Tag Archives: creepy

The Reeds, 2009 U.K. horror film

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Country: U.K.
Directed by:
Verdict: 7/10… Very good, somewhat original supernatural horror movie
Horror themes: Troublesome teens, ghosts, murder, injury, boating accident, fire, corpses, drowning, doom of repetition, survival, remoteness, lunatic with a gun…

After Dark Horrorfest: 8 Films to Die For

Here we have another After Dark Horrorfest offering, a designation that does not alone portend a high quality horror movie, necessarily. Although not every flick hits a home run, many of the After Dark Horrorfest titles turn out to be quite good – and sometimes excellent – horror films that accomplish exactly what I wish them to: they creep me out.

Brief plot summary of The Reeds

A weekend boating party turns into a nightmare for a group of young Londoners when they stumble upon a terrifying secret hidden in the reeds.

Movie trailer: The Reeds, 2009 (1:56, YouTube)

Verdict: The Reeds (2009)

I thought The Reeds was an excellent, unique, unpredictable, and even creepy supernatural horror film; I’ll give it a 69.

Based on numerous online reviews and comments about The Reeds, many viewers consider this movie to be average at best; however, I count The Reeds as being in the top third or so of the 8 Films to Die For bunch. For this supernatural horror junkie, The Reeds gets credit for featuring proper horror: supernatural horror. (I’ve always felt that the most frightening movies of all time can be categorized as either supernatural horror or psychological horror films.)

Movie trailer: The Reeds: After Dark Horrorfest (1:52, YouTube)

I was pleasantly surprised at how riveted I found myself to be throughout The Reeds; based on its lackluster IMDb rating of 48, my expectations were low. (IMDb happens to be my most frequently used movie resource; perhaps one of these days I will join other screen junkies and get an IMDbPro account.)

Thoughts about The Reeds

This is one of those movies where to divulge even the mere basics of the story might be revealing too much. Of course, if you’ve read many of my posts, you know I can hardly refrain from dropping occasional (OK, frequent) spoilers – but not to the point of revealing everything, much less a unique and shocking plot twist. Even I would not do that.

Movie trailer HD: The Reeds, 2009 (2:01, YouTube)

I was mislead (in a good way) during the first quarter of The Reeds; I had been thinking this film would go in the direction of so many other horror movies wherein the protagonists are harassed, then terrorized, then God-knows-what, by groups of children or teens. Initially, the strangest events experienced by the group of boating Londoners involved a few potential troublemakers running around amongst the reeds: Probably a group of local, rural teens with nothing else to do on weekends but build a campfire and party down.

Other fans of supernatural horror will be quite pleased to hear that The Reeds is NOT one of those all-too-common thrillers masquerading as horror. The Reeds is real supernatural horror.

Creepy horror vs. typical horror

Is it just me, or are there other devotees out there like me who strongly prefer supernatural fright to the basic psycho killer anxiety? I cannot tell you how many times I’ve experienced disappointment at those movies that give the appearance of including creepy supernatural antagonists or weirdnesses – and then there turns out to be no supernatural creepiness whatsoever!

A great example of my hopes and expectations for a scary supernatural plot being dashed was the 2006 French film Them (French title: Ils), which received strong reviews and critical acclaim all around. This laid-back couple in their remote farmhouse heard noises downstairs. In the end, it was nothing but a pack of troublesome tweens. Granted, the consequences were awful, and I’m not saying Them was a bad movie… it wasn’t. It’s just that I thought it was going to be a supernatural horror film, and it wasn’t. [ Them, IMDb (Rating: 66) ]

If there were any real fans of this supernatural horror blog, they would know based on other accounts that I do not use the descriptive term creepy very often – that I reserve the word creepy to describe only a handful of horror films. Well, IMHO, The Reeds does succeed at being creepy – at times, at least. I am not saying The Reeds is the creepiest or most atmospheric horror movie ever, but those terms can be honestly applied to this film.

Gore level: 35/100

The only gore I can recall during The Reeds was the horrible injury resulting from a freak accident that happened to one of the group (the guy who was being such a jerk during the card game). I consider the realistic portrayal of that injury to be a definite plus; tossing in extra gore does not represent real horror to this fan. The frequent addition of gore to horror movies just for gore’s sake is almost always an unsuccessful attempt to increase the scares.

Resources: The Reeds, 2009 U.K. horror

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Here we have another After Dark Horrorfest offering, a designation that – by itself – is not necessarily indicative of what I would consider a good horror flick.

The Innocents, 1961 psychological horror

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Country: Britain
Director: Jack Clayton
Verdict: 85/100… Excellent, chilling horror classic
Until now, I’d found it rather unlikely that I could be creeped out by a so-called horror movie as old as 1961… Not that I think that pre-70s horror always fails to be frightful; I was scared half to death on more than one occasion by Twilight Zone episodes and the like. But now, at age 42, I am a bona-fide horror movie junkie – I have a real addiction to movies featuring those things that go bump in the night – and as such, sometimes I feel a bit jaded. Well, suffice to say that 1961′s The Innocents retains its creepiness, even today.

The Innocents, 1961 horror: Scariest scene (2:46, YouTube)

Plot summary of The Innocents

In late 19th century England, Miss Giddens (Deborah Kerr) becomes governess of Flora, a young, orphaned girl living in a lonely stately gothic mansion inhabited only by the child, the housekeeper, Ms. Grose (Megs Jenkins), along with a small contingent of servants. Her initial misgivings allayed by the child’s angelic nature, her anxieties are once more aroused when the girl’s brother, Miles – equally captivating, but oddly clever and flirtatious for such a young boy – is sent home from boarding school for serious misbehavior of an unknown sort.

Eerie apparitions and inexplicable behavior on the children’s part cause her to wonder about the house’s history, especially about the fate of the previous governess, Miss Jessel and the former valet, Peter Quint (Peter Wyngarde). She fears for the children’s souls and for her own sanity. Miss Giddens comes to believe that the spirits of Jessel and Quint are possessing the children. Convinced that there is an unnatural force at work, perverting the innocence of her charges, she sets out to secure the children’s salvation by wresting them from its power. Though her struggle reaches a resolution of sorts, the real nature and outcome the the clash ultimately remains ambiguous, as intended by the film’s director.

The Innocents, 1961 horror: Scary scenes (9:36, YouTube)

Miles’ poem from The Innocents

This was the poem recited by Miles, the young boy in the psychological horror film The Innocents. It’s beautiful and even more than that, it’s creepy as hell. . . you simply must watch The Innocents to receive the full effect of the poem. (Thanks to YouTube and embedded HTML code, you can watch it here, now – just scroll down a bit…)

At first, the governess is smiling, impressed at the cute little boy reciting this poem; however, by poem’s end, she’s no longer smiling. . .

What shall I sing to my lord from my window?
What shall I sing, for my lord will not stay?
What shall I sing, for my lord will not listen?
Where shall I go, for my lord is away?

Whom shall I love when the moon is arisen?
Gone is my lord, and the grave is his prison.
What shall I say when my lord comes a-calling?
What shall I say when he knocks on my door?

What shall I say when his feet enter softly,
Leaving the marks of his grave on my floor?
Enter my lord, come from your prison.
Come from your grave, for the moon is arisen.

[Whispers]: Welcome, my lord…

The Innocents, 1961: Miles recites creepy poem (1:13, YouTube)

Psychological horror, supernatural horror – or both?

It’s my take that The Innocents is both psychological horror and supernatural horror – that is, I believe the 1961 film does include a legitimate haunting, that the ghosts were there – not just in the mind of the governess. However, I think it is important to note that the film was designed to require the viewer to make his or her own interpretation on this.

Resources: The Innocents, 1961 gothic supernatural horror film

Originally written Monday, March 16, 2009

One Dark Night, 1982 supernatural horror movie

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horror movie - One Dark Night, 1982Horror themes: Mausoelums, spending the night in a scary place, teen pranks, corpses, telekinesis, ESP
Verdict: 6.5/10… One of the better supernatural horror movies from the early 80s

As I write this, I have just popped in my freshly acquired DVD of One Dark Night, released back in 1982. On one hand, I am excited and expecting a real treat in genuinely atmospheric, creepy horror; but on the other hand, I’m wondering whether a movie that’s rated PG can really be scary. We’re talking PG here – not even PG-13.

Soon after I started researching One Dark Night, I got some reassurance from FastRewind.com (see References section below) :

Never has a PG-rated, low-budget horror film successfully created a sense of impending doom and terror as One Dark Night did. . . Don’t let the PG rating fool you, either – this movie is scarier and more effective than the plentiful R-rated gore fests released around the same time.

horror movie - One Dark Night, 1982Nice. Also, I was soon reminded that at the time this movie was rated, there was no such thing as PG-13.I decided to perform a search for horror movies that carry a PG rating to see if anything truly terrifying were listed. Perhaps this will be the subject a future blog post, but for now I will name a few decent supernatural horror movies that are rated either PG or PG-13:
horror movie - One Dark Night, 1982

  1. The Legend of Hell House, 1973
  2. Solstice, 2008
  3. Storm of the Century, 1999 IMDb (Rating: 72)
  4. The Sight
  5. When a Stranger Calls (2006 remake)
  6. White Noise 2
  7. Watcher in the Woods (1980)
  8. Salem’s Lot
  9. Something Wicked This Way Comes

One Dark Night on Amazon.com

DVD cover

A short review on the DVD cover reads: “…spooky horror outing aimed at teen audiences…” This is another concern, albeit a minor one. Can this movie really be scary? Of course, being a very well-seasoned horror fan, there is not much that really scares me anymore; but relatively speaking, how scary can One Dark Night be? Back to the DVD cover:

World-famous psychic Raymar is found dead – along with several victims of his bizarre experiments. On the same day his body is interred in a mausoleum, high-schooler Julie Wells (Meg Tilly) agrees to spend the night there all alone–as part of a hazing to join the clique, The Sisters (Robin Evans, Elizabeth Daily, Leslie Speights). Later that night, the Sisters secretly return to torment Julie in an attempt to scare her out of her mind. But the girls are not alone. Raymar’s experiments continue even after death–on his own body and on the dozen resident corpses in various stages of decay. Soon they’re exhumed and looking for fresh bodies.

One Dark Night haunts audiences’ psyches with its claustrophobic setting, moody cinematography, foreboding score, and ultra-realistic makeup effects.

Brief plot summary: One Dark Night

A strange man named Karl Rhamarevich dies shortly after discovering a way to become even more powerful in death through telekinesis. On the night of his burial in a mausoleum crypt, Julie Wells (Meg Tilly) is to spend the night there as part of an initiation rite, supervised by two other girls. The mausolem becomes a scene of horror as Raymar returns to life and deploys his powerful and horrifying telekinetic abilities, forcing long-closed crypts to break open, sending coffins sliding out on Raymar’s command. The coffins splinter open, releasing decaying bodies – which soon begin to menace those girls trapped inside. Will they survive the horrific night in the mausoleum? (Source: IMDb)

Watching One Dark Night

The first minute of One Dark Night – while the opening credits are rolling – has all the makings of a wonderful creepfest! It’s a dark and stormy night, with lots of lightning and thunder, accompanied with eerie background music which consists mostly of a very low note on a synthesizer.

After the opening, we are at a major crime scene where we see a pile of dead women with their eyes still open, and dead psychic Raymar whose body apparently still contains some pent-up energy.

Soon we meet the main cast, the group of teens, which conforms closely to one of the standard horror movie recipes: a good girl, a funny one, the slut, and the jock boyfriend. We also have the persistent reporter.

Oh, what memories! Near the beginning of the movie, the teens are at a video arcade, and some of the video games I used to spend so much money on were shown close-up. Two notable games shown are, I believe, Defender and Tempest. Retro-gaming.

The second half of One Dark Night takes place in a mausoleum, which ranks in my book as one of the creepiest settings for a movie. There are not many horror movies featuring mausoleums, at least that I can think of right off the bat.

This brings the question to mind: Who in hell would want to decay above ground in a mausoleum? Maybe these are fundamentalists who believe their bodies will be resurrected when the trumpets sound; or perhaps there are uber-wealthy people who believe themselves too good to rot in the ground like everyone else. Why on earth someone would insist on taking up space above the ground after they die is beyond me. As for me, please use no chemicals and bury me au natural in a simple pine box – or better yet, just cremate me. In all honestly, I want my body to return to the earth and be a part of everything else ASAP. I digress.

The creepiness begins when the girls drop off our homely heroine at the mausoleum, basically forcing her to spend the night there as an initiation rite into their little club of cool. (I cannot help but wonder if it would be considered cheating, to take in a couple of strong sleeping pills? That would be me!) She enters the mausoleum, with all its large drawers, with some trepidation, clutching her red sleeping bag. At first, the building is well-lit. Curious, she explores a bit, reading some of the plaques.

Julie finds a place to settle down and sits on her sleeping bag, leaning against a wall with no corpse drawers; however, she gets bored quickly and goes exploring.

People, this girl is far braver than I. Would I spend the night in a mausoleum? The only scenario that might include my bunking in such close quarters with corpses would necessarily include the transfer of a large sum of money into my bank account. Plus, I would smuggle in and quickly consume two or more Ambien (or something stronger).

The Sisters of Cool are in the car arguing about the hazing situation when it is revealed that Sisters leader Carol (the blond bitchy one) gave Julie a pill earlier, which Carol says was Demerol. Good enough!

The movie flips between Julie at the mausoleum, the Sisters of Cool, jock Steve (who is genuinely concerned for Julie’s safety, and is not happy with the Sisters and their pranks), and Raymar’s own sister, who is staying up late doing some research into her brother’s experiments – listening to his tapes and such.

The Sisters of Cool head back to the mausoleum with the intention of scaring poor Julie to death; after all, they – especially the blond ice bitch – have no intention of actually letting Julie into their pathetic little club, no matter what. They have a sheet and a rubber mask with which to do some frightening, which they do; they sneak into the mausoleum, find Julie asleep (passed out, more like), and start terrorizing her. But the Sisters do not have the last laugh. . .

Steve finally finds out from the abandoned Sister that Julie is indeed at the mausoleum, so he goes to the rescue.

At this point some truly horrifying things happen to the girls in the mausoleum. For example, a casket slowly slides out of its mausoleum drawer all by itself and then the casket opens to reveal the moist, rotting body of an older man. The eyes of the corpse open, and the girls find it in them at this point to run to another part of the building, where the same thing happens with other caskets and bodies, in varying states of mortification and putrefaction. It is damn scary to see the corpses being dragged by an unseen force – a force supplied by dead Raymar – into the faces of the terrified girls.

Suddenly, I vaguely remembered seeing One Dark Night when I was around 20, and that this movie did a decent job of giving me the creeps back then. (It probably wouldn’t now; this would require something stronger, like Grave Encounters (2011), The Reeds (2009), The Grudge (2005), or perhaps some new supernatural horror from Asia.)

One Dark Night: Morsels of wisdom

Made in the fall of 1982 for a mere $1 million and taking less than a month to film, One Dark Night became a surprise international hit upon its theatrical release.

One Dark Night was nominated for Best Horror Film of 1983 by the Academy of Science Fiction.

IMHO, the most attractive girl in One Dark Night is the young Meg Tilly; however, those who tend to favor blondes will almost surely vote for Elizabeth Daily.

Thoughts about One Dark Night

This is a wonderfully creepy horror movie, and it manages to deliver real scares without excessive gore, sex, any skin at all, very little gutter language, etc. In fact, One Dark Night relies only upon effective storytelling, a creepy atmosphere, supernatural occurrences, and some good corpse special effects (especially for the early 80s) to deliver chills. In other words, there is no cheating or relying on phony props – and this is a huge plus. So many horror movies of today utterly fail to scare on their own merits and rely on nudity, gore, or taboo-breaking to gain some level of viewer approval, and that is truly unfortunate.

In fact, one of the primary missions of my new supernatural horror movie website is to cull the truly scary gems from all those movies that rely on any of the aforementioned crutches to deliver “scares.”

I highly recommend One Dark Night to all but the most jaded horror fans. This movie should be suitable for most audiences, given its age, its rating, and its being relatively free of potentially offensive language, imagery, and even teen behavior – all of which are benign by modern standards. The creep factor, however, is not benign; it’s fairly effective, especially for its time. Enjoy!

Resources: One Dark Night, 1982

Orinigally written Saturday, March 21, 2009