My take: A terrifying tale of childhood fears and madness. Definitely not a movie a kid should ever see.

Rating: 3 out of 4 stars

Synopsis of Babadook

Babadook is an Australian horror film about a mom, Amelia, and her troubled son, Sam. Same believes thoroughly and completely in monsters. This goes all kinds of wrong for the pair of them when he finds a book on the shelf called “Mister Babadook.” The book appears to be a kid’s book, but as his mom reads it, it becomes clear that the story is too dark for her child.

Amelia does not finish reading it, and even tries to get rid of it, but the damage has already been done. Sam won’t stop talking about the babadook, frightening other children. He keeps his mother up all night with his fits. With a lack of sleep and the eerie reappearance of the book, Amelia also starts to believe in the monster and become a monster herself.

Poster for Babadook

What I Thought of Babadook & Who Should Watch It

Watching Babadook is like watching a nightmare, and it’s a good one too. It’s difficult to tell where reality ends and madness begins. This makes the movie an absolute rollercoaster; you don’t know what may happen next in this stylized, shadowy nightmare world.

The lead actress, Essie Davis, carries the film and does a terrific job playing a woman on the brink of collapse. She’s like a chameleon throughout the film, at times sympathetic and at other times repulsive. It makes me very sad that acting in horror rarely reaps any awards. She deserves one.

If you like a good monster movie or psychological thriller, see this film. I would also recommend it to those who like mother/child horror, which seems to be a genre of its own, with Mama, Rosemary’s Baby, Carrie, etc.

I rented it via Amazon; it’s generally available by VOD. Here’s the trailer:

My take: This movie out of New Zealand had just the right level of scares and humor to thoroughly entertain me from beginning to end.

Rating: 3 out of 4 stars

Synopsis of Housebound

Kylie, a young thief and addict, is arrested after trying to rob an ATM. The judge sentences her to every 20-something’s worst nightmare: house arrest at her parent’s house. It doesn’t take long for Kylie to go out of her mind with boredom and frustration.

One night, she overhears her mother on the phone saying that she believes the house is haunted. Kylie pokes fun at first, until she starts to notice strange noises and odd occurrences in the house.

Housebound is a hilarious horror film about a girl on house arrest in a haunted home.

What I Thought of Housebound & Who Should Watch It

At the start, it sounds and feels a bit like Disturbia or Rear Window; Kylie is trapped in her home and starts to investigate the haunting because she has nothing better to do. But this movie quickly sets itself apart with its comedic timing and twisting plot.

The pacing and characters sucked me in from the start. Maybe Kylie’s parents remind me of my own. Maybe I was able to put myself right in the eye-rolling shoes of Kylie stuck at home with nothing to do. Maybe I would also be keen to investigate the source of the strange noises and to team up with the security guard down the street to figure out what is going on. Whatever it was, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, and was rolling on the floor laughing by the end of it.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes horror comedies, Rear Window-esque plots, and haunted house mysteries.

Housebound is currently available via VOD. I rented it from Amazon.

Trailer

I’m always looking for good new scares on Netflix, but it can be difficult to know whether something is good or not until you hit play and hunker down with a bowl of popcorn. Fortunately for you, I watch a lot of horror movies on Netflix. So I can provide you with my current list of recommendations for new(ish) horror to watch on their streaming service in the U.S.

1. Mine Games (2012)

My take: This is a really fun movie with a twisting plot that still has me thinking.

Rating: 3 of 4 stars

What is it about? A group of friends are headed to a cabin (why do people still go to cabins?!). They arrive to find two of their friends are missing and there is an eerie abandoned mine nearby. To tell you more would ruin it. Just watch it.

Trailer:

Link to Mine Games on Netflix.

2. Beneath (2014)

My take: This movie is further evidence for why you won’t be seeing me in a mine any time soon.

Rating: 3 of 4 stars

What is it about? A miner is retiring, and he brings his grown daughter down to the mines on his last day for a tour. Of course the mine collapses and as odd things start to happen, they begin to wonder if there is something else down in the mine or if they are losing their minds.

Trailer:

Link to Beneath on Netflix.

3. Witching & Bitching (2013)

My take: A combination heist film and witch movie, this was a wild story with a lot of action.

Rating: 3 of 4 stars

What is it about? A group of thieves make a quick escape from the city…and into the hands of a coven of witches with a thirst for power.

Trailer:

Link to Witching & Bitching on Netflix.

4. Mercy (2014)

My take: Why do people make deals with the devil? It never ends well. But at least it makes for an interesting story.

Rating: 2 of 4 stars

What is it about? Mercy is about a boy and his family who move back in with his grandmother to care for her. Strange things are happening though and his grandmother’s secret past comes back to haunt them all.

Trailer:

Link to Mercy on Netflix.

5. The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014)

My take: This movie has a solid premise, but ends as a pretty basic possession movie.

Rating: 2 of 4 stars

What is it about? Deborah Logan suffers from advanced Alzheimer’s. Documentary filmmakers follow her and her daughter in order to understand the effects of the disease. But as they film, they start to notice behavior and events that cannot be attributed to Alzheimer’s alone.

Trailer:

Link to The Taking of Deborah Logan on Netflix.

My take: I am really starting to develop an obsession with deal-with-the-devil movies, and this is an excellent one.

Rating: 3 out of 4 stars

Synopsis of Starry Eyes

Sarah is a young actress with dreams of stardom. She works her ass off going to classes, auditioning, practicing. Still, she ends up without roles or call backs. That is, until she lands an audition with a famous production company.

Her first audition is an utter failure. But in the bathroom after the audition, one of the casting agents overhears her private, hair-ripping fit of frustration. They immediately call her back in to the room and demand that she repeat her bathroom performance. She complies and it leads to further auditions. But in those auditions, they ask for far more than rending of hair and hissy fits. They want her body and soul in exchange for certain fame.

What would you do to get what you want most? Would you get rid of all of your inhibitions? Would morality go out the window?

Yep, there’s a devil-worshipping cult in the background. But don’t fret; it’s not a corny type of cult.

What I Thought of Starry Eyes & Who Should See It

From the start of the movie, the lead actress of Starry Eyes is utterly mesmerizing. Watching her, you don’t know what she may or may not do next. Starting as the nice, girl-next-door persona, you start to see glimpses of the real Sarah that hides beneath the surface. I had a hard time taking my eyes off the screen as I watched her descent.

But don’t get me wrong, this is not solely a psychological horror film. There is also enough gore to sate the palates of gorehounds such as myself. You just have to wait for it. Trust me.

I would recommend this movie to people who like demon/devil movies, psychological horror or disease horror.

Trailer

My take: At the core, this is a love story, but it was still fun to watch with excellent makeup/effects and a solid mystery story to keep you guessing.

Rating: 3 out of 4 stars

Synopsis of Horns

I was surprised to find that Horns is a love story at its core. Daniel Radcliffe plays Ig, a 20-something man who stands accused of murdering his high school sweetheart, who he was (and is) madly in love with. Stricken and grieving, the community, media, and even his family believe he committed the foul deed, despite Ig’s claims of innocence.

Poster for Horns with Daniel Radcliffe

Accused, alone, and utterly drunk, Ig turns his back on God by crushing a statue of Saint Mary and pissing on the murder site of his beloved. He awakes the next morning with horns growing out of his head. This is where is starts to get interesting.

With the horns, everyone Ig encounters becomes brutally honest and will do nearly anything he says (if they are inclined to do that thing). He causes fights, fires, and other mayhem before he realizes he can use his powers to find the real killer.

What I Thought of Horns & Who Should Watch It

There are elements of the film that I could leave behind. Some of the flashback scenes between Ig and his dead girlfriend are sickly sweet and some of the elements of the murder mystery are a bit cliché.

But I was able to overlook those issues, and I just had a good time watching it. The makeup on Daniel Radcliffe was amazing and made me wish my Halloween costume could look that good. The soundtrack, with Bowie tracks galore, made me smile. The characters were interesting to watch, with just enough childhood background to give you a clear view of their motivations and eccentricities.

And Daniel Radcliffe continues to surprise me. He refuses to be typecast or held to short-lived fame as Harry Potter. This movie and his performance in The Woman in Black make me excited to see what he will do next.

I would recommend this film to people who like fun, popular horror films. I would also recommend it to people who like Stephen King movies. Horns is based on a book by Joe Hill, Stephen King’s son. While he is not the same as his father, he has a similar talent for good storytelling.

I rented the movie via Amazon, but it will also have a limited theatrical release starting October 31, 2014.

Trailer for Horns

My take: If you like IKEA and you like horror stories, give this book a read.

Rating: 3 out of 4 stars

I love IKEA. Every room of my house has something from that store. I also love horror, as you well know at this point. Imagine my delight when a book came out that combined the two: Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix.

It’s a story of a fictional IKEA knockoff store called Orsk. Everything about Orsk is IKEA, from the Marketplace to the showrooms designed to draw you in and never let you out.

Cover of Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix

Strange things start happening at the store: items go missing, sofas are defiled, and people get inexplicably turned around in the aisles. An overzealous manager decides to keep a couple of employees late one night to investigate. The same night, two other employees trespass to film their own amateur pilot of a ghost-hunting show.

Both plans go quickly awry. This Orsk happened to be built on top of a demolished prison, where countless prisoners were killed by their mad warden. Now the warden and prisoners are haunting the store and are out to imprison the five poor souls in the store that night.

The book is short and it isn’t the best piece of fiction I have read. However, what it lacks in depth and density, it makes up for in the terrific design of the book itself. The inside and outside of the cover is designed to look just like an IKEA catalog. It has, in fact, fooled several people who saw me reading it. Additionally, the chapters are broken up with descriptions for fake furniture you can buy at Orsk.

The result is a very fun read that I recommend if you’re looking for a quick read and like a ghost story.

My take: Some good jump scares and creepy scenes but nothing new for the genre of demon haunting/possession movies.

Rating: 2 out of 4 stars

Synopsis of Annabelle

Annabelle provides the origin story of the creepy doll from the beginning of The Conjuring. Set in 1970, the story centers on a young church-going couple. The husband is a med student. The wife is very pregnant and collects dolls.

Late one night, they hear a disturbance at the neighbor’s house. When the husband goes to investigate, the perpetrators sneak into the couple’s home and violently attack the wife as well as husband who comes back to save her.

The decidedly creepy doll known as Annabelle.

The assailants, who we later learn are devil-worshipping members of a cult, die in the aftermath. The male assailant is shot by the police. The female slices her own throat while holding the doll known as Annabelle.

Thus the doll becomes a conduit for an evil demonic presence who wants a soul. The demon torments the young wife and her baby, as demons are wont to do.

What I Thought of Annabelle & Who Should Watch It

When watching the movie, it is clear that the creators wanted to ride The Conjuring’s gravy train because the film largely imitates the strong elements from that film and some of the elements from Insidious. As a result, while I enjoyed the suspense and the jump scares, I did not find anything unique about this film that will drive me to watch it again.

Poster for Annabelle

That being said, as I exited the theater, I heard a girl behind me state, “I almost had a heart attack. That was the scariest shit I have ever seen.” It may be that I have been watching too many horror movies lately and am a bit jaded toward the old tried and true tricks that resonate with audiences. I can tell you that this movie would scare the crap out of my husband; he flat out refused to see it.

As a result, I would recommend this to people who don’t watch as much horror as I do. If you liked The Conjuring and Insidious, you will likely love this film too. Like those two movies before it, it had a great production quality and excellent suspense.

Trailer for Annabelle

My take: Skip the first half of the movie and get right to the good stuff: tension, gore and mysterious alien infection.

Rating: 1 out of 4 stars

The title “Honeymoon” gives away much of the plot. A couple, played by Rose Leslie (who plays Ygritte in Game of Thrones) and Harry Treadaway, are on their honeymoon at a cabin. One night, alien-like lights flash and the bride disappears

Poster for Honeymoon

mysteriously. She found somehow changed her memory starts to falter and her personality is not the same. Things progress rapidly at this point and these are not good things that are progressing. They are at a cabin after all; cabins are not good in the world of horror movies.

While the premise is solid for a basic horror film, it unfortunately takes quite a while before we get to the point of the story. The first half or even two-thirds of the film consist of a sickly-sweet couple of their honeymoon. It could almost be mistaken for a sappy rom-com, which is unfortunate because when creepy things start happening to the bride, the film gets thoroughly enjoyable.

Is it worth watching? Maybe. If you can hit the fast-forward or multi-task during the first half (like my husband did), then it may be worth it.

I would recommend the second half of this movie to people who like The Fourth Kind, the Evil Dead remake, Cabin Fever and other possession/infection films.

My take: An oddly hilarious film with enough cringe-worthy scenes to sate the palates of horror and Kevin Smith fans alike.

My rating: 3 out of 4 stars

Walrus horror alone would not have gotten me to the theater. Neither would a new Kevin Smith film. But put the two elements together and add in Justin Long (Drag Me to Hell and Accepted) as the lead, and you’ve got me there opening night.

Tusk follows Wallace Bryton, an American podcaster who travels around gathering stories from interesting people. When his interview in Canada falls through, he spots an intriguing flyer in a bar for a man with “stories to tell.” This takes him deep into Manitoba to a house where he meets Howard Howe, who drugs him and kidnaps him in a grand plan to make Wallace into a walrus.

Strange premise? Yes. Interesting? Definitely. Plausible? Not even remotely.

But regardless of how ridiculous the film’s plot may be, Kevin Smith pulls it off with good pacing, strong laughs, terrific characters, and enough gore to make my husband uncomfortable. All of this combined to leave me talking about it, even days later, which makes for a good movie in my opinion.

According to Canadian horror magazine Rue Morgue, Kevin Smith has announced that this is just the first in what he calls “The True North Trilogy.” The second film will be called Yoga Hosers and is about a pair battling “supernatural forces.” The third, and more intriguing film IMHO, is called Moose Jaws. Smith is reported as saying it is “Jaws but with a moose.” Just the concept has me snickering.

I recommend this movie to anyone who likes Kevin Smith horror, Justin Long, famous actors pretending not to be themselves (hint hint), monster movies, and/or those who think the Human Centipede is funny.