kaylin

Even though the Canadian film The Heretics has its weaker parts, in that there are some storylines that are uninteresting - especially the search to find Gloria - there are also scenes that I liked a lot visually. It's too bad that it usually needs a script that can capture something, not simply good ideas of what to portray. Still, I'm going to go out of my way and give The Heretics at least an average rating.

Despite a certain amount of copying of older monster movies, The Mummy's Tomb is certainly watchable, not least because the mummy is very well masked and Lon Chaney Jr. has given it the right kind of movement, as well as a certain creepiness and a tragic undertone where you suspect for quite a while that this can't end well for the mummy. However, The Mummy's Tomb doesn't stand out above other Universal films.

Rene Perez hasn't learned much and hasn't improved since Playing with Dolls. Its sequel, Playing with Dolls: Bloodlust is simply a variation on the same theme, a variation that hasn't improved in any way, because it simply copies what has already been filmed and doesn't have a shred of originality. It's sad that if the creator considers this his baby, he isn’t able to give it a little more. I can't help it, this is simply bad.

The American-Colombian film City of Dead Men shows that the crisis of American horror can easily carry over to places that might have their own original concepts. But this is a boring American screenwriting template, which is set in a relatively interesting environment that is woefully underused. Jackson Rarthbone tries to create an interesting character, but the script ultimately destroys it anyway.

The problem with Truth or Dare is that you get exactly what you expect from it. There's nothing extra, there are no good characters, the actors simply do what's required of them, and what you really get is normal horror boredom. However, I think you really could make something scary out of this idea. So far, unfortunately, no one has managed to do that.

If you like old Universal horror films, you can't go wrong with The Mummy's Hand. This is a very good variation on the mummy theme, especially in the sense that it's not simply a lazy adventure film, because there really are horror elements here that the filmmakers can use to impress even the contemporary, more durable audience. You won't be scared, but it's still a pleasantly chilling film to watch.

Happy Birthday is pretty well made, and Casey Tebo was even able to get Steven Tyler for it because he had worked with him on a few videos for Aerosmith, but even that's not enough to make the film entertaining. It's not fun, it's boring and it only pretends to be gory, and in reality, even that doesn't work. This is a sad example of a film that definitely had bigger ambitions than it achieved.

You'll tend to put on Playing with Dolls when you really don't care what you're watching anymore. You’ll feel like you're getting a slasher movie, but you're not. Maybe it’s a voyeur film? Nope, that’s also not the case in the end. Rene Perez simply doesn't have what it takes to make horror movies, yet he keeps trying. And this film has already had two sequels. That’s almost unbelievable.

There is a certain continuity with Day of the Dead in the horror film Day of the Dead: Bloodline, but it's not something for fans to cheer about. There is a certain idea here, but in the end it gets bogged down in pretty standard zombie fare, which slowly stops working. The medical idea is there, the characters behave interestingly, and the masks are not bad, but somehow it all fades out into nothing.

The American film The Executioners is one of the weaker films to come from overseas, but one that has some potential that could be taken advantage of. In this case, however, it was not taken advantage of and ultimately it is simply another horror film that remains a missed opportunity. But it's good that there are filmmakers who are still trying, who have something within them, and maybe they will improve thanks to criticism. Although it's true that Giorgio hasn't improved much so far.