Husk

There ought to be a good killer scarecrow movie the imagery works so well but unfortunately this corn rowed of horror is sadly lacking. There is the odd SCARECROWS but equally there is Jeff Burr's NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW which I liked as an early teen but no so much as an adult and unfortunately there is that whole back-flipping SCARECROW SLAYER mess. I suppose for full disclosure I must admit to not taking the time to watch any of the three (there's three?) DARK HARVEST films or THE MAZE all sporting scarecrows on their covers to entice me to watch them but I ain't falling for that and watching another CHILDREN OF THE CORN slasher.

This movie should be drivel and i'm sure some folks will find it guilty as such. For myself, even as a die-hard horror fan soaked in blood and despair of my favourite soul wrenching horror films, I found HUSK enjoyable and exploited the cliches of of the teenagers breaking down flick well. As always there are areas of the film found wanting. Where I can applaud the omission of exploring the college kids relationships, there's only a slight hint of the jock/geek co-relation that should not be, I cannot ignore the sudden exposition of the hows, whys and what fors that come as a revelation to the geeky chess playing character. And while I'm enjoying the rapid stuttering movements of the killer scarecrows the plot becomes mired by a strange psychic/flashback scenario.

As the first of the 8 After Dark Originals to see light on the SyFy channel HUSK certainly stands heads above the normal SyFy movies in terms of production, cinematography editing and acting. Perhaps lower your expectations and you will enjoy a feature length CREEPSHOW style story that has a better home on TV than the big screen.

I'm going out of my way to get semi-erect at HUSK.

My Soul To Take

Wes Craven has always been touted as a master of horror and I have always disagreed with that. Most of Cravens output is actually ropey. LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and THE HILLS HAVE EYES are undeniably classic horrors but they are not well made films. Craven got his reputation by creating Freddy Kruger who became a massive money machine for New Line Cinema but look at Cravens other films, DEADLY FRIEND, SHOCKER, THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS they are frankly kooky. Craven never really shaped up in terms of putting together a good looking film until VAMPIRE OF BROOKLYN and NEW NIGHTMARE most of his previous efforts were pedestrian in terms of vision and he always had some idiotic plot device like Nancy's talking digital watch in A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET or the dog flashback s in THE HILLS HAVE EYES PART II.

Now Craven introduces us to the legend of the Riverton Ripper and the seven children born on the very night of his death. Sixteen after this infamous killer has met his end the seven kids are being stalked by someone dressed as the Ripper maybe even the Ripper himself. Or maybe one of them is posses by the Ripper. Or maybe they all are. Or maybe Craven has finally lost it 'cause I know I have trying to sort out the shambles of a plot that is buried under this movies idiosyncrises.

What we have in MY SOUL TO TAKE is taking what Craven learned in making the SCREAM trilogy and channelling it through one of the most batshit and inconsistent horror films of all time. It should be easy to hate this movie but its incoherent baffling madness seems to be part of its charm. It is simply all over the place with a codex of teen slang that no one has ever heard of and huge pieces of exposition, even from dying characters, that fill in the "action" that clearly the budget and schedule would not allow. How this film got by the scripting stage and into production baffles me though it makes very clear why Craven went running back to the SCREAM franchise.

A kinda semi-floppy.

Outcast

I like to see indie horror succeed and I like it even more when its a British indie horror I'm touting. This Scottish/Irish co-production offers something a little different from the glossy sheen of Hollywood as it was filmed in the grim and grotty Sighthill area of Glasgow.

And urban horror that leans on Celtic mythology and belongs in the same ilk as HEARTLESS or Neil Gaima
n's NEVERWHERE Colm McCarthy's debut carries a few recognisable faces such as TVs James Nesbitt, the Irish guy who has turned up in S4 of PRIMEVAL and the lovely ginger sidekick to Doctor Who. There's a beast loose on the streets of a Lothian council scheme and it is being hunted by Irish gypsies and could be linked to unlucky loner Fergel and his severe and witchy mother.

Its never going to have a happy outcome but this grim little Scottish shocker has a lot going for it in terms of performance, story an accomplished low budget film making.

A semi-erection.

Monsters

Purporting to be a sci-fi alien invasion movie thanks to the marketeers who have launched an ad campaign that seeks to deceive you into expecting the next DISTRICT 9 Gareth Edwards MONSTERS is more likely to play your local arthouse than multiplex.

A vast area of South America has become a quarantined zone after an alien landing and the invading species are kept there in a sort of extra terrestrial game reserve. Scoot McNairy (Skeet Ulrich lookalike) plays a photo journalist who is tasked with getting his bosses daughter, played by the lovely Whitney (ALL THE GIRLS LOVE MANDY LANE) Able, home to America and the only choice left for them is to travel across the forbidden area through an underground immigration system. What follows is a road movie largely improvised but utterly absorbing and ultimately (sshhh don't tell anyone) a love story.

MONSTERS is a remarkable achievement on all levels, technically brilliant, perfectly performed, mesmerising and if Edwards can top this on subsequent endevours we are all in for a hell of treat.

Full on hard on.

Red Hill

Being featured in the Film 4 Frightfest back in August was enough recommendation to bring me to the Greg (WOLF CREEK) McLean produced neo-Western RED HILL.

Set in the titular town, an out of the way backwater perched on the edge of an Aboriginal heritage site, Ryan Kwantan plays the new police constable who is quickly thrown into the unusual day to day life of the remote outpost dealing with the rumpled of a prowling panther feeding on livestock and the escape of the towns most famous criminal an Aborigine wife killer who is hellbent on avenging himself against the towns overbearing Inspector and his posse of gun wielding yokels.

RED HILL is more a revenge thriller than a horror and it's darker tone is mired at some points by the likely unintentional levity brought about by the western inspired sequences and some occasional squirm worthy dialogue delivery ("I know the law"). It also lacks character development pinning all hopes on rooting for the lead and plays its cards too early leaving no suspicion regarding the killers motivation. Overall it just falls a footstep short of being a cool revisionist western and what is with that panther sub plot?

So a bit of a semi but mostly floppy for RED HILL.

Glasgow Frightfest is making me hard

A good solid line up from Film 4 Frightfest at the Glasgow Film Festival this year. The general reaction seems to be positive likely because these are films most people have heard of from other film festivals. I have seen I SAW THE DEVIL on import already (review is in the pipeline) and I have a particular lust for French horror so TERRITORIES causes a stirring in my loins. I would be surprised to find a stinker amongst this line up the only unknown being LITTLE DEATHS which, as expected from the Frightfest boys, is upfront and exclusive so very little of the film has looked out. If you're going I'll see you there remember mines a stiff one.

The Reef

Following up the killer crocodile feature BLACK WATER Australian director Andrew Traucki takes a crack at another great killer from down under the shark.

THE REEF is a similar set up to the successful independent shark attack drama OPEN WATER (in fact I wouldn't be surprised to see this repackaged as OPEN WATER 3 for US audiences following a similar technique applied to the German produced ADRIFT) where in a group of late twenty somethings set out for some fun and frolics on a yacht only to fall foul of danger and the deep when the boat capsizes over an outcrop of reef. The choice is simple, stay and wait for the sharks to come and the yacht to sink or swim for safety through the demons of the depths.

Similar to BLACK WATER but at the same time different once more Traucki wrings tension and terror out of a simple and believable situation. Far and away from the SyFy Channel "megashark" nonsense here real footage is blended effortlessly with the actors thanks to the enhanced technology available to the editor and film maker nowadays. There's no rubber shark on show and while THE REEF will not steal the crown from Speilberg's behemoth shark outing it certainly is one of the best water bound thrillers to come by in recent years.

Full on hard-on.