Horror Queen

Round 2 begins.

PLOT

Earl from Tremors is just kind of trying to live his life and raise his ostriches when a Mexican businessman and his cohort appear on his doorstep. The tremor creatures have returned and are terrorizing an oilfield in Mexico. Grady, the cohort tells him that for every one of the creatures they kill, the guys will get $50,000 so naturally he decides to go. Earl gets even happier when he meets geologist named Kate and more happy when they kill 15 of the tremors. He eventually calls in Burt from the first movie (aka Mr. Keaton) who agrees to help him. Things start to change when the group realizes that these tremors are creating a new breed of animal…

TRIVIA

Tremors 2 was actually better received in some areas than the first movie.

THOUGHTS

I know that I’ve seen this movie before, but when I actually started watching Tremors 2, I realized that I didn’t remember anything about it except that Earl came back. Then I saw Burt and got all excited because he was one of my favorite characters from the first movie. In all honesty, it’s actually not that bad of a movie. Granted it has some truly cheesy moments, but it’s all in good fun. In fact I’ve put off watching the rest of the sequels because I’m afraid that they’ll leave a bad taste in my mouth.

Damn you Wal-Mart!

PLOT

Valentine and Earl are two handymen working in Perfection, Nevada who just want to get out. On their way out of town they find a dead man and then find even more dead bodies. When they try to leave again, a landslide closes off the only exit out. They then discover the dead body of what looks like an oversize snake on their car. Finally they discover the Tremors, though they refer to them as Graboids. Rhonda, a grad student working on unusual findings in the area discovers that there are three more of the tremors in the desert and the whole town of a dozen people (including the dad from Family Ties and Reba MyIntyre) have to band together to battle the creatures.

TRIVIA

Supposedly there is yet another sequel to the movie in the works. This one will be entitled Tremors: The Thunder Down Under.

This is one of the only horror movies to launch its own spin-off television series, known as Tremors: The Series (very original fellas).

THOUGHTS

You’ll probably notice that I don’t do a lot of creature type movies here on the Horror Queen, but Wal-Mart got me again. I went in just planning to buy some groceries and ended up leaving with the Tremors 4-pack, but for only $13, I won’t complain too much. It’s been a long (long) time since I’ve seen the first two movies and I’ve never seen the last two so it’s been an interesting experience. Tremors was actually a fairly good movie and not nearly as cheesy as I remembered. I liked it enough that I plan on picking up another set and stocking it away for Christmas since my dad loves these kind of movies.

Yes, I did in fact watch The Uninvited for a second time. I thoroughly blame my boyfriend because while we were at Hollywood Video and I needed another movie to get a discount, he started in about how he “really wanted” to see it. I got it and he proceeded to fall asleep halfway through, only to wake up ten minutes from the end and feel confused as hell. It obviously didn’t make an impression seeing as how he has still yet to finish the movie and we got it three weeks ago. Anyway, the movie was about the same. I still liked the one sister better than the other, but it was a little better than it was in my memories.

Quarantine wasn’t my favorite movie (I much preferred the original REC, which I just learned is now out on DVD). In fact when my boyfriend brought home the movie, I just kind of rolled my eyes and told him that he wouldn’t like it. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that I actually kind of liked it this time around. It’s by no means a great movie and I still dislike the lead actress. Her character was so annoying that I wanted her to die long before the movie was over. Still it was a little better than I originally thought.

Ah yes, the movie that I barely liked when it first came out. Okay that was probably an understatement, but I at least wasn’t a big fan of it. Part of it was because I was such a fan of the original. Recently I sat down and watched the whole movie with my boyfriend who had never seen it before. This time I have to say that the movie was better than I originally thought. I like the ending, which left room open for a sequel and I actually liked the acting in it. Sue me, but this time around I actually liked it.

Finally saw it again.

PLOT

Ginny Wainwright and her friends at Crawford Academy are part of the Top Ten, a group of students that others love and hate. They have more money and are more popular than anyone else, though we never really see them interact with anyone else. They always meet at the same pub, but one night one of their members is killed. Ginny freaks out that same night when she’s almost involved in a car wreck. Later she talks to her psychiatrist about her memories, but tries to get back to her old life. As the people keep dying around her, Ginny needs to discover the truth about her memories including what happened on her birthday and what happened with her mother.

TRIVIA

A new version of the DVD is set for release this October, featuring the original soundtrack that was left out of the last release.

The original ending of the movie was completely different, but producers came up with the twist ending while working on the filming.

THOUGHTS

Like a lot of other people I primarily remember this movie for the shish kebob scene. I think I was about eight or nine when I saw that and for quite a long time I was scared to death of the pokers. It’s been a few months actually since I saw the movie again, but I never got the chance to write a review of it. That said, I really (really) still liked this movie. The damn thing was on my Netflix queue for six months with a “very long wait” before it went out of print and I was thinking that I’d never see it again when a friend volunteered his copy. There are some really lame parts in Happy Birthday to Me, including the music and costumes, but for some reason I still like it.

Do you want to play a game?

PLOT

Two men wake up in a disgusting bathroom and discovered that they’re chained together. There’s Adam, a photographer and Lawrence, a doctor. Each main is chained to the wall and a dead body lays in the middle of the floor. They find a tape recorder and tapes in each of their pockets with instructions for them. Adam learns that he has to find a way to escape, but Lawrence’s tape tells him to kill Adam or his wife and daughter will die. They also find saws, with Lawrence realizing that the killer expects them to cut through their own feet to get out. They discover that the man keeping them in the room is Jigsaw, a killer that a series of police officers are in the process of hunting down.

TRIVIA

Filmed in just 18 days.

Director James Wan and co-write Leigh Whannell produced an earlier short version of Saw, which they used as the basis for this movie.

A video game from Konami is supposed to be released on October 23, 2009.

THOUGHTS

I remember seeing Saw for the first time in the cheap theater near my parents house, in a back to back double feature with The Grudge. Saw stuck with me a lot longer and I found myself telling everyone I knew how they had to see as soon as possible. I still have these great memories of the movie in my head, but it’s almost a case where my memories are better than the movie itself. That’s not to say that it isn’t a great movie, but it’s a little better in my head. There are some great scenes and the traps are excellent, but maybe I’ve just seen it too many times now.

Recommended by a friend…

PLOT

Jennifer Hills heads to the country where she plans to work on her book. At first things seem fine, but then three men in town start bothering her fairly often. She makes friends with the grocery delivery guy Matthew, who’s partially mentally retarded. One night though the three men grab her and violently rape her. They continue raping her and she finally gets away. She finds her way home, only to find the men waiting for her where they rape her again. This time Matthew joins in and afterwards, they tell him to kill her, but he only fakes it. She then decides to take her revenge against each man in her own unique way.

TRIVIA

Also known as Day of the Woman, The Rape and Revenge of Jennifer Hill and I Hate Your Guts.

I Spit on Your Grave is slated for a 2009 remake.

THOUGHTS

First of all, I didn’t pick this movie on my own. I actually have a hard time watching any movie that shows scenes of rape and knowing the premise of I Spit on Your Grave, I knew it would be a difficult watch. Yet a friend recommended it and I finally watched it…now I feel disturbed on a lot of levels. There are scenes in this movie where I literally had to look away from the screen. There was also an entire scene involving castration in a bathtub and an ultra creepy scene that came later. I can easily see this one sticking with me for awhile.