Horror
Rod Lott
As the junky, jokey follow-up to 2010's Piranha 3D (a remake of the Roger Corman drive-in classic of 1978), Piranha 3DD takes place a year after the prehistoric killer fish laid waste to a popular lake during spring break.

Horror
Rod Lott
Found-footage movies are no longer novel, but they're cheap to make, so expect to see many, many more shoot out Hollywood's pipeline. As long as concepts are tweaked, however, surprises like Chronicle can occur.

Horror
Rod Lott
Director Mary Harron's The Moth Diaries is a coming-as-age film in the same way her American Psycho was a Wall Street portrait.

Horror
Rod Lott
Another camcorder film? Only in part, but at least Lovely Molly comes from the mind of Eduardo Sánchez, who helped kick-start the craze back on a mainstream scale with 1999's The Blair Witch Project, which he co-wrote and co-directed. So there's that, not to mention this must be the only one scored by avant-garde indie instrumental act Tortoise.

Horror
Rod Lott
While I'm glad to see that the horror cable channel Chiller is now making original movies, its first offering, the sci-fi "comedy" Alien Opponent, was nearly unwatchable. That film's director and writer, Colin Theys and John Doolan, return to helm the outlet's second, Steve Niles' Remains. Springing from rosier pastures — Niles' original comics — it's automatically better, rising to the level of mediocre. Perhaps their third time at bat, October's Dead Souls, will prove the proverbial charm?

Horror
Rod Lott
I remember vividly when I first read "Casting the Runes," one of several suspense classics to pour from the pen of M.R. James, the master of the ghost story whose supernatural bent became a huge influence on H.P. Lovecraft. Just because the short story is old (1911) doesn't mean it wasn't chilling to read, and so it is with this 1979 presentation, an episode of the UK's ITV Playhouse anthology series.

Horror
Rod Lott
For me, the more desperate Hammer Film Productions got as audiences’ tastes changed in the early 1970s, the more fun their flicks became. That’s why 1971’s Twins of Evil is now one of my favorites from the legendary British studio, after digging into its Blu-ray debut from Synapse Films.

Horror
Rod Lott
New to DVD, 2010’s Don't Go in the Woods is not to be confused with 1981’s Don't Go in the Woods. That one was a cheap slasher movie; this one is a cheap slasher movie in which characters wonder what John Fogerty and the Donner party have in common, and then sing songs.

Horror
Rod Lott
As someone who loves mummy movies, I’ve long had The Awakening on my radar, but only now has the 1980 horror thriller come within reach, thanks to Warner Archive. While the film's rep isn't sterling by any stretch, I found it to be a nice surprise.

Horror
Rod Lott
Two new direct-to-DVD horror thrillers begin with much promise, but fizzle before they’re able to provide any sizzle.

Horror
Rod Lott
On the bloody heels of Something Weird Video's The Blood Trilogy comes another Blu-ray of pioneering indie filmmaker Herschell Gordon Lewis' well-known works. The disc may hold one feature fewer, but high-def beggars can't be choosers, so chew happily on what you got: 1970's The Wizard of Gore and '72's The Gore Gore Girls, which would be his last directorial effort for more than 35 years.

Horror
Rod Lott
If Hollywood ever resurrects its craze of remaking Asian horror films, it's safe to say The Shock Labyrinth won't be high on its list. However, if it were, there's plenty of room for improvement.

Horror
Rod Lott
An SUV full of beautiful young people sets off on a road trip to — yeah, yeah, I know, I know. Madison County is another one of “those” horror films, where every step of the wilderness trail is paved with predictability — so much so, that it’s filled with lines like this:

Horror
Rod Lott
Can director Darren Lynn Bousman survive in a post-Saw world? After the grating steampunk musical misfire Repo! The Genetic Opera, I would have said "no way," but my mindset has been reversed by Mother’s Day and, to a lesser degree, 11-11-11. Ironically, not only were both films denied anything beyond a blip of a theatrical release, but now — insult to injury — they have to compete against one another on home video.

Horror
Rod Lott
Continuing the recent revival of horror anthologies is The Theatre Bizarre, helmed by seven directors. With so many contributing to the recipe, results are expectedly varied, but with enough good to outweigh the bad.