Wicked Little Things

Director: J.S. Cardone
Writers: Boaz Davidson & Ben Nedivi
Released: 2006
Labels: Chiller|Supernatural|Zombies|2000's

The bereaved Tunney family move to their newly inherited house in the remote, wooded hills of Pennsylvania. Nearby is a deserted mine where a group of working children were mistreated and died many decades before. An evil presence lies in the woods and the family soon learn that being out after dark can be dangerous.

Wicked Little Things looks creepy, it has a good lead cast and the SFX are well handled.  However, these few plus points come no where near saving this movie from being a slow, labored, uninspiring affair. Every cliche in the book is thrown at this flick, things like: vehicles that just won't start (or are stuck), staring yokel locals telling you not to go into the woods/out at night and creepy sounding children's laughter. 


Instead of increasing the tension, these well-worn devices clog up the screen making you lose touch with the actual story or any characterization. In short, you are never engaged. Zombie kids....so what?, Daddy died.....who cares? The Mine shaft has a dark history?....wow. On top of the lack of interest, we are subjected to some ridiculous moments that defy all logic (even when faced with Zombie children), most notably the standing in a shower of blood scene in the barn at the end (just move one step forward you dumbasses!!!!).

Wicked Little Things is not even a good idea ruined by bad filmmaking, it was just a bad idea from the start.

Wicked Little Things on IMDb

Wicked Little Things on Wikipedia

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Trick 'r Treat

Director: Michael Dougherty
Writer: Michael Dougherty
Released: 2007
Labels: Supernatural|Chiller|2000's

An interwoven collection of Halloween stories featuring a murderous high school principal, a virginal college girl looking for Mr. Right, teen pranksters taking a joke too far and a grumpy recluse, along with a neighboring couple, being visited by a zealous trick-or-treater.

"Trick 'r Treat" pays homage to many horror flicks from the 1980's, not least the anthology movies like "Creepshow" or "Twighlight Zone: The Movie," but unlike those movies the stories and timeline here are beautifully interwoven, reminiscent of Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction." The comic book feel (lovingly lifted from EC comics "Tales from the Crypt" series from the 1950's) along with the small-town setting, gives this a charm rarely seen in modern horror. All the tales have enjoyably dark and sinister twists and reveals that make sure the movie doesn't stray into cheesy sentimentality and although it isn't particularly scary or overly gruesome it's definitely not one for the kids. 

All the actors put in good performances, most notably Dylan Baker's turn as the quietly psychotic Steven. The costume design is inspired, particularly the creepy school bus children's make-and-mend Halloween outfits and the impish Sam (future horror icon!). Also the set design and cinematography work perfectly to ensure each shot looks like an expertly drawn panel from the afore-mentioned comics.

This really is one to own and enjoy every Halloween and, despite it being mishandled upon release and receiving little attention, we are sure that it is destined to become a seasonal classic.

Trick 'r Treat Official Website

Trick 'r Treat on IMDb

Trick 'r Treat on Wikipedia

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The Ugly

Director: Scott Reynolds
Writer: Scott Reynolds
Released: 1997
Labels: Psychological|Chiller|1990's

Simon is a confessed serial-killer and an inmate in a brutal psychiatric hospital. He is visited by criminal psychologist, Dr. Karen Shumaker, and together they begin to explore his past and examine the state of mind that drove him to kill. As Simon tries to convince her that he doesn't need to kill anymore, the boundaries of what is real and what has been conjured from his disturbed psyche become terrifyingly blurred. 

The Ugly is always going to suffer from the label "interesting" but that is what it is, a movie full of unusual ideas and experimentation. The story is actually pretty familiar, a serial-killer gets inside the head of those that try to understand him. What is not so familiar is the way in which the story is visualized. The filmmaker confounds the viewer with a bold yet limited use of color (almost exclusively red and blue) and with the same courage of conviction avoids garishly red bloody scenes, there is plenty of slashing and bleeding but the blood shown is inky black! The movie pitches back and forth in time as we get to know of Simon's violence and the reasons behind it, these flashbacks seem to blur into scenes of the present with ghostly images of his mental "visitors".

Much like the rest of The Ugly, the conclusion leaves you wondering if you are witnessing "reality" and as a result is a little disappointing.

For a low-budget (and only Scott Reynolds second) film there is much to be admired here and although it's not always coherently laid out, if you like your movies with quirky characters, an imaginative use of sound and cinematography and more than a pinch of the surreal (think Lynch or Kubrick) then this is certainly worth a watch.

The Ugly on IMDb

The Ugly on Wikipedia

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Crazy Eights

Director: James K. Jones

Writers: Dan DeLuca, James K. Jones & Ji-un Kwon

Released: 2006

Labels: Chiller|2000's

Six 'thirty-somethings' re-unite at a friends funeral. The will of their dead friend leads them on a mysterious trip of discovery ending up at an abandoned children's home where their inner-secrets and forgotten memories spill out...along with their blood!!!

This film opens with a few lines of text stating that ''between 1954 to 1976, nearly 600 children were voluntarily submitted for participation in a number of behavioral studies. These experimental facilities were privately funded and tucked away in secluded regions of the south. Families were paid a fee for their involvement, and were told the studies were harmless...Most of the children were never heard from again.''  We are then shown a sepia style flashback of a child being delivered into the hands of these scientists.

The problem with this opening is that it doesn't simply introduce the film and its subject matter, it completely blows apart any chance of a surprise twist or reveal by inadvertantly giving you all the history of our group of friends before the movie has even started. On second thought,  maybe they had to add it after seeing the finished movie because the story has so many gaping plot-holes and is so disjointed; that without it, the viewer would have no clue whatsoever as to what the story is all about. Either way, the finished result is a mess.

Potentially it's an interesting (although not wholly original) premise. Kids that were incredibly emotionally scarred return to the place of abuse as adults. Sadly, the filmakers tried to load that premise with too many ideas and it becomes muddled and unbelievable. For example, our protagonists have collective amnesia about their childhood horrors. Really? All of them?? It's a series of incredibly clumsy plot devices that sees them end up locked (escape seems improbably difficult for some reason) inside the abandoned institute. It soon is revealed (totally unsurprisingly) that, whilst at this institute, as kids, this group also accidentally killed another of the children(?!?) and the spirit of this accidentally killed child stalks the group intent on (misplaced) revenge (???!)

It just doesn't work, and it isn't scary (apart from the creepiness of the spirit, that wasn't bad actually). One of the main themes of this movie is ''guilt'', the children in the institute are being ''taught'' guilt (god knows why), but after having delivered us this heap of incoherent nonsense, maybe the filmmakers should be the ones feeling guilty?

Crazy Eights Theatrical Trailer

Crazy Eights on IMDb

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Poltergeist

Director: Tobe Hooper
Writers: Steven Spielberg, Michael Grais and Mark Victor
Released: 1982
Labels: Chiller|Supernatural|1980's

Poltergiest is an exciting and somewhat comedic romp about a family terrorized by an incredibly active haunting. The haunting occurs because the family live in a house built over the top of an old graveyard. The ghostly activity focuses its attention on the youngest member of the Freeling family, five year-old Carol Ann who, soon after announcing ''they're here'', gets ''kidnapped'' by the disgruntled spirit. Reluctantly (it's ALWAYS reluctantly) the father, Steven, agrees to call in a team of parapsychologists, the spirits taunt and unsettle the team and they decide to get help of their own in the (diminuative) form of spiritual medium Tangina Barron. 


The family, under Tangina's instruction, set about rescuing Carol Ann by entering a whirling portal guarded by a demonic Beast that seems to be the orchestrator of the mayhem. The plan seems to work and Carol-Ann is freed, Tangina announces that ''this house is clean'', and the family relax in their spirit-free home. Not for long though as they have understandably decided to move on and not a moment to soon as, on their last night in the house, it becomes obvious that the Beast is not done with them yet and it makes a new bid to capture Carol Ann. The house positively erupts in a frenzy of activity and the mother, Diane, must battle the demon to save her kids.....

Although ''directed'' by Tobe Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre), it is certainly arguable that most of the decision-making about the feel and look of Poltergeist comes from producer Speilberg himself. You are constantly reminded of films such as E.T. (which Spielberg made back-to-back with Poltergeist) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, with the small town setting for other-worldly events, the way the haunting is introduced slowly at first, how it is treated by the family with some amusement and how it escalates rapidly into full-on action. Also the inevitable ''everything seems ok now, oh, no it isn't'' plot twist is classic Spielberg.

Considering this was released in 1982, the visual effects are varied and sophisticated, there are animated ghosts, stuff moving (and/or flying) on its own, rotting corpses, gore and goo. The plot on the other hand, isn't particularly sophisticated and the reasons for the haunting focusing on this house in particular are never satisfactorily explained but, as an entertaining, well-acted, exciting visual treat, Poltergeist really does come up with the goods. 

Poltergeist Official Website

Poltergeist on IMDb

Poltergeist on Wikipedia

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