[HORROR MOVIE CORNER] The Backwater Gospel (2011)

 

Hello horror movie fans! Welcome to the all-new "Horror Movie Corner," where I talk about the horror movies that I have seen over the years!  So, this week's horror movie that I will be reviewing is the animated horror short film, "The Backwater Gospel!"

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Title: The Backwater Gospel

Starring:  Zebulon Whatley, Laura Post, Phillip Sacramento, Lucien Dodge 

Genre:  Horror / Drama

Company:   The Animation Workshop

Directed by: Bo Mathorne  

Year: 2011

This movie has some strong and gory violence.

Welcome to the town of Backwater, where everything there seems to be under a state of decay and despair.  In this town, a minister runs the town with an iron fist as everyone obeys his every command, including his main supporter, Bubba.  But there is one man in the town who doesn't obey the minister's every command and he is known as the Tramp.  The minister, of course, hates the Tramp due to this and he tries every day to turn the townspeople against the Tramp.  One day, however, a dreaded entity known as the Undertaker comes to the town of Backwater and it is said that whenever the Undertaker comes into town, someone is going to die.  So, the townspeople spend most of the short panicking over who will die, while the Undertaker just sits by, waiting for someone to die.

So, when I first heard about this animated short film that came out on YouTube years ago, I just had to check out this short, since I've been hearing lots of good things about this short.  And lo and behold, this short was just as good as I've imagined!  What I loved about this short was the gritty animation.  I loved the fact that this short film has a gritty and dark style to it, as it really brings on the horrific nature of the town of Backwater's situation with the Undertaker.  Another thing that I liked about this short was the voice acting.  All of the voice actors did such a fantastic job at voicing the characters in this short, as they really bring on the aggressiveness and fear that the characters experienced throughout this short.  I especially loved the voices for both Bubba and the Minister, as they both have the most emotional range to their voices, and it was especially eerie hearing Bubba roar like an animal in this film since that took me by surprise.  Another thing that I liked about this short was the plot.  The fact that this film is about a desolate town becoming so paranoid about the Undertaker's arrival, that they ended up doing horrible things towards the end of the short, was really exciting and horrifying for me.  Also, the horror atmosphere of this short kept me on edge!

The biggest issue that I had with this film was that I wish that we got to know more about the characters themselves, as well as how the town of Backwater became such a decaying town.  I wanted to know more about the minister himself and how he was able to gain the power to rule the town with an iron fist.  I also wanted to learn more about the Tramp himself (although there has been some extra material that explained about how he got to the town of Backwater in the first place) as I wanted to learn more about the Tramp's backstory and why he's the way he is.

Overall, "The Backwater Gospel" is a truly horrifying and entertaining short film that you must watch!  If you are a huge fan of religious horror, then you should definitely check out this short film!

[HORROR MOVIE CORNER] Snakes on a Plane (2006)

 

Hello horror movie fans! Welcome to the all-new "Horror Movie Corner," where I talk about the horror movies that I have seen over the years!  So, this week's horror movie that I will be reviewing is the snake action and thriller film, "Snakes on a Plane!"

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Title: Snakes on a Plane

Starring:  Samuel L. Jackson, Nathan Phillips, Kenan Thompson, Julianna Margulies 

Genre:  Comedy / Horror / Thriller / Action

Company:   New Line Cinema

Directed by: David R. Ellis

Year: 2006

MPAA Rating / TV Rating: Rated R - For Language, a Scene of Sexuality and Drug Use and Intense Sequences of Terror and Violence

Buy on:   Blu-Ray.com  //  Amazon  //  Best Buy

This movie has some strong and gory violence that involves snakes, as well as some nudity scenes.

The movie starts off with a young man named Sean who witnesses a mob boss named Eddie Kim killing someone and because of this, Sean ends up being in the witness protection program and has to go to Los Angeles to testify against the mob boss.  So, an FBI agent named Neville Flynn ends up going with Sean to Los Angeles to protect him from the mob boss.  But unfortunately, the mob boss finds out about Sean and Neville and he ended up sending a boat load of snakes on the plane where Neville and Sean are at.  Now, Neville has to protect all of the passengers on the plane from the snakes.

Now, I had actually watched this movie a few times when I was younger and it was definitely a movie that really stuck with me.  What I liked about this movie was the premise, as it's a movie about snakes coming on the plane and attacking the passengers and I was always interested in watching movies where most of the characters get killed by the forces of nature (or in this case, by snakes). Also, the fact that this movie is about snakes attacking a plane was very unique to me, as I rarely seen movies that dealt with snakes attacking a plane and the movie made really good use of this concept.  Another thing that I liked about this movie were the snake scenes.  I honestly enjoyed seeing the scenes where the snakes were attacking the passengers (and it's not because I'm being sadistic here).  It's because the snake scenes brought a lot of tension and horror to this film and I actually feared for most of the passengers in this film (especially the children who were on the plane).  Another thing that I liked about this film were the performances.  All of the actors did a fantastic job at showcasing the terror of having to deal with snakes attacking the plane and I especially loved Samuel L. Jackson's performance in this film as the tough-as-nails FBI agent Neville Flynn.

My main issues with this film are the pacing and the main antagonist, Eddie Kim.  There are times where the pacing of the film slows down and that's mostly during the scenes that don't involve the snakes and it was a bit of a chore to get through the non-snake scenes.  Also, the main antagonist, Eddie Kim, the mob boss, doesn't really have any characterization, other than being the one responsible for releasing the snakes on the plane.  Even though the snakes were interesting threats in the film, I wish that the movie had developed Eddie Kim as a character a bit better.

Overall, "Snakes on a Plane" is a pretty fun and action-packed movie that has a very interesting premise about snakes attacking a plane and anyone who is a huge fan of thriller movies about animals attacking, then you will definitely enjoy this movie!

[HORROR MOVIE CORNER] The Babysitter (2017)

 

Hello horror movie fans! Welcome to the all-new "Horror Movie Corner," where I talk about the horror movies that I have seen over the years!  So, this week's horror movie that I will be reviewing is the crazy Netflix film, "The Babysitter!"

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Title: The Babysitter

Starring:  Samara Weaving, Robbie Amell, Judah Lewis, Bella Thorne

Genre:  Comedy / Horror / Action

Company:   New Line Cinema

Directed by: McG

Year: 2017

MPAA Rating / TV Rating: TV-MA

Buy on:   Blu-Ray.com

This movie has graphic violence and strong language and some sexual content.  

The movie starts off with a 12-year-old boy named Cole Johnson who was constantly bullied at school and was always afraid of everything.  But despite all this, Cole is good friends with his babysitter Bee and they would do all sorts of things together.  One day, Cole's parents went on a getaway trip and they left Cole with Bee.  At first, things were going well between Cole and Bee as they enjoyed playing various games with each other.  But as soon as Cole goes to bed, he starts hearing Bee playing some games with her friends downstairs.  Cole then goes downstairs to see what Bee and her friends were doing and it turned out that Bee and her friends were performing a human sacrifice!  It was then that Cole realized that Bee and her friends are in a cult and that they planned on performing human sacrifices in order to have their wishes come true and Cole is the next victim on their list!  Now Cole has to do everything in his power to escape from Bee and her friends!

Wow! I'm actually surprised that I enjoyed this movie as much as I did!  At first, I thought that I wasn't going to like this movie because the premise sounded ridiculous.  But once I watched this movie, I was quite impressed by how funny and scary this film was!  I really loved the performances of all the actors and actresses in this film as they really got into their roles and they made the movie so entertaining to watch!  I especially loved the performances from Samara Weaving as Bee and Robbie Amell as Max as they were the most entertaining characters in the movie!  I loved the way that Robbie Amell made Max into such a comical character, despite the fact that he's an ax-crazy killer.  I also enjoyed Samara Weaving's performance as Bee as she made Bee so friendly yet deadly at the same time.  I also liked the fact that the movie had a nice balance between comedy and horror as there were many scenes that were quite intense.  But at the same time, I was laughing out loud at how over the top the actors' performances were.

The main issue that I had with this film was that I felt that the characters weren't that well developed as I don't know anything about their backstories.  The characters that I was the most curious about were Bee and her friends as their motivations to perform human sacrifices seem a little flat to me because I don't know much about their backgrounds and how they even know about performing sacrifices to have their wishes come true.

Overall, "The Babysitter" may seem like a silly horror comedy film, but it is definitely entertaining to watch because of how over the top the characters' antics are.  And I loved the way that this film turned many horror tropes on its head and made a pretty entertaining movie out of it!

[HORROR MOVIE CORNER] Hocus Pocus (1993)

Hello horror movie fans! Welcome to the all-new "Horror Movie Corner," where I talk about the horror movies that I have seen over the years!  So, this week's horror movie that I will be reviewing is Disney's cult Halloween classic "Hocus Pocus!"

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Title: Hocus Pocus

Starring:  Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, Thora Birch, Omri Katz

Genre:  Comedy / Horror / Adventure

Company:   Disney

Directed by: Kenny Ortega

Year: 1993

MPAA Rating / TV Rating: Rated PG - For Some Scary Sequences, and for Language.

Buy on:   Blu-Ray.com  //  Amazon  //  Best Buy

This movie has some scary sequences that involves children being put into danger and some light language.  

The movie starts off with a young boy named Thackery Binx who finds out that his little sister Emily is missing and he goes out to search for her.  It was then that he finds out that the Sanderson Sisters, three sisters who are witches, had kidnapped her and Thackery tries to save Emily.  But unfortunately, the Sanderson Sisters ended up sucking out Emily's soul in order to make themselves younger and Thackery is too late to save her.  The Sanderson Sisters than put a curse on Thackery that turns him into a black cat for all eternity.  But then, the villagers caught up with the Sanderson Sisters and ended up hanging them.  But not before Winifred, the head witch, places a curse that they will be resurrected once a "virgin" lights the candle on Halloween.  The movie then fast forwards to the year 1993 and we are introduced to Max and his little sister Dani.  Max is having a horrible time in his new home in Salem, while Dani is adjusting to Salem just fine.  Then on Halloween night, Max decided to light the candle that would resurrect the Sanderson Sisters, despite both Dani and Allison telling him not to.  The Sanderson Sisters are then resurrected and they decided to continue their plan of sucking out the souls out of the children of Salem to make themselves younger.  Now, Dani, Max, Allison and now Binx, who is a black cat at this point, have to try to stop the Sandereson Sisters before it's too late!

Wow!  I'm actually surprised that I enjoyed this movie as much as I did!  When I first heard about this movie, I was a bit intrigued about what this movie was all about.  So, when I finally watched this movie, I was completely hooked!  I liked the fact that the movie tackled the subject of sibling relationships and how important it is to care about your siblings, no matter how annoying they can be.  This was best shown between the Sanderson Sisters, Thackery and his little sister Emily and Max and his little sister Dani.  The Sanderson Sisters are like the negative side of the sibling relationship as Winifred abuses her younger sisters Mary and Sarah and wouldn't think of protecting them.  Thackery and Emily are on the more positive side of the sibling relationship as Thackery truly cares about his sister Emily, although he failed to save her.  And then we have Max and Dani who are in the middle as they argue with each other a lot, but they would do anything to protect each other.  I also loved the way that the movie had a nice balance between horror and comedy as I laughed out loud during the Sanderson Sisters' crazy antics and yet, I was a bit scared for the children being threatened with death throughout this film.  Especially during the scene where Emily, a little girl , ends up dying at the beginning of the movie.  I especially loved the actors' performances in this film, with the Sanderson Sisters being the best part of the film.  Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy did a fantastic job at portraying the Sanderson Sisters as they were so hilarious and entertaining to watch! I also enjoyed Thora Birch's performance as Dani as she made Dani quite snarky yet energetic at the same time.

The only issues that I had with this film was that I felt that the protagonists were a bit too flat and I wished that they had explained the backstories of some of the characters.  Even though Max and Allison were interesting characters, they weren't as entertaining as the Sanderson Sisters and the only protagonists that were pretty entertaining were Dani and Binx the Cat.  Also, I would like to know how the Sanderson Sisters became witches in the first place (although it was implied that the Devil gave them their powers).

Overall, "Hocus Pocus" is a fantastic film that both children and adults will enjoy!  It balances horror and humor very well and it has some of the best performances from Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy!

Introducing the New Horror Movie Corner!

Hello everyone!  I have started a new feature on this blog called "Horror Movie Corner," where I do reviews for, you guessed it, horror movies!  Why horror movies, you ask?  Well, even though this blog is mostly for surreal movies, there are quite a few horror movies out there that also deals with surrealism and I thought that the horror genre fits well with the surreal movies genre!  Also, I wanted to try to talk about other genres on this blog besides surrealism and horror movies are some of my favorite types of movies!  So that means that I will be reviewing all kinds of horror movies and you might see a couple of horror movies on here that will make it on my "Weirdness Approved List!"  I might review a couple of horror comedy films here and there, depending on how much horror is being incorporated into those films.


So, what horror movies have you seen that I should check out?  Please let me know in the comments down below!