October Horrorshow: A Quiet Place

It’s the near future — just a couple of years past the present day. The human race has been devastated by an invasion of ferocious creatures. Where the creatures come from is never made clear, although space is as good a culprit as any. The creatures are sightless, but have extraordinary hearing. Among the cacophony of sounds that a planet and all its inhabitants make, the creatures are able to pick out even the slightest of sounds made by a human, and hunt them down quickly. All remaining people are forced to live a life of silence that would try even the most devoted of monks. Such is the setup to A Quiet Place, the film from director/star John Krasinski, and writers Krasinski, Bryan Woods, and Scott Beck. Continue readingOctober Horrorshow: A Quiet Place”

October Horrorshow: The Amityville Horror (2005), or, Jump Scare: The Movie

The Amityville Horror 2005 movie posterI didn’t find the original Amityville Horror all that memorable of a horror flick, but it had more than its fair share of iconic moments, what with the bleeding walls, fly attacks, and exterior look of the house. It was based on a book that was a supposedly true telling of events the Lutz family experienced after moving into a house on Long Island in the 1970s. The whole story has since been shown to be bunk, part of the Ed and Lorraine Warren hoax industry, but some real awful events did occur in the house prior to the Lutz’s arrival that were used as a precursor to what was supposed to have occurred with the Lutz family.

At around three in the morning on November 13, 1974, Ronald DeFeo, Jr. entered the bedrooms of his sleeping relatives — his parents and four siblings — and killed them with a lever-action rifle. DeFeo claimed he did it because he was hearing voices. Six murders carried out in the middle of the night. That’s brutal stuff. To this day DeFeo remains in prison in upstate New York.

In 2005, another adaptation of the book was made. Since the original film spawned a number of sequels and became a horror franchise, this new film can be considered a reboot as much as a new adaptation. This telling comes from screenwriter Scott Kosar and director Andrew Douglas. It stars Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George as George and Kathy Lutz. The two need a bigger home for their family and can hardly believe the deal they got on the Dutch colonial house right on the water. Continue readingOctober Horrorshow: The Amityville Horror (2005), or, Jump Scare: The Movie”

October Horrorshow: A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

There have been quite a number of zombie sightings on Missile Test this October. It is the October Horrorshow, when the site is dedicated to watching and reviewing horror films, but believe it or not, there are other iconic creatures that inhabit the catalogue of horror cinema. One of those icons is Freddy Krueger, the brainchild of horror auteur Wes Craven. Since his original Elm Street film appeared in 1984, and the last in the series in 2003, it was past time for Hollywood to milk this cow one more time. They chose to do so with a remake, or a reboot, as the popular industry term would have it. Continue readingOctober Horrorshow: A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)”