Movie Review: “388 Arletta Avenue” (2011)

First-person/found-footage/point-of-view (POV) style movies don’t bother me as much as they do some horror fans. Sure, not all of them are good, but I don’t avoid a horror movie if I see that it is POV.

Last year when I learned of 388 Arletta Avenue, all I knew of the movie was that it was a horror movie with Devon Sawa and Nick Stahl–two actors I really like. I was also intrigued because, despite it being out for a few years, I hadn’t heard of it. After doing some (non-spoiler) research online, I was surprised to see many favorable reviews of it.

Movie Review: “Sorority House Massacre” (1986)

I somehow managed to go nearly 30 years without viewing this gem. As a child, I remember the Sorority House Massacre VHS cover in the rental store and thought it looked pretty menacing. An aside, I first began watching scary movies as a young girl, mostly enjoying USA’s Up All Night and TNT’s Monstervision weekend B-movie series. So I rarely actually checked movies out from the rental stores until I was older. But when my dad and I would peruse the stores after school, I would usually wander off into the horror section and admire the glorious 80s cover art. I digress…

When I saw this cover posted in Netflix, I instantly remembered it from when I was a child and realized I had never actually watched it and added it to my queue. I didn’t let it hang out there for long and sat down to watch it the following weekend.

Movie Review: “Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia” (2013)

I don’t know who this ethereal woman is, and levitating and fog have absolutely nothing to do with this film’s story, but I still really liked this movie!

As much as it pangs me to admit, and despite the fact that I will probably receive a lot of criticism for my approval, I really did enjoy Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia. I’m a supporter of all production categories of the horror film genre; I truly enjoy B-movies, low budgets, direct-to-video/streaming, indie, and yes even mainstream horror. I do think that mainstream horror has gotten a bad wrap in recent years (with the exception of some–for example, James Wan) but generally, I have liked much of the big budget horror I have seen recently.

Two other reasons I enjoyed this Ghosts of Georgia: 1) the ghost story is my favorite sub-genre of horror and 2) I’m from Georgia. I was interested in the historical aspect of the south because–I’m not biased or anything–but I think the south has such a rich (and albeit unsavory) history, I was interested in how it would be depicted in this movie.

Movie Review: “Alice, Sweet Alice” (1976)

Also known as “Communion,” Alice, Sweet Alice is almost criminally overlooked by horror fans. I had read recommendations for this movie in passing on multiple horror review sites and put it on my radar to watch at some point. I notice it available through Netflix awhile ago and there it sat in my queue for far too long. A few weekends ago on a quiet Saturday, I decided to attempt to watch it (with the boyfriend at my side–which means there’s a better chance I will actually finish a movie).

The movie starts off slow. Catherine Spages, mother of 12-year-old Alice and 9-year-old Karen (played by Brooke Shields) are visiting with their family priest. Karen’s communion is coming up and Father Tom gives Karen a customary Catholic communion gift, a crucifix. We first see here Alice’s extreme of her sister Karen. Desperate for attention, Alice sneaks off to the kitchen of Father Tom’s house and slips on a simple–yet effectively creepy clear mask along with the school-issued yellow rain slicker, and purposely sneaks up on Father Tom’s housekeeper, scaring her.

Back home, we see more favoritism of Karen and more of Alice’s insecurity and terrorism. Alice steals Karen’s favorite doll and lures her to an abandoned building where she traps Karen briefly, threatening to leave her there if she tells. Later on, we see their mother again doting on Karen, preparing her for the upcoming communion and ignoring Alice. Again seeking attention, Alice puts on Alice’s communion gown and veil and parades around the apartment upsetting Karen and their mom.

Movie Review: “Grabbers” (2012)

I was browsing Netflix Streaming last night looking for something entertaining, perhaps mindless to watch. I’ll interject here that I don’t typically watch Netflix movies during the week; my boyfriend and I had eaten an early dinner and were looking for something to watch on TV and there really wasn’t much on. Well, there were a few shows I’d have been okay with but the BF vehemently despises commercials and during prime time news, commercials seem more annoying than usual. I digress.

So I’d not heard of Grabbers, nor did any of the cast members ring a bell. The title was really off-putting–it sounded like a total cheese-fest, however, since I was honestly considering Sharknado, silly movie titles obviously don’t scare me away. The synopsis  for Grabbers states, “When alien monsters go on a murderous rampage on an Irish island, the only survivor is drunk — because alcohol makes blood toxic to the aliens. Now, as a sober cop tries to stop the carnage, the rest of the town must get wasted in order to survive.” I wanted to participate in the film as much as I could, so I cracked open a 24-oz can of Natural Lite I bought at a gas station on the way home from work and the BF and I hit the play button.