Say what you will about Eli Roth as a filmmaker, this History of Horror limited series was a lot of fun with a wide variety of participants with directors, actors and members of academia in a wide range of discussions of horror.
The Dead Zone doesn’t quite enter into classic territory for me, but I did generally find it entertaining thanks to a charismatic enough performance from Christopher Walken who actually plays the lead fairly straight.
Tales from the Darkside: The Movie has two decent stories, one was dull and the other, the wrap-around, so-so. Still, it’s an anthology film worth checking out.
Doctor Sleep wasn’t the most enthralling film, but I did enjoy some of the performances, mostly Ewan McGregor and Rebecca Ferguson with a nod to young Kyliegh Curran, and the special attention writer-director Mike Flanagan paid to the material.
IT Chapter Two is slightly better than the first movie mostly because I found the visuals to be more interesting, though still not scary and while I liked this ensemble, never really found much of an emotional connection.
The Shining is a great and eerie atmospheric horror-thriller that might feature Jack Nicholson’s best performance, at least early on, only later when going full-on psycho, but still an entertaining flick from Stanley Kubrick.
Although I’m sure The Mangler has its fanbase that has grown over the years, this horror-comedy didn’t do much for me, mainly with some over-the-top acting on the parts of Robert Englund and Ted Levine, even in a movie where a machine comes to life and chases people down…
Castle Rock: The Complete First Season is a fun and entertaining show and that’s coming from someone who generally isn’t the biggest fan of Stephen King; however as a movie buff, there are cool references to some of the King-adapted feature films.
Creepshow wasn’t a great anthology horror movie but at least three out of the five stories were at least somewhat entertaining and I thoroughly enjoyed “Something to Tide You Over” seeing Leslie Nielson and Ted Danson in dramatic roles.
There must be something about Kathy Bates starring in a Stephen King film adaptation and in Dolores Claiborne, she deserved the Oscar with a wonderfully subdued performance alongside a respectable cast.
Misery is one of my favorite Stephen King adaptations though in fairness, I’m not exactly a King die-hard. Still, the movie is an successful character-drama with some psychological thrills thrown in for extra measure and features strong performances from James Caan and Kathy Bates.
Children of the Corn is by no means a good movie or anything, but the cheesiness – or should I say corny (?) – does make it entertaining even if there isn’t anything particularly scary.
This “Collector’s Edition” of Carrie from Shout Factory is pretty darn good for a pretty darn good movie by suspense-maestro, Brian De Palma and features amazing performances by Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie.
Pet Sematary never was one of my favorite movies but I suppose to some of the other Stephen King adaptations, it’s one of the better releases. The Blu-ray itself has a few OK features, as well as average video/audio transfers. If you can nab this at a good price (around $10), then it might be worth picking up.