Lord of Illusions (1995)

November 9, 2018

Directed by: Clive Barker

Written by: Clive Barker

Starring: Scott Bakula, Kevin J. O'Connor, J. Trevor Edmond

Budget: $12,000,000

Quote: "There are two worlds of magic. One is the glittering domain of the illusionist. The other is a secret place, where magic is a terrifying reality. Here, men have the power of demons. And Death itself is an illusion."

Trivia: The scene with Swann (Kevin O'Connor) biting his finger and pouring his blood on the screws in order to drill the mask into Nix's head was excised from the original cut in order to obtain an R-rating from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). The scene was later reused for the unrated director's cut edition of the film.


Along with Wes Craven, Clive Barker was one of the big the names in '90s horror. Although his time as a horror director was short lived, he did carve a niche in horror history with his unique style of supernatural horror. His style incorporates inventive storylines, elaborate monsters, religious elements, and sexuality. These elements would all combine to create Hellraiser, his first and best full length film, a movie that deserves a spot as one of the all time great horror movies. However, he followed Hellraiser with Nightbreed a silly monster movie that while it is a fun and weird movie, doesn't not hold a candle to the very dark Hellraiser. It'd be like if Coppola followed The Godfather with The Money Pit... I mean I like both those movies, but it's a weird leap to make.

The Lords of Salem (2012)

September 29, 2018

Directed by: Rob Zombie

Written by: Rob Zombie

Starring: Sheri Moon Zombie, Meg Foster, Bruce Davison

Budget: $2,500,000

Quote: "The blasphemous music echoes in my mind, driving me to the point of insanity. I, Jonathan Hawthorne, swear before the eyes of God, on this this day in the year of our Lord 1696, to destroy all persons who choose to pledge allegiance to the demon Satan and his spectral army!"

Trivia: Rob Zombie has hinted at this film being a metaphorical and spiritual prequel to his Halloween films.



I had been up in Jacksonville, Florida for a few days on vacation and decided I would finally give The Lords of Salem a chance. Although I loved Rob Zombie's other films, House of 1000 Corpses, Devil's Rejects, and 31, I am going into this film with some trepidation. My friend Dustin loves the Zombie films maybe even more than I do having both seen House of 1000 together right after high school, but he hated this film. The responses from the internet are also mixed, with some people hating it and some loving it, although it does appear there is a move towards a better appreciation for the film.

The House of the Devil (2009)

September 1, 2018

Directed by: Ti West

Written by: Ti West

Starring: Jocelin Donahue,  Tom Noonan, Mary Woronov

Budget: $900,000

Quote: "During the 1980s over 70% of American adults believed in the existence of abusive Satanic Cults... Another 30% rationalized the lack of evidence due to government cover ups... The following is based on true unexplained events..."

Trivia: Deliberately shot in the same kind of style and using similar techniques as the splatter films of the 70s and the 80s which it emulates.



The House of the Devil is a beautifully shot film that was carefully crafted to make it look like it came from the early 1980s. Filmed on 16mm film and set in 1983, the film really does look and feel like an eighties slasher film. While watching it, I had to double check on IMDB to make sure that it was in fact from 2009 and not 1979. The soundtrack also features an eighties classic by The Fixx played through a cassette walkman. Those of us in our thirties and older will recognize it. Finally, the film also borrows film techniques popular in the eighties slashers such as a zoom in on characters, the opening credits in yellow font, and a freeze frame at the end with a still image of the closing credits. While the movie itself is an occult film and not a slasher, it has the feel of the eighties slashers.

All Cheerleaders Die (2013)

August 29, 2018

Directed by: Lucky McKee, Chris Sivertson

Written by: Lucky McKee, Chris Sivertson

Starring: Sidney Allison, Charon Arnold, Shay Astar

Quote: Somebody got fucked. Somebody got killed. I'm going to gym.

Trivia: Lucky McKee remade this film after finding his first film of the same name went straight to video and was very hard to find.







Alright, I think this'll be a quick one. I am usually a sucker for a cheerleader slasher movie but this one did not deliver. The movie pretty quickly goes in unexpected ways, which is pretty cool, but ultimately this just ends up being a disappointment. Instead of a slasher we have ourselves a witch film. There are elements of The Craft in the film, but this one falls flat. The movie is well shot, the special effects are decent, but the storyline does not grab the attention. Its biggest flaw is that none of the characters are very likable or interesting so I found it really hard to care about what happens to any of them.

Hereditary (2018)

August 27, 2018

Directed by: Ari Aster

Written by: Ari Aster

Starring: Toni Collette, Miley Shapiro, Gabriel Byrne

Budget: $10,000,000

Quote: "Well, now your sister is dead! And I know you miss her and I know it was an accident and I know you're in pain and I wish could take that away for you. I WISH I could shield you from the knowledge that you did what you did, but you're sister is dead! She's gone forever!"

Trivia: In an interview, Alex Wolff explains that he wanted to actually break his own nose for the scene where his character slams his head into a desk. When it was time for the scene to be shot, Wolff slams his head into the desk only to discover that the top was foam and the bottom was hard. He dislocated his jaw (which is a previous injury the actor has had) for the scene.

I started this horror journey back in the beginning of July and when asking my friends what horror/scary movies I should watch the two that came up over and over were A Quiet Place and Hereditary. A Quiet Place was good but I think Hereditary is great. It is actually a legitimately scary movie! It's a slow burn so if you are planning on seeing it, give it patience, it more than pays off in the end.

The Void (2016)

June 23, 2018

The Void is one of the first films I've seen in this journey through horror film that I thought was legitimately scary. Not, I can't sleep tonight scary, but definitely check out the window a couple times to make sure no one in a triangle hood is outside brandishing a knife.

The film begins with the shotgun and burning murder of a woman as a man runs away. He is picked up by a cop who brings him to the local hospital where all hell breaks loose. The visuals in this film are remarkably terrifying: The men in the hoods, the monsters that break out of people but still carry the people with them, the sudden flashes of occult and cosmic imagery. The gore is also used heavily and effectively. It reminded me of Event Horizon, including an early in the film death of a woman stabbing out another person's eyes as she cuts of pits of her face flesh.

Ghoulies (1984)

June 19, 2018

I was really looking forward to watching this movie. I had hyped it up so much to my wife. I was adamant that Ghoulies blows Critters out of the water 100%! I grew up watching these little guys terrorize people on the TV screen. I remember being afraid to use the bathroom when I was a kid for fear that a Ghoulie would pop out and bite me. Unfortunately, I think I was remembering Ghoulies II and Ghoulies III: Ghoulies Go To College. I am not positive if I ever actually saw the original Ghoulies. After watching it, I had to eat crow. This movie sucks.