Housebound (2014) – movie review

Housebound (2014)

Written & Directed by Gerard Johnstone

Starring
Morgana O’Reilly
Rima Te Wiata
Glen-Paul Waru

 

A tough young couple get caught robbing an ATM machine. The woman, Kylie, gets sentenced to house arrest. It is clear that she has a strained relationship with her mother, thinking she’s kinda’ loopy because she claims their home is haunted. The first ten minutes of the film are ultimately serious so I was surprised to discover that the film evolves into a black comedy. It’s dry humor, like British humor, (the film is actually from New Zealand), but it is damn funny stuff. Kylie finally realizes her mum is telling the truth about the strange occurrences in the home. The film gets absolutely zany when her probation/security officer gets involved as a ghost hunter and they unravel a mystery that entails several events in the neighborhood. You warm up to Kylie, her personality and her mum, and cheer when they start working together against the dark secret of their home.

If you like Shawn of the Dead, Black Sheep, and Reanimator, you’ll probably like this. It’s less paranormal, not as gory, and more like a horror thriller, but it’s enjoyable and I found myself laughing out loud several times during the film. If you like horror and comedy together, give it a watch. See it before they remake the American version. It’s currently on Netflix Streaming.

Don’t pay any attention to the low ‘star’ rating on Netflix, this is a zany, hilarious, comedy-horror; just give it a little time to get rolling.

I give it 4.0 gnarly twisted thrillers out of 5 on the fall on my bum laugh scale!

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parlor of horror – horror movie reviews

 

Cecil and Bubba Meet The Thang – book review

Cecil and Bubba Meet The Thang
by Terry M. West

A 50’s style sci-fi alien movie crossed with a modern duo reminiscent of Abbott & Costello, Simon Pegg & Nick Frost, or Dale & Tucker, describes this tale fairly accurately. Fun, fun, fun. These guy’s may not be the smartest, but they make up for it with heart. Originally beginning as a short story in West’s short story collection, What Price Gory, it was clear that Cecil and Bubba had more adventures ahead of them. They are comical characters that we can all learn something from. The Aliens have landed but luckily our boys are ready to whoop some Martian ass! The novelette is fast-paced and enjoyable reading for the fan of low-brow horror. You don’t have to be familiar with the original story to read this one because it explains all the particulars you need to know. Look forward to more tales about these two comrades from Pleasant Storm, TX.

Cecil and Bubba Meet The Thang on Amazon

John Dies at the End – Movie Review (2012)

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John Dies at the End (2012)

It takes a lot for me to laugh at a modern comedy, but in the first 10 minutes of this film I was hysterical. Let me give you the run-down. A girl calls John who calls David (our main character) about a spirit in her home. David and John go to investigate, they discover the girl is actually the spirit, they shoot at her, a freezer opens up and an assortment of meat products assemble into Lady Gaga at the music awards, doorknobs turn to dicks, John calls a spiritual guru, Dr. Albert Marconi, on the cell phone, lets him talk to the evil demon personally – meat gets cooked!

From there it’s ‘down the rabbit hole” style chaos, and a comedic maze of a plot, that is somehow easy to follow. Some black drug from Planet-X causes David to see things that he shouldn’t be able to see and the tale escalates into a spiritual slugfest of good vs. evil. I can’t explain too much more because it would seem so ridiculous and you would probably disregard this film. You should watch this!

Directed by John Coscarelli (Phantasm) and written by David Wong, who shares the same name as the main character, it is filled with thought provoking existential questions, such as; Do you ever wonder why sometimes you see a single shoe alongside the road? And, What’s it like to go crazy? You just feel regular as the rest of the world goes crazy around you…

This is the funniest horror-comedy since Shawn of the Dead. It is a horror, subgenre: bizzaro, comedy, action, adventure movie, and a lot of fun to watch.

Teeth (2007) – movie review

Teeth (2007)
Dimension Extreme

Teeth is not a full-tilt horror movie but has an underlying horror element at its core. It is also part comedy and part coming-of-age movie, that plays heavily on strange drama. In the written form this would be considered a weird tale, a special subgenre of horror. The film follows the life of a young lady, Dawn, (Jess Weixler) in a religious vow of purity, as she comes to grips with her own sexual awakening.

Unbeknownst to Dawn, she has a much different physiology than the other girls at her high school. She soon learns this difference, along with her unsuspecting young love interest, Tobey. It seems that Dawn was born with vaginal dentata – yes, a set of sharp teeth down there. Whenever she becomes frightened, nervous, angry or alarmed, the teeth clamp shut. Good luck to any horny young man who thought he was getting some, only to realize he has lost something instead. There are a couple of graphic scenes depicting this, which will have any guy squirming in their seat. The horror is counterbalanced with some highly comedic elements including an overzealous gynecologist who, after a struggle, loses a few fingers during Dawn’s first examination.

Through these horrific and comedic elements, the film provides commentary on the modern dysfunctional family and the plight of a young woman against the unrelenting, conqueror male ego. Although it is not the typical horror film, I could not resist getting caught up in the story, mostly because Jess Weixler plays the part of Dawn to perfection. With a performance like this one, I am surprised she hasn’t been offered some major roles in bigger films. I was engrossed throughout her discovery, journey, and final transformation into accepting the monstrous truth of what she is and what she will become.