish (although it is also mercifully brief).

With the exception of that last segment, each tale featured in Scary Or Die feels as if it could make a decent "Tales From The Crypt" episode. Scripting and direction may not be up there with the very best, but everything is done competently enough. "Clowned" is the highlight of the whole endeavour, but the other stories are enjoyable enough. And the good thing about anthologies . . . . . . . if you don't like one tale then you know that there's going to be a new one coming along soon enough.

Don't rush to put Scary Or Die at the top of your "to see" list, but consider giving it a watch if you haven't got too many other viewing priorities.

6/10

http://www.amazon.com/Scary-Die-Corbin-Bleu/dp/B008A5H9K6/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1394653299&sr=1-1&keywords=scary+or+die

Resolution (2012)

Resolution is a smart, effective, low-budget horror movie that showcases just what can be done when ideas and execution exceed budgetary limitations. Written by Justin Benson, who co-directed the movie with Aaron Moorhead, it's an impressive achievement that many horror fans have already discovered since it appeared on Netflix recently.

Peter Cilella plays Michael, a man who heads out to visit his friend, Chris (Vinny Curran). Chris has a drug problem and Michael wants to help him kick the habit and make his life better. Unfortunately, Chris doesn't actually want to clean up his act so Michael is forced to restrain his friend and put him through some unpleasant cold turkey. As if that wasn't a stressful enough situation, it turns out that Michael and Chris are, apparently, being watched and recorded by someone.

Although it's essentially a two-hander, Resolution does have a supporting cast of characters intruding on the lives of the two leads every now and again. The acting is very good from everyone involved, and I was very pleased to see a small role for the fine gentleman known as Bill Oberst Jr. Bill plays a character named Byron, someone who may know more about the local area than he lets on to Michael. Byron, however, isn't the only character who seems to know more than the two leads. Resolution is very much a film disproving the motto of "ignorance is bliss" while also reminding viewers that knowledge isn't always power. You need the right knowledge.

The script is pretty sparse, but there are enough good lines throughout to make it worth keeping your ears open. Despite the movie being about some bigger mystery, one conversation between Chris and Michael that lets them discuss another important aspect of the film, control, is as smart as it is truthful and even painful (for those who have been in a similiar situation).

The direction from Moorhead and Benson may be unspectacular, and everything about the film seems slightly subdued, but that's fine for the material. It doesn't need to shout or throw the camera around for added effect. It's happy enough, instead, to take the time required to make something quietly unsettling for horror movie fans after something that feels unique.

7/10

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Abraham Lincoln Vs. Zombies (2012)

I really tossed and turned while considering just how to rate this one. No, no, no, if you came here to read about Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter then you have been fooled once again by those cunning marketing folks over at The Asylum. THAT Abraham Lincoln movie is due out very soon but, as usual, The Asylum make up for their lack of originality by getting their movies out there faster and cheaper. I also have the sneaking suspicion that either their movies are getting more enjoyable or that my brain has just given up and started to enjoy micro-holidays while I watch them.

What do I need to tell you about the film that isn't already spelled out for you there in the title? Not a lot, really. Abraham Lincoln (Bill Oberst Jr) is the presidential figure that you know about from history but what you won't have been aware of is just how he had to do his best to save America from a nasty zombie epidemic. Thankfully, he was pretty happy with sharp, hand-held, weaponry.

Directed by Richard Schenkman (who also wrote the screenplay based on a story idea by Karl T. Hirsch and J. Lauren Proctor based on *ahem* something that clearly inspired them), Abraham Lincoln Vs. Zombies features many of the usual flaws that movies from The Asylum have. The score is quite bland for most of the runtime - there are a couple of nice moments here and there but a lot of the music just reminds you of something that you'd hear in the background of an advert for some new eco-friendly, gluten-free, hemp-based cheese . . . . . . or something. The acting from most of the supporting players is pretty bad but the edge is taken off the pain by just how good Bill Oberst Jr. is in the lead role. There are also a few good turns elsewhere - Baby Norman is very good as Mary Owens, Canon Kuipers is an enjoyably courageous young Teddy Roosevelt and Christopher Marrone has fun as Pat Garrett. Historical accuracy may not be to the fore but at least the movie doesn't disappoint with the fun factor.

Some moments are very good, very good indeed (including an excellent little punchline to end everything), but you also have the inevitable moments that will make you want to scream at the screen. People who seem to wander backwards slowly, either facing death by zombie with a distinct lack of urgency or allowing death by zombie to sneak up right behind them. There's also some drawn out obstinancy and ignorance that beggars belief, considering what the characters can see happening around them.

The special effects are surprisingly decent throughout and purists will enjoy the fact that these zombies a) don't run and b) require a serious head trauma to be negated as a threat. This enjoyment may, however, be tempered by the fact that these zombies sometimes sleep. Yes, I said sleep. It's a minor detail that's not overused in the film but you have been warned.

All in all, this is as much fun as you should expect it to be, thanks in no small part to a fantastic central performance and an entertaining central premise copied stolen cribbed derived from other works.

6/10


http://www.amazon.com/Abraham-Lincoln-vs-Zombies-Blu-ray/dp/B007BS38LW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338931775&sr=8-1