Andy's Halloween Horror Wall
by Andy Bartsch, GGR contributor emeritus
For those of us who are antisocial enough to skip out on a party (or are at the age where we just want to go to bed at a reasonable hour) it’s become a custom stay in for the night with a cold beer, some friends, and a horror flick. With Halloween only a few weeks away, it’s time we give recognition to those lesser known horror films from recent years. I call these picks “Andy’s Halloween Horror Wall.” Remember back in the day when video stores existed and they would have a whole horror section? It’s like that, only digital!
Haunt
Haunt is a story of a small group of teens who visit an extreme haunted house attraction that’s filled with actual threats. While the film doesn’t bring anything new to the table, the acting, makeup effects, and the suspense the film builds makes it shine. The ending was hit-or-miss for me, but this is definitely a film I plan on visiting again.
Check out the trailer here
The Belko Experiment
Have you fanaticized about taking an ax to your boss’s face? Or shooting the creepy guy from the desk opposite of yours in the dick? Live vicariously through The Belko Experiment, a film about an office building on lockdown until every employee but one is killed. As the trailer accurately describes, the film is Office Space meets Battle Royale. An interesting premise written by Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn, The Belko Experiment is loaded with tension, amazing gore effects, and a stellar cast which includes Tony Goldwyn, John C. McGinley, and Michael Rooker. Unfortunately, the film fell under the radar when it was released in 2016, so it didn’t make much of a splash at the box office, meaning a follow-up is unlikely at this time.
Check out the trailer here
"looks like someone's got a case of 'the Mondays' "
Train to Busan
Zombie films are a dime a dozen. It would take something really special to stand out among the constant influx of zombie games, movies, and TV shows nowadays. Enter Train to Busan, a Korean zombie film about a neglectful father, his daughter, and the passengers of a bullet train who are unaware of a zombie infected girl who snuck aboard with them. Soon the one zombie quickly turns into two. Then five. Then twenty. And so on and so on. These aren’t the slow moving zombies either. They’re the 2004 Dawn of the Dead angry, rage zombies. Fill a multiple car bullet train with them, a few survivors, and a judgmental jerk who causes nothing but problems, and you have an exciting film from beginning to end. Train to Busan was such a hit, an animated prequel was made shortly after, and now a sequel and an American remake is in the works thanks to Aquaman director James Wan. What would it be called, thought? Train to Boston?
“"When the zombie panhandlers ask for brains, just ignore them.”
So the next film stars John Travolta as a man-child and is directed by Fred Durst—HEY, COME BACK HERE! Okay, on paper, The Fanatic, a film about a horror film obsessed fanboy who stalks action superstar Devin Sawa, sounds terrible. In fact, the film only made just over $3,000 at the box office. However, that being said, the film definitely falls under guilty pleasure or so-bad-it’s-good territory. Travolta really doesn’t hold back as the mentally challenged Moose (no, seriously, that’s apparently his real name) and it’s really entertaining to watch him let loose. He let his moose loose…sorry. It gets really good when he actually comes face-to-face with the unnecessarily mean Sawa and they get into their screaming matches. And yeah, I’m going to say it, Durst did an okay job. It’s nothing Oscar worthy but to cult film fans, it’s definitely entertaining enough.
[I have to admit that I haven’t seen the following films in a while, so I apologize for the lack of (or possibly incorrect) details. I can’t blame that on my bad writing.]
check out the trailer here
Last Shift
"do you wanna know how i got these scars? me too! these things hurt!"
If like, me you were disappointed in the Silent Hill films, you may find solace in the very creepy Last Shift. A rookie cop on her first night is assigned to guard a police station on its last night before demolition. Things like the lights flickering or strange sounds coming down long, empty hallways seem like tricks of the mind at first, but as the night progresses, she realizes there’s something a bit more sinister going on.
check out the trailer here
The Void
"Illuminati!"
I’m a huge fan of John Carpenter, and if you’ve been missing that classic Carpenter vibe you get from films like The Thing or The Fog, you might get you fix from The Void. A cop ends up in a hospital where people in ominous white sheets let loose some goopy monsters to run amok. Like I said, it’s been a while since I’ve seen this film, but the one thing I remember standing out was the sound design. The creatures make these horrible inhuman noises which sent chills down my spine.
check out the trailer here
The Autopsy of Jane Doe
Finally we come to The Autopsy of Jane Doe, a film starring the great Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch, and directed by Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark’s Andre Overdal. Hirsch and Cox play father and son coroners who perform an autopsy on a woman with no identity. As they try to determine the cause of death, strange incidents occur around them, and an insane psychological nightmare begins. One of things that stood out, like with Scary Stories, were the visuals. Overdal has an amazing talent to creep the audience just by using the camera. I swear, he could make a silent horror film and it would still be effective.
"I’m gonna say the cause of death was... mutants. hehe get it? I was in X-Men II and Speed Racer."
check out the trailer here
Keep in mind, these are just my recommendations, so if you disagree or even have a few hidden gems of your own to suggest, let’s hear them in the comments!
Andy Bartsch was the first ever addition to the GGR family back in 2015. He’s now doing amazing artwork on several comic projects (in addition to the guy who created the GGR mascot, Ripley the Robot). Check out his work and help the dude out! :)