If by "thriller" you mean "not scary", I totally agree with you. In fact, of all 3 Horrorfests, only "The Abandoned" was truly scary to me. There's tension in many of the better films, but nothing truly frightening except for people frightened of gore (or breaking mirrors!). But I still find it fun to watch these movies on the big screen - there's something about the experience that makes even the worst films of the fest at least more tolerable.
I do agree that economics plays a big part in whether people go to the fest, rent the films on DVD, wait for them to show up on Sci-Fi Channel, or do none of the above. But I also think that the quality of the films helps determine that. The biggest crowds I experienced were for Horrorfest 1, and they stayed good sized. For Horrorfest 2, there were decent crowds on Day 1, and then "Unearthed" started chasing people out of the theater. On Day 2, "Lake Dead" did the same. I can't remember if "Tooth and Nail" was Day 2 or Day 3, but that was another killer. In other words, I think the poor quality of the majority of the Horrorfest 2 films helped to make sure that fewer theaters showed it this time and fewer people went this time, feeling that the quality was something better paid for on DVD or free TV rather than $10.00 at the AMC Theaters.
(POSSIBLE SPOILERS)
I did think the ending of Voices was downbeat since none of the main characters survived - unless you count the evil spirit kid who was the source of all the trouble! "The Broken" to me was not just another remake of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", but in particular a remake of the 1978 remake, but told from the pod's point of view. The end - where her brother comes to see her and realizes she's a pod/mirror person and runs away - is like watching the 1978 scene where the friend approaches Donald Sutherland and finds out the hard way that he's a pod...BUT IN REVERSE, watching it from Lena Headey's "pod" point of view. That all makes "The Broken" sound much better than it was, which was excruciatingly boring and slow.
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richard-foshee
15 years ago
I 100% agree with you on The Broken. I also found it very interesting that once Lena Headey's character realized she was a doppleganger, she completely lost all capacity for emotion. One minute she's crying and freaking out, the next she's totally dead pan. That complete turn really squashed the ending of The Broken for me. Not to mention, the movie had no resolution to the issue at hand. Where did these body doubles come from? What purpose did they serve? Why did they suddenly show up on her father's birthday? They had no significance other than to simply replace someone. The movie could've been so much more than it was but in the end, it crapped out and lost steam (and any interest people had in it).
I definitely agree with ticket prices. Having gone to all three Horrorfests and seen roughly 80% of the movies at each one, it's not a cheap venture on the part of the consumer. This is my biggest problem, and most people's, with Horrorfest. For the price of cumulative admission, you're not left with a whole lot at the end. There may have been one or two movies you liked but overall, you spent a lot of time and money on something that's better fitted to DVD release than being put on a big screen. But on the flip side, some movies lose some of their personality when watched on a TV. From sound to picture quality, some movies need that big screen treatment. Movies like The Abandoned, Borderland, The Deaths of Ian Stone, Mulberry Street, or Unrest benefit from a big screen since there's usually quite a bit going on in any given scene that you may not be able to discern entirely on a TV.
Here's to hoping HF4 (if there is one) listens to the fans about what we'd like to see and will deliver.
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STEVE-1559
15 years ago
A negative review of SLAUGHTER at Cinefantastique Online: http://cinefantastiqueonline.com/2009/01/14/slaughter-after-dark-horro rfest-review
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jryn
15 years ago
I can totally understand why people might not like "Slaughter". I found the relationship between the leads good enough to keep me interested until the twists later in the story, and I freely admit that I was fooled by this one and did not see the twists coming...I thought it was going to go in the cliched direction it set out from the beginning. I know that being surprised added to my enjoyment of the movie. That being said, I would still give it a good review.
I also really hope there is a Horrorfest 4. There is still something very fun about seeing these films on the big screen as part of a fest where you can watch multiple films in a day. As I said before, even the worst ones are still enhanced by this, and the best ones really shine. They should think about offering a (reasonably priced) pass to give you admission to ALL the films. Most importantly, they should keep an eye on the quality of the films and keep trying to show BETTER films than the year before, while still trying to go across different horror genres. Horrorfest 3 was definitely better than 2, so let's see an even better 4!
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shred-com
15 years ago
No 2 was way better then 3..It had Nightmare Man!!!!!
This film was way blow average, seen it all way to many times. Okay time waster , that is it.
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soco-81
15 years ago
The Broken:
The Broken was the biggest disaster yet! Sooooooooooooooo much potential, too. :(
I liked that she lost her emotion once she found out, bad part is it didn't really make sense. I don't need EVERYTHING spelled out for me but even a little bit goes a long ways sometimes. This was a walking void of a nice idea for 10 mins tops dragged out for an hour and a half.
Last movies seen:
The Broken 4/10
From Within 7/10
Extremities 8/10
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