Tag Archives: slasher horror

Movie review: 3 Dead Trick or Treaters

05 Monday Feb 2018

Posted by in midwest weirdfest, Movie review

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The first thing that grips you about Torin Langen’s anthology of Halloween themed horror is that it’s very much his universe.

A sickening, twisted world where the very heart is nothing but a dark and throbbing beast, dripping with stuff of nightmares.

Essentially 3 Dead Trick or Treaters serves up four short stories, each with their own tortured journeys for Langen to share, interwoven by a paperboy lured by curiosity to the films bleak conclusion.

This labour of love project is such a glorious treasure to behold, absent of dialogue which makes the horrific scenes all the more painful to endure.

But like the fore-mentioned paperboy, the viewer feels compelled to know more and this Langen has you ensnared.

From the first chapter (Fondue) and its teen lovers pact that is pushing the boundaries of their companionship to try out something new, something that may push them to the limits of no return; To the Witchery themed chapter (Malleus Maleficarum) that similarly pits a couple who delve into a world of barbarity, but will they both be able to take that journey together or will one of them crack?
(Stash) then takes the voyeur into the next chapter where a homeless trio is forced to the brink of despair in order to survive.
By this stage the theme of rejection starts to ring strong and true, building to the films climax but not before the final chapter (Delivery) plays a master hand of misdirection and and a slight injection of humour.

The Diagnosis:
This is Torin Langen’s playground.
A world filled with lost souls and the tortured, empty vessels of humanity, all searching for some sense of belonging.
They will push themselves in order to find ‘that fix’ whilst battling rejection and depravity.
In doing so, Langen has firmly established himself as an artist that we should watch with keen interest.

– Saul Muerte

 

Catch the screening of 3 Dead Trick or Treaters at the MidWest WierdFest.

You can already purchase discounted day or full festival passes to the 2018 festival here, through the festival’s ticketing partner site FilmFreeway.  (Tickets to individual films will be available closer to the festival, directly via the website of the Micon Budget Downtown Cinema). Go on. Get weird!

 

Movie review: Attack of the Tattie-Bogle

30 Tuesday Jan 2018

Posted by in midwest weirdfest, Movie review

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Movie review: Attack of the Tattie-Bogle

It’s fast approaching March and for those crazy folk in Wisconsin it can only mean one thing… the return of the much-anticipated MidWest WierdFest and all the strange mayhem that comes with it.
So it seems fitting that our first film review from the festival line-up should take place in Wisconsin, Attack of the Tattie-Bogle, but first things first, what the fuck is a Tattie-Bogle?
It’s not as the name suggests some kind of potato snot.
No, this is a Scottish term for scarecrow, but although it may bear some similarity to The Town That Dreaded Sundown, this film goes for all out realism with its characters reactions and the ordeal that they are faced with.

Set on Independence Day, where we see a mixed group of patriots, liberalists, and romantics, who gather at a remote cabin to celebrate the festivities only to be forced to use their wits and guile from a rampant and bloody attack.

As the movie winds you in, my first reaction felt a little stifled as the acting and pace felt a little strained and the dialogue, although going for naturalism comes across a little forced at times.

This is all forgiven by the time it reaches the first onslaught, which comes thick and fast, with such brutal savagery it tears apart the senses with stark reality.

Half the group is dispatched with quick severity, which is a good thing as it would have been hard to track who’s who without this swift attack.

From here on in, it’s anyone’s guess who will survive and with each attempt of escape and moment of solidarity quickly snuffed out by the attacker, the tension mounts with incredible unease.

By the films conclusion at just over the hour mark, you certainly feel like you’ve gone through the wringer. And the film satisfies as a result.

The Diagnosis:

Despite some dubious acting and dialogue in places, director Pete Macy offers a delightfully savage look at the slasher genre in which the brutal reality shines through and becomes its champion.

Check this out to see a low budget, bloody film which pits the question of what would you do when confronted with an ambush in a land far removed from your own.

– Saul Muerte

 

Catch the screening of Attack of the Tattie-Bogle at the MidWest WierdFest.

You can already purchase discounted day or full festival passes to the 2018 festival here, through the festival’s ticketing partner site FilmFreeway.  (Tickets to individual films will be available closer to the festival, directly via the website of the Micon Budget Downtown Cinema). Go on. Get weird!

 

Halloween (1978)

13 Tuesday Sep 2016

Posted by in John Carpenter

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Four films into his career and John Carpenter hits one out of the park and creates the slasher horror genre in the process.

And yet it’s hard to recall from a personal perspective when exactly Halloween entered my consciousness.

Released the same year that I was born, one could argue that this movie and I were intrinsically connected, if you were that way inclined.

I for one have found myself constantly drawn to the dark arts of the silver screen and it only seems natural that a movie of this pedigree would enter my periphery at some stage in my life, coupled with my growing love of Carpenter’s movies that stayed with me throughout my childhood, a connection would be inevitable.

Looking back, it’s hard to see the world of horror movies without this as part of its canon.

It’s a movie that started a whole new genre of film (some may argue that 1974’s Black Christmas was the film that started it all, but it’s impact would never be as great) and it has been mimicked and repeated ever since.
Without it, Friday the 13th may never have existed. Victor Miller may have been guided be a completely different movie when coming up with the ‘horror movie template’ and the movie world would be a very different place indeed.

I think you get the point that I’m driving at, that this was a defining moment in cellular history and I’ve relished it ever since.

It’s the kind of movie that, when I first set up Surgeons of Horror, I knew that I wanted to discuss with my fellow surgeons and it was indeed the original impetus for putting together the podcast. Fate would have us steer down a completely different path however with Wes Craven’s untimely passing refocusing our directive for Season 1.

Now though, we are halfway through the John Carpenter: Early Years Sessions and finally at a point to talk about this much-heralded movie, but where does one begin?

Hopefully the following podcast will be of worthy listening, we certainly had fun discussing it. We hope that you do too.

– Saul Muerte

https://player.whooshkaa.com/episode?id=150388