GhoulieJoe

‘Ju On: The Grudge’–I Wuvs!

Japanese movie, directed by Takashi Shimizu. This is the film the 2004 American remake (also directed by Shimizu) draws the most from (there is also Ju On: The Curse), and I’m not counting the Japanese sequel. A woman named Kayako (Takako Fuji) and her son Toshio (Yuya Ozeki) are killed by her husband Takeo (TakashiContinue reading “‘Ju On: The Grudge’–I Wuvs!”

‘Para Elisa’: Not the Worst, but Often Frustrating and Unpleasant

Spanish movie. Ana (Ona Casamiquela) is a college student who needs to raise money for a post-grad trip, so she answers an ad for a nanny. Unfortunately, her employer Diamantina (Luisa Gavasa) is completely unstable, and her daughter Elisa (Ana Turpin), who turns out to be older than Ana, wants her to be her doll.Continue reading “‘Para Elisa’: Not the Worst, but Often Frustrating and Unpleasant”

‘The Strangers’: Dark, Disturbing, and All Too Plausible

Kristen (Liv Tyler) and James (Scott Speedman) are a couple staying in an out-of-the way vacation house. They’re menaced and tormented by three masked sociopaths (Gemma Ward, Laura Margolis, and Kip Weeks). First and foremost, The Strangers is darn creepy. The magic of this movie is its wondrous subtlety. For example the scene when theContinue reading “‘The Strangers’: Dark, Disturbing, and All Too Plausible”

2009’s ‘Don’t Look Up’: A Classic Ghost Story in an Exotic Locale

Marcus (Reshad Strik) is a director yearning for a chance to make a comeback in the film industry. He’s also prone to having visions of ghosts, which leads him to a haunted movie set in Romania. It seems that in the 1920s, a director (Eli Roth, really playing against type here) was trying to makeContinue reading “2009’s ‘Don’t Look Up’: A Classic Ghost Story in an Exotic Locale”

1997’s ‘Campfire Tales’ is Fun and a Little Scary, but Kinda Predictable

Anthology-style movie. The wraparound story is of four teens (Christine Taylor, Christopher Masterson, Kim Murphy, and Jay R. Ferguson) who are stranded in the woods after a car crash, and they’re telling each other stories to pass the time, as one does. “The Hook” concerns a pair of young folks (Amy Smart and James Marsden)Continue reading “1997’s ‘Campfire Tales’ is Fun and a Little Scary, but Kinda Predictable”

‘Creepshow 2’: Dimestore Morality and Creative Gore

Inspired by the EC comics of the 1950s (and of course the original film), it’s an anthology of three segments. “Ol’ Chief Wood’nhead” concerns a kindly shopkeeper (George Kennedy) whose wooden Indian statue takes revenge after a robbery. “The Raft” is about four college students on a lake menaced by a hungry blob. “The Hitch-Hiker”Continue reading “‘Creepshow 2’: Dimestore Morality and Creative Gore”

‘The Taking of Deborah Logan’: Demon Possession as an Allegory for Alzheimer’s

Deborah (Jill Larson) is an older woman suffering from Alzheimer’s. Because they need the money, her daughter Sarah (Anne Ramsay) talks her into being the subject of a PhD candidate’s student film. The filmmakers Mia (Michelle Ang), Luis (Jeremy DeCarlos), and Gavin (Brett Gentile) stay in her house and watch her every move. Deb’s oddContinue reading “‘The Taking of Deborah Logan’: Demon Possession as an Allegory for Alzheimer’s”

‘The Ouija Experiment’ is Unintentionally Silly but Pleasantly Diverse

Documentary/found footage style movie about Brandon (Carson Underwood), a film student making a YouTube feature about four acquaintances using a Ouija board. They are his film school buddy Shay (Belmarie Huynh), her boyfriend Calvin (Eric Window), Calvin’s sister La’Nette (Swisyzinna), and the siblings’ friend Michael (Justin Armstrong). After the group has a few too manyContinue reading “‘The Ouija Experiment’ is Unintentionally Silly but Pleasantly Diverse”

‘Frailty’: I Sure Love This Movie!

Fenton (Matthew McConaughey) is telling his life story to Agent Doyle (Powers Boothe) in order to convince him that he knows who a hunted serial killer—his brother Adam—is. Through flashbacks, Fenton reveals that when he and his brother were young children, their father (Bill Paxton, who also directed) began killing people, claiming that God showedContinue reading “‘Frailty’: I Sure Love This Movie!”

‘Digging Up the Marrow’: Adam Green Delivers Again

Real-life filmmaker Adam Green is, in the reality of the movie, making a documentary about monsters. He’s contacted by William Dekker (Ray Wise), who tells him that he’s found a nest of real monsters. Adam is intrigued and later obsessed with getting to the bottom of Dekker’s story. He and his cameraman Will (Will Barratt)Continue reading “‘Digging Up the Marrow’: Adam Green Delivers Again”