| The Return (2006: Rated PG-13) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433442/ Directed by Asif Kapadia. Starring: Sam Shepard …. Ed Mills, Darrian McClanahan …. Young Joanna Mills, Wally Welch …. Snack Stand Vendor, J.C. MacKenzie …. Griff & Young Griff, Sarah Michelle Gellar …. Joanna Mills, Frank Ertl …. Ambrose Miller, and many more. Another great role for Sarah Michelle Gellar, as she plays Joanna Mills, a sweet child that becomes disturbed after a ‘return from the dead’ traffic wreck with her father. She’s haunted by visions and spirits of the past, as she’s grown up as a woman, still falling back to delusions she had as a child. But are they delusions? A mystery unfolds and terror awaits as she returns to a small Texas town and discovers a horrid past and solves her own murder. Incredible plot and great screenplay. Highly enjoyed this film. Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5. Viewed 11/18/06. |
 |
Tag: 2006
Gravedancers (R: 2006)
| Gravedancers (2006: Rated R) http://gravedancers.com/, http://www.horrorfestonline.com/film3.html Directed by: Mike Mendez (The Convent, Killers); Written by: Brad Keene and Chris Skinner; Starring: Clare Kramer (House, The Rules of Attraction) Dominic Purcell (Prison Break, North Shore); and many more. Four oldschool classic high school friends reunite at a funeral of their fourth member of their quartet. After some drinks together, they decide to properly celebrate and mourn his passing – by going to the cemetery at night. They discover a weird card left on the gravestone, and reading the spell out loud while dancing on some random graves (that turned out to be undesireables and psychopath murderers) they awaken them from their graves for a serial haunting of classic proportions. Teamed up with a University parapsychologists, they seek to save their appointment with death. Can they do it? Its a haunting class tale. Must see. Rating: 5 stars out of 5. Viewed 11/18/06. |
 |
The Abandoned (R: 2006)
| The Abandoned (2006: Rated R) http://www.horrorfestonline.com/film7.html Directed by: Nacho Cerda (Genesis, Aftermath); Written by: Karim Hussain, Nacho Cerdà, Richard StanleyKarim Hussain, Nacho Cerdà, Richard Stanley (Dust Devil and Hardware); Starring:Marie – Anastasia Hille, Nikolai – Karel Roden, Misharin – Valentin Ganev, Olga Kaidavosky – Paraskeva, Djukelovaj, Anatoliy – Carlos Reig – Plaza; and many more. A LA Director goes back to her homeland in Russia to discover who her parents were, only to discover being willed a mysterious farm on an island in the middle of nowhere. She goes to investigate and unwraps a fate yet unfulfilled, but continually looped into understanding the brutal slaying of her mom, father, herself, and brother. Its a classic tale of dopplegangers and true evil, haunted and abandoned in the woods where there is no escape. Is the truth to the past really worth it? Great movie. Rating: 4 stars out of 5. Viewed 11/18/06. |
 |
Penny Dreadful (R: 2006)
| Penny Dreadful (2006: Rated R) http://www.pennydreadfulthemovie.com/, http://www.horrorfestonline.com/film2.html Directed by: Richard Brandes (“Out For Blood”, “Devil In The Flesh”); Written by: Diane Doniol-Valcroze (Kill by Inches), Arthur Flam and Richard Brandes; Starring: Rachel Miner, Mimi Rogers, Michael Berryman (“The Hills Have Eyes”, “The Devil’s Rejects”, “One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest”), and Mickey Jones (“Sling Blade”, “Tin Cup”, “Home Improvement”); and many more. Penny is a young woman who has a horrid fear of cars. Her therapist is teaching her to face her fears and takes her on a camping trip in the woods. They hit a hitchhiker, and feeling bad for what they’ve offer him a ride to a campground a few miles down the road. But the campground is closed. After dropping off the silent creep, they breakdown to only become the target of a wildnerness slaughter and daunting of fears. Tragic and delicious, classic gore and horror, the shock factor has a thumbs up. Penny’s fears are no longer only about a car. Must see! Rating: 5 stars out of 5. Viewed 11/18/06. |
 |
Turistas (R: 2006)
| Turistas (2006: Rated R) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454970/ Directed by John Stockwell. Starring: Josh Duhamel …. Alex; Melissa George …. Pru; Olivia Wilde …. Bea; Desmond Askew …. Finn; Beau Garrett …. Amy; Max Brown …. Liam; Agles Steib …. Kiko, and many more. A bunch of tourist hostel seeking youths travelling through the Brazilian jungles discover a beach paradise while awaiting a bus that never seems to arrive. Intoxicated and drugged they discover all their belongings, including identification, to be stripped from them, and find themselves in difficult positions. As they search for shelter, those who seem to be friends can only be questionned, as something dark, dreary, and dangerous awaits their futures. In fashion of “Hostel”, this film plays on an age-old urban legend. Rating: 4 stars out of 5. Viewed 12/10/06. |
 |
Apocalypto (2006: R)
| Apocalypto (2006: Rated R) http://apocalypto.movies.go.com/ Directed by Mel Gibson. Starring: Rudy Youngblood …. Jaguar Paw; Dalia Hernandez …. Seven; Jonathan Brewer …. Blunted; Morris Birdyellowhead …. Flint Sky; Carlos Emilio Baez …. Turtles Run; Ramirez Amilcar …. Curl Nose; Israel Contreras …. Smoke Frog; Israel Rios …. Cocoa Leaf, and many more. It’s a haunting tale of history, of omen, and of prophecy – dazzled in the history of the Mayans facing their demise as they have deforested their surroundings, met plague, and hunger, and in a rampage of violence, gore, and mutilation shows the harvesting of Mayan tribes in the forest to join the assembly line of head slicing, head rolling sacrifices to the Sun God for salvation and cures. The prophetic Jaguar warrior will bring on the Apocalypse and the end of the world as they know it. Filmed at Catamaco, the last tracks of rainforest left in Mexico, and in Veracruz with a cast of the indigenous crew. A lot of research and history was drudged up in the film making, and correspondence with Dr. Richard Hansen, an renowned archaeologist and expert on the Maya served as a consultant on the film. Very real and very invigorating, passionate, and terrifying … this film is a must-see. Rating: 5+ stars out of 5. Viewed 12/12/06.  |
 |
Eragon (PG: 2006)
Eragon (2006-PG)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449010/. Directed by Stefen Fangmeier. Starring: Edward Speleers …. Eragon, Jeremy Irons …. Brom, Sienna Guillory …. Arya, Robert Carlyle …. Durza, John Malkovich …. King Galbatorix, Garrett Hedlund …. Murtagh, and many more …
A fantasy flick of dragons and heroes in your typical magical evil vs bravely good, King Arthur twist dragon egg replaces sword in stone type of tale. Story of a young boy, living in a peon village under the powerful grip of an evil king, discovering a magical dragon egg in the woods. Only to discover his prophecy as the boy king to save his kingdom from the evil tyrant – with sorcery and swords, dragons and ogres, it’s all fantasy fun. It was lacking somewhere, I can’t find the words exactly where – because it was good and entertaining. Just lacked substance. Rating: 3 stars out of 5. Viewed 12/17/06.
Night at the Museum (PG, 2006)
Night at the Museum (PG, 2006)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0477347/
Directed by Shawn Levy. Starring: Ben Stiller …. Larry Daley, Carla Gugino …. Rebecca, Dick Van Dyke …. Cecil, Mickey Rooney …. Gus, Bill Cobbs …. Reginald, Jake Cherry …. Nick Daley, and many more.
A hilarious comedy about an out-of-work dad whose inventions keep failing and is having a hard time finding a job. He takes a job at the local Natural History Museum as a night security guard. Little does he know how much history comes alive at night in the museum. Based on an ancient Egyptian artifact that brings the museum to life – he joins up with the museum collection to catch the thieves that will destroy the museum’s life and interests – It’s a battle of phenomenal historical proportions with humor to die laughing for. Rating: 4 stars out of 5. Viewed 1/8/2007.
The Illusionist (PG-13, 2006)
The Illusionist (PG-13, 2006)
Directed by Neil Burger; starring: Edward Norton …. Eisenheim; Paul Giamatti …. Inspector Uhl; Jessica Biel …. Sophie; Rufus Sewell …. Crown Prince Leopold; Eddie Marsan …. Josef Fischer (as Edward Marsan); Jake Wood …. Jurka; Tom Fisher …. Willigut; and many more. Turn of the century Vienna, a young man learns the art of illusion and dazzles the village princess. Forbidden to see each other, they sneak off and are violently separated. Upset and abandoned, he sets off to travel the world and becomes a world-renown illusionist – only to find his way back to his love. As he finds ways to twist the illusions as covers to see her once again, breaking taboos again, he seeks to find a way to spend the rest of his life with her, even if it must embrace death. Excellent movie … 5 stars out of 5.
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006: R)
Pan’s Labyrinth
(2006 – R) Laberinto del Fauno, El
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457430/
 |
Directed by Guillermo del Toro; Starring: Ariadna Gil …. Carmen Vidal, Ivana Baquero …. Ofelia, Sergi López …. Capitán Vidal, Maribel Verdú …. Mercedes, Doug Jones …. Pan/Pale Man, Álex Angulo …. Dr. Ferreiro, and many more. |
An excellent International film in Spanish with English subtitles about a little girl who goes with her pregnant mom to live with her new “stepfather” who is a ruthless and sadistic Captain of the Spanish Civil War. Set in a historic mill with a prehistoric Labyrinth in the backyard, Ofelia explores and meets a faun and some vicious fey, that put her to a test of 3 ordeals she must complete in order to achieve her place as Princess in the Otherworld. Balanced with the fight and the cruelty of war, Ofelia escapes into a dark and hideous underworld where she must battle her fears to achieve her tests. It’s an amazing tale of the worlds within and the treachery of deceit … bloody, gory, and definitely not for children. Artistic, fabulous imagery, and good special effects. A must-see! Rating: 5 stars out of 5.