Dean Spanley (2008)

This film is based on the novella My Talks with Dean Spanley by Lord Dunsany. It is set in turn of the century England among the middle to upper class and is about an English man who meets once a week with the town's new minister/priest who has an interesting stance on the concept of  reincarnation. The film was made in New Zealand and stars Peter O'toole in one of the better performances to come out of the latter end of his career, and Sam Neill as the Dean. This is very unique and I found it very refreshing. At first glance it looked like an intellectual film about people meeting to talk about reincarnation, but that's only the best description I can give without ruining the surprise of the film, even though that description isn't the most accurate. I feel this film is best to go in fairly cold to, in other words don't read much about it and only see the trailer if you must (you might be able to figure it out from there, but I wasn't), because the whole thing that makes this film so fresh and unique is best to discover on your own as the main character discovers it half way through. This film is full of wonderful quotes like "I wonder if one can be a dog and not have fleas." This film can be taken very seriously and analyzed very deeply (there's tons of symbolism) but it can also just be enjoyed superficially without thinking too deeply about things, it's really funny in parts, and very heartwarming without being corny or cheesy.  If you like Downton Abbey, I'd say give this a chance, but on that note you don't have to like Downton Abbey to like this (admittedly I'm not an Abbey fan). The film has an 85% critic approval rating and an 80% audience approval rating on rotten tomatoes.com, and I give it a 5/5.  You can view the trailer below:

The Ward (2010)

The Ward is the latest film directed by one of my favorite directors, John Carpenter. It is a story about four or five girls in their teens/early 20s, living in a special security ward in an insane asylum during the 1960s. A new girl arrives and quickly learns this ward is no normal place. The film has wonderful cinematography, wonderful creepy hospital atmosphere, as well as a really nice 60s feel to it at times (a highlight is a dance scene in the ward set to a sixties vinyl single playing on the phonograph). The acting is also really good, but this movie is far from perfect. A lot of the scares in the film are given away by the musical score, or are just really predictable/cliche at times. The movie's mystery does remain a mystery for most of the movie, but I felt the ending was fairly anticlimactic as well as fairly predictable. This movie goes from an interesting compelling unique story to almost a "cop out" of a psychological thriller. The film turns out to be similar to another film I've reviewed on this blog called Identity (2003). There aren't any big name stars in this one, but all of the girls are fairly recognizable from various movies and TV shows made within the last ten years. This film is available to stream on Netlfix, and  I give this one a 3.25/5, you can view the trailer below:

Halloween III (1982)

This one was famously panned by both critics and fans. Everyone thought "where's Michael Myers?" or "What the hell are they doing getting rid of the main character?". Well what they were thinking was this: John Carpenter wanted to move the series in a new direction by making films with stories that were halloween related, one idea was to make a film of vignettes that were all centered around the idea of halloween, in other words, Trick 'R Treat (2007) 25 years ahead of its time (the film would also have an interesting new piece of theme music, though the old theme does appear via the original Halloween[1978] playing on a TV) . That would have happened had the third film been a success, but what actually happened is pretty much history. The film was a commercial and critical failure resulting in the return of the Halloween series' original premise and main villain in the fourth and later installments. This film deserves another look though, while it may not fit into the Halloween series very well, it is a GREAT halloween (holiday) film. I was a child of the early 90s but having older brothers from the 80s, tons of 80s toys and movies and products (such as our child halloween costumes and decorations) from the 80s, so this is pure nostalgia for me and I love it for that reason alone, but there are plenty of other things that are unique and good about this film. After the mysterious death of a

man clutching the newest "all the rage" halloween mask, warning "they'll kill us all!", a doctor and the man's daughter do some detective work of their own and find out the owner of mysterious Silver Shamrock mask factory has a sinister plan to unleash on halloween night involving the popular masks. It has a good "amateur detective" pace throughout the film until you learn the secret, and thrills and chills are delivered throughout. One thing that is unique about the film is that it is educational on the history of Halloween. The factory owner tells the doctor that Halloween is rooted in the Celts

(Irish/scottish)  heritage, back when they used to do pagan rituals to celebrate the harvest and scare away spirits. It's cool because it proves that halloween is actually a very Irish holiday (the town the factory is located in is SUPER Irish). The secondary title for the film is "season of the witch" but as the doctor accuses the factory owner of witchcraft the owner says "we prefer to think of it as a way of controlling our environment." So it is similar to The Wicker Man in that the people are performing pagan rituals to ensure a successful harvest, not the same thing as what witchcraft and black magic usually implies. There is a connection to Stone Henge in the story, but it is never very well explained, that is its weakest point in my opinion, the other weakest point is the romantic fling between the doctor and the main woman of the story. He is blatantly cheating on his wife, and whatever excuse he gives to his wife for being gone (on the road) is super hard to believe. But as an enjoyable interesting and somewhat fresh take on a Halloween (holiday) movie, I give it a 4.75/5. This one is also featured in Rue Morgue Magazine's 200 Alternative Horror Films You Need to See, you can watch the trailer below:

Martin (1976)

This film is one that should be a vampire classic but for some reason often gets overlooked. Martin immediately preceded George A. Romero(the Living Dead pentology, creator of Tales From the Darkside)'s Dawn of the Dead (1978). Martin is a low budget (sometimes artsy) independent film that examines someone who could either just be a regular angsty teen who doesn't fit in, or an 84 year old vampire, you can't really tell though because martin doesn't have any traditional signs of being a vampire except for the craving of blood, but since he doesn't have fangs he has to get it through slashing his victim's wrists. The film is a very interesting look at how we humans as a whole are affected by traditions and superstitions and the faultiness of our own memories (his flashbacks might actually be from movies he's seen instead of actual memory. This film also serves well as a psychological case study of this person who may be a sick teen, or maybe real vampires are just totally different from what we think.  This film can be found on several underrated movie lists, or cult horror film lists including the three main movie books I consult: Rue Morgue Magazine's 200 Alternative Horror Films You Need to See, Horror! by Kim Newman, and 500 Essential Cult Movies by Jennifer Eiss, yet it is STILL largely unheard of. My main beef with this one was that the blood was super fake and there was too much of it, otherwise I give it a 4.5/5. Look for a cameo by a young george romero as the priest. You can view the trailer below:

Candyman (1992)

I'm really beginning to love Clive Barker's writing. Candyman had wonderful social commentary and actually scared me in some parts (that doesn't normally happen). The story is wonderfully interesting and I think I will have to see one of the sequels now. It's refreshing to see a Black character as a horror villain and especially a complex one who not only makes you afraid of him but simultaneously endears you to him as well. The music was designed not to give away any of the jump scares the movie featured, unlike a typical horror movie. It's also refreshing to see a horror movie set in such an urban environment as the Chicago projects (filmed in a real project) where so much real horror and sadness actually takes place. also the actress in the film was under hypnosis for a lot of scenes, that was really effective, and if you think Wicker Man when you think "not the bees!" think again, It's also a wonderful psychological study of people and urban legends. Phillip Glass's scores tend to get on my nerves at times though, and it was a bit too bloody for me at times, so I give it a 4.75/5, view trailer below:

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)

For the holidays this year I watched a Christmas horror movie last night, Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010) It was pretty good, the movie is in Finnish and English, and the premise is some people dig up the REAL santa claus from all the scary old German fairy tales where he actually ate kids, and it's up to a kid and three adults to take him down. It has really good special effects, was funny at times and was overall very enjoyable. I give it a 4.5/5: The film is available for instant streaming on Netflix. Trailer below:

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) AKA Buckaroo Banzai

 This is classic 80s cinema at its best. If you like the best 80s movies like Back to The Future, Top Gun etc., this is for you, great humor (always straight-faced even with ridiculous dialogue), cheap but effective effects, great 80s soundtrack and more. The main character is a martial arts studying brain surgeon, physicist, all around genius and leader of his very own rock band and star of video games comic books and more in his universe. This is the type of movie every six year old boy dreams of making.This movie helped launch the careers of Jeff Goldblum (as Buckaroo's cowboy brain surgeon sidekick lol), Peter Weller (Robocop), Jon Lithgow (3rd rock from the sun, Shrek), Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future, The Pagemaster), Ellen Barkin (Diner, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), Billy Vera (of Billy Vera & the Beaters, an 80s one hit wonder band with the song "At This Moment"), and Clancey Brown (the bad guard from Shawshank Redemption and the frickin voice of Mr. Krabs from Spongebob).  This movie was tailor made for tons of spinoffs merchandise and sequels, but it never got ANY and I will never understand why, My only dissappointment with the film was the characters never went to outer space, or at least never showed it for lack of a bigger budget, even though the film deals strongly with aliens and stuff. Definitely quotable and a no brainer as far as why it has a cult following. I will give it 4.5/5 and say no more, cept watch the end scene of the movie SO good:

The Original Willard (1971)

I've been watching a slew of originals lately: Willard (1971) for starters. The original is super hard to find due to the fact that it has never been released on DVD. It is a classic coming of age story about a boy who has the power to control rats, but he soon loses control of them, also a classic tale of revenge. There are some famous people in it, like Ernest Borgnine (gets killed by rats) and Elsa Lanchester (Bride of Frankenstein). The movie was huge in its day and has some pretty good production value, including music written by an oscar winning composer, and LOTS of rats. The sequel to Willard, Ben (1972) had a theme song which was Michael Jackson's first solo hit. I give Willard a 3.5/5 
Willard (1971) TV trailer