Review: Dead & Buried (1981)

Review: Dead & Buried (1981)

By William Pattison

 

Sheriff Dan Gillis has a nice life with his wife, the teacher Janet Gillis, in the small coastal and friendly town of Potter's Bluff. When visitors are mysteriously killed in the town, Sheriff Gillis investigates the cases carefully and finds that dead people are reanimating and coming back to life. Dan finds a book of witchcraft and voodoo in his wife's drawer and he suspects that she might be practicing black magic. Dan meets the coroner-mortician William G. Dobbs and learns the dreadful and surprising secret.

Unfortunately, this film was a complete flop in theaters at the time. It was actually six years after the films release that I actually saw it on video. At the time my opinion on this was so so, but over the years I’ve  actually started to like this film. I can say the FX stand up really well. The one scene where the town coroner reconstructs the woman’s face is amazing.

This film is actually one of those rare jewels of horror cinema. It was made in a time of great transition of horror between the more cerebral, psychological, horror and the gore filled slasher era. Also this is not your common zombie film, though it’s  been catalogued as a zombie film. This film is unique and is something to be seen if you like late 70s early 80s horror that goes it’s own way I think you will be surprised by this film…

 

 

The Black String (2018)

Review: The Black String (2018)

By William Pattison

 

Jonathan is a lonely twenty-something, stuck in his home town working night shifts at the local convenience store. When an unexpected encounter with a mysterious woman turns his life upside down, Jonathan is stricken by illness and nightmarish visions. Paranoid and desperate, he launches on a quest across the suburbs to find the seductress who started it all. Friends and family believe he's losing his mind, but Jonathan is convinced he's the target of something far more sinister.

This is a weird film and it is made to be that way. I love it for this. You can either take the route where Jonathon is having a full on paranormal experience or you can go the route where he is having delusions. It is up to the viewer to choose. The filmmaker has done this brilliantly.

The actor playing Johnathan is the glue that holds this film together. It is his performance that adds credence to all the freaky stuff happening.

This is a highly psychological film that makes the viewer think about what they are seeing. Thus, this is not a film for every horror fan. If you are looking for lots of Gore and jump scares this is not the film for you. This film is a frightening game of perception. It is a film I will happily recommend is you are a fan of psychological horror…

 

Devon (2024)

Review: Devon (2024)

By William Pattison

This time I got the Pluto TV exclusive found footage film directed by the former reality TV From Jersey Shore star Jenni Farley who was once known as JWwow.

A group of volunteers who answer an ad on cryptic website on the internet go to a shut down asylum to investigate a missing girl named of Devon, who disappeared at the asylum twenty years earlier. But they find that there is more to this place than just it being creepy. Something fatal and possibly paranormal. Paranoia and insanity runs rampant, voices are heard, the screaming starts, and people start disappearing.

To start out I have to say I’m  impressed with this film. I have watched hundreds of found footage films and I have to say that this film is in my top ten. I could tell that Jenni Farley put a ton of love into this film.

Some people think that doing a found footage film is cheap and amateur time. This film was made on a modest budget, it in no way is this film in any way amateurish. Farley uses the darkness of Pentherst Asylum to its advantage. She uses flashlights tactically to show the viewer just what she wants them to see. The effect is horrifyingly claustrophobic. Also she uses sound in unision with the lack of light to add to the terror. In this film the jump scares are purely sound driven with no music.

Also unlike the majority of found footage film you are never bored because there is always something happening. Farley doesn’t waste time she is constantly hitting both the characters and audience on a psychological level.

The acting and characterization is top notch. The actress that steals the show is Rotisha Geter who plays potential psychology professor Alison Roberts. Rotisha’s shows Alison’s journey into paranoia and insanity in a stark and brutal way. You can tell that her performance forced the other members of the cast to up their game.

This film is plain brilliant. It reminds me of the low budget love project over a decade ago by a young director named James Wan, whose first film, SAW, started the torture porn subgenre of horror. Unfortunately,  when Wan started getting big budgets and more mainstream films he lost a lot of that incredible brilliance he has with that first film. I hope that if she can Jenni Farley might be able to retain some of the incredible brilliance I saw her achieve with Devon, but I fear this is a pipedream. The lure of a bigger budget and more toys is way too seductive for a young filmmaker. But for now we have Devon and it is AWESOMETACULAR!!! You can find this film exclusively on Pluto TV for free in its Halloween Hits List. I highly recommend you check this film out while it’s available…

Review: No Tears in Hell (2025)

Review: No Tears in Hell (2025)

By William Pattison

 

This time I got a serial killer tale that is supposedly based on a true case…

In Alaska's winter darkness, a mother and son transform their home into a house of horrors, drawing homeless people in for abuse, murder, and cannibalism.

This a nastily realistic portrayal of a serial killer. It is brutal yet the gore is not overdone. There is a sadistic honesty about the killings. The portrayals of Alex and his mother both spot on without become a parody. You can see that both of them lack a moral compass. In fact Alex seems to take pride in his work and compares it to Bundy and Dahmer.

If you are not a hardcore slasher fan I  wouldn’t recommend this film to you. But if you are a fan of true crime and find realistic serial killers interesting then you will find this film interesting. In my case I felt a bit dirty watching this film.

Review: Incident at Loch Ness (2004)

Review: Incident at Loch Ness (2004)

By William Pattison

 

This time I got a film by the eccentric filmmaker Werner Hertzog…

This is a mockumentary within a mockumentary. The ensemble cast is a Who's Who of modern filmmaking, from Werner Herzog, independent director (Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979), Grizzly Man (2005), Rescue Dawn (2006)) playing himself directing a documentary, to cinematographer Gabriel Beristain (of the Blade movies) playing himself, to Sound Recorder/Mixer extraordinaire Russell Williams II (of Independent Lens (1999), Moesha (1996), Training Day (2001)) playing himself, to.. well you get the idea. Throw in the legend of Nessie and you've got a totally hilarious thriller mockumentary directed by Zak Penn.

This is an interesting film that crosses the line between precieved reality and fiction. It successfully tricks you into thinking that you are watching a behind the scenes video of a tacky made Nessie documentary. What I really found amusing is Herzog got well know members of the film industry to enhance this fiction.

Of course once the monster gets involved all hell breaks loose and you are literally sitting and shaking your head at the complete absurdity of the situation. It was actually entertaining in that Oh, no you didn’t way.

So with this said, and yes I’m  not talking about the camera work, acting, or FX. This is one movie that all this doesn’t  matter. This is Werner Herzog being nuts and it is a blast. This is the guy who did a movie about a group of guys moving a boat across the Amazon to get to the river on the other side. This guy is wacko and he is doing a fako movie about him pissing off The Loch Ness Monster and getting members of his crew killed in the process…Fucking right I’m  going to recommend it. Have a party. Get messed up and enjoy… You can find it exclusively on Pluto TV in the On Demand Halloween Hits. Fuck man, you can’t  find it on DVD or anywhere else…

Review: Bad Kids Go to Hell (2012)

Review: Bad Kids Go to Hell (2012)

By William Pattison

 

This time I got a film that is based on a popular independent graphic novel…lucky me…

The Breakfast Club meets The Grudge in this sexy, dark comedy-thriller! Six prep school kids from Crestview Academy, home to the spoiled offspring of society's elite, find themselves stuck in detention on a frightfully dark and stormy Saturday afternoon. During their 8 hour incarceration, each of the six kids falls victim to a horrible "accident" until only one of them remains. As each of these spoiled rich kids bites the dust, the story takes on a series of humorous and frantic twists and turns. Is one of the kids secretly evening the school's social playing field? Or have the ghosts of prestigious Crestview Academy finally come to punish the school's worst (and seemingly untouchable) brats? One thing is for sure...Daddy's money can't save them now.

Five nasty rotten asshole socials in a haunted library, how could I not love this. This film is truly the horror fan’s Breakfast Club, with truly nasty versions of the stereotypes that horror stole from the John Hughes classic. It even has Judd Nelson in it!!!

This film has wonderful set pieces. The murders are wonderful and the twist at the end was worthy of a full on fist bump. This movie made me smile, it was so good. This film is AWESOMETACULAR!!!  And would suggest it is well worth getting the DVD…This film is currently in the On Demand Halloween Hits section on Pluto TV…

Review:The Lazarus Effect (2015)

The Lazarus Effect (2015)

This time I’m reviewing a film I first saw right when it came out in 2015 but at the time I wasn’t doing reviews yet so I thought and rewatch it and view it with new eyes, The Lazarus Effect…

*** SPOILER ALERT *** THE LAZARUS EFFECT follows a group of researchers led by Frank and his fiancée, Zoe, who've achieved the unimaginable - bringing the dead back to life. After a successful, yet unsanctioned, trial on a newly deceased animal, the team is ready to unveil their breakthrough to the world. When the dean of their university learns of their underground experiments, their project is unexpectedly shut down and their materials confiscated. Frank, Zoe and their team take matters into their own hands, launching a rogue attempt to recreate their experiment, during which things go terribly wrong and one of their own, Zoe, is horrifically killed. Fueled by terror and grief, Frank pushes them to do the unthinkable: attempt to resurrect their first human test subject. Initially, the procedure appears a success, but the team soon realizes something is wrong with Zoe. As her strange new persona reveals itself, the team quickly becomes stuck in a gruesome reality. They are no longer faced with the question of whether they can bring someone back to life- but rather, the wrath of her return.

This film really reminds me of another film that came round the same time, Frankenstein Syndrome. Both film takes inspiration from the classic Frankenstein story, but this film also takes a bit of inspirations from Stephen King’s Pet Semetary  and the film The Dead Hate the Living in that it has the idea that resurrected dead come back changed and murderously vengeful for being brought back.

Much like in Frankenstein Syndrome our group of characters are not doing authorized research and those that are funding them are corrupt and intended on stealing the work and getting rid of the researchers in the end. Also, one member of the group is a spy working for the corporation.

Also, like Frankenstein, they are successful in doing a resurrection. In the case of this film the subject is a dog whereas in Frankenstein it is a pregnant girl who commits suicide. Also, in the case of this film the main resurrection is a member of the research crew. In Frankenstein it was a security officer who was murdered by his boss because he threatened to tell the authorities about the project because they used his babie’s momma as a test subject. He was shot in the head. In Lazarus the person killed is the head researcher’s fiance. When she is brought back she also brings a long with her her personal hell because as a child she murder in family by burning down her home with them locked in a room. In Hell she spent an eternity reexperiencing her sin. Also, like Frankenstein she can now read minds and use her mind to attack the group who are afraid of her now and want to kill her.

The film itself is brilliantly written. The character are well developed and acted. The FX and production design is fantastic. This director really knew how to use his budget and this film look like it had double the budget. So, all in all I say The Lazarus Effect, like Frankenstein Syndrome is AWESOMETACULAR!!! I also recommend you do a double feature night with Frankenstein Syndrome. My dear friend Tiffany Shepis-Treder would really appreciate that because it is one of her best performances…and she needs the royalty check… You can currently find this film on Pluto TV and Tubi TV...

 

Review: VHS Halloween (2025)

Review: V/H/S/Halloween (2025)

By William Pattison

 

Ok, Gore and Scares, this time I’m jumping into the low budget, twisted, world of the anthology series VHS…this time it’s Halloween…

A collection of Halloween-themed  series of twisted, blood-soaked tales, turning trick-or-treat into a struggle for survival.

I’m not a huge fan of the VHS series. I usually find them as royally by the numbers anthology horror with very little imagination and not really scary except for a few predicable jump scares. This installment is radically different. This time they’ve uped their game. The writing in this film is worlds better than other installments. The acting is not fantastic but is much improved. Also, the FX are brutal. All and all when it comes to low budget anthology films this one gave me some good entertainment and a couple of scares. More importantly they respected the morality tales they were telling which makes this installment AWESOMETACULAR!!! I highly recommend this film for some good Halloween fun…

 

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.