NeutralAxis

Like Dead Snow, here’s another small movie making the art house rounds that looks fun.  The House of the Devil.  Rottentomatoes.com ranks it at 87% positive with critics, 80% positive with top critics, and 73% positive with viewers.  I love the first sentence of Roger Ebert’s 3 star review.  “Has there ever been a movie where a teenage baby-sitter enjoyed a pleasant evening?” [Updated since seeing the movie] (continue reading…)

The Road, starring Viggo Mortenson, finally made it to the local independent cinema.  Its one of those movies that makes you think about how you’d react in the same situation.  Based on a Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Cormac McCarthy, its set in an utterly defoliated, devastated world due to an unexplained disaster where a father and son trudge on foot toward the coast, scavenging for food and trying to avoid danger, hoping to find a semblance of comfort.  Cheery holiday fare, indeed.  My choice was between that or The House of the Devil.  Maybe I’ll save that for Christmas Eve. (continue reading…)

Its time again to pull out the DVD of my favorite non-kid-friendly Christmas movie, A Midnight Clear.  Set in 1944 at the French/German border in the Ardennes Forest, its about an American intelligence platoon camped at the edge of German territory watching and waiting for signs of troop movement.  Its Christmas time and they discover a poorly outfitted platoon of German soldiers who don’t want to fight anymore.  A wary truce is formed and the two platoons celebrate Christmas together.  The Germans want to surrender, yet fear reprisals against their families if they do, so the Americans devise a plan to peacefully take the Germans prisoner.

(continue reading…)

Dead Snow, mentioned earlier here, was a hoot and a half.  In Norwegian with English subtitles, and Rated R for graphic violence, it straddled the line of conventional zombie horror and zombie camp comedy with some over the top scenes of bloody carnage.

(continue reading…)

Here’s a little flick I hadn’t heard about yet, Dead Snow.  A Norwegian movie where coeds on a ski trip are attacked by Nazi zombies.  From the trailer, it looks like its not played for laughs either.  [Update: Guess I was wrong about that.  Here's the description from Rottentomatoes.com "Depending on the audience, the sub-sub-genre of the Nazi zombie movie could sound like the best or worst of cinematic offerings. But DEAD SNOW received rave reviews from audiences at Sundance, promising that this Norwegian horror comedy will be a favorite for genre fans. In the film, a group of friends think they’re in for a trip filled with skiing, drinking, and hooking up, but a defrosting band of Nazi zombies have something else in store for the vacationers."] Check the trailer after the jump. (continue reading…)

Did you enjoy the first Blair Witch Project movie?  If you thought it had anything going for it, you’ll like Paranormal Activity better.  Blair Witch made the woods creepy.  Paranormal Activity makes your house and every creak and bump in the night creepy.  Trailer and plot summary after the jump.  No spoilers that aren’t shown in the trailer.

(continue reading…)

If you’re the kind who likes an intelligent horror movie and don’t mind a little blood, you need to see Let The Right One In.  Its a Swedish movie about a 12 year old boy who strikes up a friendship with the little girl who moves in next door.  Making friends with a vampire turns out to have advantages as well as drawbacks. (continue reading…)

Wide grin!

(continue reading…)