sammymayson Reviews

Session 9 (2001)

Good Mood and Little Else

[5/10 · 18 November 2023]

An asbestos cleaning crew is tasked with just a few days to clean up a crumbling mental hospital and, as the days go on, they become more and more unhinged as they suspect something sinister is lurking in the building with them.

Although Session 9 gets off to a strong atmospheric start with an intriguing premise, but it never quite gets off to the races and falls into a predictable rut towards the end with a less than exciting twist.

The performances are strong and the production design and cinematography go a long way in building a creepy feeling of dread as the camera lurks and lingers down dark decrepit hallways, staircases, and basements, but there aren't enough true scares to pay everything off.

The House of the Devil (2009)

An Eerie Slowburner

[8/10 · 18 November 2023]

A struggling college student takes a babysitting job in order to move off campus and away from her less than ideal roommate, but soon finds out that the details of this babysitting job are much more unusual than she'd initially thought.

Director Ti West conjures up memories of late 70's/early 80's horror filmmaking better than just about anyone. It's colors are muted and earthy and not bright and flashy like in so many other 80's period pieces. It's a masterful piece of suspenseful filmmaking and dread with many wonderful performances and surprises throughout. This is much more about mood and ambiance than it is gore and jump scares.

If there's any drawback, it's that, by the time the finale rolls around, it seems that it's over within the blink of an eye after all that wonderful build up.

Evil Dead Rise (2023)

Empty Effects Showcase

[4/10 · 18 November 2023]

A pregnant woman moves in with her sister and her kids who find a dangerous demonic book in the walls of their apartment complex and unleash bloodthirsty spirits who possess and mutilate everyone they come into contact with.

Evil Dead Rise has been heralded as the return to form for the franchise, but it lacks any of that original series' humor or slapstick splatter. There is splatter, of course (lots of it, in fact), but the tone wavers closer to unpleasant than humorous or horrifying.

Characters are poorly drawn with the actors doing most of the heavy lifting to try and make some of their insane decisions make any sense whatsoever. Fans of gruesome makeup and gore effects will be delighted at the artistry on display, but it doesn't amount to much in the end as the story is simply not worth telling.

Deadline (1980)

Fascinating and Memorable Twist on the Genre

[7/10 · 18 August 2023]

A writer's life spirals out of control due to the controversy over his screenplays, his neglected children, his alcoholic wife, and his own personal demons.

Deadline is a cold, cynical and brutal attempt at a social commentary on the effects of the horror genre on those who watch it and those who make it in the first place. Acting and dialogue are a few notches above the material in most of these sorts of movies, but you get the feeling that the filmmakers were more interested in making a drama than a traditional horror/suspense film with most of the scenes of terror relegated to clips from the lead's films or odd dream sequences or hallucinations.

Even so, many are effective and Deadline should be commended for trying something different. It's best to go into this film with an open mind and not expecting a traditional horror film with all the requisite beats.

Phantasm (1979)

Beyond Creative

[8/10 · 25 April 2022]

A teenage boy investigates the strange goings on at a local mortuary where he believes the man in charge is doing unspeakable things to the corpses.

While everyone else was making movies in their basements or shooting cheap garbage with teenagers being slaughtered by men wearing masks, Don Coscarelli dared to do something original that mixes mystery, art film, sci-fi, and horror beautifully. His story doesn't always make the most sense and his budget isn't always as unlimited as his imagination, but there are sequences in this film that, once seen, won't be easily forgotten. Angus Scrimm's menacing Tall Man is a great, nightmarish figure.

Maniac (1980)

Horror At It's Most Uncomfortable and Uncompromising

[7/10 · 25 April 2022]

A violent mama's boy kills women so that he can put their scalps on mannequins in his apartment and create a unique type of family.

It's hard to say that Maniac is a good or enjoyable film. There's not a lot of plot and the only character who has much mean on their bones is the murderous maniac himself, Frank. Director William Lustig shoots in an almost documentary style, highlighting every bead of sweat and clogged pore on every actor's face and getting good use of the sleazy early 80's New York atmosphere. Tom Savini's makeup effects should be saluted as well.

The Fly (1986)

Cronenberg At His Most Operatic

[10/10 · 25 April 2022]

A scientist working on human teleportation gets more than he bargained for when he tries it out himself and gets merged with a fly who snuck into the the telepod with them.

David Cronenberg has taken a silly sci-fi story and turned it into a deep, moving, and well acted tragedy with excellent performances by Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis as the doomed couple. Howard Shore's over the top score only highlights the tragic elements of the story in the most beautiful way. The ghoulish makeup effects still cause one to cringe.

Valentine (2001)

Roses Are Red...

[6/10 · 25 April 2022]

A group of friends who tormented a young boy when they were in middle school receive threatening Valentine's Day cards from a mysterious killer who wants them all to hurt like he did.

Valentine is a visually beautiful film and the nearly all-female cast is impressive, but not all of them are given characters developed enough for us to care about the impending demise. Denise Richards impresses the most as a good time girl looking out for herself. The killer, dressed as Cupid, has a great look as well and almost all of the death scenes are creative.

Tenebrae (1982)

Unusual Giallo

[10/10 · 25 April 2022]

A mystery author's tour gets off to a bad start when he finds out a serial killer has been killing people based on passages from his book and might be after him next.

This is one of Dario Argento's smartest and most coherent scripts and his style, while still full of graphic bloodletting, is different than it is in his more famous films like Deep Red or Suspiria. Everything is overlit and sterile which only allows the blood to pop all the more. Great offbeat Goblin score as well that has a little disco influence.

Dressed to Kill (1980)

Surreal, Sexy, and Sleazy

[8/10 · 25 April 2022]

A prostitute gets wrapped up in a mystery surrounding a woman's murder and has to enlist the help of a psychiatrist and a teenage boy to figure out who the killer is.

Writer/director Brain De Palma uses every cinematic tool in his toolbox to tell this odd murder mystery that's filled with surprising surreal touches, tons of sexuality, and violence. Nancy Allen is terrific as the sassy hooker and Dennis Franz walks away with all his scenes as a loudmouthed cop.

Fright Night (1985)

Sexy and Funny Vampire Movie

[8/10 · 25 April 2022]

A teenage boy with an overactive imagination believes his neighbor across the street is a bloodsucking vampire and, when no one believes him, he calls upon a washed up horror film host to help him out.

The entire cast is perfect for their roles, the script is funny while taking its threat seriously, and Roddy McDowell nearly walks away with the movie every time he's on screen. It's called a classic for good reason.

Deep Red (1975)

A Visual Feast

[9/10 · 25 April 2022]

A pianist and a reporter team up to figure out who killed a psychic as the killer goes after them and anyone who threatens to give them any information.

The story is well constructed and the dialogue and performances are more animated and interesting than they are in a lot of other Italian horror films, but this is mostly an excellent showcase for Dario Argento's unique style.

Drag Me to Hell (2009)

A Scare Fest

[9/10 · 25 April 2022]

A banker decides to not extended an old woman's loan which causes the old woman to place a curse on her and, if she doesn't find a way to reverse it, she'll be dragged to hell in three days.

Allison Lohman is an appealing heroine and game for anything Sam Raimi throws at her including mud, vomit, maggots, and pus-filled eyeballs. A lot of the scares work, but some of the humor feels misplaced.

Stay Alive (2006)

A Bit Contrived

[5/10 · 25 April 2022]

Gamer discovers a mysterious demo after their friend dies and, after they play it, they awaken the curse of a bloodthirsty countess who wants to make sure that, if they die in the game, they die for real.

Stay Alive has several interesting ideas and moments. But it's a slightly gorier and more slasher-tinged version of The Ring with more plot holes and inconsistencies.

Sorority Row (2009)

A Decent Slasher for 2009

[6/10 · 25 April 2022]

Spoiled sorority sisters stage a prank that leaves one of them dead and, a year later, someone in a graduation gown with a re-tooled tire iron is picking them off during a graduation party.

It resembles the original House on Sorority Row only in structure, but this revamp has enough tricks of its own to make it worth seeing and some of the dialogue is amusing even if there's never a scare in sight.

Demons (1985)

Bloody Brilliant

[9/10 · 25 April 2022]

Moviegoers that score free passes to a sneak preview of a new horror film find themselves experiencing a horror movie of their own as they get locked into the theater while the demonic creatures from the film become real and turn them one by one.

A rocking soundtrack and colorful visuals would be enough to recommend this one to horror fans, but the special makeup effects are really something to behold and steal the show even as the script seems confused and unfocused.

An American Werewolf in London (1981)

Great Mix of Horror and Comedy

[9/10 · 25 April 2022]

Two friends are attacked by a wolf in the English countryside and one of them starts to exhibit strange behavior during the full moon.

Writer/director John Landis keeps the audience laughing and jumping out of their seats and you can never tell what you'll be experiencing from scene to scene, but it takes the werewolf mythos seriously.

The New York Ripper (1982)

Truly Unpleasant and Unappealing

[4/10 · 25 April 2022]

A woman-hating serial killer is going around New York carving up women and leaving the police strange phone calls as Donald Duck.

Another Fulci gorefest that has even less of a plot than usual. Some of his set pieces have panache, but it can't make up for an unpleasant script where not much happens besides gory murders. Even the final killer reveal is a disappointment.

The Beyond (1981)

Typical Fulci

[5/10 · 25 April 2022]

A woman attempting to fix up an old southern house she inherited accidentally stumbles upon one of the seven doors to hell and unleashes a torrent of nightmarish terror into the world.

Lucio Fulci films can be an acquired taste. While his talent for creating unforgettable and gory images is obvious, his scripts don't always make the most sense and this is no exception. It gets by on mostly style and gore effects alone and the script is nothing more than a skeleton.

The Fog (1980)

One of Carpenter's Creepiest Films

[9/10 · 25 April 2022]

The anniversary of the founding of a small town triggers a mysterious fog bank to roll in and terrorize the citizens.

A potentially silly premise works thanks to the sharp direction and musical scoring of John Carpenter, Dean Cundey's stellar cinematography, and the game ensemble cast who treat the material with absolute sincerity.

Pieces (1982)

Spanish Splatter Fest

[7/10 · 27 December 2021]

A young boy hacks up his mother because she disapproves of him playing with a jigsaw puzzle of a nude woman and, years later, he sets out to reconstruct the puzzle from the body parts of real life college girls.

Even though the screenplay for Pieces hardly functions as anything but something to hang a series of gory murder scenes on, there's a little bit of creativity on display here and some of the death scenes are very cringe-worthy and feature excellent makeup effects. It would all be very disturbing if it weren't all so silly.

The final chair-jumper coda is borrowed from Carrie but with a hilarious and grotesque update.

The Burning (1981)

Lots of Counselor Chopping

[7/10 · 27 December 2021]

A thoughtless prank by some immature campers sends a camp handyman to the hospital with severe burns and, years later, he's released into the world, hungry for revenge. He returns to the camp where it all started, hoping to even the score with his trusty pair of garden shears.

The Burning stands out from the usual summer camp slashers thanks to the hiring of special makeup effects wizard, Tom Savini, who does some of his finest work here. The raft massacre scene might be the definitive 80's slasher moment and it's still shocking to this day. Rick Wakeman's score helps out a lot, too.

My Bloody Valentine (1981)

A Slasher Classic

[9/10 · 27 December 2021]

Decades after a brutal series of a murders, the small mining town of Valentine Bluffs decides to lift the ban on Valentine's Day festivities and the local young people decide to throw a big dance. One person doesn't seem to be taking this news well and they have more than a pick axe to grind.

My Bloody Valentine has everything you could ask for in a serious slasher. The people seem real, the gore is brutal, the atmosphere is thick, and there's a noble attempt at suspense throughout. Images such as that of Harry Warden smashing all the light bulbs in the mine as he chases his victims or him walking down the fog-drenched streets, pick axe in hand, are only some of the memorable moments that will stay with you and that give My Bloody Valentine that special edge over your usual teenage body count film.

Inside (2007)

A Real Nasty One

[8/10 · 27 December 2021]

Still trying to heal the wounds of a car crash that took the life of her husband, a pregnant woman decides to spend Christmas Eve alone in her house. That is, until a mysterious woman knocks on her door, demanding she be let in.

I'm no stranger to hardcore gore, but Inside has more wince-inducing moments of body trauma than I could even comprehend as I was watching it. It's so brutal and aggressive that I fear many viewers might shut it off, thinking it to be not much more than another torture film, but it's far from that.

Yes, Inside is extremely explicit, but it also has some strong suspense and shocks and one of the wildest and most heart-pounding final acts of any horror film I've seen.

A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child (1989)

It's a Boy!

[6/10 · 31 May 2020]

By this point, it was obvious that the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise was running out of steam, but The Dream Child does feature the return of Alice (Lisa Wilcox) who still makes for an excellent heroine as she discovers she's pregnant and Freddy is able to access her dreams through her unborn child. They never explain exactly how this is possible or what triggered him to come back exactly, but there are a few standout nightmare sequences including a high-dive coming to life and attacking her friend and a motorcycle coming to life and turning someone into a gory robot.

Despite a few interesting visuals, The Dream Child feels a bit meandering without a lot of focus or danger.