Daily Archives: October 16, 2018

Oct 16 2018

ABC Film Challenge – Horror – P – Prom Night (2008)

Director: Nelson McCormick

Writer: J.S. Cardone (Screenplay)

Starring: Brittany Snow, Scott Porter, Jessica Stroup, Dana Davis, Collins Pennie, Kelly Blatz, Idris Elba

 

Plot: Donna’s senior prom is supposed to be the best night of her life, though a sadistic killer from her past has different plans for her and her friends.


Tagline – A Party To Die For

Runtime: 1 Hour 28 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Bog Standard Slasher

 

Story: Prom Night starts as Donna (Snow) witnesses her family being murdered by a crazed teacher Mr Fenton (Schaech). 3-years-later it is the senior prom and Donna still haunted by the events of that night, but with her boyfriend Bobby (Porter), best friends Claire (Stroup) and Lisa (Davis) look to have a night to remember.

The problem comes when Detective Winn (Elba) receives the news that Richard Fenton has escaped his prison and has turned up at the prom too. This prom will be one they will never forget as it becomes a fight to survive.

 

Thoughts on Prom Night

 

Characters – Donna is our damaged high school student that is still dealing with the effects of the murder of her family that she survived. Now it is her graduation prom and she is planning to have the time off her life but things soon take a turn when her stalker returns. Detective Winn catch the killer and now must do anything to stop him finishing off what he started. We do have the typical high school characters that are filled with terrible decisions on the prom night, the biggest one that cause is a problem was Lisa who wanted to be prom queen but decided to go upstairs to fool about before it gets announced even though it is the most important moment in the high school experience to her.

Performances – The performances, how we missed talking about how well actors perform with bad scripts, Brittany Snow is struggling here to make an impact as the lead which is the only character we only really are meant to care about if we are being honest. The other teenagers are poor to basic even if Dana Davis does look stunning in most scenes. Idris Elba is the highlight of the performances as the cop searching to the escaped killer.

Story – The story follows one pro night when the stalker of one of the students comes to get his revenge, the idea this film takes place over one night is the best and only good thing about this movie. What follows in the story telling process is a series of awful decision, including when the fire alarm goes off, going upstairs to retrieve an item of clothing. Having a prom that feels like a film premier also doesn’t help because surely nothing we be this dramatic.

Horror/Mystery – The horror is the basic of all slashers and we don’t see any blood because of the age rating it received. It claims to be a mystery but most of this mystery is why the characters are written so poorly.

Settings – The setting for the most part is the hotel for the prom, which feels like an everyday location but soon becomes a game of who can stay ahead of who.

Special Effects – The effects are barely touched because of the lack of gore used in the film.


Scene of the Movie – This is a tough decision here, well I am going to have to go shallow here and go Dana Davis prom dress.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The characters are written contradictable to their actions.

Final Thoughts – This seems to be a remake that didn’t click, it is a bog standard to bad slasher with terrible characters, weak horror moments and just fades into a blur of bad decisions.

 

Overall: Yeah, no just forget about it.

Rating

 

 

Oct 16 2018

Southbound (2015)

Directors: Roxanne Benjamin, David Bruckner, Patrick Horvath, Radio Silence

Writers: Roxanne Benjamin, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, David Bruckner, Susan Burke, Dallas Richard Hallam, Patrick Horvath (Screenplay)

Starring: Chad Villella, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Kristina Pesic, Fabianne Therese, Nathalie Love

 

Plot: Five interlocking tales of terror follow the fates of a group of weary travellers who confront their worst nightmares – and darkest secrets – over one long night on a desolate stretch of desert highway.


Tagline – No matter which road you choose, it’s all going south.

Runtime: 1 Hour 29 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Fun Horror Anthology

 

Story: Southbound starts as we first follow two men looking to escape their past who become trapped in a loop returning them to the same gas station. This is a short a simple horror that has great effects which also dives into two different types of fears we will be tackling in this film.

The second story follows a three-piece girl jazz band, fresh with a hangover heading towards their latest gig, who must get help from strangers once they get a flat tire. This shows the struggle of musicians that could fall into the wrong household even for just one night.

With the third story we follow a man who was heading home who hit a woman on the road at night, he is guided on the phone to help the victim only to find not everything is what it seems. This story plans into the pure panic that an accident could cause that knows they could be the only one to save the victim.

The next story follows one man in search of his sister who he believes is in this town by holding up a bar, but this bar isn’t what he was expecting. This brings us to a one man on a mission against anyone who gets in his way, this feels like the most fun of the stories.

The final story follows a family who are on a vacation before their daughter goes off to college. Their quiet time turns into a nightmare when they become victims of a home invasion by a group of masked characters.

 

 

Thoughts on Southbound


Scene of the Movie – This is tough because I loved the third story and where the fifth ones goes, so I will cheat and call it a tie. Plus the skeleton like creatures look fantastic.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – I wasn’t a fan of where the second story went, like the intro though.

Final Thoughts – The stories interlocking is the biggest plus in this movie, the transition feels seamless as they unfold, with the radio commentary giving hints to where the stories will go. The stories do work in short format because they do feel like they would be forcing the stretched-out story in a feature film. each story takes us into a different type of fear which I feel offers something for everyone too.

 

Overall: This is one for the horror fans to enjoy.

Rating

 

 

Oct 16 2018

Bonehill Road (2018)

Director: Todd Sheets

Writer: Todd Sheets (Screenplay)

Starring: Eli DeGeer, Ana Rojas-Plumberg, Linnea Quigley, Douglas Epps, Milles Milan, Gary Warner Kent, Dilynn Fawn Harvey

 

Plot: Emily and Eden Stevens escape one violent situation only to dive head first into another. Terrified and alone they are stranded in the dark woods only to be chased into a horrific scene in a house or horrors. They must work together to get out alive. But what is worse? What is on the inside or out?

 

Runtime: 1 Hour 24 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Enjoyable Low Budget Werewolf film

 

Story: Bonehill Road starts when Emily (DeGeer) escapes domestic abuse with her daughter Eden (Rojas-Plumberg) going on the run to her father’s house, along the dark roads they run into a creature which causes them to come off the road. It isn’t long before they become surrounded by werewolves as they seek safety in a farm house.

In the farm house they discover they are not as safe as they thought as they deal with psychopath Coen (Epps) that is planning his own fun, the desperate attempts to save her daughter becomes a new reality for Emily.

 

Thoughts on Bonehill Road

 

Characters – Emily is a mother and wife that has been getting abused by her alcoholic husband for years, today is the last straw as she plans on leaving with her daughter. She will do anything to protect her daughter from harm and this shows after the journey doesn’t go as plan. Eden is your typical teenage daughter, she has her problems which has started from her home life, she just wants to be left to a normal life, only now she is fighting for her life. Coen is a psychopath that has the women held captive, he wants things done a certain way and will punish those who don’t follow his rules. We do have a few other victims in the character list, though they don’t have too much to do compared to the mother daughter relationship.

Performances – Eli DeGeer is good in her role, she does show the motherly thought process her character must go through, Ana Rojas-Plumberg is good too, the whole cast is good for the low budget side of the film.

Story – The story follows a mother and daughter trying to start a new life away from the violence they have been living through, the journey puts them up against werewolves and a psychopath in a battle to survive the odds. This does play out a lot like the movie ‘The Monster’ where a mother must protect her daughter against a creature, this keeps that theme showing us just how a parent will do whatever they can to protect their child. We get an addition problem to face because just werewolves aren’t enough, we need the psychopath that reflect just how they are going from one bad situation to an even worse to an even worse again. This is played nicely and playing into the grindhouse elements this story understands how to test the audience with what we see.

Horror – The horror comes from just what the mother and daughter must go through, be it at home, on the road or in a place they see as safety. Each location puts them in a situation they shouldn’t have to go through.

Settings – The uses the settings to add to the horror, the violence in the home, the unknown on a dark wooded road and the safety house, each location gives us a moment that our characters shouldn’t have to experience.

Special Effects – We have practical effects on here, the transformation into the werewolf is clearly the highlight here and is one that works to great effect.


Scene of the Movie – The transformation.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – We could have had more werewolf fighting.

Final Thoughts –This is a low budget film that plays into the grindhouse era of horror, it knows that it wants to go bloody and shock the audience and hits this every time it tries.

 

Overall: Nightmarish werewolf film.

Rating