Posts by Dana Gravesen

There are many words to describe Wes Craven’s first horror effort: repulsive, jarring, unnerving, even sadistic. All words relative to the film’s content, to be sure, but that’s one of the striking things about Last House on the Left: from a critical standpoint, it is neither here nor there, good nor bad; it simply is what it is -- a macabre exploitation film intended to shock.(read more...)

This may be as hard to believe as a doll come to life, but Bride of Chucky is one of the best horror films of the 1990s. Gory, trashy, funny, and truly entertaining, the film pays homage to the entire genre, is a send-up of its own predecessors, and plays out like a wild & witty remake of Bride of Frankenstein. And after the surprisingly dreary Child's Play 3 and a seven-year hiatus, it's good to see the ol' Chuckster cleans up real good.(read more...)

Horror master John Carpenter’s 1998 monster mash Vampires is the director’s only commercially successful film of the last decade, and one of his best creature features. Owing a lot to Kathryn Bigelow’s 1987 horror-western masterpiece Near Dark, Vampires is filled with rousing action, stylish cinematography, and more blood than brains. As a twisted fable of the undead, it ranks among the most creative and dynamic of the genre.(read more...)

Director Rachel Talalay (Tank Girl) helms the sixth and supposedly final entry in the traditional Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. Amazingly, the film is fairly successful despite itself. The elements that are good — and there are quite a few — are classic components of the most entertaining entries in the Nightmare saga: outstanding dream sequences, the best movie makeup money can buy, and intriguing plot devices. Unfortunately, most of the creative decisions made on behalf of this particular film fall flat: the 3-D ending is a snoozer, the comedy is trite, and the acting (save Robert Englund) is wooden.(read more...)