Tag: ghosts

Crimson Peak: the height of Gothic thrills and chills?

With Crimson Peak, beloved horror director Guillermo Del Toro sets about creating another period ghost story.

While his previous work of course includes The Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth, both of which are set in and around the Spanish Civil War, this entry on his filmography takes its cues more from classic Gothic melodrama.…

The Messenger delivers some originality from a hackneyed premise

 

In a world of heavyweight prestige pieces, like the upcoming Suffragette, and straight-to-Sunday-evening light dramas, like the charming but forgettable Mr. Holmes, the British film industry does seem to be lacking in low-budget genre (excluding the ever-present straight-to-DVD Mockney gangster contingent.)

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For a film about a haunting, Poltergeist (2015) is very much a non-entity.

How do you one-up Steven Spielberg?

Rumors have circulated for years that he was the creative force behind Poltergeist, as opposed to director-for-hire Tobe Hooper; perhaps not surprising given the ‘Berg’s reputation as arguably the foremost American director of all time.…

The Conjuring is an entertaining scary go-round

Latest in the new genre of exorcism films (see: The Rite, The Exorcism of Emily Rose), The Conjuring is directed by Saw and Insidious creator James Wan. As you might expect, it’s “bloody… scary” (eh, eh?).

An All-American family moves into their dream home in rural Rhode Island, are immediately beset by a selection of terrifying phenomena, and forced to call in experts, the Warren’s – engaging Patrick Wilson and winsome Vera Farmiga – a pleasant couple with a locked study full of possessed toys in place of a rumpus room.…