True Haunting (2025)

True Haunting (2025)

By William Pattison

 

Horror virtuoso James Wan applies his spine-tingling filmmaking style to two multipart dramatizations of two real paranormal accounts.

I’m sorry to say, even though I’m a huge James Wan fan, I believe Paranormal Witness did a far better job with their versions of these accounts. The first account worked far better in the 45 minute format. Wan stretching this account into three hour long episodes dragged the action out far too long and made each part really boring. You were waiting for the spirit to show and pretty much all you ended up with was really just a quick jump scare. You the extra time did let you see the person being bothered by the spirit’s emotional stress. But in the end it just wasn’t enough to keep my interest. I had to actually fight myself to keep from checking my social media. That was how bored I was with this production. It was the same with the other account but luckily that one was only two hours long, though I wish in the end I hadn’t wasted my time.

It is sad that a master of horror like James Wan has lost his knack for horror. As much as I love paranormal show I can’t  recommend this Netflix show. Better you check out the two Paranormal Witness episodes of these accounts. They are worlds better. Sorry James. Better luck next time. Don’t redo other people’s works.

 

 

Taku-He (2017)

Taku-He (2017)

By William Pattison

 

While scouting locations for a new feature, a film company finds out about a creature that is terrifying  the town of Riverdale. Intrigued they decide to do a side documentary. The sheriff and the mayor of the town are opposed to the documentary because of fears it will make the town look bad. Still they decide to continue. Then they meet a man obsessed  with the beast he calls the Taku-He. This meeting turns out to be a fatal mistake because they find out the creature is very real and out for blood, their blood.

This film is by far not as bad as some of the reviews on IMDB would make you think. The acting is a lot better than 75 percent of the Big Foot movies I’ve  seen. These people put their “micro” budget to good use, they focused on characterization rather than waste money on huge, expensive scenes. The monster costume is laughable, but they did take the hint from Legend of Boggy Creek and kept the  creature’s face covered with long hair. I just wish they could have afforded a muscle under suit because Taku-He was way too baggy. Also the hand gloves needed some foam in them to make it look better.

Still, I would put this film in the middle in my Big Foot film ranking. Not a masterpiece, but not horrible. So much so that I will recommend this film as at the very least that you’ll get some entertainment out of this film, it you smoke a doobie while watching it…lol…

The Conjuring Last Rites (2025)

The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025)

By William Pattison

 

So, now I managed to get to see the final installment of The Conjuring film series…

Paranormal investigators, Ed & Lorraine Warren take on their most disturbing case to date. Jack & Janet Smurl and their family, move into a brand new home they've dreamed of, which turned into a nightmare as their home begins to show signs of demonic infestation.

I have to say that this Conjuring is a vast improvement over the earlier installment, The Conjuring The Devil Made Me Do It. The main weakness with this installment is the same with most of the installments, with the exception of The Conjuring 2. The problem with The Conjuring film is that James Wan and crew in order to turn these cases into a franchise about the adventures of the Warrens, they have rewritten these cases to fit the narrative and connect all the films to the “Rogues Gallery” of demons trying to kill the Warrens. In most cases what this does is change the cases to the point they don’t  even resemble the original sources. This actually caused issues with the Perron family with the original film and made James Wan reluctant to continue the films. He tried to do The Conjuring 2 in a way that he could still put in connective tissues but still do the case justice. Of course with the other “Conjuring Universe” films this fell by the waste side and thing fell totally into fantasy land because of the need to keep the franchise style consistent. Thus, the way the later films of the Warrens’ cases degenerated into. Facts and truth fell away and blockbuster over dramatization and hardcore fictionalization. So, in this film the storyline of Judy Warren and her father’s heart issues takes over and the Smirl case is knocked down to a subplot and fictionalized into being connected to Judy’s birth and of course connecting it all to a certain demon in a doll. Still, this film is at least entertaining, unlike The Devil Made me Do It, which was loosely based on the infamous Demon Murder Case, this I will recommend it. But, if you want to see adaptations of all the Waren’s most infamous cases you can check out the TV movies The Demon Murder Case, The Haunted, and the two pilots for the series A Haunting as well as the episode of Paranormal Witness about the Perron Case. All these present a more respectful retelling of these cases. Either that or turn off the TV and actually read of listen to the audiobooks of these cases.

 

Sunrise (2024)

Sunrise (2024)

By William Pattison

 

Now we got a vampire film that is a bit more…Sunrise, and this isn’t THAT Sunrise…

A man, Fallon roams the land as a creature of the night as he comes to terms with tragic loss of his family at the hands of a brutal demagogue, Reynolds.

I really enjoyed this film. This is a modern retelling of the story of the mysterious stranger that come into a town that is under oppression. He helps those in need and delivers justice to those who are the oppressors. It’s sort of like High Plains Drifter with a vampire in the Clint Eastwood part.

This film is wonderfully shot. The acting is good.

Amusingly the director down played Fallon’s vampirism. You don’t  see the vampire teeth or any real physical transformation. When he does drink blood from a cup his eyes become bloodshot for a moment.

Actor Guy Pearce does a fantastic job playing the bigoted bully who controls the town with his mother (played by Olwen Foue’re’) , Renolds. His constant ranting about being a real American because he is obsessed with the land and has to keep outsiders from taking the land for themselves.

Which brings us to the poor Asian family in the community that is the focus of Renalds’ rage.

Crystal Yu, who plays Yan You, and William Gao is great as her son, Edward. Also Riley Chung does a good job as the little daughter Emily.

Together this film is a morality play with just a touch of the supernatural. If you like horror that makes you think, you will enjoy this film. I highly recommend it.

 

Boggy Creek (2010)

Review: Boggy Creek (2010)

By William Pattison

 

This time we got yet another Boggy  Creek film. What is this the fourth???

Following the death of her father in a terrible accident, sweet, yet troubled Jennifer and her friends decide to check out her dad's cabin that's located in the deep woods of Boggy Creek, Texas. While staying at said cabin for a week, Jennifer and company run afoul of an evil and vicious monster of local legend that kills men and abducts women.

None of the Boggy Creek films can be said to be pieces of art, but the original is a cult classic that actually started the Big Foot documentary  craze that is still going to present day. Which is why this 2010 film pisses the hell out of me. This is the second Boggy Creek film that has been based on pure fiction just to make money. Return to Boggy Creek from 1977 was fictitious account using the legend of the Faulk monster as the basis. It even had the actress who played Mary Ann in Giligan’s Island in it. The one after that film, Boggy Creek (2000) was more  like the original in that it was based on actual incidents with the Boggy Creek monster and even had Big Foot expert Nick Redfern doing the narration. Of course now we come to this 2010 shit fest. I figure the director wasn’t sure what type of film he wanted to do because this shit show screams slasher film tropes and completely disrespects the community of Faulk and their resident creature. Hey paint the towns people as ignorant rednecks that glare and newcomers psycholically. And then there is the monster and his legend. No time in Faulk history has the creature ripped a human into pieces, but in this movie it seems like a daily thing. Also nowhere in any of the accounts does it say the creature is horny for female humans. AS well, the monster costume looks nothing like the Faulk monster.

Oh, and the soundtrack of this film is annoying as shit. I don’t  usually complain about such things. The fucking thing ruined the atmosphere. Also, the characters are all stereotypes with no real character development at all.

Oh, and the final nail in this film’s casket was that fucked up ending. Give me a fucking break…!

I think the Faulk monster should get a good lawyer and sue these assholes.

Sorry, but I will recommend the original Legend of Boggy Creek and Boggy Creek (2000). Put the DVD for this film in the microwave and turn it on. Then break it into pieces and toss it in the garbage…

 

Primative War (2025)

Review: Primitive War (2025)

By William Pattison

This time we got soldiers Vs dinosaurs with Primative War.

Vietnam. 1968. A recon unit known as Vulture Squad is sent to an isolated jungle valley to uncover the fate of a missing Green Beret platoon. They soon discover they are not alone. The jungle has a dinosaur problem. And now it’s Vultures versus dinosaurs to the death…

For the last fifteen years there have been rumors of a Seagent Rock film dealing with solders fighting dinosaurs in WW2. This film is everything we wanted in that film with just a change of era. This is a fun and brutal film. You have missing limbs and gallons of blood. It is actually more than I expected from the Seagent Rock film. This film uses the dinos as the horrifying monsters the need to be. The CGI is good and these dinos don’t  just lunber around, the destroy. This film is that batch of super nachos lovingly drowned in cheese. The cheese is fun but it doesn’t  get in the way of the action or the gory fun.

This is the film for the movie fan that loves their war film as well as dinosaur films. It’s  a feast for their eyes and even those how are not full on fans will still be entertained. I highly recommend this film and say that in my eyes it is AWESOMETACULAR!!!

 

Shock Waves (1977)

Review: Shock Waves (1977)

By William Pattison

 

This classic horror movie concerns a shipwrecked yachting party. Rose and her fellow yacht-mates, including the captain run aground on an island when they hit an odd-looking freighter. Once beached, they discover an aging SS Commander who had been in charge of a squad of  Nazi zombies.

Now these castaways must find a way to escape of die at the hands of the Nazi super soldiers.

I have wanted to see this film since I heard about it in the 80s and saw that fantastic poster with the Nazi super soldiers wearing those goggles.

Amusingly, this film really doesn’t feel dated even with the 70s fashions. I also thought the Nazi super soldiers were the most original zombie-like threats, with their fairly normal faces and the white hair. The goggles added a bit of creepiness to their appearance. The only thing I found stupid was that if you rip the goggles off the zombie sokdiers faces they die. Having John Carradine as the boat captain and Peter Cushing as the former SS commander made this film really feel like old home week to me. I really loved this film it was a treat. Unfortunately the gore hounds will be royally disappointed this is a royally bloodless film. You get to see a couple of drowned bodies, but that is as far as it goes. Though this film has a PG rating, in modern terms this film is a firm G rating. Still, if you can get past the rating and lack of red stuff you will be in for a very interesting installment in this genre… So I’m  still recommending it…too bad…