Heartstopper

Heartstopper (2006)

Directed by: Bob Keen

Written by: Vlady Pildysh and Warren P. Sonoda

Starring: Meredith Henderson; Nathan Stephenson; James Binkley; Michael Cram; Robert Englund; Laura DeCarteret

Plot: Two hospitalized young people discover that things can get even worse when the dilapidated institution is stranded by a severe storm and a maniac stalks the corridors butchering the patients and staff.

I turned this one on the other night, expecting nothing more than a bad, low-budget mish-mash. I was happily surprised.

Not the most epic of films, but also not trying to be, this is a small film that feels contained and almost claustrophobic, much like the characters feel in the hospital.

The story is standard horror fare: an unstoppable killer with supernatural attributes and the normal people falling like toys around him. Yet the acting (including a good guy role played by horror icon Englund), writing and directing rise above the level of the usual low-budget stuff, showing promise for all involved. Too many times, films like this feel slap-dash and rushed, and this one didn't. I felt the time and care put into it. To me, this goes a long way towards forgiving a film its small flaws.

The only real gripe I have is with Binkley, the actor chosen to play the killer Chambers. Physically, he fits the brute killer role perfectly, but acting-wise, I felt like he didn't quite pull it together, too stilted for my taste. But, a minor gripe for a small movie like this.

Definitely recommended for horror/slasher fans.

Hatchet II Trailer

I liked Hatchet, the horror movie from 2007, but I wouldn't go nuts like the "critics" in the blurbs before this trailer seem to. It was good ol' slasher fun, but "the Holy Grail of slasher films"? I don't think so...



Still, like I said, I enjoyed the first one and I will see this one, too. Never enough slasher films done well!

(via Horror-Movies.ca, The Captain's Ramblings and Freddy in Space)

Movie Monday: April Fool's Day

April Fool's Day (1986)

[Deborah Foreman; Deborah Goodrich; Ken Olandt; Griffin O'Neal; Clayton Rohner; Amy Steel]

Plot: A group of college friends gather together at rich heiress Muffy's island mansion to celebrate their final year of school. They soon discover that each has a hidden secret, but as the secrets are revealed, those people end up dead. But are they r


eally dead, or just part of a very cruel April Fool's joke? The hostess supposedly knows what's going on, but maybe she's not the one orchestrating the deaths.


This is one horror slasher flick I had kept putting off over the years. I loved Amy Steel in Friday the 13th: Part 2, but somehow never ended up watching this film until this year.


It is good, definitely an 80s flick, but not as bad as some of the Friday or Halloween clones out there. That said, there is something missing. I feel like the writer was either lacking in some plot development, or that the director skipped over some scenes that could possibly have helped pull the whole thing into a more cohesive whole. Just felt, at the end, like it could have been so much more.


A fun flick, and definitely recommended for fans of 80s slasher/horror flicks and fans of Amy Steel herself. While she was better as Ginny in F13: Part 2, she is good here as well. How she never became a bigger movie star still puzzles me.

Movie Monday - The Funhouse

The Funhouse (1981)

[Elizabeth Berridge; Shawn Carson; Cooper Huckabee; Largo Woodruff; Miles Chapin; Kevin Conway; Herb Robins]

Plot: Teenage fun begets terror when two young couples spend the night inside a creepy carnival funhouse, where even the most harmless of objects can take on a distorted and sinister glare. Things really heat up when the kids play witness to a brutal murder at the hands of a disfigured killer who traps them inside with no way out and forces them to relive their waking nightmare. Directed by Tobe Hooper.

This film is one of the early 80s slasher flicks that has never had mainstream appeal, but is a classic to horror fans.

The story itself is simple, kids doing things they shouldn't be doing in a creepy, scary carnival funhouse. Of course, what makes it a slasher flick is that this particular funhouse is home to a deformed, deranged, murderous madman.

There are some very creepy/scary scenes in this movie, enough that I have been drawn back to it again and again. The climax of the film also has some major wince-inducing moments you have to see to believe.

I read the novelization of this film, which was written by Dean Koontz. It goes into more depth in regards to some of the characters, which makes some of their odd actions in the movie make more sense. This is especially true for the role of Amy's mother. She comes off as quite aloof and uncaring in the movie, with no explanation as to why. The details of her past are in the book, but I can see where it would have all been too much for a 90-odd minute movie to handle.

All in all, this is a good horror flick for fans of late 70s/early 80s stuff. Non-horror fans might not be so impressed.

A remake is supposedly in the works, with Eli Roth involved.

A Nightmare on Elm Street - new trailer

Okay, so this was everywhere yesterday:



Looks good to me. Keeps some of the scenes/aspects of the original while looking fresh and updated. Guess time shall tell!

(via everywhere, but I first caught it at The Captain's Ramblings)

Movie Monday - Superstition

Superstition (1985)

[James Houghton; Albert Salmi; Lynn Carlin; Larry Pennell; Jacquelyn Hyde; Robert Symonds; Heidi Bohay]

Plot: The Rev. David Thompson discovers that the inviting pond in the backyard of his new home was used to execute an evil witch three centuries ago -- and her spirit still lurks beneath the surface. Vowing to seek her revenge on anyone who ventures near her watery grave, the sorceress begins to hunt down her new neighbors in a bloody horror spree that turns Thompson's dream house into a violent nightmare.

I thought this might be a fun, creepy, 80s horror flick and I wanted to like it. But... it just was such a hodge-podge of bad acting, bad writing and miss opportunities that I couldn't enjoy it. Bleh.

Recommended for completist horror/gore fans, at least.

Movie Monday - Terror Train

Terror Train (1980)

[Ben Johnson; Jamie Lee Curtis; Hart Bochner; David Copperfield; Derek McKinnon; Sandee Currie; Timothy Webber]

Plot: A fraternity prank goes wrong and lands one student in a mental institution. Four years later, when his frat brothers host a costume party on a train to celebrate their graduation, the student sees this as his opportunity to exact revenge. He sneaks on the train and begins killing the partygoers one at a time, masking himself in the costumes of his victims. Will anyone make it off the train alive?

This is another early 80s slasher pic, one of the films that helped give Jamie Lee Curtis her Scream Queen title for years. Her role here as Alana is much less the shy, innocent than Laurie was in Halloween.

And it isn't a bad film, certainly gets points for originality. The mystery of who is actually doing the killing is pretty well done, even if the reveal is a little ... strange.

Johnson does great in his role as the "sole" adult amongst a train full of partying kids. And the claustrophobic setting is an interesting change from other run-of-the-mill movies.

Recommended for horror/slasher/Curtis fans. It is a film I have watched more than once, so that says a lot, to me at least. Others may not be as thrilled by it all.

The 2008 film Train was originally planned to be a remake of this movie, but the story changed and it became its own film. A real remake of this film is rumored to be in the works.

Movie Monday - Bloody Murder

Bloody Murder (2000)

[Jessica Morris; Peter Guillemette; Patrick Cavanaugh; Crystalle Ford; Michael Stone; Justin Ross Martin; Tracy Pacheco]

Plot: Trevor Moorehouse isn't screaming bloody murder -- he's committing it! A dozen counselors arrive at Camp Placid Pines and receive a warning from a wizened landscaper: There may be a crazy man in the woods. Of course, they pay no attention until they start disappearing one by one! Has the urban legend come to life to wreak havoc on their dwindling numbers?

Ugh. I think I have a winner for worst movie I have seen this year. This is CRAP! The acting is sub-par, on a level with ... Gah, I have nothing to compare it to. The kids on Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers were better.

The story is weak, a very pale take on the "killer at the lake" that doesn't even hold up. It is such a hodge-podge of stuff that the film feels like multiple people did segements and then they just put it together and hoped it would work. It doesn't.

All this could be forgiven... Well, most of it, had the movie been done in a tongue-in-cheek, "let's poke fun at Friday the 13th" style. But it is played straight. It is meant to be a serious, real slasher pic.

GAH! Just sucks. Sucks. SUCKS! Avoid, believe me. Unless you want to know what NOT to put in your horror movie, then by all means, use this as a "Do Not Do" template.

Movie Monday - The House on Sorority Row

The House on Sorority Row (1983)

[Kate McNeil; Eileen Davidson; Janis Ward; Robin Meloy; Harley Jane Kozak; Jodi Draigie; Ellen Dorsher; Lois Kelso Hunt]

Plot: After a confrontation with their housemother, seven sorority sisters plot revenge -- which leads to an accidental death. Despite the girls' efforts to cover up their crime, they find themselves targeted by someone -- or something -- who knows what they did. Directed by Mark Rosman.

I wasn't expecting much out of this early-80s horror flick. I had mentally shrugged it off as one of the low-budget, cheesy flicks that came out with dozens of others in the slasher heyday.

But I was pleasantly surprised. Is it a great film? No, but it isn't all that bad, either. I, for one, have sat through much, MUCH worse.

The plot is simple but intriguing enough to keep your interest and the acting is good enough. The dubbed-over voice of the housemother is a bit weird, but otherwise it is well done. And the mystery of just who is doing the killing is interesting. The eventual reveal is a bit far-fetched, but it was the early 80s.

When all is said and done, it is a good flick for horror or slasher fans, without a doubt. Nothing spectacular, but also nothing crap-tastic.

This film was recently remade as Sorority Row (2009). I haven't seen that flick, but I am curious now. Interesting to see whether it improves on this one or makes it shine even more.