HorrorGhouls – Page 3 – Horror Ghouls

Terrifier 3 (2024)

Posted on November 8, 2024November 8, 2024 by HorrorGhouls

Terrifier 3 picks up the story right after the ending of Terrifier 2, where Art the Clown was beheaded by Sienna, and the final girl from the first movie, Victoria Heyes, has been possessed by the Little Pale Girl and gives birth to Art’s head. Now, in the third movie, we start off with Art’s headless body finding its way to the asylum where Victoria is located, where they both body-count a little before going into some kind of hibernation phase in an abandoned house. Then, five years later and close to Christmas, Sienna has just been released from a mental health center and has come to stay with her aunt Jess, her husband Greg, and their daughter Gabbie, who pretty much idolizes her. While Sienna is struggling with reconnecting with her brother Jonathan, who is now in college and trying to move on with his life, Art the Clown has decided to bring another nightmare to Miles County, and this time before Christmas.

Terrifier 3 is the third movie in the Terrifier franchise, all written, edited and directed by Damien Leone. Terrifier 3 premiered at Fantastic Fest on September 19, 2024, and later released theatrically in the US on October 11. It is currently the highest-grossing unrated film of all time. Damien Leone stated in interviews that the main reason for choosing a Christmas theme for the movie, was that he was directly influenced by the 1972 film and 1989 TV series Tales From the Crypt, as they both featured a story about a mentally insane person dressed up as Santa and going on a killing spree. The opening of Terrifier 3 is a homage to that episode which is called “And All Through The House”. He also got to “fix“ one of his bigger regrets from the two other movies, regarding Victoria Heyes who was the original “final girl“ in the franchise (who got her face eaten off by Art in the first movie which explains her looks). This is a character Damien Leone regretted not fleshing out further, and thus he decided to feature her more in the third film, as a heroine turned villainess.

Now, most people within the horror circle are well familiar with this murderous clown called Art. Wearing a Pierrot-like costume, uttering not a single sound under any circumstance at all, and with antics and behavior very reminiscent of Mr. Bean, he sure is a character easy to recognize whether you like him or not. The guy is now all over the place, with another movie sequel already in development and even an upcoming game and other merchandise. Art has more or less become a gore-icon, so if you go and see this movie mainly for the gore and practical effects, you won’t be disappointed. There’s gore a-plenty, some really visceral kills and even a scene with a rat forced down a tube in someone’s throat that made Art’s actor (David Howard Thornton) a little green around the gills. I can’t say any of the scenes really got under my skin though (I’ve gotten far too desensitized for that) but I can easily recognize and admire the jolly playfulness and the great use of practical effects during scenes like this and had a fun time watching it. I also found the opening of the movie to be quite moody and with a fitting soundtrack. So, will you have a fun time if you want to see Art the Clown going crazy during the holidays where he kills and maims and wreaks havoc? Yeah, no doubt. This movie does more of what most of its fanbase loves it for, and that’s expanding the horizon for how much gore you can possibly add and adding new ways to dismember and spill the blood ‘n entrails on screen.

Now, what Terrifier 3 unfortunately lacks, is more story to the bone. Maybe this sounds a little unreasonable considering that the first movie pretty much had no plot whatsoever, and the franchise’s selling point is obviously blood and gore. Nothing wrong with that, by all means…but the second film did take things many steps further story-wise, teasing us with what appeared to be more in-depth lore and possibly an interesting background story for the franchise’s namesake (which is not the clown, but an abandoned haunted attraction we got to know about in Terrifier 2). Everything was pretty much set up for some further development of Art’s background story…but that’s not really what we got much of in the third film. Now, Damien Leone stated that it took 6 years to make Terrifier 2, and that he had completely underestimated how ambitious it would eventually become. It’s obvious he’s planned for some deeper lore and background story for Art, the Terrifier attraction, and the Little Pale Girl (whom we know is the demon possessing Art), but we’ll probably get more of that in the 4th film. Terrifier 3 was made with a considerably stricter deadline, and the production barely made it on time for its premiere at Fantastic Fest. In addition to this, the long time it took to make Terrifier 2 is also the reason why the storyline of this movie is set to five years later, as especially Elliot Fullam (who plays Jonathan, Sienna’s younger brother) has aged very obviously since they started filming Terrifier 2 in 2018. Personally, I have no problems enjoying mindless gore-fests as long as they’re somewhat upbeat and fun, but at this point this movie felt more like a Christmas-special to me than an actual sequel, I guess..?

Terrifier 3 definitely delivers on the gore and practical effects, and Art the Clown is more jolly, more evil, and more Mr. Bean-ish than ever. I just personally wish there had been some more story development at this point, but I’ll consider this as Art the Clown’s X-Mas special. The fourth film is already in development, which is stated to be the final film in the franchise. Hah, yeah, we’ll see how that goes. Everyone knows that slasher villains never truly stay dead, that’s Horror 101. So by the end of this decade we’ll probably have Terrifier Returns, Terrifier Origins, The First Terrifier, Terrifier in Space, and Terrifier in the Hood. And that’s not even a joke.

Writer and director: Damien Leone
Country & year: USA, 2024
Actors: Lauren LaVera, David Howard Thornton, Antonella Rose, Elliott Fullam, Samantha Scaffidi, Margaret Anne Florence, Bryce Johnson, Alexa Blair Robertson, Mason Mecartea, Krsy Fox
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27911000/

Prequels:
– Terrifier 2 (2022)
– Terrifier (2016)

Smile 2 (2024)

Posted on November 5, 2024November 5, 2024 by HorrorGhouls

It’s been six days since police officer Joel got the Smile Entity’s curse passed onto him after watching Rose committing suicide, which is the grim way the curse spreads over to someone else. Joel appears to know a way to pass it on to someone else before the curse makes him kill himself, though. He targets two criminals, intending to kill one of them in front of the other, hoping this could free him of the curse. This doesn’t go by plan at all, and both criminals end up dead during a shootout. There was still a witness, though…the drug dealer Lewis Fregoli who had hidden himself in a closet upon Joel entering the place. When seeing him, Joel apologizes, saying this was not meant for him, and then flees the place. He did not get to live long enough to figure out if he got rid of the curse, however, as he gets hit by an oncoming pickup truck that smears his blood and entrails on the ground, forming a smile. And that’s the opening for Smile 2.

Now, we enter the life of Skye Riley, a pop star having a comeback after a time of substance abuse and a car accident that killed her boyfriend. She’s still got the scar from the accident, and is bothered by severe back pain which she desperately needs some strong pain killers for. She’s got this guy who can supply her with vicodin, and you probably guessed it: yes, it’s the drug dealer from the opening. When Skye meets him in his apartment, he’s already into the latter stages of the curse, and before his weird behavior rings enough alarm bells for Skye to leave, he kills himself in front of her by smashing his face to pieces with a weight plate. Nice. Another trauma to add to the list for the poor pop star. She first thinks about calling the police, but instead flees the place as she’s afraid that getting caught up in the death of a drug dealer during her comeback won’t look good. Of course, she doesn’t leave the place emptyhanded, as the Smile Entity has already infected her, and she soon begins to experience the first stages of the curse: hallucinations where people keep eerily smiling at her. And then, of course, things get gradually worse.

Smile 2 is the sequel of Smile from 2022, both written and directed by Parker Finn. It stars Naomi Scott as the pop star Skye Riley. She is an English actress and singer, and a soundtrack of the songs in the movie called Smile 2: The Skye Riley EP was released through Interscope Records on October 11, 2024.

I really enjoyed the first Smile movie, which I initially didn’t know what to expect from, but ended up having a real good time with. Then the news about a sequel came, and oh man, I did not have high hopes for this one. Not only because I initially felt that the first movie worked well as a stand-alone, but also because the first trailer of Smile 2 made it look incredibly generic and underwhelming. Well…I’m happy to say I was totally wrong, and Smile 2 was much better than I anticipated. I actually even found it to be better than the first one, and that caught me quite by surprise. Just like the first movie, it’s starting with a punch and does not hold back. The backstory of the protagonist is told through bits and pieces, giving us further and further glimpses into her psyche and troubles. While you’re supposed to feel sympathy for her of course, it’s also obvious that she hasn’t completely unstuck her head from her ass despite therapy and going off drugs. In her past she treated those around her like shit, and while she is clearly ashamed of this now, she’s still at a stage where her selfishness and woe-is-me attitude makes her completely blind to how the people that cares for her are oftentimes bending over backwards just to support and help her. And of this she’s actually subconsciously aware, which is why the demon is having a field day when toying with her.

The jumpscares in Smile 2 are generally good and adds to the atmosphere, in contrast to movies where many of the jumpscares don’t have any other impact than blasting you with high sound or quick movement and no actual scares. Sure, you can see them come from a mile away, but the way they build up the tension and also lingers makes them a perfect example of how good jumpscares should be utilized in movies like this. The one with her friend on the bed, in particular, is a prime example of this. The ending also ventured a bit into horror-acid-land when Skye’s completely under control of the hallucinations, and just like in the first movie we also get some monster effects which are pretty wild.

So, despite my first expectations, Smile 2 is a worthy sequel of the first and in my opinion even surpasses it, and while the ending was very predictable (at least when you know how the Smile Entity works), it sets up for what could be a pretty interesting third movie in this franchise.

And it also effectively advertise the Norwegian-based bottled water VOSS, which Skye is drinking liters of for her well-being. Yup, it’s important to stay hydrated, curse or no…

Writer and director: Parker Finn
Country & year: USA/Canada, 2007
Actors: Naomi Scott, Rosemarie DeWitt, Lukas Gage, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Peter Jacobson, Ray Nicholson, Dylan Gelula, Raúl Castillo, Kyle Gallner, Drew Barrymore, Zebedee Row, Roberts Jekabsons
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29268110/

Prequel: Smile (2022)

THE BLOODY BALLAD OF SQUIRT REYNOLDS – Horror Short

Posted on November 3, 2024 by HorrorGhouls

The kids at Camp Nawgonamakit are about to find out the tragic tale of Squirt Reynolds is more than just a legend.

Another Horror Short Sunday, and this time we take a look at The Bloody Ballad of Squirt Reynolds! It’s throwback parody horror where the story is about camp Nawgonamakit (get it?) and a horribly disfigured child getting bullied by the others (sounds familiar?), who decides to use a Burt Reynolds mask to hide his face. Pretty fun horror short, with some decent gore!

THE BLOODY BALLAD OF SQUIRT REYNOLDS - Horror Short

Director: Anthony Cousins
Writer: Anthony Cousins, John Karsko
Country & year: USA, 2018
Actors: Briana Patnode, Nathan Tymoshuk, Justen Jones
IMDb: www.imdb.com/title/tt9072262/

Paperhouse (1988)

Posted on November 1, 2024 by HorrorGhouls

Anna Madden is an 11 year old girl, who one day starts having fainting spells at school and when playing with her friend. She’s suffering from glandular fever, and must stay at home and finds herself bedridden much to her dismay. She draws a house, and when she falls asleep she starts having disturbing dreams about this house. Later she draws a face in the window, and the next time she dreams there’s a boy there. His name is Marc, and he’s suffering from muscular dystrophy and cannot walk. She keeps adding things to the drawing in order to form the house more to her liking, like adding stairs and furniture. She also tries an attempt at fixing Marc’s legs, but this proves futile. Something’s not right in her dreams, however, and in real life Anna’s having troubles with her relationship with both her mother and her absent father who’s struggling with alcoholism and is often away for work at long periods of time. One day when her doctor comes for a visit, Anna finds out that the doctor has another patient whose name is Marc. And now she’s starting to realize that the house in her dreams may not just be a pure fantasy after all.

Paperhouse is a dark fantasy film from 1988, directed by Bernard Rose who later directed Candyman (1992). This movie is based on a novel from 1958, called Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr. This novel was also the basis of a British TV series made for children in the early 1970’s, called Escape Into Night. This movie, however…is clearly not a movie suitable for the young’uns, despite being originally marketed as a children’s fantasy film. Sure, the horror elements aren’t very explicit and it takes a while for them to settle in, but there’s a definite ominous atmosphere throughout, and the scene where her blind father appears in her dream (blind because she didn’t draw his eyes properly) and starts hunting her with a hammer, isn’t exactly Saturday morning material.

I have to say that the work they did on the dreamworld is pretty well made, where everything looks like it’s trapped in a closed space where nothing else exists. It’s filmed in a desolate field, where you can see the ocean nearby but it’s all just vast and empty. No other islands to spot, no trees, other buildings, absolutely nothing. The surrealism and weirdness of the place is spot-on, and the strange interior of the already strange and crooked-looking house only adds to the vibe.

Paperhouse is a pretty strange coming of age movie, not outright a horror movie but it certainly has some elements thereof. The surreal tone, the somewhat unconvincing acting (especially by the lead actress, who also never played in any other film after this one) gives the whole film a very weird vibe. Also some nice music from Hans Zimmer which strengthens the incredibly dreamy and outlandish mood. Worth a watch if you want something strange and different.

Director: Bernard Rose
Writer: Matthew Jacobs
Country & year: UK, 1988
Actors: Charlotte Burke, Jane Bertish, Samantha Cahill, Glenne Headly, Sarah Newbold, Gary Bleasdale, Elliott Spiers, Gemma Jones, Steven O’Donnell, Ben Cross, Karen Gledhill, Barbara Keogh
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098061/

Trick ‘r Treat (2007)

Posted on October 31, 2024 by HorrorGhouls

It’s Halloween, the best time of the year! Well, for us Horror Ghouls at least. And for Sam, a cute little trick-or-treater you’ll get to know better here in Trick ‘r Treat.

In the fictional town of Warren Valley, Ohio, several people are celebrating Halloween night. The stories here are told in a nonlinear narrative, and first we meet Emma and her husband Henry. Emma is a Halloween hater (yup, one of those), and blows out the jack-o’-lantern before midnight. This is not according to Halloween rules! And she’ll soon find out the consequences. Then we meet Steven Wilkins, who is a serial killer who sticks to his own rules and traditions on Halloween. Just a reminder to all the kids out there to check their candy. We later also meet a group of teenagers, who visits a flooded quarry where the urban legend of the “Halloween School Bus Massacre“ was supposed to have taken place. And then, we have a group of young women in sexy costumes, where one of them wears a Little Red Riding Hood outfit. Hmmm…I wonder if she’s going to meet any wolves tonight. Then, of course, there’s little Sam, who is always nearby. Some of the stories and characters have a relation to each other, and all will be revealed before Halloween night is over.

Trick ‘r Treat is a horror anthology film from 2007, written and directed by Michael Dougherty in his directorial debut. The film was delayed for two years, and only had a limited number of screenings at film festivals. It grossed only $27,909 on a budget of $12 million. Ouchie. Over the years, though, the film has since garnered a cult following. Fans have been teased with a sequel for several years but so far nothing seems to happen. Only time will show. In the meantime, Dougherty directed Krampus (2015) and Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019).

If you’re a Halloween lover, like any horror ghoul with the slightest ounce of self-respect does, then this movie is certain to feel like a treat. Like many horror anthologies out there, including The Mortuary Collection and Tales from the Hood, all the stories are in some way interwoven with the rest. Aside from the aforementioned anthologies however, this one is told in a nonlinear way and mixes the stories a bit back and forth. It doesn’t require too much attention to get the coherence, so don’t worry about it being too hard to follow. There’s a little bit of twists and turns, including some characters appearing in one story only to prove a significance later on in one of the other stories. It’s all pure popcorn entertainment, never even remotely frightening but offers a little bit of gore here and there and a lot of lighthearted amusing fun. The cute little character Sam is derived from the word Samhain which is the ancient Celtic festival of the dead. It’s from Samhain that the modern-day Halloween is derived. In this movie they’ve taken the name a little further and turned him into the most adorable little deity. Just don’t be fooled by his cuteness, though, he sure knows how to play tricks on those who disrespect the traditions!

The actors playing the deformed children from the Halloween School Bus Massacre segment all had real disabilities or injuries, and they apparently had a total blast during the filming. And we also got one of those famous “gumball rolling down the stairs“ scenes, which is of course a nod to the excellent ghost horror movie The Changeling (1980), and the cameraman working on this sequence also filmed that exact scene in that film.

Trick ‘r Treat is a solid Halloween movie, with enough ghoulish pleasantries to satisfy the most. Happy Halloween!

Writer and director: Michael Dougherty
Country & year: USA/Canada, 2007
Actors: Dylan Baker, Rochelle Aytes, Quinn Lord, Lauren Lee Smith, Moneca Delain, Tahmoh Penikett, Brett Kelly, Britt McKillip, Isabelle Deluce, Jean-Luc Bilodeau, Alberto Ghisi, Samm Todd, Anna Paquin, Brian Cox
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0862856/

Monster House (2006)

Posted on October 30, 2024 by HorrorGhouls

It’s only one day before Halloween, and 12-year-old Dustin James (or D.J. for short) is busy spying on his creepy elderly neighbor, Horace Nebbercracker. He sees that the old man steals a little girl’s bicycle, and that’s a habit that’s been going on for quite some time. Whenever something enters Nebbercracker’s lawn, it’s his. This same day, D.J.’s parents leave for a convention, and the teenage girl Elizabeth (aka Zee) will babysit him. When Dustin and his friend Charles “Chowder“ play basketball outside, they end up losing it on Nebbercracker’s lawn. Ooops, we all know where this is headed. Still, D.J. tries to retrieve it before the old, cranky neighbor notices it, but too late. Nebbercracker comes out of his old house, furious like a bat from hell and wants to give these snotty brats a piece of his mind! He goes completely crazy, lifts D.J. up while shouting “you think you can just terrorize my lawn?!“ while the boy desperately tries to claim his innocence. Then the inevitable happens: the old geezer suffers a heart attack and is taken away in an ambulance.

That same evening, Zee’s boyfriend, Bones, pays a visit and starts talking about rumors relating to Nebbercracker, about how he supposedly cannibalized his wife. He also says that Nebbercracker once stole his kite. Later, when D.J. spies on the now empty house across the street, he notices that when Bones leaves the house, a kite is coming out of the front door of the old Nebbercracker house. Bones goes to retrieve it, and is then dragged into the house. D.J. starts to believe that the old house is now haunted, and the next day they save a candy-selling girl called Jenny from becoming another one of the house’s victims. No one believes them about the monster house of course, especially since today is Halloween, so it’s all up to them to stop the house from claiming more victims.

Monster House is an animated supernatural horror comedy from 2006, directed by Gil Kenan as his directorial debut. Originally, the movie was set up to be at DreamWorks, but one thing lead to another and he ended up having a meeting with Steven Spielberg and Sony Pictures Entertainments picked up the project. The movie was filmed using a technique called motion-capture, where the actors performed the characters’ movements and lines while they were being linked to sensors. And while there were a bunch of parents that got pissed off due to the movie’s horror elements and dark themes, it received generally positive reviews and grossed $142 million worldwide on a budget of $75 million.

Despite being an animated PG-rated movie, it’s one that can be appreciated by adults just as much as the younger ones. It does not only have an intriguing story and a creepy mystery, it also has very charming and likable characters where they’ve done a great job at matching the perfect voices. There’s a sense of both horror and adventure, with an 80s throwback style that fits so well with everything. This being a “children’s movie“ and all, the horror elements are still very prominent and there’s even some nods to Hitchcock’s Psycho and Rear Window. It’s got a predominantly dark theme, which gets even darker than you might initially expect, and kudos to them for having the balls to take it all out. The final part of the movie does go totally wild and proves that it aimed to live up to the title, and while this strays a bit from the more subdued horror elements from earlier in the movie where everything about the house was still a mystery, it’s a very fitting way to end it. After the final showdown we even get a cute little aww-moment.

Monster House is a great animated thrill ride for the young yet not-so-young audience, and I’m afraid this one was very much lightning in a bottle which we’ll never get close to seeing again. An animated movie filled with the sense of adventure reminiscent of what could be found in movies like The Goonies (1985) and filled with an actual horror story and horror elements, very much working as a perfect introduction to scary movies to a young audience…yeah, I doubt that’ll ever happen again.

Kenan later made the Poltergeist remake from 2015, and his latest release was Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire this year. There’s no doubt that Monster House remains his strongest entry into the horror genre. Even to this day it has kept its spooky charm, and I’m sure many of the children who were originally frightened by watching this one when it was released back in 2006, now remembers it fondly. Well, that’s at least how I remember the movies that scared me when I was a kid…

Director: Gil Kenan
Writers: Dan Harmon, Rob Schrab, Pamela Pettler
Country & year: USA, 2006
Voice actors: Ryan Whitney, Steve Buscemi, Mitchel Musso, Catherine O’Hara, Fred Willard, Sam Lerner, Woody Schultz, Ian McConnel, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jason Lee, Spencer Locke, Kevin James
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0385880/

TerrorVision (1986)

Posted on October 29, 2024November 12, 2024 by HorrorGhouls

– Hey, remember that movie? You know, the one about the little space guy. Made you cry like a butthole?

After the insanely catchy theme song, we get the pleasure of meeting the Puttermans. They are… uhm, well, a lot could be said about the Puttermans, but first and foremost, they are a family. And not just a family, but an American family, living in Los Angeles. They’re THE most American family of all time. And the year is also 1986, with its peak of technology, and being a wealthy upper-class, what can be more perfect than that? Here we have mom Raquel and dad Stan, a swinger-couple, living the American dream with their two kids, a wacky survivalist/doomsday prepper grandpa and some other middle-aged dude who should be in jail for his fashion choice. The family’s daughter, Suzy, likes to dress up as Cyndi Lauper and dates a stoner dude named O.D. (overdose). He’s an over-the-top stereotypical metal head who’d make Beavis and Butt-Head look like Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The family dad puts up a big satellite dish with no success. It isn’t after a lightning bolt hits the dish from the blue sky when the family can enjoy Channel 69, MTV and Medusa’s Midnight Horrorthon. C o o l. The lighting comes from a garbage disposal on the distant planet Pluton, by the way, that teleported a “Hungry Beast“ to eventually come out of the Putterman’s TV and terrorize the family. But you just wait, cuz it gets crazier. The best way to describe TerrorVision is a live-action Saturday-morning cartoon on mushrooms, shot like a demented sitcom with three episodes stitched together. Absolute zero logic and all over the place. The only thing missing here, to put the satirical cherry on top, is a laugh track.

TerrorVision is written and directed by the Full Moon bat Ted Nicolaou, here under the banner of Empire Pictures. This is his directorial debut after working over a decade as sound engineer and editor on films such as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and with his first collab with Charles Band on Tourist Trap (1979). The monster design was made by John Carl Buechler, who also made Troll the same year, another Charles Band production. Nicolaou said to Buechler as he was making the monster: “make it look really stupid“. The result is something that looks like if Sloth from The Goonies was mutated with a dog, Pizza the Hutt and one of my classmates from elementary school. So, mission accomplished, I’d say. The youngest actor who plays the family’s son was permitted by his Christian parents to be in the film on one condition: to not have him in the same frame with the nude paintings which you’ll see everywhere in the house. And Mr. Nicolaou sure broke that promise more than one or three/four times.

The film was panned by the critics upon its release, where we have a quote from Time Out Film Guide saying: — The aesthetics of trash sink to new depths of delirium in this kooky sitcom variant of Poltergeist. Couldn’t be more true though. It wasn’t until years later it found its niche audience and is viewed as a so-bad-it’s-good film, which I beg to differ. Yes, it has its clear elements of such, but it’s way too self-aware to fully earn a spot in that category. Not for everyone, but sure a wild, doozy ride if you’re in for it. It’s basically the best and worst of the pop-cultural 1980s in a nutshell, exaggerated up to the max. Maybe some Aha..hahaha’s for the adults and just mesmerizing birthday party schlockfest for the kids with some gooey light-hearted gore. It will leave an impact, nevertheless, even in the year of 2024 where 1980s throwback films are more popular than ever.

TerrorVision is available on a DVD/Blu-ray double feature with The Video Dead from Shout! Factory.

Writer and director: Ted Nicolaou
Country & year: USA/Italy, 1986
Actors: Diane Franklin, Gerrit Graham, Mary Woronov, Chad Allen, Jon Gries, Bert Remsen, Alejandro Rey, Randi Brooks, Jennifer Richards, Sonny Carl Davis, Ian Patrick Williams, William Paulson, John Leamer
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092074/

Dolls (1987)

Posted on October 28, 2024 by HorrorGhouls

Young Judy has brought along her beloved teddybear, Teddy, on a trip together with her father and stepmother. And Teddy is pretty much the only comfort she’s got, as both her father and stepmother sees her as nothing but an inconvenience. A thunderstorm leaves them stranded as their car gets stuck, and in frustration the stepmother takes Teddy from Judy and throws him far into the bushes, where Judy can’t get to him. This then leads to a strange scene where Judy actually imagines that Teddy comes back as a giant monster-teddy and kills both her stepmother and her father. Yeah, there ain’t any happy family vibes to find around here, that’s for sure, but who can really blame the little girl, both her stepmother and her father are assholes.

The trio ends up seeking shelter by getting into a nearby mansion, owned by a charming elderly couple named Gabriel and Hilary Hartwicke. The couple immediately takes to young Judy, and when learning that she “lost“ her teddybear, Gabriel gives her a Jester-doll whose name is Mr. Punch. Then, three more people also arrive at the mansion, seeking shelter from the weather: Ralph, a very kind-hearted dude who maybe suffers from being a tad bit naive, and two hitchhikers named Isabel and Enid, who are two more additions to the asshole-group. So, we have an innocent little girl, a nice man with a good heart, and four douchebags who are now invited to stay by the elderly couple, who are both dollmakers. The mansion is filled with toys and dolls, but these soon prove to be anything but harmless.

Dolls is a horror film from 1987, directed by Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator, From Beyond, Castle Freak), written by Ed Naha, and produced by Charles Band and Brian Yuzna through Empire Pictures. The story was inspired by a book called The Uses of Enchantment, by Brunio Bettelheim. The film was shot in Italy at Empire Studios, prior to the director’s next film From Beyond. However, due to all the effects for the dolls that were added in post-production, the movie wasn’t released until almost a year later.

Now, what could possibly be the highlight in a movie from the 80’s titled Dolls? Take a wild guess. This was released before any Child Play‘s, and way before any Annabelle‘s. One could look at it as a little precursor to a certain film series involving puppets, though: the Puppet Master franchise, where the first movie was released in 1989. Because this movie, just like the Puppet Master films, uses a mix of stop motion animation, puppets and animatronics for the dolls by David W. Allen, who worked on special effects for numerous films and especially several Empire/Full Moon movies. He unfortunately died from cancer in 1999, and had been intermittently working on stop motion effects for a film called The Primevals, which was actually his own production, a true passion project of his. Despite seeming like what would be a lost project for so many years, The Primevals was actually completed and released in 2023.

There aren’t any big names on the cast list here, but the actors are a mix of people whom you may have seen in other movies and TV Series, so it’s far from being a no-name actors movie either. The one playing Isabel for example, is Bunty Bailey, who plays the girl in the famous music video for the Norwegian pop group A-Ha’s Take on Me from 1985. Dolls was her feature film debut. Their performances are solid enough for a movie like this, which is overall childishly cheesy and with that strange tone you mostly only find in movies made during the 80’s. It’s whimsical and slightly goofy, and the effects for the dolls and puppets are of course the raison d’être for the movie.

Despite being a pretty fun movie, Dolls wasn’t well received by the viewers, and the fans of Stuart Gordon in particular thought it was tame and lacking in gore compared to his previous works. Well…this one’s quite different for sure, where despite the little bit of gore there is it could have been a cute little horror movie for kids. It’s charming in its own way, and overall a fun little film where the baddies gets their comeuppance and the goodies can have their happily ever after.

Stuart Gordon was initially interested on making a sequel for the film, but that never came to be.

Director: Stuart Gordon
Writer: Ed Naha
Country & year: USA/Italy, 1986
Actors: Ian Patrick Williams, Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, Carrie Lorraine, Guy Rolfe, Hilary Mason, Bunty Bailey, Cassie Stuart, Stephen Lee
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092906/

Häxan (1922)

Posted on October 27, 2024October 27, 2024 by HorrorGhouls

Häxan is the Swedish word for “the witch“, and this is a 1922 silent horror essay film which was written and directed by Benjamin Christensen. It’s partly documentary, and partly dramatized scenes, all about witches and witchcraft and superstitions beginning from the Middle Ages through the 20th century. The film was produced by AB Svensk Filmindustri, but it was shot in Denmark in 1920-1921. It was the most expensive silent film ever made in Scandinavia, costing almost 2 million SEK (Swedish Kronor). And it shows, with its detailed set pieces and recreation of medieval scenes, and of course its lengthy production period. It received fairly positive reception, but of course the censors in several countries (Germany, France and the US) found it to be too graphic with its depictions of torture, nudity, sexual perversion, and of course the worst of all: anti-clericalism. How dare they, those blasphemers! The movie didn’t avoid the censors in Sweden either, there were a bunch of Evil Ed‘s even in the 1920’s. Before the censors authorized its release, they required numerous cuts: the scene of a hanged man’s finger being removed, the trampling of the cross during a witch’s sabbath, and several others. Fortunately, all of these scenes have since been restored to the film.

In 1968, Metro Pictures Corporation re-edited and re-released the film in the US, giving it the title Witchcraft Through the Ages. This version includes an English-language narration by William S. Burroughs. It is today considered an old masterpiece with its combination of documentary-style and narrative storytelling, with some very inventive and great visuals. Many different techniques are used here, including some stop motion animation scenes, puppetry, reverse motion and other special effects and creative makeup. Most of the film was even shot at night, which was almost unheard of at the time, but the director wanted the actors to be influenced by as dark and ominous a setting as possible to enhance their performances. The director himself even performed as Satan in this movie, and he honestly looked like he had a blast doing so. One of the old ladies playing a persecuted witch was discovered by the director when she was selling flowers on a street corner in Denmark, and she claimed she was the first Red Cross nurse in the country. When filming one of her scenes, she once turned to him and said “The Devil is real. I have seen him sitting at my bedside“. The director was so struck by this that he decided to include that anecdote into the film itself.

One of the best things with Häxan, is how it manages to blend the dark themes of superstition and human nature, with some dark humor and of course the very striking visuals. Despite a somewhat humorous undertone, it’s all told with a focus on the dark subjects at hand. Witches were executed for simply being different, looking ugly, being poor, and all kinds of other completely unfounded reasons which could lead people to spiral a small rumor into a massive paranoia. The poor “witches“ were often tortured to such an extent that they’d admit to anything just to make it stop. There are several scenes during a witch’s torture and execution that are, albeit not nearly as graphic as the torture-porn movies we are accustomed to these days, pretty unnerving stuff. Visually, Häxan is a treat with so many innovative special effects, makeup, costumes and whatnot. There’s witches, possessed nuns, torture scenes, grave robbing, a Satanic sabbath where the witches are trampling the cross and kissing the devil’s behind, and…oh my, no wonder it got whacked by the censors!

Häxan is without a doubt a film that was ahead of its time, with its libertarian undertones. And while the movie condemns the practices during the Middle Ages and how superstition makes people treat others horribly, the film also wraps it up excellently by pointing out the parallels to modern day (which, at the time, was the 1920’s of course). It is easy to sit and laugh at how people were afraid of witches and wanted to have them executed in hopes of protecting themselves from evil, but similar misconceptions, beliefs, practices and fears can make people treat others horribly even to this day, despite how much more “enlightened“ we have become. They may have feared witches in the Middle Ages, but there will always be “witches“ for each era we live in, someone to place blame and hatred towards. This is something that will never get better, because humans will always be filled with fear, and too many of us need something to pin those fears on, despite how unfounded they may be.

Writers and director: Benjamin Christensen
Country & year: Sweden/Denmark, 1922
Also known as: Witchcraft Through the Ages
Actors: Maren Pedersen, Clara Pontoppidan, Elith Pio, Oscar Stribolt, Tora Teje, John Andersen, Benjamin Christensen, Poul Reumert, Karen Winther, Kate Fabian, Else Vermehren, Astrid Holm
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0013257/

THE SCARECROW – Horror Short

Posted on October 27, 2024 by HorrorGhouls

While decorating for Halloween, a couple is haunted by a scarecrow.

This is the last Horror Short Sunday before the best day of the year: Halloween! Which is on Thursday next week. Today we’re taking a look at The Scarecrow, where it’s Halloween and a creepy scarecrow is up to no good…

Director: Alex Magaña
Writer: Alex Magaña
Country & year: USA, 2024
Actors: Bella Hamm, Calvin Naraghi, Steffon Palmer
IMDb: www.imdb.com/title/tt34080977/