2010’s – Page 15 – Jiggy's Horror Corner

Loon Lake (2019)

Directed by Ansel Faraj [Other horror films: Three Shadows (2010), Mr. Twistedface (2011), Hunters of the Dark (2011), The Last Case of August T. Harrison (2015), The Night-Time Winds (2017)]

There are times when I sort of liked what Loon Lake was going for – a somewhat somber, slow-moving flick about a man who recently lost his wife and faith dealing with a witch in a small town, utilizing flashbacks to show the witch’s story – and though I did like the tone of this one, and the somewhat sparse setting, I don’t know if it’s ultimately memorable.

I do think that star Nathan Wilson did a great job playing a rather aimless guy. He had a sort of standoffish personality, and I thought it really fit with the trials he was going through. David Selby, though, who pulled double duty and played two distinctly different characters, is probably the best of the bunch. His portrayal of Emery reminded me quite a bit of Fred Gwynne’s Jud from Pet Sematary. As either a witch or a misunderstood girl, Kelly Erin Decker put in a good performance, and though her character didn’t add near as much as I thought she would, Brittany Benjamin was solid too.

Loon Lake does have an amateurish quality to it, but I think it works out well regardless. This may partially be due to being filmed in the (real) small Minnesota town of Round Lake, and that small town vibe really comes through here. The camera-work here is pretty solid, and there are a few decent scenes, so that helps.

The problem is that the story, while interesting to a point, sort of runs into a stalemate once the main character starts battling whether or not the things he’s witnessing and experiencing are just his imagination run amok or something more. It’s that psychological horror that can be okay, but when it takes up the bulk of the second half, it doesn’t quite do as much for me. I did sort of like the fake-out ending toward the conclusion, and the conclusion itself was decent, but overall, I was more lukewarm toward this than anything else.

Personally, I think Loon Lake is an okay movie. It never felt too generically Hollywood in it’s encapsulation of jump scares, and for lack of a better term, it felt genuine. The issues of faith and religion are dealt with in a somewhat unsatisfactory way, but I still think the movie was okay. Problematically, there’s not much that really stands out about Loon Lake, though, so while it was decent for a single watch, this isn’t one I can imagine many people doing back to, which is like to be it’s downfall.

6.5/10

Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire (2019)

Directed by Stephen Cognetti [Other horror films: Hell House LLC (2015), Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel (2018)]

The third installment of the Hell House LLC trilogy wasn’t too far removed from the previous two, which is a problem the second film shared also. Is it still an enjoyable slice of found footage horror? For the most part, yes, but while I like elements of the conclusion, I sort of wonder if things got a bit away from them at the end.

We of course get some fun and somewhat memorable characters. He didn’t really add that much to the story, but Harvey (Scott Richey) was fun, as was Jeff (Sam Kazzi). The character of Russell Wynn (played by Gabriel Chytry) was an interesting additional, and adds a little lore, in a way, that further connects the three films. The main woman here, played by Elizabeth Vermilyea, was decent, though didn’t really do anything that previous others in her role had done.

Upon originally finishing this, I thought it was a bit even with the second film, but giving myself a few days helped clear my head a bit, and I’ll say that it’s probably not quite as decent. I do think the finale here was ultimately better than the exposition of the second film, but at the same time, seeing the carnage wrought by the demons sort of loses a bit of impact, and the ending of the film, while interesting, wasn’t necessarily amazing.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the first Hell House LLC was amazing. But did such a great found footage flick (and there aren’t really that many in the horror genre) really need two sequels? In some ways, it helped flesh out a few aspects that were left mysteriously unanswered in the first movie, but at the same time, I do think they went a tad overboard when it came to explanations. I appreciated what the conclusion of this one was going for, but I didn’t totally love it.

I’m not going to go as far as to say that the third installment of this series is bad – for found footage horror, it’s still decent. It’s just not that far removed from the first or second films, and with nothing to differentiate beyond that, I’m calling this movie around average.

7/10

The Banana Splits Movie (2019)

Directed by Danishka Esterhazy [Other horror films: Slumber Party Massacre (2021)]

Tra-la-la la-la-la-la-la-la, tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la

I didn’t go into this movie with high hopes, though I sort of knew what to expect. I’ve seen a lot of hype about this on Twitter, and read somewhat lukewarm reaction to it (which the current IMDb rating of 5/10 seems to bear out), and so I found it surprising that The Banana Splits Movie is one of the funnest films I’ve seen in awhile.

TAA-DAAA!!

This movie consistently cracked me up. It seems to me to be a mix of the video game Five Nights at Freddy’s (which I’ve played a handful of times in the past) and the new Child’s Play movie (robots going wild, anyone?).

Cast-wise, I don’t think The Banana Splits Movie does much wrong. It’s true that the main kid, played by Finlay Wojtak-Hissong, was a bit generic (though he does have a few touching scenes with Snorky), but the other young kid, Maria Nash, was amusingly snarky (snarky, not Snorky, for she has no trunk). Romeo Carere was funny as a burnout teen, and he has great dialogue with Naledi Majola (who I also particularly liked).

Kiroshan Naidoo and Celina Martin’s characters were a bit too odd for me to really get into, and Steve Lund played a complete dick, but Dani Kind did great as the mother, and got really kick-ass toward the end. Lastly, kudos to Richard White, who cracked me up with his role here.

There’s a lot of painful imagery in this movie, including a very unfun-looking broken finger (or perhaps multiple broken fingers), a guy sawed in half (TAA-DAA!), a dude getting ran over by a banana buggy, and perhaps my favorite sequence, a man who gets his arms and legs torn off in front of a bunch of children. Certainly, in this department, The Banana Splits Movie has a lot going for it.

I had a lot of fun with this, definitely more fun than I was expecting. The humor was present, but it was never too over-the-top, and under the outlandish imagery of giant animal robots going wild and killing people, trapping kids and forcing them to watch gruesome murders, the movie’s a lot darker than you might expect, especially with such a catchy song.

God bless Snorky, by the way. He’s the real MVP here.

Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la, tra-la-la-la-la-la-la.

8.5/10

This is one of the films covered by Fight Evil’s podcast. Listen below as Chucky (@ChuckyFE) and I discuss The Banana Splits Movie.

Haunt (2019)

Directed by Scott Beck [Other horror films: Nightlight (2015)] & Bryan Woods [Other horror films: Nightlight (2015)]

I really thought I was going to like this one a lot more than I eventually did. Haunt certainly had a lot of potential, and it truly was tense up to a point, and the build-up? Damn solid. But it really loses it’s thread during the second half of the film, and when all is said and done, I don’t think Haunt will be that memorable in the years to come.

What does Haunt get right? Well, the idea, while nowhere near original (House of Purgatory and Hell House LLC called, and [insert end of played out joke here]), did the extreme haunted house thing well. The spider hallways (fake spider webs with fake, and also real, spiders) freaked me out, the branding room was done nicely, that crawling area solidly claustrophobic, and the tension palpable.

Though the performances are somewhat forgettable come the ending of the movie, most of them do okay. Andrew Caldwell was decently amusing at times, though Will Brittain was really generic. I wasn’t really wowed with Schuyler Helford, Shazi Raja, or Lauryn Alisa McClain, but none of them were necessarily bad either. It’s Katie Stevens, as the main girl, who made the most impact, especially with the emotional sucker-punch that was the flashback, giving her character and situation (including an abusive ex-boyfriend) more depth. I wouldn’t even say she was amazing, but she was the most consistently solid cast member, in my view.

Where Haunt starts losing stream is with the perpetrators of the haunted house. I won’t, for the sake of spoiling things, delve much into this, but let’s just say where they go with the identity of these people leaves a hell of a lot to be desired. Also, what they do with Samuel Hunt’s character is lackluster. And the ending? Gorry, what an utter disappointment.

Keep the first half of the film, and change everything about the latter half, and Haunt is a good movie worth a few rewatches. But in the form they went with, Haunt has the sizzle but lacks the steak. It’s all hat and no cattle. It’s – okay, I’ve run out of idioms, but seriously, Haunt really could have been a pretty solid movie, but ultimately, I think it’ll end up being a forgettable flavor-of-the-week.

6.5/10

Haunt is one of the films covered on Fight Evil’s podcast on episode #21. Here’s a clip of Chucky (@ChuckyFE) and I discussing it.

Child’s Play (2019)

Directed by Lars Klevberg [Other horror films: Polaroid (2019)]

This re-imaging of the classic 1988 film was, at times, pretty decent, but though I generally found it above average, I don’t think there’s really a whole lot to utterly love about this.

First off, as hard as I tried, I just couldn’t get use to the change in design of Chucky, most noticeably the face. I don’t think it was something that deeply took away from the film, but at the same time, I had a hard time getting the authentic Chucky feel when he was on-screen.

A big part of that too could be explained by the vastly different origin – instead of an insane serial killer trapped inside the body of a kid’s toy, this Chucky is basically a rogue program installed by a disgruntled employer (which isn’t much a spoiler, as that scene is how the film opens). Because of this change, Chucky was never ‘human’ here, instead feeling more like a robot attempting to understand how best to be the best friend he could be to Andy. Of course, this exploration doesn’t end well.

Though it wasn’t as distracting as I thought it’d be, I also wasn’t overly thrilled with the idea that Chucky was in control of not only himself, but of all the products this company linked into, such as hearing aids, televisions, drones, cars, etc. It really gets rid of the more personal feeling that I tend to expect from Chucky, though at the same time, it matches his drastically different origin well.

Many of the performances were perfectly acceptable. Aubrey Plaza certainly came across as a rather young mother, but it worked well. Brian Tyree Henry was pretty fun as a supporting cast member, though I sort of wish they did a bit more with him. I liked both Ty Consiglio and Beatrice Kitsos, and Kitsos was certainly the more memorable of the two, but I wish they had mattered more in the conclusion. As Andy, Gabriel Bateman was good. He was no Alex Vincent, but he was still good, and it’s always great to see Tim Matheson pop up, if only for a few minutes.

There was a solid kill here involving a heated pipe and a saw-blade, but the other kill with potential (lawnmower) was a bit on the dark side, and made it somewhat difficult to see everything. I did enjoy a somewhat jarring scene involving a head, so it certainly wasn’t all bad, but overall, I thought they could have done a lot more with the special effects and gore than what they did.

I’m somewhat hard-pressed to see how anyone could love this over the original film. There were certainly solid aspects about it, but it also lacked some of the scenes that made the original so great, such as the sequence in the asylum with Andy, or the scene in which his mother finds out that Chucky’s actually alive. Much of the film is serviceable, but it doesn’t really go beyond that for me.

I had a decent time watching this (it helps that by the time I saw this in theater, very few others were there to muddle the experience), and I do find it a bit above average, but I definitely don’t think the film’s great, and it sadly falls behind the original, along with at least three of it’s sequels (the second and third films, along with Curse).

7.5/10

On Fight Evil’s fifth podcast, Chucky (@ChuckyFE) and I covered this shortly following it’s release. Give it a listen below.

What Keeps You Alive (2018)

Directed by Colin Minihan [Other horror films: Grave Encounters (2011), Extraterrestrial (2014), It Stains the Sands Red (2016)]

With potential to be more, unfortunately What Keeps You Alive both goes on too long and possesses quite a few bad choices on the parts of the characters, making the movie all the more forgettable, though perhaps still worth at least one go.

It starts out pretty well, with a likable couple played by Hannah Emily Anderson and Brittany Allen (yes, they’re a lesbian couple, so should you be a piece of homophobic trash, this may not be for you) spending their one-year anniversary at a secluded cabin. It’s hard to tell where the movie’s going from the beginning, but come a shocking scene about twenty minutes in or so, from that point on, most can probably guess what’s coming up.

As it is, the story is pretty decent, despite a few small elements I don’t care for. The problem is that the story drags past the point of interest, and honestly, though I understand why they added in the last twenty minutes, I think the movie would have been better without it. Really, I’d rather have a pretty good eighty minute movie as opposed to a flawed hour and forty minute one.

The two main actresses do good, at least. Anderson might grate on you a bit as the movie goes on (she felt too similar to a few other characters I’ve seen in earlier horror films), but Allen is consistently fun, despite her utterly horrible choices toward the conclusion of the film. On a side-note, I find it somewhat amusing that both these women were also in 2017’s Jigsaw. Not relevant to this movie, I just found it interesting. Given that only four total individuals are in this film, it’s a good thing that these two main characters are at least bearable.

It doesn’t really matter when it comes to the elongated conclusion, though. Like I said, without the final twenty minutes (which did have an okay scene, at least), I think many people would have liked this movie a bit more. Because of the route it took, though, What Keeps You Alive just hovers around average, maybe even dipping a bit below. Had the story been tightened up a bit, I could see giving this film a much better rating, but it wasn’t to be. Certainly an interesting idea, though.

7/10

Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel (2018)

Directed by Stephen Cognetti [Other horror films: Hell House LLC (2015), Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire (2019)]

The second film of this planned trilogy doesn’t really change a significant amount as far as the style or story goes, but at the same time, it doesn’t set itself apart from the first one that much either, and toward the end, sort of goes a bit overboard on explaining some things.

Pretty much everything decent about the first movie is decent here – the multiple media forms (such as YouTube videos, a morning talk show, interviews, etc), the subtle creepy scenes, the setting itself – but there’s little here that wasn’t in the first movie, and the stuff that was added doesn’t much help the film a whole lot.

I think the biggest problem is toward the end, in which a sequence takes place that throws all subtly out the window, and instead makes obvious what could have mostly been inferred already. The scene felt unnecessary to our understanding of the story, and it was just too much. Instead of that, if they had thrown in some more creepy clown scenes, I think I would have been happy.

I do like all of the references to the characters from the first movie, and the fact that they expand a bit on one of the unanswered questions the first movie brought forth. Shining a light a bit on Alex’s motivations, both in the middle of the film and with the flashbacks at the conclusion, really add something that I thought was actually relevant.

Personally, I feel that if you’re a fan of the first movie, as I definitely was, this isn’t really all that different. True, I feel the first movie has a more mysterious and creepy, uneasy vibe to it, especially given that in this film, most people agree that the hotel isn’t the safest place to be, and it dampens the suspense. Still, it’s mostly a clone of the first film, which is both a good thing, as it does many of the same things right, but it also doesn’t seem to try and be more.

If you liked the first one, you’ll possibly like this one, as apart from the unnecessary sequence toward the end, there’s not a whole lot of differences.

7.5/10

Apostle (2018)

Directed by Gareth Evans [Other horror films: Footsteps (2006), V/H/S/2 (2013, segment ‘Safe Haven’)]

This one caught me a bit by surprise. While I expected it to be an above-average movie based on the plot alone, I wasn’t quite expecting something of this high quality.

In many ways, this feels a bit like an updated version of The Wicker Man (a comparison that many others have made, it seems), only this takes place in the early 1900’s. There’s some amazing suspense and a somewhat layered story here, and combine that with both the quality performances and heavy quantities of gore, you have a solid movie here.

One factor that might initially seem detrimental to enjoyment may be the run-time, Apostle being a two hour and ten minute movie. That said, the film didn’t feel that long, and never really seemed to drag, which is somewhat of a feat in itself. I’d just say to not let the length deter you from giving the film a chance.

The cast makes the film better even if you think it’s on the sluggish side. I’m not familiar with any of these names, but Dan Stevens does great as the main character, and Michael Sheen was rather charismatic as Prophet Malcolm. Bill Milner did okay in his role, but his love interest Kristine Froseth did better. Lucy Boynton has a fiery nature about her, and Mark Lewis Jones really shone here, especially nearing the conclusion, which held a few surprises for us.

Possessing an unexpected brutality, Apostle had great gore. Multiple slit throats, a few torture scenes, impalement by spears, some mangled fingers, and my favorite scene, a disembowelment. I was pretty much thinking the movie would be an atmospheric slow-burn, and it sort of is, but the gore they had was top-notch, and like I alluded to, took me by surprise.

Apostle’s not a movie likely to appeal to everyone, especially given the run-time. If you’re a fan of The Wicker Man, though, this might be worth looking for. The gore would likely satisfy the slasher fans, and the suspense and pretty lush story and characterization would please those looking for something a little deeper. This is a movie that I can’t easily classify, but it’s all the better for it, and I think it was really a treat to see.

9/10

Summer of 84 (2018)

Directed by François Simard [Other horror films: N/A], Anouk Whissell [Other horror films: N/A] & Yoann-Karl Whissell [Other horror films: N/A]

This is a movie that I’m not even going to try and write a lengthy take on – it originally blew me away entirely, and if you’ve a thing for movie’s harking back to the 1980’s, I’d highly recommend giving this one a look. With a second viewing, it’s not quite as fresh, but still very much worth a look.

With a story somewhat similar to the Rear Window/Disturbia-type plot, and with the vibe of Stranger Things (I’ve seen only the first episode, but the similar vibe is definitely here), Summer of 84 really had a lot of talent behind it, from cinematography to the absolutely masterful soundtrack, and amazing handle on suspense.

It is true that the story may not lead you to any really big surprises, but it does a moderately decent job at keeping you guessing at times, and the way they handle what they have is beyond enjoyable. That soundtrack alone had me excited every time the music popped up.

Plenty of good performances from all the main actors and actresses involved, from the four main kids (Graham Verchere, Judah Lewis, Caleb Emery, and Cory Gruter-Andrew) to the other characters of import (the beautiful Tiere Skovbye and seemingly-shifty Rich Sommer). I didn’t have a single complaint about any of the acting here, and I thought the four main boys all complimented each other nicely.

As said, the story itself may not seem a thrill ride, but the suspense in this movie is so damn heavy, especially toward the end. Some may argue the last ten minutes or so were unnecessary, but I thought it tacked on something quite memorable, and without it, I feel the movie wouldn’t feel near as complete.

I honestly don’t have many bad things to say about the film at all. Sure, it feels a lot more like a coming-of-age film than a horror movie at times, but other great movies, including the somewhat similar The Girl Next Door (2007), had very much the same feel. Throw in the 80’s vibe this film captured magnificently, and you have a winner. It’s far from the greatest movie ever made, despite the fact that I really loved it when I first saw it, but again, despite it not being as memorable as one might hope, I think it’s worth the watch.

8/10

This was on the 12th episode of Fight Evil’s podcast, so if you care to, listen to Chucky (@ChuckyFE) and I discuss it.

Truth or Double Dare (TODD) (2018)

Directed by Shaquita Smith [Other horror films: N/A]

While not a necessarily good movie, this was nowhere near as bad as the title or rating on IMDb (3/10 when I first wrote this review, and it’s a 2.4/10 right now) led me to believe. Still, it did come across as rather soulless, which is it’s biggest problem.

The story isn’t really that unique. Combining elements of past films like Truth or Dare (2012) and Most Likely to Die (2015), this flick felt as though it had been done before. That said, for a lower-budget movie (the estimated budget is around a million dollars), it had a decent production, and I sort of liked what they did with the flashbacks in the movie.

Worth noting, the movie, while only an hour long, has a somewhat ambitious plot, and probably more characters than necessary (there’s Michelle, John, Chiggy, Claudia, Egypt, Rashad, Lucas, Juan, Felicity, and Alex as the main characters). It didn’t take much to figure out who was who or what relationships they had with each other, but given the first twenty minutes of an already short movie were devoted entirely to showing these characters, it felt a bit much.

As said, the story’s generic, and while some actors and actresses do decent, others are pretty cringe-worthy. Those who did well include Jake Levin, Jillian McLendon, Caleb Spivak, and Alyx Libby, Spivak and Libby perhaps being my favorites. Austin Chunn and Drew Stephenson didn’t do much for me, but both were moderately competent. Gina Hiraizumi (who is probably one of the most-accomplished cast-members) didn’t work for me, though, and Tevon Plunkett was laughably over-the-top at times. I’m torn by Maia Kavchak – she did well at times in her role, but she also did horribly during a few scenes.

That said, the failures of acting isn’t what brings the movie down the most. It’s that the story, while somewhat well-constructed (despite pathetically weak kills), felt utterly soulless. Some movies of a similar plot, such as the aforementioned Most Likely to Die, Don’t Go to the Runion (2013), and ROT: Reunion of Terror (2008) all had more feeling (Reunion of Terror wasn’t that good, but for an indie horror, it knew what it was going for). This one had a decent story, if not derivative, but I didn’t get the sense that those involved loved what they were doing. It felt a bit stale, especially compared to Don’t Go to the Reunion, which was a clearly made-for-horror-fans-by-horror-fans flick, made for about $18,000.

You could do worse than making a movie without feeling – like I said, there were some good performances here, and the way the story was told, especially regarding the flashbacks, was somewhat inspired. But I couldn’t imagine ever wanting to watch this again if I had those other previously mentioned movies at my disposal.

5.5/10