In “The Task,” half a dozen collegians are kidnapped (presumably) by clown-masked goons and taken to a field outside the abandoned Pennyville State Prison. Turns out, some months ago, they all auditioned for a reality TV show. This is that show, and all they have to do to garner $20,000 a piece is to spend […]
horror
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Bio-Dead
However, it takes literally 32 minutes for anything of significance to happen. Until then, it’s just a bunch of disembodied voices, belonging to faces you mostly don’t see, talking about the importance of gloves and masks like they’re stockers at Party Galaxy on the last week leading up to Halloween, as they amble about empty […]
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We Are What We Are
Father knows best, but when the patriarch pukes up bile on the sidewalk and dies a most undignified death, that leaves the clan on their own for food. His two sons man a watch stand at an outdoor flea market to support the fam, but one of the young men’s hotheadedness gets them kicked out. […]
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Stake Land
In this film by director/co-writer Jim Mickle (“Mulberry Street”), the monsters are a mix of zombies and vampires. The characters call them “vamps,” but if not for the fangs, you wouldn’t think “bloodsuckers” at all. You may, however, think “horses,” because I swear the sounds of their attack-mode hiss contains an equestrian whinny. Co-writer Nick […]
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Within / The Dead and the Damned
In “Within,” the premise is that grade-school girl Rachel (Mia Ford, a veteran of TV’s “Barney”) sees dead people — or, rather, the evil spirits that lurk in the heart of man. Moving to a new city with her dad (Sam Jaegar, “Lucky Number Slevin”) following the senseless murder of her mother (Elaine Hendrix, TV’s […]
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Savage County
Ostensibly a hillbilly horror film like “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” it tracks a group of high school seniors who would never hang out with one another, much less make eye contact in the halls, heading out in the country for a day at the lake. One shovel to the head of a shotgun-toting old coot […]
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Chawz
When you’re a parody — and this essentially is — you can have too much of a good thing. At some point, you just wear an audience out and risk having a pin poked at yourself. That comes way early, unfortunately, to the point where its title is all it has going for it. To […]
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Piranha 3D
It’s a loose remake of Joe Dante’s “Piranha,” which was born in 1978 because producer Roger Corman wanted to cash in on the popularity of “Jaws.” It worked. Things come full circle in “Mirrors” director Alexandre Aja’s version, opening with a prologue that winks back at Steven Spielberg’s shark blockbuster by having Richard Dreyfuss essentially […]
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5 Films by Dario Argento
2008 As it should, the blood flows bright red in the Italian giallo movies that comprise Anchor Bay’s box set “5 Films by Dario Argento.” Known for his stylish eye behind the camera —? not to mention the oft-traumatized eyes in front of the camera —? Argento is one of the few directors worthy of […]