hackandslashcast - Tumblr blog

[hackandslashcast]

Hi everyone!

Just letting you all know I’ll be canceling our account with SoundCloud around the end of the month, and I believe effectively deleting all the podcasts from there. So if you want to download any, do it now! They may still be available elsewhere - I’m not sure.

[hackandslashcast]

I've been delaying doing this, but I regret to announce the podcast is now on an indefinite hiatus. I'm really sorry to anyone who's disappointed by this. Thank you to each and every listener and supporter. It's been amazing. I may keep the Twitter account going in some capacity.

Goodbye for now.

[hackandslashcast]

Bird Box (2018)

I was wary given the hype around this film since its recent release, but it was pretty decent. It has a pretty interesting premise, and I don’t know that it was used to its full potential, but it was definitely enough to keep me interested for the entire movie. I couldn’t help but compare it to similar films like A Quiet Place (2018) and The Mist (2007), but it was different enough that it didn’t feel entirely like a rip-off. It did, however, still feel derivative in as much as it felt like a lot of other post-apocalyptic stories. Most of the film wasn’t particularly thrilling, but there were a couple of standout scenes that had a good amount of suspense, and I really enjoyed that. Sandra Bullock’s performance is nothing special, but she gets the job done. I also have to mention the score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, who always do excellent work. The screenplay was a little clumsy in parts in terms of exposition and structure, but overall, I liked it and I’d totally recommend it.

[hackandslashcast]

The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

As a long-time horror fan, it’s kind of crazy that I’d never seen a Hammer film. I’ve always known of them, but I figured it’s about time I actually watch one. And it was decent. I liked that it distanced itself from Frankenstein (1931) by being more about Victor Frankenstein than the monster itself. The first half of the movie is fairly dry, but once the monster shows up, it’s pretty fun. Peter Cushing is good. Christopher Lee is too, but he doesn’t get to do all that much. I liked the make-up on him though, and his coat was badass. I though the ending was pretty interesting and unexpected, too. Overall, I didn’t love it, but I’m glad I watched it.

[hackandslashcast]

Our brand new horror podcast is live!

In a very special bonus episode, we discuss more bad acting, more bad writing, more cheap production, and some genuinely funny moments in the second season of Freddy's Nightmares.

[hackandslashcast]

Up next on our horror podcast, we have another special bonus episode comin’ at ya in which we review the second season of Freddy’s Nightmares!

Coming soon!

[hackandslashcast]

Our latest horror podcast is live!

We discuss lame and disgusting death scenes, Baby Freddy Krueger, Super Freddy Krueger, and a whole lot more nonsense in A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989).

[hackandslashcast]

Up next on our horror podcast, we review A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)!

Coming soon!

[hackandslashcast]

Our brand new horror podcast is live!

We discuss taking forever to get to Manhattan, awkward comedy, teleportation, and the longest scene in cinema history in Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989).

[hackandslashcast]

Up next on our horror podcast, we review Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)!

Coming soon!

[hackandslashcast]

Camp Death III in 2D! (2018)

So, full disclosure: the director of this movie, Matt Frame, contacted me recently, asking if I’d be interested in giving his slasher parody a watch. He seemed like a nice guy, and he gave me permission to be brutally honest with my review, so I figured I’d give it a go.

And uhh... It was pretty terrible? I mean, I want to go easy on it, because it’s a low-budget movie that doesn’t take itself seriously in the least, but yeah, I did not enjoy it. The whole thing is complete and utter nonsense. It truly borders on incoherent. And again, I’m sure that was part of the intent, but I found it alternately irritating and boring. The editing is so supremely fast and frantic, it’s hard to keep up. Even the end credits don’t stay still! Not to mention the whole thing seems to be sped up, making everything appear faster than is natural. The CGI used is decent for the low budget, but is pretty over-used. 

I was hoping for at least some fun, gory death scenes, but surprisingly, it was was quite lacking. Instead, the director just seemed to be really into putting various liquids on the actors’ faces. Speaking of the actors, all their performances are so incredibly over-the-top, it’s hard to criticise, ‘cause it’s not like they’re even trying to be natural or anything. But still - they’re really bad. And it’s just not funny either. I had to give a couple of laughs at a few points, just at the sheer absurdity of what I was watching, but that was it. It’s like a mix of Scary Movie (2000) and Wet Hot American Summer (2001), except not funny or clever. 

I always admire anyone who can get a film made, and they clearly had a bunch of fun making it, but yeah, it wasn’t for me, and I couldn’t really recommend it. 

[hackandslashcast]

Halloween (2018)

I’ve been looking forward to this movie ever since it was announced. I’m a big fan of the original film, Halloween (1978), and this movie seemingly had all the pieces in place to make a great sequel. I probably shouldn’t have had such high expectations, because I came away a bit disappointed. It’s not a bad movie by any stretch, but it’s only an okay one.

It plays things fairly safe, and although it seemed to have a lot of good ideas, they just weren’t executed all that well. The filmmakers clearly have a love for the original movie and the Halloween series as a whole, as there are many, many references and allusions that fans will pick up on. Sometimes it was a little much though, coming dangerous close to being a remake at points. Definitely reminded me of Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015) in that way. It was cool to have Jamie Lee Curtis back, and she’s a class act as usual, but I didn’t think they really did enough with her character. I learned all there was to know about her and how the events of the first movie affected her in the first 5 minutes of her showing up. And none of the other characters really did anything for me.

Oh, and it wasn’t scary, which is always disappointing in a horror movie. There were 2 or 3 decent moments of suspense, but they usually only lasted 10 seconds. The kills were alright, but nothing special. I didn’t have a problem with Michael Myers in the movie, but I can’t say I felt like it was the same character from the original.

It takes a while to get going, and then just didn’t thrill me enough when it did. Even John Carpenter’s score failed to impress me. I’m probably being too harsh, and I’m sure lots of others will enjoy it, but for me, a long-time Halloween fan, it didn’t live up to the hype. I’ll stick with my trilogy of the original, Halloween II (1981), and Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998).

[hackandslashcast]

Our latest horror podcast is live!

In a very special bonus episode, we discuss Freddy Krueger's origins, bad acting, bad writing, cheap production, and more in the first season of Freddy's Nightmares.

[hackandslashcast]

Up next on our horror podcast, we have a very special bonus episode in which we review the first season of Freddy’s Nightmares!

Coming soon!

[hackandslashcast]

Our brand new horror podcast is live!

We discuss an overall lack of logic, excellent practical effects, cockroaches, dog pee and Freddy's rap skills in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988).

[hackandslashcast]

Up next on our horror podcast, we review A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)!

Coming soon!

[hackandslashcast]

Our latest horror podcast review is live!

We discuss Jason's gruesome look, telekinetic powers, censored death scenes, and an awful twist ending in Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988).