Wrong Turn 6: Last Resort

Directed by: Valeri Milev

Written by: Frank H. Woodward

Year Released: 2014

Sub Genre: Slasher / Incest / Just An All Around Bad Film

Cast: Anthony Ilott, Chris Jarvis, Aqueela Zoll, Saddie Katz

AKA: Hopefully the last film in the franchise. A movie so poorly liked, that's when you check out the synopsis on IMDB it only states "Danny and his friends go to Hobs Springs."

Don't believe me? Please, go take a look at it. I'll wait right here.

WTF right? So let me try to shine a little bit of light on this entry into the Wrong Turn franchise.

After learning that he is the only living heir, Danny inherits a resort from his deceased family.

He takes his friends up for the weekend in order to check the place out but is shocked to find out that his friends are being hunted down and that the killers may be close to him than he ever expected.

This has to be the funnest intro I've gotten to write about in this series. Now, it's time to get down to business and bow our heads in shame for even having watched this non sense!

So let's start off with the normal complaints just to get them out of the way.

Like in the two previous entries in the series, all the freaks are alive and well so we are once again aware that they are going to live.

The special effects were pretty bad, but I have seen worse in the franchise. They actually seemed to try and avoid using computer imagery which I can give a plus to them in my books for this one.

The masks used by the inbreeds however? Worse make up effects yet. No mouth movement at all and nothing but muffled sounds when Three Fingers is yelling at his brothers about something. Of course the moment he turns around, they add in his laugh which is clear as day and does not match his voice levels or muffles at all.

Now, the story could have been decent had they actually had a real story line and not just a bad idea to go on. Everything in this script was just horrifyingly bad from start to finish, especially the disgusting excuse for a finish.

The actors were mildly entertaining at best but one of them stuck out like a sore thumb.

Saddie Katz character looked like she was on drugs through half the film and the other half, she looked normal. Now I don't want to be the guy who is specifically bitching about anybody in the industry but Christ, either get some sleep or lay off the crack pipe!

Conclusion:

The last three films in this series have no reason to exist next to someone trying to make a quick buck off the name of the series alone.

And thanks to a lawsuit, this franchise may never see the light of day again until it gets rebooted or re-imagined or re whatever the hell they do. (Info is on IMDB and Wikipedia)

Do not bother with this movie. Avoid it if you can as it has nothing to do with the franchise.

0.5 out of 10

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Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines

Directed by: Declan O'Brien

Written by: Declan O'Brien

Year Released: 2012

Sub Genre: Slasher 

Cast: Doug Bradley, Camilla Arfwedson, Simon Ginty

A group of kids venture out to the Mountain Man Festival for the biggest party of the year on Halloween night.

They end up being at the wrong place at the wrong time when a group of cannibals start to target them in order to help save a friend in need.

Great news everybody! We found a sequel that is rated higher than it's predecessor! Bad news is that the movie is only getting a higher rating because Doug Bradley was one of the leads in the film and he acts his freaking ass off in it!

Now, they weren't specific but I'm assuming that this was a follow up to the prequel that was part 4.

These three killer are once again together and once again, I get pissed off because I know that none of these Inbreeds are getting killed off and we have to sit through another insufferable piece of crap. So thank god the legend himself, Doug Bradley decided to join the cast of this non sense, otherwise I don't think I could have even finished the film.

The story was ridiculous, the acting from everyone, but Bradley, was piss poor, the special effects were laughable and abundantly ridiculous, the kills were boring and the ending make no sense.

Conclusion:

I could continue to complain about this film but why even bother. Watch a compilation of Doug Bradley's performance on Youtube and that should be enough!

1.5 out of 10

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Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings

Directed by: Declan O'Brien

Written by: Declan O'Brien

Year Released: 2011

Sub Genre: Road Trip / Vacation / Slasher

Cast: Jennifer Pudavick, Tenika Davis, Kaitlyn Leeb

A group of friends set off for an adventure in the great outdoors in the middle of winter. Everyone gets on snow machines and start heading towards their destination but are stopped by in their tracks by a hectic storm.

The gang, unable to bare the weather, find an abandoned building along the way and decide to set up camp for the night.

Unfortunately for them, what lurks in the shadows of the old sanitarium may be too much for them to handle.

My first thought coming into this film was "Shit! There are only three In-Bred's and they all happen to be the same ones as in the first movie!".

Of course this already gives away the big secret that this sequel has to offer. No freaks are going to be getting killed off in this film and all those attempting survival, will in fact, be pegged off one by one till there are no longer and survivors.

Now, without any hope of a happy ending, I was forced to hope for some amazing, original and preferably gore filled kill scenes.

This was also taken away from me as they took the easiest route they could to kill everyone off.

There were way too many repetitive deaths, mainly the amount of beheading's which were performed.

The special effects were pretty good compared to some of the crap this series had to offer up in the past but they still couldn't put a decent budget into the make up for the villains making them look yet again, worse than they did in the prior film.

This was basically used as an origin story that was not necessary as the first film explained perfectly what they are and why they kill.

Conclusion:

Hot garbage is what I'm going to go with on this film. Avoid at any costs of you can as it's once again unnecessary to the series.

1 out of 10

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Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead

Directed by: Declan O'Brien

Written by: Connor James Delaney

Year Released: 2009

Sub Genre: Stranded In The Woods / Slasher

Cast: Tom Frederic, Janet Montgomery, Gil Kolirin, Christian Contreras

A prison bus taking a back road in order to transport a high priority convict is attacked and thrown off the road.

The convict, thinking the attack was done by his team to spring him, is suddenly surprised to find that the bus was attacked for dinner and not for his freedom.

I read the premise, I thought it was an excellent idea and of course they just ruined it completely.

I was expecting a lot of advantage changes between the good guys and the bad guys but the criminals had the advantage 95% of the time.

Another sub plot in the story had to do with the group finding a burned out cash truck in the middle of the woods. Of course they would find a burned out vehicle in where the cash was totally unharmed and nobody went looking for.

This just adds greed to the equation and makes for a very annoying back and forth between all the criminals vying for a piece of the pie. They could have easily done without this and it would have turned out to be a much better movie.

And of course, with the advances in CGI technology, studios have to take advantage of paying more money for worse looking effects. This is displayed in a pendulum style kill that removes half the face of one of the characters. The resulting CGI looks like a frame by frame Photoshop picture that actually moves around and looks god awful. This is also displayed in a kill scene at the beginning of the film where a guy gets cut in three equal pieces, resulting in a CGI misting of blood which just disappears into thin air.

The acting was sub par on all parts and some of the criminals were highly annoying and whiny. I did not want anybody to survive next to the final girl.

Conclusion:

This rendition of wrong turn was horrible but yet again the worse is yet to come. They ended it properly but really did not sell the idea to me of several armed criminals being attacked by a single hick. And with the crappy CGI where they could have used practical effects really took me out of the film.

3 out of 10

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Wrong Turn 2: Dead End

Directed by: Joe Lynch

Written by: Turi Meyer and Al Septien

Year Released: 2007

Sub Genre: Stranded in the Woods / Slasher / Reality game Show

Cast: Erica Leerhsen, Henry Rollins, Texas Battle, Aleksa Palladino

A new game show is coming to town! Ultimate Survival is a reality game show where teams of competitors try to make their way through a make shift apocalypse. The only problem? Not even the apocalypse can come close to competing with a family of In-Breed cannibals.

Now, let's start with what this movie opens with. Some bitch of a has been celebrity runs over one of our cannibalistic friend's. She get's out to check on him and sure enough, she get's attacked.

Yes, I know this looks like your typical horror movie intro but I can assure you, they messed this one up royally. One of the inbred's takes an axe and chop's this actress right in half and all have and behold, guts hit the floor but no more than maybe a cup's worth of blood! They even drag the two body pieces away, open side rubbing on the pavement and still barely leaving a smear mark.

Most of the kills were fairly conventional with the exception of the aforementioned celebrity kill and of course the finale kill. Because you've always got to save the best for last, no matter how bad the movie has gotten.

The acting was pretty atrocious at times with the exception of the lead army vet, but it was not so bad that I became bored.

The prosthesis and make up for our friendly hillbilly creatures were still pretty good but you could tell that it looked a tad bit less realistic than in it's original showing but all in all was able to make the creatures look real yet again.

I really had a higher expectation for this film just based on the reality television in the bush angle as it seemed much more intelligent and entertaining than a certain rapper in a certain Halloween film. You all know what horrible waste of a film I am speaking of!

Conclusion:

Once again, I hate to point to the future while describing this film but it still beats the hell out it's sequels. But the worse part being that this is still a fairly awful movie which just goes to show you what you may expect from the upcoming entries.I can only rate this by the kills and the use of effects and the acting of one individual because everything else was just not working together.

4 out of 10

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Wrong Turn

Directed by: Rob Schmidt

Written by: Alan B. McElroy

Year released: 2003

Sub Genre: Stranded in the Woods / Slasher

Cast: Eliza Dushku, Jeremy Sisto, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Desmond Harrington

After an emotional break up, Jessie's friend's decide to take her on a road trip in order to help clear her head. They end
up getting stranded in the middle of the forest where they meet Chris after he accidentally ran into their vehicle.

Soon thereafter, the group takes a walk further down the road in order to look for help but instead find a group of horribly
defaced in-bred hillbilly's who have acquired the taste for human flesh.

Next too a few small lived "Yell at the TV" moments, I adored this film!

The cast was excellent in all the rolls they played and I need to say that Jeremy Sisto as the funny guy was just excellent
and one and only issue I had with that role specifically was that that they killed his character off way too early.

The in-bred's make up looked awesome and incredibly realistic but you could tell that the actors portraying them were
having a hard time seeing out of the prosthesis just by looking at their movements when attempting to attack some of the
stranded individuals. But that's something I can look past in favor of a realistic look.

Another big plus, especially in my eyes, was the magnificent use of practical effects throughout the entirety of the film.
They used all of the effects in the proper way with a nice fair dosage of blood when it was deemed necessary to be used.

I can't say enough good things about this film but trust me when I say, I've watched the following sequels (Yes, all five
sequels) and believe me, I've got a few (for Some of them, Several) choice words for each one of them which I can not wait to
share with you all. If you have seen them all, I am sure you know  exactly what I am talking about.

Conclusion:

Not that I want to make this short and sweet but I have too. This is an excellent film which most of the time makes sense with, once again, an amazing cast, great effect and a pretty solid story line with dialogue to boot. I still would not
consider this a classic for at least another 7 years so it will not get a perfect score.

9 out of 10

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Rites Of Spring

Directed by: Padraig Reynolds

Written by: Padraig Reynolds

Year Released: 2011

Sub Genre: Home Invasion / Torture / Slasher

Cast: A.J. Bowen, Anessa Ramsey, Sonny Marinelli, Katherine Randolph

The film starts us off with a warning that for the past 24 years, groups of girls have been getting kidnapped every spring. And this year is no different.

In order to keep the evil monster at bay each year, the Rites of Spring must be performed.

Meanwhile, a man and his wife whom are in financial need due to a recent loss of employment, have accepted a job with a stranger to kidnap the daughter of a wealthy man in order to extort him.

But once the evil is released, both stories become intertwined and both groups must come together to put a stop to the evil coming for them.

Although both stories were separated for a large extent of the film, they were both able to keep me interested and entertained throughout.

The kidnapping story kept me interested as I was trying to learn what the ritual being performed was going to accomplish or if the kidnapper was just bat shit crazy.

Guess which one was the right answer!

The extortion story line was entertaining due to the simple fact that the people hired, who are complete amateurs, have no clue what they are doing. They also exhibit that they are truly down to earth, nice people and only in it for monetary gain. The story also develops to show that there is a larger reason behind why they have accepted the job.

Question for you. Are running through corn fields in horror films considered cliches yet?

Seriously! I'm sure the last 10 films I've seen with a farm involved have had a corn field run scene incorporated in it and this one was no different.

Maybe, instead of a zombie run for charity, the horror community could start the corn field run. Just a suggestion! Anyways, moving on!

Special effect were very few and far between which made the use of it that much more special when it was actually needed.

There was not an abundance of overly stimulating dialogue throughout the movie but enough to keep my interest throughout the entire story.

On top of it the ending was quick and simple, no follow up for any of the characters, no silly dream sequence and no police questioning. Just a cut and dry ending that put a stop the film and kept me satisfied.

If you get a chance to, check this one out and enjoy the show!

6 out of 10.
                   

                     

   

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The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014)

Directed by: Charles B. Pierce

Written by: Earl E. Smith

Year Released: 2014

Sub Genre: Slasher

Cast: Addison Timlin, Veronica Carthwright, Gary Cole, Anthony Anderson

The year is 1946 and the town of Texarkana is in shambles.

There is a killer among them stalking and murdering young couples who are looking for privacy in secluded areas.

After many arrest attempts and investigations, the killer, better known around Texarkana as the phantom, had evaded police and lived free among the townsfolk.

The phantom has since become something of a legend, even inspiring a film under the title of "The town that dreaded sundown" which is played at a drive in once a year for Halloween. That is until, the phantom strikes again.

I'm going to start off by saying that the idea of this film is seems somewhat exciting on paper but is a little too close to a Scream sequel for my liking. This comes from the use of a film being one of the main focuses inside the actually movie.

Now, if you don't understand what I mean, here is a quick, possibly confusing look at what they did: Take a film from back in the day. Use said film as if it was created specifically for use in this movie and then proceed to build a new story around it using the same kills as displayed in the original.

Sounds like it could be interesting right?

Well think again!

The use of the original film in this movie ruins a lot of scenes that had the potential to be enjoyable but ultimately lost all it's effects thanks to the scenes of the original film being shown before hand.

The biggest issues I had were the miss use of the excellent supporting cast they had available to them including Anthony Anderson, who's role could have easily been thrown out as it did not have an actual affect in the narrative in any way.

And of course, I can not forget to mention the unfortunate use of bad special effects throughout the movie.

A portion of the time a very obvious display of CGI was used in a car murder scene to show off blood spatter on the windows. The effect was done so poorly that even in darkness you could tell it was added in.

This was not my only gripe with special effects.

A good portion of the film had use your usual practical effects for the bloody murder scenes which looked good. However, in a flash back scene where the lead characters parents die in a car crash the blood effects look ridiculous and absolutely fake. Basically looked like someone came up with a paint brush and put a few lines of bright red paint on their bodies and figured nobody would notice.

Hell, they way they placed the bodies on the outside of a rolled over vehicle (one laying on the top of the car and the other next to / half under the vehicle) made no sense on it's own. How poor of a driver do you have to be in order to not only flip a vehicle on it's side, and have every passenger tossed outside the vehicle without even smashing a window?

Moving on!

Easy to watch but even easier to stop paying attention to at most times. This would make it very difficult to follow had the story had any complexity to it at all.

Conclusion:

This is something good to watch if you are bored or need something playing in the back ground while you're busy doing other things. It could also be good a starter horror film for someone above the age of majority but I would not suggest it for anything more than that.

2 out of 10

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Cabin in the Woods (2012)

Cabin in the woods is a new take on the slasher genre by Drew Goddard (Director and co-writer) and Joss Whedon (Producer and co-writer) who have worked together in the past on Buffy the Vampire Slayer as well as Angel.

Starring Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz and Jesse Williams.

The film follows a corporation which sets up an 80's style slasher type of reality series to sacrifice young college students. Question is, are they doing it for the greater good? Or just so they can place a few bets on the outcome?

It started out in a very odd way, turned into something you would find at camp Crystal Lake and then just exploded into something completely mind blowing. It continued to progress with each and every scene and once it came to an ending all I could tell myself was "holy crap!".

Unlike any movie I have ever seen in the horror genre or any other genre for that matter. It was dark, witty, funny, exciting and made you wonder what the hell was going to happen until the finally reveal it at the end of the film.

I was concerned with the choice of actors for a couple of the roles due to their actual age as compared to the age they were portraying in the movie but was quickly shown they only mentioned an approximation of age at the beginning during a conversation in regards to being on break from college. The remainder of the time I was so enthralled by the story I completely forgot about my concerns.

Awesome effects for some of the reveals and especially in the motorcycle scene. Mix that with the top notch storyline, the great acting, the all around twists in the story and you've got yourself a great movie in which I thoroughly enjoyed. This will be something I am guaranteed to watch again in the very near future to pick up on things that I have missed out on in my first viewing.

Easily a 9 out of 10 from my point of view!

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Book Review: Slasher: A Joshua Matthews Thriller (2014)

A serial killer in Los Angeles. A string of ever more famous victims. A sergeant out of his depth.

After a body is found on his duty, Sergeant Joshua Matthews is handed his first true homicide, one he has no choice but to accept. With no motive, no clues and zero real suspects, the police are getting nowhere, until another body turns up. It’s not in his jurisdiction but there are striking similarities between the two crimes. On his captain’s orders, Joshua finds himself temporarily transferred to LAPD Homicide. It seems he might be dealing with a serial killer, one targeting slasher movie actresses from the infamous horror studio, Hitlist Pictures.

As the evidence starts pointing towards someone connected to the studio, Joshua and his new partner Detective Crawford face a race against time to solve the mystery before Hitlist premieres its brand new and highly anticipated horror thriller, Slasher. The film's lead and Hollywood's newest rising star, Kiralee Martinson, surrounded by police, is adapting quickly to the instant fame and pressure of becoming a film star, but nothing can prepare her for a violent finale to the killers' plans as she finds herself directly in the cross hairs in this tense and brutal thriller.

(Synopsis provided by the books Author, WD Jackson.)

I started out very excited to read Slasher. Not only did it have my obvious favorite genre wrapped up into it, it also involved a murder mystery all mixed into one which really got my excitement levels up.

Although after reading the first couple of chapters I was slightly turned off by it. This was due to the fact that the author was throwing a very large amounts of detail into single sentences as well as paragraphs. It was seemingly annoying but was quickly corrected as you read through.

The story had picked up from there and soon I was hooked!

Another small problem I had was with the main character. He was very annoying to me for the first little while, repeating his issues until he was able to fully the problem he had to face in his past. After this he was much more tolerable but seemed to be much more absent throughout the remainder of the story which helped me enjoy the side characters and their stories much more than that of Joshua's.

Next to the co-characters, one thing that really intrigued me was how well the dialogue between characters was written making it feel like a natural conversation that anybody would have with a friend. Nothing was far fetched or out of context.  

After everything was said and done I loved this book. I do however believe that the book could drop the  "Joshua Matthews Thriller" from it's title, seeing as most of the focus of the book seems to be on the character of Kiralee Martinson. But none the less I give Slasher an 8 out of 10.

I would like to take this time to thank the author, WD Jackson for allowing me to review his work and if you are interested in reading it, you can purchase a copy here.

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The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

This is the original, 1974 version of the Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Created, produced and written by Tobe Hooper, it is one of the greatest horror movies ever made and has influenced most of the horror movies, and their iconic killer characters you know and love today.

It stars Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim, Siedow, Terri McMinn and Gunnar Hansen as Leatherface.
This movie practically wrote the book on how slasher films should be presented in order to get the best scare factor as well as storyline layout.

The basis for this movie, if you have not heard about it before, is a group of teens are out on a road trip to find an old family home when they decide to pick up a hitch hiker. He, of course, turns out to be bat shit crazy.

After a small series of events, and the hitch hiker's assault on one of the teen's, they boot him out of the van and carry on to find the home.

But, what they found instead was the sadistic, chain saw wielding maniac Leatherface and his family of psychotic killers.

This has it all, the gore, the screaming, the scary-as-hell murderer, the soundtrack, the storyline and an amazing final scene that will leave you on the edge of your seat cheering to find out "what's next?"

I can not express how much this movie means to me. Without this movie, some of your favorite killer icons would surely not be around today. The genre itself would not have had the significant impact it did in the 70's and 80's had this film not been made or accepted as widely as it had been right from the get go, inspiring dozens of future directors and screenplay writers to follow in Tobe Hooper's footsteps.

I also have to mention the amazing performances by Marilyn Burns (Sally) And Gunner Hanson (Leatherface). Without their superb acting skills, this movie would not have had the cultural impact that it did. Watching both of them in the final scene proves how great they were in both their roles and that how something so simple, could end up having such a large impact on the world.

Now without rambling on more than I already have, I give the 1974 original Texas Chain saw Massacre an easy 10 out of 10. Check it out and find out for yourselves why this film has inspired many people to do what they are doing today in the industry including special effects design.

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Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)

Heather Langenkamp has been plagued with nightmares over the last few weeks. She's been haunted by the character she once defeated years ago in a film roll and can't understand why.

After speaking to the creator of the Nightmare series, Wes Craven, Heather is informed that Freddy has been concealed in the movies and now that they are over, he is moving out into the real world and looking for vengeance.

Written and directed by Wes Craven, starring Heather Langenkamp as herself, John Saxton as himself and Robert Englund as himself and new look Freddy Krueger.

Okay... So let's make a movie about a guy who is making another movie to add to a series that was already ended.

Stupid idea right? Of course it is! Wes Craven thought it would be genius to make another Nightmare movie about making a freaking Nightmare movie and using practically the exact same cast in it that he did in the original film.

They decided to cast the teacher from the first film to be a nurse in this piece of crap for example.

Most of, if not all the scenes were freaking copy's of scenes from the other film.

It's a piss poor excuse for a Nightmare on elm street movie. Had this been a completely separate entity with a whole different cast and antagonist, it could have been excellent but in my eyes it's crap.

I'm very upset about this movie and wish it was never made. It's basically a waste of time and makes a mockery out of the rest of the films.

1 out of 10!

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Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)

An unknown teenager is being chased around constantly in his dreams by Freddy, who refuses to ever kill the boy, but only torment him.

Directed by Rachel Talalay, written by Micheal DeLuca and starring Breckin Meyer, Lezlie Deane, Shon Greenblatt, Lisa Zane and Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger.

After a while the unknown boy is picked up by police and brought to a youth center where he encounters a lady named Maggie who happens to have the same dreams as him.

Together the two try to unravel the mysteries behind Freddy's special ability's which could unlock the secret behind being able to get rid of him forever.

This was supposed to be the final installment in the Nightmare series but thanks to popular demand by it's fan base, the decided to continue the series with a piece of garbage they named "Wes Craven's New Nightmare", which we will be reviewing next.

Freddy's wit, originality and style made a huge impact in the franchise which lead throwing it all, in abundance, into this film. The comedy timing was great, the kills were awesome and the effects were really out there. But in a good way of course.

You could tell they were trying to draw in the 90's audience with some of the scene's. One in particular was a full length Nintendo game dream which I have always loved.

The ending would have been perfect to me had they been able to actually finish off the franchise, but seeing as they revived him twice more after his big finale, it really ruined the whole feel to it for me.

Also, there were a lot of celebrity guest appearances, including Johnny Depp who was an actor in the original Nightmare On Elm Street.

There is a lot of nostalgia factor in this one for me thanks to the kills I've always been able to remember so I will have to throw an 8 out of 10 onto this one!

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A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 5: The Dream Child (1989)

The dream master has been having a great life since defeating Freddy Krueger. But after she winds up getting pregnant, Freddy takes the opportunity to attack her by slipping into her unborn child's dreams.

Now, Alice must face her toughest challenge yet. Saving her unborn child from the vicious grasps of the bastard son of a hundred maniacs himself, Freddy.

Directed by Stephen Hopkins, produced by Robert Shaye and Rupert Harvey. Written by Leslie Bohem and starring Kelly Jo Minter, Whit Hertford, Beatrice Boepple, Lisa Wilcox and the great Robert Englund.

I remembered very little about part six as I have not seen it very often, but after my latest viewing, all that I have to say is excellent!

I almost forgot about the amount of awesome special effects that were used in this film and the mix of exceptionally memorable moments that scared the piss out of me as a child. And the fact that I practically forgot about them until now, would lead me to believe that I repressed the memory's thanks to how bad it did scare me back then.

The story line was pretty cool, considering they had to find a new way for Freddy to get back at Alice and they were able to pull it off with the original material.

My favorite kills are definitely the motorcycle, due to the amazing practical effects and the Dinner Party scene as it was just such a memorable part seeing "Chef Freddy" do his thing.

Another thing I do enjoy about this part is simply how much I like Alice as the hero type. Her attitude is very confident and she is usually very calm and collected when things aren't going her way.

With all those positives, I can't go any lower than an 8.5 out of 10.

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A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

The remaining group of Elm Street children have been shipped off and locked up in a psych ward at Westin Hills thanks to their recurring nightmares of the Springwood slasher, Freddy Krueger.

When Freddy's nightmares start resulting in the death of the kids, their only hope at survival is Nancy Thompson, a dream specialist and the sole survivor of Freddy's first rampage after his death.

Directed by Chuck Russell, produced by Robert Shaye and written by Wes Craven, Bruce Wagner, Chuck Russell and Frank Darabont. Starring Craig Wasson, Patricia Arquette, Heather Langenkamp and Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger.

This is my third favorite entry into the franchise and the one I have seen the most, thanks in part to the 90's and having it play on the specialty stations on a monthly basis.

I loved the story line in this one. Teaching the kids to take control of their dreams was a genius move and made every one of the characters seem bad ass to one degree or another once they were able to follow through with their transformation.

The acting was excellent from practically the entire cast including one Laurence Fishburne, who played a young orderly and you can't go on without the mention of all the great one liners that Freddy has in this one. They are just classic! But my hands down favorite has to be "Welcome to Prime Time, Bitch!" 

As always, the special effects were excellent and it was reflected in a lot of the kills. For example, the TV kill and the puppet master kills are a great example of this.

It's a definite 8 out of 10 for me!

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Jason X (2001)

Jason is being held captive in a research facility as scientists are trying to figure out a cure to him cell regeneration capabilities.

He was due to be put into a cryogenic state but has escaped, resulting in a murderous rampage within the facility.

He is eventually trapped into a chamber and frozen, only to be thawed and awoken in the year 2455 by a crew of explorers.

Directed by James Issac, written by Todd Farmer and starring Chuck Campbell, Lisa Ryder, Lexa Doig and Kane Hodder in his forth and final role as Jason Voorhees.

I have only seen this movie once in the past when it played on the "Space" channel at around 2 am one weekend but recalled Jason's transformation having happened sooner in the movie which apparently does not happen till there is roughly an house left in the film.

I was not a huge fan of it back then due to it's Sci-fi aspect, which I am a fan of now, but moving on, I do remember however enjoying the make over Jason had gotten after his death.

On this viewing I found that I enjoyed it much more than I anticipated. The mix between a high budget horror film and a low budget sci-fi movie was a perfect match for my tastes.

The thing I was unimpressed with was the fact that Jason seemed much more powerful and evil as his old self than after his transformation. You would figure a guy made of some sort of metallic substance, with an even more powerful level of strength and a bad ass look would kick more ass than ever before.

Unfortunately for us, this was not the case and new look Jason did not even get to physically kill anybody, which soured the whole new look experience.

Other than this I truly enjoyed it. It was basically a major slasher set in space but I enjoyed pretty much all of it giving this one a 6.5 out of 10.

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Friday the 13th Part 9: Jason Goes to Hell (1993)

So we basically ignore the end of the last entry into the series, randomly throw Jason back into Crystal lake, as an adult, without any explanation, have military ambush him in the middle of  the woods and them blow him the hell up into tiny several pieces.

After the attack, the body is brought to a military morgue and looked over by a mortician who ends up being hypnotized by his beating heart. The mortician ends up eating the heart which transfers Jason's soul over to his body. Thus begins a whole new reign of terror.

Directed by Adam Marcus. Produced by Sean S. Cunningham and Debbie Hayn-Cass. Written by Jay Huguely, Adam Marcus, Dean Lorey and starring Steven Williams, Kari Keegan, John D. LeMay and Kane Hodder as Jason Voorhees.

A few Easter eggs I have to mention before we start the review. The necronomicon, as seen in the Evil Dead series is shown in the Voorhees house and the obvious "claw glove" hand of Freddy grabbing Jason's mask at the end of the film teasing the eventual meet up between the two.

This was the first film in the franchise produced by New Lines Cinema after buying the rights for "Friday" from Paramount studios.

This chapter of the franchise went into uncharted waters, using the Camp Crystal Lake killings as some sort of world renowned myth, with several people trying to uncover the truth to it including the military.

You barely see Jason throughout the film next to a few mirror shots here and there, but I found that in doing this, it made him seem that much more gruesome and evil once he did reappear.

I did not really care for this film. I felt like I was more excited to see the Easter eggs they added in rather than what the story line had to offer.

And as for my top kill in this movie. It came not from the hands of Jason but the military who blew him the hell up. Thanks to that I have to rate low here. The only thing saving this movie for me is the Easter eggs. 3 out of 10.

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Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason takes Manhattan (1989)

A young couple who have just graduated, whom are spending time alone on a boat decided to stop the boat in the middle of Crystal Lake and drop the anchor.

The anchor accidentally hit a snag and rips open an underwater power line that inevitably awakens Jason from his watery tomb.

The next day, the remainder of their classmates set off on a cruise ship to Manhattan for their celebration. As they are taking off, someone decides they want to hitch a ride with the group.
Needless to say to somebody is Jason Voorhees.

Written and directed by Rob Hedden. Starring Peter Mark Richman, Barbara Bingham, Scott Reeves. Jensen Daggett and reprising his role as Jason Voorhees, Kane Hodder.

This movie to me was more of a joke than anything else. Don't get me wrong I still enjoyed it but it did not really feel like a Friday movie to me. I will assume it's due to the fact that the setting is completely different and the small factor that nobody in New York seems to care in any way shape or form that some giant lunatic, wearing a hockey man and wielding a weapon, is walking down the streets.

But thanks to that you do get a few scenes that you can get a good laugh in about. Especially the boxer's death and the street gang trying to start a fight with Jason.

This is probably the one Friday movie that I had seen the most throughout my life and it was not by choice. It just so happened to be what was playing on TV practically every weekend following Nightmare on Elm Street part 3.

I believe it's also a large factor into why I didn't want to ever visit New York when I was younger, thanks to how creepy and careless all the city dwellers were during the whole film.

Other than the random rant about my past, I hated the ending. In my books, it was pure garbage and I've never liked it, not even as a child!

Now with all that being said, I'm rating this a 3 out of 10. Way too many issue with it!

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Friday the 13th part VII: The New Blood (1988)

A young girl named Tina runs away from her father after she overhears him slapping her mother. She takes a boat out to the middle of the lake and yells to her father that she wishes he was dead for what he's done.

She stares widely towards him. Suddenly the structure standing over top of her father comes crashing down and kills him.

She awakens from the dream and realizes she is on her way towards the camp where it all happened to her as a child.

Directed by John Carl Buechler, written by Manuel Fidello and Daryl Haney. Starring Lar Park Lincolin, Kevin Spirtas, Susan Blu, Terry Kiser and Kane Hodder in his first appearance as Jason Voorhees.

After she was made upset by a doctor, she runs to the lake and tries to use her power to raise her fathers corps from the water. Instead she released an evil force that's been trapped inside the lake.
So this was the first Friday movie that was made after I was born. Mind you I would have only been one at the time, so needless to say it was a few years before I actually got the pleasure of viewing it.

Anyhow, back to our review!

I liked this one until the final scene came along, which completely ruined my viewing experience. I know they were going for a supernatural type experience, but the end was not plausible in any way. They could have easily kept Jason as the only one who could rise up from the dead and I would have loved this movie.

The kills were not anything spectacular next to the sleeping bag scene but still gory enough to keep me satisfied. What really kept me going though, was the telekinesis tricks Tina was doing in order to keep one step ahead of Jason. Just something about them that made me enjoy the movie just a little bit more.

I really liked how the film played out with the obvious exception of the finale which helped lower my rating to a 5 out of 10.

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Maniac (2012)

Maniac follows the story of Frank Zito, a mentally unstable man who stalks, attacks, kills then scalps women in order to fulfill his own sick fantasies. By placing the scalped hair onto the heads of his mannequin's (whom each of them resemble a victim) it brings them to life in his mind.

His insatiable need to kill comes out once he starts suffering from a migraine.

Frank meets a photographer named Anna who is interested in the mannequin's he has been restoring through his family business and offers him a part to add his handy work in her art show.

He starts to fall for her but learns she has a boyfriend which starts a series of events that could change everything for him.

The movie stars Elijah Wood as Frank Zito, Nora Arnezeder as Anna D'Antoni and America Olivio as Angel Zito (Frank's Mother).

A large portion of the movie was filmed from the Point-of-View of the killer. You would see everything he saw and follow exactly what he would do, almost like a 1st person shooter game such as Doom or Duke Nukem. I believe this effect was used to try and gain sympathy from the audience for Frank throughout his hardships and mental disorder.

I really loved the way that I was filmed, You can see it every once in a while in other films for a scene or two (I.E. John Carpenter's Halloween), but you rarely, if ever, see the whole story be filmed in quite that way.

Elijah Wood's performance was excellent! I really got into his character just by the way he would speak throughout different scenario's in the film. However, I can not say the same about the performance by Nora D'Antoni.

I could not buy the accent a lot of the time as she seemed to keep slipping in and out of it. Being that I am bilingual, I know exactly what a primarily French person sounds like on a normal basis and that was not at all like anybody I know or have spoken too over the course of my life.

The kills were nothing spectacular, but they were realistic and looked great for that reason, plus you have to including the mentions on the special effects used for the scalping scenes.

All together, this movie holds up fairly well, but did not have anything jumping out at me to keep me on the hook the entire way through. The first scalping looked awesome which got me interested right away, but after the second one it started to feel like it was getting repetitive and started to lose my attention. It was not boring but after the first few scene's it stopped feeling for fresh.

With that being said I will have to give this one a 5.5 out of 10.

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