On this week’s episode of Slasher Studios Horror Podcast, our hosts Kevin Sommerfield and Andrew Beirl review the first three installments of the Final Destination series. The horror fun begins Wednesday night at 10PM central. Click on the link below to listen in live or to catch an archive of a previous podcast.
I have seen The Killer Next Door (aka Ronnie) (“K” of #AtoZHorror) for the first time and I wish I could dismember this movie ASAP. This movie had an interesting premise but a very weak pay off. Not only is it that the script and dialogue sound like it is unscripted, and basically all improv. The camera work is also really amateurs and like its on speed or something at some bits. The cover might fool you that its a straightforward slasher but this movie hardly passes as a psychological thriller for me. The acting was okay to decent, the only actor that I considered ‘good’ was Adam Scott, mainly because the focus and direction was on his character and its the most I have seen of him so far in a movie starring him. It is still one of his weakest movies however.
The characters in this are also utterly unlikable. This movie is depressing to watch, works on the nerves and is really unbelievably amateur. You can totally see how low budget this movie is! I would not recommend you to watch this movie at all (or you must be a hardcore Adam Scott fan) cause its not worth a single penny. The Killer Next Door is a cheap example of how movies should NOT be made, I hope the makers of this movie learned from this, if they’re still in business. As for my DVD copy? Consider it done…
–Ferdi Akkulak
Well I have finally seen Jaws for the first time (“J” of #AtoZHorror in August) and to be honest, my expectations were pretty high for this one! Did it live up? Not quite, but I still thought this is a masterfully made thriller that manages to slowly but surely build up the suspense and tension. What mostly worked for me was the fine direction by the legend himself Steven Spielberg, the actors were really strong in character (especially Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss), the score of Jaws is really memorable and is very suspenseful, I liked the cinematography and art direction. I also thought the kills and especially the shark attacks were really well done, they felt like a grand climax and you knew that the fear was there. There were also a fair amount of blood and scares which kept me as a horror fan really interested.
There were also some things that I felt didn’t work. In some scenes I had the feeling that this movie dragged on for too long and focused a lot on the characters, which wasn’t necessary. Scenes like these really bored me but part of me also got upset by this cause the movie was basically going to a way different direction than I wanted to. I feel like this movie would’ve been better off if it’d be 20 minutes shorter. Overall Jaws is a great thriller that I would recommend to anyone, its nowhere near perfect but I still had a good time watching it. There was a surprise amount of depth and drama in it that will always make it stick out above future entries in the sub genre.
–Ferdi Akkulak
I have seen Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles and I thought it was a pretty solid vampire movie. It definitely had something going on to separate it from other entries in the sub genre. What I mostly liked were the phenomenal performances by Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and especially a stand out performance by the young, talented and lovely Kirsten Dunst. This is a one of a kind performance in her slate of movies and should’ve gotten her an Oscar nomination. Such a strong and focused acting performance! I liked Christian Slater in his role but, in my opinion, Antonio Banderas was hugely miscast in this. I won’t go further into this, its just too obvious to ignore.
I loved the style by Neil Jordan in this, the settings, the costumes, the visuals, the blood and not to forget the brilliant make up effects. This movie, of course, had some problems, it dragged for too long in quite some scenes which took some of the focus on the story away. This movie did have some unfortunate twists as well. Overall its a great vampire movie of its kind and actually one of the best I have seen. I do however feel that Byzantium is a much better vampire movie. I still highly recommend this movie and I already ordered my Blu-ray since I wanna upgrade!
–Ferdi Akkulak
I have finally seen Halloween (1978) for the very first time (“H” of #AtoZHorror in August) and as everyone told me, I loved it! This movie has easily become one of my favorite horror movies of all time! Halloween doesn’t need to rely on blood and gore and is perfect in its way of building up suspense and showing our scary and mysterious killer. Halloween is one of the best scored horror film I have ever seen and benefits from having perfect camera work by the legendary John Carpenter, a simple but really interesting story, astounding cinematography and some strong and fun acting performances by Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, P.J. Soles and Nancy Loomis. As a matter of fact, Laurie Strode has just become one of my personal favorite final girls and scream queens.
I loved how much effort Jamie Lee Curtis put in this fascinating and totally likeable character. I can go on for much longer telling you how much I loved it but Halloween is a suspenseful cult classic and a groundbreaking entry in the horror genre. This is a must see/have for every (horror) movie fan out there! Michael Myers is a really menacing, vicious and scary killer.
–Ferdi Akkulak
I have seen Friday the 13th Part III for the first time and to be honest my expectations weren’t all that high to begin with. When I saw it, I was kind of disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, it has some great things going on but it just feels weak when looking at the original and Part 2, which are far better. What worked for me was the cool compilation of what went down in the previous installment (that’s great seeing in every F13 sequel), the opening credits were VERY groovy and so 80s, the kills as usual are inventive and bloody, some of the characters (Shelly, Fox & Debbie) were so much fun, this is the one where the infamous hockey mask of Jason Voorhees was presented for the first time and the scene in which we see that is EPIC, I loved how cheesy it got sometimes and of course the obvious 3D gags that were fun in 2D too. Jason was played extremely well by Richard Brooker as well, may he rest in peace.
Now this movie had lots of flaws! First of all it has a really bad final girl (Dana Kimmell as Chris) who did nothing else than screaming, hiding and whining without pulling out a good fight. I find it an insult compared to Alice and Ginny… This is really a comedown after the spectacular Part 2 if you ask me! The movie in general has bad acting, and some really annoying characters. I also feel that the dream sequence has been done to death in the third entry, it feels tired and repetitive. The final act is nowhere near as suspenseful and powerful as its predecessor. I found Part III okay but nothing special, could’ve been much better, its still not entirely terrible. Still recommend it to the horror fans in general to give this a watch. Might consider upgrading to Blu-ray… Again, its too bad this never got re-released in Real 3D, the way it was made for.
–Ferdi Akkulak
I have watched Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed for the first time (“G” of #AtoZHorror in August) and I thought this sequel wasn’t on par with the original but I could’ve expected that. This movie took a whole different direction and that was definitely noticeable with the storyline, characters and locations. What I liked about this movie was that Emily Perkins’ character: Brigitte, was given a lot more screentime and more to do. Her character was somehow interesting to follow and the performance by the actress was outstanding, you could see that her acting grew in those 4 years after the original. I also really loved Tatiana Maslany as Ghost, really fascinating character that came out of nowhere but her character was really likeable and I love how she bonded with Brigitte. I even surprisingly liked the story and the locations, they’re nowhere near as good as the original but it wasn’t a huge issue in this sequel for me.
Things I didn’t like in Ginger Snaps 2 were how small the role of Ginger (played by the fabulous Katharine Isabelle) got… They should’ve given her more screen presence as her character is far more likeable than Brigitte and they’re sisters at the end of the day. The ending, while surprising, also felt a bit rushed to me… I did feel that the make up effects were a great improvement over the original. I liked some of the plot twists in this one! This is not a bad sequel, it could’ve been worse but it could’ve been better too… Its well worth a watch if you are a fan of the original Ginger Snaps and I recommend it to horror fans in general too. It was a fast paced sequel that had its flaws but managed to keep most cliches at bay. Interesting to see how Ginger Snaps Back – The Beginning will be…
–Ferdi Akkulak
On this week’s episode of Slasher Studios Horror Podcast, our hosts Andrew Beirl and Kevin Sommerfield will be chatting with author David Zernhelt about his brand new book, The Camp Crystal Lake Diaries : An Exploration Into Friday The 13th. The fun begins Wednesday night at 10PM central so make sure to call in with any questions you may have for David!
To listen live or to check out an archive:
Slasher Studios Podcast: David Zernhelt (The Camp Crystal Lake Diaries)
As many of you many know, Slasher Studios’ second slasher feature, Dismembering Christmas, was successfully funded last week through Kickstarter. We cannot wait to make this the gory Christmas slasher that you’ve been waiting for and cannot thank you enough for the incredible support. As a reward, we have a very special gift for the backers from the punk-pop group The Robinsons. We worked with them on Don’t Go to the Reunion and they are back creating some kick-ass Slasher Studios tunes just for you!
The Robinsons would like to thank all of the Dismembering Christmas Kickstarter backers for supporting independent artists and for helping another slasher reach the screen. We are huge fans of Slasher Studios and recently recorded songs inspired by their films. The EP will be released online for free this Halloween via Ramone to the Bone Records, but, as a backer, you will be able to download the tracks now by using the link provided in the most recent Kickstarter email. Thanks for supporting indie cinema and indie music!!
Like Dismembering Christmas on Facebook:
Dismembering Christmas Facebook
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The Robinsons Facebook
I have finally watched Friday the 13th Part 2 for the very first time (“F” of #AtoZHorror in August) and I dare to admit that I loved it slightly more than the original, which I love too! This is one of the best slasher sequels I have ever seen along with the likes of Scream 2. I love how the continuing story picked up after the events of the original. Its definitely my favorite installment of the Friday the 13th franchise as of yet.
I thought the characters were very likeable, and my favorite character was of course Ginny played by the talented Amy Steel. Her tour de force performance won me over and I crown her as the best F13 final girl! What a smart, intelligent, witty and loveable character she portrayed! Props… I really liked every kill, loved how some of them were really unexpected and turned into a jump scare. I really dug the score in this as well, done by the always amazing Harry Manfredini! This is such a well done sequel, I fell in love with the characters and I thought it was very fast paced too, no loose ends! I adored the small but memorable part of Adrienne King (Alice) in this movie. The suspensefull final act is hands down my favorite part of the movie cause we saw a strong female heroine being born! I also kind of dug Jason in the sack mask to be honest…
All by all, a fantastic slasher sequel and an amazing installment in the F13 franchise that I highly recommend to all you slasher fans! This is getting an upgrade to Blu-ray from me, that’s how much I loved it! Cannot wait to see the segment of Part 2 on the Crystal Lake Memories documentary and to watch Part 3!
–Ferdi Akkuklak