Night Of The Demons 2 (A sequel to DIE for!)

Score: 8 Out Of 10

           Back when I was in high school, I used to frequent this little video store around the corner from my parents house. The store was loaded with VHS tapes and had a fairly large selection of obscure horror and sci-fi films. This is where I first saw "Night of the Demons (1988)." I fell in love with the film and remember watching it twice back to back. So imagine how elated I was to learn there are sequels! "Night of the Demons 2 (1994)" was direted by Brian Trenchard-Smith and Stars Amelia Kinkade, Cristi Harris and Darin Heames. The movie is about some teenagers who decide to party at the infamous "Hull House." It's not long before creepy things start happening and they decide to leave unknowingly bringing a demonic force with them. What makes this film good is it does not take itself too seriously. This film is not a dark comedy by any means, but it does definitely have it's fair share of laughs. I am also happy to report that for every laugh to be had in this film, there is at least one genuinely creepy moment. The other aspect of this film I really enjoyed were the awesome special effects.

       A lot of nineties horror films experimented with computer generated imagery with some pretty awkward results. This film however, tends to favor home made effects done with paint and latex. The end results are some really wonderful and actually scary visuals. The downside was the dialogue was a little silly here and there. There were some moments where I was left thinking 'Who talks like this?' Also, I am not a fan of reusing scenes from the first film for things that should have been easy enough to shoot. Example: our main antagonist roaming the halls of "Hull House." But these minor irritants aside, "NOTD2" does not disappoint. It may not be as good as the first, but is does make for a pretty good sequel. Now let's just hope the third film is up to snuff...

Love,

   The B-Movie Guy

Le Fear II: Le Sequel (Kinda New But Kinda Not)

Score: 6 Out Of 10

              I will preface this post by saying that I have not seen "Le Fear (2010)" and did not read up on "Le Fear II: Le Sequel" before I started watching it. I did not even bother to reed the IMDB page for the film. Why? Because sometimes it is better to walk into a film completely blind and just let yourself be surprised. "Le Fear II: Le Sequel (Due to be released in the UK on April 11th, 2015)" was written and directed by Jason Croot (who also has a supporting role in the film) and stars Kyri Saphiris, Seye Adelekan and Leila Reed. The film is a comedy/horror/mockumentary that shows the trials and tribulations of a writer and director that has sunk five hundred thousand dollars of his own money into a film, but right from the first moment of shooting, our protagonist is plagued by a producer who seems to be more of a con-artist . The film is pretty well acted and very well shot. If I did not know any better I would almost swear that I was watching an actual documentary.

            The movie seems to take pages out of the playbooks from more mainstream  mockumentaries such as "This Is Spinal Tap (1984)" and "The Office (2001)" by building comedic situations based on awkward encounters and ludicrous problems. I'm happy to say that most of the jokes work, but in hindsight, the feeling I got through out most of the film was much akin to deja vu. I felt like I had seen almost all of the aforementioned situations in other movies and T.V. shows and the film as a whole was just unoriginal. In the end, It is a fun movie but I felt like they could have done better to offer new ideas rather than just rehashing the old ones.

Love,

   The B-Movie Guy.

Twitter: @BMovieguy

Witching and Bitching (Good Movie, Stupid Title)

Score: 7 Out Of 10

             I will admit that the only reason I watched this movie is because the poster creeped me out. Every time I would load up Netflix for like two weeks I would see the poster and think, 'Eww, I should watch that, but the title is just so stupid.' "Witching and Bitching (2013) was directed and co-written by Álex de la Iglesia and stars Hugo Silva, Mario Casas and Pepon Nieto. The movie tells the story of three robbers (one being the twelve year old son of another older robber) who hit up a cash for gold store in hilarious fashion. Before long, police and the young boys mother are pursuing the robbers while they themselves are confronting witches in a small, creepy town. So finally, after a week or two, I gave in and watched the movie and I was not disappointing "Witching and Bitching" is a clever mix of both comedy and horror. For every moment I was cringing (in a good way) I was chuckling. I especially like the nods to European witchcraft films from the 1970's. Think "The Blood On Satan's Claw (1971)" and "The Wicker Man (1973).

         
         What bothers me, on the other hand, is almost the exact same thing I liked about this movie. For all the inspiration it draws from older films, it does not offer us anything new. The horror genre the last ten years or so (and really almost all american mainstream cinema) has gotten stale. It is almost all remakes and rehashed ideas and this film is no different. Be that as it may, "W&B" is still a pretty entertaining film. There are plenty of surprises and laughs, but I just can not picture this movie having any long lasting appeal to older horror fans, but for younger fans who are new to the genre, there is plenty to love.

  

Love,

   The B-Movie Guy.

Twitter: @BMovieguy