31 Nights of Terror 2015 #34 - The Borderlands (2013)

The Borderlands (2013)
Director: Elliot Goldner
Starring: Gordon Kennedy, Robin Hill, Aidan McArdle
Format: AVI

Plot: A team of Vatican investigators descends upon a church in a remote area to demystify the unusual happenings, but what they discover is more disturbing than they had first imagined.

Also known as Final Prayer (a more fitting name), this is one of those movies that is saved by its third act and ending.

That's not to say the rest of the movie is bad. As found footage paranormal movies go it's simply watchable for the first two-thirds. Like all films of this kind, nothing much happens at the start, then the tension and suspense ramps up. The early portions are all about getting us comfortable with the characters before the bad stuff goes down, and the actors do a good job of bringing fun-loving techie Gray (Hill), hard-drinking and cynical church investigator Deacon (Kennedy), and by-the-book priest Mark (McArdle) to life.

Once the paranormal stuff starts it's nothing we haven't seen before, but the isolated setting (which I love) adds to an overall creepy atmosphere. Then late in the piece one of the characters goes investigating by himself at night and the suspense really ramps up, leading to an ending that I was left thinking about for days afterwards.

Those who don't like found footage films will probably want to bypass this one, but if that doesn't put you off, give it a watch, for the ending alone if for nothing else.

31 Nights of Terror 2015 #8 - The Possession of Michael King (2014

The Possession of Michael King (2014)
Director: David Jung
Starring: Shane Johnson, Ella Anderson, Cara Pifko
Format: DVD

Plot: Michael King (Shane Johnson), doesn't believe in God or the Devil. Following the sudden death of his wife, Michael decides to make his next film about the search for the existence of the supernatural, making himself the center of the experiment - allowing demonologists, necromancers, and various practitioners of the occult to try the deepest and darkest spells and rituals they can find on him - in the hopes that when they fail, he'll once and for all have proof that religion, spiritualism, and the paranormal are nothing more than myth. But something does happen. An evil and horrifying force has taken over Michael King. And it will not let him go.

This one flew under the radar for me - I'd never heard of it before picking it up for $1 at a closing video store in my town (part of a 50-DVD lot I grabbed on the last day before they closed up for good). But even going in blind I knew what to expect (well duh, the name says it all) and I'm no real fan of possession movies - they all seem to retread the same stuff we've seen going all the way back to The Exorcist (which I do dig).

On a positive note, The Possession of Michael King starts off strongly. The early parts where Michael is investigating paranormal activities (necromancer, retired priest, freaky devil-worshipping swinger couple) is good stuff. But unfortunately once our guy becomes "possessed" it's all down hill from there.

In Johnson's defence he does a pretty fine job of playing our hero in supernatural peril. It's just that we've seen it all before so many times. You know the drill - weird body and facial contortions, furniture moving, loud sounds, jump scares, the whole nine yards. If that's your thing, have at it, but it honestly bores me to tears. And why the hell is a possessed Michael still filming everything?

The Possession of Michael King is a generic found footage demon movie, not the worst I've seen, but nothing I'd be in a hurry to watch again.

31 Nights of Terror 2015 #7 - The Gallows (2015)

The Gallows (2015) 

Director: Travis Cluff, Chris Lofing
Starring: Reese Mishler, Pfeifer Brown, Ryan Shoos
Format: AVI

Plot: 20 years after a horrific accident during a small town school play, students at the school resurrect the failed show in a misguided attempt to honor the anniversary of the tragedy - but soon discover that some things are better left alone.

There was a lot of buzz about The Gallows when it was released earlier this year. I have to say I wasn't blown away by the trailer, so unlike a lot of people I probably went into my first viewing with low expectations. My expectations were met, and no, that's not a compliment.

I've said before I don't mind found footage flicks, and this one is actually really well shot, but it falls short in just about every other aspect. The acting is pretty bad, the scares are virtually non-existant and the script is ho-hum. It's a shame, because the concept of a killer who dies in a school play and comes back to haunt future productions could have been good. The end twist is not bad, but also not good enough to save the dreck that has gone before it.

The biggest complaint I have about The Gallows is that the group of main characters is completely unlikeable, especially douchebag Ryan (who I wanted to get killed off inside of five minutes). It's impossible to care about the plight of the group of teenagers when you can't relate to them at all. Maybe, as a self-confessed grumpy middle-aged geezer, I'm just not in the teeny-bopper target demographic.

I'd say that fans of modern teeny horror should check out The Gallows, everyone else should bypass it in favor of better fare.

31 Nights of Terror 2015 #2 - [REC] 2 (2009)

[REC] 2 (2009)

Directors: Jamie Balaguero, Paco Plaza

Starring: Jonathan D Mellor, Manuela Velasco, Oscar Zafra

Format: DVD

Plot: In order to ascertain the current situation inside, a supposed medical officer and a GEO team step into the quarantined and ill-fated apartment building.

Since my girlfriend and I started the 2015 edition of 31 Nights of Terror with the first [REC] movie, it only makes sense to continue with the series, especially since I have the first two on DVD and the next two are on Netflix.

This one I've only seen the once before, so I was fairly fresh going in. I like the way it continues on the same night as the first movie, kind of like Halloween 2, only this one stays in the same location. This time we've got new protagonists, with a SWAT team replacing the firefighters from part one, and a group of pesky kids thrown in for good measure.

[REC] 2 doesn't bring anything really new to the table, it's just more of the same from the first movie. Since the first movie was so great, that's not a bad thing. In the process they manage to expand on the background folklore, bringing more light to exactly what has gone on in the penthouse. And yep, that scary ass monster from the first movie is back to create more spinechilling moments.

I quite like the surprise twist at the end and am looking forward to seeing where they go for the third and fourth installments.

31 Nights of Terror 2015 #1 - [REC] (2007)

[REC] (2007)

Directors: Jamie Balaguero, Paco Plaza

Starring: Manuela Velasco, Ferran Terraza, Jorge-Yamam Serrano

Format: DVD

Plot: A television reporter and cameraman follow emergency workers into a dark apartment building and are quickly locked inside with something terrifying.

Normally when I do the 31 Nights of Terror (this is my fifth year, sixth if you count the first year when I only managed 21 movies) I pre-plan what movie to kick off the marathon with. This year I was a little busy and didn't have anything planned. Scanning the DVD collection with no idea of what to pick, my eye fell upon this fantastic Spanish scarefest, which I first saw on the big screen in 2009. My girlfriend hadn't seen it before, so it seemed a good choice.

And a good choice it was. I love this movie. Even though found footage movies are starting to get a bit old, and the same goes for zombie movies, [REC] stands the test of time. Found footage is done best when it is used to slowly build up the tension, as it is here. And this is of course no normal "zombie" movie. The infected people are more like the ones in The Crazies or 28 Days Later than a Romero zombie flick. These bastards are fast and fierce.

I also love how for most of the movie it's basically a "group of people try to survive zombie hordes" flick, but in the final act it changes tact completely, and boy does it bring the scares. Without ruining anything, the final monster is the thing of nightmares.

I haven't seen the American remake, Quarantine, and I don't want to. [REC] is fantastic, and those too lazy to read subtitles are seriously missing out!

MAY-DE TO BE MOCKED - Paranormal Entity (2009)

 Note: Throughout the month of May I will be watching Mockbusters, those low-budget movies which are made purely to cash in on a recent successful blockbuster. I call this May-de to be Mocked! 

Paranormal Entity (2009)
Director: Shane Van Dyke
Starring: Erin Marie Hogan, Fia Perera, Norman Saleet, Shane Van Dyke
Format: AVI

Plot: A family is apparently being visited by the spirit of their dead dad/husband. But things start going bad, so they set up cameras throughout the house to find out exactly what's up.

Normally when I list the cast of a movie, I pick out the three or four main actors. But that list that you see above? That's the whole cast. Four people. Total. And one of them (Saleet) only shows up briefly towards the end and Van Dyke never shows his face.

So yeah, minimalist is the key word here. But when you're aping the Paranormal Activity phenomena, that's to be expected I guess. I couldn't find the budget for this movie (produced by mockbuster specialists The Asylum) but it can't have been any more than about $100,000. Four actors. One of those actors is the director/writer. No special effects. Shot on handicams in a house. Hell, maybe $100,000 is being generous. $50,000?

I should add that I'm an unashamed Found Footage apologist. I like found footage movies. Starting with Blair Witch Project (which blew me away when I first saw it), continuing through all the hundreds of imitators, I enjoy them.

So, the found footage gimmick isn't the reason I didn't enjoy this one very much. Whereas Paranormal Activity and its first sequel (parts 3 and 4 are best not mentioned) do a great job with a good, slow build, this mockbuster doesn't show that same patience. It tries to show things too early, and in doing so fails to build up any real suspense.

The acting is passable (Hogan is the standout as the sister/daughter/main victim). One major difference from Paranormal Activity is this movie doesn't shy away from nudity and swearing. I guess that's something.

The other major problem is that I watched this after already having seen the first 4 Paranormal Activity movies, and by now the whole concept has passed its used by date. I wouldn't say I disliked this movie - it kept me entertained for the most part - but it felt exactly like what it is, a low-budget imitation.

31 Nights of Terror #26 - Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)

Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)
Director: Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman
Starring: Chloe Csengery, Jessica Tyler Brown, Christopher Nicholas Smith
Format: AVI

- Okay, there's no way I was going to take my eyes off the screen long enough to take notes during this movie. The whole fun of these movies is watching and waiting for something to happen.

Overall thoughts: As I've said plenty of times before, I'm a big fan of found footage movies. Blair Witch Project, the Paranormal Activity series, Cloverfield, REC, Troll Hunter - I love 'em all. But let's face it, you either love this sub-genre or you hate it. Paranormal Activity 3 isn't going to change that, but it does have more "scares" so is probably the most accessible found footage film of the lot. On the flip side, I found the reliance on jump-scares took away from the tension that made the first two movies work so well. That and I'm probably becoming a bit jaded to the Paranormal Activity formula, which was bound to happen by the third film. It's still a good watch, just not as good as the previous entries.