Horror Movie Reviews

Quarantine 2: Terminal Review

June 23, 2012 By Horror Palace Leave a Comment

Movie: Quarantine 2: Terminal
Year: 2011
Studio: RCR Media Group
Director: John Pogue
Stars: Mercedes Masohn, Josh Cooke, Bre Blair
Language: English
Length: 86 Minutes
Sub-Genre: Zombies

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Plot: When a virus that turns its victims into crazed killers infects travelers on an airplane, authorities seal off the jet to let the virus run its course. Realizing they’ve been left to die, a flight attendant and a passenger plan a daring escape.

Review: What a whirlwind of a surprise Quarantine 2: Terminal is. If you seen the original movie, or the Spanish films, Rec or Rec 2, which this movie is based upon, you would think you are getting a sloppy handheld smorgasbord of chopped of heads and spiraling camerawork. Quite the opposite with Quarantine 2, this is a professionally shot film with a 180 degree turnabout from the Rec films. High praise goes out to the filmmakers for not following the norm and changing up the story dramatically.

This thrilling sequel even features some notable horror stars including the beautiful Mercedes Masohn from Red Sands and the new TV series 666 Park Avenue, Phillip DeVona from Premonition, Julie Gribble from ChromeSkull: Laid To Rest 2 and Lynn Cole from 2005’s Dark Remains.

A little more on the story; airline passengers are stuck in flight when the virus outbreak unfolds this time around. With small quarters and nowhere to run, the stewardesses, crew and travelers must defend against these ravaging, zombie-esque infected, that want nothing more than to eat flesh. The plane is able to land, but only to succumb to an isolated airport hangar, where the remaining survivors get trapped by local authorities, so the virus doesn’t spread to the mass population.

I am still shocked, even while writing this review, that Quarantine 2 turned out so extremely scary, terrifying and brilliantly crafted. There are many neck and face chomping scenes, startling and loud music, zombie charging effects, and tons of gory parts. The story flowed nicely with very little downtime, which keeps you engaged in its entirety. The makeup effects were another huge positive, along with the acting, which was way above par.

Quarantine 2: Terminal is available in retail stores and many online outlets too. Sad to say there is no BluRay for this smart little zombie film, but it has been reported that one is to come down the road. With approximately a $4 million dollar budget, and a straight to DVD campaign, I have a feeling this movie might get overlooked by the mainstream. I am here to tell you, do not hesitate, grab Quarantine 2 today, you will not be disappointed.

On a side note; Quarantine 2: Terminal was my personal favorite zombie film of 2011. I even gave it a nod on Grisly Zone 013: Top 10 Horror Movies Of 2011 And Predictions For 2012. That is a must-watch episode of Grisly Zone that countdowns the best horror films of the previous year.

Reviewer: BillChete
Date: 06/23/2012
Rating: 7½/10
Recommendation: Buy Movie

Trailer: Watch
DVD: Walmart
BluRay: N/A
Social Media: Facebook

Exit Humanity Review

June 22, 2012 By Horror Palace Leave a Comment

Movie: Exit Humanity
Year: 2011
Studio: Foresight Features
Director: John Geddes
Stars: Bill Moseley, Brian Cox, Mark Gibson
Language: English
Length: 108 Minutes
Sub-Genres: Drama / Western / Zombie

Plot: As the American Civil War concludes in 1865, Confederate soldier Edward Young begins to see something even scarier than his Union enemies in the wooded battlefields: walking corpses. When Young returns home to discover his 11-year-old son is missing, he begins to search for him across the zombie-infested countryside, while keeping a journal of his account of the living dead phenomenon.

Review: Many horror fans are purists and don’t appreciate the blending of genres that’s become so commonplace today. I’m closer to the purist side of the spectrum myself, so I was surprised that a zombie western that’s primarily a drama appealed to me. I attribute this to how well made the film is. “Exit Humanity” is a good-looking, well written period piece inhabited with the flesh-eating dead. Except for the “period piece” part, that’s all any zombie fan ever wants anyway.

Consider an early scene where Young’s Confederate soldiers are warring against the Union army in the woods. Even though he’s amid the horrors of war, something even more terrifying catches Young’s attention: a seemingly unstoppable ghoulish-looking man charging toward him, barely acknowledging the gun-fired body shots he’s taking from Young’s gun. Here the protagonist fights a literal monster for the very first time, and he behaves accordingly.

Contrast the scene described above with other modern zombie films where the actors confess their awareness that they’re playing in a zombie movie by referring to the monsters as “zombies.” I hate that. So many zombie films today regard their monsters as merely an atypical occurrence on an otherwise typical day. But in “Exit Humanity,” the characters behave as though they are genuinely freaked out by internalizing the fact that dead people are not only moving but trying to eat them.

Think about it: The reason why “Jaws” is a great title for the book and the film is because the characters never refer to the shark as “Jaws.” The moment a film becomes self-reflective is the same moment that the spell is broken for me.

Just to be clear, I review films like “Exit Humanity” with the hard-core horror fans in mind. So, you should know that this movie starts out as a period piece with zombie elements mingled in. And then at that point, the film’s tone shifts into a western, then a romance, and the zombies are almost forgotten about altogether. (And this doesn’t have a horror movie type of ending, either.) I suspect this problem with the changing tone of the film happened at the script level, where the lead character takes on other missions and objectives during the movie (such as keeping a promise to a loved one, or helping a friend in need), because there’s no single objective that the protagonist is trying to accomplish throughout the duration of the film.

“Exit Humanity” has some artistic merit, as well. For instance, particularly in the beginning of the film, there are animated graphics inserted from time to time as transitions. Some of the animations are better than others, but I suspect this decision was made of necessity, as a shorthand solution to cut down on some shooting and special effects costs. Creative choices like these graphics are often the result of some kind of limitation or restriction.

Horror actor favorite Bill Moseley has an antagonist’s role in this film, but his performance is fairly tame by Bill Moseley’s standards. Indeed, all of the performances are quite good, including the lead, Mark Gibson, who resembles Kiefer Sutherland and plays Edward Young convincingly.

The first 30 minutes of “Exit Humanity” are heavy-laden with voice-over narration (by Brian Cox), which is usually indicative of a problem at the script level, but for the first part of this movie, our protagonist is the only speaking character. The journal is the device used to sustain such lengthy narration, and it works.

Overall, “Exit Humanity” is a well written, smart and artistic film. It depicts the story of a believable, struggling character and his grief and pain, mixed with some zombie attacks and kills. The zombies look fine, with black and lifeless eyes, but we don’t see them as often as we do in other zombie flicks. As is the case with many zombie movies, the film itself isn’t actually about zombies.

As a film critic and a lover of the cinema, I have to admit that “Exit Humanity” is far better than I ever could have hoped for. It exceeded my expectations for a zombie film set at the end of the Civil War. But taking into account its genre-blending and how it might hold up for a horror purist who’s looking to watch a good horror movie, it’s a good movie, yes, but not a good horror movie: 5.5 out of 10 — Rental. “Exit Humanity” is currently new at Redbox as of this past Tuesday, June 19.

To hear horror movie reviews from Jay of the Dead and his cohorts, listen to Horror Metropolis.

Reviewer: Jay of the Dead
Date: 06/22/2012
Rating: 5.5/10
Recommendation: Rental

Trailer: Watch
DVD: Amazon
BluRay: Amazon.ca
Social Media: Facebook

Bloodlust Zombies Review

June 22, 2012 By Horror Palace Leave a Comment

Movie: Bloodlust Zombies
Year: 2011
Studio: Impulse-FX
Director: Dan Lantz
Stars: Alexis Texas, Janice Marie, Adam Danoff
Language: English
Length: 76 Minutes
Sub-Genre: Zombies

Plot: In this horror-comedy hybrid, a chemical spill at a weapons lab leads to a zombie outbreak. This spells big trouble for the employees trapped inside the facility after an emergency lockdown is declared to try to contain the menacing horde of zombies. The most inconceivable person out of all the workers steps up in a big way and tries to escape before the ravaging, blood-craving zombies infect everyone in sight.

Review: I sat down, popped in the DVD, and after 5 minutes, I knew I was going to hate this film. It is a zombie-comedy, or zombedy, as they’re called now, with horrendous jokes, cheesy acting and wooden characters. These style horror films are a dime-a-dozen these days and most of them fail miserably, including Bloodlust Zombies.

For starters, the so-called zombies are nothing of the sort. Yes, I know, the infected and virus-ridden catch the zombie sub-genre, but I have no inkling why. The zombies in this are not the dead coming back to life. Instead, a spill of this newly devised chemical spreads through a laboratory turning people sick basically. How lame! It’s funny because the infected people try so damn hard to act like zombies, but it is so poorly done it wouldn’t convince a kindergartener.

The leading actress is a porn-star, Alexis Texas. She uses her stage name, which I don’t blame her, I wouldn’t want my real name associated with this horror film either. She does appear topless in many scenes, along with some other women, which is the only positive I could muster from Bloodlust Zombies.

Thank the high heavens that this film only runs for slightly over an hour, because I don’t think I could of took much more of this ultra-low junk of a horror movie. If you see or hear about Bloodlust Zombies, please let it go in one ear and out the other, cause it is not worth wasting your time and hard earned money.

Reviewer: BillChete
Date: 06/22/2012
Rating: 1/10
Recommendation: Avoid

Trailer: Watch
DVD: Amazon
BluRay: N/A
Social Media: Facebook

The Fields Review

June 15, 2012 By Horror Palace Leave a Comment

Movie: The Fields
Year: 2011
Studio: Breaking Glass Pictures
Directors: Tom Mattera and David Mazzoni
Language: English
Length: 100 Minutes
Genres: Drama / Mystery (Not Horror)

Plot: Supposedly based on true events and set in Pennsylvania in 1973, “The Fields” is about a young couple who are having terrible fights, so they send their young son to stay at his grandparents’ farm while they try to work things out. But the boy isn’t any safer on the farm, because there is something or someone out in the cornfields terrorizing the grandparents.

Review: First question: Why am I reviewing a non-horror film on the Horror Palace Network? Answer: Solely because horror fans won’t be misled into renting this film under the false notion that it’s a horror flick. “The Fields” has a horror-suggesting trailer, and it has played at a couple of horror film festivals, but it’s a drama and a mystery, with a few thriller elements; there are no horror elements whatsoever. But “The Fields” has its moments, nonetheless, so please read on.

Having noted everything above, “The Fields” is a mildly creepy little oddity of the cinema. I think cornfields are inherently freaky — thanks to “Children of the Corn” (1984). “The Fields” has moments of potential that it never fleshes out, but the fact that the moments exist in the first place is an achievement: For example, the foul-mouthed grandmother (Cloris Leachman) frequently and adamantly instructs the boy (Joshua Ormond) to stay out of the cornfields. And when she says this, her reasoning is as follows: “We don’t want to have to come lookin’ for ya, and find you all dead and black and swollen up.” Each time she delivers this same line, she says it creepier than the previous time. We’re certain this set-up is going to pay off later on, but it never does.

And really, the masterstroke of “The Fields” is a subtle statement that the horrors of the outside world are often not much worse than the horrors we experience within the supposed sanctuary of our own lives. We watch the boy in this movie witness disturbing scenes, which seem to be commonplace in his childhood. For instance, there’s a scene that takes place with a few of the kid’s degenerate relatives in a basement where they hack the head off a live chicken just for laughs. This reminded me of a similarly gruesome scene that my mother once witnessed as a child, and she still speaks of it to this day as something that scarred her childhood mind.

Granted, “The Fields” obviously wasn’t aiming to be a horror film, but if writer Harrison Smith had embellished the horrific depictions of the “outside world’s” characters — such as the mystery assailant(s), then we might have had a unique mystery that doubled as a legitimate horror flick. I’ll cite two quick examples for this point: First, the boy discovers a dead girl lying in the cornfields, but the murder happens offscreen, long before we encounter the corpse. Second, there are frequent news reports of the Manson family’s murderous exploits — particularly the murder of actress Sharon Tate from four years earlier — but none of this is depicted.

Though it seems like I’m being overly critical of “The Fields,” there is something major that it does exactly right: Just because these filmmakers had a minimal budget doesn’t mean they commissioned minimal acting talent. I have to give credit to the directors and Colleen Kay, who oversaw the casting for this film. Even though most of their faces aren’t overly recognizable, the quality of the actors’ performances is. The aforementioned Cloris Leachman was in “Young Frankenstein” (1974), and the lovely Tara Reid (“Urban Legend,” 1998) plays the boy’s mother. I have often wondered why low-budget films don’t just get very selective when choosing their no-name acting talent. What have they got to lose? Is it better to cast lesser-known actors who can’t act — or lesser-known actors who will deliver great performances. For the most part, “The Fields” is uncommon in that it does the latter.

In conclusion, for most Horror Palace Network listeners and readers who are strictly looking for horror films, I’m rating “The Fields” a 4.5 and telling you to avoid it. But for those who are willing to watch other genres and appreciate unusual indie films, then I’d suggest checking out “The Fields.” The film’s destination is obvious all along, and therefore, unsatisfying. But like most things in life, the joy is in the journey.

For those who are interested, “The Fields” is currently available at Redbox (listed as a “Drama”), Netflix, and Blockbuster.com, but again, I’m recommending that viewers who are strictly looking for horror to avoid it.

To hear horror movie reviews from Jay of the Dead and his cohorts, listen to Horror Metropolis.

Reviewer: Jay of the Dead
Date: 06/15/2012
Rating: 4.5/10
Recommendation: Avoid

Trailer: Watch
DVD: Breaking Glass Pictures.com
BluRay: Breaking Glass Pictures.com
Social Media: Facebook

Enter Nowhere Review

June 15, 2012 By Horror Palace Leave a Comment

Movie: Enter Nowhere
Year: 2011
Studio: Caliber Media Company
Director: Jack Heller
Stars: Sara Paxton, Scott Eastwood, Katherine Waterston
Language: English
Length: 89 Minutes
Sub-Genre: Thrillers

Plot: After each facing hardships that changed their lives, three strangers find themselves mysteriously gathered at a remote cabin — and as they discover the connection that links them, they must join forces to survive and make it out of the woods.

Review: Enter Nowhere begins with a run-of-the-mill convenience store robbery when one of the assailants wants the clerk to open the safe before escaping the crime. The cashier says something bizarre, and right when you are ready for some action, the story shifts to a woman in the woods with only a broken down cabin around.

From there a few characters appear out of nowhere, and basically, there are 3 people stranded in the woods trying to cope with getting back to their lives. One of the three characters is Sara Paxton from Shark Night 3D and the new, lethargic ghost movie, The Innkeepers.

The story starts to drag at an unprecedented level with the only mystery being how are all these people are connected. Even when it is revealed, 90% of viewers would have probably of guessed what the twist is. There are very few scares and while this does hit the horror genre, it is one that doesn’t particularly deserve it.

There are a few good things to mention with Enter Nowhere, namely the acting, the characters were all vastly different and it made for some interesting conversations. Another positive point is there are a few flashback style scenes that were pulled off well, with crazy coloring, bright hues and spiraling camerawork.

Enter Nowhere was just released on DVD at the end of April, and for the horror fan, their just isn’t anything here to grab your attention or maintain any level of fright whatsoever. The movie is a bore and one I could see many fans stopping the film before it is over and going to something else. Enter Nowhere is a drag and should be avoided. If you want a Sara Paxton film to watch I recommend the remake of The Last House On The Left, a much better horror movie for sure.

Reviewer: BillChete
Date: 06/15/2012
Rating: 3/10
Recommendation: Avoid

Trailer: Watch
DVD: J&R
VOD: Amazon
Social Media: Twitter

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