Random Horror

Ok, so I know this is supposed to be Random Horror but I recently watched a few personal favourites and I thought I would utilise this medium to write about one of them. Everyone has that moment while watching a particular movie or even several when you find yourself with an overwhelming urge to watch it again immediately! Granted, that probably happens to me a lot more than it happens to most other people, what with my love for “rubbish” films and a reluctance to dish out any sort of bad review. One such occurrence came about 30 minutes into the remake of Dawn of the Dead! Anyone who has read my previous post about remakes will know that I rate Dawn of the Dead as the best Horror remake so far and for anyone who likes horror films and has seen DOTD will hopefully agree that it deserves its place among the elite. Even for a remake, in my humble opinion it holds its own against the originals of the world. For anyone who has not seen the remake, or dare I say it, the original ...

Welcome to the next part of my horror summary... It’s been a while since I did Fangs, Claws, Tentacles and Jaws but I thought I would return to my brief histories piece. Next under the knife (pun intended) are Slashers! Slashers occupy that small void of space between thriller and exploitation. Without any doubt, Slashers are the least educated of all the horror sub genre's and they are generally down the list in terms of everything else too. For the purposes of this entry, Slashers also include "splatter" and gore films. Slasher films are generally low budget and usually follow a very similar and often linear pattern. As with the previous two parts (Zombies, Fangs, Claws, Tentacles & Jaws) there are far too many films to remember so this is a very broad and generic overview. Hopefully I will not upset anyone and if I have left out any obviously note-worthy slasher films, I apologise in advance. So without further ado, let me begin... Maybe it wasn’t actually th...

Although this is less of a horror film and more of a sci-fi, the opportunity to watch and review a film which was sent to me by the co-director/co-producer/co-writer, Jonathan Chance was too good to pass up. Especially considering the last short that was sent to me by a director/producer was the brilliant Familiar . Anyway, Mr Chance is one half of movie makers, The Chance Brothers, who also appear in the film, they have created a very quaint, suspenseful thriller which is enjoyable and thought-provoking in equal measures A businessman walking through the streets of London, suddenly finds himself flung into the unknown without warning or reason, he is transported to a scarce, barren land of an unknown location. One can only assume that he has somehow found himself in another time! He frantically searches for some explanation or even a sign of where he is, without success. It isn’t long before the elements begin to take their toll and he must now battle for his own survival....

Well, here I am again. Back after a very long absence. The misses and I welcomed a new addition to the Random Horror family with the birth of our second child. While knee deep in nappies (Diapers to my American friends) I thought it would be a good time to share with you my thoughts on the theory behind Random Horror and how I came to admire what most will never give the time of day too. It was probably around 2006 when I first decided to watch what I now consider to be a “Random Horror” film. Let me set the scene, my future wife and I decided to settle down on the sofa, as we usually did on a Saturday night with a 1.5l bottle of non-descript Vodka, some lemonade and a few films. At this time my DVD collection was just starting to flourish, the vast majority of the two tiered shelf taken up by Action flicks like Independence Day, Tomb Raider and Die Hard! Although I had always had a great love for horror films, they were never as readily available as others so it would be a few years...

It was nice to do a few posts about good horror films but now I am catapulting myself back to the abnormality and crazy world of Random Horror! While perusing round my local random horror treasure cove last week, I stumbled upon a rarity. A film that looked half decent but had Billy Zane on the cover! Weird or what! Now, for anyone who is in the dark about this Zane character, his most notable roles to date include Kate Winslet’s fiancé in Titanic, one of Biffs’ gang members in the Back to the Future films. Other roles include the title role The Phantom and the villain in Dead Calm, an Aussie thriller starring Sam Neill & Nicole Kidman. Surviving Evil or Evil Island depending on where you purchased the film follows the misfortunes of a documentary film crew as they attempt to film a Bear Grylls style survival doc. The group, led by Seb (Zane) start out on their adventure into the depths of a Philippine island but when strange things begin to plague the film crew, it isn’t long...

Michael, Jason, Freddy? Who’s your favourite? The best bad guy as a sentence almost sounds wrong but it’s a question I pose to you now. I will of course give you a brief overview and add my own little opinion but who is the greatest Horror movie villain? For as long as there have been horror movies, there have been antagonists, a focal point in stark contrast to the hero, whether that is a man of earthly origins or something much worse. I say worse but when we dissect the list, the vast majority of the really evil ones are human! Male or female, mutant or freak in one way or another humanoid. Going back to early films, characters like The Golum along with countless vampires and werewolves were very prominent. The Golum being an ancient Jewish legend that depicts a clay statue which was brought to life by a rabbi. With this film being made originally in 1915, very limited footage remains but there were two more Golum films between 1915 and 1920 both of which have survived q...

I thought it was high time I finally got around to the topic of Re-Makes. Many people believe re-makes are the bane of Hollywood at this precise moment in time. If it’s not an action flick from years gone by, it’s a classic Horror! Have the writers just simply given up or are the studio exec’s looking for the easy score, regurgitating already fruitful assets of yesteryear? Whatever the case may be the list seems to be ever increasing. With no end in sight it seems that I am just going to have to learn to accept it and embrace the new age of cinema! Try to believe me, they are not all terrible. In the world of Horror, the remake is perhaps more prominent but with a portfolio expanding through remakes, retellings and (for all intents and purpose) prequels and sequels I could go for a while but I have decided to give a Semi-brief [self] opinionated report on the subject matter. As I do like lists, at the end of this post I will also give my personal top 10 best and worst Horror Rema...