Reviews

I didn't think too much about watching this one especially after I saw the late great Julian Sands name on the poster. It is a classic horror story with a twist and a few Lovecraftian overtones that will please the fans of the king of cosmic horror. The movie starts at a steady pace by laying down the story and various players, quite atmospheric at times and tries to keep the mystery in check for as long as possible. After a while, the plot becomes apparent but this does not hurt the pace and there are a few surprises in store. The ending was a bit too "happy" and convenient for its own good, but overall this was a good movie that tries to honor older horror movies while keeping in touch with the present. Not a masterpiece but a solid effort that makes up an entertaining watch for horror fans.

A few weeks ago I bought the new Blu Ray of this forgotten DIY anthology horror mainly based on the reviews here at IMDb and Amazon. Generally, most point at a forgotten but worthy low budget horror and I'm all for this kind of movies so I had relatively big expectations before I put this in my Blu Ray player. Unfortunately, I found the movie to be barely watchable, totally forgettable and unoriginal in most respects. The acting is laughable most of the time, but that is not an issue for a horror fan that tries to find other redeeming qualities in such movies. Personally, apart from some successful practical effects that stand out in the no-budget atmosphere and the relative interest in the plot of a couple of the stories, I didn't find much else to like in this movie. The Blu Ray image is VHS quality also, but this is another story altogether.

I quite enjoyed this one, a low budget variation on a common horror theme that we see more and more nowadays, especially after the success of titles such as SMILE which seems to be a clear influence for this movie. It begins with almost disjointed laying- down of the basic plot premises in a way that the mystery remains as long a possible, reaching a good climax and ending all the way enriched with some really stand- out gore and violence moments. Most of the reviews here at IMDb adopt a very unfair in my eyes critical approach to the movie, but for me it was a fresh and interesting indie horror that may not be perfect, but it clearly stands out from the vast majority of modern horror fare. Recommended for horror hounds.

Every second word seems to be an f-bomb in this low budget horror/ sci fi. To be perfectly honest, I chose to watch this because of Mitch Pileggi, Skinner from the ever beloved X-Files. The big man gives a better performance than most of his co stars and he is in the spotlight relatively longer than one could expect. Otherwise, we are talking about monster horror by the numbers, with few (very few) adequate special effects and another few of not-so-good CGI. Some competent monster action towards the finale and a couple of nice plot twists that lead things at this point make the movie pretty watchable for horror fans, even though the dialogue seems to be created on the spot by most actors and is pretty silly most of the time. All in all, an entertaining monster b-movie.

Fun little alien abduction b-movie that will be more appreciated by X-philes, like I'm certain the director is. Full of subtle and not so subtle references and similar plotlines, not to mention the Cigarette Smoking Man, William B. Davis himself in the exact opposite role of a skeptical man that talks about conspiracies and laughs at the thought of hidden government bases in Alaska (Fight the Future anyone?).

Apart from the continuous X-Files referencing, the movie is a bit all over the place in terms of plot, mixing in clumsy ways alien abduction, Indian mythology and plenty of philosophizing over the paranormal. Towards the end things take a more surreal and so-bad-it's-good direction, but the movie did not lose its charm, at least in my case and it remained entertaining till the end. However, I feel that it is doubtful if viewers that are not familiar with the X-Files will appreciate it much.

This is obviously not horror as anyone will easily understand from the reviews, just a mediocre relationship drama that tries shamelessly to cash-in by tricking horror fans to believe this is a horror movie. The only horror in AFTER MIDNIGHT comes when after sitting through a really tiring one hour and 30 minutes full of pretentious talking and ludicrous relationship dramas come the last 5 minutes. Personally I thought this one was a joke on me, a bizarre cultural experiment from the director and production team to see how far the modern horror fans' tolerance to garbage extends. I'm guessing they had a blast among themselves at reading reviews such as this, kinda like Frank Darabont with the ending of THE MIST. Overall, this was an infuriating experience illustrating once more that modern "horror" creators not only have not seen most important movies of the genre, but they don't plan to a their "vision" is more important. Yeah, right.

I had previously seen The Shunned House from this director and didn't particularly enjoy it. This movie is based on H.P. Lovecraft's classic tale of cosmic horror "The Colour Out of Space" is a huge improvement for Ivan Zuccon and a worthy addition in the many movie adaptations of this story. The main difference from the story is that the cosmic element is replaced by a vague demonic/ satanic element and it fits well in this context. We have some great atmosphere throughout, fine gore and effects and a slow build up to a crescendo, just like it should be. Debbie Rochon steals the show with her performance and while there are a few slow, clumsy and unneeded bits, overall this was well worth the viewing time. For me this is one of the best adaptations of the Lovecraft story, up there with Richard Stanley's Color Out of Space and Ovidio Assonitis's The Curse

I made the mistake to read reviews before watching the movie and missed the movie in its theater run. As usual the result was exactly the opposite that most of the negative reviews suggested, a situation which has become norm either way with IMDb reviews. If the bulk of them are positive, the movie sucks, if they are negative, the movie is great.

Peronally, I found the movie a totally engaging experience from start to finish, it captivated me and I loved the scale of intensity slowly and methodically rising as the effects of the unearthly ball did to the protagonists.

For me this is by far the best adaptation of this story, better and with faster pace than any previous one, including Die Farbe and the beloved Die Monster Die. Cage is his usual self, very believable despite his frequent overacting, as well as all the others excellent cast members . Some CGI could have been better, some humor felt a bit out of place but overall it was an excellent effort and surely Richard Stanley's best movie to date. As far as Lovecraft adaptations are concerned, I put this on the same level with The Resurrected, Dagon and even Roger Corman's The Haunted Palace

Watched a few days ago the recent Blu Ray release of this obscurity and it was a solid effort from visual effects artist John Coates. The story line is pretty basic and presented in a calm and slow-burn manner by the director. The whole thing has a good pace and excellent special effects for its minimal budget, but for me the best thing is its music, a swirling bass-heavy experimental/ dark ambient electronic music that sets the tone and gives the movie more atmosphere and tension. Credibility also comes from the well known first-billed duo (MacDonald Carey and Jerry Hardin, here playing sort of a predecessor of the Deep Throat character he played in The X Files. However, their contribution is trivial at best and the Director's Cut that is included in the Blu Ray omits their scenes altogether giving the movie a more fast pace and less talk. The rest bunch of relative unknowns (one of them is the director) are the real protagonists that do a generally good acting job throughout. Overall, a worthwhile rarity that will appeal equally to The X-Files fans and also fans of obscure 70s low budget scifi

In a generally consistent franchise as far as quality is concerned, this one is probably the best of the lot. As all movies in the franchise it has a thick atmosphere, excellent music and adequate performances from most actors. Personally I found Anders Hove's Radu to be in his best form in all the franchise, missing most saliva-dripping face-making that made the character a bit ridiculous in the previous movies. In any case, Subspecies IV is a worthy straight-to-video horror that in my opinion is the best of the 5 (Vampire Journals included) together with Subspecies 2: Bloodstone. All in all, a worthy 81 minutes for fans of cheap horror and Full Moon productions

Well, one cannot expect much with low budget contemporary horror like this. In any case the film had a few worthy moments like some gore scenes and a few atmospheric glimpses of the bad guys. Star Trek's Voyager's Jerri Ryan is here in a largely contrived and forgettable role. Most of the movie seems nonsensical but everything turns out relatively fine when William Shatner comes in with a solid trademarked over-the-top performance and some killer lines, while his participation lasted much longer than one would expect. For me his presence made this whole thing worthwhile