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”
Tag Archives: possession
‘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!”
‘Stupid Teenagers Must Die!’: Unfunny “Spoofs” of Slasher Movies Must Die!
It’s the 1980s, and a group of naughty teenagers are going to have a séance in ol’ Murder McGee’s house. There’s Final Girl Julie (Ashley Schneider), her boyfriend Kane the Token Black Guy (Jovan Meredith), gay couple Jamie (Christina DeRosa) and Sissy (Jamie Carson), Tough Guy Alfie (Devin Marble), Popular Girl Tiffany (Lindsay Gareth), NerdyContinue reading “‘Stupid Teenagers Must Die!’: Unfunny “Spoofs” of Slasher Movies Must Die!”
‘Repossessed’: You Gotta, at Least Once
It’s an early ‘90s spoof of The Exorcist. Nancy (Linda Blair) is a housewife who was once possessed as a young girl, and who becomes, as the title suggests, repossessed. Leslie Nielsen is Father Mayii, the priest who comes to her aid. Things are complicated when Ernest (Ned Beatty) and Fanny Ray Weller (Lana Schwab),Continue reading “‘Repossessed’: You Gotta, at Least Once”
‘Phone’: Eerie and Well-Made
Korean movie, AKA Pon. Ji Won (Ha Ji-Won) is a reporter who has just uncovered a sex scandal. Among her many current difficulties are threatening phone calls, both from a man involved in the scandal and a ghost, who tends to make a screechy noise that either kills people or seriously disturbs them. Ji Won’sContinue reading “‘Phone’: Eerie and Well-Made”
Robert Englund’s ‘976-EVIL’: A Kinda Creepy ’80s movie with Just the Right Amount of Cheese
Directed by Robert Englund. Hoax (Stephen Geoffreys) is a nerdy teen whose obsessively religious mother (Sandy Dennis) babies him. His rebellious (but protective) cousin Spike (Patrick O’Bryan) discovers a hotline that delivers a “horrorscope”—couplets that generally urge people to do bad things, such as when Spike is told to steal a pair of gloves heContinue reading “Robert Englund’s ‘976-EVIL’: A Kinda Creepy ’80s movie with Just the Right Amount of Cheese”
‘The Last Exorcism’: Great Performances and Some Creepy Stuff
Shot found footage style, and is presented as a documentary. Cotton (Patrick Fabian) is a faith healer who performs exorcisms. After realizing how exploitative exorcisms have become, he decides to film how he fakes exorcisms to discourage the performance of them. His faithful crew members Iris (Iris Bahr) and Daniel (Adam Grimes) accompany him toContinue reading “‘The Last Exorcism’: Great Performances and Some Creepy Stuff”
James Wan’s ‘Insidious’: Effective Jump Scares and Eerie Sights
Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne) are a loving couple with three kids who were clearly named by an Australian scriptwriter: baby Cali and older sons Dalton (Ty Simpkins) and Foster (Andrew Astor). Dalton suddenly goes into a coma-like state that doctors can’t explain. The person who can explain it is family friend EliseContinue reading “James Wan’s ‘Insidious’: Effective Jump Scares and Eerie Sights”
‘The Exorcist III: Legion’–Not as Scary as ‘The Exorcist’ But Creepy, and At Least There’s No Pea Soup-Spewing
Ignoring the second movie, The Exorcist III picks up roughly 15 years after the original left off, with Lieutenant Kinderman (George C. Scott) investigating a series of murders that appear to be the work of the Gemini Killer (Brad Dourif), who’s supposed to be dead. Meanwhile, Kinderman encounters Patient X (Jason Miller), a mental patientContinue reading “‘The Exorcist III: Legion’–Not as Scary as ‘The Exorcist’ But Creepy, and At Least There’s No Pea Soup-Spewing”
‘Evilspeak’ is Big Time Dated, but Still Way Flash
Private Coopersmith (Clint Howard) is a recently orphaned teenager in military school. His poor soccer skills and habit of crying frequently make him unpopular, and he’s often tortured by four really mean guys. On a cleaning detail in the school’s chapel cellar, he discovers a boatload of Satanist paraphernalia. With a combination of black magicContinue reading “‘Evilspeak’ is Big Time Dated, but Still Way Flash”
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