Movie Info:
Writer: Connor James Delaney
Director: Declan O’Brien
Cast: Tom Frederic, Janet Montgomery, Tamer Hassan, Gil Kolirin, Tom McKay, Christian Contreras, Jake Curran, Chucky Venice, Louise Cliffe, Emma Clifford, Jack Gordon, Borislav Iliev
Rating: R
Studio: Fox Home Entertainment

Release Info:
DVD Release Date: October 20, 2009
Online Availability: Amazon for $19.99

They just keep getting dumber and dumber. When Wrong Turn was released, I saw it because I think Eliza Dushku is hot. It wasn’t bad as far as horror goes. However, there is a long standing problem with horror movies. The creators think they have a hit on their hands and develop 800 sequels! That would be great if the sequels were any good. I find most sequels are miss with the occasional hit.

For example, Halloween and Halloween 2 are both pretty good, but 2 is a continuation of the story in the original, so it works out. The third film was a bust. Four and five were okay, only because they played off the story in 1 and 2, but the rest of the sequels sucked. I feel the same way with A Nightmare on Elm Street (1 & 3 are good, the rest suck), Friday the 13th (1, 2, and 5 are good, the rest suck), Saw (anything after 3 sucks), The Evil Dead (1 was the best), and pretty much every other horror movie with sequels out there. Wrong Turn is no different.

This series follows the same path the Pulse movies follow. The first one was okay, but making sequels never should have happened. Wrong Turn 2 was bad enough, but taking this pathetic movie series to a third film was just too much. I was done after the first film. Seriously, when your horror movie is going direct to DVD, it is a sign that it is time to quit.

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Written by Ashtyn - Visit Website
Ashtyn Evans is a writer, advocate, free thinker, and all around cynical person. Always quick to find the negative in anything pop culture, she loves being a part of that which she despises. Ashtyn and Dominick own numerous blogs together, as well as a full-time writing business. In her spare time she is a full-time college student studying History and Psychology. She plans to one day give up her freelance career and be a full-time blogger, novelist, and domestic goddess. She can be contacted for writing projects, fan mail, or just to say hi. She really is friendlier than we make her look.

Movie Info:
Writer: The Brothers Grimm and various others
Director: David Hand
Cast: Adriana Caselotti, Lucille La Verne, Roy Atwell, Eddie Collins, Pinto Colvig, Billy Gilbert, Otis Harlan, Scotty Mattraw
Rating: G
Studio: Walt Disney Home Entertainment

Release Info:
Original Theatrical Release Date: February 4, 1938
DVD Release Date: October 6, 2009
Online Availability: Amazon for $19.99

I, like many other adults my age, have been able to take for granted the fact that Disney regularly makes decent animated features. When Snow White was being developed by Walt Disney and his company, the Disney company had never made a full length, animated, feature film. This was the first Disney feature, that has made way for many, other exceptional animated movies. Without Snow White we wouldn’t have had Bambi, Lady and the Tramp, The Fox and the Hound, and many, other classic Disney films that are a part of my (and probably your) Disney collection.

At the time it was released, Snow White was revolutionary. Most animated studios focused on cartoon shorts, so a full, animated feature was a lot more work, since animation was hand drawn at that time. You can see the care taken to make this film something spectacular. It’s a beautiful film that is even more enhanced by the HD capabilities today. Not to sound cliché, but the Blu-Ray presentation of this Disney classic is absolutely gorgeous.

It is hard to dispute the worth of a film like Snow White. The story had been around since the days of the Brothers Grimm, who first told the tale of the beautiful Snow White, her wicked stepmother, and the seven, friendly dwarfs. The Disney dwarfs have become a symbol of Walt Disney and the Disney Company. You’d have to be living under a rock to not know Dopey, Grumpy, Sleepy or the other dwarfs. Of course, this just adds to the timeless nature of the film, Disney’s legacy and our longstanding recognition of the characters within it.

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Written by Ashtyn - Visit Website
Ashtyn Evans is a writer, advocate, free thinker, and all around cynical person. Always quick to find the negative in anything pop culture, she loves being a part of that which she despises. Ashtyn and Dominick own numerous blogs together, as well as a full-time writing business. In her spare time she is a full-time college student studying History and Psychology. She plans to one day give up her freelance career and be a full-time blogger, novelist, and domestic goddess. She can be contacted for writing projects, fan mail, or just to say hi. She really is friendlier than we make her look.

Movie Info:
Writer: Jack Ketchum
Director: Andrew van den Houten
Cast: Amy Hargreaves, Art Hindle, Tommy Nelson, Ahna Tessler, David Halbard, Erick Kastel, Taylor John Piedmonte
Rating: R
Studio: Lionsgate

Release Info:
DVD Release Date: October 6, 2009
Online Availability: Amazon for $17.99

I have never read any of Jack Ketchum’s books, but he seems to be highly recommended by the Master of Horror, Stephen King. I’ve heard quite a bit about how graphic, gruesome, yet well written the Ketchum novels are. When I learned that Offspring was written by Ketchum and adapted for the screen by him, I was surprised. I can see why Ketchum is a popular horror writer. However, the story’s interpretation to screen leaves much to be desired.

I have to put most of the fault of Offspring’s failures on the director. The story is not what suffers. I found the story/plot to be downright creepy. If this scenario really happened I’d be quite frightened. The problem was in the execution, especially with the portrayal of the actual offspring. I found them to be oddly portrayed and almost, sickly laughable. I like my cannibals to be scary, not mumbling, awkward, and mindless. These cannibals act like a ridiculous, zombie-like species, except when they’re killed, they stay dead.

The actors for Offspring do an okay job for what they are offered. I didn’t have a problem with the non-cannibal actors. The cannibals wore the makeup and outfits of what I’d expect of savage, people eating, tribal folks. However, their actions, their language (or lack thereof) and their entire mindless, kill mentality turned me off. Movies are never as good as the books, I expect that, but it is the movie that suffers because of the direction these characters were taken in.

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Written by Ashtyn - Visit Website
Ashtyn Evans is a writer, advocate, free thinker, and all around cynical person. Always quick to find the negative in anything pop culture, she loves being a part of that which she despises. Ashtyn and Dominick own numerous blogs together, as well as a full-time writing business. In her spare time she is a full-time college student studying History and Psychology. She plans to one day give up her freelance career and be a full-time blogger, novelist, and domestic goddess. She can be contacted for writing projects, fan mail, or just to say hi. She really is friendlier than we make her look.

Movie Info:
Writer: Tom Shankland, Paul Andrew Williams
Director: Tom Shankland
Cast: Eva Birthistle, Stephen Campbell Moore, Jeremy Sheffield, Rachel Shelley, Hannah Tointon, Raffiella Brooks, Jake Hathaway, William Howes, Eva Sayer
Rating: R
Studio: Lionsgate

Release Info:
DVD Release Date: October 6, 2009
Online Availability: Amazon for $14.99

While teen screams have the potential to be fun, I don’t feel that the teen horror conventions found in the scream movies have to be followed to make a horror movie effective or worth watching. Every once in a while, it is nice to see an intelligent, teen in a horror movie. That’s exactly what you’ll get from The Children.

The thing I enjoyed about The Children is that the story is creepy enough, it isn’t overly conventional, and there is actually quite a bit of character development. Sure, as in any horror movie, some of the characters make stupid choices, and pay the price for it, but I felt that the choices that were made, stupid or not, made sense for each character’s situation. While I found some characters (especially Chloe and Jonah) exceptionally annoying, I realize that was exactly how they were supposed to act, and therefore, am able to deal with the fact that during most of the movie, I wanted to punch them in the face.

The Children is a direct to DVD release through Sam Raimi’s Ghosthouse Underground horror label. Raimi has picked some fairly freaky films for this year’s release, but thus far, The Children is my favorite. The entire question of whether a parent should or could kill their children is a major theme of this film, and it’s presented in a way that many of the other, evil children movies (i.e. Children of the Damned) fail. The performance of the parents was especially realistic, in my opinion.

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Written by Dominick - Visit Website
Dominick Evans is in his late 20's. He spends his days working as a full time writer/editor and a part time musician/composer. His passions in life include music, directing films, watching movies, reading books, watching sports, wheelchair football, politics, his religion (Hellenic Reconstructionism) and spending time with his family (fiancée Ashtyn, son Robert, and shih-tzu Oliver). Other interests include being an advocate for the disability and GLBT communities.