Is the 2010 Remake of The Crazies Better Than the Original?

Life moves at a different pace in Ogden Marsh, Iowa.  That is, until a downed military airplane carrying a to-be-decommissioned biological weapon crashes and contaminates the water supply.  Soon after, the once neighborly population begins tearing itself apart. The 2010 Breck Eisner remake of George A. Romero‘s The Crazies lends itself well to modernization.  In a world where everything can be

Session 9, One of the Best Horror Films You’ve Probably Never Seen

Session 9 centers around a group of asbestos abatement professionals looking to make a hefty bonus on a bid if they can complete a monster job in a week.  The job?  Get the notorious Massachusetts Danvers State Hospital clean and ready for renovation. The team is a group comprised of old friends Gordon, Phil and Mike (Peter Mullan, David

The Amityville Horror – Truth Never Stands in the Way of a Good Story

“I just wish that … all those people hadn’t died here.  I mean … ugh!  A guy kills his whole family.  Doesn’t that bother you?” “Well, sure, but … houses don’t have memories.” The Amityville Horror (1979) caused quite a stir at the box office in the US the year it was released.  People flocked to

30+ Years On, Stanley Kubrick’s Masterpiece The Shining Still Mesmerizes

Struggling to turn his life around in the wake of alcoholism and the abuse of his child, writer Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) agrees to take a 5 month long off-season caretaker position at The Overlook Hotel.  Completely isolated and left to his own devices, Jack’s young son, Danny (Danny Lloyd), begins seeing things thanks to a

The Anticipatory Dread Effect of Paranormal Activity

When my nephews first approached me a few years ago after having first seen Paranormal Activity, they were literally terrified of the subject matter.  Not the film, per se, but the idea that someone (or some thing) might be watching them when they sleep.  The fear is not without grounds, although, as far as I can

Is Alien Ridley Scott’s Masterpiece?

When a Weyland/Yutani towing vessel receives an order to investigate a signal of unknown origin on a nearby planet, the crew of the Nostromo are wakened from hypersleep.  Touching down on the planet from which the signal appears to originate, a search party comes into contact with an alien lifeform, one of whom attaches itself

The Omen – Instilling Fear of Children Since 1976

“When the Jews return to Zion / And a comet rips the sky / And the Holy Roman Empire rises, / Then You and I must die. / From the eternal sea he rises, / Creating armies on either shore, / Turning man against his brother / ‘Til man exists no more.” Originally advanced screened