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Showing posts from February, 2012

Rage (2010)

One of the things I enjoy about being a movie reviewer is having the opportunity to see films I may not normally get to see in the theatre.  One of the ways I get to do this is when a director agrees to send me a screener copy of their movie so I can review it. Dennis Twist starts the day of thinking that the most trouble he's going to have is the emotional outburst from his mistress when he breaks up with her.  Unfortunately, a chance encounter with a biker takes him down a road that can only end in death... either for the biker... or him and his wife... My friends from " Film Reviews From the Basement " reviewed this movie not too long ago.  About the same time, writer/director Christopher Witherspoon agreed to send me a copy for my own review.  He actually worked as part of the MMI Crew on the 1985 movie, " Re-Animator ," as well as a stunt double on the film " Black Santa's Revenge ," in 2007.  Other than " Rage ," Witherspoon a

Corner of Terror Finally Has a Logo!

As those of you that read this blog on a regular basis know, I recently celebrated my 1st year doing this blog, and that I updated the graphics on the site.  Well,  If you look in the lower left corner (or at the top of this post, actually), you will see the logo I just did for this blog.  Woo Hoo! I call it, "Zombie Stew". I would love to hear your thoughts and comments on this simple, but (in my opinion) charming symbol.

Keep My Grave Open (1976)

This past Thursday, I asked people on Facebook and Twitter to choose which movie I would watch that night for review today.  The choices were: " Crypt of the Living Dead " (1973); " Keep My Grave Open " (1976); and " A Nightmare on Elm Street " (1984) Ultimately, those that responded chose, " Keep My Grave Open ," so I watched it. Lesley Fontaine lives in a secluded mansion with her brother Kevin.  It just so happens that Lesley and Kevin love their privacy... and each other.  Unfortunately for hapless visitors, this love may be unhealthy... for them ... " Keep My Grave Open " is brought to us by S.F. Brownrigg- who also produced and directed the enjoyable, but deplorable movie, " Don't Look in the Basement ".  This movies is just as flawed- if not more so than the other one. There was some decent acting in this movie by Camilla Carr- who plays the rather disturbed Lesley Fontaine.  She did a great job of p

It Came From Another World! (2007)

Back in November, I did a review of Christopher R. Mihm's movie, " The Monster of Phantom Lake ," and enjoyed it- giving a seat in " The Good ".  Well today, I review his sequal to it, " It Came From Another World! " P rofessor Jackson's friend and colleague Doctor Frasier is late returning from an expedition into the wood.  When he goes in search of his friend, Professor Jackson discovers a strange meteorite that may be linked to his friend's absence and strange behaviour.  Soon, Professor Jackson is thrown into a fight to save the world... and his wedding... Just like " The Monster of Phantom Lake ," this movie is a humorous tribute to the old drive-in B-movies of the 1950's. Is it as good as the first one?  While I was still entertained- and came away smiling at the end, there were some minor flaws that brought it down below the entertainment level of the first one. I enjoyed the acting of M. Scott Taulman & Mike

My Bloody Valentine (1981)

Last year, around Valentine's Day, I reviewed the rather craptacular " Valentine ".  This year, I'm going to be reviewing a true classic of of the holiday horror films- the 1981 Canadian made, " My Bloody Valentine ", since I was able to find a copy and watch it this year. Sorry it's a week late... shall I give you my heart? After a mine collapse caused by negligence on Valentine's Day, Harry Warden is found alive, but insane... having eaten the others trapped with him.  A year, Harry returns and kills several people- warning the town of Valentine's Bluff that it'll happen again if they ever throw another Valentine's Day dance. The town has faithfully heeded this warning until one year, against the requests of the sheriff, a small group decide to have a Valentine's Day party... out at the mine where Harry went insane... This is classic 1980's horror material.  You can certainly see elements of John Carpenter's "

The Omen (1976 & 2006)

In this day and age, it seems that we're destined to be flooded with an endless deluge of remakes, reboots, reimaginings and even rehashes of classic movies- including conversions of old TV shows into movies.  I have noticed however, that the horror genre seems to be suffering the heaviest torrents of revisitations.  With that realization, I'll be doing a "double bill" today... Let's start with the 1976 release of " The Omen ", shall we?  The premise is interesting and simple enough to provide potential directions for storytelling: A prominent politician's pregnant wife suffers a loss when the son dies shortly after birth.  Before she can find out, the politician agrees to subsitute a newborn orphan for his own... Too bad that the son is the spawn of Satan ... The acting is a little lifeless at moments, but in general was pretty good.  I enjoyed Gregory Peck as Robert Thorn- the politician, and Lee Remick as his wife was nice to look at, t

One Year!

It's a special day here in " The Corner of Terror ".  As of today, " The Corner of Terror " is one year old! Yay! So, to celebrate, I dd some cool graphic changes to the site.  As you can see, I've got a new background, section dividers, and even a new banner!  Woo Hoo!  Let me know what you think, eh? :D In the course of the past year, I've had a total of 27,212 page views, with January 2011 being the month with the most views (5,167)!  My top five most popular to date so far are: The Curtain Rises... and the Lights Dim... (13,846 pageviews); The Hunchback of Notre Dame (729 pageviews); Sleepy Hollow (704 pageviews); William Castle Tribute IV: Rosemary's Baby (552 pageviews); and Happy Birthday to Me! (453 pageviews).  Twitter and Google are the main sources of traffic, with the following being the top five countries visiting: United States (9,448 pageviews); United Kingdom (2,812 pageviews); Canada (2,464 pageviews); Ind

Dark Fest 2012

I originally posted about this YESTERDAY, but had to pull it (ie- delete it), because one of the films had been pulled due to it not being of "Canadian Content"... now, however, it seems that that film is BACK into the 16th "Kamloops Canadian & International Film Festival," and I've been asked to repost this.  Unfortunately, when you delete a post here... it's gone for good. And I'm just too lazy on Friday to be witty and write my own version of the press release that my friends at " Film Reviews From the Basement " gave me... so I'm going to type exactly what they posted on their own blog- but with the added change about the film. So, read on... From out of the cinematic basement and onto the big screen, the 16 th " Kamloops Canadian and International Film Festival " has plunged into a dark realm of B-grade movie entertainment with the inaugural " Dark Fest ", a loving tribute to the frightful side of cine

A Brush With Death (2007)

Even though horror movies often trade in stories that are rather far fetched, and highly impropable, most of them DO have some sort of logic and sense behind them... while others lack both... Five college girls are on vacation at the posh mansion of one of their uncles, when they run into Caleb and Rankin- two handsome young men that live in town.  Soon after meeting them, the girls start to disappear one by one. .. What I just wrote above sounds interesting and has potential, right?  Well, the reality of its execution in " A Brush With Death " was the opposite. Let's start with the characters.  Five young women- two of which, I would consider hot (possibly three).  They're not very likable.  They're kinda snotty, whiney, and well, skanky.  Only two of them show any redeeming value... but even that's not enough to make me care about whether they live or die.  They all do look in bikinis though.  Caleb is somewhat likeable, but dull and not very engagi

Site Update- 05 Feb 2012

Life is full of changes and growth.  That goes for websites as well.  Last month, I posted a poll about whether or not I should have seperate pages for my book, game and movie reviews.  The majority of those that responded said, "Yes".  So I made some changes. What used to be "The Crypt"- where I listed ALL of my reviews, is now broken down into three seperate pages: Theatre Morte-  This is where you'll be able to find all of my movie reviews.  They're all alphabetical, so you can quickly find the movie you're looking for.  From this page, you can quickly find out my Terror Scale rating for them, and access the review for the particular title you're interested in.  Dark Tomes- This is the page where I'll be listing the books I've reviewed.  As with "Theatre Morte", you'll find the rating and link to the review in addition to the name of the author.  Arcade Morbid-  Same as the other two pages, but listing the games

Dark Fall: The Journal (2002)

Up until 2002, I had been more interested in Real-Time Strategy games- like " WarCraft " and " Command & Conqueor: Red Alert ", and Turn-Based Strategy games like " Civilization ".  That changed when Jay (from " Film Reviews From the Basement ") lent me a simple Point & Click Adventure game called, " Dark Fall: The Journal "... After receiving a cryptic message from your brother on your answering machine, you head to Dorset to investigate.  Upon arrival at the abandoned train station your brother was preparing to renovate, you discover that he's gone missing... just one in a long list of strange disappearances that have occured over the years.. . " Dark Fall: The Journal " is a very basic, Point & Click Adventure game that relies on a good story and mood.  The graphics are not top of the line for the time- but still effective at adding a great, eerie atmosphere.  This is only enhanced by some of the scrip