31 Nights of Horror V, Night 20: Jeepers Creepers 2
More than three sentence review:
I think that when the original Jeepers Creepers came out I laughed it off because I couldn’t get past the silly name and the connection to the even sillier song. Fifteen years later, I feel like the “The Creeper” is now a legitimate and recognizable horror villain a la Jason and Freddy. Tonight’s review, however, is about the sequel which I personally like even more than the first installment. It’s what any iconic horror killer needs in a sequel – lots of teenagers and a high body count. Jeepers Creepers is a darker movie that took itself too seriously, and the sequel is the scary yet entertaining popcorn movie we all deserved. Yes, the sequel is definitely better. I would guess that in the future – hell, probably even now – people will remember the sequel that took place entirely on a school bus more than they remember the first movie.
31 Nights of Horror, Night 9: The Conjuring (releasing on blu-ray October 22!)
Three sentence review:
Supernatural horror is one of my favorite sub-genres, and I’d argue that James Wan’sThe Conjuring is the best addition to this category in the last two decades – I mean, it’s Rated R just for scares alone (no gore, just lots of suspense and tension!) Ed and Lorraine Warren, real life paranormal experts previously best known for investigating the Amityville Horror House, finally have their incredible life stories put into the spotlight by the supremely talented Vera Farmigia and surprising horror regular, Patrick Wilson. Supporting actors Lili Taylor and Ron Livingston are excellent as the Perron’s, a husband and wife who move their entire family into a farmhouse with a gruesome past, and the movie clearly (and successfully) draws influence from retro horror gold like Poltergeist, The Amityville Horror, and the Exorcist.
The real Annabelle doll was a Raggedy Ann doll. Please check out the Warren’s museum page for the true story, it’s awesome.
31 Nights of Horror, Night 7: V/H/S 2 (Originally titled S-VHS)
WARNING: This film is for seasoned horror fans and I do not recommend casually watching this or popping it in for your Halloween pumpkin carving party.
Three (run-on) sentence review:
Just when I thought mainstream horror couldn’t get any more disturbing, more innovative, or shocking; that films like “The Conjuring” and “Cabin in the Woods” were the answer to modern horror’s lack of fresh, scary material, and just when I thought I had seen it all and could never ever possibly feel genuinely scared again, I watch V/H/S 2 and its four short films: Clinical Trials, A Ride in the Park, Safe Haven, and Slumber Party Alien Abduction. V/H/S 2 completely blows the first installment (which I reviewed last year and consider my favorite watch of 2012) out of the water and manages to pack four completely new and frightening short films into the same anthology/wrap-around narrative format we saw in the first V/H/S. The overarching story of the movie is about two investigators searching for a missing college student who stumble upon his weird collection of VHS tapes – the found-footage/POV camera style of all of the shorts are unnerving, and while all of the four installments are incredibly solid and frightening, “Safe Haven”, the third and best phase of V/H/S 2, left my jaw nearly dragging on the floor and I’m finding it hard to shake off some of the visuals and adrenaline rush it produced even an hour after the credits rolled.
My reaction during “Safe Haven”. Totally not a re-enactment, I swear…A super fun still from “Safe Haven” – Arguably the best modern short horror film to date. Safe Haven is part 3 of V/H/S 2 and is about an Indonesian film crew trying to uncover the secrets of a cult.
“Clinical Trials” is about a man who agrees to test out a bionic eye with ghostly side effects.
If you walk into a room in an abandoned house and a bunch of old tube style TVs are playing static, get the hell out.
NERDCROPOLIS 