Guest Review: YOU'RE NEXT

Directed by Adam Wingard

2011

94 mins.

In Theaters

You’re Next is, to put it simply, a spectacular film. I loved damn near every minute of it. This film isn’t necessarily “pop out of your seat”, “give you nightmares” scary so much as an edge of your seat, “who’s gonna get it next?” thrill ride. If you like suspense, action, terror with a bit of humor thrown in for good measure, this film’s for you.

Now I don’t want to give anything away so I’ll keep my synopsis extremely short. You’re Next centers around a family reunion in celebration of the parent’s wedding anniversary. All the kids come out to the family’s secluded mansion in the woods, each bringing their significant others. One in particular is the stunning and strong Erin (who is bound to be one of the most badass female protagonists captured on film). The family goes on to do normal family things all the while, unbeknownst to them, they are being stalked by someone in the shadows. Everything is fine until they start getting attacked out of nowhere by men in super creepy, all white animal masks, armed with various instruments of death (Your typical ax, crossbow, giant ass machete) and the family has to fight for their lives. That’s all I’m going to say about the story because I don’t want to ruin it for anyone. 

This film perfectly captured the brutality and manic feel of Australian exploitation films from the 70’s and 80’s (Brian Trenchard Smith came to mind right away). Seriously, You’re Next is BRUTAL but as the film progresses that brutality becomes almost exciting, sort of like in action movies where you quietly (or not so quietly) say to yourself “awesome!”. That’s quite an accomplishment for any film if you ask me. Amidst all the brutality, there is a very calculated feel to it all. From the opening scene, that features a double murder, Adam Wingard (the director) lays down this feeling of unnerving terror that somehow sticks throughout the entirety of the film. As the movie kept going I still felt on edge.

There was only one thing that fell flat and that was that it was a bit predictable in terms of the plot at one point but it never really bothered me all too much because I was so swept up with what I was seeing on the screen. You’re Next can easily be compared to Sam Peckinpah’s home invasion classic Straw Dogs but I feel it has enough going for it that it makes it’s own mark in that subgenre. While we’re on the subject of comparing this to other films, this has the classic feel of a John Carpenter film (and I don’t make that comparison lightly). From the sense of danger around any corner to never knowing what’s going to happen next, this movie reeked of John Carpenter in the best way possible. 

I had seen some of Adam Wingard’s previous works (V/H/S 1 & 2 and The ABCs of Death) but this is a game changer for him. He is definitely someone to watch out for in the future. I haven’t felt this way about a movie since Ti West’s absolutely incredible film The House of the Devil in 2009 (which weirdly enough Ti West is in this film and both film’s have A.J. Bowen in them) and before that Neil Marshall’s The Descent in 2005. You’re Next did not hold back at any point. It was one hell of a ride that I honestly can’t wait to experience again.

-Thomas Reinert

Tom is a Horror / Exploitation film geek in Minneapolis, MN and friend of the site.

Podcast: NICK MILLARD

Matt and I discuss the films of the wicked crazy Nick Millard.

Check out our podcast at:http://allstarvideo.libsyn.com/webpage

You can also subscribe via iTunes, search term All-Star VIdeo.


Or, you can just listen here:

-J. Moret

Guest Review: GRAVE ENCOUNTERS 2

Directed by John Poliquin

2012

95 mins. Color.

Netflix Streaming

If the plan all along was for Grave Encounters to set up the much more imaginative and creepy sequel, Grave Encounters 2, then the so-called Vicious Brothers are great. However, I don’t believe this is the case. I think they just got lucky. If you’ve read my previous review of Grave Encounters you know that I thought the film had a lot of potential but ultimately fell flat. Grave Encounters 2 on the other hand is something else entirely. Creepy, fun and full of great ideas, this sequel is a much better film overall.

The movie starts off with a montage of vloggers either ripping into or praising the hell out of the original movie on youtube. The last one to review the movie just so happens to be the main character of this film, a film student named Alex. After receiving a series of strange messages pertaining to his review to the first film (a “deleted” scene, missing persons notices for the “cast”, links to the history of the hospital, etc.) Alex begins to believe that Grave Encounters actually happened. He then decides that he’ll use his film student prowess to film a documentary about his fact finding mission to prove it was the real deal. He gets his film school buddies together along with some ladies and they go to “hunt for the truth”. They drive up to Canada to meet the person sending the extremely helpful random info aaaaaand it just so happens they will only meet at the hospital…  in the basement… at night. (I mean, come on, total set up. Amiright?) So they break in, set up cameras all around the hospital (they mostly seemed to put them in the same places as the first movie) and then head towards the basement to find the informant only to find he’s not there. What IS there, is a giant Ouija board. They play along and that’s where the fun begins. A spirit starts moving the cursor around, confirms that it is indeed the informant, let’s them know to “FILM EVERYTHING” and proceeds to throw every piece of furniture in the air. Then the kids run into the hospital. Now, up until this point of the movie (about 45 minutes in) I wasn’t exactly impressed by any of this. It seemed like your typical sequel to a middle of the road horror movie. The characters didn’t seem all that great and the illusion of this being another “real” movie had lost all of it’s effect right away when I recognized the main character Alex from a canadian TV show called Continuum. Also, the character of Alex is a complete unlikeable asshole, so really this movie didn’t have a whole lot going for it in my eyes until they ran into Lance Preston, but more on that in a minute...

Like any horror movie the kids run deeper into the haunted hospital only to bump into the security guard. Well he gives them the whole “You kids can’t be in here! This is private property” line and is about to walk them out when Alex says that he needs to get the cameras they left around the hospital. A couple creepy noises later and the guard disappears. The group then runs to gather cameras and thats when they start getting attacked. Compared to the first movie I felt the scares were a little more thought out. Some were more creepy and slow much like what I wanted with the first movie but they still relied heavily on the shock tactics prevalent in modern day horror.

A couple of deaths later, the group ESCAPES! They go back to a hotel room they rented, pack up all their stuff and try to hightail it outta there but unfortunately the Hospital has other plans. They run into a hotel elevator only to emerge back in the hospital. Thats when they run into Lance Preston! I must say I was extremely happy they brought this character back. Here, he’s a wild man, living off of rats and constantly running from the ghosts. He explains that he’s been living in the realm of the hospital for, by his count, nine years but in reality it’s only been a couple of years. Time moves faster in this haunted realm. He goes on to tell them that the hospital is constantly shifting, that’s why there are seemingly endless hallways, doors that disappear and maps that don’t make sense. All of these are cool, welcomed concepts but are not too original. What I like about all of this is that they made the Hospital it’s own character. The stupid black magic from the first movie brought the building to life. This is exactly what was needed for this sequel. It all reminded me of a Clive Barker story. What made it more of a Barker story was the inclusion of the mysterious red door. Preston says he’s figured out the patterns in the shifting and he’s been through every door except one: a blood red door, wrapped in chains, that is free standing and seemingly leads to nothing. It’s a fun concept. All of these pieces make this movie way more enjoyable than the first. It’s more playful and really goes all out on the ideas presented in the second half of the movie. The ending is pretty decent with only the last couple minutes being a bit of a letdown.

Grave Encounters 2 starts off slower than what I would’ve liked but the second half of the movie is a fun, creepy and ultimately enjoyable experience that I would recommend if you saw the first one. The inclusion of the character Lance Preston is extremely entertaining but the rest of the characters could be thrown off a cliff for all I care. I would say check it out if you’ve seen the first and if they make a third one in this series hopefully they will continue with this trend of improvement.

-Thomas Reinert
Tom is a horror / exploitation film geek extraordinaire in Minneapolis, MN and friend of the site

Review: THE DEVIL'S DAUGHTER (aka La Setta)

Directed by Michele Soavi
1991
125 mins.  Color.
VHS from Republic Pictures Home Video

Hippies love to hang out in the desert, shoot sling-shots and paint butterflies on boobs. Unfortunately for them, Rolling Stones quoting Damon isn't just a drifter, He's a psycho killer cult leader.

Mary loves to get groceries, but Trench-Coat Mafia interrupts and informs her she has "disobeyed."  He then follows her home and cuts her down.

Pickpockets love to pick pockets, but when they get to Trench-Coat Mafia's pocket, they find Mary's heart.  Unfortunately for Trench-Coat Mafia, this outs him and he is forced to commit suicide.

The villain from Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey (Joss Ackland aka De Nomolos) decides, "It's time.  It is time."

And, that is the first ten minutes of the film.

Michele Soavi is the brilliant auteur behind The Church and Cemetery Man.  He shares the ability of Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento of keeping things crazy fun and intriguing, without having the plot be too much of a bother.

However, where The Church has the crazy style of a Giallo placed in Don't Look Now territory, The Devil's Daughter is like Rosemary's Baby meets The Beyond.  Soavi's film unfolds slowly, allowing the story and characters room to develop.

I love cults.  Pretty much in any context, they are extremely fascinating.  The human mind can be so easily manipulated, and cults make for a great frame of reference.  They also make for great horror villains.  Because they could so easily be us, or our neighbors, or our family.

Anyway.

Miriam is driving and enjoying her life when De Nomolos ends up in the road.  She almost hits him and feels pretty bad about it, so she offers to let him rest at her place while he recovers.  De Nomolos is a pretty annoying psychic dude who proclaims, "religion helps you die."  He has a mysterious box with some creepy bugs that crawl into Miraim's mouth while she is sleeping, causing her to dream about a big naked guy tied up in a tree.  What follows is a really neat yet mysterious dream sequence involving a giant bed sheet and bird pecking at her neck.

When Miriam awakens, she finds De Nomolos pretending to have a heart attack.  She goes for help, and De Nomolos goes to the basement to find a secret door, which leads to a giant man-hole cover.  He removes it, and throws a flaming paper bag down there.

Miriam returns with the doctor, who apparently hates rabbits.  Did I mention that Miriam has a rabbit?  Well, the doctor hates it, and then pronounces De Nomolos dead when he arrives.  Paramedics arrive, even though no one called them.  Seems mysterious, doesn't it?

Miriam goes looking for the rabbit, whose name is Rabbit, but she doesn't find it because it has gone upstairs to watch television.  Yep.  Miriam finds an Asian woman downstairs instead.  The woman speaks in broken English and runs away.

The next day in class, one of Miriam's students draws the bug that De Nomolos put in her mouth.  She then finds out that the bug is extremely old, and has been extinct for millenia.  They were known for crawling into people's brains and laying eggs, eventually killing the person by all the babies eating their brain.  Then, Miriam's friend gets possessed by a handkerchief...

I'll leave it there, as it is obviously apparent that there is just so much going on, it doesn't make sense to go beat by beat.  I'll just say, the crazy doesn't calm down.

If you're ever the target of a satanic cult, just take a bath and relax.

The Evaluation:
Soavi is an underrated talent from Italian horror.  He and Lamberto Bava both just came onto the scene a little late.  But, I think in some ways that gave them the freedom to be super crazy.  Soavi has the ability to create these very little memorable scenes.  For instance, there is a scene after Miriam's friend is possessed when she goes to a truck stop to get some action.  She pulls one of the truckers into a trailer, presumably with plans of murdering him.  When his friends come into the truck, what they find instead is the trucker stabbing the woman repeatedly.  Behind him is a piano, which he repeatedly leans against and causes a sort of eerie accidental song to play while trying to deliver dialogue.  It's both unsettling and humorous at the same time.  And, the moment is never mentioned again.

Soavi manages to keep the crazy coming, and at the same time be engaging and mysterious.  I wouldn't say he brings it all together in the end (how could you?), but being along for the ride is a joy.

Heaven Help You:

• Dig out that old silver cross necklace and rosary beads
• Cover your face with a handkerchief for a bit
• Braised Rabbit served over rice

The Goods: 

You don't really have a lot of options.  There are a few European copies and bootlegs, but cost-wise, your best option is VHS.  You can generally find it used on Amazon or Ebay for under $10.  No trailers or anything cool, just the film.

-J. Moret

Guest Review: GRAVE ENCOUNTERS

Directed by The Vicious Brothers

2011

92 mins.

Netflix Streaming

Grave Encounters is a movie that can easily be lost in the fold. One of dozens of horror movies made within the last couple of years that use the whole POV handy cam, found footage gimmick. There are some movies that use this gimmick to great effect. Paranormal Activity, REC, the V/H/S series to name a few. Does this flick stand up to the quality of those I just mentioned? Well... in a word, no. However it had a lot of potential and thats what I want to talk about. And, I mostly just want to get to Grave Encounters 2.

This flick starts off with some jack ass producer telling the audience that the following “footage” is unedited and is 100% REAL. Yeah, sure. He explains that he was the producer of a TV show called... wait for it.... GRAVE ENCOUNTERS! The show is about a group of ghost hunters who go around looking for ghosts in haunted places. Turn on SyFy and you’ll see what I mean. According to the producer, this show was made long before all of those other crappy ghost hunting shows. After this completely cliche and uninspired opening sequence, the “final episode” of Grave Encounters begins. Up until this point I was thinking to myself, “Great, I’m about to waste ANOTHER hour and a half of my life watching a total crapfest.” What I got was about 45 minutes of great build up with TONS of potential but I was ultimately disappointed by the lack of subtlety of the scares and the totally predictable ending.

The main actor Sean Rogerson is SOOOOO fucking convincing as douche bag ghost hunter Lance Preston, its remarkable. I mean, seriously, he’s the main reason I kept watching this flick. He delivers his douche-y lines with such precision that you aaaaaalmost believe that this could poooossibly be a real show. The rest of the actors are nothing spectacular but keep the story going well enough. Oh yeah, I forgot to explain the rest of the story. Here it goes: these ghost hunters go to an abandoned mental hospital that is supposedly one of the most haunted places in the world. After doing a couple of interviews, the team finds out that the hospital used to be run by a surgeon who did a bunch of crazy experiments on the patients and is considered to be evil or something. Anyways, they lock themselves in for the night to try and find some ghosts. The tension during this part is great. It feels exactly like one of those cheap SyFy shows. They keep egging on the spirits to “show them a sign” and its all fun and games until the ghosts start moving things and attacking the ghost hunters. The group tries to escape only to find that the exits keep changing and only lead to more hallways. The idea that they present here is that the ghosts don’t want them to leave so keep moving the walls around. What really worked here is the atmosphere. Mental hospitals + night vision = creepy. That’s just a given. The dizzying nature of the endless hallways and the constant running up and down the floors kept me on the edge. I was intrigued as to where the filmmakers were going to take the rest of the story. 

Well, things of course escalate even more and the ghosts start physically manifesting. I think at this point the movie goes really down hill. The ghosts look dumb and the movie loses any sort of tension it was trying to build. There wasn’t any hint of subtlety to the ghosts. They were more blood thirsty monsters rather than evil specters. What makes a good haunting movie is the slow tension. The slower, the better I say. Some good examples that come to mind are Insidious, Kairo (Pulse), Ju-On (to be honest, the Japanese really know their shit when it comes to subtle scares) and The Orphanage. By the end, what I got from this movie was more of a 2001 Thir13en Ghosts/1999 House on Haunted Hill vibe. More shocks than scares and unfortunately the shocks were a bit tame. 

If you’re running low on horror movies to watch on Netflix, this one ain’t bad. It’s not great but its not too bad. If anything, watch it so that you can watch it’s sequel, the aptly named, Grave Encounters 2, which presents a more imaginative, enjoyable and creepy experience than this first outing but I’ll explain more of that in it’s own review.

-Tom Reinert

Tom is a horror / exploitation film geek extraordinaire in Minneapolis, MN and friend of the site