Month: October 2018

With Halloween literally one week away from today, I will be wrapping up this series hopefully by Monday.  For the day before and the day of Halloween, I’ve got something special planned, so stay tuned, I think you might enjoy them.  For this post, though, I’m going to go over the action movies that I believe that straddle the line between action and horror enough to qualify them as horror movies.  As a huge fan of action movies, I absolutely enjoy the fistfights, the gunfights, explosions, car chases, and the inevitable showdown between the hero and the villain.  Some of these movies most people may not classify them as horror films, but I believe that there enough elements within each film to at least qualify the film as combination of action and horror.  Be aware that some of these movies aren’t necessarily going to be good movies, but these are the ones that enjoy the most.  With that in mind, let’s dig up some of the darkest action movies that could be considered horror.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Ah, Indiana Jones.  One of the greatest action heroes of all time.  Raiders of the Lost Ark is considered by many to be one of the greatest adventure films ever made, and it’s not hard to see why.  You’ve got memorable characters, incredible action, whiz-bang special effects, and a music score that even to this day is incredibly iconic.  Harrison Ford IS Indiana Jones.  So, when the follow-up film, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was came out, the excitement for the film was sky-high.  Unfortunately, the reaction to the film was mixed to negative, with some people loving it, and others completely hating it because it was a totally different kind of film than what people were expecting.   Critics really aren’t wrong here, Temple of Doom is, at its core, a horror film of sorts.  It takes Indiana Jones on a train-ride to hell, almost literally.  This film goes to some very, very dark places.  Some of the themes include child slavery and human sacrifice.  Even from a visual standpoint, it got pretty gruesome with hearts being ripped out and people lowered into lava pits.  It was a very violent movie, and that turned away a lot of people.  Not me, though.  As a kid, this was my favorite of the then-Indiana Jones Trilogy.  Looking back, I can definitely see why people didn’t like it.  Even Steven Spielberg himself has said that Temple of Doom is his least favorite of the Indy films.  It was the film that led Spielberg and the MPAA to adopt a PG-13 rating, a rating between PG and R.  I still think it’s a very good movie.  Flawed, for sure, but damn if it ain’t fun at times.  It’s also got some of the most iconic action sequences of all time, including the cart chase and the bridge sequences.  Take that for what you will.  Also, Mola Ram is scary as hell.

Batman Returns

Tim Burton’s Batman from 1989 is one of the most successful comic book movies ever made in terms of critical and financial success.  It combined elements of action and some Gothic horror that made the film stand out among it peers and is probably my second-favorite live-action Batman film.  My actual favorite live-action film is the sequel, Batman Returns.  After the success of the first film, Tim Burton was given the go ahead to do what he really wanted to do with Batman, and the result is one of the darkest comic book movies ever made, even to the point where people were disappointed.  Like Temple of Doom, Batman Returns is a very violent movie.  If this movie was released today, it probably would be rated R.  It doesn’t shy away from dark ideas and dark themes.  The origin of Catwoman and the character of Penguin are bizarre to say the least.  Penguin himself is a very different interpretation of the gangster that you see from the comics.  Here, he’s an actual mutant/monster, played to perfection by Danny DeVito.  I think it’s a much better film than most people give it credit for.  I mean, it even has Christopher Walken as a sleazy corporate scumbag.  Isn’t that worth the price of admission alone?

Ninja III: The Domination

Boy, here’s a guilty pleasure if there ever was one.  Ninja III is one of the most bizarre ninja films to ever exist.  It combines elements of a martial arts movie, Flashdance, and The Exorcist all in one.  Does it actually succeed?  Not really, but not for a lack of trying.  It’s just so damned weird that I can’t help but love it.  It’s cheesy with some really terrible writing and some incredibly horrendous acting.  But it’s not boring.  The movie is about a ninja who manages to survive being shot with hundreds of bullets to possess a young woman so he can force her to take revenge on the people that killed him.  Is the film as bizarre as the plot?  Even more so.  It’s a movie that really has no idea what it wants to be, and yet it still very satisfying to watch.  The action sequences and stunt-work are top-notch, but the horror elements, while mostly lame, actually make the film stand out in different ways.  Again, is it a good movie?  Not remotely, but it’s entertaining as hell.  There are times when it does come across as a horror movie, and thus its inclusion on this list.

The Terminator

Remember in my last Best of October post where I said that horror is one of the most versatile genres in the industry?  Well, The Terminator is as much a horror movie as it is an action and science fiction film.  I’ll tell you why: The Terminator.  This is a cyborg set back in time to kill Sarah Connor, the future mother of John Connor, who would lead humanity in its war against the machines.  The reason why this film is definitely a horror movie is because we’re dealing with an unstoppable killing machine that is basically targeting anyone and everyone whose name is Sarah Connor.  The results are pretty horrific.  The best example of this being a horror movie is the shootout in the police station.  The machine slaughters every cop in the building without slowing down, and he’s constantly on the hunt for Sarah.  In some ways, it could be considered a slasher film.  It’s a damned good movie that only ended up with only one really good sequel.  It’s an absolute classic.

Upgrade

Honestly, I would have put Venom on here if it was actually a good movie.  While I did enjoy Venom, it was held back by the rating and some pretty lousy writing.  Don’t get me wrong, Tom Hardy was awesome, but that was it.  The best Venom movie is actually called Upgrade.  Following a guy named Grey Trace after his wife has been killed and himself being paralyzed from the neck down, he is offered a chance to get his life back by having a chip implanted in his back that would allow him to walk again.  The chip is controlled by an advanced artificial intelligence and basically gives Grey super-strength.  You know what qualifies this as horror?  It pulls no punches with its violence, unlike Venom.  This movie gets pretty gory, but the action is solid and the acting is really good.  Logan-Marshall Green is fantastic.  While Upgrade isn’t perfect, it’s a hell of a lot better than Venom in nearly every way.  If you want to watch Venom, watch Upgrade instead.  It’s basically the same movie, only better.

The Raid

The Raid is simply one of the best action movies to come out in the last 15 years.  Easily.  The film was featured heavily on multiple horror websites and its easy to see why.  This is a brutally violent movie that starts off quickly enough, but doesn’t stop until the end.  The film is about a group of policemen who are sent into a building to track down and capture a ruthless drug lord, only to be trapped by said drug lord.  With gangs coming at them from below and from above, it’s a non-stop battle for survival.  The concept of a film like this is actually pretty terrifying, especially if everybody’s out to kill you.  While I wouldn’t call The Raid a straight-up horror film, it does enough to warrant an inclusion on this list.  They really don’t skimp on the violence.  It’s a major thrill-ride from beginning to end.  I don’t think I could recommend it enough.

Well, those were some my favorite movies that definitely straddled the line between action and horror.  Like science fiction and horror, action and horror isn’t the easiest combination to pull off very well.  When it’s done right, it’s incredible.  When it’s not, it’s kind of laughable.  I would absolutely say check these out, especially if you can stomach a bit of ultra-violence.  I’ve got a couple more ideas for The Best of October before I wrap this up, but it’s been a hell of a ride.  I’ve enjoyed every moment that I’ve spent making these posts, and I honestly hope that you’ve enjoyed reading them.  I hope that you’ve found some of these films to be as entertaining as I did, and if you discovered a new that you may not have heard of before, then that would mean a lot to me.  As always, The Best of October continues.  Stay tuned.

Released: October 2018

Director: David Gordon Green

Rated R

Run Time: 106 Minutes

Distributor: Universal Pictures

Genre: Horror/Thriller

Cast:
Jamie Lee Curtis: Laurie Strode
Judy Greer: Karen
Andi Matichak: Allyson
James Jude Courtney/Nick Castle: The Shape/Michael Myers
Haluk Bilginer: Dr. Sartain
Will Patton: Officer Hawkins

When it comes to the origins of the slasher film, most film historians would actually point the finger at Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho as the granddaddy of the slasher.  To a certain extent, they are correct.  It introduced certain ideas that would serve as a basis for all slasher movies to come.  However, I would actually point to John Carpenter’s Halloween as the film that lit the fire for the genre.  It was a very unexpected movie and it featured one of the most terrifying villains in cinema history: Michael Myers.  After that, we got a lot of slasher villains just popping up out of the woodwork, specifically Freddy and Jason.  They would take the formula that Halloween had mastered and took the genre in wildly different directions, for better or for worse.  But everything that made the slasher genre what it is today can be traced back to John Carpenter’s film.  The film was so successful that it ended up getting not just one, but several sequels as well as a re-make.  The problem is, is that those sequels were, shall I say, less than adequate.  Rob Zombie’s re-make of Halloween was actually not that bad.  I appreciated that Zombie wanted to try and explain why Michael was so…..evil.  It’s a pretty solid film, but Zombie missed the part in film school where certain things just didn’t need to be explained.  The less said about Rob Zombie’s second Halloween film, the better.  Overall, the franchise really wasn’t that good.  In 2018, we have a new direct sequel to the original Halloween called……Halloween.

40 years have passed since The Shape terrified Haddonfield, Illinois.  40 years since Michael Myers murdered 5 people and traumatized Laurie Strode.  Laurie has spent 40 years preparing for Michael to return.  Since then, she’s had a daughter, Karen, who hates her for trying to train her for Michael to show up again.  Karen, in turn, has her own daughter, Allyson who wants to connect with her grandmother, but wants Laurie to give up her obsession with Michael Myers.  Unfortunately, Laurie’s fears are confirmed as the bus carrying Michael has an accident and Michael escapes.  That’s as simple a set-up as you can get in a slasher film.  Initially, I was not necessarily a big fan of John Carpenter’s original film because it was too simple, but now I realize that simplicity is what really made the original film so amazing.  The one thing that you should understand about this Halloween is that it is a direct sequel to the original film, which means that all the other films in the franchise are no longer canon or part of the story.  It is just John Carpenter’s film and this one.  That is a very good thing, in my opinion.  The previous films ranged from mediocre to god-awful.  This time, we get to see Laurie Strode pull a Sarah Connor.  Instead of being a victim, she becomes a bad-ass warrior woman that’s willing to kill to protect her family.  That’s a far cry from the frightened girl we saw in the original film.  It actually feels like a natural progression for the character.  After dealing with decades of trauma, she’s decided it’s time to fight back.

Acting-wise, the film is really solid across the board.  Believe it or not, the teenagers are not completely annoying in this film.  Bizarre, right?  In most movies like this, you would actually want some of these kids to get offed in some pretty horrific fashion.  While some of the teens do get brutally murdered, you don’t actually want to see them get killed.  Not all of them anyway.  There’s one or two that deserve it.  Andi Matichak plays Allyson, the granddaughter of Laurie Strode, and she’s actually pretty good here.  I’ve never seen her in a movie before, but she quite likable.  Her mother, on the other hand, I’m kind of torn, because at times she’s a pretentious bitch, but I guess that’s just how the character was written.    There were two people that played The Shape in this film: Nick Castle, who played the character in the original film, and James Jude Courtney, but you wouldn’t recognize them, because Myer’s face was hidden by camera shots and his mask.  That’s what makes the character so scary.  You can’t see his face, so you can’t identify with him.  He doesn’t speak a word, either.  He’s quite literally the Boogeyman from stories.  Dr. Loomis from the original film called Michael “pure evil.”  He’s right.  The film also doesn’t go out of its way to try and humanize the character.  He’s a monster and the film treats him as such.  The real star of the show, however, is Jamie Lee Curtis.  Once considered to be the “ultimate scream queen,” Curtis has quickly become one of my favorite actresses of all time.  She is amazing here.  Not only does she handle herself well physically, but she also brings a level of pain and emotional depth to the character that makes her truly sympathetic.  You get behind her almost every step of the way, even when no one else does.  That’s the strength of Curtis’s acting ability.  She’s always been the star of the Halloween films, but this film is where she really gets to shine.

This being a slasher movie, you would expect a body count, right?  Well, you do get one.  However, these kills are not as over-the-top or as gory as something like say A Nightmare on Elm Street.  No, like the original film, the kills here are far more restrained in terms of the violence.  In fact, a number of kills actually happen off-screen while he hear some of what’s going on, while others just show the aftermath.  Don’t get me wrong:  I’m as much of a gore-hound as the next guy, but I really do appreciate the level of restraint here.  The goriest moment comes when Michael crushes a guy’s skull.  Other-wise, it’s just straight stab-and-slash….exactly what a slasher movie should be.  That’s what I think makes Halloween so interesting.  It doesn’t waste time with extraneous back-stories, humanizing a villain, or being anything more than what it is.  That level of simplicity is one of those things that made the original film such a classic.  Will this new film go down as a classic itself?  I don’t think so.

In spite of the good things that I’ve said about this film, there are a few things that really bring it down.  For one, the focus on the teenagers and their dance was completely unnecessary.  This is Laurie Strode’s and Michael’s story, so it should have stayed focused on them.  When it doesn’t, the film slows down a little too much.  Secondly, the level of humor in the film was a little too much.  Halloween is supposed to be a dark thrill ride.  I understand having some humor in order to deflate the tension a little bit, but the amount of humor we have in this film made the film’s tone go all over the place.  There’s a scene in which two cops are describing what they brought for dinner.  Seriously?!  A homicidal maniac is on the loose, and you’re wasting your time describing the food you brought to eat?  Most of the time, I didn’t laugh at all.  I didn’t think the humor and the jokes were that funny.  Then there’s the doctor, who I guess was supposed to be the next Dr. Loomis.  Instead he comes across as a cheap knock-off.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by how good this movie was.  Is it going to be in the same league as the original?  Hard to say.  I’ll have to give it some time.  What I can tell you, is that aside from the original film and this, you don’t need to see any other Halloween films.  Also there’s just one other gripe.  Would it have killed them to give this film some kind of subtitle, instead of just calling it Halloween?  Now, we’ve got three movies with the exact same name:  Halloween(1978), Halloween(2007), and Halloween(2018).  Most days, people refer to the 2007 movie as Rob Zombie’s Halloween, so at least they can be differentiated that way, but the new movie really needed a subtitle, otherwise people new to the franchise are going to be confused.  Overall, I would have to say that the 2018 film is a pretty good watch.

My Final Recommendation: Boogeymen aren’t real.  Boogeymen aren’t real.  8.5/10.

Released: August 2018

Director: Erik Matti

Not Rated

Run Time: 127 Minutes

Distributor: Well Go USA

Genre: Action/Thriller

Cast:
Anne Curtis: Nina Manigan
Brandon Vera: Rico Yatco
Victor Neri: Berni Lacson
Arjo Atayde: Biggie Chen
Levi Ignacio: Chongki
Alex Calleja: Teban
Lao Rodriguez: Rudy Dela Cruz

One of the coolest things about watching action movies from other countries, is being able to see what they bring to the table.  Obviously, everybody’s seen at least one or two Jackie Chan movies in their lifetime, so action films from China aren’t really anything new.  When Ong-Bak showed up back in 2003, it gave us a glimpse into how Thailand approached the action genre, and it was a refreshing change of pace from all the wire-fu stuff that was being thrown at audiences.  Then I started watching action films from Indonesia including the highly-regarded Raid films starring Iko Uwais.  Heading back to the west, we get a taste of Chile with some of Marko Zaror’s films like The Redeemer.  Hell, even Cambodia got in on the action with Jailbreak.  Granted, the film wasn’t really that good, but the fight sequences were amazing.  Each country brings it own style and flavor to the genre that helps them stand out, and most of the ones that I’ve seen, have a tendency to put the State’s films to shame.  Now, we come to the Philippines with Buybust.

Set in the Philippines, Buybust follows rookie agent Nina Manigan as she joins a new tactical unit after her previous outfit was slaughtered because of corrupt cops.  Her new team is being sent into a nearby slum to locate and arrest a brutal drug lord, Biggie Chen.  As soon as they enter the slum, everything goes to hell.  Surrounded by a brutal gang on one side and angry civilians on the other, the group fights to try and escape with their lives.  The story is pretty good, but it is very familiar territory, as we’ve seen this kind of story in films like The Raid and Dredd, and it was done a little bit better in those films.  That being said, what we’ve got here still isn’t bad, and it’s a very compelling story.  It works because of its characters, because a lot of the main outfit are pretty likable.  What really sets this film apart from the others is the setting.  The film is set in the Philippines during the government’s war on drugs, which gives the film an added sense of realism.  I’ll get into why the film’s setting is so important later on in the review, but let’s just say that it adds a whole new dimension to an already outstanding film.

Any good story is going to be driven by its characters, and Buybust has some pretty strong characters here.  One of them is Rico Yatco, a giant of man who is a bit superstitious but also a physically intimidating presence.  Brandon Vera does a pretty good job here, despite this being his first role.  Vera is also a former MMA fighter, which makes his fight scenes authentic.  Levi Ignacio plays Chongki, Biggie Chen’s second in command and a real scumbag of a human being.  Levi really makes the character a legitimate threat.  This character is willing to kill anybody just to make a point.  Everybody does pretty good job here, but the real standout is Anne Curtis as Nina Manigan.  For an actress more known for her romantic comedies, she’s really put through the grinder here as a tough-as-nails rookie that is actually smarter than most of her teammates and superiors.  Anne is fantastic here.  She’s not a martial artist, but she does an incredible job with the physical aspects of the film.

Speaking of action, Buybust is violent as hell.  It does take a while for the action to start, about 20 minutes or so, but when it hits, it’s pretty much merciless and unrelenting.  This is where the film starts showing how similar it is to The Raid while still being its own thing.  The gunfights are pretty much constant and nobody is safe.  Even some of the team’s characters that you may like won’t make it, because of how intense and volatile the situation is.  While the film isn’t really a martial arts film, it does feature aspects of Filipino martial arts including eskrima and kali.  The fight choreography isn’t really something to write home about, but it does get the point across.  This also brings up another aspect that I think does work in the film’s favor: Shaky cam.  I know, I know:  I’ve ranted on many occasions on how much I hate that filming technique.  It’s often been used to hide terrible choreography, but it does have its merits.  If you’re dealing with close combat warfare, it absolutely showcases the chaos that is a part of that kind of warfare, and that’s how its used here.  The battles in the slum are absolutely chaotic, and the camera-work once again gives the film an added sense of realism that you generally don’t see in a film like this.  The shaky cam technique here isn’t as bad as some other movies, because I can still discern what’s going on, so kudos to the film-makers for being able to do that.  The effects are mostly practical, and honestly, I’m sure there was some CGI used here, but you can barely tell because of how crazy everything is.

I mentioned how important the setting of the film is for a reason.  As I said, the film is set in the Philippines during President Duterte’s war on drugs.  While the film is definitely entertaining and that is its primary purpose, Buybust doesn’t shy away from the consequences of a war on drugs.  As you may or may not know, President Duterte is ruthless when it comes to his war on drugs and he doesn’t seem to care who gets caught in the crossfire.  Buybust shows us what happens when a ruthless government tries to take down equally ruthless drug gangs in the poorer sections of the country.  Innocent people get caught in the crossfire, so they have a hard time differentiating who the actual villain is, and the film does its best to make sure that line is constantly blurred.  At one point, a man is attempting to bury his child who was a victim of this crossfire, only to lose another family member when the character of Chongki kills him just because his phone’s alarm was going off.  No punches were pulled here.  What Buybust is, is Erik Matti basically slapping Duterte in the face and rubbing it in, even though the president isn’t specifically mentioned in the movie.  The director has been an outspoken critic of Duterte and hasn’t shied away from controversy surrounding this film.  There’s another thing I want to mention before I wrap this up.  There is a moment in the end credits where certain police officers’ names were displayed.  These were guys that were some of the police that were killed in this event, and some of them had acted as consultants on the film.  This is why I think a film like this is important, despite it being a balls-to-the-wall action flick.  The message here is about as subtle as a shotgun blast to the face, but its a message that needs to be sent.

If you’re looking for an action flick that pulls no punches, Buybust is one that you should see.  It’s not without its flaws, but it more than makes up for those flaws with high levels of brutal action and a story that has a basis in reality.  It’s one of the most compelling action movies that I’ve seen this year, and I can’t wait to see what Erik Matti comes up with next, or what other action film comes out of the Philippines.  Highly recommended.

My Final Recommendation: 9/10

Some people that I know don’t like horror movies.  Either they scare easily or they’re turned off by the level of violence in some of these movies.  Horror is so much more than blood, gore, and cheap scares.  The horror genre is probably the most versatile genre in film.  You can combine horror with so many other genres.  You can mix-and-match it with comedy, drama, reality, action, or romance.  The thing is, is that you don’t have to mix just two, you can have a movie that is representative of multiple genres at the same time.  Balancing them out might be tricky, but the ones that pull it off successfully are the ones that are remembered the most.  For me, however, the most effective combination is science fiction and horror.  What makes science fiction horror so effective is the reality that it can create.  For example:  The darkness and isolation of deep space can elicit a very strong emotional reaction to the unknown.  Usually, it’s fear.  But when you throw in something like a monster or a deserted ship, you’re giving that fear free license to run amok.  That makes for a very intense experience.  For this post, I’m going to be going over some of my favorite science fiction horror films that really stood out to me.

Alien

Yeah, I’m starting with the best.  Ridley Scott’s 1979 masterpiece, Alien, took the world by storm.  The film is about a group of what you would call space truckers as they are returning home from somewhere in deep space when they come across a distress signal from a nearby moon.  The crew discovers an alien ship that was carrying eggs of some sort, when one of the crew is attacked by a parasite.  Back on their ship, the infected crew member has this creature bursting from his chest in one of the most memorable scenes in film history.  What follows is a struggle for survival against a growing creature that could be hiding anywhere in the dark corridors of their ship.  Certain critics refer to Alien as Texas Chainsaw Massacre In Space, and they’re not necessarily wrong.  The creature’s design by the late H.R. Giger is one for the ages.  It is a truly terrifying beast that picks off the crew members one at a time.  It’s an intense ride from beginning to end and gives us Sigourney Weaver in one of the most bad-ass roles that she’s been in as Ripley.  If you haven’t seen Alien, shame on you.  Stop reading this post and go see it!

Event Horizon

When Event Horizon came out, it kind of divided audiences and critics.  You had some people say that it was an intense ride, while others said it rips off better films like Alien and Hellraiser.  I’m one of the people that actually loved this movie.  Yeah, you can definitely tell that the film was inspired by Alien, but it seems to be geared more towards being Hellraiser in space, and on that level, it mostly succeeds.  What really makes this movie stand out, is the setting and atmosphere.  The film mostly takes place on the ship called the Event Horizon which disappeared 7 years prior to the events in the movie, only to show up with the crew missing.  I loved the design of the ship.  It has a very Gothic and cold feeling throughout that really adds to the dread.  While the CGI effects are obviously less-than-stellar, even by 1997 standards, the rest of the film holds up remarkably well.  It has very strong performances from Sam Neill, Laurence Fishburne, Jason Isaacs, and Sean Pertwee.  I wouldn’t say that Event Horizon is equal to Alien.  Most people wouldn’t.  But I don’t think the film is as bad as a lot of people say it is.  Is it derivative of better films?  Sure, but in the best way possible.  I definitely like to watch this one from time to time.

Annihilation

If there was one word that I could use to really describe Annihilation, it would be psychedelic.  From a visual standpoint, this film is amazing.  You have this nifty “shimmer” that’s expanding, but when people go into it, they see some really strange stuff, like altered plant and animal life because of some kind alien genetic modification.  The film falls more or less on the science fiction side, but there are some serious elements of horror that really stand out.  It’s at times a body-horror movie, a monster movie, and an alien movie all rolled into one.  It’s a bit of a slow-burn, but when the violence hits, it hits hard.  This movie is extraordinarily interesting and bizarre.  Yet, it works.  It’s definitely one that you need to see.

John Carpenter’s The Thing

I know I mentioned this film in my Best of October: Remakes post, but it’s still worth mentioning here.  John Carpenter’s The Thing is pretty much the very definition of  science fiction horror.  You’re dealing with an alien that eats its victims and assumes their form, along with their memories and everything else.  In an isolated environment like Antarctica, that would lead to some serious paranoia.  Who do you trust?  Can you trust yourself?  The atmosphere is dripping with dread.  Not only that, the creature and gore effects still hold up over 30 years later.  It’s all done practically and in combination with miniatures.  I love this movie.  You have a very strong cast that includes Kurt Russell, Keith David, and Richard Dysart.  I can’t recommend it enough.

From Beyond

Oh, 1980s, where would we be without your strangeness?  When it comes to movies, there has never been a decade quite like the 80s.  It saw the quality of movies ranging from amazing to amazingly awful to everything in between.  This was before CGI really became a thing, so most of what you saw was done practically.  It had to be.  One of the most bizarre movies to come out of the 80s was From Beyond.  Loosely based on the H.P. Lovecraft of the same name, and I do mean loosely, the film follows a mad scientist(as if there was any other type)trying to experience the outer limits of pleasure by stimulating a particular gland and accessing another dimension.  The results were gooey and gory.  From Beyond was absolutely bonkers.  Genre favorite, Jeffrey Combs, actually plays a bit of a good guy in this one.  The creature designs and effects are absolutely nuts.  It’s definitely not for everybody, but I found it to be incredibly entertaining.

The combination of science fiction and horror is one of the best combinations you can get for a horror film, if it is done correctly.  There has to be a balance between science fiction and horror, but most movies that attempt this combo don’t really work.  Thankfully, the ones that do work are absolutely amazing and those are the ones that I’ve just mentioned.  So, be sure to check them out, if you are as much of a sci-fi/horror fan as I am.  Remember: October continues, and I’ve got something special in mind for Halloween.