Saturday is Horror Day #104 - Green Room

 Green Room

Punk rock band The Ain't Rights consists of four friends - Pat (Anton Yelchin), Sam (Alia Shawkat), Reece (Joe Cole), and Tiger (Callum Turner). The band is touring the Pacific Northwest, but to say they're not getting good gigs would be an understatement. They're kind of forced to take what they can get. Which is how they end up in a bar in the middle of nowhere, filled with all sorts of creepy neo-Nazi sorts. What the heck, it's just one night, and it's more money than they've been getting lately, so why not?

Their set goes about as well as expected... more or less. The friends just want to get their money and move 

on to the next gig. But things don't quite go as planned, when they become witness to something they weren't supposed to see. And now they are being held in the Green Room, while it's decided what will happen to them. Can this possibly end well?

This film is really gritty and very visceral. Imagine being at the mercy of young violent skinheads, not knowing if they intend to kill you for what you accidentally saw, or even just for their own pleasure. It's hard not to sympathize with the members of The Ain't Rights, and there is nothing even remotely sympathetic about the people who hold them hostage. Not even their leader, Darcy, played by the inimitable Patrick Stewart. This film does not hold back, be warned of that. Explicit and gory, it's not for the faint at heart. Green Room explores the seamier side of human nature. It's scary to think that people such as this exist, but I'm sure they do. I'll give this film 4 Stars.

Saturday is Horror Day #22 - The Return of the Living Dead 2

 Happy Saturday! Welcome to another edition of Saturday is Horror Day! 

Return of the Living Dead II - 

Jesse (Michael Kenworthy) is bullied by two other boys into joining their club. Billy (Thorn Van Lingen) forces him to go to their clubhouse, which turns out to be a crypt in the cemetery. There they find some old army cannisters, and Billy claims them. Jesse wants nothing to do with them and makes his escape, but the other boys aren't as luck as they accidentally break the seal and are overcome by an obnoxious gas.

Ed  (James Karen) and Joey (Thom Mathews) work together, their job being to rob graves for body parts which they sell. supposedly in the name of research. They come across Jesse, who is hiding in a crypt.  He eludes them and runs off, but quickly discovers that things are not what they should. Dead people are rising, and they're hungry. 

Jesse races home and wants to call the number he found on the cannister, because surely the army can

help them, but his sister Lucy (Marsha Dietlein), who is babysitting him, has other ideas. When a young, good-looking cable installer, Tom (Dana Ashbrook) shows up, she is really determined to keep her brother under control.

But the dead have other ideas...

The sequel to The Return of the Living Dead  has some of the wit and charm of the first movie, but no Dan O'Bannion, alas. But the good news is that we have the return of James Karen and Thom Matthews, who did much to make the first film memorable. They're working together again but they're playing different characters, yet they're very similar to the first ones. If you've seen the first film, you'll remember this line: "Watch your tongue, boy, if you like this job!"

While still interesting and comedic, it lacks a bit of what made the first one so good. Even so, it's a good watch and well worth the effort. You might remember Dana Ashbrook, who will later go on to play in Twin Peaks as Bobby Briggs.  Also, keep an eye out for the Michael Jackson zombie toward sthe end. All in all, I give this a solid 3.75 Stars.

Saturday is Horror Day #20 - The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007)

 The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007)

As this film opens, a naked restrained woman on a bad writhes in agony. It soon becomes clear she is in the throes of labor. And when she finally delivers, she can't believe what she sees.

On an undisclosed and hidden site thought to be long abandoned, technicians are installing listening devices, but to what end? There's no one out there... or is there?

It's the last day of training for a young group of sassy National Guard trainees. Out in the middle of the desert, they find a deserted research camp. Where is everyone, and what is going on? They receive a distress call that seems to be coming from the hills and decide to investigate. Can this end well for anyone?

This is the sequel to The Hills Have Eyes (2006), which was a remake of the original 1977 West Craven film of the same name. The story is not just a rehash of the first sequel, luckily, and is much better made. Again we see the mutants, who were better explained in the 2006 film. Apparently they're still intent on reproducing to replace their dwindling numbers (guess they aren't concerned with further genetic mutations). 

The National Guard trainees as characters are a diverse and interesting group, and the story is 

sufficiently creepy and cringy to warrant a view. Although I have to wonder why the military, who obviously knows about these people, doesn't just come in and deal with the situation. I mean, why eavesdrop? And the ending is somewhat ambiguous. Do they intend to make more? Your guess is as good as mine.

 On the whole, I'll give this film a good 3.5 Stars. Worth taking a look.

Saturday is Horror Day #17 - Sinister

 Sinister

Fame can be fleeting, as true crime writer Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawk) discovers. His last books have not achieved the success he'd hoped for, nowhere near the fame and fortune that Kentucky Blood brought. 

In order to work on a new book, Ellison uproots his wife and two children again, much to their disgruntlement. He insists that he needs to do this for the book, but they are less than understanding. In fact, they are prone to make fun of his failures, and warn him he better succeed this time. What Ellison hasn't told even his wife, when she was concerned that they were living near a crime scene, is that they are living in the crime scene. Four members of a family were hanged in the back yard, and their daughter went missing. She's still missing, in fact.

Ellison is determined to succeed, no matter what. When he discovers a box of old home movies up in the attic, he thinks he might be on to something. The local sheriff had warned him when they moved in that they should leave, but he hasn't listened. One of the deputies(James Ransone) is a fan of Ellison's and offers his assistance with the case. All he wants in return is to be remembered in the acknowledgements as having been of assistance. Ellison decides he can live with that.

The more he studies the movies, the more strange things are happening. His son begins having night

terrors again. His daughter is drawing strange pictures. When his wife Tracy (Juliet Rylance) learns about the house being the crime scene, she is lived and wants to leave, but Ellison refuses.

Ellison encounters a scorpion and then a snake in the attic. And although the children are strictly forbidden from going into their father's office or to look at anything related to his work, someone keeps going in there and putting on the home movies. When Ellison discovers a common element to the murders, he begins to think they may be connect, and that something truly sinister is at work here.

At first, I wasn't sure there was anything out of the ordinary about this film, but I grew to like it more the more I watched. There is a definite creepiness factor here. I kept wondering if Ellison would end up murdering his own family, sort of like Ronny DeFeo in The Amityville Horror. Luckily that didn't happen. But what did happen was creepier.

I disliked his wife and kids for their lack of support or understanding of his work. Especially the wife, since she's a grownup. Like she thought she could control what he wrote or something. Suggesting he forget true crime and go back to fiction. She was obviously disgusted with the whole idea of murder. Okay, maybe it wasn't her thing, doesn't mean she shouldn't try to tell him what to write.

That being said, that's nothing against the film, just the character. There is solid production value here, good acting, and decent writing. You might recognize the sheriff from Law and Order as Arthur Branch. Also, look for Vince D'Onofrio in an uncredited role.

The ending doesn't exactly explain everything, at least in any way that makes sense. But hopefully, the next film will. I give this film a pretty solid 3.5 Stars.