Showing posts with label midnight horror. Show all posts
Showing posts with label midnight horror. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 29, 2023

[The Midnight Horror] - The Real Jigsaw Returns in "SAW X"

It's hard to believe that the Saw series is almost twenty years old. The series has ten films—technically, Jigsaw and Spiral are more like spinoffs—but ten movies is a lot. In my opinion, the first three films were the greatest, and—spoiler alert—John Kramer (Jigsaw) and his apprentice Amanda met their gruesome demise at the end of Saw III—though whether Amanda died from a bullet neck wound continues to be debated among fans. Even though Tobin Bell and Shawnee Smith are now twenty years older than the characters they portray, I was ecstatic to see them return to their roles as John and Amanda in Saw X, a prequel set between Saw and Saw II. As you might be wondering, no CGI de-aging was employed—just simply classic make-up techniques and, for Shawnee Smith, an unrealistic wig—more on that later.

Wednesday, June 14, 2023

{The Midnight Horror} — "The Walking Dead: The Complete Eleventh Season"


I lost count of the times I started writing this piece—only to run out of ideas—leaving me gazing at a blank page. Why is? Probably because my affection for the Walking Dead series has waned in recent years. Why? The writing on The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead declined, particularly with Fear, so that's why. Don't even get me started on the shoddy spinoffs, Tales of the Walking Dead and World Beyond. Hint: The spinoffs are unwatchable. I'm crossing my fingers (and praying) that the upcoming Dead City, Rick and Michonne, and Daryl Dixon (really, did they run out of title ideas?) will be at least decent.

Monday, March 6, 2023

{The Midnight Horror} — Fear the Walking Dead: Does Anybody Still Watch It?


Is there still an interest in Fear the Walking Dead? It is the first spinoff of The Walking Dead, a once-popular AMC series. The spinoff has never performed well in the ratings. While the debut episode did draw in over ten million people, subsequent seasons saw a steady decrease in viewership. Yet this summer, it will return for its eighth and final season.

Monday, September 12, 2022

{The Midnight Horror}—"Margaux"—An Ineffective Smart House Slasher


Is it a plus or a minus that a horror film doesn't receive enough reviews to receive a TOMATOMETER rating? Margaux now has four reviews from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Most likely, none of you are familiar with Margaux (rated R; 104 minutes). The movie premiered on Paramount+ on September 9th with almost no hype. Chris Beyroot and Nick Waters wrote the screenplay for the film, which Steven C. Miller directed. Madison Pettis, Vanessa Morgan, Lochlyn Munro, Richard Harmon, Jedidiah Goodacre, Phoebe Miu, Jordan Buhat, Brittany Mitchell, and Louis Lay are among the actors who appear in the movie.

Monday, July 11, 2022

{The Midnight Horror} - Will Rob Zombie's 'THE MUNSTERS' Reboot Be Good or Bad?


Rob Zombie has made a PG-rated remake of the '60s classic television series The Munsters. Yes, you read that correctly. The director of the Firefly trilogy (House of a 1000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects, and 3 From Hell) and 2007's Halloween remake and its bizarre 2009 sequel has rebooted The Munsters for Universal 1440 Entertainment for a yet-to-be-announced release date. Is it going to theaters or straight to Peacock or both? Only the powers-to-be knows, but I presume the world will know sooner than later.

Thursday, June 30, 2022

{The Midnight Horror}—"OFFSEASON" is a Suspenseful Supernatural Thriller


Wait a minute... is Billy reviewing horror movies again? 

I planned to restart my Midnight Horror post series, but my plans were constantly sidetracked by illness, death, and other uncontrollable setbacks. Are the postings back indefinitely? That remains to be seen. I'm testing the waters, hoping to rekindle my creative mojo. Let's start with the "Offseason" and see where it takes us.

Friday, August 13, 2021

{The Midnight Horror} - SEANCE is 'The Craft' Meets 'The House on Sorority Row'



Let's start things off with a quote from COMINGSOON.NET about the new horror flick SEANCE - "Scream Meets Black Christmas." The first thought that pops into my mind is, "Which Black Christmas are they talking about?" Is it the classic 1974 film that everyone seems to love? Or is it the underrated 2006 gorefest remake? (Yes, I said underrated!) Or is it the in-name-only, godawful 2019 remake? As for Scream, are they referring to the 1995 film or its lackluster sequels? Even after viewing the film, I'm still not sure what they meant. It's more like a magicless version of The Craft meets The House on Sorority Row.

Friday, July 30, 2021

{The Midnight Horror} - Jakob's Wife (2021)


Why do I waste my time reading reviews written by the mainstream media? I rarely read other reviews before writing my own, but tonight I found myself reading a few for the vampire-flick Jakob's Wife. I usually don't care what a critic thinks of a horror film, but a specific Variety review from March ticked me off. The critic, who I won't name, stated Jakob's Wife is nothing more but "a cheap and cheerless vampire movie knock-off." Why does a vampire movie have to be cheerful? I take it this so-called critic has never watched a vampire movie? And, no, the Twilight Saga doesn't count. Cheap? It's a low-budget, B-grade horror film, enough said. A knock-off? Of what? Sure, the vampire looks a hell of a lot like Count Orlok from Nosferatu and Kurt Barlow from Salem's Lot, but I would never call it a knock-off. Good grief! Ever heard of a homage?!

Saturday, May 22, 2021

[The Midnight Horror] - SON (2021)


The horror genre has changed significantly throughout the last decade. Minus a few supernatural flops, like this year's The Unholy, only studio-proven IPs (Halloween, The Conjuring, Saw, etc.) receive the red carpet rollout in theaters. The rest typically head straight to VOD or the $5 DVD bin at Walmart. With so many new low-budget horror films, it can difficult for me to keep up with all the release dates. RLJE Films released the occult-thriller SON (Not Rated; 98 minutes) to DVD and Blu-ray on May 18th. If I hadn't received a press release, I wouldn't have even known about this movie, which stars Andi Matichak, who co-starred in 2018's Halloween and will appear in its sequel Halloween Kill later this year.

Thursday, April 1, 2021

[The Midnight Horror] - PG: Psycho Goreman (2020)



For many months there has been a lot of talk & hype around the Canadian indie horror-comedy PG: PSYCHO GOREMAN (Not Rated; 94 minutes) from writer/director Steven Kostanski (The Void, Leprechaun Returns). The film was to debut at the South by Southwest film festival last Spring, but the premiere got canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Later in 2020, the film was screened at the Beyond Fest, Monster Fest, and the Sitges Film Festival. RLJE Films and Shudder (owned by AMC Networks) bought the distribution rights and released the film to theaters and VOD in January 2021. The film landed on DVD and Blu-ray on March 16th, 2021.

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

The Midnight Horror Review - Tremors: Shrieker Island (2020)


It seems it has been forever since my last Midnight Horror Review. As you can see by the post title, I am reviewing Tremors: Shrieker Island, which Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released to Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital on October 20, 2020. I received a digital screener before the film's release date, and I did watch it immediately, but I haven't had time to write the review until tonight.  

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

The Midnight Horror Review - UK Haunters (2019)



2019's documentary UK Haunters (Not Rated; 91 minutes) is now available on Digital. It will be released on DVD from Worldwide Multimedia on October 13th. Directed by Dan Brownlie (The Tombs), UK Haunters is the first feature film length documentary about the UK haunt scene.

What is a haunt scene?

Saturday, September 12, 2020

The Midnight Horror Review - Coven of Evil (2020)



Maybe it has something to do with the lack of American horror flims being released because of the pandemic, but a slew of UK horror titles have found their way to VOD and DVD in the USA. Many horrors “reviewers” think British horror is a new thing. Believe it or not, the very first UK horror movie, Faust And Mephistopheles, came out in 1898!

Enough of my rambling. Let’s get on with tonight’s review of Coven of Evil (Not Rated, 100 minutes), a British satanism tale from writer/director Matthew J. Lawrence.

Saturday, September 5, 2020

[The Midnight Horror] - Blood Quantum (2019)



The Canadian zombie flick BLOOD QUANTUM landed on DVD & Blu-ray this past week from RLJE Films. Written and directed by Jeff Barnaby, the film premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival. The horror streaming service Shudder premiered the movie in the USA, the UK, and Ireland on April 28, 2020, as one of their "original" titles. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes

Saturday, August 29, 2020

The Midnight Horror Review - The Unwilling (2016)



A while ago, I bought a few horror DVDs at Dollar Tree, which included The Unwilling (Not Rated; 81 minutes). I knew nothing about the film when I stumbled upon it. I only picked it up because it has a creepy cover and tagline, “What is Your Dying Wish?”

Saturday, August 15, 2020

The Midnight Horror Review - Murder in the Woods (2020)



The slasher flick Murder in the Woods (R; 88 minutes) is making the rounds to selected drive-ins and theatres over the weekend from REZINATE Entertainment and Yel Productions. It’ll arrive on Digital and On Demand on September 18, 2020.

Saturday, August 8, 2020

The Midnight Horror Review - ZETA (2019)



2019's Indonesian zombie apocalypse film Zeta (also known as Zeta: When the Dead Awaken) is now available on video-on-demand in the United States and United Kingdom from Film Regions International (FRI). The film marks the directorial debut of Amanda Iswan, who also penned the script.

Saturday, August 1, 2020

The Midnight Horror Review - You Should Have Left (2020)



The psychological thriller You Should Have Left (R; 94 minutes) crawled its way on DVD & Digital on July 28th. Universal Pictures planned on releasing the film in theatres this year, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic the Blumhouse produced flick went straight to VOD in June.

Saturday, July 18, 2020

The Midnight Horror Review - Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995)



Every 90s’ horror fan has looked into the mirror and has said, “Candyman. Candyman. Candyman. Candyman. Candyman,” at least once. Am I right?

For those of you who don’t have a clue what I’m talking about, let me refresh your memory. Candyman is a 1992 horror flick based on the short story “Forbidden” by Clive Barker. Horror legend Tony Todd starred as Daniel Robitaille, a son of a slave who fell in love with a white woman during the 19th century. When the townsfolk learn about their relationship, an angry white mob brutally beat Daniel, smeared honey on him, and released bees upon his flesh, which resulted in his death. Daniel became a vengeful spirit who will kill anyone who repeats the name “Candyman” five times while looking in a mirror.

Saturday, July 11, 2020

The Midnight Horror Review - The Grudge (2020)



My stomach cringed when I heard there would be a reboot of The Grudge, which turned out to be a sidequel with the same name as 2004’s The Grudge, or otherwise known as the American remake of the Japanese Ju-On horror franchise. Yeah, I know, what an original title!