Day 364: Suspiria

Suspira

Cleanup on Aisle 3

When it comes to Dario Argento movies, people usually fall into one of two categories: those who “get” them and those who don't. I say usually because I am an outlier and fall right in the middle. I understand what and why things are happening and at the same time have no clue what is going on. They are complicated pieces of cinema with a unique, unmistakable style. The stories are not always clear and easy to understand, which alienates a lot of people. Other relish in the sheer bizarre nature of his movies, soaking up the the director's impressive ability to create beautiful works of art from acts of violence and bloody bodies. Some horror movies go straight for the jugular while others go for a slow burn, letting the audience absorb the deep atmospherics. Argento does both in such a way that can split an entire audience and a single reviewer.

Suspiria is a 1997 Italian horror movie written and directed by Dario Argento (Inferno, Masters Of Horror:Pelts). Suzy Banyon (Jessica Harper, My Favorite Year, Stardust Memories) is an American Ballet student enrolling at a prestigious dance academy in Germany. On the night of her arrival, a student named Pat Hingle exits the academy and runs out into the storm. She mutters something about “secret” and “iris”, but Suzy cannot make out what she is talking about. Later that night, Pat, who along with a friend, is brutally murdered by an unseen assailant. The next day, Suzy meets Madame Blanc (Joan Bennett, Dark Shadows, Father Of The Bride) and Miss Tanner (Alida Valli, The Third Man, Senso) along with a few of the girls attending the school. During her first lesson, Suzy becomes mysteriously ill and is moved into the dormitory against her wishes. The doctor treating her insists that she drinks a special glass of wine a day in order to stay medicated. During this time, Suzy befriends Sarah (Stefania Casini, 1900, The Belly Of An Architect) and the two room together. One night, maggots begin to fall from the ceiling and all the girls room together while the house is fumigated. That night, both girls hear a distinct whistling snore from a sleeping woman that Sarah identifies as the school's director, despite her supposedly being away from the school for several more weeks. Sarah reveals that she and Pat were friends and that Pat had been talking about strange things occurring at the school right before her murder. They search for Pat's notes, which appear to have been stolen, and Suzy is suddenly overcome with sleep. Sarah is chased by an unseen figure and her murder is covered up. Suspicious of Sarah's unexplained disappearance, Suzy reaches out to one of Sarah's aquantances, Dr. Mandel (Udo Kier, Blade, End Of Days) who informs her that the school was founded by a witch named Helena Markos. His colleague Professor Millus tells her Markos was very powerful and lead a full coven of witches. Before Suzy departs, he tells her that a coven can only survive if they have their queen. Will Suzy be able to find and stop the queen before it's too late? 

 Haw-haw!

Dario Argento's movies are known for being surreal and Suspiria is no exception. The movie is a strange fever dream of intense violence and strange events that are hard to piece together. Things don't always make sense in Suspiria and it does take some effort to stay interested. The story isn't very clear on exactly what is happening, though it is easier to follow than the follow-up movie Inferno. A decent mystery is coupled with a few scenes of extreme violence, which is entertaining, at least for a while. The bit about witches and Helena Markos doesn't occur until the last 1/3 of the movie. Why not have that in the beginning, giving the audience something to think and worry about. Instead, we're left in the dark for most of the movie. I suppose it puts us in the same position as Suzy, in terms of knowledge, but a little hint or foreshadowing would have made the previous two-thirds of the movie far more interesting. The final ten minutes actually saved the movie for me as they manage to make sense of what is happening while being incredibly thrilling and scary.

Someone teach this girl how to apply lipstick

While the story and pacing could have been better, Suspiria's greatest strengths come from the audio/visual department. Like most of Argento's other films, Suspiria is a feast for the eyes. He employs beautiful radiant colors throughout the film, using them to convey atmosphere and feeling. Deep blues and rich reds splash across scenes, washing the actors in unnatural, but understandable, colors. These visually interesting scenes could easily be shown at any arthouse or museum. The amazing music in the movie is provided by instrumental band Goblin (erroneously named “The Goblins” in the credits). Their synthesizers and vocalizations create music that is both eerily beautiful and utterly terrifying. The music sets the atmosphere and emotion in every scene and the constant repetition bores it's way into your brain. Without their score, I truly believe the movie would not be as good as it is. (Side-note, if you like the music of Goblin, I highly recommend checking out the band Zombi. Give them a listen here, here, and here.) The acting is good throughout, though as usual, I had a hard time with the voice dubbing. It always throws me off, especially when someone is clearly speaking English, but the voice doesn't match up. I'm pretty sure Udo Kier is dubbed, which is just ridiculous, since he speaks English.

The Kool-Aid Man is a wonderful interior decorator

Suspiria is an intense and unique horror movie unlike anything seen before. The story is a bit difficult to follow and the pacing is a bit slow. There should have been more foreshadowing and an earlier mention of witches just to keep the audience on their toes. The talk of witches towards the end comes out of nowhere and feels out of place. When everything comes together, though, the movie becomes much more entertaining. There are a few scenes of violence spread throughout which keeps things interesting and scary. The acting is good, but the real pleasure of Suspiria comes from Argento's directing and Goblin's music. Patience is required for a movie like this, but it is well worth it. While I did not particularly care for Inferno and struggled at times with this movie, I felt that Suspiria was able to pull things together to be an interesting and unique watch. There are plans to remake Suspiria, but watch the original first. If you can deal with a movie that makes complete sense and no sense at all, I think you'll like it.

8/10

Day 344: The Bleeding House

The Bleeding House

House Party 5

“Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” Blanche DuBois' famous line from A Streetcar Named Desire is still commonly referenced over 60 years later. It's funny to think about because in today's society, we are explicitly taught to never speak to strangers, never pick up hitchhikers, and to never let a stranger into your house. Kids today even have “stranger danger” yells. I'm not saying it's wrong, it's just the way things are. As we've seen from many horror movies, that hitchhiker wants to wear your skin as a coat and that stranger at your front door wants to eat your face. Despite this knowledge, some people (and movies) never learn.

The Bleeding House is a 2011 horror movie staring Alexandra Chando (The Lying Game, As The World Turns) as Gloria Smith and Patrick Breen (Galaxy Quest, Whole Day Down) as Nick. In a rundown home in small town America, the bizarre Gloria lives in a constant state of tension with her family. Her father Matt (Richard Bekins, One Life To Live, Limitless) is desperately trying to get his job back with a law firm while her mother Marilyn (Law & Order, Margaret) tries to maintain some sense of order and family. Gloria's older brother Quentin (Charlie Hewson, Awake, White Collar) is considering leaving home with his secret girlfriend Lynne (Nina Lisandrello, Beauty and the Beast, Nurse Jackie). A violent tragedy befell the family in the past which caused them to fall apart and be shunned from the town, but it is unclear at first. One night, a stranger named Nick arrives at the door asking if he can stay the night since his car broke down. At first, they refuse, but after some though, Marilyn allows him to stay. He is a soft-spoken Southern gentleman who manages to charm the family. He notices the tension between Gloria and her mother and believes that both he and Gloria are very similar. The tension between mother and daughter boils over when a bird that Gloria had been keeping escapes from it's box. When Marilyn asks her to hand over the bird, Gloria kills it and leaves. While she is gone, Nick reveals his true nature, knocking out both parents and hooking them up to a strange machine. The machine starts to drain the blood from Matt as Nick begins to question Marilyn about the violent incident. Marilyn says that she was having an affair with another man and accidentally started a fire in his house, killing his family. Nick reveals that he has been traveling do different towns, dispensing a type of religious justice to those who have sinned. Quentin and Lynne home and Nick slits his throat while Lynne and Gloria escape towards town. They are picked up by police and brought back to the house where Nick kills both policemen. What does Nick have planned for Gloria and was Marilyn's confession just a cover for something more sinister?

"Life is pain. Take me to Hot Topic."

The Bleeding House isn't your typical horror movie. It manages to be completely focused on the story it wants to tell while remaining rather directionless in purpose. It starts out relatively interesting with the broken family and the seemingly-pleasant stranger. Even when the killing began, I remained interested in what was happening, but the story became muddled and confused when questions began to receive answers. It was never entirely clear just why Nick was at their house specifically other than something about going into town and hearing people speak badly about the family. So, what, does he just go around the country waiting to hear people shit talk families that have done something wrong? We're supposed to believe he's a methodical professional serial killer, but we seen him make plenty of mistakes, leaving his finger prints everywhere, and having trouble killing a teenage girl. Granted, we learn that she's just as bad as he is, but it's a bit too much to believe. There are too many twists and turns and most fail to surprise. When Gloria's true nature is revealed, it left me with a feeling of “So what?” It makes it incredibly hard to cheer for her and hope she survives when all is revealed. Combine that with her relatively unlikable family and I end up cheering for Nick instead. Her character's secret was very similar to the daughter in the Kevin Costner's film “Mr. Brooks” which came out 4 years prior to The Bleeding House.

If there's one thing that the movie does right, it's atmosphere. The movie has a constant uncomfortable and eerie atmosphere to it that helps increase interest when the story fails to do so. There are a few jolts and maybe a scare or two, but not much. Like I said, it's not your typical horror movie. I was half-expecting Nick to be some sort of demon or vengeful spirit or something deeper than just a guy going from town to town killing people. I figured the title of the movie might mean that the house itself would bleed. That would have been much cooler. In terms of blood, yes there is a lot of it, but not in the way you expect. Nick drains Matt and Marilyn, filling up jugs with their blood. There's also some typical slashing and stabbing, but there's not much gore coming from those scenes. Patrick Breen is good in his charming, but murderous role. Alexandra Chando spends most of the movie with her hair in her eyes, looking angsty and weird. The dialogue in the movie feels very self-serving as every line tries to be deep and important, but fails to stick. It feels like writer/director Philip Gelatt was writing with one hand and fondling himself with the other, mumbling “I'm so great. I'm so great.”

"I must have a case of the vapors!"

The Bleeding House starts with a moderately decent mystery that eventually leads to nothing. The story itself is rather pedestrian and reminds me of “Mr. Brooks” which is not good because that movie was terrible. The acting is decent, but I am not a fan of the verbal masturbation that is the dialogue. There's violence and plenty of blood, but the movie isn't really a slasher. There's a serious lack of excitement, even during the more active scenes. Nick's motivation for killing is somewhat unclear and it's hard to believe he hasn't been caught yet considering all of his mistakes. I wasn't really expecting a lot from The Bleeding House, but I was expecting more than what I got. The lesson in The Bleeding House is to never let strangers in and never let your child be a murderous psycho. The end.

4.5/10

Day 297: Urban Legend

Urban Legend

Stop me if you've heard this one before

We've all heard a few urban legends. There are classics like the guy waking up in a bathtub full of ice with his kidney missing. Then there's story of the escaped convict with a hook for a hand terrorizing a parked car in the woods. And who could forget the girl who said “Bloody Mary” while looking into a mirror. These stories have their variations, but the main points stay the same and get passed on from person to person, town to town. Everyone knows someone who knows someone that swears the story is true. Even to this day, I still check the back seat of my car to make sure there's no one back there. That's just being safe and totally not at all paranoid. Since these stories are widespread and well-known it seems like a no-brainer that they would be the basis for a teen slasher flick. That doesn't mean they'll be good, though.

Urban Legend is a 1998 slasher movie starring Alicia Witt (88 Minutes, Four Rooms) as Natalie Simon and Jared Leto (Panic Room, Requiem For A Dream) as Paul Gardner. The movie beings with a Pendleton University student named Michelle Mancini stopping at a gas station. The gas attendant (Brad Douriff, Child's Play, Deadwood) tells her that her credit card company is on the phone, but when she picks it up, no one is there and the attendant locks the door. Afraid, she breaks a window and drives away, unaware that the attendant was just trying to warn her that someone was hiding in her back seat. Michelle is then killed by the hooded figure in the car. At Pendleton, Natalie and her friend Brenda (Rebecca Gayheart, Jawbreaker, Scream 2) listen to their friend Parker (Michael Rosenbaum, Smallville, Batman Beyond) discuss various urban legends. Paul, the school reporter, laughs off Parker's stories. The girls, along with Parker and his friend Damon (Joshua Jackson, Dawson's Creek, The Mighty Ducks), attend a class on urban legends taught by Professor William Wexler (Robert Englund, Friday The 13^th, Inkubus). When Natalie hears of Michelle's death, she is shaken and Damon offers to take her to somewhere private so they can talk. When he exists the car, Damon is attacked by the same hooded figure who killed Michelle. When Natalie hears pounding on the hood of the car, she drives away, unaware that Damon is hanging from a tree. By driving away, she pulls the rope, which was connected to the car by the killer, thereby hoisting Damon high in the air. Soon, people close to Natalie start dying in mysterious ways, eerily similar to various urban legends. Who is behind the murders and what do they have to do with Natalie?

The pale and the restless

The mid to late 1990's were full of slasher flicks geared towards the younger crowd. The most obvious were Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and Final Destination, with Urban Legend bringing up the rear. The movie feels like a patchwork of other teen slashers from the same time period and could easily be mistaken for one of them. Essentially, it's pretty white people with flawless skin being attacked by a hooded figure. Despite having a huge cast of popular actors at the time (seriously, we have Jared Leto, Joshua Jackson, Michael Rosenbaum, Rebecca Gayheart, and Tara Reid all in the same movie), the movie has little else going for it. The initial idea of having a series of murders based around various urban legends is fun, but only if you're reading a Batman comic book. It's the type of idea that a 14 year old would come up with and then promptly forget by the time something good comes on TV. Set in the real world, the idea is convoluted and unnecessary, especially when we find out why the killer is committing the murders. The rest of the story is a strictly by-the-book slasher fest, giving us plenty of forgettable characters just to kill them off. I will give the movie credit for cramming in a whole lot of urban legends, including some I had never heard before. Of course, by doing so, the movie felt crowded and rushed at times.

The movie isn't excruciatingly bad or anything, it's just not very good. It's certainly watchable and if you've never seen a slasher movie, you might actually enjoy it. It has the usual music swells and jump at you moments that we've come to expect. The acting is fine for what is required. Rebecca Gayheart puts in a scene-chewing performance worthy of Tommy Lee Jones in Batman Forever and I mean that in the best way possible. It's highly entertaining and it's a shame it only comes at the end. The movie also includes horror veterans Robert Englund and Brad Douriff (Chucky from Child's Play), but only uses them briefly. If you have two great horror actors in your movie, wouldn't you want to use them as much as possible? There is a decent amount of violence in the movie and some blood, but nothing too over-the-top or gory.

"Ah! That jacket is so out of style!"

Urban Legends is a boiler-plate slasher film with only a gimmick that separates it from similar films. Logic and reason is thrown out the window in an effort to include various means of killing people through urban legends. It keeps things interesting, but requires the audience to not think. The violence is decent and the acting is good enough to keep things moving. The soundtrack for the movie is probably the best part, including music from Stabbing Westward, Monster Magnet, Ministry, and Motorhead. There have been a few sequels, but apparently they are far worse than the original. If you're feeling nostalgic, Urban Legend is fun to watch while wearing Jncos and drinking a Surge cola. It's your standard slasher and there are far better ones out there.

4/10

Day 280: When A Stranger Calls

When A Stranger Calls

Please don't call me, maybe

Certain movies are forever defined by one great scene. Even if you've never seen certain movies, specific scenes are easily recognizable. Whether it's clip shows or spoofs or references, you know exactly what movie it comes from. Some good examples are when Sissy Spacek is covered in blood at the prom in Carrie, the eye-torture scene in A Clockwork Orange, and Jack Nicholson chopping down the door in The Shining. Of course, these movies have a lot more going for them than just their iconic scenes. How would another movie fair when the iconic scene in the movie is the most exciting part?

When A Stranger Calls is a 1979 psychological horror movie starring Charles Durning (O, Brother Where Art Thou?, To Be Or Not To Be) as Officer John Clifford. Jill Johnson (Carol Kane, Seinfeld, Annie Hall) is babysitting two young children for Dr. and Mrs. Mandrakis when she starts to receive disturbing phone calls from an anonymous man. The voice repeatedly asks her if she has checked on the children. Frightened, she calls the police who offer to trace the phone calls in hopes of finding the culprit. It is revealed that the calls are coming from inside the house and Jill flees. The caller, a mentally disturbed British man named Curt Duncan (Tony Beckley, Doctor Who, The Italian Job), brutally murdered the two children with his bare hands and is placed in an asylum. Seven years later, Duncan escapes the asylum and Dr. Mandrakis hires John Clifford, the former police officer who investigated the case, to find and kill Duncan. Duncan is a vagrant in the city and is constantly pursuing a woman named Tracy (Colleen Dewhurst, Who's Afraid Of Virginia Wolf?, Caligula) who constantly rebuffs his advances. Clifford becomes increasingly aggressive and obsessed with finding Duncan before he kills again. He manages to find Duncan and a chase ensues, but Duncan escapes. Duncan eventually sees a newspaper with a now-adult Jill Johnson's picture in it. Will Clifford be able to stop him before he returns to murder Jill?

Yes kids, that's what a phone used to look like

The first twenty minutes of When A Stranger Calls may be the most suspenseful opening of any horror movie. The scene is has reached an iconic status, landing the movie on many Top scary movie lists. The scene is laid out perfectly with the proper amount of timing and pacing. Carol Kane does a great job as the audience is essentially living through her, sharing her fear and terror. It's is quite impressive considering that Kane is essentially acting by herself with just voices on a telephone working with her. The music is fantastic in the scene, creating an eerie atmosphere and swelling at just the right moments. It's just such a shame that a majority of the movie is nothing like those first twenty minutes.

Most of the movie follows John Clifford, who was on the scene the night of the murders. I'm a little confused as to why he took the case so personally. I mean, I understand the horrible trauma of the murders, but it's not like Clifford had been chasing Duncan before or after the incident. He just kind of waltzed into the crime scene with a bunch of other police officers. All the suspense and fear in the first 20 minutes completely disappear as the movie focuses on Duncan and Tracy for some reason. Why bother focusing on Tracy at all? The movie would have been better served following Jill as she was the one who actually endured the horror of that fateful night. It's a huge missed opportunity that could have led to more scenes of suspense and horror. Why not show how she has managed to make a life, but is still traumatized? We eventually get to that in the last twenty minutes, but what is the point when most of the movie essentially forgot about her? This shift in the story slows to a crawl, making for a boring watch. The acting is fine, though I question the choice of Tony Beckley as the killer from a physical standpoint. His voice is great, but he is a rather slight man and it's hard to believe he could brutally eviscerate people, albeit children, with his bare hands. 

 Cake or pie? Why not both?

When A Stranger Calls is a boring police story book-ended by two great scenes of horror and suspense. The beginning is iconic for a reason and should be shown to all aspiring film-makers. The end similarly has good suspense thanks to proper timing and music. Unfortunately, a majority of the movie plays out slowly and devoid of all suspense. It's really a shame because the movie's missed opportunities seem like common sense ideas. It's like they worked so hard on the beginning and end that they were just too tired to come up with anything in the middle. If you've never seen When a Stranger Calls, my advice is to watch the first twenty minutes and the last twenty minutes. Everything else is just filler.

5/10

Day 205: Farm House

Farm House

Well, it's better than the Out House

As someone who has done a decent amount of driving over the years, I know how easy it is for your mind to wander. You think about all that dangers that may befall you during your travels. You can get a flat, your muffler can fall off, your hose can go. All sorts of things can go wrong. You think you'll be alright because you have a cell phone, but once you get out of the populated areas, you can forget about having service. We've all heard stories about people breaking down and then going to a farmhouse to use their phone. Some of those stories are good (sexy daughter), but most end up with limbs being cut off by a deranged, and possibly deformed, farm family. It's a great setting for horror because the scenario a legitimate, if slightly weird, fear.

Farm House is a 2008 horror movie starring Jamie Anna Allman (The Killing, The Notebook) as Scarlet and William Scott Lee (Pearl Harbor, The Butterfly Effect) at her husband Chad. Chad and Scarlet are trying to make a new life for themselves after the death of the special needs infant son. While driving through the Mid-West, Chad falls asleep and crashes their car. They walk to a local farmhouse, where they meet the owner, Samael (Steven Weber, Single White Female, Wings), his wife Lilith (Kelly Hu, X2, The Scorpion King) and his helper, a deaf boy named Alal. Scarlet tries to use the phone, but the lines are down, caused by their accident. Chad and Scarlet agree to spend the night at the farmhouse. It turns out to be a bad decision as Samael and Lilith kidnap and torture them. It is revealed that Chad had a large gambling debt, and despite telling Scarlet he had paid it off, Samael and Lilith say he owes more. Scarlet is able to escape with the help of Alal, but Samael is able to capture him. He cuts out Alal's eye in hopes of drawing Scarlet out. When that doesn't work, he slits Alal's throat and finds Scarlet. As the torture goes on, it comes to light that Chad was planning to kill himself so Scarlet could get his life insurance policy and pay off his debt. Scarlet convinces him that it is best to kill their son as they could always have more children later. They are able to kill Samael and Lilith and make their escape, but things are not what they seem. How did they end up at this farmhouse and who are Samael and Lilith?

I only have demonic eyes for you

Farm House starts off as your typical “people tortured in the country” horror movie. The story is broken up with bits from Scarlet and Chad's past, telling us all about his debt and their son's medical problems. While that's helpful to explain their motivations, it really kills the movie's momentum. It comes in little drips, but they're not exciting cliff hangers, and come off as more annoying that interesting. It would have been better off telling most of the debt portion of the movie first, with the big reveal that they killed their son closer to the end. I am not one for torture movies, but thankfully the movie isn't just a vehicle for various means of hurting people. That's not to say there aren't some gruesome scenes, it's just not the entire movie. There was one scene where Lilith use a grater on Scarlet's knee that actually made me feel a little queasy. There is a small amount of blood and gore in the movie, but not as much as you'd expect from a movie based around kidnapping and torture.

The movie falls off the rails and crashes into a mountain made of crazy in the last 15 minutes. The movie has a big twist which comes out of nowhere. It's not that it doesn't make sense, it's just never really hinted at beyond the character's names. Foreshadowing is important when doing a movie with a clever twist, but Farmhouse never really gets around to it. Steven Weber and Kelly Hu carry the movie with their fun, twisted performances. They make good villains and almost had me cheering for them, especially after we learn that Scarlet and Chad are murdering scumbags. I don't know if it was his performance or just terrible writing, but William Scott Lee is incredibly annoying. I understand that he's supposed to be a coward, but he doesn't have to be a whiny douche on top of everything. He reminds me of Denny from The Room.

Oh, word?

Farm House is a mediocre torture movie that goes off in an expected at the end. The story itself isn't anything special and the main characters are more annoying than they should be. You can kind of see where things are going and while the twist isn't great, it didn't bother me. There is some decent action and blood, but not as much as you'd think. I could have actually used more if you can believe it. Steven Weber and Kelly Hu are both very good in their roles and should play villains in more movies. While there is a certain creepiness to some scenes, the movie is not scary, which is a shame because it could have been. While it wasn't bad, Farm House is nothing special and could easily be confused for countless other horror movies flooding the market today.

4.5/10

Day 16: Masters of Horror - Family

Masters of Horror - Family

Where everybody knows your AAAHHHH!!!

Everyone needs a family. Whether its blood relatives, friends, or a group of people with similar interests, everyone needs a support system. But maybe that family isn't what you had hoped. What if you want to start a completely new family? Do you try to find that special someone and waste years of courting, marriage, and childbirth or do you skip all that and create your own new family through ghoulish means?

Family stars George Wendt (Cheers, Outside Providence) as the peculiar Harold and his new neighbors Celia (Meredith Monroe, Minority Report) and David (Matt Keeslar, Scream 3). We quickly learn that Harold is a psychotic serial killer and has created his own family with the bones of his victims. In his mind, he has full conversations with his victims, even tucking a little girl skeleton in a bed at night. He becomes obsessed with Celia and when David mysteriously disappears, Harold makes his move to make Celia a part of his family.

That's terrifying! What's that bunny doing there?!?

Directed by John Landis (An American Werewolf in London, Animal House), Family is more quirky than your traditional horror movie. Sure there's some gore and a bit of violence, but it doesn't rank high in the horror column. Unless you're terrified of skeletons wearing clothes. It has a slow, creeping sort of terror that works because it is set in the real world, whereas other horror movies can take place on a distant planet or in a remote wilderness. A lovely townhouse on a quite street hides the unspeakable acts within, which is far more disturbing than you would think. You almost forget that Harold is brutally murdering people, melting their skin with acids in his basement, dressing up the skeletons and having full conversations with them.

George Wendt makes the character and the entire movie work because he is so likable. That may be a holdover from his days as Norm from the TV show Cheers. Combined with the upbeat music and bright surroundings, you feel yourself almost cheering for Harold. Meredith Monroe and Matt Keeslar both do a fine job as the new neighbors who may have an ulterior motive for moving to the area. I will say that I thought I knew what the ending would be, but was pleasantly surprised when they went in a different direction. It added a new layer to the movie which I had not expected, making it a better film altogether. 

Cheese! I mean, Boo!

Family is an certainly an enjoyable watch for horror and non-horror fans alike. Good acting, a solid story, and great direction from John Landis make this a fun, yet slightly disturbing movie. Some movies in the Masters of Horror series suffer from being shorter than a feature-length film, but Family fits in perfectly at just under an hour. It's light on the horror and effects, but you won't really notice because everything else is really enjoyable.

9/10