Directed by Ronny Yu, 2008
Written by Daniel Knauf
Now here we go.  The early reviews of “FEAR ITSELF” all indicated that the show failed to kick off until episode three.  The early reviews were right.  FAMILY MAN, written by “CARNIVALE” creator and scribe Daniel Knauf, has an excellent script tailored specifically for the rise and fall […]

Directed by Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury, 2007
Written by Alexandre Bustillo
Centerfold to French horror nu-waver-cum-2007-fest-favorite INSIDE is, well, a festival of gore the crimson of which you’ve likely not seen in a while. I am normally not wont to praise a film whose visual brutality takes precedent over story, but there is an adventurous […]

Directed by Carter Smith, 2008
Written by Scott B. Smith
I hope with desperation that THE RUINS does well at the box office. DreamWorks, Red Hour Films and Spyglass Entertainment deserve the financial reward. Carter Smith, Scott B. Smith and the film’s five producers deserve the commercial approval, which is the only approval the […]

Written and Directed by Michael Haneke, 2008
Michael Haneke is a difficult filmmaker for me to review.  The man is a dense master worthy of the Kubrick comparison ax.  He can cut a scene like no ones business and he can stretch a take to the limit and beyond.  His rapport with actors is boundless, coaxing […]

Directed by Jamie Blanks, 2007Written by Everett De Roche
I’ve been circling STORM WARNING for weeks now, always suggesting to watch it, always finding an excuse not to, often landing on the knowledge it was made by the guy who did URBAN LEGEND. The IMDb plot description did little more to muster interest, "A yuppie […]

Written and Directed by Banjong Pisanthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom, 2007

I imported Shutter on a whim nearly three years ago.  This was when I was going to FSU, living by myself in a one-bedroom.  More specifically, it was during a period when I was watching Asian films almost exclusively — somewhere in the neighborhood of 12+ per […]

Directed by David Slade, 2007Written by Steve Niles and Stuart Beattie and Brian Nelson

Despite all of the sub-genres, all the crossovers and all the remakes, there are only two kinds of horror films, each defined within five minutes of its run time; 1) that which opens with a brutal slaying of a character unimportant to […]

Written and Directed by David Moreau and Xavier Palud, 2006

Clocking in at a very trim 77 minutes, featuring only two characters (not counting the opening pair, who exist only for an introductory jolt), and hailing from the land of Haute Tension, Ils is a near plot-less exercise in sustaining the slasheresque chase for as long […]

Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, 2007Written by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and Rowan Joffe & Jesús Olmo, Enrique López Lavigne

The torch has been passed.  Not just from original 28 Days director Danny Boyle to 28 Weeks director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, but from the apocalyptic consumer cannibalism of Romero’s Dead -ilogy to today’s Rage infected culture of […]

Directed by Christopher Smith, 2006Written by Christopher Smith and James Moran

Judging by how many people ask me where the image at the top of the site came from, Christopher Smith’s first film, Creep, never really reached the audience it deserved to.  However, The UK’ers sophomore film, Severance, undoubtedly will.  It is a simple and affable […]

Directed by David R. Ellis, 2006

Snakes on a Plane delivers.  Period.
That’s the only question anyone wants answered after months and months of hype machine out of control.  So if that was all you wanted to know, you can stop reading now. 
It seemed there were only two possible outcomes.  Either Snakes on a Plane was […]

Written by Stephen King, 2006

Leave it to Stephen King to not only find a way to bring some originality back to zombies, but to also make cell phones threatening past those silly brain tumors.
King’s severely pessimistic tale opens on the day of the apocalypse and ends a few weeks later, giving the reader a very […]

Directed by Banjong Pisanthanakun, Parkpoom Wongpoom, 2004. Review originally written 5-23-05

Once I actually bought it, it took me a while to get around to watching it, but it’s worth the wait. I’m a huge fan of the new wave of Asian cinema, but admittedly my knowledge of the Thai scene is extremely limited so […]

Directed by Christopher Smith, 2004

Our heroine, Kate, falls asleep waiting for a train on the London Underground while on her way to try to sleep with George Clooney. That really is how the plot kicks off. She wakes up alone and trapped in the sealed subway system. A train passes by (despite […]