Haunted house stories take a fine hand to craft and make them entertaining, believable, and scary. Cherie Priest accomplishes all of that with her superior horror novel, The Family Plot. Music City Salvage is barely staying afloat, and Charles Dutton the owner, risks everything to keep it afloat when he buys the Withrow house for…
Tag: ghosts
Sleepy Hollow (1999) – Tim Burton
DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book takes me into classic ghost tales territory with the next film that haunts the chapter on spirits, Tim Burton’s take on the legend of Sleepy Hollow. His bloody film, which serves as his version of the tale, also serves as a nod and homage to Hammer Films as…
The Changeling (1980) – Peter Medak
Next up in DK Canada’s immensely enjoyable Monsters in the Movies, is the classic Canadian horror (shot in Vancouver and featuring some homegrown talent), The Changeling, a wonderful addition to the ghost chapter I am currently delving into. After his wife and child are killed in an accident while on vacation, composer John Russell (George…
The Amityville Horror (1979) – Stuart Rosenberg
The next film to haunt the ghost chapter of DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies is the granddaddy of the modern ghost/haunted house movie The Amityville Horror. Based on the non-fiction(?) book by Jay Anson. When a house comes up for sale (at a cheap price – a now recognizable horror staple), the Lutz family…
The Fog (1980) – John Carpenter
The venture into the paranormal continues as I delve into the chapter on ghosts in DK Canada’s very entertaining Monsters in the Movies book. This time, it’s John Carpenter’s take on what plays out as a classic ghost story. The story itself is basic, and in the hands of Carpenter we get a creepy little…
Ghostbusters II (1989) – Ivan Reitman
They’re back! Ghostbusters II from 1989, is the next ghost title in DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book, and it has been a long time since I actually sat and watched this one. It’s undeniable that the first film is the better one, but there are some cool things at work in the follow-up…
Ghostbusters (1984) – Ivan Reitman
A chapter on ghosts in the cinema, as illustrated by DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies, would be remiss without covering the 80s comedy classic, Ghostbusters, starring Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, and Rick Moranis. I remember when I first heard about this movie, first heard the classic song, saw…
Topper (1937) -Norman Z. McLeod
Cary Grant headlines the first film I dive into as I hit the chapter on ghosts in DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies. Played as a bit of a romantic comedy, the film is one I had never heard of, and I always enjoy settling in for a Grant picture. The suave leading man plays…
Spirited Away (2001) – Hayao Miyazaki
The next big title in DK Canada’s incredibly entertaining and informative The Movie Book, is going to allow for a bit of a dive into Miyazaki’s films, which is going to be truly enjoyable as they are always so fully realized and beautifully animated. It’s time to settle in for the Academy Award winning film…
The Curse of La Llorona (2019) – Blu-Ray Review
While Warner Brothers may have some issues with its DC Extended Universe, it’s horror films set in The Conjuring Universe continue to do their job, deliver some solid scares (and some mediocre ones) and usually attracts solid casts. The Curse of La Llorona is the sixth film in the shared universe, connected, in this case,…
TAD 2018: The Dark (2018) – Justin P. Lange
Having had its Toronto premiere last week at Toronto After Dark, writer/director Justin P. Lange’s film, an Austrian-Canadian co-production hits VOD today. Despite its bloody and horrific trappings, The Dark is a gentle tale that sees a young girl, Mina (Nadia Alexander, best known for her work in The Sinner) become a monster because of…
TAD 2018: I’ll Take Your Dead (2018) – Chad Archibald
The second feature of Toronto After Dark’s opening night is the Toronto premiere of the Canadian film, I’ll Take Your Dead. The film stars Ava Preston, Aidan Devine, Jess Salgueiro, Brandon McKnight and Ari Millen. A crime thriller with supernatural overtones, the film has some gorgeous production, and features a fantastic turn by the film’s…
