Psycho II

For my return after a 3-year absence from blogging, I decided to select this year's movies by dice roll. 2 24 sided dice were thrown to choose a Style of Horror-movie, and a "scare" type. This is adapted from an idea shamelessly stolen from Random Number Generator Horror Podcast Number 9.

For today's movie, I threw a 16 for Sequel, and a 24  for Psychopath.

22 Years after his killing spree Norman Bates is released from the Asylum, a cured man. Moving back into his home at the motel, Norman takes a job at a local diner, where he befriends young waitress Mary, and offers her a place to stay following the breakup of her boyfriend.

But Norman starts getting worrying notes and phone-calls; it seems that "Mother" is back...

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Possession (2009)

A driven lawyer, Jess (Sarah Michelle Geller), lives a near-perfect life with her doting husband Ryan; the one thorn in their relationship comes in the shape of Ryan's violent and moody brother, Roman, who currently lives with them. 

The two brothers are involved in a head on crash, and both end up in comas.

Eventually, Roman wakes up... but he swears he is actually Ryan, even remembering things that only Jess and her husband could know.

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Devil (2010)

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According to legend, the Devil from time-to-time takes on human form, gathering a group of people he wishes to torment, trapping them, and hiding amongst them, posing as one of them.
Stranded in a broken down elevator, 5 strangers are about to find out that some legends are true...

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I do love a claustrophobic film, and 5 people in an elevator certainly delivers on that front; combined with the idea that one of their ever decreasing number is a killer (Satan himself, no less) there's no shortage of tension, and the movie does a great job of keeping you guessing, right down to the end. As with all good whodunnits, you'll suspect each and every cast member at some point or another in the movies runtime.

Cry_Wolf (2005)

On Owen's first day at his post boarding school, he is immediately accepted by his new room-mate's clique.
When a dead girl shows up in the woods around the school, the group decide it would be funny to convince everyone that a serial killer is on the loose, and so they send an anonymous email about  a made-up serial killer "The Wolf" who, they claim, strikes boarding schools, killing a list of people in a specific order, starting with a townie (someone who doesn't go to the school) and then, come the full moon, different types of student.
Except, since sending the email, the kids start getting stalked by someone matching The Wolf's description... is it one of the group playing a joke? Has whoever killed the girl in the woods hear about the email and not taken to it kindly? or is it something else all together?
All we know for sure, is that next week is Halloween... and a full moon!

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Elfie Hopkins (2012)

Aka:  (spoiler in alternate title, Highlight to read) Elfie Hopkins: Cannibal Hunter

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Elfi Hopkins is a 22 year old slacker and animal lover, who lives in a dull little village where the only thing people to do to pass the time is hunt.
Not one for the hunting, Elfi, With her best (and only) friend, Dillon, occupies her self with the 'detective' games she's played since she was little.
When big city family, The Gammons, move to the village, they soon have the other villagers abuzz with tails of bespoke holiday packages (the Gammons's line of work), and before long the residents of the sleepy hamlet dashing off to the four corners of the globe.
Or do they? Elfi Hopkins is on the case...

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Smiley (2012)

An internet-legend claims that if you visit a random video-chat site, and type "I did it for the lulz" three times, "Smiley", a killer with an emoticon carved into his otherwise featureless face, is supposed to appear behind your chat partner... And kill them.
Not wanting to move into the dorms, college freshman, Ashley, moves into a house-share with a stranger, fellow freshman, "Proxy", a keen user of 4chan's /b/ image board (home of Anonymous).
Proxy takes Ashley to a party organised by her fellow /b/tards, where she learns about, the myth of Smiley, and witnesses it for her self when a boy that the party invokes him on a chat-roulette style website.
Later, to prove to themselves that it was a prank, Proxy convinces Ashley to try it for herself... And it works.
When the boy who tried it at the party turns up dead, it seems that the legend of smiley isn't told in full; after killing the victim, Smiley comes after the person who summoned him; And it looks like Ashley is next...

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The Woman in Black

4 years after his wife died during childbirth, struggling lawyer Arthur Kips (Daniel Radcliffe) is sent to a small remote town to obtain the paperwork that his company may settle an estate by selling a large manor house.
Upon arrival, the locals are obviously not keen to have Arthur around but, despite every on stick the townsfolk throw at him, Arthur is determined to do his job in time for his son and his nanny to join him for a break in the country.
Upon arrival at the Manor, it is clear that something is amiss, and it becomes quickly apparent that the house is haunted...

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Dream House

Top publisher, Will Atenten (Daniel Craig), his wife, Libby, and two daughters, Trish and Dee Dee, move to a new house, It's not long before they learn that the previous occupants were killed.
The case went down as "Unsolved" but suspicion fell on the family's father, Peter Ward... who has recently been released from the institute where he has spent the last 5 years.
Meanwhile, The Atenten girls are convinced that someone is watching them from outside the house, and the more Will finds out about the previous residents; the worse it gets.
Did Ward kill his family? Is that Who is watching? or is the real killer also out there?

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Scream 4 (SCRE4M)

I am a huge fan of the original Scream trilogy. At the time of the first films release it perfectly captured the mood of the horror scene (which is ironic, because it's countless copycats would ruin horror for the next 10 years as we got buried under a deluge of 'I still know what urban legend you did at cherry falls') so I was keen to see what the original writer (albeit with 'tweeks' from the writer of the third, and poorest, entry) would do with horror c2011.

The Eye

In 2009, I didn't review movies, so much as briefly recomend a few via my Facebook account, This was one of them...

‎'The Eye' aka 'Jian gu' is probably one of the most original ghost stories of recent years.

Sleepaway Camp

In 2009, I didn't review movies, so much as briefly recomend a few via my Facebook account, This was one of them...

The first movie is an excellent low budget slasher / whodunnit, the sequels are silly slasher (but at £7 consider them freebies with the superb first movie). Buy it now now and add it to your Halloween watch list! One word of caution though - DO NOT read the back of the box, the Amazon page, or ANYTHING AT ALL about the sequels until after you have seen the first movie - buy and watch it blind and thank me later!