When a scared 15-year-old girl (Caitlin Wachs) goes to an isolated clinic to end her pregnancy, her anti-abortion activist father (Ron Perlman) and brothers arrive, heavily armed and determined to force their way in and stop the procedure. But there’ll be hell to pay when the baby’s unearthly father gets involved. Emmanuelle Vaugier and Mark Feuerstein co-star in this episode of the spine-chilling Showtime series, directed by John Carpenter.

Victor – 5 out of 10

“Pro Life” marks Director John Carpenter’s second entry in the wildly popular Horror Series “Masters of Horror”, created by Mick Garris (The Stand). His first “Cigarette Burns” with Norman Reedus and Udo Keir was a very well done mystery and psychological horror film. It garnered well deserved praise from horror fans. Carpenter takes a very different approach with “Pro Life” First by having the film written by the team of Scott Swan and Drew McWeeny. Second , dealing with the controversial topic of abortion. However, having the writers dwell on formula does not bode well for this average and confusing entry. It is Rosemary’s Baby meets The Thing. And it’s a bit of a mess.

First off, I must give some praise to Ron Perlman who can never fuck up a role or movie he’s in. But here he is given nothing to really work with other than just re-acting and being angry. There is no depth for his character because he is just written as a caricature. The “All Pro-Life” people are angry and violent stereotype. Not good. He does make the best of though with just his presence and sincere and burning performance. Caitlin Wachs plays Perlman’s daughter who is convinced that the baby is abnormal somehow and wants to end her pregnancy. Wach’s performance while a bit clunky in scenes is true, earnest and meaningful. The performances fuel the film. Emmanuelle Vaugier also gives a capable but a bit dull turn as the clinic nurse.

The last half becomes a bit ludicrous. As her brothers and Father move in and take over the clinic we then find out who the real daddy is. Unfortunately, we have a Demon Daddy that looks not only fake but unconvincing and we have the baby itself that wants to re-unite with Demon daddy. It looks like a cross between a huge crab and a recycled effect from The Thing. It is neither scary or menacing. Actually, it is quite laughable. As things wind down to the corny climax we are left with just a few saving graces. Cody Carpenter’s appropriate and eerie score and Attila Szalay’s good camera composition.

I am a huge John Carpenter fan. I love his films but this is just boring, lazy and predictably banal film work. Watch it for the decent performances, including Perlman’s. That would be the only way I’d recommend this “Masters of Horror” entry from JC. Available on Netflix.

The strained relationship between a mother and her teenage son turns tragic when the boy engineers a massacre at his high school, and the mother is forced to ask how much blame she deserves for the heartbreaking event.

Brian – 4 out of 10

Note: This review is loaded with spoilers: Read at your own risk!

I’ll preface this review by saying that Tilda Swinton is absolutely outstanding in it. Her emotions are always bubbling under the surface and she rarely is brought to tears. I always think that’s a more difficult emotion to show on the screen: restrained grief. Her acting is the only reason that this film isn’t a 2 or lower because the script is such a god damn mess filled with so many implausibilities that by the end I was numb to Kevin’s hate towards every species on planet earth.

The main conflict that this film hangs its hat on is the relationship between Kevin and his mother. There’s a particularly effective scene where he’s a newborn and his cry is so piercing that she literally stands in the middle of a street listening to a jackhammer because it’s a more pleasing sound. Right from the beginning of his life, Kevin is a soulless child. He won’t return a ball that’s thrown to him, he shits himself while giving a dirty look at his mother because he knows it pisses her off, and he destroys any private space she might have in the home because he just feels like it. He’s so repulsive, angry, and destructive that the audience is never given an opportunity to understand him. He’s pure rage and anger through and through. So, when he decides to go on a Columbine-like killing spree, there is no suspense or surprise. Without any sense of personality beyond being a complete asshole that puts Damien in “The Omen” to shame, the viewer is left feeling sorry for his mother and little else. Wouldn’t it have been more interesting if the character had more dimension to him? I would have found it interesting if he tried to do good or cared for certain people but the nagging pull of anger tore him away. Kevin is remorseless, angry, bitter, and homicidal. After we get past the 2D image of Kevin’s character, there’s almost nothing left to keep our interest. The plot progression is so unrealistic and filled with bad decisions.

For example, Kevin’s killing spree takes place when he locks the students in a gymnasium and shoots them with a bow and arrow. Really? A bow and arrow? It looks just as ridiculous as it sounds too. We see his dead classmates being carted out by paramedics with arrows sticking out of them. Then we see flashback slow motion of him taking arrows out of his quiver, aiming, and firing. I really shouldn’t be laughing my ass off at a scene that’s supposed to be disturbing. After he goes Robin Hood on his classmates, he goes to prison where he’s met by his mother on a regular basis where they never speak to each other. So, I’m supposed to believe that after her son has murdered her husband and daughter, a huge chunk of his school, hated her his entire life, and left her ostracized to the point of being a pariah in her own town that she’s still going up to see him in prison for some mother-son time ending with a hug? Maternal love is strong but not that strong.

In this edgy thriller, Det. Bowden (Chris Messina) must not only save five people trapped in an elevator — a mechanic (Logan Marshall-Green), a young woman (Bojana Novakovic), an old woman (Jenny O’Hara), a guard (Bokeem Woodbine) and a salesman (Geoffrey Arend) — but he must act fast because the devil is among them. Drew Dowdle and John Erick Dowdle direct M. Night Shyamalan’s story, which explores the notion that there are no coincidences

Brian -4 out of 10
Every film written by M. Night Shamylan usually sounds amazing if all you read was the above synopsis. I swear to God that there’s a possibility that he was a writer for Cliff’s notes. The problem is what surrounds his little synopsis hooks is usually filled with horrible decisions and bad dialogue. I’d love to say that “Devil” is different but it’s not. The main arc is a really good idea. You have 5 people trapped on an elevator and one of them is the devil. Who is it? Will he just kill them all at once or one at a time and screw with them? When will the big reveal happen? Those three questions kept me interested during Devil’s brief 80 minute run time. Thank God it wasn’t any longer because there’s no way this film is clever enough to sustain interest past that point. I’ll admit that there’s some solid and suspenseful moments in that elevator.

Director John Erik Dowdle uses light and dark to great effect. It really was the only way that you could have horrible things happen within such a cramped a still keep the characters and audience guessing who the antagonist was all the way till the end. The acting is below average. It’s certainly not offensive but it didn’t draw me into the story. Generally, a performance serves to create believability within the filmmaker’s world and in that execution, they failed. Somewhere in my brain I started wondering if this movie had been shot as a 30 minute short, it could have been great. But, as a full length (barely) feature, you needn’t waste your time.

Victor – 10 out of 10

“The Thing from Another World” set the bar so high that till this day many sci-fi films are striving to leave an impact the way this scary, noirish film did. It is a  fantastic character study about how cooler heads will prevail under the threat of an alien threat. Not a threat from another country but a threat from the stars. The quick and witty script by Cahrles Lederer stands out as does the eerie score by Dimitri Tiomkin. It is the ensemble cast that makes this sci fi gem work. Russell Harlan’s noir influenced   Cinematography is amazing to behold as his strong angles, deep shadows and wide shots (That included at times up to 7 or 8 people in one frame) add to the suspense and terror. Now on to the good stuff.

In John Carpenter’s 1978 seminal horror opus “Halloween” there is a quick and frightful scene which includes a television playing a broadcast of an even more seminal sci-fi opus called “The Thing from Another World.” Carpenter even goes as far as showing practically the whole opening sequence of Howard Hawk’s classic black and white film. A film that exudes classic metaphorical themes and stereotypes of the day, The Thing can be absorbed as campy, tongue in cheek sci-fi or very smart, relevant and intellectual fodder.

I pondered whether director Christian Nyby actually directed this film because it felt more like producer Howard Hawks’. I for one will go out on a limb and admit that all the cool thematicelements of paranoia, isolation, the classic “ Men of science should not meddle with things they know nothing about” (A-bomb, anyone?) are right out of Hawk’s little handbook for awesome film-making.

I must talk about how I love the machine gun rapidity of the dialog delivery in this film. I have lost count on how many times I’ve had to re-watch this film because 4 or more actors are delivering their lines and overlapping the dialog. I love it! James Arness plays the Smart Carrot from outer space and he scared the crap out of me when I was 10 and still does to this day. The door opening scene with his reveal at the other side is brilliant and very iconic. Great, classic sci-fi for a rainy day or a late night. John Carpenter would go on to re-make this film staying very true to the original source material. Highly recommended!

The funniest gory, horror romp since “Shaun of the Dead” is now available to watch instantly on Netflix.com. It stars Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine as a pair of backwoods simpletons who are faced with dealing with a bunch of self centered and annoying city folk who intrude on their vacation. It is one of the best films of last year and comes highly recommended. Enjoy!

When a sunlight-phobic teen (Junio Valverde) moves to a remote mountain town — coinciding with a series of mass killings — everyone naturally suspects the strange newcomer. But the forest holds a spine-tingling secret that explains everything

Victor – 7.5 out of 10

“Shiver” is a Spanish production produced by the team responsible for the success of Pan’s Labyrinth and The Orphanage. Two films Guillermo del Toro was involved with. Young high school student, Santi,  played by Junio Valverde, and his mother Julia, must move from their big city in Spain. The reason being is that Santi suffers from a dangerous sensitivity to light. The small mountainous town they relocate to has shorter days with sunlight due to it’s location. The old house they move into is surrounded by a dense, mysterious forest that is immediately menacing and strange. It is established that Santi and his mother are strangers and they have to make great efforts to fit in. Julia with the townsfolk and Santi at school where he tries to keep to himself.

Shiver is a beautiful film to watch. The photography Josep Civit is stunning. We have time lapse scenes and great wide shots of the terrain and foreboding forest. It unfolds at a generous pace and never feels forced or fake. We care for Santi as he tries to understand the strange things that are going on in the forest and the fatal attacks on people and livestock in the woods. What’s harder is that Santi has to prove he is innocent to the father of a young girl he likes that is a constable of the town. Santi becomes a suspect and when his long absent father arrives he is forced to deal with uncertainty and danger. He recruits his friend from the city to come and help hunt what is loose in the woods.

Shiver is a fairly well put together film. It’s a good looking movie with wonderful lighting and framing. It has mysterious sounds, some graphic attacks and mood as well. The darkness is frightening and Santi and his family are faced with a grim creature or animal that stalks them. But why are they being stalked? Here the film gets a bit predictable and pedestrian. We find out more of what happened to the previous residents of the house and what happened to one particular member. The climax makes up for the short comings and it is brutal yet very touching as well. The capable score by Fernando Velazquez is endearing at times and when it needs to be appropriately chilling. Santi comes of age in this film and he sustains bravery with his girlfriend, city friend and his mother at his side. As we take the journey with him we are forced to experience the fear with him. I was impressed with this production that has a Del Toro feel to it. Part of the great Spanish fable horror that has been very entertaining of late. Recommended!