The Traveler (2004)

"Caught with nowhere to run!"

Synopsis: Deep in the woods of Pennsylvania, a terrible evil is about to be unleashed. An old, ramshackle house with a violent past. Abandoned. Forgotten. Seven people will come to this house. Two are here by accident. The rest are here for thrills. They will all come face to face with a force darker and more horrifying than their worst nightmares. A being of incredible power and unspeakable malice. A being known only as? The Traveler.

My Thoughts: Like every Brain Damage Films release, The Traveler had an extremely low budget. Imdb listed it at around $15,000, which is amazing when you consider the amount of gore in this film. Don't get me wrong, not everything in this slaughterfest looks entirely realistic, but for that amount of money it's a real achievement.

It was written and directed by Jonathan R. Skocik who also played the lead, Alan Chesterson. A lot to take on for a first timer. Hell, he even did the special effects. The Traveler was Skocik's first and last film. It's a real shame he never gave it another shot.

The movie does start a little slow, but once The Traveler makes his first appearance and starts his twisted version of Survivor the action picks up. All of the acting is horrendous, but in a ridiculously funny way. They had to just be friends of Skocik because there's no way in hell that they're real actors (well maybe the guy who played The Traveler was, even though he was pretty terrible too).

My Rating: 5 / 10








Recommended for gore fans. It's included in one of those Mill Creek 50-movie box sets called "Tomb of Terrors", which I picked up from eBay for $12. I've watched about 8 of them so far and this is the only one that stands out. Plus, they crammed 4 or 5 movies on each DVD, so the transfers aren't too great either. I would suggest picking up the Brain Damage release for a couple bucks instead, unless you're really into low budget horror.

"click here to see the trailer"

Insidious (2010)

"It's not the house that's haunted"

Synopsis: The Lambert's move into an old house and begin to suspect they are under siege from otherworldly forces when their young son inexplicably falls into a deep coma. As devoted parents Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne) struggle in vain to uncover the root cause of their son's condition, the stress of the situation gradually begins to take its toll on their once-strong relationship. Later, when darkness falls and specters appear to reach out for them from the shadows, the frightened parents realize they're dealing with powers beyond human comprehension.

My Thoughts: Before last night I couldn't remember the last time that a horror movie actually scared me. Thanks to Insidious, now I can.

This incredible ghost story from the creators of the Saw series, James Wan and Leigh Whannell, is without a doubt the most surprising film of 2011. For some reason my expectations were really low for this movie, even though I did hear some pretty good reviews. C'mon let's be honest, the quality of PG-13 horror flicks over the last 10 years or so has made us all a little gun shy. Going in to Drag Me To Hell my hopes were high because of Sam Raimi (obviously), but a PG-13 movie from the director of Saw ...not so much. Well, when you're wrong you're wrong.

Whannell's writing along with Wan's direction keep you on edge for almost the entire film. The story starts a bit slow, but that could have been done purposely in order to catch the audience a little more off guard when the crazy shit started to go down. I can't remember another movie where jump scares were used as effectively or as often.

I think it would be a shame if they ruined this with a series of shitty sequels, but I do hope they team up again for another ghost story. The horror world could really use it.



My Rating: 9 / 10





Just make sure you get to see this one before it leaves the theater. I'm gonna try to catch it on the big screen one more time, just to see if it has any rewatch value.

...oh, and the "Tip-Toe Through the Tulips" song was a nice touch.

"click here to see the trailer"

Respire (2009)

"Hold Your Breath"

Synopsis: The Ancient Romans believed that the soul escaped one's body with the last breath.  It was believed that last breath held the power to cure disease and prolong life.  In 1930's, Dr. Randolph Kaminsky (Timothy Dykes) devoted his life to finding out how to harness the power in the last breath. Susan Jordan (Tracy Teague) owns a local novelty shop.  One item in her shop, an antique box once owned by Dr. Kaminsky, draws the interest of two men: Raif Collins (Mathew J. Wright) who hopes it's contents can save his dying sister, and Alex Poe (Vince Eustace) whose motives are more mysterious. Susan quickly finds herself in a perilous struggle to protect the box and the secrets that it holds.

My Thoughts: If you're looking for a movie to throw on after having a few too many cocktails, I would definitely recommend picking something else. It's not that the story is overly complicated. It's that there's just so much going on that if you doze off for even a minute you're fuckin' lost. A mistake I made not once, but twice.

I have to give writer/directer David A. Cross (Ghostwatcher 1 & 2) a lot of credit. The plot was pretty imaginative and well thought out. It couldn't have been easy to make a movie that goes in so many different directions without any noticeable plot holes. Equally impressive is how he seemlessly blends in so many horror sub-genres into one film.

It's too bad Cross' talent as a director doesn't match his creative screenwriting, although he receives very little support from the cast. The acting and at times even the look of the film seemed to be right out of an episode of Gilmore Girls ...not that I watch Gilmore Girls. Some decent gore and a little skin could have probably helped, but appartently our director didn't agree.

My Rating: 5 / 10








Not perfect, but worth a watch.

"click here to see the trailer"