Tag: review

Them: The Scare – Goosebumps Time

Them: The Scare Goosebumps Time

I completely missed the first season of Them. But Them: The Scare? Season 2? Goosebumps time! This second season had me literally on the edge of my seat. From the first murder, I was hooked and not once did this series let me go.

There are not many horror scenarios that can make me breakout into marching gooseflesh, but Them: The Scare has done this effortlessly. Right up to episode 5, the show creator Little Marvin. has kept the jumps and shivers coming. The ability to populate your show with believable characters who have to interact with nightmarish elements is rare. Little Marvin has created a world that feels both real and unreal simultaneously.

Synopsis

Them: The Scare is set against the backdrop of Rodney King. His beating, by several Los Angeles police officers was captured on a man’s brand new video camera. It was not long after that the city was engulfed in riots and civil unrest. It is this unrest that serves to mount the supernatural tensions at the forefront of the second season.

LAPD Homicide Detective Dawn Reeve, played to perfection by Deborah Ayorinde, catches a gruesome homicide case in the first episode. She is reluctantly partnered with Detective Ronald McKinney (Jeremy Bobb). *Side note: If ever there was an actor with the proclivity to portray an absolute arsehat, it is Bobb. Kudos to the casting department for this one.

As the pair are working the disturbing case, we are privy to the creepy want to be actor Edmund Gaines, another expertly portrayal by actor Luke James.

Suddenly there is another murder, staged almost exactly the same as the first and Them: The Scare accelerates accordingly.

The Cast

Everyone on this show have brought their “A” game to the table. Pam Grier plays the detective’s mother. Another familiar face spotted on the show is that of Wayne Knight. He plays Reeve’s boss and he, like McKinney, is not a scion of propriety. Lt Schiff holds grudges. The amount of quality players in this slice of horror is impressive:

Binge worthy but with all lights on

Them: The Scare is definitely binge worthy, but with all the lights on and with your back up against a nice safe wall. Unlike the first season, this time around there are only eight episodes. I am currently at episode 5; midway through this episode. With only three more to go, viewing the rest of the series will be done during daylight hours.

Mirrors covered.

Facing the door.

Move over Ryan Murphy. There is a new scaremeister in town.

The trailer

Dream Home (2010) Chinese Housing Horror Not For The Faint of Heart

Dream Home (Retro Review) Chinese Housing Horror
Josie Ho as Cheng Li-sheung in 2010 film Dream Home

Dream Home (2010) is a Chinese housing horror film that deserves a retro review. We warn you now: This film is not for the faint of heart. Ho-Cheung Pang co-wrote and directed this offering and it boasts the old “based on a true story,” drivel. Sure, it may well be based on true circumstances but think Coen Bros and Fargo here. It is, we think, a bit of a tease.

Pang, wrote this with Derek Tsang and Chi-Man Wan, and this may well be one of the few times that the old adage, “Too many cooks (or writers) spoil the broth,” does not apply. *By the way, Pang has no connection to the Horror Kings, Danny and Oxide Pang. While Dream Home is easily on par with the masterful creations of the brother’s Pang, Ho-Cheung is a separate entity entirely.

synopsis

Cheng Li-sheung is working hard to buy her first home in Hong Kong. The newly liberated British holding has reverted back to China. Home prices are skyrocketing and the sellers are ruthless. Li-Sheung fights to buy the home she wants while struggling to keep her family together. Her life choices include being the mistress to a married man and murder.

Background is important

Josie Ho, is an actor I noticed in The Twins Effect (2003) as the doomed first partner of a vampire killer. She struck a chord of authenticity for such a tiny cameo. Dream Home proved that she could hold her own in a starring vehicle.

Now onto background of the characters: Li-sheung has flashbacks while living her adult life. We learn of her childhood and connection to the Catholic Church. Later, when her mother dies, she appears to embrace the teachings of Buddha.

Her beloved grandfather always spoke of having a home that faced the ocean. Li-sheung has this in mind while searching for their new home.

Li-sheung’s father has cancer and the insurance policy is invalid. Her father worked as a builder and asbestos is the culprit behind his problems. She must now pay for his treatment. This leaves little left over for her dream home.

timelines are important not

Dream Home, like many other Asian films, (Most notably Takashi Shimizu‘s The Grudge.) is mostly shot out of sequence. While this may be confusing at first, eventually it will begin to make sense.

As the story unfolds, we learn just how our female protagonist learned how to live. Nothing, including sex and murder, fazes this property seeking woman. She takes it all in her stride.

the way you make me kill

Sheung kills with abandon. She dispatches victims with a variety of implements. A golf club (A driver.), a zip tie, a screwdriver, a very long and sharp kitchen knife, withholding oxygen, a hammer and, perhaps the worst of all, a vacuum storage bag. And last but not least, a pistol.

Her killing spree sees a complete dissemination of the apartment floor surrounding the home she is trying desperately to buy.

It is a seller’s market and just when she is set to buy the property, the couple who own it, back out. They want more money than she can afford.

This is the tipping point.

She sets out to get that price reduced. Amazingly, for many westerners watching this kill-fest, all this is for a high-rise apartment.

Honey this is brutal

In terms of violence and disturbing content Dream Home takes home the prize. There are scenes that are nigh on impossible to watch. The death of a pregnant woman is almost too much to take in. Josie Ho’s character takes the whole homicidal lunatic gag to the limit. Pang’s script allows this character to be so brutal that the Manson clan seem almost tame by comparison.

There are moments so graphic that it is hard to not look away. At the start of the film, we are treated to a prophetic statement about the rise of home prices in 2007 Hong Kong. It then tells us that the film is based upon a true story.

The first murder is about to begin.

its a wrap

Dream Home is easily one of the best horror films on offer anywhere. It earns a full 5 stars and it never lets up. Bouncing between murders and the backstory, we are on the edge of our seats.

There is some nudity, sex and no foul language at all. The movie does contain an incredible amount of gore and, of course, multiple murder.

This is available on AMC + and it can be rented on YouTube. Check out the trailer:

Mickey Hardaway (2023) Self Fulfilling Tragedy

All images courtesy of Marcellus Cox. MIckey Hardaway
Mickey Hardaway

Mickey Hardaway (2023) can be seen as a self fulfilling tragedy. Marcellus Cox, writer and director of the film, gives us a doomed and very flawed hero. Shot in black and white, except for a very short section, the movie feels bleak.

As does the subject matter.

Synopsis

Mickey, played brilliantly by Rashad Hunter, is an artist. A tortured soul who is his own worst enemy. The only person who presents a larger threat to the talented young man is his father; Randall Hardaway. David Chattam plays the bitter and angry paternal head of the family as a resentful, nasty bit of work.

In Act I of the film, Randall shows just how abusive and cruel he can be. Mickey’s mother is no real help as she has been “beaten” into submission. Mickey’s only real supporter is Mr Sweeney (Dennis L.A. White), his art teacher.

His only other supporter is his girlfriend Grace (Ashley Parchment) but their relationship starts falling apart. Mickey hires on as a cartoonist. The prestigious publication, headed by Nathan Hammerson, then becomes another problem in Mickey’s life.

There is an old saying, “Self fulfilling prophecy.” In Mickey’s case, it should be “self fulfilling tragedy.” Like may talented artists, Hardaway feels the world is against him. Everyone, or so it seems to Mickey, puts him down and takes advantage of him.

His expectations of the world are unrealistic and he pays the price. While it is no real surprise that he distrusts everyone, his father saw to that, it is annoying that he feels he needs special attention.

Mickey’s art, which he clearly loves, comes second to his continual complaining about how life is shorting him. Hardaway even resents his shrink; Dr Harden (Stephen Cofield Jr.) for not prolonging their scheduled sessions.

Dr Harden

As outsiders looking in, we know that this is going to end badly for the young artist.

The players

All the actors in this film exceed expectations. All have solid bona fides and add much to the story. Young Mr Hunter knocks this one out of the park. Keep a watch on this one, he will go far. Another one that impressed us was Ms Parchment. Pretty, yet deep, she manages to speak volumes without uttering a single word. (A trait she has in common with Chattam and Hunter.)

Once again, all the main players in the film added an admirable bit of gravitas to the tale. Cox gets the most out of his actors and it shows in each and every frame.

The signposts

Cox choses to start the film during an event. One that makes no sense at first, but as the story plays out, everything becomes clear. Even without the shocking first moments of the film, there are signposts literally shouting a foregone conclusion.

We will offer no spoilers here. Suffice to say that from the first reel, Mickey felt doomed and Cox has, in this film, taken us through each little step. We know that this is a tragedy waiting to happen.

behind the scenes

Cinematography by Jamil Gooding, who also edited the film, is spot on. Gooding makes the most of small spaces. Each frame is tight and this helps to put us in Mickey’s shoes as he feels the world closing in. The use of colour in the film, when Mickey starts his relationship with Grace, is a splendid metaphor about love and how the young artist sees his life with this young woman.

It’s a wrap

While this tale was not altogether Shakespearean in scope, it came pretty close. We enjoyed the heck out of this one. Cox’s film earns a full 5 stars out of 5. Mickey Hardaway is streaming right now on Tubi. Check out the trailer and then head on over and watch the film.

As i Believe the World to Be: Review

All images courtesy of Timothy J Cox.

Spooky Madison (AKA Spencer “Spooky” Madison wrote and directed As i Believe the world to Be. It was specifically for a winter film festival. I have seen a few offerings for this Cincinnati film fest and this one is dark. It also raises some questions.

A lot of questions.

synopsis

Elnora (Bailey Kathryn) is seemingly created from the pencil of Piper. The writer is forming a storyline and has a protagonist with a dark core. In the slowly crafted tale, Elnora has a task to complete but gets distracted.

Jacob (Played by Timothy J Cox) is displeased with Elnora as she has not completed the job he gave her. She has been distracted by her target’s girlfriend.

Elnora

Biblical

I may be completely off the track about this one. As i Believe the World to Be is a film full of imagery and what feel like biblical references. Elnora, is a very dark person. She appears to be an enforcer for Jacob, or at the very least, an enforcer/assassin for hire.

But what is she? Is she a fallen angel? Or something worse.

She and the other fallen angel both bear scars on their faces. Something that could be the mark of Cain. She clearly is not human. Gia even brings this up. Elnora kills for a living and the mark on her face could well be that aforementioned mark of Cain.

Discussion

As i Believe the World to Be places Elnora in the role of Bogeyman. When she enters the bar to take the thief out, other women, apart from Gia (Agia Smith), look rather perturbed, almost hostile in fact. When Elnora goes to the bar and gets a shot the barmaid’s hand shakes.

*Side note: The profile of Billy (Anthony Dain) is a spitting image of Robert Downy Jr when he was younger. Quite startling actually. Also kudos to this actor who rocks it in the small role he has as Jacob’s employee. While Cox himself never needs any help knocking a role out of the park, Dain fits in perfectly and enhances the scene.

Questions

This short film is one of those that I can watch over and over. There are so many questions. Why can’t Jacob just fire the thief he hired? Why does Elnora have that scar on her face? Who is the other fallen angel? And just what are the two young women?

There is a hint of a dark supernatural chaotic theme going on here. As mentioned in the tagline, Elnora seeks out chaos.

conclusion

As i Believe the World to Be is a solid 3.5 film. It just missed getting 4 stars. Some of the dialogue was lost in the overall din of background noise. (Just inside the bar.) This was a cracker. Cinematographer Nick Huskey met the challenge of filming in tight places admirably.

The editing by Vincent E. Tricaso was spot on and Spooky Madison managed to make a mechanical pencil interesting. But most importantly, Madison placed a bit of humour into all of that pathos. A hard thing to do by any standard.

The Trailer

Watch the trailer and then head on over to YouTube and watch the film. You will not regret it.

Old Man 2 AKA OM2 (2023) The Asylum Style Version of Sisu

Mark Battle’s Old Man 2 can be seen as an The Asylum style version of Sisu, on a low-no budget. For those not in the know, Z-Nation, Sharknado and many other schlock filled products are all the result of Asylum. In some ways very similar to the old Roger Corman days.

*Side Note: Both The Asylum and Corman have had bonafide hits. Z-Nation managed to reach heights of genius in several episodes, and quite a number of Corman’s films have taken on iconic status.*

Synopsis

Buster

Buster (John Mason in his first role) AKA prisoner 911 escapes captivity and goes in search of his old friend Doc (played by Battle). On his journey, he battles cybermen sent by his old adversary Dr Radley (Fabio Falorni).

Dr Radley and two henchmen

Discussion

Mason acquits himself well in his role. In fact, all the actors play this action/comedy straight as a string. This adds to the film’s enjoyment factor immeasurably. Battles does well with his low budget feature despite a few problems.

It is interesting to note, that with the old man wig, Mason looks like Lee Marvin. This illusion is shattered the moment he speaks but until then the resemblance is amazing.

Everything about Old Man 2 works. Many times in spite of the low budget. Battles has managed to entertain with his The Asylum style version of Sisu.

*Side note: Sisu is set in WWII Lapland. The protagonist is an old man, a veteran who finds gold and heads out of the wilderness to put it in a bank. He runs into Naxis. The old former soldier is nigh on indestructible. Buster may not be looking for gold, but he is looking for his lost friend.*

Robocop on the cheap

we hate to mention it, but

Before we head on over to the “hate to mention it” portion of the review, we would like to praise Battle on this shooting locations. It is also imperative to mention that the creator of Old Man 2 does almost everything in terms of “backstage” tasks. The only things he did not do on the film was music and makeup. A real cottage industry kind of guy.

There were some things that were noticeable. (This is the “We hate to mention it.) During several scenes, the actors were trembling/shaking. It looks like those winter settings in the snow were pretty difficult to endure. Kudos to all the folks who gave their best with no heat.

The length of that cigarette in the field encounter. That thing must have been six inches long.

the verdict

There appear to be nods and winks to various films. The opening sequence could be a nod to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The last cyberman created by Dr Radley could well be a nod to Robocop. Whether these were intentional or not, they certainly felt like “homages” to other works.

Watch the trailer below and see what you think. We give it a solid 3.5 stars out of 5. What can we say? We liked it, warts and all.

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