Honeyspider (2014)

As I sit here tonight watching Return of the Jedi, preparing for my second visit to The Force Awakens tomorrow, I decided that I needed to finish the entry on my last flick from 2015. Yep, as a true horror fan, I decided to venture into the low budget arena to close my year, and found something from one of my favorite outlets, Brain Damage Films that fit the bill. After some thought last night, I decided on the 2014 entry, Honeyspider, to finish the year.

Plot/ It's Halloween day in 1989 and college student Jackie Blue wants to enjoy a quiet birthday in the midst of a chaotic semester at school. Her friend Amber has other ideas and persuades Jackie to come to the annual Monster Mash parties on campus after her shift at the local movie theater. As murder plays out on the silver screen during the theater's Halloween night Horrorthon, Jackie falls under a strange spell; all while a mysterious stranger watches over her every move. As the night unfolds, Jackie slowly unravels and everyone around her is turning up dead. Jackie finds herself helplessly trapped like prey in a spider's web, and all she can do is try to survive the night!

I had no idea what to expect with this one, as it seemed like a solid low budget entry to end my year with, and I went into it with no knowledge or expectations. What I found was something interesting; with a throwback atmosphere to the movies, I loved during the big box VHS age of the 1980s. Centered on Halloween, the mixture of the macabre, horror and occult aspects of that holiday was tremendous; it definitely fit into the feel. It also featured a solid soundtrack, some interesting effects, and an awesome addition of a movie within movie presentation with a classic slasher. Sure, it was not perfect with some uneven performances, subpar sound quality, the ending may turn some people off, and the run time was quite short, but those flaws are minimal and somewhat expected in any type of low budget indie horror flick. In the end, this may not be a perfect flick, but it is a lot better than many of the low budget entries out there and is a movie that made a perfect end to my 2015 year. Check it out!

Tarantula! (1955)

As a football fan, I should be excited about today, unfortunately, my Steelers were eliminated already and I cannot stand any of the four teams remaining. Honestly, the lesser of all evils is the Giants, and I cannot see myself pulling for them in any way (although seeing Eli with more rings than Peyton would be funny). With my football entertainment limited, I decided to venture back in time for some viewing pleasure with the Sci-Fi classic Tarantula.

Plot/ A spider escapes from an isolated desert laboratory experimenting in gigantism and grows to tremendous size as it wreaks havoc on the local inhabitants.

The 1950s was such a great decade for the Sci-Fi / Horror genre, many films created during that period set the standard for the films of today. Amazingly, some of the best still stand the test of time with their combinations of solid effects and storyline. This flick is one of the finest from that era.  Watching this today, the tremendous story stands tall and the effects are amazing when you consider when it was done. The tarantula (which was real) is believable and the acting and cinematography were solid as well. Sure, some of the dialogue seems dated and the sound-effects are laughable at times, but those a very small flaws and are not detriments in any way.  In the end, this is a great Sci-Fi movie and awesome entertainment. If you have not watched this one, you are missing out.

Apollo 18 (2011)

Having completed my first week of work, I had struggled with getting in the swing of things and conditioning my body to a new schedule. The same struggles happened with paying attention to movies or my blog. However, with it being the weekend, I was able to get into the swing of things again and watch a few new movies. My first selection for the weekend was the found footage conspiracy themed Apollo 18.

Plot/ Decades-old found footage from NASA's abandoned Apollo 18 mission, where two American astronauts were sent on a secret expedition, reveals the reason the U.S. has never returned to the moon.

Conspiracy theory flicks are always interesting, and when that conspiracy is interwoven within a different conspiracy, it is even better. The moon landings have always been ripe with controversy, and this flick definitely took it to another level. Sure, there were some flaws with pacing and at times, the acting seemed a bit uneven, but all in all, it was a terrific film. The atmosphere was tremendous, creating what I would imagine the natural eeriness of the moon would be. The cinematography did a great job at promoting the found footage realism by combining scenes on par with the video feeds from that era of space exploration. In addition, the plot had some realism to it, as it felt typical of a real covert operation and the information flow that occurs during the process. Being a retired member of the military, the practicality shown in this flick truly hit home and crafted a viable conspiracy thriller. Fans of conspiracies and Sci-Fi should definitely check it out.

Beast From Haunted Cave (1959)

As I was recovering yesterday from the final 48 hours of Chiefs Induction, I decided to sit back and enjoy some more flicks. My decision was to back a few years for the 1959 creature feature Beast From Haunted Cave.

Plot/ Gangster Alexander Ward, his girl friend, Gypsy Boulet, and two henchmen come to Deadwood, South Dakota with the idea of stealing a few gold bars. They enlist the aid of a local ski instructor, Gil Jackson, and plan to use him as a guide out of the territory after the robbery. However, a blizzard forces them to take refuge in Jackson's cabin, where the giant spider-like creature they disturbed will set out for vengeance.  

This 1950s low-budget flick is far from a great creature feature. In fact, I would say this is more of a crime drama than creature feature, but that’s just me. This fun and entertaining B-Movie actually succeeds a little more than others of the era with some decent character development, great use of scenery and some very good atmospheric elements tied to the tension between characters. Unfortunately, that is where the positives end. The pacing is way off plodding along until the last 15 minutes or so, the acting is uneven, the scripting and dialogue poor, and the effects and make-up (especially the creature) are beyond laughable. However, it is entertaining and a great example of the low-budget flicks that made the midnight creature features what they were. Not for everyone, I believe classic horror fans and creature feature lovers will at least enjoy it (with a few laughs along the way).