Don't Be Afraid of the Dark Review by Corbin Bond

Tonight I got the amazing chance to see the world premiere of Guillermo del Toro’s newest film, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark. The film is a very dark interpretation on old folklore del Toro actually came across in research. Furthermore, it is also greatly influenced by a 70’s made for television film by the same name. The story is of a young girl named Sally, played by Bailee Madison, who is sent by her mother to stay with her father, played by Guy Pearce, and his new girlfriend named Kim, played by Katie Holmes. The father and Kim are currently renovating the old Blackwood mansion so that they can start a successful architecture business. While staying in the house, Sally starts to experience very strange occurrences starting with whispering voices calling out to her. Following some very disturbing events in the newly found basement of the Blackwood mansion, including a violent attack on one of the groundskeepers, Sally comes to discover that the mansion is overrun by demonic creatures that can only reveal themselves in the darkness. It is up to Sally and Kim, who comes to believe her later, to stop these terrifying creatures from destroying the family and taking their desired sacrifice.

The one thing I absolutely love about Guillermo del Toro’s storytelling is how he produces imagery that is directly out of Gothic horror. The entire film is like a very dark and disturbing Grimm’s Fairy Tale with Sally being the young innocent girl, who is brought into this very dark and evil world. Meanwhile, we are given adults who either refuse to believe or just have a hard time relating to Sally’s pleas for help. Furthermore, what really made this movie even more effective was the tension that built in this film. The music was very beautiful, but at the right moments, it had the capability of putting many members of the audience at the edge of their seats. The film also played with the power silence has on an audience waiting for a creature to jump out at the screen. Another strong point was that the story had its funny one-liners that brought relief when needed. The atmosphere was very similar to that of Poe and especially H.P. Lovecraft in that it was very fantastical yet creepy and ominous simultaneously.

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark also has a very awesome amount of suspense involved. There are many moments that made many in the audience jump. Even certain normal sounds, like thunder, had the capability to make some jump. However, the creatures are clearly the spotlight of providing this suspense. For example, at one point in the film, Sally wakes up after her nightlight falls off of her night stand to find that the creatures are in her bedroom and crawling up under the covers. She grabs a flashlight and goes under. As she crawls under, she suddenly comes across one of the creatures that screams directly at the screen causing the entire theater to echo in a chorus of screams. There are many other moments like this in the film, including a scene involving Sally in the bath tub, and each one produced some form of nightmarish moment sending the audience into shivers, cringes, jumps, or covering their eyes.

This film was also very violent at times in which the creatures attack innocent people in the home. However, one particular moment in the film, that still sends chills down my spine, has to be the opening scene. This scene is like a prologue in that we learn of the Blackwood history. We are shown a grisly act of Mr. Blackwood bashing out the teeth of his maid with a hammer and chisel. Following this murder he takes her teeth in a saucer and carries them to an ash pit only to brutally attacked and dragged down the pit by the creatures in habiting the pit. The whole time we can hear his bones snapping and crunching as he is dragged down into this unknown abyss, which could possibly be interpreted as being dragged to Hell. Later we are given other moments of violence performed by the creature that also caused multiple cringes and repulsion.

Another factor of the film that I enjoyed was its usage of fairy tale folklore. I won’t reveal any spoilers on the creatures themselves, but one can easily notice references to other known childhood folk tales, which is Guillermo del Toro’s literal calling card. It plays very much so on the classic childhood fears that we all faced while growing up, especially our feeling of being alone in the darkness with no one to believe that you are in danger or even help you. This presents the theme of isolation very intelligently in that as children we are believed to have wild imaginations that adults cannot or will not believe. This caused audiences to feel a lot of pity for Sally, as she was constantly tormented viciously by these creatures. Furthermore, with this child in peril, the film provided a much more disturbing tone. One can also get a sense of childhood fancy with some other forms of imagery Guillermo del Toro uses, like the gorgeous garden of the Blackwood estate that seems very reminiscent of Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow and Edward Scissorhands. The beauty of the land paired with the dark and ominous atmosphere provided a very interesting and fascinating contrast.

The creatures themselves were all computer generated. When I first heard about this, I was a little discouraged; however, after seeing the film, I have to say that those little bastards were freaky. Their overall appearance was absolutely twisted and disturbing. I still can’t believe that some people in the audience actually brought children to see it. True, they were very small creatures; however, don’t let that fool you. They are brutal in what they can and will do to get their “hunger” settled. What got to me the most was that they were very deceptive with whispers, and once they were finally up close they were feral and terrifying. Furthermore, whenever they did get caught in light they would deliver a shrill scream that can easily be called worse than nails on a chalk board. In my opinion, these are the scariest little demons I have seen since Joe Dante’s Gremlins.

Overall, I was very pleased with this film, and Guillermo del Toro should be proud because he has provided audiences with a traditional horror film that goes back to the roots of horror’s true traits. It’s scary, shocking, funny, and entertaining all at once. Furthermore, the acting was terrific. I was very impressed with Katie Holmes performance because she really portrayed Kim’s role in a way that really made the audience feel for her as well. I believe she showed much improvement with her performance in this film. Meanwhile, Bailee Madison was the perfect image of a sweet innocent little Sally, and she really pulled off the role well especially as she learns to fight back later in the film. Guy Pearce did a good job as well portraying the father as a skeptic who we begin to feel sympathy for as he later believes his daughter. The film itself is a very awesome and fun horror film that is absolutely perfect to watch in a pitch black room with a bucket of popcorn and friends. However, I must say prepare to scream.

Repulsion Review by Erik Haley

Predating Rosemary's Baby by three years, Roman Polanski's Repulsion is one of the quintessential horror films of the 60s. Shot in black and white, the film still manages to combine disturbing images with a sound track to disturb the audience. Besides the horror aspect of the work, the film also provides an analysis of the sexual revolution in Britain in the 60s.In addition, the film has an interesting analysis of the idea of claustrophobia and isolation; the same themes showed up later in Rosemary’s Baby. The film, while it may seem dated today, is easily some of Polanski’s scariest work.

The plot seems fairly straightforward on first glance. Carole Ledoux is living in London in the 1960s, where the sexual revolution is in full swing. She lives with her sister, who enjoys the sexual freedom of the times. Carole, however, is extremely timid and refuses to take part in any event. Even Colin, a gentleman who wants to have a serious relationship, repulses her to a degree. When her sister leaves for a vacation to hang out with her boyfriend, however, Carole slowly falls apart. Her fears overwhelm her and she slowly falls into madness. The ending of the movie is bleak and Polanski does not pull any punches. WARNING: SPOILERS (Completely mad, she kills Colin when he tries to check and see if she is ok, fearing he may try to rape her. When her sister comes back, she is almost catatonic and is taken to a mental hospital; there is little hope that she will recover.) Only at the end of the film to we get even the slightest hint into what was the catalyst for Carole’s madness. It’s not pretty.

The true genius of the movie is that the horror is the slow descent into madness. There are plenty of hints and symbols to show her gradually losing her mind; the most famous example in the film is the rabbit that was left out and never cooked. Also, her hallucinations grow worse over time; while she first imagines cracks on the walls, she later has visions where arms emerge from the wall in an attempt to rape her in what may be the film’s most famous sequence. WARNING: SPOILERS Another well done sequence is when she kills Colin with a candlestick. The ferocity in her eyes is not acting in this scene. To get her sufficiently angry enough, Polanski forced her to redo the scene dozens of times until her anger at Polanski was channeled into the scene. Carole’s hatred for Colin is really Catherine’s anger at Polanski.

Of course, Catherine Denevue deserves a lot of praise. She is completely believable as the timid Carole slowly going mad. She pulls off the mad, violent Carole just as well as the shy Carole; not an easy thing to do. However, despite the horrible things she does after she loses her mind, the audience still remains sympathetic with her. Catherine is able to show Carole more as a frightened child than a crazy killer. The other cast members play their parts well but to be honest they seem more like side characters. The movie is really Catherine’s show.

Repulsion is a horror film without monsters, satanic rituals or mass murdering psychopaths. It is a film about how one week alone can be enough to drive someone insane. And it works spectacularly.

Black Swan Review By: Corbin Bond

Tonight I attended the opening night of the Virginia Film Festival and got the chance to see a premiere showing of the highly anticipated film by Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan. The film tells the tale of Nina a professional ballerina, played by Natalie Portman, who is extremely hard working in order to attain the lead role of her ballet company’s production of Swan Lake. The director of the production, played by Guy Pierce, is looking to create a new provocative form of the classic ballet by having the same dancer, performing as the Swan Queen, portray both the White Swan and her evil and seductive twin sister, the Black Swan. Nina, who is nothing but perfect for the White Swan, cannot produce the correct form of sensuality and eroticism that her director can accept for the Black Swan. However, with Nina’s lacking comes a new comer named Lily, played by Mila Kunis. Lily is a rival character to Nina’s goal in that she possesses the sexuality and eroticism that Nina lacks. Throughout the film, tension builds as Nina begins to see unnatural and disturbing visions that make the audience wonder if Lily is out to get her or another jealous character.

This film is all about tension and beauty paired with extremely disturbing images of sex and violence, including self mutilation. Furthermore, the film makes it very difficult to tell whether certain visions are real or simply illusions. What impressed me the most, was the film’s subtlety in terms of showing blood. Like John Carpenter’s masterpiece, Halloween, Aronofsky plays a similar hand in that Black Swan shows very little to no blood at all. However, even without the gore and bloodshed, this film still had the capability to make the entire audience cringe in pain. For example, one particular scene involved Nina pulling at what looked to be a piece of dangling flesh on her middle finger’s cuticle. She pulls and tugs at it, all while we hear the tearing and ripping of flesh. Then for a quick second we see her pull a long piece of torn flesh off of her finger. At moments like these, the audience, myself included, reacted by cringing and hissing in pain. While having mostly subtle images of blood, there are some rather grisly scenes in the film as well. I must say that Darren Aronofsky presented the violence beautifully in a way that seemed very reflexive of Dario Argento’s Suspiria.

Meanwhile, along with the violence and disturbing masochism, we also are given extremely sexual scenes and images. This film is extremely sexual in terms of body language, derogatory slurs, and even scenes of sex and masturbation. These scenes were intense, but revealed Nina as becoming more experienced. In the beginning, Portman portrays Nina as a very sweet and innocent character who develops herself into a much darker individual by the end. The story is of Nina’s metamorphosis into the one role she has obsessed over for years. Meanwhile, Lily seems to represent one of the sources of Nina’s corruption in how they are both complete opposites, and it seems to be Lily’s sexuality and attitude that attract Nina. Furthermore, we are given combinations of disturbing imagery with sex in specific scenes of the film. One scene, for example, involved Nina walking in on Lily having sex with what appears to be the director who is suddenly seen as a demonic visage with black wings. This ultimately provides the audience with a fusion of sex along with dark and disturbing imagery.

Overall, I must say, I was extremely impressed with the film. Having seen The Fountain, I have already been a fan of Aronofsky’s work, but Black Swan was absolutely the most beautiful, psychological, and disturbing film I have seen sinceShutter Island. I feel it is one of the best films of the year, and I couldn’t be happier that I got the chance to see it. Natalie Portman was truly exquisite, and this was her best performance ever. I definitely believe that she deserves the Oscar Nomination for Best Actress. She does a beautiful job in presenting a character that the audience can’t help but pity and, at times, even fear. Meanwhile, Mila Kunis, whom many know as the voice of Meg on Fox’s Family Guy, was also fantastic and also deserves an Oscar Nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Kunis presents Lily as the character the audience can love and hate simultaneously. Furthermore, Winona Ryder also makes a few appearances in the film as a jealous dancer, named Beth, who is forced to retire. She makes a very frightening and stunning return back to the screen in a very impressive way.

I must say, this movie is definitely Aronofsky’s masterpiece in that it produces the right amount of chills, thrills, and laughs. The camera work is phenomenal, and the art and set designs are gorgeous. Meanwhile, the artistry of the imagery of the film seems to beautifully reflect moments of Gothic literature. One could almost interpret it as a modern retelling of Swan Lake amalgamated with Edgar Allan Poe’s “A Tell-Tale Heart.” The plot is told at a very smooth pace, and by the ending the whole film flows together beautifully. I strongly recommend seeing this film. It’s dark, violent, disturbing, sexual, and absolutely beautiful and mesmerizing. It ultimately reveals Aronofsky’s artistry at its absolute finest.

The Crazies Review by Corbin Bond

We are always told to love thy neighbor, but what if your neighbor turned into a psychopathic monster. This is the premise of The Crazies, a remake of George A. Romero's 1970's original (and forgotten) film. I had never heard of The Crazies; however, this film made me realize that I didn't have to remember it at all because, like the Dawn of the Dead remake back in 2004, this film actually proved itself to be better than the original film.

The film tells the story of an Iowa farming community, called Ogden Marsh, that suffers a very strange epidemic after a U.S. military aircraft crashes into a local bog that happens to connect to the town's water supply. The scares occur immediately and build up throughout as a group of civilians, including the sheriff, his pregnant wife, his deputy, and a teenage girl, try to escape alive. However, they find that these infected town folk are not their only worries as the government steps in ordering a massacre on the town's infected and immune citizens. Thus we get the realization that we can no longer love thy neighbor, but fear him/her instead.

This film is very frightening and produces many successful jump scares, while building up tons of suspense and tension. One particular scene involved people strapped down on medical tables as an infected citizen carrying a pitchfork impales people continuously leading up to some of our leading characters. The whole time you can taste fear. It also brings about the idea that there is no safe place to go when you are being watched constantly by big brother.

The film is also very emotional as some very likeable characters are killed; however, this shows how the horror genre is unforgiving in certain situations. By the time viewers reach the finale, you think that the shocks have all ended, but believe me when I say that you haven't seen anything yet! This film has so much tension and atmosphere that by the end, you are completely blown away. I mean that quite literally!!! Check it out when you get the chance!

The House of the Devil Review by Corbin Bond

If you grew up in the 80's or even got a taste of late 70's/early 80's horror, then you should know that is a style of the horror genre that seems to have been thrown aside this day and age. However, Ti West has brilliantly resurrected this horror style with his latest American indie film, The House of the Devil.

This film, set in the glorious 1980's, tells the story of Samantha Hughes, a broke college student who needs to get $300 dollars to pay off the first month's down for her new apartment to escape the torment of her roommate. In her struggle to find money she comes across a flyer for babysitting. Samantha takes one of the slips from the flyer and calls the given phone number and gets the job that very night to sit for the Ulman family. This very odd family, reminiscent of the Adams family at times, surprisingly reveal that Sam is not to watch any children but take care of the family's old grandmother for the evening. Sam accepts the suspicious position for a whopping $400 dollars! However, she comes to find that the family she is sitting for have much more evil plans for her, for on this night of a lunar eclipse, all Hell will break loose (pun intended).

As the film begins, it feels like a huge retro trip with the opening credits reflecting Tarantino. Even the picture itself is grainy to match an early 80's style film. The music is very dark and atmospheric. Meanwhile, the actual background to the story adds to the creep factor.

The film is based on how in the early 80's nearly 70% of American adults believed in the existence of abusive satanic cults. That opening message presents viewers with a very chilling reality. Furthermore, it's brilliantly set in the 80's when cell phones, computers, facebook, etc. weren't even thought of yet. This gives one a classic feel of an old haunted house style story, where you are isolated and there is no where else to go. Though this film does give a very creepy atmosphere, it is very slow during the first 45 minutes. Some may get bored and decide to stop the movie; however, I must urge you to avoid that because the suspense and tension begin to heighten immensely as soon as Samantha enters the house. This tension is mainly built on the fear of what is going to pop out at you or suddenly happen to Samantha, even though nothing really happens but some very creepy noises and eerie silent moments. Finally, as the last few minutes of the film unfold, all of that fear and tension explodes into a climactic conclusion.

Not only does the story really work well, but it resembles a lot of old school horror films that didn't show off the true terror until the very end. This is the perfect film to sit and relax and watch during a cold fall night with all of the lights out. The suspense in this film is very effective and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves suspense.

The Wolfman Review by Corbin Bond

I am back with a new review, and this time it's the gory yet beautiful and stylish film that has been anticipated for almost two years. That's right!! I am reviewing The Wolfman!!

I must say that when I first heard about this film, I was nervous. I did not know if the filmmakers could reach the pleasing style that the original 1941 The Wolfman achieved. However, seeing this film opened my eyes completely. The whole 2 hours that I sat watching this film, I felt that audiences have been missing out on true Gothic style horror films. The style and dark atmosphere was depressing but gorgeous simultaneously. Not to mention that the musical score by the amazing Danny Elfman made me feel like I was in the Tim Burton world. Every death scene made me remember the dark yet beautiful deaths in Sleepy Hollow almost 11 years ago and especially Sweeney Todd back in 2007.

The acting by Oscar actor Benicio del Toro was perfect. The whole time I really felt pity for his character, Lawrence Talbot. Furthermore, along with the lovely Emily Blunt's character, Gwen, I felt as if this film was a dark rendition of Beauty and the Beast. Hugo Weaving also presented an interesting depiction of Constable Aberline who has come to the foreboding Blackmoor estate to find the cause of such vicious killings, while he also seems to be the person you like least. However, the absolute best actor in this film was Sir Anthony Hopkins who delivered another Hannibal Lector meets Van Helsing style with his macabre acting genius. Hopkins as Sir John Talbot delivers an enigmatic view of a character with some twisted senses of humor. I felt like I was watching a sequel to Bram Stoker's Dracula from 1992 at times. Speaking of humor, the film does have a few good comic relief moments.

I must say that this film had very good character development. The way we learn their back story almost makes it like a dark detective story with Poe like story telling and ambiguous mental visions like dream sequences and flashbacks. The makeup and costume designs were also very beautiful and realistic. Furthermore, besides this film's beauty it is also very bloody, and surprisingly I found myself looking away at some of the deaths. Be warned!!! This film may not cover you in blood literally, but your vision may become reddened for quite some time!!! Lol (only joking) One thing I did like about the deaths were that they looked like actual animal attack victims. This film definitely puts the gore in gorgeous if you know what I mean. One of the deaths actually made me laugh!!

Anyways, on to the CGI. I was worried when I heard about the CG effects because sometimes they take away from the film making it less believable. However, I was pleased to see that the CG in this film was quite impressive. The actual transformation scenes actually had me cringing multiple times at the continuous sounds of popping bones and snapping ligaments and stretching skin. There wasn't much CG, however, in every CG sequence it most definitely worked.

Another point that I feel that I must make nice and sparkling clear!!!! THIS IS NOT A SLASHER, CUT 'EM UP, GRINDHOUSE, RAUNCHY, GUT YOU LIKE A FISH HORROR FILM LIKE THE OVER PLAYED SAW FRANCHISE THAT SERIOUSLY NEEDS TO END!!!!! This is a respectable Gothic style horror film that needs to be appreciated for what it is. It uses symbolism throughout and even has some hidden commentary on society reflecting on such things as the torture conducted on individuals by terrorists or even the CIA with interrogations. It is a Gothic piece that stays in a dark, depressing, symbolic, and romantic atmosphere. It drives me nuts that people do not look for that in a film anymore, and because it doesn't show sex, drugs, and some psychopath hacking up idiotic teenagers people feel like they can go and give it a negative review.

A little piece of advice: IF YOU ARE GONNA REVIEW ALL FILMS BASED ON THAT IDEA YOU SHOULDN'T BE REVIEWING FILMS AT ALL!!!! The Wolfman is a monster movie; however, it is main focus that makes it a horror film is its violence and dark foreboding atmosphere. It also has terrific casting and acting as well as the perfect amount of death and carnage for any horror lover. There are some satisfying jump sequences along with a brutal as well as tragic storyline. I hope that everyone who reads this review will see this film with what I have said in mind!! Please show this film the respect it deserves unlike some people.

Rob Zombie's Halloween and Halloween 2 Review By Corbin Bond

I figured I would review my favorite two films to start things off. As many of you know, I am a huge horror fan, and unlike Siskel and Ebert who usually bash a majority of horror films they see, I tend to watch them and appreciate them more. I find the horror genre to be a much underappreciated franchise because some people do not seem to appreciate the true in depth meanings inside the film itself. First of all, horror is not meant to always make you jump out of your seat every five or ten minutes. It is also a very useful conductor for criticisms aimed toward society and especially emphases on the mind and how dark one’s mind can be. I tend to look at horror films not as scream fests, but as disturbing views on society and some of the people in it. Two perfect examples are Rob Zombie’s Halloween (2007) and Halloween II (2009). Both films have been slammed with negative criticism because many believe that it is nothing like the original or that it doesn’t give the iconic serial killer Michael Myers justice.

The first thing that came to my mind when I saw these reviews was: Are these people out of their minds? True the original Halloween is a classic and I am a huge junkie on the Halloween franchise; however, Rob’s remakes were never meant to be like the original two films. One of the main points he makes in his DVD commentary is that he wanted Michael Myers to not be supernatural. He wanted to make him a real human being with extreme psychotic capabilities. This makes Michael Myers actually terrifying again because after the original sequel to John Carpenter’s Halloween, Michael was no longer scary because he didn’t have any realistic qualities. Then, in August of 2007, Rob Zombie, the creator of House of 1000 Corpses and the enormously popular The Devil’s Rejects, released what would be the first part of a two part film that would ultimately be, in my opinion, the best Halloween film since the original Halloween 2 by far.

For those of you who already know the story and those of you who don’t, Halloween is a masterpiece of tragedy, suspense, and disturbing psychological events. Its main story focuses on psychopath, Michael Myers, in his hunt for Laurie Strode, his long lost sister. Rob’s 2007 remake, unlike the original, reveals Michael’s childhood in more light. We come to find out what he goes through both at home and at school with bullies and unloving families. We can also see how this affects him in how he kills small animals as an early warning sign for much greater problems. Ultimately, we come to see that madness explode as he kills a cruel school bully for ridiculing his mother, the only person who ever loved and appreciated him. Finally we come to the night where everything went horribly wrong, Halloween. We see Michael completely lose every rudimentary sense of right and wrong and life and death as he kills his cruel and uncaring stepfather as well as his older sister, Judith and her boyfriend who never cared for him at all. The only ones spared were his mother and baby sister, who would later be adopted after Michael’s mother committed suicide.

This opening presents us with a brutal view on how Michael’s insanity grew and went to terrifying proportions as he went through difficulties in his life. Without the ability to cope with these problems he could only spiral down farther until finally losing himself and going after his baby sister, who has now been adopted, named Laurie Strode. This terrifying stalking by Michael and his brutal murders to come as well would continue until the climatic confrontation between Laurie and Michael leading the first film’s sudden conclusion in which Laurie goes into complete shock after believing she had killed Michael by supposedly shooting him in the head.

When I first saw this film at the beginning of my senior year, I was surprised at how psychologically disturbing it was from beginning to end. It was especially disturbing for me, in how Michael as a child erupted into such a killing spree. However, this in turn shows how horror emphasizes the disturbing qualities in society. This film shows that inside all of us, there exists a darker side and though some learn to control others let it go out of control until it turns them into something ugly. Michael developed into a madman with the cunning and tameness of a wolf. Furthermore, unlike in the original, he is not the boogeyman, he has no supernatural gifts. He is a huge insane man who cannot be stopped until he has his sister again or he is completely mutilated himself.

Then, there is the character of Laurie, who starts off as someone we all could have met in high school. She appears to be an average and happy teenage girl who has quite a happy life. However, once Michael became introduced to the picture Laurie’s life began to darken. Scout Taylor Compton, who plays Laurie, does an excellent job in portraying her as a light and happy teenager whose world ends up turning into a roller coaster ride of unexpected losses and hardships leading up to the finale of the first film where she can only scream in shock after all of the haunting, macabre, and tragic events that occurred to her.

Now, we come to the second and final chapter of Rob’s remake with Halloween II, which was released in August of 2009. With this sequel Rob does an even more amazing job at depicting the psychological after effects of the events from the first film. The film starts with a psychological definition of a phenomenon known as “The White Horse.” Many failed to read this definition and were ultimately confused about it leading to negative reviews. It tells that “The White Horse” symbolizes violent rage and fury, and we can definitely see that in how this Halloween film is definitely the most brutal and disturbing Halloween film to date. Furthermore, we can also see more of Michael’s devotion to his mother in the opening as Michael’s mother tells him, after giving him a white horse statue, to think of mommy whenever he thinks of the horse. Suddenly we hear the gunshot and scream from the end of the first film followed by the haunting sound of church bells as Laurie walks the streets of Haddonfield blood drenched, soaking wet from the rain, and in a state of shock.

After seeing disturbing images of Laurie in the hospital, we find that Michael is actually still alive because the bullet apparently went to the side of the head, missing all vital points. However, it left Michael a bloody mess, as we can see his torn up mask covered in blood. After escaping the coroner’s van following a collision into a cow, Michael decapitates the last remaining coroner with a shard of metal from the debris. Following that first death scene, we see Michael’s mother all in white, like a ghost, holding the reins to a huge white horse.

Throughout the film, we see these visions of Michael’s mother and young Michael from the vicious killer’s point of view. Now, many have claimed this to be a copy of Friday the 13th in how Michael hears his mother like Jason does. However, this is in fact completely different, because Michael is seeing the mother in his mind, not his actual mother. He is thinking of mommy when he thinks of the white horse as a means of justifying his actions. The White Horse symbolizes his violent rage while his mental mother justifies that for him. Jason’s mother was simply a complete psychopathic ghost. In Michael’s case, this is all in his mind and not supernatural.

One quality that truly makes this film unique to all of the other Halloween films is how the characters are portrayed and develop. First of all, we see the character of Doctor Loomis, who has now done a complete 180 and changed from a concerned and sympathetic man to a money/fame hungry individual following his near death experience at Michael’s hands. He is now obsessed with telling the true story of what happened 2 years ago during the first film in his new book. Furthermore, he is unsympathetic to any of the serious repercussions to follow his book’s release. However, the most important character of interest has to be Laurie. After the events 2 years ago, she has completely collapsed into a very troubled and disturbed young woman in need of therapy and psychiatric medication. In the meantime, her relationship with her only surviving friend, Annie, has completely shattered as they both are constantly at each other’s throats throughout the film until Annie’s tragic and violent death near the film’s conclusion. Moreover, Laurie suffers from incredibly disturbing nightmares that tear her up mentally and emotionally as she continuously falls into madness following her brother’s footsteps.

These dream sequences are also very effective in making this film unique in how bizarre and disturbing they are in their addition to the film’s overall brutal atmosphere. Two of these nightmares, in particular, were very effective in adding to the films horror. The first involves Michael telling his mental mother that he has found Laurie (aka. Boo or Angel Myers). Young Michael leads his mother through a graveyard of black crosses all in black and white to what appears to be a mad tea party setting with snow steadily falling as three deformed pumpkin-headed creatures wine and dine while Laurie lays on the table sleeping. Suddenly, dead hands burst from the table grabbing and clawing at Laurie as she screams for dear life. The other dream/vision/attack occurs while Laurie is awake, as she constantly screams at Annie, telling her to die leading to her screaming in a glass coffin. Many of these attacks occur throughout the film even when Laurie is eating dinner showing how truly disturbed Laurie has become.

All of these horrific events lead up to the ultimate conclusion of the film as Laurie confronts her brother and mother. Michael abducts her and brings her to an abandoned shack where she is held captive until Dr. Loomis finally snaps back to his senses and comes to the rescue only to be finished off by Michael which ultimately leads to Michael’s death by firing squad as the police mutilate him with a barrage of bullets. Finally, we see Laurie who has completely collapsed into her own madness as she walks past her dead brother’s corpse and grabs the knife as a passing of the torch and prepares to attack Loomis more. However, Laurie ultimately meets a very tragic end presenting us with finality as Laurie is shot by a trigger happy cop and killed. Our last scene reveals Laurie’s last thoughts as she sees The White Horse and her mother coming towards her down a white hallway and she acknowledges her with a twisted smile to the tune of Love Hurts.

Overall, Rob Zombie’s Halloween films together present us with a realistic and tragic view at the world of Michael Myers. It is disturbing and brutal, but in the end it simply supports Norman Bates’ claim that “We all go a little mad sometimes.” These two films combined create one of the most original, brutal, and the best Halloween film by far as it completely shows how no matter what you do “family is forever.”

Wilderness Review by Samantha Mauney

As a lover of under-exposed films, I have a soft-spot for foreign films in general. Add horror-- one of the most under-appreciated movie genres, and it is no surprise why I enjoyed Wilderness as much as I did.

Wilderness is the story of a group of young British prisoners sent to a remote island for rehabilitation after tradgedy strikes in their cell back at the prison. However, when they get to the island, which is supposed to be uninhabited save for them, they find that they are far from being alone. First elated to find a small camp of girls also visiting the island, their delight quickly turns to terror as someone starts to pick the young teens (and their chaperones) off one by one.

If you like all and out gore-nography, I think that this is just might be the movie for you. Think Cujo meets Last House on the Left. Very bloody, yet understandable and tasteful at the same time. Definitely not for the squeemish, though.

The film is wonderfully shot in a sort of grey/overcast color, which is probably natural to where it was shot, but nonetheless adds a great and subtle visual tone. Refreshingly, suspense is gained very organically, not through camera tricks or obnoxious music.

This film also does an excellent job of tying up plot holes, which is not something that I can say for the majority of horror films released in the past five years. By the end of the movie, there are virtually no questions left in your mind. The motive of the killer is clear and understandable, as are the actions of all of the characters (some of which are more developed than others). This is due in part by the simple storyline, which, at best, is very clean, and at worst too predictable.

On the other hand, I think that the movie does a decent job keeping you guessing about the personality and general morality of the characters. Almost everyone in this film is a convicted criminal (or doing something that they probably shouldn't be), but in the end the human side of most of the characters is clearly revealed.

What didn't I like about this movie? The same thing that I don't like about most horror movies (SPOILER):

The black guy dies first.

The movie was made in 2006, so it's not as if I can tell you to see it in theatres. However, I would highly advise renting it if you can. In fact, Netflix members can watch the film instantly online.