The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations (2009)

Part of the After Dark Horrorfest III: 8 Films To Die For, The Butterfly Effect 3 holds up pretty well on its own. No need to see the first 2 to understand it- in fact, skip 2 altogether. Chris has the ability to “jump” back to specific points in time to witness crimes being committed. He works with the police in present to identifiy and bring criminals to justice. He breaks his own rules about interferring when he jumps back to save his murdered girlfriend. This unleashes and unstoppable chain of events, changing his own future. Rachel Miner, who was great in Bully and Penny Dreadful, is great here as his sister.

Rubber (2010)

Rubber is about a killer tire with the telepathic ability to blow things up. There is a built in audience “watching” the action through binoculars. As long as someone is watching the movie, the movie exists. There is no real plot. The tire doesn’t speak, it just rolls around wreaking havoc at a seedy motel in the desert. Sounds silly right? The point of the movie is that there is no point. It really is a different movie and I really liked it enough to give it another watch.

Martyrs (2008)

Martyrs is a french movie-I think there may be a dubbed version, but I dealt with the subtitles. This one left me in a really weird mood, definitely needed to chase it with a light comedy! I don’t want to give too much away because this movie takes some sharp turns. Lucie is a young girl, chained to a chair, tortured and beaten. She escapes and ends up in an orphanage dealing with the trauma and the guilt of not helping a fellow captive escape. She befriends Anna, also a victim of abuse. 15 years later, Lucie seeks revenge on her torturers and shows up at a house with a shotgun. Was it the right house or was Lucie just crazy? Anna soon learns the truth and relives Lucie’s pain and suffering. Definitely a messed up movie, but worth a watch.

Jack Frost (1997)

Hollie GoFrightly

I remember when this came to the video store I worked at. It had a cool hologram cover and looked too cheesy to pass up. Jack Frost is an aptly named serial killer who gets sprayed with some chemical goo that gives him the ability to turn into ice, water or snow. Full of bad puns and corny one liners worthy of Elvira or Freddy, this is a hilarious Christmas horror flick. Also Shannon Elizabeth’s film debut, although she saved the T&A for American Pie.

iMurders (2008)

Imurders

Kane Hodder introduced me to this movie. Apparently one of the punks he terrorized in Jason Takes Manhattan wrote/directed iMurders. Harry Manfredini (composer of the soundtrack for the original Friday the 13th and the sequels 2-7 and X) scored this little baby as well. I was definitely struck by the awesome cover art and the stellar casting. I mean Tony Todd (Night of the Living Dead, Candyman, Final Destination) and William Forsythe (Devils Rejects, Rob Zombie’s Halloween) AND Billy Dee Williams?! A fun “of the times” horror movie about a group of people that meet regularly in a chatroom via a networking website similar to myspace/facebook. Each individual has a skeleton or 2 in the closet and one by one each of them is murdered. I’d compare this to a cyber 10 Little Indians. It’s definitely a relevant fear that you never know who you are talking to on the internet. The final reveal was kind of clever. Not really scary but mildly entertaining.

Hobo with a Shotgun (2011)

Hobo With a Shotgun stars Rutger Hauer as a hobo living in a road warrior type environment run by corrupt gangster psychos. All he dreams about is owning a lawnmower. He earns the money by chewing broken glass for an exploitive bumfight video series. At the pawn shop, he crosses paths with a gangster holding up the place. He makes the decision to purchase a shotgun on the wall and MOWS down the gangster with bullets. HA! He makes filmmaker eat his own video tape before going on a vigilante justice spree to rid the town of corrupt scum. This movie has everything and is so over the top. It rocks!

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)

The introduction to the film shows the body in the aftermath of a brutal murder and allows the viewer to speculate how horrendous the act must have been. The film is based on the true story of a serial killer with a twisted childhood that turned him into a crazed woman killer. Henry lives with another former convict, Otis, who is equally disturbed but not as cautious. Otis’ sister, Becky, comes to live with them, escaping her own traumatic childhood and abusive husband. Henry is very protective of Becky and is alarmingly “normal” when he’s with her. At night he and Otis perform sick, perverted murders on random victims and bring along a video camera to document the violence. I wouldn’t say this movie is overly graphic, but definitely disturbing, particularly because it is a true story.

Hell Night (1981)

I watched this as part of my Linda Blair-a-thon. This is a classic scooby doo-esque horror movie. Four college students must spend a whole night in a haunted mansion as part of their initiation. Before being locked in for the night, they are told that the previous tenant killed his wife, three deformed children and hanged himself. Allegedly the mansion is still haunted by the fourth child. Throughout the night someone or someTHING keeps trying to scare, but is it really a prank? Who will survive Hell Night? MWAHAHAHHA!

Happy Birthday to me (1981)

Happy Birthday To Me is a little gem from 1981 starring former House on the Prairie good girl, Melissa Sue Anderson. A killer is on theloose targeting a clique of private school teens. Virginia (Anderson) is having flashbacks to a traumatic event in her past and is doubting her sanity. Could she be responsible for the deaths of her fellow students? This movie has some decent acting, good gore, an interesting plot twist, and some terrible early 80’s music (think Prom Night). Anderson has quite a set of pipes on her earning her way into the ranks of her fellow scream queens.

Trick ‘r Treat (2007)

Trick ‘r Treat is one of the best Halloween movies I’ve seen in forever. After my initial Netflix rental, I went out and bought it. I waited over a year for this movie to be released on DVD since it never ran in theaters. It’s pretty much a Creepshowesque version of A Christmas Carol for Halloween. Through four intertwining storylines we learn about the traditions of Halloween and the consequences of neglecting them. This movie has it all, gore, vampires, werewolves, ghosts. NOT for children.