IN A VALLEY OF VIOLENCE [2016]

Director Ti West, known mostly for horror movies, takes a dedicated shot at the Western genre with the gritty revenge tale of In a Valley of Violence.
A moody stranger, and his awesome dog, saunter into a penniless town and get into a scuffle with the wrong folks: the Marshal's dim-witted hot-headed son and his gang of equally brain-dead hooligans.
There's no re-invention of the wheel here but we are spoiled with solid storytelling, acting and an yet another excellent film score from Jeff Grace.  James Ransone, Karen Gillan, Burn Gorman and Jumpy the Dog all offer tongue-in-cheek performances that you know they're all having a great ol' time, while Ethan Hawke, Taissa Farmiga and Travolta all play it straight which suits the tale just fine.  West's faithful traditional Western won't fill seats in the cinema but it will certainly please fans of genre looking for a good time.

4 wooden legs out of 5

SOUTHBOUND [2015]

Veterans of the V/H/S series trail off on their own with the very satisfyingly creepy anthology Southbound.
Set on a deserted highway, this is five interlocking tales about sinful folks who are facing their worst nightmares in what seems to be a endlessly looping form of purgatory.
With the exception of Trick 'r Treat and the second V/H/S, I haven't really been at all impressed with horror anthologies so this collection of disturbingly twisted tales came as a very pleasant surprise.  What most films in it's genre lacks, this one packs some strong horrific creativity to match it's interesting storytelling while actually managing to leave a lasting impression of dread.  There's numerous minor flaws but when all is said and done, it's an entertaining ride into hell that meets all of what little expectations I had.

3½ shitty 911 calls out of 5

CARNAGE PARK [2016]

In his ode to 70's survival horror films, director Mickey Keating attempts to emulate Quentin Tarantino's vibe in Carnage Park.
Ashley Bell is great as a woman who starts her shitty day as a hostage to a couple of bumbling bank robbers which leads to her being hunted down by a crazed ex-sniper in the middle of the California desert.
It starts out as your standard Tarantino rip-off, minus the snappy dialogue, with a crime gone horribly wrong but slowly transforms into a pretty disorienting horrific thriller that reeks of The Hills Have Eyes and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.  Originality or unique characters is not it's strong suit but suspense and unsettling atmosphere is where it excels.

3 warped vinyl out of 5

WE ARE STILL HERE [2015]

Director Ted Geoghegan's feature length debut, We Are Still Here, is a loving homage to the works of Lucio Fulci with a heavy dose of American Gothic.
After the tragic death of their son, a middle-aged couple move out to an isolated country home that is feared by the townsfolk that surround it...and with good reason.
Like The House of the Devil, the film mimics the look, tone and editing techniques of the '70's and it does so with great success making for a short but scary little ghost story.  The gory practical effects take center stage, but it sure helps that classic scream queen Barbara Crampton is on board, almost shadowing over Lisa Marie's painfully horrible performance.  It's refreshing to see a cast of old folks take on the nasty ghoulies, which makes for unfamiliar territory resulting in scares that are all the more effective.

3½ tasty socks out of 5

LATE PHASES [2014]

Here Comes The Devil director Adrián García Bogliano makes his English language debut with the burly little werewolf film Late Phases.
Nick Damici is fantastic as a crotchety old blind man that moves into an old folk's community that has the tendency to get a little bloody every full moon.  The use of good ol' fashioned practical effects is a joy to watch but doesn't always work, especially when you see the man in the furry rubber suit that looks like a rabid version of Donnie Darko's Frank.  The tone of the film is an utter mess and there doesn't seem to be any real direction it wants to take.  Fortunately actors Damici and Tom Noonan have a wonderful chemistry together as they make the best of what they have to work with.  Something great was buried deep within the film but sadly it's never really found.

2½ iron lungs out of 5

THE ABC'S OF DEATH 2 [2014]

Without changing the formula of the original film, The ABCs Of Death 2 manages to surpass it's predecessor.
26 new genre directors from all over the world are brought to the table to assault the viewer with 26 new deaths and it is a twisted delight. Each segment mixes it up a bit, some live action, some classically animated, some silent, others done with stop-motion but all of them guaranteed to question your judgement of good taste.  Some are devilishly hilarious, others downright disturbing, many of them quite frightening but all are bat-shit fucking crazy, unfortunately only a small handful of them are genuinely brilliant, making for little replay value.

3 action figures out of 5