Capsule film reviews: Four horror movies from 2014

‘Only Lovers Left Alive’
Release Date: April 11, 2014
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Starring: Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston and Mia Wasikowska
Genre: Drama, Horror, Romance
Rating: R for language and brief nudity.
Grade: A

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

“Only Lovers Left Alive” is more of a vampire art film than a horror movie, but I’m including it anyway. It’s a slow-paced, beautifully-shot romance following two centuries-old vampires as they continue to gravitate back toward each other. Tilda Swinton as Eve has an amazing, commanding presence on screen, and Tom Hiddleston as Adam is well-matched. Together, the pair searches for fresh sources of blood to drink in between discussions about music, art, the current state of humankind, and the experiences they’ve had over the years (playwright Christopher Marlowe — played by John Hurt — is an old friend and fellow vampire). The film’s soundtrack is a strong complement to the gorgeous cinematography, which spans locations such as Detroit, Michigan and Tangier, Morocco. “Only Lovers Left Alive” is amusing, charming and an altogether delightful little film about a love that really endures everything.

‘The Sacrament’
Release Date: May 1, 2014
Director: Ti West
Starring: Joe Swanberg, AJ Bowen and Amy Seimetz
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Rating: R for disturbing violent content including bloody images, language, and brief drug use.
Grade: B+

Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures/Magnolia Home Entertainment.

“The Sacrament” is found-footage horror done right, as it tells a fictionalized account of the 1978 Jonestown Massacre. The story follows three “VICE” reporters as they travel to Eden Parish, a mysterious religious commune located in the remote wilderness, where one reporter’s sister has been supposedly thriving after recovering from drug addiction. The presence of the film crew and their probing questions seem to disrupt the equilibrium of the sect and force its leadership to a violent breaking point. “The Sacrament” is a pretty satisfying horror film for any cult enthusiasts, and it effectively creates an environment of high tension leading up to a tremendous, explosive conclusion. The only part that really drags is the interview with Father (Gene Jones), the cult leader, who is given way too much screen time to ramble on and on about his beliefs. But such are cult leaders, yeah?

‘The Taking of Deborah Logan’
Release Date: Oct. 21, 2014
Director: Adam Robitel
Starring: Jill Larson, Anne Ramsay and Michelle Ang
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Rating: R for disturbing violent content, language, and brief nudity.
Grade: D-

Photo courtesy of Eagle Films/Millennium Entertainment.

This was a terrible disappointment. I thought “The Taking of Deborah Logan” was going to be about an elderly woman who appears to have Alzheimer’s disease but is, in fact, turning into a zombie, but the actual movie was a lot more convoluted and a lot less logical than that. The first half of the film is found-footage horror at its worst — completely pointless and unoriginal “Paranormal Activity”-style scares in the middle of the night as a team of filmmakers plan to study the effects the degenerative disease has on the lives of a woman and her daughter. When the truth finally begins to unfold, the increasingly ridiculous plot twists are revealed hurriedly and accepted unquestioningly (and somehow still captured on film although the guise of the documentary had long since become shaky). There’s only one moment of really good creepy imagery at the very end, but you’re better off just looking at a .gif and skipping “The Taking of Deborah Logan.”

‘The Babadook’
Release Date: Nov. 28, 2014
Director: Jennifer Kent
Starring: Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman and Daniel Henshall
Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Rating: Not Rated
Grade: A+

Photo courtesy of Cinetic Media/eOne Films International/IFC Films.

“The Babadook” is a great achievement for modern horror. It is mentally and emotionally disturbing — scary in a way that transcends gore and relies entirely on an increasing sense of dread. “The Babadook” is just supernatural enough to leave the audience delightfully and horribly mystified: how much horror is real and how much is just in our own twisted minds? There are phenomenal performances all around. Essie Davis stars as Amelia, a widowed single mother who is trying her best to raise her young son Samuel (Noah Wiseman) and maintain her sanity after her husband’s violent death. Wiseman also gives a stellar performance as the weird little kid who is obsessed with building weapons and fighting monsters, which only further isolates the family from the outside world. Everything about “The Babadook” is well executed and eerie. And it leaves you with something interesting to think about, which is the best way to end a film.

Capsule film reviews: Four horror anthologies

‘V/H/S’
Release Date: Oct. 5, 2012
Director: Glenn McQuaid, Ti West, Joe Swanberg, David Bruckner and Adam Wingard
Starring: Sophia Takal, Joe Swanberg and Kate Lyn Sheil
Genre: Horror, Suspense, Thriller
Rating: R for pervasive language, graphic nudity, bloody violence, some drug use and strong sexuality.
Grade: A

Ti West’s “Second Honeymoon.” Photo courtesy of Magnet Releasing.

The thing that is particularly great about “V/H/S” is the short story format: it is comprised of five completely unrelated horror vignettes of all styles ranging from the supernatural to typical slasher killers. Each individual story is interesting in its own way, and the time frame is just enough to make them captivating and creepy without going overboard and ruining it. I have a difficult time choosing a favorite, but I love the title of Joe Swanberg’s offering, “The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger.” The worst part of the film is the attempt at an overarching narrative to tie all of the stories together. The continuing storyline is uninteresting, distracting and unnecessary.

‘The Theatre Bizarre’
Release Date: Jan. 27, 2012
Director: Buddy Giovinazzo, Tom Savini, Jeremy Kasten, Richard Stanley and David Gregory
Starring: Udo Kier, Virginia Newcomb and Amanda Marquardt
Genre: Horror
Rating: Not Rated
Grade: F

Photo courtesy of Severin Films.

“The Theatre Bizarre” was a big disappointment. The film is an anthology of six short stories tied together with a semi-interesting, somewhat-creepy overarching narrative. Only two of the six are at all tolerable: “I Love You” and “The Accident,” although neither of which could be considered at all scary, and “The Accident” is certainly not horror. The rest of the poorly-written, poorly-acted stories seem to fight incredibly hard to be considered the worst of the bunch. In “Mother of Toads,” a guy goes to an old French woman’s house to read The Necronomicon because why not and then proceeds to have sex with a giant toad monster. What the fuck. “Vision Stains” is too preachy; “Sweets” tries way too hard to be esoteric; “Wet Dreams” is awfully boring, and considering there’s a shot of a giant insect’s pinchers protruding from a vagina, that’s quite a feat.

‘V/H/S 2’
Release Date: July 12, 2013
Director: Gregg Hale, Eduardo Sanchez, Simon Barrett, Adam Wingard and Jason Eisener
Starring: Kelsy Abbott, Lawrence Levine and Adam Wingard
Genre: Horror, Suspense, Thriller
Rating: Not Rated
Grade: D

Gareth Huw Evans and Timo Tjahjanto’s “Safe Haven.” Photo courtesy of Magnet Releasing.

Since I enjoyed the first “V/H/S” movie and love the horror anthology format, I was excited to give this sequel a try. However, it turned out to be a letdown. Seemed promising at first: the overarching narrative this time follows a private investigator and his girlfriend who find a collection of creepy VHS tapes in a college student’s apartment while on the job. This narrative is a lot stronger and more compelling than that of the first “V/H/S” movie. Where this one goes wrong, however, is with the ensuing short stories. More supernatural than the stories in the first film, these come off hokey and aren’t scary. “Safe Haven,” about an Indonesian cult, would have been a great story had it stuck to one idea, but it instead devolves into silliness when it reveals a demonic creature that just looks like a puppet on a stick. The only good story was “A Ride in the Park,” which employs innovative filming techniques to tell of a zombie apocalypse from a unique perspective.

‘Little Deaths’
Release Date: March 11, 2011
Director: Simon Rumley, Andrew Parkinson and Sean Hogan
Starring: Holly Lucas, Jodie Jameson and Kate Braithwaite
Genre: Horror
Rating: Not Rated
Grade: B

Simon Rumley’s “Bitch.” Photo courtesy of Imagination Worldwide/Image Entertainment.

“Little Deaths,” a UK horror anthology, immediately starts off on the right foot by not attempting to tie its three unrelated stories together with an overall narrative. The pièce de résistance of the set is the third offering, “Bitch,” because it features a sadistic woman with a pushover boyfriend, kinky sexual deviancy and some mysterious, creeping fear. I wasn’t crazy about the ending, but I really appreciate the depravity. The other two stories are less impressive but pretty good nonetheless. The first, “House and Home,” begins effectively menacingly, but it allows for a rather goofy twist ending. The second, “Mutant Tool,” is quite interesting and if not a bit convoluted. Altogether, “Little Deaths” is a pretty solid anthology, and I wish there had been room for a few more stories.