Dethcharm
Joined Feb 2011
Welcome to the new profile
We're still working on updating some profile features. To see the badges, ratings breakdowns, and polls for this profile, please go to the previous version.
Reviews3.9K
Dethcharm's rating
NEXT OF KIN is a slow-building, Australian horror film, about a woman named Linda (Jacki Kerin) who inherits a large rest home after her mother passes away. At first, all goes well, until she starts reading her mother's diary, and the creepy weirdness begins.
It's not until around the 40 minute mark that things really get going, when Linda is on her own in the house. The Director does an admirable job of making it dark and foreboding. It sort of has a similar atmosphere to movies like the original BLACK CHRISTMAS or THE HOUSE ON SORORITY ROW, where long, uneasy stretches go by without much happening, only to be interrupted by terrifying events. This film shares that same sense of dread.
There's also an engaging, central mystery, giving Linda ample reason to do some sleuthing.
All of this helps to make the gruesome, frenzied finale all the more worth the wait!
Fans of John Jarratt (WOLF CREEK 1 and 2, ROGUE), will get to see him here as a strapping young lad, as the amiable Barney...
It's not until around the 40 minute mark that things really get going, when Linda is on her own in the house. The Director does an admirable job of making it dark and foreboding. It sort of has a similar atmosphere to movies like the original BLACK CHRISTMAS or THE HOUSE ON SORORITY ROW, where long, uneasy stretches go by without much happening, only to be interrupted by terrifying events. This film shares that same sense of dread.
There's also an engaging, central mystery, giving Linda ample reason to do some sleuthing.
All of this helps to make the gruesome, frenzied finale all the more worth the wait!
Fans of John Jarratt (WOLF CREEK 1 and 2, ROGUE), will get to see him here as a strapping young lad, as the amiable Barney...
After receiving a mysterious video tape that appears to show an actual murder, a reporter (Miyuki Ono) sets out to find the truth behind it. Along with four cohorts, she follows clues on the tape that lead to a desolate location.
What makes EVIL DEAD TRAP stand out among other slasher - at least during the first half - films, is its inventive camera work, especially the POV shots from the killer's vantage point. Also, the death sequences are particularly vicious and unsettling. The Director gives some major nods to Dario Argento: The lurking maniac, brutal set pieces, ominous music, etcetera.
However, the real clincher is the utterly-insane, final 20 minutes! This is where this movie enters into disturbing, supernatural territory. Be prepared for some brain-stripping terror, filled with fire, explosions, and gore!
Also, be sure to stick around for the hideous epilogue!
A fantastic example of late-1980s Japanese horror...
What makes EVIL DEAD TRAP stand out among other slasher - at least during the first half - films, is its inventive camera work, especially the POV shots from the killer's vantage point. Also, the death sequences are particularly vicious and unsettling. The Director gives some major nods to Dario Argento: The lurking maniac, brutal set pieces, ominous music, etcetera.
However, the real clincher is the utterly-insane, final 20 minutes! This is where this movie enters into disturbing, supernatural territory. Be prepared for some brain-stripping terror, filled with fire, explosions, and gore!
Also, be sure to stick around for the hideous epilogue!
A fantastic example of late-1980s Japanese horror...
Director Lars von Trier's THE KINGDOM is quite an achievement. This Danish TV mini-series combines off-the-wall humor, drama, mystery, suspense, poignancy, and supernatural horror. And it all flows together seemlessly. The whole series is bathed in a hazy sepia tone that adds to the atmosphere of unreality.
While the first season is, arguably, the best, all three seasons are packed with so much hilarity, jaw-dropping surprises, and just plain weirdness, that it's a must-see all the way through!
By now, most people know that season three came out 25 years after two, and that some principle actors passed away during that time, most notably, Enst-Hugo Jaregard and Kirsten Rolffes, who played the cantankerous Helmer and the mystical Mrs. Drusse respectively. So, the Director had to introduce new characters that fit the script that he'd kept on hold for all those years. Miraculously, it works!
A few, of many, points of interest: The secret doctors' Lodge, the bizarre, phantom ambulance, the use of voodoo, the doppelgangers, and the Shakespearean dishwashers who seem to live in the kitchen.
Plus: All the symbols, metaphors, and puzzle pieces that make it all so interesting.
Watch for cameos by Stellan Skarsgard, and Willem Dafoe. Udo Kier plays both Little and Big Brother.
All things considered, the whole production is a crackpot masterpiece...
While the first season is, arguably, the best, all three seasons are packed with so much hilarity, jaw-dropping surprises, and just plain weirdness, that it's a must-see all the way through!
By now, most people know that season three came out 25 years after two, and that some principle actors passed away during that time, most notably, Enst-Hugo Jaregard and Kirsten Rolffes, who played the cantankerous Helmer and the mystical Mrs. Drusse respectively. So, the Director had to introduce new characters that fit the script that he'd kept on hold for all those years. Miraculously, it works!
A few, of many, points of interest: The secret doctors' Lodge, the bizarre, phantom ambulance, the use of voodoo, the doppelgangers, and the Shakespearean dishwashers who seem to live in the kitchen.
Plus: All the symbols, metaphors, and puzzle pieces that make it all so interesting.
Watch for cameos by Stellan Skarsgard, and Willem Dafoe. Udo Kier plays both Little and Big Brother.
All things considered, the whole production is a crackpot masterpiece...