Sunrise (2024)

Sunrise (2024)

By William Pattison

For Horror Bob’s Blog

 

Now we got a vampire film that is a bit more…Sunrise, and this isn’t THAT Sunrise…

A man, Fallon roams the land as a creature of the night as he comes to terms with tragic loss of his family at the hands of a brutal demagogue, Reynolds.

I really enjoyed this film. This is a modern retelling of the story of the mysterious stranger that come into a town that is under oppression. He helps those in need and delivers justice to those who are the oppressors. It’s sort of like High Plains Drifter with a vampire in the Clint Eastwood part.

This film is wonderfully shot. The acting is good.

Amusingly the director down played Fallon’s vampirism. You don’t  see the vampire teeth or any real physical transformation. When he does drink blood from a cup his eyes become bloodshot for a moment.

Actor Guy Pearce does a fantastic job playing the bigoted bully who controls the town with his mother (played by Olwen Foue’re’) , Renolds. His constant ranting about being a real American because he is obsessed with the land and has to keep outsiders from taking the land for themselves.

Which brings us to the poor Asian family in the community that is the focus of Renalds’ rage.

Crystal Yu, who plays Yan You, and William Gao is great as her son, Edward. Also Riley Chung does a good job as the little daughter Emily.

Together this film is a morality play with just a touch of the supernatural. If you like horror that makes you think, you will enjoy this film. I highly recommend it.

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Boggy Creek (2010)

Review: Boggy Creek (2010)

By William Pattison

For Horror Bob’s Blog

 

This time we got yet another Boggy  Creek film. What is this the fourth???

Following the death of her father in a terrible accident, sweet, yet troubled Jennifer and her friends decide to check out her dad's cabin that's located in the deep woods of Boggy Creek, Texas. While staying at said cabin for a week, Jennifer and company run afoul of an evil and vicious monster of local legend that kills men and abducts women.

None of the Boggy Creek films can be said to be pieces of art, but the original is a cult classic that actually started the Big Foot documentary  craze that is still going to present day. Which is why this 2010 film pisses the hell out of me. This is the second Boggy Creek film that has been based on pure fiction just to make money. Return to Boggy Creek from 1977 was fictitious account using the legend of the Faulk monster as the basis. It even had the actress who played Mary Ann in Giligan’s Island in it. The one after that film, Boggy Creek (2000) was more  like the original in that it was based on actual incidents with the Boggy Creek monster and even had Big Foot expert Nick Redfern doing the narration. Of course now we come to this 2010 shit fest. I figure the director wasn’t sure what type of film he wanted to do because this shit show screams slasher film tropes and completely disrespects the community of Faulk and their resident creature. Hey paint the towns people as ignorant rednecks that glare and newcomers psycholically. And then there is the monster and his legend. No time in Faulk history has the creature ripped a human into pieces, but in this movie it seems like a daily thing. Also nowhere in any of the accounts does it say the creature is horny for female humans. AS well, the monster costume looks nothing like the Faulk monster.

Oh, and the soundtrack of this film is annoying as shit. I don’t  usually complain about such things. The fucking thing ruined the atmosphere. Also, the characters are all stereotypes with no real character development at all.

Oh, and the final nail in this film’s casket was that fucked up ending. Give me a fucking break…!

I think the Faulk monster should get a good lawyer and sue these assholes.

Sorry, but I will recommend the original Legend of Boggy Creek and Boggy Creek (2000). Put the DVD for this film in the microwave and turn it on. Then break it into pieces and toss it in the garbage…

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Primative War (2025)

Review: Primitive War (2025)

By William Pattison

For Horror Bob’s Blog

This time we got soldiers Vs dinosaurs with Primative War.

Vietnam. 1968. A recon unit known as Vulture Squad is sent to an isolated jungle valley to uncover the fate of a missing Green Beret platoon. They soon discover they are not alone. The jungle has a dinosaur problem. And now it’s Vultures versus dinosaurs to the death…

For the last fifteen years there have been rumors of a Seagent Rock film dealing with solders fighting dinosaurs in WW2. This film is everything we wanted in that film with just a change of era. This is a fun and brutal film. You have missing limbs and gallons of blood. It is actually more than I expected from the Seagent Rock film. This film uses the dinos as the horrifying monsters the need to be. The CGI is good and these dinos don’t  just lunber around, the destroy. This film is that batch of super nachos lovingly drowned in cheese. The cheese is fun but it doesn’t  get in the way of the action or the gory fun.

This is the film for the movie fan that loves their war film as well as dinosaur films. It’s  a feast for their eyes and even those how are not full on fans will still be entertained. I highly recommend this film and say that in my eyes it is AWESOMETACULAR!!!

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Shock Waves (1977)

Review: Shock Waves (1977)

By William Pattison

For Horror Bob’s Blog

 

This classic horror movie concerns a shipwrecked yachting party. Rose and her fellow yacht-mates, including the captain run aground on an island when they hit an odd-looking freighter. Once beached, they discover an aging SS Commander who had been in charge of a squad of  Nazi zombies.

Now these castaways must find a way to escape of die at the hands of the Nazi super soldiers.

I have wanted to see this film since I heard about it in the 80s and saw that fantastic poster with the Nazi super soldiers wearing those goggles.

Amusingly, this film really doesn’t feel dated even with the 70s fashions. I also thought the Nazi super soldiers were the most original zombie-like threats, with their fairly normal faces and the white hair. The goggles added a bit of creepiness to their appearance. The only thing I found stupid was that if you rip the goggles off the zombie sokdiers faces they die. Having John Carradine as the boat captain and Peter Cushing as the former SS commander made this film really feel like old home week to me. I really loved this film it was a treat. Unfortunately the gore hounds will be royally disappointed this is a royally bloodless film. You get to see a couple of drowned bodies, but that is as far as it goes. Though this film has a PG rating, in modern terms this film is a firm G rating. Still, if you can get past the rating and lack of red stuff you will be in for a very interesting installment in this genre… So I’m  still recommending it…too bad…

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Review: Death's Sonata (2024)

Review: Death's Sonata (2024)

By William Pattison

For Horror Bob’s Blog

This time we got a royally rough slasher film....

Dr. William Fredrickson has been practicing psychotherapy for nearly thirty years. His patients have ranged from pill popping suburban housewives to death row inmates, but there was only one that left a truly lasting impression. Charles has suffered from schizophrenia his entire life. The older he gets the deeper he falls into psychosis. After years of failed therapy and treatment he retreats to his family's old hunting cabin where he spends his days hiding from the voices in his head, trying to ignore the call to action from DEATH, the Grim Reaper himself, who forces him to carry out his work with the threat of Death taking him instead. As the murder rate rises, Dr. Fredrickson suspects his former patient, who left his treatment years ago. Desperate to find Charles, Fredrickson enlists the help of a young patient, Matthew Wilson, who suffers from extreme manic depression. Matthew sets off to find Charles and while following the clues given to him, finds himself in the middle of a police manhunt.

This is not a great slasher film. It is low budget with so so acting and it really shows it’s lack of budget at times. Still, this film is not a loss. It is brutal and nasty. The plot is semi interesting and if you can get past the rough edges and really like hard edge slasher films this might be the film for you. For me I like good story and character work and this film lacks that. But if you like something that is more like a snuff film, here you go. Personally I needed to clean myself after watching this film…

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Review: Witchboard (2025)

Review: Witchboard 

(2024)

By William Pattison

For Horror Bob’s Blog

 

Director Chuck Russell (Nightmare on Elm Street 3, The Blob) marks his return to the horror genre with WITCHBOARD. Emily  and her fiancé Christian discover an ancient Wiccan artifact, a pendulum board, as they prepare to open a bistro in New Orleans' French Quarter. Emily becomes obsessed with the board's power of divination and spirit summoning, exposing her to the ancient spirit of the Queen of Witches. Desperate to help his fiancé, Christian seeks the advice of occult expert Alexander Babtiste . But Babtiste has secrets of his own, including his connection to a modern-day coven of witches. A masked ball, murder and mayhem ensue... With each swing of the pendulum, a dangerous game is played with Emily's soul at stake.

This film is more a sequel than a reimagining, even with the original director producing it. The fact that the main evil is the Witch Queen instead of Malfador speaks volumes in this direction. Also the use of the pendulum board over the Ouija board, aka Witchboard. I have to say that this film is a far better produced film than the original, but I find the simplicity of the original as well as Kevin Tenney’s style more to my liking. Not over explaining the evil and not making everything connected made the original more believable to me. The main characters were Innocents that got dragged into the situation. Yes, this version had a far better last act, but the ending of the original was pure low budget 80s gold. I wouldn’t change it. To me the original Witchboard is a horror classic like Night of the Living Dead. It is their flaws that make them special and memorable. And, even though Chuck and Kevin more than likely believe this Witchboard is Witchboard perfected I won’t  remember this new film next week. It’s just another possession movie in a flood of possession movies. I’m not saying I won’t  recommend it. If you are looking for a fun horror movie, this film will do the job. You’ll  be happy with it. It’s  just not something I’d add to my horror collection, just like Witchboard 2. There is only one Witchboard and I really don’t  want another. If I want to watch another Kevin Tenney film I’ll  pull out Witchtrap, which isn’t  a Witchboard sequel or reimagining…

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The Thursday Murder Club (2025)

The Thursday Murder Club (2025)

By William Pattison

For Horror Bob’s Blog

This time I have the pleasure of reviewing a film directed by the iconic director of Gremlins, Christopher Columbus.

The Thursday Murder  Club tells the story of four irrepressible retirees spend their time solving cold case murders for fun. But their casual sleuthing takes a thrilling turn when one of the owners of their retirement community is brutally murdered and they find themselves with a real whodunit on their hands. Now they must help the police solve the murder because the future of their retirement home is at stake.

Though this film is a 2025 film, it has a very 80s feel to it. In fact it reminds me of the classic 80s film where old retired people are the heroes of the story, Cocoon. The actors in this film are fantastic, but give me a break, Chris Columbus has Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosden, Ben Kingsley, Johnathan Pryce, Tom Ellis, and David Tennent in the cast. This film is wonderfully written and produced and it is a film that is character driven and firmly holds your interest, unlike a most of modern films. Unfortunately, this is a Netflix exclusive rather than a theatrical release.

This film is the long awaited Chris Columbus film I’ve  been waiting for. I highly recommend it, it’s  awesometacular.

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