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Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Grave Encounters - Review (Netflix Version)

"Found Footage" Movies seem to be turning very quickly into a staple for the nouveau horror genre. Not to say this is a bad thing; but sifting through the ocean of titles currently within this oeuvre can prove daunting for any would-be viewer or purchaser. Thanks to the prevalence of Netflix, Vudu, CinemaNow! and their ilk it is much easier than I ever anticipated.

Now, let me preface this review with the fact that I loved the first wave of "Found Footage" movies from The Blair Witch Project on thru the little known The Poughkeepsie Tapes to the much lauded [REC]. These films had an immediacy and originality that afforded the genre some much needed relevance, in a market place of ever escalating megabudget movies from the big studios.Then suddenly everything changed when mainstream audiences caught on to the trend and we started to see a string of weak offerings from such luminaries as George A. Romero (Diary of the Dead) and J.J. Abrams (Cloverfield). So in recent weeks it's been a delight for me to discover not one, but two, well made examples of the genre, I will be dealing with the The Last Exorcism in a later review but for now, say hello to Grave Encounters...

New Indie Thriller Riffs on Classic Horror

Below Zero, the recently produced horror-thriller starring Edward Furlong (Terminator 2, American History X, The Green Hornet), Michael Berryman (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Hills Have Eyes, Scooby Doo, Weird Science), and Kristin Booth (Young People F*cking, Defendor, The Kennedys) will be released on DVD in North America on August 28th via Screen Media.