Posts by Brandt Sponseller

I was in the initially small but increasingly vocal minority who didn't care much for the first Blair Witch film. Although at least some Blair Witch Project (BWP) advocates say otherwise, it's hard for me to believe that those who champion the film (the portion of them who weren't paid by Haxan and/or Artisan to say they enjoyed it) aren't doing so for mainly political reasons which amount to being not only anti what they consider teen-oriented horror (but which may just be a function of their aging), as if aiming for a teen audience is anything new in the genre, and anti-Hollywood and big budget films in general.(read more...)

It's not easy to make a Dracula film. Ever since Tod Browning's 1931 version starring Bela Lugosi, at least, filmmakers wanting to create a version Bram Stoker's story--one of the defining tales of the horror genre--have had to deal with masterful precursors deeply ingrained in the public's consciousness. Even Browning had to compete with F. W.(read more...)

Here's another film, like The Exorcist, that I have to rate highly because of its historical status more than its value in isolation. In isolation, or, at least seen outside of its particular place in history - say, if it had come out a year or so, instead of 20, after precursors like It! The Terror from Beyond Space, so that It! appeared to be the groundbreaker and template instead, then I would give Alien a lower rating.(read more...)

It's understandable that Witchery didn't win any awards. Under a low-powered microscope, there are more than a handful of dialogue, logic and continuity problems, and there are some very bizarre performances (mainly Leslie Cummings, although personally, I enjoyed her ineffable weirdness). But as a whole, Witchery is not at all a bad film. It takes the right approach to the budget at its disposal, the premise is good and actually clever at times, it builds an effective if mild atmosphere and the special effects are respectable, even if half of the gore is only implied.(read more...)