Five Horror Sequels that are Better the Second Time

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Wicked Horror is the author of Five Horror Sequels that are Better the Second Time. Wicked Horror is the internet's only horror fan site for free original horror movies, news, review & more.

Everyone goes into certain movies with a set of expectations. This is especially true for horror sequels. The Friday the 13th series has some entries that are unjustly maligned simply because what people want to see is the iconic monster in the hockey mask. Viewers latch onto those movies that give them what they expect; what they love. For die-hard fans that own every movie in each franchise, going through the entries you love doesn’t take much time. Then you’re left with nothing but the films you never really cared for. Sometimes this is an act of self-torture, but other times you begin to see things in a new light. Here are some entries in popular franchises that might have put people off on an initial viewing, but only get better over time.  Also See: Early Slasher Films That Should Have Become Classics Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh Candyman was one of the big surprise horror hits of the early 90’s. It was smart, sophisticated and kept the viewer guessing from beginning to end. Even when the film is over, it’s tough to tell what was real and what was not. Farewell to the Flesh is a much more straightforward movie, which was a let down for a lot of people. It confirms that the Candyman was real and it gives him a rich and elaborate backstory, but that doesn’t make it bad. Seeing it immediately after the first one can be jarring. To see the story dealt with in such an overtly supernatural matter is hard to swallow the first time around. But it’s a solid horror picture and even if it’s more of a ghost story than the first, it’s a pretty good ghost story. If you actually want a bad Candyman movie, feel free to check out Candyman 3: Day of the Dead which was a complete rehash of this one with about a quarter of the budget. Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning Virtually every Friday the 13th fan was guilty of hating this movie at one point and many still do. The first time you watch it, you’re naturally expecting Jason. There’s no real hint given that Jason may not be the killer this time around, so there’s no reason to expect it. When the viewer thinks they already know who the killer is, that takes all the joy out of watching to try and figure out who might actually be the one doing the slashing. It’s like Scooby Doo meets Friday the 13th. Everything plays out like a traditional spooky entry and then the mask comes off at the end and it’s not Jason, it’s a disgruntled paramedic. So there was a backlash and Jason was understandably brought back in the next entry. If you haven’t warmed up to this one after that initial disappointment, you’re missing out. Aside from some of the best kills of the whole series, A New Beginning also boasts some of the most interesting side characters. Sure, it might be a dirtier, sleazier entry but it excels as such. Related: Why A New Beginning is the Most Unsung of the Friday the 13th Films Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare Nightmare, Part 2, has finally begun to develop a fan base and is being viewed on its own merits instead of its deviations from the original, so we don’t really need to make a case for that one. But Freddy’s Dead on the other hand…at first glance is a little harder to defend The movie doesn’t have the wealth of subtext that Nightmare 2 does. With Freddy’s Dead, what you see is pretty much what you get. The transition from straight horror to absurdist comedy was not an easy one for fans of the franchise and many still wish it was a transition that had never been made. At some point, though, there comes a time to accept the way things went and just go with it. Freddy’s Dead is not a great movie, but it is a thoroughly entertaining film and it does have great moments. It’s the most slapstick out of all the sequels but the flashback scenes with Englund as pre-burnt Freddy are among his scariest moments in the entire saga. It handles its tone much better than Dream Child, in which there was a depressing, downbeat mood throughout the whole thing and wisecracking Freddy felt out of place in his own movie. This time, everything is offbeat and weird. This is an Elm Street film that runs wild doing whatever the hell it wants. Like it or hate it, you have to admire it in some ways. On top of all that, there are some truly creative kills.  Also See: How Freddy’s Dead Became a Living Cartoon Return of the Living Dead 3 Return of the Living Dead 3 is a different movie from Return of the Living Dead in every way, shape and form. It’s serious where the first entry was comedic, heartfelt where its predecessor was nihilistic, and a love story where the first was, well, not. It doesn’t seem like a movie that should work, especially when the first worked so well. Yet Return of the Living Dead 3 easily stands beside Tom Savini’s Night of the Living Dead and Peter Jackson’s Dead Alive as one of the best horror movies of the 1990’s. This is a splatter punk story of star-crossed lovers made for the body mod generation. The main zombie here is Julie, who acts perfectly normal at first. But as she gets hungrier, she resorts to sadomasochism to try and keep her cannibalistic urges at bay. Eventually she turns herself into something that should have become a horror icon. Beautiful and frightening at the same time, Julie is a zombie with heavy echoes of Hellraiser. What really impresses about this sequel is that it is able to tell a brand new story without contradicting the rules of the first two movies. It might be entirely different, but it exists in the same universe.  Also See: Script to Pieces: Tobe Hooper’s Return of the Living Dead 3D Halloween III: Season of the Witch It’s hard to imagine there was a fan of the first two Halloween movies that liked—or at least got—Season of the Witch the first time they ever saw it. I distinctly remember renting the film and waiting the entire time for Michael Myers to show up. Even though the plot was completely different, even though there was an ad for Halloween playing on TV at one point, I didn’t expect there to be an entry in the series without so much as a cameo appearance by the man himself. I was so focused on waiting for Michael to show up that I didn’t really watch it, and I think that happened to a lot of people with this one. Ultimately, it’s a shame. Halloween III is an inventive, atmospheric story. It is wholly enriched in the holiday while offering up a brand new plot that could not be more different than what had come before. The scares in Season of the Witch are not of the stalk-and-slash variety. Instead, this one is focused on supernatural and even psychological horror. The biggest example of its effectiveness is also its most iconic scene, in which little Buddy Kupfer demonstrates what Silver Shamrock novelties has planned for the children all around the world. Even if it has nothing to do with the rest of the series, the image of those bugs and snakes crawling out of that dilapidated mask is one of the most haunting in the Halloween legacy. Follow us on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube

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Robot Awakening is a Cool Concept, Executed Inadequately [Review]

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Wicked Horror is the author of Robot Awakening is a Cool Concept, Executed Inadequately [Review]. Wicked Horror is the internet's only horror fan site for free original horror movies, news, review & more.

The problem with a movie like Robot Awakening is that no matter how I describe it you you, it’s going to sound like something more interesting than it actually is. So, with plenty of hesitation, I’d describe the Israeli sci-fi/action/comedy thus: A cross-between Robocop and Scott Pilgrim, if it was directed by Woody Allen. Yeah, I know, it sounds like something I’d love to watch, too. Unfortunately, the execution of Robot Awakening is nowhere near as exciting as the premise, quickly devolving into an uneven farce way too dependent on subpar CGI effects and video game karate that’s not even stylistically amusing. Oh, and don’t let that snazzy title fool you. Robot Awakening isn’t a new film from 2019 at all, it’s actually just a renamed carbon copy of the 2015 flick OMG, I’m A Robot! As in, they’re the exact same movies, from start-to-finish, so if by some bizarre chance you saw that movie four years ago, you aren’t missing anything. So, the movie revolves around this dork named Danny, who gets dumped by his gal pal and falls into a clinical depression for eight months. Not helping matters is the Russian janitor at work, who keeps telling him stories about his ex getting her face cut off by the KGB. Naturally, this all leads to our hero attempting to slice his own wrists open, only to find out, golly gee, he’s actually an ANDROID, complete with the very Iron Man-like ability to shoot plasma blasts outta his palms. From there, Danny goes to a club and literally does that robot dance and uses his heat vision eyeballs to make dudes’ beers all warm and stuff. Then he uses his newly-discovered robo-powers to sneak into his ex-girlfriend’s roommates’ apartment (hooray for whimsical stalking subplots!) before a whole buncha robo-ninjas show up outta nowhere and make him engage in a little cyborg kung-fu. Also See: Ten Warning Signs You Probably Missed in Get Out OK, so far, so good, right? Well, here’s the moment where the movie doesn’t just jump the proverbial shark, it pretty much does a Triple Lindy into the swimming tool teeming with hammerheads. Apparently lacking the budget to hire more than five actors to appear on-screen at once, the filmmakers instead give us this long, dreadfully boring, poorly animated cartoon exposition scene on how all of the robot-babies were made, and honestly, the movie never recovers from the abrupt snag in pacing. But what we do get after that is a subplot about a rabbi who makes a six-barrelled laser gun to celebrate Hanukkah, who keeps yammering on and on about his fear of pork-eating robots taking over Tel Aviv. Then there’s one of the laziest, most low-energy laser gun shootouts in the history of cinema, followed by a startling revelation about the Russian janitor from earlier, and then, the whole thing concludes with our main character proving his undying love by engaging in a robo-death-battle with a dude commanding a mech suit that looks like something copy-and-pasted out of a PlayStation 1 game from 1995. But let’s let the highlights speak for themselves, why don’t we? We’ve got one dead body. No exposed breasts or buttocks of any gender, homo sapien or android. Thirty-five dead robots. Hands roll. Gratuitous Space Invaders references. One exploding antique store. One exploding mech. Kung fu. Samurai sword fu. Power glove (but not that power glove) fu. And the thing more or less responsible for this movie existing in the first place — some of the most brazen retitling fu any of us have seen in a long time. Also See: Black Christmas (2019) is the Perfect Way to End the Year! Starring Yotam Ishay as Danny Bernstein, the clinically depressed android who says lines like “but this is before I knew I was a robot”; Tzahi Grad as Goldschmidt, Danny’s boss/karate instructor who teaches him the ways of robo-warfare; Hili Yalon as Noa, Danny’s girlfriend who’s really only in the movie for like, 10 minutes; and, believe it or not, Rob Schneider as the voice of Robo Joseph, which is basically what would happen if R2-D2 was a Hassidic Jew. Written and directed by the tag team of Tal Goldberg and Gal Zelezniak, who if nothing else, get bonus points for coming up with lines of dialogue like “those Germans know how to build a dog” and “fear the hand, Goldschmidt, fear the hand.” As I was saying earlier, there is some charm to Robot Awakening, but the enticing concept just isn’t implemented well at all. There’s a couple of scenes that might make you snicker, but on the whole? This is one low-budget, indie sci-fi farce I’d recommend skipping — indeed, it’s so underwhelming, it makes that old Andy Kaufman dud Heartbeeps look like Terminator 2 by comparison. Wicked Rating: 4/10 Director(s): Tal Goldberg, Gal Zelezniak Writer(s): STal Goldberg, Gal Zelezniak Starring: Yotam Ishay, Tazhi Grad, Hili Yalon, Rob Schneider Release Date: December 3rd (DVD and Digital) Studio/Production Company: Uncork’d Entertainment Language: Hebrew Run Time: 75 minutes Follow us on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

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Early Slasher Movies That Should Have Become Classics

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Wicked Horror is the author of Early Slasher Movies That Should Have Become Classics. Wicked Horror is the internet's only horror fan site for free original horror movies, news, review & more.

There are not a lot of slasher movies that have become classics in the horror genre. Psycho is widely thought of as the grand-daddy of the sub-genre and is viewed as one of the best horror titles of all time. Later efforts like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Black Christmas are regarded as such. And Halloween is credited with kicking off the subgenre. But there are really only a handful of films released after Halloween that are regarded as classics. For today’s purposes, we will be taking a look back on five films from the slasher boom of the ’80s that should be remembered as classics. My Bloody Valentine  My Bloody Valentine was a success in theaters in 1981 and, in 2009, saw a remake that also did fairly well at the box office. Yet it never gained the audience it truly deserved. It wasn’t an entirely innovative slasher, but it had everything the rising sub-genre needed: There are some imaginative kill sequences, the killer has an amazing look, and more importantly, the movie itself has a good balance of humor and genuine scares. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it’s actually better for that. Also See: Why Valentine is a Respectable Alternative to My Bloody Valentine The Prowler  After creating the effects for Friday the 13th, Tom Savini became a superstar in the genre immediately following that film’s release. Every horror fan turned out to watch his insane, bloody FX work and what kind of elaborate death scenes he could come up with. Even if they didn’t consciously know who he was, everyone had seen Friday by this point and wanted to see more violent and imaginative special effects. The Prowler isn’t terribly innovative in its storyline. It’s nearly identical to My Bloody Valentine for the first 45 minutes. But the films were released the same year so that is likely just coincidence. And what it lacks in originality, it makes up for with strong atmosphere and the best gore effects that Savini ever created. The Prowler is a showcase for those effects, and as such it works perfectly. Also See: The Prowler Boasts Brutal Kills and a Twisted Ending The Burning  For a long time, fans hated The Burning because they thought that it was much too similar to Friday the 13th. Some of the detractors have warmed up to it now, but many haven’t and the film has definitely never come close to the popularity of Friday the 13th. The comparisons between the two movies are certainly valid. The Burning came out only a year later, it was set at a summer camp, and it featured a mysterious silent killer. Tom Savini actually turned down doing the effects on Friday the 13th Part 2 to work on this feature. What really makes this film stand out is the cast of characters. In some ways, they are better, more lively players than those featured in Friday. The Burning feels like a solid 1980s teen comedy up until the horror starts and that is precisely what makes the film work so well. Sleepaway Camp  Like The Burning, Sleepaway Camp relies on a summer camp setting, but this one completely spins the structure on its head. The movie is funny, sleazy, and while it is most known for its shocking, out-of-left-field ending, from beginning to end it is the last thing you’d expect. That’s what makes it such a cult classic. Well that and the insane, cartoonish characters and appallingly amoral camp staff. Related: The Pros and Cons of Sleepaway Camp as a Trans Narrative Terror Train  Terror Train is the best slasher movie that Jamie Lee Curtis did after Halloween. It has a great setting that echoes Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train. The look of the killer is what really sells this one. Everyone in this movie is in costume, so the killer’s look is constantly changing, which keeps both the characters and the viewer on their toes from beginning to end. It also has one of the most shocking reveals of any slasher ever. Follow us on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube

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Black Christmas is the Perfect Horror Movie to End 2019 [Review]

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Wicked Horror is the author of Black Christmas is the Perfect Horror Movie to End 2019 [Review]. Wicked Horror is the internet's only horror fan site for free original horror movies, news, review & more.

The release of Black Christmas 2019 brings with it a lot of baggage, given the title’s connection to the beloved 1974 original and its unfairly maligned, yet inarguably messy, 2006 remake. Haven’t we seen this story twice before, scream the denizens o Twitter. Though there are nods to the original movie throughout (one, involving the dress in which a young woman was sexually assaulted being re-utilized as a weapon, is a particular standout) this is very much its own film. It’s a film inescapably of this particular time in history, created by two women (Sophia Takal and celebrated film critic April Wolfe, who co-wrote the script with the director), who, like the rest of us, are all out of f***s to give. Unsurprisingly, the men, both critics and patrons alike, have either dismissed or outright hated it often, at least in the case of the latter, sight unseen. It’s a familiar pattern (see: Ghostbusters 2016) that feels depressingly, and yet still inevitably, ironic in the case of this movie. English actress Imogen Poots, who’s been struggling to find a role worthy of her considerable talents following her scene-stealing turn in another vitriolic, politically-charged horror movie, Green Room, is Riley, our ostensible Final Girl. A pretty sorority type rendered introverted to the point of almost literally hibernating from real life thanks to a brutal rape a few years previous, she’s getting ready for a lonely Christmas break at school while her friends are away having fun with their families when one of their number goes missing. She reports the incident to campus law enforcement but finds them frustratingly unwilling to help, a familiar reaction considering nothing was done in the wake of her assault. Related: Assassination Nation is Unapologetically Feminist and Should Be Celebrated In fact, Riley’s assailant, who graduated a few years previous, is back on campus for a festive frat party. Cleverly embodied by a chiselled-jawed, nondescript white bro who’s constantly chewing gum, her attacker happily integrates back into the fold while poor Riley tries to keep it all together, forced to be aware of him even when not in his presence. Things take an interesting turn when Riley and her sisters perform a number that at first seems like a sexy, Mean Girls-esque routine before morphing into a damning indictment of the school’s widespread, unchecked misogyny. To say it doesn’t go down too well would be an understatement, but it lights a fire under Riley and they make their point to other possible victims one of whom is rescued by Riley herself from the clutches of another opportunistic frat boy. Elsewhere, her fiery friend Kris (enthusiastically embodied by Aleyse Shannon) has already succeeded in getting a bust of the school’s founder, who has a dodgy past with slaves and dark magic, removed and is now working on having Professor Cary Elwes (complete with English accent, so we know not to trust him) fired because he refuses to teach anything but straight, white male writers in his class. Suffice to say, when the girls (“Women!” corrects one of them from the stage as their routine begins, hilariously) start being targeted proper, they’re told by basically every man in sight that they deserve it. What, did you think you could just publicly call out these men and there would be no consequences? Did you, Sophia and April!? How dare you! Watch me punch the screen in anger before demanding my money back for a film I refused to watch in the first place because feminism is cancer! #NotAllMen, damn it! Black Christmas is a darkly satisfying little festive surprise, not least because the spoilerific trailer seemed to give away all its best bits. Thankfully, even the brilliantly executed opening — which plays on every woman’s reaction to walking home alone while seemingly being followed by a creepy man — has a sting in its tail not glimpsed in previously released footage. There are those who argue there’s no reason to see the movie if the trailer gives so much away, but Takal and Wolfe’s script is bursting to absolute breaking point so there’s no way its genius could possibly be captured in even the best 3-minute clip. This is the kind of movie that could only have been dreamed up by women, whether it’s the hilariously gross reference to friends sharing a Diva cup (which pays off in a big way, too) or one sorority girl’s “Your manologue is boring me” T-shirt (side note: where can I purchase one, like, now?). This is a sharply written take-down of rape culture, particularly in colleges, which also touches on the idea of PC culture gone crazy when Riley fights with Kris for going too far and pushing everybody away — something many of us worry about when confronted by men we supposedly trust arguing that we’re doing more harm than good by speaking up. Tellingly, as well as tearing down the obviously bad men, Black Christmas also takes aim at the supposedly good guys who stand by and say nothing or are part of the problem because they won’t take issue with their own internal prejudices, like someone who proclaims himself to be a feminist on social media but then questions why you’re “dressing like that” when you complain about unwanted male attention. One character’s boyfriend actually makes the #NotAllMen argument, to the disgust of every woman present. Black Christmas is a rallying cry for all of us to be fighters, to stop just accepting that this is how things are, and to take control of our destiny, spirited by a string of strong and utterly unvarnished performances from impressively normal looking women. Poots gives it her all, whether communicating a wealth of buried emotion with a look or reasoning with a dumb male to stay quiet lest the killer stalking their house realizes where they are. She’s ably supported by Shannon, Lily Donoghue, Brittany O’Grady as her equally strong and yet clearly defined sisters and charmingly inept Caleb Eberhardt as possible love interest Landon who, crucially, doesn’t try to save the day but rather asks Riley how he can help and support her. It’s a small difference, but it means a lot in a movie populated by strong female characters that a man, no matter how nice, isn’t required to rescue them. And yet, in spite of its strong, well-considered and hugely empowering political message, this isn’t a preachy movie (and, to be clear, any men who think it is might want to take a look inwards before commenting and showing themselves up). Black Christmas is a fun, and frequently very funny, movie with a touch of Happy Death Day‘s “you sneaky little beyotch” spirit but, obviously, with a darker heart. Much was made of its PG-13 rating (15A in the UK and Ireland) but, similar to that other lively, female-led Blumhouse offering, making the kills swift and bloodless doesn’t necessarily rob them of the potential to shock us. The jolts (I’d hesitate to call them jump scares, for obvious reasons) are impeccably well-timed, even for this seasoned horror vet. Black Christmas is a scary film, plain and simple. It’s not necessarily designed for the Friday night multiplex crowd, the kind who attends screenings of La Llorona just to yell “don’t go in there!” at the screen before collapsing in laughter with their friends; this is a smarter, more considered effort that plays on the idea of somewhere, in this case a sorority house, turning violently from a place where women feel completely safe and secure to a cavernous death trap full of dark corners and sharp edges. There’s plenty of invention here too, from the aforementioned death-by-dress (suck it, In Fabric) to a death-by-icicle and even the implementation of a classic, and highly underused, horror weapon in the form of a crossbow (the last movie I can recall utilizing one was We Need to Talk About Kevin).  The rating has precisely zero impact on its scare appeal, rather it’s an opportunity to drag cousins and little sisters to see a movie that, with any luck, will impact not just their perception going forward in life but the make-up of horror in general. The demand is there, we just have to be given the chance. The past few years have given us Revenge, which retooled the rape revenge sub-genre for women, Raw, which did the same for cannibalism, and Assassination Nation which, although the work of a man (Sam Levinson), took a scalpel to MRA culture with as little subtlety as a blunt axe. Black Christmas bears the most resemblance to Levinson’s film, due to its gloriously unapologetic viewpoint, but it sits comfortably alongside the other two as a horror movie intent on breaking boundaries while also still being, you know, a great horror move in its own right too. See Also: Is Black Christmas (2006) Really That Bad? Yes. Yes it is. The harsh, unwarranted backlash to this movie is unsurprising, but it shouldn’t put you off, particularly if you’re a female horror fan, or just a proud feminist who’s sick of defending your “Men Have Made A Lot of Bad Art” T-shirt from those so desperate to cling to power, and so terrified of losing it, they refuse to acknowledge the shortcomings of their brethren. Black Christmas boasts a female empowerment team-up moment that’s so incredibly satisfying and well-earned, it exposes in just a few short, bloody minutes, how empty, pandering, and shallow the supposed “girl power” shot in Endgame was — the difference, of course, was that eye-roll-worthy moment was on their terms and this is on ours. Just consider, if the ladies of Black Christmas could see the reaction their story is getting from dudes online, they’d roll their eyes too. That should be more than enough of a reason to get out there and support this movie.   Wicked Rating: 8/10 Director(s): Sophia TakalWriter(s): Sophia Takal, April WolfeStarring: Imogen Poots, Cary Elwes, Aleyse Shannon, Lily DonoghueRelease date: December 13th, 2019Studio/Production Company: Universal / BlumhouseLanguage: EnglishRun Time: 92 minutes Follow us on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

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Why Friday the 13th is the Best of the Platinum Dunes Remakes

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Wicked Horror is the author of Why Friday the 13th is the Best of the Platinum Dunes Remakes. Wicked Horror is the internet's only horror fan site for free original horror movies, news, review & more.

In 2003, New Line Cinema and Platinum Dunes kicked off a massive remake trend with the release of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Released only two months after Freddy vs. Jason, it made a killing at the box office and led other studios to take whatever horror titles they had in-house and retread them with expensive, glossy remakes. Some of them worked, some of them didn’t. Revisiting it recently, Texas Chainsaw Massacre holds up relatively well. It’s gorgeously shot, stylistic and R. Lee Ermey’s performance is so strong that it’s almost easy to forget about Leatherface himself. My only major gripe with it is that it doesn’t feel like a Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie. It has none of that quirky humor that’s abundant in the sequels but still present in the original. And Leatherface is very different from the Leatherface we know and love from all of the earlier films because this version of Leatherface is meant to be much “tougher” and grittier than his original counterpart. At least part of that is due to the fact that the remake’s Leatherface actor Andrew Byrniarski hated the original movie and its sequels and wanted to play what he thought would be the first actually scary version of the character. That’s not to say that the remake is made with a disrespect for the source material, I think there are some great callback moments and cinematographer Daniel Pearl was a great choice visually as he didn’t want to tread old ground and gave the movie a completely new look. Overall, they set the bar fairly high with this one. And then, with Amityville Horror and The Hitcher, things went downhill. By the time Friday the 13th came along, we had seen a resurgence of the slasher movie on the big screen with Rob Zombie’s Halloween remake. And we saw slashers coming back on video as well, with indie hits like Hatchet and Behind the Mask. From the moment Halloween hit theaters, people knew Jason’s return had to be right around the corner. Related: Why Behind the Mask is One of the Smartest Horror Films of Recent Years For that remake, Platinum Dunes reteamed with Texas Chainsaw Massacre director Marcus Nispel. Both he and producers Andrew Fuller and Brad Form explained that one of the major reasons for doing Chainsaw in the first place was to generate interest in Friday the 13th. I think if you track the trajectory of Platinum Dunes’ remakes, you can see that. Friday the 13th feels like an endgame, Nightmare on Elm Street feels like a byproduct—almost an afterthought. In some ways, Friday the 13th seems like it was destined to be their best remake because there’s the smallest margin for error when compared to Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Nightmare on Elm Street. While the original Friday is considered a genre classic, it’s not held in the same high regard as those other two. When people think of the franchise, they rarely think of the original. Just by making this a Jason movie, they differentiated their film from the first. By aiming to please fan expectations of the sequels, they almost inadvertently made their most enjoyable remake. First and foremost, Friday the 13th isn’t even a remake on a technical level. Even if it’s a total reinterpretation of that world, a remake is a movie that—whether it does so loosely or in a radically new way—is a retelling of the original film. This one doesn’t do that. Instead, it opens with a recap of the ending of Mrs. Voorhees’ massacre, the way a sequel would. In fact, while they go back and forth, writers Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, as well as producer Brad Fuller, have all called this technically a sequel to the original movie. Some fans try to fit it into the series continuity, but I don’t think you need to. I think at this point, Jason has become a campfire story. This doesn’t negate the original movie, but at the same time, it presents a new version of Jason, different from anything we’ve seen before. I think this new interpretation of Jason himself is what really makes or breaks the feature for a lot of fans. But I think Derek Mears did a great job with the role. He put a lot of thought into it. This is survivalist Jason. He’s an intense, calculating figure. He’s a hunter. People were not used to seeing Jason lay down traps or even in some instances outsmart his victims, but I think it was a great new twist on the franchise. Also See: How Friday the 13th: Part 2 Casually Improves Upon the Original    Unfortunately, none of the main characters are as interesting as Jason himself. Part of this is due to the fact that the movie slices through two entire casts. After that impressive but awkwardly lengthy opening, we don’t really want to spend the time getting to know a whole second group of characters, and they’re not terribly interesting to begin with. And while people may say that the franchise has always been about Jason, there have been standout characters in nearly every movie in the series. This one doesn’t have a Tommy Jarvis. It doesn’t have a Jimmy or Teddy Bear—though it does try hard to recreate those two—and it doesn’t even have a Creighton Duke. In this one, we truly do come for Jason himself. A lot of people complain about the kills in the reboot, but I don’t really get that criticism. In Freddy vs. Jason, almost every single kill was done using the machete, so this one gives us a ton of variety right off the bat. There’s an unexpected element to a lot of these death scenes and while they’re crafted in a more intense way than we might be used to, they still go back to the glory days when Jason would use whatever he could get his hands on. Friday the 13th might not be one of the best horror remakes ever, but I think it’s the best that Platinum Dunes has given us to date in terms of providing something new while keeping the spirit of the original alive. Yes, the pacing is really awkward and too many of the characters are virtually lifeless. But at the end of the day, it gets the job done. It delivers on its promises. It’s a return to the franchise’s classic elements that isn’t afraid to try new things at the same time. And I have to give it credit for that. Follow us on social media: Twitter | Facebook  | Instagram  | Youtube.

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Ten Warning Signs You Probably Missed in Get Out

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Wicked Horror is the author of Ten Warning Signs You Probably Missed in Get Out. Wicked Horror is the internet's only horror fan site for free original horror movies, news, review & more.

What do movies like Get Out, Cabin in the Woods, Us, The Others, and The Visit have in common (besides being great horror flicks)? They all have shocking and diabolical plot twists. Like any good film that throws you an unexpected curveball, Jordan Peele‘s Get Out provides several warning signs of what’s to come. If you’ve seen the flick, you know that it delivers one hell of a crazy twist, along with an epic betrayal. With that in mind, we’ve gone back and scoured the picture for clues you likely missed the first time you watched it. Read on for ten warning signs you probably missed in Get Out!  Related: Get Out Excels at Both Delivering Social Satire and Being a Horror Film! [Blu-Ray Review] The DeerWhen Rose and Chris hit the deer, Chris reacts with empathy, while Rose is devoid of emotion. This is a hint of her sociopathic tendencies. We see more of this later when she is in her room hunting potential victims online while munching on Froot Loops and milk…from separate bowls.                   The PoliceWhen Rose argues with the cop about Chris showing his ID, she’s actually just trying to avoid any proof or paper trail she was with him or where he last was. You can tell that she is very good at keeping her dirty little family secret under wraps.                    GeorginaGeorgina spills tea when Missy clinks her spoon against her glass. Missy uses the spoon and teacup to hypnotize victims, so the sound briefly triggers Georgina. Lobotomy ScarsWalter and Logan are always seen wearing hats and Georgina is constantly adjusting her bangs to cover her forehead. Later we learn that this is to hide the lobotomy scars from their brain transfer procedure.  The Party SceneEveryone at the party is wearing something red, while Chris is wearing blue. This represented his status as an outsider and the “us vs. them” mentality.                    Rose’s SweaterSince I was six years old and first laid eyes on Freddy Krueger, I’ve never been able to look at red striped sweater the same way again. Horror fans will notice that the red and white striped shirt Rose wears looks similar to Freddy’s. This may or may not have been an intentional sign, but it’s ominous all the same.  Also See: A Nightmare on Elm Street was Inspired by These Terrifying Real-Life Events!                       The Bingo GameProps to Jordan Peele for turning what looked like an innocent bingo game into something malevolent. The Bingo game at the party was very similar to how slave auctions were conducted. We find out later in the movie that this actually was a silent auction with everyone bidding on Chris.               WalterWalter, the caretaker, is often seen sprinting across the lawn. This is because Walter is Rose’s grandfather. He lost to Jesse Owens in the Olympic Qualifiers and never got over it.                   Black MoldDean tells Chris he can’t show him the basement because there is “black mold” down there. We find out later that the basement actually where they perform their mind to body transfers.                        Chris’s Smoking Habit:The Armitage family came down pretty hard on Chris when they find out he smokes. This isn’t necessarily because they care about him and his health, but rather because they want to make sure his body remains healthy and a perfect vessel for its future occupant.                Follow us on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube

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Independent Horror Check! A chat with Mansfield Dark Productions [Interview]

Original Source via Wicked Horror

Wicked Horror is the author of Independent Horror Check! A chat with Mansfield Dark Productions [Interview]. Wicked Horror is the internet's only horror fan site for free original horror movies, news, review & more.

During Thanksgiving, my brother and I were perusing Amazon Prime movies and came across Mansfield Dark Productions’ The Investigation: A Haunting in Sherwood. After watching countless movies from both the independent circuit and more mainstream fare, there is a special place in my heart for independent cinema. So, after watching The Investigation: A Haunting in Sherwood I was compelled to reach out to Mansfield Dark Productions (Richard and Daniel Mansfield) and Richard was kind enough to answer some questions about the film. Read on for the full exchange! Also see: Daniel isn’t Real is Visually Pleasing Brain Candy [Review] Wicked Horror (WH): According to your page, Mansfield Dark Productions is made of the married team, Daniel and Richard Mansfield. Were both of you always into filmmaking or was this something that came later? Richard Mansfield: Before I met Daniel I was making puppet films based on creepy fairy tales. Daniel had made some short films himself and trained as an actor but we both loved films (Showgirls mostly) and horror movies in particular.. We definitely inspired each other to do different kinds of projects, Daniel made a series of doll films before moving into live-action and I decided to make my first live-action horror The Mothman Curse after seeing him work with actors. We don’t collaborate with each other on our films but we help each other out when the other is making a film. WH: While watching The Investigation: A Haunting in Sherwood, there are many elements which make the film authentic, one of which being the security cameras and the use of the iPhone. Why did you choose to use these mediums over traditional cameras? Richard Mansfield: I really love mixing up different cameras when making found footage, for me it keeps it interesting and you get different qualities from different cameras. We shot on GoPro, iPhone/iPad, Samsung Galaxy, iMac webcam, cheapo CCTV and a Sony 4K video camera. I love the self filmed footage, it’s really intimate and captures how we now all film ourselves or others on a daily basis. With found footage you can sometimes get fewer opportunities to cut away and build suspense so that’s why I use different kinds of cameras to keep it interesting (and it’s more fun to edit). WH: What was your inspiration for The Investigation: A Haunting in Sherwood? Richard Mansfield: My inspiration for The Investigation are all the ghost and Paranormal films I’ve watched over the years. I’ve always loved The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity and I love the fact that we now all have high quality cameras in our phones. I love the sense of voyeurism and the sense that our devices could be spying on us is very creepy. Earlier drafts of the script contained scenes with a haunted Alexa device which might end up in another film. WH: If you do not mind sharing, what is the process of getting a movie published on Amazon? Also, how did it feel when your film was published on Amazon? Richard Mansfield: Publishing on Amazon has been pretty easy, you just have to create film files in the correct format, film artwork and write all the subtitles. I’d love to recommend Amazon Prime to other filmmakers but the reality is is that over the last 2 years, Amazon have reduced the Prime video payment from 15 cents per hour to 1 cent per hour which makes it very hard to make anything. I think with all the new streaming services available they’re looking to streamline their film library and get rid of the lower budget material (stuff like ours) and rather than just stopping filmmakers uploading to Prime they’re just making it as unprofitable as possible. It’s such a shame as having our films on Prime was a great way to have some income, it meant we were able to fund more films and pay our actors. So it was great to have films on Amazon but now it’s rubbish! Hopefully there will  be another streaming service that will be available to filmmakers at some point as technology and platforms change but until then check out our Youtube channel! (click here!) WH: What are your pie in the sky projects that you would absolutely love to do? Richard Mansfield: I’d absolutely love to do a big-budget version of E.F. Benson’s creepy vampire story ‘The Room in the Tower’ in a similar style to Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 version of Dracula. A few years ago I made an animated version set in the 1970’s and it’s my favorite short story of his. I’d love to reimagine the story as a feminist revenge fantasy with vampires, demons and a haunted house. It could be really spectacular and have a Neon Demon soundtrack and lots of big hats and chiffon…and gore by the bucket load. I’m thinking maybe Cate Blanchett or Kate Beckinsale as the Queen vampire and Nathalie Portman as the heroine. Totally doable… WH: What is next for Mansfield Dark Productions? Richard Mansfield: Coming next I’m turning my hit ghost film ‘The Demonic Tapes’ into a podcast. I’m in the early stages and writing it with a friend and I’m hoping to start recording it early next year and seeing if it takes off. It could be brilliant and we could set the stories anywhere as I won’t have to budget for fancy locations!  At some point I’m planning to make a short animated film of Bram Stoker’s classic short story ‘The Judge’s House’, there’s so much great imagery in the story and lots and lots of rats. We did have another found-footage horror in the works but that’s been put on hold with Amazon announcing the royalty cuts. I’m going to ask around and see if crowdfunding it would be a possibility, I’d be interested to know what you and your readers think. If you want to learn more about Mansfield Dark Productions check out their Facebook and YouTube. _____________________________________________ Follow us on social media! Twitter | Facebook  | Instagram  | Youtube.

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