Movie Nights: Week in review 5.2-5.9
We spent most of the week vibing in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.
The Strangers (2008)
The Strangers is one of our favorites and it has been since it came out. It is eerie and suspenseful plus you get some good violence at the end. Aletha doesn’t like Liv Tyler and despite this the movie is still enjoyable. (Maybe because we get to see her be terrorized the whole time) The score and soundtrack set a very creepy tone and the overall dreary vibe of the movie makes it even better. A couple staying in a remote house are harassed by a group of masked killers. It is pretty slow paced and most of the frightening parts are in the background. There is one jump scare but that’s about it really. A great slow burn to watch in the dark and uninterrupted.
Photo Credit © 2008 - Universal Studios
Late Night with The Devil
Late Night with the Devil was an interesting concept and we are always down for a movie set on Halloween. (The best night of the year) David Dastmalchain gives a fantastic performance. His intensity and attitude matches his inspiration very well, being heavily influenced by “The Don Lane Show” he really captures his essence. We think Late Night With The Devil was one of the most original horror movies that came out of last year, we really enjoyed the movie throughout. There were also some very clever and pointed references to Bohemian Grove which is fascinating in itself. This was the debut feature film of Ingrid Torelli, an Australian actress who did an incredible job being eerie and genuinely unnerving. She is definitely somebody to watch. It got pretty wild at the very end but it went with the vibe and was very entertaining. A lot of interesting shots and a cool look into 70’s TV. Worth a watch especially if you like David Dastmalchain it’s great to see him get a chance to lead.
*If you wanna see a funny video that heavily influenced Dastmalchain’s performance in the film - Watch This
Photo Credit Photo by Courtesy of IFC Films and Shudder - © IFC / Shudder
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
The Day after tomorrow is one of our nostalgia watches, we love it for so many reasons. Is it scientifically accurate? Hell no, but that is not why we are here. The effects are awesome and totally hold up 20 years later! We absolutely love all the disaster shots and the flooding scenes, they still give us chills! The dialogue is cheesy and very 2000’s, the film focuses on a group of teens including Emmy Rossum and Jake Gyllenhaal. We love both of them so this just adds to our enjoyment. Dennis Quaid is always great too, he plays a scientist and the father of our main character (Jake Gyllenhaal). Day after tomorrow is everything you want in a disaster movie. Worth a watch if you are in that vibe.
Photo Credit © 2004 Twentieth Century Fox. All rights reserved.
House of Wax
House of Wax is a guilty pleasure watch for sure. We love cheesy 2000s horror because they are just so much fun. The premise of this one is really fun. This is technically a very loose remake of the 1953 film of the same name, actually being a remake of the film Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933). It follows a teen group on the way to. football game that stops camp in the wrong place. In this town there are a pair of brothers (twins) that are killing people and turning them into wax sculptures. We love the creativity in this film, the set took 10 weeks to construct a few miles down the road, from where the rest of the film was shot in the Warner Bros. Movie World in Australia. The wax museum itself in the movie is so impressive and this is another example of the special effects in an early 2000’s movie holding up very well! It’s a classic teen scream slasher with a funky twist. The cast is pretty stacked, especially for the time with Elisha Cuthbert and Chad Michael Murray playing twins, Jared Padalecki as the boyfriend and Paris Hilton. This movie is a wild ride with an interesting story and great effects, If you somehow missed this one and like slashers, check this one out!
Photo Credit © 2005 - Warner Bros. All rights reserved.
I know what you did last summer (1997)
Classic 90’s slasher with some hilariously memorable scenes. The cast is pretty easy on the eyes with stars Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Geller, Ryan Phillippe, and Freddie Prinze Jr. If you like 90’s horror you have to love this movie, it is chalk full of teen cliches great screams and fun kills! Screenplay written by Kevin Williamson who actually wrote this before Scream (1996) but couldn’t sell it until after that film’s success. The “What are you waiting for” Scene will always be a classic. (If you know, you know) The basic premise is a group of teens accidentally kills a man driving home one fourth of July night. Fearing how it would affect their future they decide to dump the body in the ocean and try to move on with their life. A year later they begin getting threatening letters and find themselves caught in a game of cat and mouse with a killer who knows their secret. A must watch for any horror fan.
Photo Credit Columbia Pictures/Getty Images - © 2013 Getty Images
I still know what you did last summer (1998)
I still know what you did last summer is a fun little flick with some serious eye candy and some gory and humorous kills. The plotline is pretty questionable at best but its just a fun ride. This cast is also stacked with beautiful people with Jennifer Love Hewett returning, along with Brandy Norwood and Mekhi Phifer. In this very silly remake our main girl Julie (Jennifer) and her best friend/roommate Karla (Brandy Norwood) “win” a trip to Bahamas only to find a killer waiting for them there. The storyline is pretty weak but boy the kills are fun. That is pretty much all there is to offer here. If you are looking for an actual good slasher, keep looking… BUT if you’re into funny slashers, it’s almost more of a horror comedy and totally worth laughing your way through it.
Photo Credit IMDB
Kill of the week goes to the pole through the head in house of wax.
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