Scary Stories (from a Dark Allie)

The first time I saw this movie was in a theater on the big screen. After watching it at home tonight, for anyone thinking about seeing this I would strongly suggest finding some way to see it in a very dark room on the biggest screen you can find. The experience is definitely lessened otherwise.

Maybe it’s just Martin Sheen’s soothing voice hypnotizing me into acquiescence, but I liked this movie. I’ve been watching The West Wing for the first time recently – I know, I know, late to the party – so when I saw that Martin Sheen was in a horror movie (that was available on Amazon Video!) I had to watch it.

I’m still sleepy and still don’t have too much to say. I liked this, but I really really wanted it to be better. There are a lot of places where it falls a bit flat. Taken individually, everything seems right – the music is good, there aren’t distracting artsy camera tricks, everyone knows how to act. Even the dialogue isn’t bad. But somehow all of the good components don’t add up to a great movie.

Okay, I can see why some folks might not have liked this movie. It’s slow, and not all that scary until the very end. Then again, if you already think that doll is creepy, this might be a scarier film.

I liked this one. Fans of the first one in general should like this one. The truth is, this basically is the first one – but set in London with a different family and a different demonic presence.

I’d been putting off reviewing this one (and finally watching its sequel) because I had vague memories of not being all that impressed the first time I saw it. I think maybe I was just distracted the first time because it definitely impressed me tonight.

I liked this one quite a bit. From the beginning (and the “I ♥ bikinis” hat) you know it’s going to be interesting – I couldn’t decide whether or not I liked the effect of jumping between the opening scene and the opening credits, but it was interesting either way. Luckily it stays interesting throughout.

I vaguely remember being excited for this one based on the trailer, but I was a bit disappointed by how it actually played out.

I’ve been hearing a lot about the new series lately so I figured it was a good time to watch this one. I’ll admit I haven’t yet watched the TV series, but I’ve heard good things about it.

Once again I don’t have much to say about a film. I still like Pollyanna McIntosh. She’s credited as “The Woman” in this film, which I have to assume serves as a prequel? Sequel? to The Woman, particularly since Jack Ketchum wrote the screenplays for both movies (with help, of course) and Pollyanna McIntosh seems to be the same character in both.

I like this one. I think there are a lot of underrated good ones in the 8 Films to Die For collections, and this is definitely one of them.

I mostly liked this one. It’s well acted (I like Maria Bello and Frank Grillo – and that their names are kind of similar) and definitely creepy (though that could just be the abandoned house again).

I’d been avoiding this movie on Netflix for some reason. I think it was because of Kal Penn. Don’t get me wrong, I like Kal Penn…I just couldn’t really picture him in any serious horror movie.