Movie Madness: Haunt (2013)

So last night, Eric and I cringed through some of Netflix's choices before 'Max' gave us this... piece of "work".

Netflix predicted that I wouldn't even give this two stars. So let's just say... I was pleasantly surprised.

'Haunt' is about a family that moves into a new home after the previous family had a traumatic incident. The Ashers (we'll mainly concentrate on the son, Evan) move in after everyone in the Morello family but the mother has died. Evan meets his new neighbour named Sam, and they soon discover that something is trying to communicate with them... and whoever is trying to communicate isn't exactly being "polite".

I was shocked! At first I wondered why Netflix thought I would despise this, and then I realized that this was distributed by IFC Films (they're involved in very hit-or-miss stuff; here's a list of stuff they've released, in case you want an idea of their extremes haha.). Like many horror films, it was a little slow at times, but it actually had better pacing than most of the horror films I've watched so far this month.

I will admit, nothing really "scary" happens until the end; this is more about the characters than giving you some fright, really. But it holds a really creepy atmosphere that'll keep you tense until the credits start rolling. (I was shocked when I occasionally shrieked.)

So, don't be completely turned off by this film if Netflix suggests that you also won't like it - give it a bit of a chance and you may be surprised! I thought for this guy's directorial debut, it actually did a surprisingly good job at being creepy yet interesting.

If you have any suggestions or comments, feel free to leave me a comment below or send me an email!

Have a terrifying Tuesday!

xo, Kate

Movie Madness: The Frighteners (1996)

This has not been an extremely pleasant month so far. I dunno. I'm uninspired to write here and I just can't wait to be done school so I can have a career and move. I feel ancient and lazy. I treated myself to an obscene amount of Starbucks hot chocolate (with soy milk and no whipped cream!) because why not?

But hey, let's talk about movies!

Netflix didn't give me a simple horror category tonight, so I used the power of its Max feature to get me a film, and this is what I was given!

Directed by Peter Jackson, 'The Frighteners' is about an architect (played by Michael J. Fox) who becomes a psychic investigator after his wife dies in a car accident. He primarily works as a con man until he realizes that there's an actual terror in the town that only he can see.

I love 90s movies. That's one of my favourite film periods. They're typically silly and the fashions were so great then. It's one of my favourite decades. (But hey, I was growing up in that time period, so maybe that's where the bias comes from.) It also doesn't hurt that I've always been madly in love with Michael J. Fox.

I'm in that camp of people that really likes Peter Jackson; I feel like a lot of people are pretty divided on his work, but I typically enjoy his stuff. This was a bit on the goofy side for him (I mean, this is no Tolkien-based film, heh) but this was nice! This would probably be a better horror film for those who like horror-comedies, or perhaps even children. Then again, I'm a bit more liberal than some people when it comes to what films you show children, so always take that into consideration.

This reminded me of a chain of horror-comedies from the 90s: Beetlejuice, Casper, Hocus Pocus. This is a slow film at times, but it has some fun moments and I was pleasantly surprised! I'll admit I judged this by the cover a little bit and didn't expect this to be so comedic and light, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

If you guys have any horror suggestions for this month, feel free to leave a comment below or send me an email!

Have a creepy-crawly night!

xo, Kate

Movie Madness: The Ward (2010)

Earlier this week, Eric took me out to this lovely restaurant in Jamison called Wild Ginger II (as you can guess, there are other locations). They used to provide some really unique vegan alternatives there, but the menu has changed and they have a new cook. It's still good. It's just not the same. It's not as varied and the waitress we had wasn't exactly um... "together", I guess. I dunno. I tried to be really nice about it anyway though.

Tonight's horror choice was made through Netflix's "Max" option. He's been really hit-or-miss lately, heh.

I really wanted to like this, you guys. I really like John Carpenter's work. Well, most of the time. But this was just a stinker. I haven't liked Amber Heard in anything I've seen her in yet, but at the same time she isn't a terrible actress either so I keep giving her the benefit of the doubt. But this just wasn't worth it.

'The Ward' is a film where a woman named Kristen is institutionalized and terrorized by a ghost. She soon realizes that this ghost is killing off the women in the ward, and she decides to try to escape from this nightmare.

Warning: Spoilers ahead!

This movie doesn't really pick up or get too interesting until the last ten minutes. Within the last ten minutes of the film, it's revealed that Alice (the ghost) is actually Kristen's real identity, and that Kristen and the other girls of the ward were just other personalities that Alice created in order to overcome a childhood trauma.

This actually reminded me of a horror version of the FABULOUS TV show 'The United States of Tara'. (I really recommend 'The United States of Tara', and it's available to watch on Netflix and Amazon Prime. It was unfortunately canceled so there's only three seasons, but it actually wraps up fairly well.)

I just, I couldn't get into this. I was bored within the first thirty minutes, but I kept going just in case things started to get interesting. It wasn't the "unwatchable" level of boring at that point.

I should've just turned back.

It's a shame. I feel like there was a lot of potential in this film that just didn't get to shine through.

Who knows, maybe next time!

I hope you all enjoyed this review though! If you have any suggestions for scary films or Halloween horrors, feel free to leave me a comment below or send me an email!

Trick on, my ghouls!

xo, Kate

Sailor Moon Saturday #14!

So, as promised, I will be taking some breaks during my horror Halloween month to continue my Sailor Moon Saturday entries. So, fear not! You'll still get weekly Sailor Moon updates and information.

Today for my literature class, I had to watch the film 'Barbarella', and it's so awful that I've actually paused it to watch Sailor Moon and write this entry. It's SO BAD you guys. It's sexist and gross and boring. There are so many other sci-fi films to watch that would be less of a waste of time. (This class, mind you, is a literature class based around women in gothic fiction, so I'm not entirely sure WHY we're watching this. I tried to recommend The Turning of the Screw/The Innocents, but I was instantly turned down. Meh, whatever.)

So instead of doing schoolwork, I'm just gonna share this with you guys.

(Warning: This post will be spoiler-heavy and filled with images from this week's episode.)

Today's episode is entitled 'Act 7 - Mamoru Chiba, Tuxedo Mask'.

So, Usagi finally knows that Mamoru is Tuxedo Mask. FINALLY.

We're also finally given the reason as to why Mamoru has been searching for the Legendary Silver Crystal - his parents died in a tragic car accident when he was a young boy, and in that accident he lost all of his memories. So, he feels as though he will remember who he is if he's able to get his hands on the crystal.

Meanwhile, Luna talks to a mysterious person (obviously it's Sailor V, just in case you guys are oblivious when it comes to silhouettes and such) about the enemy, whose power is growing.

We're finally shown that it's not actually Queen Beryl who's in charge, but Queen Metalia.

Queen Metalia is just this shapeless smoke entity, so I don't really know why everyone is so freaked out by it. (Although everyone in LOST was freaked out by the Smoke Monster, so maybe Metalia is on that level of freakiness too.)

Also, maybe I wanna just brag a little bit because I'm an Apple user/fan, but even the smartest character on the show clearly appreciates Mac products. (Wink wink.)

I wish Umino would show up more. He's fun comedic relief.

Although... Usagi works as the comedic relief too.

(I wish this watch was real. I'd use it all the time.) Usagi is also clever enough to kind of stay quiet about Mamoru/Tuxedo Mask around the others.

And yet again we have a moment where the Sailor V in the video game is talking to Usagi, only this time it's in front of the group so she knows she's not just imagining things! Hurray!

Zoisite captures Sailor Moon near the end and threatens to kill her, and he and Tuxedo Mask talk about the crystal for a bit before Tuxedo Mask admits that, while he did want the crystal at first, now he's basically devoted to Sailor Moon. It's a nice sentiment, although he should still focus on his dreams as well. (Unrelated, but this is a big part of why I don't like Disney's film 'Tangled' - a lot of people that I know LOVE it and are confused as to why I don't, but I hate when Rapunzel makes her "dream" into Eugene, rather than doing something for herself. But, moving on.)

Zoisite is definitely about to kill Sailor Moon when Sailor V (and her trusty sidekick, Artemis) step in at the last second! Finally, Sailor V is here!

I really enjoyed this episode. I love Mamoru/Tuxedo Mask episodes. And I'm really excited for the next one. (Sailor Venus was my favourite Sailor Scout for the LONGEST time, and even now she's pretty much tied with Sailor Moon.)

The next episode of Sailor Moon Crystal will be debuting on October 18th and is entitled 'Act 8 - Minako, Sailor V'.

I currently watch the show on Crunchyroll, but you can also find it on Hulu.

If you have any comments or suggestions for this month's Horror theme, feel free to leave a comment below or send me an email!

xo, Kate

Movie Madness: Blood Lake: Attack of the Killer Lampreys (2014)

Okay, so try not to laugh.

This is a completely serious review, I promise.

But I found this... "gem" on Netflix, and I had to share.

Why didn't I know about this sooner!?

I'm assuming this was Animal Planet's response to the popularity of SyFy's film series 'Sharknado'. Although I can't understand why Animal Planet would contribute to fear-mongering against animals. That seems a bit contradictory to me. They probably assumed that people wouldn't attempt to go on a lamprey killing spree after this film. (And I mean, that's probably why they chose lampreys as the antagonistic animal; people are more likely to go after sharks or wolves or something over um, lampreys. But moving on.)

I could instantly tell this was a TV movie when I put it on. It's filmed the same way. I was pleasantly surprised when Shannen Doherty showed up (I actually like her acting, despite the negative view people have of her because of her supposed diva attitude.) AND I MEAN CHRISTOPHER LLOYD IS IN IT SO THAT'S AN INSTANT WIN. I mean, my Macbook Pro is named Lloyd after him, so I kind of freaked a bit. There's just a surprising cast all around (Zack Ward is in it too! Ugh, I love him.)

I laughed when I hit play on this at first, but it's a fun movie. It's like if someone watched 'Jaws' too many times (actually, no - there's no such thing as watching 'Jaws' too many times) and went "Hey, let's do the same thing but with lampreys and in a small town!".

There are killer lampreys swimming around this small town, and Mayor Akerman wants it to stop. After massacring the fish population, the lampreys turn a bit bloodthirsty and start to go for the people of the town. How will this be stopped!?

I actually found this entertaining. It's more of a horror-comedy than a pure horror film. It's in the same stream of films as 'Sharknado', so if you're not a fan of that then you probably won't enjoy this. It is a little gorier though, so if you're not into that then you might want to skip this too. (I mean, like I said this is a fairly funny film so the gore isn't "serious", but I know some people who get really queasy around blood so I figured I'd mention it anyway.)

This is the film you should show during a Halloween party. It's silly and you can watch it while you drink, and it's just fun for everyone. I was pleasantly surprised by this film, and I'm sure I would've enjoyed it even more if I had seen it with a group of friends!

Like I said before, you can stream this on Netflix. (Although when I found it, it was only listed as 'Blood Lake' so just type that in.)

And before I officially end this entry, let's take a second to talk about lampreys.

I'll be honest, I hadn't known the official name for them before I watched this. I just called them, you know, "eels". When they talked about them in the movie and showed the bites on the victims, they actually reminded me of cookiecutter sharks! They actually have a similar mouth, which kind of "suctions" onto the victim and leaves a circular bite mark.

I found a really nice and basic anatomy picture of lampreys on the Wikipedia page that I found really interesting, too!

I kind of thought Christopher Lloyd was joking when he talked about lampreys as food (I don't know why - I used to eat sushi a lot, though now I strictly stick with vegetable rolls, and eel is always easy to find on the menu). But apparently they were eaten as a "high class" food by the Romans and Europeans back in the day.

Figured I'd end this with some information about the animal so you guys won't go off on a "lamprey hunt". No more "Jaws effect" on animals, ya dig? Animals for all!

If you have any Halloween-themed suggestions for the blog, feel free to leave me a comment below or send me an email!

xo, Kate

Movie Madness: The Innkeepers (2011)

So for my Halloween movie reviews, I'm kind of writing some of these ahead of time (to prevent them from interfering with my schoolwork, and just in case a big assignment is dropped on me at the last second and I get super busy), so I apologize in advance if my tenses are kind of mixed up at times! It's hard writing stuff ahead of time, haha.

So the other night, I decided to just pick the first horror movie I stumbled upon on Netflix for these reviews. To kind of pick blindly, really. And this was the pick!

As I stated above, I went into this pretty blind. I looked up the cast as this dragged went along and was shocked to find that there was a veteran 'Top Gun' actress in it, as well as a guy who had a bit part in 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier'! Where they got the budget for this, I'll never know. Maybe these actors really needed the money, because that's the only explanation I can think of as to why they'd star in this garbage.

Claire and Luke are employees at the Yankee Pedlar Inn, an inn that's closing next weekend and is supposedly super haunted. Before it closes, they want to find some sort of concrete proof that the place really is haunted and to show it to the world. (I wonder if they'll ever regret that choice.)

Before I go into my scathing review, I will point out that the Yankee Pedlar Inn is a real place and it's also supposedly haunted.

I wish I could slap these people and get my time back. I paused it multiple times and groaned "Man, it's STILL not over!?". I kept forcing myself through it in order to give you guys a complete review, but it was just not worth it.

I tend to really like slow movies, but good GOD. Nothing even remotely paranormal happens until a good chunk of the film has passed, and even then it adds nothing to the story - no character development, no fear, nothing to even laugh at for being so bad. There's just NOTHING here.

This reminded me of a film I'd expect to see from the film students at my college, if I'm being frank. It was dull as dirt.

You can stream it on Netflix if you don't mind wasting an hour and forty one minutes of your life, but seriously. Skip it. There are so many other good horror films on Netflix. Even I rated this one star, and I usually give "pity" ratings to movies. But no. I wish I could've given this zero stars. And then removed it from Netflix. And then removed it from the planet.

If you guys have any suggestions for scary movies or fun Halloween recipes or crafts, leave me a comment below or send me an email and I'll read it when I can!

Hope you guys are having a spooooooooky day!

xo, Kate

Movie Madness: The Final (2010)

This week has been kind of all over the place. Right now I'm just overwhelmed. I'm scared that I'll never be married or have kids or have a steady job. All of these are incredibly valid fears.

And that's what we'll be discussing on this blog during the month of October. Fear.

For the month of October, I'll be posting reviews of scary movies (and possibly books), posting some cute little recipes, and even talk about some cheap craft projects you can do for any Halloween parties you guys might be hosting!

Let's start with a movie.

Netflix has a rather extensive horror selection. And I mean, it's not known for being filled with "quality" examples of cinema, but let's check it out.

I picked the first thing that showed up on my list that wasn't a sequel.

The premise of this film is really simple - the kids who are bullied in high school get revenge on their popular bullies. It's easy, and something everyone can relate to. I refuse to acknowledge anyone that says they didn't have at least one bully. I mean hell, almost a decade later and I STILL have high school idiots that absolutely refuse to leave me alone. How pathetic is that? Some people just never grow up.

Supposedly this is partly based around a true story in which teens planned revenge against their bullies, but I haven't been able to find a solid source about this. So if any of you internet sleuths find anything, send me a message and I'll include it in this post!

This was kind of a mixed bag. There were some parts that moved quickly and have a fun horror-parody feeling (like a Scary Movie kind of deal) but then there were scenes where everything draaaaaaaagged.

There were some parts the were creepy. I mean, I find most masks to be creepy in general (which kind of stems from the same place of coulrophobia - the fear of clowns). We talked about this in my AP Psychology class in high school, but people tend to be afraid of clowns because our brain is confused by the makeup - like painting a frowning face onto a smiling person. It's weird, and our brains are like "WHAT THE WHAT" and get freaked out. Well, some of us anyway. Clowns don't really bother me, but I know a lot of people who are TERRIFIED of them. But I do get freaked out a little by masks, and this movie really plays into the mask thing.

Some of the torture methods are pretty interesting too, especially considering we're supposed to believe that teenagers came up with them.

ALTHOUGH, I did laugh when I realized something. Is anyone else here a Parks & Recreation fan? If so, you may remember the character Orin. A friend of April's, he's this creepy kid that has weird performance art shows and freaks out Leslie and Ben on a few occasions. And guess what? He plays Jack in this film. So, I guess it's interesting to know that he seems to be typecast.

Overall, this wasn't the worst horror film I've seen, but it was incredibly slow. I wouldn't give it another watch. Avoid this if you're squeamish, but even that's a light warning because despite the torture, it's actually not too graphic (besides one scene involving fingers).

I guess if you really have the need to give this one a try, you can stream it on Netflix or Amazon Prime.

If you have anything you'd like to see for my Halloween month, feel free to leave me a comment below or send me an email!

Until next time, lovelies!

xo, Kate