Monthly Archives: June 2009

Resident Evil: Apocalypse, 2004 horror movie

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Amazon:

2002′s popular video-game-derived hit Resident Evil didn’t inspire confidence in a sequel, but Resident Evil: Apocalypse defies odds and surpasses expectations. It’s a bigger, better, action-packed zombie thriller, and this time Milla Jovovich (as the first film’s no-nonsense heroine) is joined by more characters from the popular Capcom video games, including Jill Valentine (played by British hottie Sienna Guillory) and Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr, from 1999′s The Mummy). They’re armed and ready for a high-caliber encounter with devil dogs, mutant “Lickers,” lurching zombies, and the leather-clad monster known only as Nemesis, unleashed by the nefarious Umbrella Corporation responsible for creating the cannibalistic undead horde. Having gained valuable experience as a respected second-unit director on high-profile films like Gladiator and The Bourne Identity, director Alexander Witt elevates this junky material to the level of slick, schlocky entertainment. – Jeff Shannon

Resident Evil, 2002 horror movie

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Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Amazon.com
Marilyn Manson worked on the soundtrack, so it’s no surprise that Resident Evil is best enjoyed by headbangers, goth guys, and PlayStation junkies. Like the interactive game it’s based on, this horror hybrid pits a small band of SWAT-like commandos (including Milla Jovovich and Girlfight’s Michelle Rodriguez) against a ravenous hoard of zombies, resulting in a gorefest that only sociopaths could love. The tenacious heroes are trapped inside the Hive–an underground complex where an evil corporation conducts illegal research with a deadly virus–and the zombies (reanimated corpses of sacrificed employees) are fodder for endless rounds of gunfire. It’s utter nonsense (not unlike director Paul W.S. Anderson’s previous Event Horizon), so your best defense is to wallow in it or avoid this trash altogether. A few cool sequences are borrowed from better films (that slice-and-dice laser is cribbed from the 1998 Canadian shocker Cube), but if you’re in the mood for heavy-metal carnage, this movie’s for you. –Jeff Shannon
# Actors: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Eric Mabius, James Purefoy, Martin Crewes

Laid to Rest (Unrated Director’s Cut), 2008 slasher flick

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Directed by Robert Hall
Watched June 2009
Studio: A terrifying story of a young girl who wakes up in a casket with a traumatic head injury and no memory of her identity. She quickly realizes she was abducted by a deranged serial murder and must survive the night and outsmart the technologically inclined killer who is hell bent on finishing what he started.

Ghost Stories – Fox Family Channel

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large cover of horror television series DVD - Ghost Stories - Fox Family Channel -1997-98

Fox Family Channel – Television series
Aired in 1997-1998; DVD sets available starting in 2005
Watched May 2009

NOTE: This is an example of an entry for which I’m more concerned about tags than commentary. For a while, my main intent for this blog was to create sort of a database of supernatural horror movies to allow readers to find obscure supernatural horror films based on tags describing aspects or content of the film. For example, this entry would have the tags ghost stories, anthology, television, series, etc.

cover, small - horror television series - Ghost Stories - Fox Family Channel -1997-98

Honestly, it’s turning out not to be all that great of an idea. This is not exactly the right format or platform for what I wanted to deliver at that time, so it’s likely most future entries will contain more commentary and content as opposed to merely being listed or added.

Thanks for checking it out; I really do appreciate it.

Sincerely,
Stephen, fellow supernatural horror fan

Resources – Ghost Stories (Fox Family Channel television series)

The Ghost Stories series that initially aired on the Fox Family Channel in 1997 and 1998 should not be confused with the 1972 television series, Circle of Fear (aka Ghost Stories), which was an anthology of suspense dramas concentrating on individuals confronted with supernatural occurrences. Winston Essex would open each episode by taking the audience into his spooky old mansion and introducing the plot, ranging from a vampire preying on college students to a ghost haunting a house to an old man using voodoo against his own family. On January 5, 1973, the series changed its title to “Circle of Fear”, the Essex character was no longer part of the show, and the stories didn’t always feature supernatural themes (at which point we probably would have lost interest). [YouTube clip]