Posts by Brandt Sponseller

Twenty-seven years down the pike, The Exorcist is still no easier to review. To many film fans, horror buffs or not, it is considered one of the best horror flicks, if not the best, period. It has certainly been influential in the genre, spawning everything from its own sequels, to other good series like The Omen, to not-so-good recent flicks like Bless the Child. Although it's not without its own influences -- such as Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist will always be an important film historically, and as such, should be given at least one viewing by all fans.

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Wicked Games is an amateur production in every sense of the word. At that, however, it is far from the worst film I've seen. Yes, the performances are terrible, the editing frequently nonexistent, the sound often difficult to hear, the poorly written score is performed on cheap keyboards, it's shot on video tape (which makes it look like a home movie), the lighting is bad, etc., but there are a few worthwhile elements here.

Director and writer Tim Ritter (who is persistent enough to have seven films behind him to date) has created a decent story that holds your interest and keeps you guessing until the end -- as long as you can stick it out for about the first 15 - 20 minutes. The beginning of the film looks more like a really bad, amateur porno with no pay-offs.(read more...)

Salem's Lot doesn't have breathtaking cinematography, or an awe-inspiring score. There are lots of quirks in the performances. It doesn't have huge special effects. It isn't fast-paced. In fact, it moves pretty slowly most of the time. Yet I would rate it a 9 out of 10, because what Salem's Lot does have, and this is fairly unusual in a film, is a deeply engrossing story that unfolds exactly as if you were reading a book instead, and by the time the horrific material arises, Salem's Lot doesn't need to do anything too spectacular to create atmosphere and scares.(read more...)

Probably infamous Italian horror "maestro" Lucio Fulci's most ridiculous film, New York Ripper ("Lo Squartatore di New York" in Italian) blandly genre hops to an awkward conclusion. The only positives are Fulci's use of gore (duh), one or two truly suspenseful scenes, and the ever-present unintentional humor.

New York Ripper opens with an older man walking his dog under the Brooklyn Bridge (now there's an unusual shot of New York City). His dog plays fetch with him, and when the stick is lost in the bushes, the dog brings back a dismembered human hand instead.(read more...)