Horror Movie Review: Traveler

Traveler


Starring: Val Kilmer, Dylan Neal, Paul McGillion, and Camille Sullivan

Directed by: Michael Oblowitz

Written by: Joseph C. Muscat

Production Companies: Voltage Pictures, Hollywood Media Bridge, and Front Street Pictures


Release Date: June 2010


Awards: 2011 Best Feature Film/Best Psycho-Thriller at the New York International Independent Film & Video Festival.






A man calling himself Nobody arrives at a police station to confess to murders which haven't happened yet. When the murders start happening while giving the confessions, the police officers get concerned, and a past mistake starts to come back to haunt them. And with the excellent acting of Val Kilmer as Mr. Nobody, a lot of potential.

And Val does a good job as Mr. Nobody. I've seen criticism of Val's work here and I have a hard time thinking these criticisms come from people who aren't happy with the antagonist, not from people who understand the antagonist. He calls himself Mr. Nobody, wears all black, and may or may not be a dead man. He's subtle, subdued, seemingly emotionless, like you would expect from a supernatural being called Mr. Nobody. But with a slight grin here and there, we can see Mr. Nobody is amused at the police officers' confusion and panic as they get killed by the confessions.

As we learn about death of Detective Black's daughter, and the past injustice the police officers committed comes to light, connections begin to form hinting at who Mr. Nobody is and why he's there. But in the big reveal at the end, the whole point, or at least what should have been the point, evaporates and we are left asking, "What was the point?" There was no lesson to be learned from victims making mistakes and getting killed because of their mistakes, lack of morals, et cetera.


And the oddity of Mr. Nobody's limitation. If no one hears his confession, he has no power to make it come true and he has to do it himself. While there's no explanation for how Mr. Nobody has returned and has his abilities (Which isn't a problem. The unexplained supernatural doesn't bother me.), no connection is made for why he must be heard. Freddy Krueger had knife fingers because he made a knife glove for killing when he was alive, so why must Mr. Nobody be heard?

The other actors and actresses turned in shallow performances, but Val carries the show. It's worth a watch if you are a Val Kilmer fan and just want something to watch, but otherwise, don't go out of your way to see this one.

Related Trailers

The Thaw - Val Kilmer also stars in The Thaw. When a team of ecology students assisting an environmentalist (Val Kilmer) in the Arctic uncovers the frozen body of a woolly mammoth, they unwittingly release a parasite in need of a new host -- and, in the process, unleash a prehistoric terror. The ante is significantly upped when the parasite takes refuge inside the students' warm-blooded bodies and leads the group to a heart-wrenching decision.





Prom Night 3: The Last Kiss  - Dylan Neal also appeared in Prom Night 3: The Last Kiss. Dead prom queen Mary Lou Maloney (Courtney Taylor) escapes the confines of hell and returns to Hamilton High School looking for blood.





The Breed - Michael Oblowitz also directed The Breed. FBI Agent Grant (Bokeem Woodbine) finds himself falling for Lucy (Ling Bai), a stunningly beautiful vampire, as he and his partner track down a renegade bloodsucker that is bent on exposing a government plan to integrate vampires into society. Soon, the line between the good guys and the bad guys begins to blur and Grant's next move could be his last.

Horror Movie Review: The Wolfman

The Wolfman

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Benicio Del Toro, Hugo Weaving, Emily Blunt, and Max von Sydow


Directed by: Joe Johnston


Written by: Andrew Kevin Walker, David Self, and Curt Siodmak


Awards: Best Make-Up 2011 Saturn Awards, Best Achievement in Make-Up 2011 Academy Awards

Release Date: January 27, 2010

Production Companies: Universal Pictures, Relativity Media, and Stuber Productions


 

 Horror became a big time movie presence when Universal Pictures started their monster movies of the 30s and 40s. The Wolfman was a latecomer to the monsters with Dracula and Frankenstein coming out nearly a decade earlier. The difference being that Frankenstein and Dracula have source material in literature and the Wolfman just has folktales. So when they talk about a remake of The Wolfman, they really could go just about anywhere with it.

But Walker and Self did a real good job of maintaining the gothic feel of the original Universal horrors. The plot bares a strong resemblance to the original, as well. Lawrence Talbot returns home, the prodigal son, after hearing of his brother Ben's death by a supposed wolf man. Lawrence doesn't believe the locals, and neither does Inspector Abberline of Scotland Yard (played wonderfully by Hugo Weaving). While investigating his brother's death, Lawrence is also attacked by a Wolfman, but unlike his brother, he escapes, although with a serious bite. Soon Lawrence is being blamed for the other wolf man's murders while he tries to protect Gwen, his brother's fiancee and his new love.

Anthony Hopkins, as is typical, is brilliant as Lawrence's estranged father Sir John Talbot. I'm not a fan of Benicio Del Toro, but he did a fair job as Lawrence. Emily Blunt, however, was not noteworthy as Gwen.

If you like gothic monster films, then you can't pass this up.

Related Trailers

The Wolf Man - In the original 1941 film, After teasing his friends for believing in werewolves, Larry (Lon Chaney Jr.) is promptly bitten by a rabid wolf and faints. Horror superstars share the screen when Larry wakes to find a gypsy (Bela Lugosi) who moonlights as a werewolf. Cursed by the werewolf's bite, Larry suffers torturous full-moon transformations and tries to escape the townsfolk who hunt him. Claude Rains, Evelyn Ankers and Ralph Bellamy also grace this classic B movie.

 

The Rite - Anthony Hopkins also stars in The Rite. Despite his conviction that demonic possession is just so much supersitious mumbo jumbo, Catholic priest-in-training Michael Kovak (Colin O'Donoghue) journeys to Rome to attend a special exorcism school being taught at the Vatican. Before long, true-believer Father Lucas (Anthony Hopkins) introduces the young cleric to the devil's power firsthand. Director Mikael Håfström helms this graphic supernatural thriller inspired by a true story.



Needful Things - Max von Sydow also stars in Needful Things, a terrifying thriller based on Stephen King's best-selling novel, also starring Ed Harris, Bonnie Bedelia, J.T. Walsh and Amanda Plummer. A mysterious new antique store opens in the town of Castle Rock, Maine. And for the curiosities he offers, the owner is always willing to make a devil of a deal.



Sleepy Hollow - Kevin Andrew Walker also assisted with the script for Sleepy Hollow. New York detective Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp) is sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate a series of mysterious deaths in which the victims are found beheaded. But the locals believe the culprit to be none other than the ghost of the legendary Headless Horseman. Christina Ricci, Miranda Richardson and Michael Gambon co-star in Tim Burton's big-screen adaptation of Washington Irving's timeless tale of murder and intrigue.



The Haunting - David Self also wrote the screenplay for The Haunting. In director Jan de Bont's remake of the original spine-tingling haunted house adventure, Dr. David Marrow (Liam Neeson) invites Nell Vance (Lili Taylor) and Theo (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Luke Sanderson (Owen Wilson) to the eerie and isolated Hill House to be subjects for a sleep disorder study. The unfortunate guests discover that Marrow is far more interested in the sinister mansion itself -- and, soon, they see the true nature of its horror.



Creature with the Atom Brain - Curt Siodmak, who wrote the original Wolf Man screenplay, also wrote Creature with the Atom Brain, one of his last horror films. A mobster hires an evil ex-Nazi scientist to bring his dead henchmen back to life.

Horror Movie Review: The Human Centipede

The Human Centipede

Starring: Dieter Laser, Ashley C. Williams, Ashlynn Yennie, and Akihiro Kitamura

Directed by: Tom Six

Written by: Tom Six

Production Company: Six Entertainment

Release Date: August 30, 2009

Awards: Best Horror Jury Prize at the 2009 Austin Fantastic Fest, Best Picture Festival Trophy at the 2009 Screamfest, and Dieter Laser won Best Actor Jury Prize at the 2009 Austin Fantastic Fest



Two girls on a trip through Europe get lost on the way to a secluded club and wind up in the hands of the deranged Dr. Heiter. Dr. Heiter, an esteemed surgeon known for his work on separating Siamese twins, has developed the twisted dream of not separating life, but joining it, creating a Siamese triplet, a human centipede.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to rent The Human Centipede. I like horror movies that endeavor to scare us, not gross us out like so much of the torture porn that has started since the debut of Saw. (Although, lumping Saw in with some of the later torture porn like Hostel is a disservice to Saw.) But I decided the concept was interesting enough for there to be a redeeming element. I was wrong.

After being joined together by the gastric system, one girl's mouth connected to the anus of the guy in front, the girl in back being connected similarly, Dr. Heiter one night complains to his creation that he should have removed their vocals cords because the incessant sobbing of the girls in particular prevented him from sleeping. After the surgery, that's what the film became. Heiter training his human centipede to walk, and the three victims sobbing. Heiter feeding the head of his centipede, the girls sobbing. Heiter getting excited when the head could no longer keep himself from shitting into the middle's mouth, and everyone sobbing.

And we horror lovers have to accept that the victims do, to some degree, stupid things, but both escape attempts were ripe with idiocies beyond what I would call acceptable amounts of idiocy. Returning to save your friend ensures that not only will you not save your friend, but you won't save yourself either. The other moronic move in the second escape I'll just leave for anyone who wants to check this crapper out, pun intended. But then the girls were idiotic beyond the pale to begin with. They get a flat tire and start walking down the road to find help. Net thing we know they are stumbling through the woods...Why did they leave the road?

Dieter Laser does a great job as the demented Dr. Heiter, so we can thank Laser for one redeeming element, but the very limited scope of the script, the apparent lack of social commentary, the pointlessness of everything associated with the film, wastes Laser's entertainment value.

Related Trailers

The Human Centipede II - Tom Six and Ashlynn Yennie return in The Human Centipede II. Inspired by the fictional Dr. Heiter, disturbed loner Martin dreams of creating a 12-person centipede and sets out to realize his sick fantasy.

Horror Movie Review: The Graves

The Graves

Starring: Clare Grant, Jillian Murray, Bill Moseley, and Tony Todd

Directed by: Brian Pulido

Written by: Brian Pulido

Production Companies: Mischief Maker Studios and Ronalds Brothers Films

Release Date: October 31, 2009

The Graves sisters are off for one last hurrah together before older sister Megan leave for work in the big city leaving younger sister Abby on her own. But when they find themselves in Skull City and decide to visit the haunted mine, it might be their last hurrah ever.

It's a classic and proven set-up which only needs good follow through and interesting antagonists to get a movie reasonably entertaining enough to pass the time, but whether or not The Graves is reasonably entertaining can be debated.

The downside of The Graves, unfortunately, is what most people comment on. The plot's got some pretty big holes in it. The mine is busy enough that The Graves sisters are at least the third visiting group of victims that day, but when the sisters and the survivor from another group make it back out to the road, it's not help they find. In fact, that many people going missing...unless this is the first day of their vacationer slaughters, officials would be poking around, if not entirely suspicious.

The Graves sisters handle being the target of the insane killers better than is to be expected. Abby (played by Jillian Murray) at least approaches authentic fear, but Megan (played by Clare Grant) never seems affected by people trying to kill her. Reading comic books your whole life does not prepare you for being a potential murder victim.

But there is some fun here, and you could come up with a fun drinking game with this movie. Every time Clare Grant tries to get her hair out of her face, take a shot. Be careful, though...one scene you'll be taking three fast shots at least. And Clare Grant, despite not being scared, is one of the fun aspects of the film. She is very attractive and we all want her in a role where she's wearing leather the entire time.

Tony Todd is also here as a crazed priest for Skull City's crazy cult. I've seen criticisms of Todd's performance here, but if you've seen video of small town religious Shakers and Snake Handlers and the like, the preaching and shaking of Tony Todd in the role really works. Every time Tony shakes when preaching the word, take a shot.

Bill Moseley is entertaining as Caleb "Cookie" Atwood, though there's little explanation for his wearing of the pig nose. Every time Bill snorts like a pig, take a shot.

Don't watch it expecting too much. I haven't even hit all the holes in the plot, but it's not a total stinker. Just go in with bottle and shot glass well in hand.

Related Trailers

Forget Me Not - Jillian Murray also appears in Forget Me Not. A party-filled graduation weekend turns into a nightmare for popular class president Sandy Channing (Carly Schroeder) when her friends begin to vanish one by one. Soon Sandy discovers they have awakened the vengeful spirit of a girl they mistreated years ago. Now she must work to resolve the dark mysteries of her past before she and all her friends become unwilling victims in this bloody horror flick.



Army of Darkness - Bill Moseley appeared as a Deadite Captain in Army of Darkness. Bound in human flesh and inked in blood, the ancient Necronomicon, or "Book of the Dead," transports department store clerk Ash (Bruce Campbell) and his 1973 Oldsmobile into England's Dark Ages. There, he faces legions of undead beasts in a battle for his life.



Night of the Living Dead - Tony Todd also appeared in the 1990 remake Night of the Living Dead. Makeup maestro Tom Savini's shot-for-shot revamp of George A. Romero's watershed black-and-white original brings to lurid color the mortality tale of a band of small-town folks corralled in a farmhouse surrounded by an army of walking dead. Survival is the common goal, but with method and mores in dispute, pistol-packing refugee Barbara (Patricia Tallman) develops her own notions about how to make it through the night.