Keeping up my tradition of reviewing all of the After Dark HorrorFest films together, these are the films from 2009.
Past HorrorFest reviews:
2006 After Dark HorrorFest2007 After Dark HorrorFest2008 After Dark HorrorFestDread (2009)
Assisted by two naïve classmates, duplicitous Quaid (Shaun Evans) conducts a devious research project examining students' innermost fears. Once armed with data, Quaid methodically torments his hapless subjects, taking full advantage of their weaknesses. Adapted from a short story by Clive Barker, writer-director Anthony DiBlasi's horror movie offers a potent mixture of heart-pounding thrills and extreme violence. Jackson Rathbone co-stars.Dear Jackson Rathbone; Please be in more things that aren't Twilight. Sincerely, Me. This movie is based on the only
Books of Blood story that doesn't touch on the supernatural, which, of course, makes it so much scarier to me and therefore one of my favorites, so I was wary. I needn't have been, though. The writer/director has worked with Clive Barker before -- notably on
The Midnight Meat Train which I loved -- and is familiar with his work. He did a really nice job of taking a very myopic (to steal a perfect word from the dreadcentral.com review) narrative and turning it into a tense, disturbing and very watchable film. [Rating: 3.5 stars]
The Graves (2010)
When sisters Megan (Clare Grant) and Abby (Jillian Murray) Graves go on a road trip before recent college graduate Megan starts a job in New York, their fun search for a silly roadside attraction turns into a nightmare after they stumble into evil Skull City. The supernatural residents of this abandoned mine town like to rip out visitors' souls, and after Megan is badly wounded, Abby must fight to save them both in this bloody spine-chiller.There is not anything good about this movie. The script is awful, the music is obvious, the acting is mediocre at best but mostly terrible, the characters are all either flat or annoying, the plot is weak and wandering, and the ending is stupid. This flick is just bad, and not in the fun way. [Rating: 1 star]
The Final (2010)
Dane (Marc Donato), an unpopular high school student, leads a group of outcasts seeking revenge on the popular kids who harassed and humiliated them for years -- and their plan includes gruesome forms of torture learned in history class and horror films. Confining the bullies at the remote house Dane inherited, the outcasts turn the tables and subject their victims to a night of grisly treatment in this gory horror flick.Keep an eye out for Lindsay Seidel, folks. When she gets famous, remember you heard about her here first. She was the highlight of this movie. Overall, it really isn't a bad little horror flick. It's paced slowly but steadily. It doesn't use jump scares or shock shots. It's really about the psychology of these outcast and bullies, both before and after the torturer/victim roles are switched. There was one thing, though, that
really annoyed me. The ringleader, Dane, basically monologues through the whole thing, and he places blame everywhere but on himself, acting like he had no choice but to trick, drug, trap and torture his classmates. I mean, when one of the bullies asks him who gave him the right to judge them, he says God did. Argh. [Rating: 3 stars]
Kill Theory (2009)
A celebratory vacation turns into a nightmare for a group of recent college graduates when a sadistic sociopath forces them into a horrific game: They must kill each other off until only one survivor remains. As tensions grow and the murders begin, relationships falter and new alliances are formed. Chris Moore directs this gory slasher flick that stars Agnes Bruckner, Taryn Manning and Patrick Flueger.For a horror movie in general? Pretty damn good. For what I've come to expect of HorrorFest films? FUCKING AWESOME. This is my favorite of this year's entries so far, and I can't imagine anything else bumping it out of that top spot. There were some major weak points in the dialogue, but mostly near the beginning. Other than that, I have
nothing to complain about. The concept is not a new one by any means and this movie is more toned down than most of the others like it but that doesn't matter
at all. The characters aren't stereotypes, the acting was surprisingly excellent, the tension was impressive, and the ending actually caught me by surprise. I just... Wow. [Rating: 4 stars]
Lake Mungo (2008)
When a series of inexplicable supernatural events strikes their home, Russell (David Pledger) and June (Rosie Traynor) Palmer try to figure out exactly what is behind the tragic drowning death of Alice (Talia Zucker), their 16-year-old daughter. A psychic (Steve Jodrell) might be able to help them. Joel Anderson writes and directs this psychological thriller; Martin Sharpe, Scott Terrill and Tamara Donnellan co-star.I ... liked this movie. But I'm not really sure why it was a HorrorFest entry. It's not really scary. It's creepy at best, and mostly just interesting. "Psychological thriller"? Hardly. I read a review somewhere that said it was more "watered-down mystery" than horror, which I think is accurate. It's shot as a documentary, which I like because you can get all kinds of exposition in without awkward dialogue. The trouble with that, though, is you then have to get actors who can really sell that they're telling the story in their own words instead of from a script. They definitely did that; there were excellent performances all around. But there's no payoff. The viewer is left hanging. [Rating: 3 stars]
The Reeds (2009)
When a group of London friends boating through Norfolk Broads takes a wrong turn in the dense, reedy waters, they find themselves haunted by a terrifying and ancient evil in this eerie spine chiller directed by Nick Cohen. It soon becomes apparent that they're no match for the malevolent forces that lurk in the vast waterway. Eli Marienthal, Scarlett Alice Johnson, Geoff Bell and Emma Catherwood star.I, uh ... don't think I got it. And if I did get it, it was stupid. But I was never bored at any point during the whole thing! It has that going for it, at least. [Rating: 1.5 stars]
Hidden (2009)
Kai Koss (Kristoffer Joner) returns to his family's eerie woodland estate and makes plans to sell the house, hoping to put the memories of his tragic childhood behind him. But a presence even more wicked than his abusive mother has taken up residence in the place. Pål Øie (Dark Woods) writes and directs this atmospheric horror flick from Norway. Karin Park, Arthur Berning and Bjarte Hjelmeland co-star.The main actor was
fantastic. The look and feel were deliciously creepy. The premise is promising. I'd watch this movie again without complaint if someone wanted me to watch it with them. But there were a lot of flaws. I was utterly baffled until about halfway through -- none of the backstory is ever stated outright and it's in Norwegian so you're reading subtitles when it would be more beneficial to be picking up visual clues. And the pacing is so slow that I kept wondering "When's it going to really start?" right up until it ended. At which point I still wasn't
entirely sure what just happened, because I
think the writer pulled a double-Shyamalan. ...Maybe even a triple. Whatever, confused or not at the end, I thought it was a fairly well-spent hour and a half. And on a side note: Bless HorrorFest for letting the token foreign entry be something not Asian this year. [Rating: 3 stars]
ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction (2009)
When flesh-eating zombies assault their idyllic town, a ragtag group of locals -- including gay couple Tom (Doug Fahl) and Lance (Cooper Hopkins), Iranian American college student Frida (Janette Armand) and conservative Rev. Haggis (Bill Johns) -- join forces to repel the brutal onslaught. Set in a paranoid post-9/11 America, this nerve-racking horror movie offers witty social satire as well as an abundance of blood and guts.This movie has some
really funny moments.
Seriously hysterical. But the social commentary is too heavy-handed. The stereotypes are taken to the extreme, and then a little further. It's completely anvilicious. And I'm usually all for making fun of how stupid conservative Christians and extreme right-wingers can be. But
all of them aren't
that bad and that seems to be the movie's message. The funny parts were seriously awesome but there just weren't enough of them to make up for the preaching. [Rating: 2 stars]
And as a wrap-up, here's the order I'd put them in after watching them, best to worst:
01.) Kill Theory
02.) Dread
03.) Hidden
04.) Lake Mungo
05.) The Final
06.) Zombies of Mass Destruction
07.) The Reeds
08.) The Graves
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