The Ward (2011)

Beyond the Films is back!  Today James "Phantom" Ryder reviews The Ward by icon John Carpenter.

By James Ryder

Kristen (Amber Heard) finds herself being drug into a mental hospital after burning down a house in Oregon.  “Why am I here!” she demands to know (it may have something to do with the arson you just committed, but hey...).  The staff, led by Dr. Stringer (Jared Harris), is tight lipped.  The other girls in the hospital (Mamie Gummer, Danielle Panabaker, Laura-Leigh, Lyndsy Fonseca) know more than they’re letting on.  You’ve seen this type of movie before.  What’s new is that the hospital may be haunted by a former patient, targeting the girls for elimination.  The pre-credits sequence shows a patient named Tammy being incapacitated by the ghost in the room Kristen will soon come to call her own.  Other girls begin to disappear not long after… 

The Ward, were it directed by a first timer, would be quickly relegated to overnight filler on cable or boxed in a DVD “Valu-Pak” with several other cheapies.  However, the presence of director John Carpenter not only adds a certain pedigree to the film, his considerable skill as a filmmaker gives the film visual flair and well-paced editing that likely would not exist otherwise.

Leprechaun (1993)

Early this morning, a blood stained manuscript of AIM chat logs and text messages arrived at BTF HQ with a note saying "Thanks for assigning this movie, jerk. - Luke."

Your luck just ran out... cuz you rented this movie.

Erin Go Home

Leprechaun (1993)

By: L. Bradley Phillips (et el)

4:30 PM – Day before review due date.
LBP: “Leprechaun is the heartwarming tale of little people finding acting work.” That is literally all I have for this review.
DJ P: Lol, cool. Print.
LBP: Ha ha yeah. The Leprechaun review is going to be short but not due to laziness.
DJ P: I ran into that problem too. Like there is nothing to say. The movie isn’t even fun to mock.
LBP: Exactly.

5:00 PM
LBP: What did you think of Leprechaun?
TB: The movie or the guy I see every St. Patrick’s Day after I’ve been drinking?  I honestly saw it around 15 years ago.  It was okay, wasn’t scary, more entertaining at times.
LBP: What was that line you loved?
TB: I just remember he rode a trike or big wheel or something like that.  That was about the only funny part.

Red Riding Hood (2011)

Today we're taking a modern day look at a classic fairytale story, Red Riding Hood.

by Ann Marie

Red Riding Hood follows Amanda Seyfried's character, Valerie, who has an arranged marriage, but has feelings for another boy in the town, Peter (Shiloh Fernandez). Peter becomes a woodcutter to impress Valerie's family, but her mother, Suzette (Virgina Madsen) wants her to marry Henry (Max Irons), a blacksmith regardless. Valerie decides to run away with Peter.  Their plans are foiled when the village's legendary werewolf returns and creates havoc, as vengeful returning werewolves are wont to do. Other than the wolf, which of course is updated to be a werewolf, the film incorporates other Little Red Riding Hood references including the picnic basket, her grandmother's (Julie Christie) house in the woods and of course her red hooded cape. The rest of the movie, shows Valerie working with Peter and Henry to identify and defeat the werewolf.

Queen of the Damned (2002)

Remember when Vampires were cool?  Read on young viewer, for those halcyon days... the 2011 Halloween Review Marathon continues!

By Ann Marie

Queen of the Damned is a vampire story, but don't worry these vampires don't sparkle. It follows the story of the vampire Lesat (Stuart Townsend, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) who awakens after many years of sleeping. Lesat find the world a much different place than his original time period. He runs into a band practicing where at his old home and decides his next career is to become a vampire rock star.  Lesat has more than 5-stars in Rolling Stone as his career goal though - he quickly begins to taunt other vampires who ever remain in hiding.

This massive amount of vampire activity awakens the ancient Vampire Queen Akasha (Aaliyah), who is eager to reclaim her vampire throne.  Interestingly enough and despite being second billed on the poster, Aaliyah's character does not appear in the film and has a very limited amount of screen time. 

A secondary storyline follows paranormal researcher Jesse (Marguerite Moreau, Wet Hot American Summer) as she investigates this new rock star Lesat.  He resarch is told to the audience in the form a lengthy flashback near the middle of the film.  Also joining this cast on screen was Vincent Perez (Marius), Lena Olin (Maharet), Paul McGann (David Talbot) and Matthew Newton (Armand).

Blade: Trinity (2004)

Week 2 of the 2011 Halloween Review Marathon continues with another vampire film.

Reviewed by James Ryder

INT. - ABANDONED BUILDING JUST OUTSIDE THE CITY – NIGHT

BLADE (Wesley Snipes) and his mentor WHISTLER (Kris Kristofferson, The Jacket) prepare for battle.

WHISTLER

I’m getting too old for this crap.

BLADE (Wesley Snipes)

Good thing there are two hot young stars on the poster… in case anything happens to you.

WHISTLER 

I always plan ahead.  [Cocks SHOTGUN]

28 Weeks Later... (2007)

A sequel you say?  Let it not go unreviewed!  The BTF 2011 Halloween Review Marathon continues!

Reviewed by James Ryder

You know those horror movies where characters do the stupidest thing possible?  These are the type of characters that you want to yell at.  “Why are you going into the room full of blood stains and monster noises?!” you might ask.

Well, 28 Weeks Later… is one of those horror movies!  Its characters are so dumb their deaths could be written off as a thinning of the herd by viewers and surviving characters alike.  Furthermore, this sequel to 28 Days Later… manages to be more nihilistic and more cheaply sentimental than its predecessor thanks to the decision to make a pair of children the center of its apocalyptic story.  Who cares if thousands of other civilians are eaten by zombies the infected as long a Lil’ Timmy gets away in an air duct?

Run Timmy!

28 Days Later... (2002)

28 Days Later... was hailed as an “instant classic” when it first was released… does it still hold up?

Reviewed by James Ryder

28 Days Later... is a first-rate “zombie” film even if its main villains aren’t technically zombies.  Rather than rising from the dead for unexplained reasons, the hordes here are infected with a “rage” virus that is transmitted to humans from apes when animal rights activists try to liberate a science testing facility.  

The first two acts of the film are fairly standard post-apocalyptic, zombie fare.  Jim (Cillian Murphy, Inception) wakes up in a hospital and wanders the now deserted streets of London.  He meets other survivors (Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson).  Some of will live, others will not.  The film, however, deviates in the third act, becoming something much more cynical.  The infected cease to become the scariest part of the film upon discovering a stranded unit of British soldiers led by Christopher Eccleston. 

The Wolfman (2010)

Alright folks here we go again!  It is October!  The leaves are turning an array of typically ugly colors, it is getting annoyingly cold but still too warm for snow, and Beyond the Films is coming at you again with the 2011 Halloween Horror Hullabaloo (or whatever Phantom has decided to call it this year).  Let me just say, this is by far my favorite sign of fall right behind football and apple cider.  So, without further ado, let’s get rolling with this year’s films!

Wolfman and Again and Again

Reviewed by L. Bradley Phillips

Here we have Joe Johnston’s take on George Waggner’s 1941 film The Wolfman.  Johnston’s reimagining (or remake or whatever) is adapted from Curt Siodmak’s original screenplay by Andrew Kevin Walker and David Self.  By the way, there’s a reboot named Werewolf in the works since this flopped, in case you can’t get enough wolf action. 

This film chooses to set the story in 1894 England and opens to a tease of the werewolf attacking villagers and setting the mystery of Our Hero to solve.  It was about this time that I found my first fault with the film: while it was not the most egregious of slights for a thriller, I would still have preferred the filmmakers to take a page from the bible of J.J. Abrams and hold back the reveal of the monster.  It isn’t something that makes or breaks the film, but without the suspense of anticipating the werewolf for the next 15-20 minutes of exposition, the film does drag slightly.  Benicio Del Toro stars as Lawrence Talbot, our hero.  Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada), Hugo Weaving (V for Vendetta) and Anthony Hopkins (The Rite) co-star.

Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)

That's right they're back! Our Halloween Review Marathon continues to make you scream and laugh with Gremlins 2: The New Batch. 

by Ann Marie

Remember those rules you learned from the first installment of Gremlins?  Well you may want to remember them right about now.

That's right they're back, this time in Gremlins 2: The New Batch. This time the movie takes place in New York City, where Billy and Kate have moved working for mogul Daniel Clamp. As for Gizmo he is still living with his owner, until Gizmo's owner dies. Gizmo then escapes out of the store and runs into a lab technician who works a genetics lab in the Clamp building. All of a sudden Billy finds out Gizmo is there and rescues him. But before Billy can take Gizmo home, Billy needs to run out the door to dinner and asks Kate to pick up Gizmo. As Gizmo waits for Kate to pick him up, he gets wet and that's when just like in the first film, Gizmo starts to multiply. The new Mogwai are meaner then before and stuff Gizmo inside an air vent. From here the gremlins find food so they can hibernate and becomes the green gremlins they metamorphize into, but this time their goal is to take over New York and start their civilization. This movie is wackier than the first one with more jokes and continuous fun as the gremlins start to take experimental drugs from the Clamp laboratory.

Gremlins (1984)

Our Halloween Review Marathon continues with Gremlins. This 1980's movie will have you laughing and grossed out all at the same time. Enjoy!

by Ann Marie

1. Keep it away from bright light.
2. Don't get water on it.
3. Never, never ever feed it after midnight.

Three important rules to follow when taking care of Mogwai, Gizmo.

Gremlins takes place during Christmas in a small town. We start the movie with Billy's dad, Randall Peltzer (Hoyt Axton) is in Chinatown looking for a gift for his son, Billy (Zach Galligan). Randall follows a little Chinese boy to his father's shop, where he finds Gizmo which is a Mogwai. The owner warns Billy's father that Gizmo is a lot of responsibility.  This is where the audience learns about the three rules; keep it away from bright light, don't get water on it, and never ever feed it after midnight. Billy's father then returns home and gives Billy Gizmo for Christmas, but at this time Billy doesn't quite understand the full consequences of the rules. Then Billy's friend Pete Fountaine (Corey Feldman) comes over and he accidentally spills water on Gizmo. Gizmo then starts producing more Mogwai helping the audience understand why Gizmo shouldn't get wet. But Billy and Pete think this is the coolest thing, but don't realize Gizmo's reproductions aren't as nice as the original. The other Gizmos start creating havoc in the house and mess with Billy and his family. At one point, they start bouncing up and down wanting food. Billy then looks at the clock and realizes it's before midnight and gives them food. The next day he realizes the Mogwai disconnected the clock and they are now in cocoons changing into their evil gremlin forms. These gremlins then start creating chaos and running the residents out of the town, but Billy decides he has to stop them but only with Gizmo's help.

Pitch Black (Unrated Director's Cut) [1999]

It's back!  The 2011 Halloween Review Marathon returns to Beyond the Films!  Be sure to check back throughout October for a new horror film reviews! Today's pick: Pitch Black.

Reviewed by James Ryder


Pitch Black, later re-dubbed The Cronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black is an interesting amalgam of rehashed "haunted house in space" tropes from Alien and the "Alien Vision" from Predator along with a few new character and technical twists.

The film starts in space, as a passenger ship is struck by debris. Carolyn Fry, the pilot (Radha Mitchell), can do nothing but attempt to land the ship on a nearby inhabitable world.  Upon lading, the survivors set out to find a way off the planet and recapture dangerous prisoner Riddick (Vin Diesel) who has escaped the ship in the chaos.  Along their exploits, the survivors discover that the planet they are on is inhabited by nasty, bat-like creatures that come out once every total eclipse, a rarity in a solar system that boasts 3 suns.  And wouldn't you know it, the eclipse it set to happen shortly after the ship crash lands...

All of the main characters have various secrets to hide, led by the ever ambiguous Riddick.  The film never quite decides if he should be vilified as murderer or lionized as a hero.  It tries to have it both ways, in fact, showing him menace the crew one moment and inspire a young kid the next.  Other than Riddick and Fry, a cop may not be as straight as he seems (Cole Hauser, Higher Learning), and the boy he inspires (Rhiana Griffith) may have a secret back story.  Keith David (The Thing) and Claudia Black (Stargate SG-1) round out the passengers on the ship.  As is the case with this type of movie, everyone who doesn't have a name is probably going to die.