Charles W Jones

The Initiation (1984) is about Kelly going through hell week to join a sorority. Meanwhile, she’s had reoccurring nightmares since childhood and is working with Peter to do dream analysis. To get into the sorority, she and the remaining pledges must get into her father’s department store (it looked like a Mall to me)  and steal the guard’s uniform. Well, the prank goes amock when Kelly gets locked inside by the head sorority sister, Megan.  I complain about modern movies dragging on, and I must mention this one does too, but not for long. There are several scenes where nothing happens besides revealing a layer of information needed to understand what is happening. (Yes, that’s my excuse for it in this movie.) The kills are good, with a good amount of 80s blood flowing. The jump scares are fun and made me giggle because I fell for them. Then when everything ties together, it’s fantastic to know that Kelly isn’t crazy as I thought, and the killer wasn’t who I thought either. The...

When I read the description for Glorious (2022), I did a doubletake because there’s no way anyone would make a movie like that. Well, they did. For the most part, it was fun. Poor Wes is upset about the end of his relationship with his girlfriend, Brenda. He’s driving to make distance from the pain of his loss.  Then Wes stops at a rest area where he gets drunk. He burns his belongings and wakes next to the fire pit the next day—his world changes when he goes inside the public restroom to vomit. I loved the idea of this film and the twist. The gore, when there was some, was satisfying, but like so many other “horror” films of the decade/milenia, it wasn’t as frightening as I wanted. I wonder if it’s me? Have I watched so many horror movies that I’ve become desensitized? Or are these so-called slow burns how horror creators are doing it now? I hope I’m desensitized. That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy Glorious. It was great, just not off the charts scary, and only one bit that caused m...

Black Roses (1988) takes place in the fictional town Mill Basin, where nothing exciting ever happens. That is until the Black Roses come to town to perform for the teenagers. The good Christians are against it, but the mayor compares them to the Beatles and Elvis, so they allow it. They even go to the first concert that is totally beautiful and wholesome, until the conservatives and the mayor leave. This cheese-fest is filled with amazing puppets and effects, making me think the creators of this film were inspired by Gwar even though King Kobra played most of the band’s music.  The cast in this one is interesting, with many people I’ve never heard of except John Martin. I didn’t know his name until I looked up the cast, but he looked familiar, and that’s because he guest starred in tons of 1980s TV Shows. Black Roses is super fun to experience, and I gave it 4 out of 5 Stars. Black Roses (1988) #RockandRoll #Horror Click To Tweet

I was excited when I heard Rob Zombie was making a Munsters movie. Of course, I had questions. After seeing his other films, how could I not? I saw the posts on Instagram and was delighted that the campiness would be intact and confirmed by the first trailer. I read reviews that said there was no conflict, but I strongly disagree. There was tons of conflict. Lily falls in love with Herman at first sight and upsets The Count, The Count and Lester, Lester and Zoya, The Count and Zoya, and there’s more, but I guess it wasn’t strong enough for those folks, while it worked wonders for me. I listened to the soundtrack before I saw The Munsters and was drawn into the world even without knowing the visuals that went along with it. You should check that out, too; it’s on most music platforms (if not all). This film is a prequel to all that is The Munsters and filled in blanks for me that I always wondered about with the storyline. Now, that those questions are answered, I’m satisfied. (Really, ...

The blurb on IMDb says this to describe The Curse of La Patasola (2022), On a weekend camping trip, two struggling couples are haunted by La Patasola, a famed vampiric monster from Amazonian folklore, testing their relationships, morality, and will to survive. I expected two things from this description: this movie was going to scare me good, and it’s set in the Amazon. It’s not in the Amazon, which is fine, I guess; just strange that a monster from there would travel to the US to go after the two couples. I’ll get to the fright factor in a second, but first, I want to talk about the couples therapy this group needed. Most of it was so petty and left me unimpressed since, yeah, well, you didn’t grow up with me. In the first hour, I was like, did I miss that this was a chick-flick? The final twenty-four minutes (at least three for the credits) had some meat. The monster wasn’t horrible, and the trippiness of it was fun. I did get some chills and surprises, so I can’t complain about th...

Beyond the Door (1974) also has the names Who are you? and Devil Within Her . There’s also a movie called The Devil Within Her (1976), aka I Don’t Want to Be Born, starring Joan Collins that is very similar. As the film began, the first thing that came to mind was who fucked up Dimitri’s beard? Seriously. Who did that? Hair and makeup did a number on it, and in every scene he was present, I was drawn to it. That aside, Beyond the Door is said to be a cheap knock-off of The Exorcist (1973), and I can see the resemblance. The children are exceptional. I love the totally unfiltered approach to parenting. I wished I could say what they did when I was their age. Another thing of note is the product placement. It’s not uncommon to see Coke or Pringles in a movie, but this movie took putting products in scenes to the extreme. Where would E.T. be without Reese’s Pieces? I paused the movie for a minute to Google one called Salad Cream. The possession effects are very similar to ...

The Black Phone (2021) stars Ethan Hawk and was produced by none other than Blumhouse, so with that knowledge, I went in knowing that it wasn’t going to be that scary for me, at least. This film also made me realize that Blumhouse films are like a gateway drug for newbies to the horror genre. Once they see one, they be like, oh, that wasn’t so bad, I can handle a little harder next time. This is an adaptation of Joe Hill’s short story of the same name, which I’ve never read…or anything he’s written. The fact that this story takes place in a Denver suburb gave it an extra chill since I live in one of those suburbs. The Black Phone is darker and creepier than I expected from the usual Blumhouse experience. In fact, some scenes gave me actual chills. Ghosts using the phone to tell Finney what they’d done and his next steps was cool. Even showing them lurking just out of sight was a great touch. The Grabber was freaky with the different mask parts over his mouth. Of all the Blumhouse produ...

The Prowler (1981) starts with a flashback to the World War II era with a couple getting impaled by a pitchfork by an unknown killer while on lover’s lane. Due to this event, the Graduation Dance has been canceled for forty years.  The best part of this film is that I didn’t have to wait for the stabby-stabby to begin. The downside, but since it’s a slasher, it’s expected, is that nothing was out of the ordinary. The gore and the chases and the suspense had all been done in Friday the Thirteenth I (1980) & II (1981) and My Bloody Valentine (1981), making me wonder if this was a knock-off. The unmasking of the killer was fun, at least. The scene was intense and exciting. Then it ended with a hallucination.  No matter what I said above, The Prowler is an excellent slasher with tons of great jump scares and gore. I gave it 3.5 out of 5 Stars. The Prowler (1981) #OneFromTheVaults #Horror #Slasher Click To Tweet

I wasn’t sure what to expect from The Runner (2022) by Boy Harsher, and honestly didn’t know what it was or that it existed until Shudder posted it on Instagram. And after seeing it, I’m not sure what it was still except for a forty-minute music video featuring some fantastic Boy Harsher tracks. At least I knew who Boy Harsher was thanks to YouTube Music which randomly puts their music on my playlists from time to time. As I watched, I was enthralled by the imagery and lulled by the music (my favorite track is Autonomy, if you were wondering). The Runner is an exotic-looking woman who doesn’t speak and kills fewer people than I expected or wanted. She is very hypnotic to watch as she allures or repels people. A few times, she calls someone who speaks through the phone, but we don’t know who he is or their connection. While I wasn’t frightened by The Runner, it kept my attention and drew me into this strange world filled with questions. I gave it 4 out of 5 Stars. The Runner (2022) #Mus...

Witchery (1988) aka La Casa 4 – Witchcraft in Italy) has an interesting cast, including David Hasselhoff and Linda Blair. That’s not where the strangeness ends for this film. It’s set at a hotel on a remote island where Gary and his girlfriend Leslie are researching the lore around it. It has moments where I thought it was going to be like The Shining (1980); the next thing I know, it’s like The Watcher In The Woods (1980). Now that I think about it, it’s a combination of both but not as good. The Lady in Black looks a lot like Mrs. Aylwood. I hope you understand what I’m getting at; it’s not original. There are very bizarre aspects that I always love in a film, but this one didn’t hit the mark for me. The kills, voodoo, and gore were good, so that’s saying something for this film. Too bad it’s not enough to make me love it. Oh, yeah, one more thing, Linda Blair is possessed. Witchery isn’t that great, but I gave it 3 out of 5 Stars. Witchery (1988) #Haunted #Horror Click To Tweet...

Temple ( 2017 ), like so many other horror movies I’ve seen in the last five years, is about going into the woods and getting attacked by a demonic presence, which is fine, I guess, but how many times does it need to be done? I could see it if Temple was a stellar example of the theme, but it wasn’t. The first 50 minutes were so boring (it’s only a 78-minute movie), that I almost forgot that it was a horror movie; and at one point, I almost gave up. Once the cast reaches the temple, it’s fine, but not enough for me to be wowed. As I said, I’ve seen so many iterations of the theme, you really need to knock my socks off. The effects and makeup when the good stuff finally happened weren’t great, and I’d hoped that with all the anticipation there would’ve been more. Here’s another example of me torturing myself so you don’t have to. Please don’t waste your time with Temple. At least it was only 78 minutes long, so I didn’t lose much of my life. I can’t justify g...

Intruder (1989) is another slasher film I remember seeing back in the day, but the details were fuzzy. I’m glad I took the time to rewatch it, as it’s a great movie. It starts with a grocery store closing for the night and the workers beginning to stock the shelves for the next day. A creepy man watches as Jennifer gathers shopping carts from the lot. He pushes a cart toward her, but she doesn’t see him. Soon we discover that the creepster is Craig, Jennifer’s ex.  There’s so much happening in this film, which I think was on purpose, so it’s unclear who the killer is. And the gore is awesome. Each kill is brutal and satisfying. And the jump scares are off the charts. I appreciate Scott Spiegel and Lawrence Bender’s effort to make this one. Then there’s the ending, which I won’t spoil, but I was surprised by the twist.  I enjoyed Intruder and gave it 4 out of 5 Stars. Intruder (1989) #Lost80s #Horror #Slasher Click To Tweet

They/Them (2022) brings LGBTQ+ horror to the front in this strangely delightful slasher. While it has some great stabby-stabby scenes, it’s not very frightening. That’s because Blumhouse seems to make so much horror-lite content anymore that I can’t remember being scared. It takes place in an LGBTQ+ conversion camp run by Owen Whistler (Kevin Bacon); I’m so glad he plays an asshole well. And while the psychological aspect of being in a place like that freaks me the fuck out, there really wasn’t much to be afraid of. The most sadistic conversion technique was leaving them in the woods overnight, which wasn’t really that bad since I’ve been camping many times. The suspenseful moments were constant, with little follow-through. At least the few slasher scenes were good. The reveal was good, but I wish they would’ve waited just a little longer to show the killer and their reasons. They/Them isn’t the worst Blumhouse film I’ve seen, and I was actually satisfied with what I saw. I gave it 3.5...

Mountaintop Motel Massacre (1983) is about Evelyn, who sneaks through tunnels under cabins to kill people after she killed her daughter for doing witchcraft. I have so many questions about this film that didn’t get answered. The biggest one is why Evelyn was triggered when she caught Lorie practicing witchcraft? Mixed with the blandness that lingers for a bit too long from time to time are some great kill scenes. The effects in this low-budget gem are excellent, which surprised me a bit, as did the acting prowess. Anna Chappell (Evelyn) is fantastic in the role, and I can’t imagine anyone better. Each kill is different, making me cheer for Evelyn’s creativity. Too bad the reason for her mental instability was never clear, so I couldn’t wrap my head around the why. Then again, does there have to be a why? Mountaintop Motel Massacre is a clever slasher that shouldn’t be ignored. I gave it 3.5 out of 5 Stars. Mountaintop Motel Massacre (1983) #Lost80s #Slasher #Horror Click To Tweet

The Last Thing Mary Saw (2021) has been in my Shudder cue for a while because sometimes Shudder Originals are dreadful (more often than not, especially the newer ones). When I decided to rip off the bandage, I promised myself I wouldn’t finish it if it fell into that category. Much to my relief, it did not. It is the tale about Mary (obviously), who is having an affair with the maid, Eleanor. As a quick side note, Isabelle Fuhrman played Eleanor, known for her role in The Orphan. Mary and Eleanor are punished for their disgusting behavior by kneeling on rice. Well, they don’t stop their romance and devise a plan to break free of the matriarch.  I love historical horror fiction (probably why I wrote darkness is coming), and this hit the mark for me with creepiness and bizarre events. Judith Roberts is fantastic as The Matriarch. She has that look of the stereotypical witch. While she rules with the word of God, there is something sinister about her. I loved The Last Thing Mary Saw a...

It’s been a while since I took copious notes for a movie, but for some reason, Nightmare (1981) seemed to be the one I needed them. I had to start this movie over after about fifteen minutes because I thought I missed something, but I didn’t. Rather than my usual review, I will give you the notes, which include spoilers. Lots of screaming Pretty gruesome Kids are screaming because they saw someone peep through the window. When mom comes in to check, there’s no one there. George gets released from the psychiatric unit and goes to a peep show, then he goes to a pay phone and calls phonesex. They show the phonesex operator with a vibrator, and the only thing I could think was Mary, Mary, quite contrary, trim that bush. It’s too damn hairy. Andrew Dice Clay. He foams at the mouth as he has a flashback or vision of a young boy chopping off his mother’s head with an ax. George calls the house, and a boy answers, and he hangs up. He ends up at a bar after his car breaks down and follows a wo...

The Long Night (2022) is not exactly what I expected, though I don’t know what I expected since I barely remember adding it to my watch list. It’s about Grace and Jack who go to the countryside to meet with a man to learn about Grace’s family. When they arrive, he’s not there, but she knows where the key is and opens the door. After wandering around the house looking for him without luck, except coming upon a nasty smell in a room, they decide to stay the night, hoping he’ll return. Of course, they don’t investigate the scent, which is somewhat weird. It’s also strange that they don’t smell it anywhere else in the house. Enter the craziness of a group of pagans circling the house. As things escalated, it became clear, to me, what was happening because of the flashbacks and the reveals that came a little too soon. But I didn’t care. I was totally into watching the chilling events that unfolded as the movie progressed. Leading to the ending that was over the top even for me, but whatever...

All About Evil (2010) has been on my watch list for a while, and I’ve never gotten around to watching it, and now that I have, I wish I could remember why I wanted to see it. Oddly, the cast is impressive. Too bad the acting is beyond any B-Movie Elvira hosted and not in a good way. Speaking of Elvira, I got a kick from how Linda, Steven’s mom, eyeballed Elvira’s poster when he told her he was into older women because Linda is Cassandra Peterson. The other good parts of the film were Vera and Veda. I wish they had the same dresses as the twins from The Shining (1980). The tongue-in-cheek use of horror greats was entertaining, though it did get a little old as the movie progressed. At least the free-flowing blood kept it from getting over-the-top (maybe, sarcasm, maybe not). All About Evil is so bad it’s good, and I don’t regret seeing it. I gave it 3.5 out of 5 Stars. All About Evil (2010) #RealHorror Click To Tweet

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021) is a franchise reboot that tried. I wasn’t sure if I should watch it, but since I’d finished binging the original series, I decided that my life wouldn’t be complete if I ignored it. I’m actually glad that I didn’t. So forget everything you know about Umbrella Corp and Raccoon City, well, at least Raccoon City, because this is different even from the one in the Netflix series. This is like an old dying mining town feel with colorful residents and a lot of peeling paint. This starts gritty and ends that way, and I’m so happy. (I’ve been told it’s closer to the video games, but since I’ve never played them, I don’t have a point of reference, so I’ll have to trust who told me that.) The characters are more believable, as is the survival plot. There are not a bunch of crazy action tricks or over-the-top CGI. But guess what? It’s actually frightening, something that I longed for from the original franchise. Alice never wakes in the shower becaus...

After seeing the Netflix series, I decided it was time to binge the films. Films based on video games can be hit or miss, but this franchise made it work, kinda. Having never played the game and never will, I wonder a little what it’s like. A friend told me it’s phenomenal.  The Netflix series felt like fan fiction, but that’s OK. I really enjoyed it, unlike the redundant films. Resident Evil (2002) is the beginning of it all. I’ve seen it several times, and I’m unsure why I’ve never talked about it before. Honestly, I still don’t know what’s going on. It’s all bizarre but awesome at the same time. The effects are good for 2002, and the action is higher than the horror. Alice has flashbacks that fill in the blanks to how the film started.  Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) kind of picks up where the last left off, but it shows the T-virus has spread outside. It’s a lot of chaos with the infected everywhere. And the introduction to tons of new cast members. It’s a little confusi...