Now Scream This: Close Out Summer With These Great Horror Movies

(Welcome to Now Scream This, a column where horror experts Chris Evangelista and Matt Donato tell you what scary, spooky, and spine-tingling movies are streaming and where you can watch them.)

Matt: Between San Diego Comic-Con, Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival and some much needed away-from-keyboards vacation time, Chris and myself decided to ditch a theme this week in favor of making things a tad easier on ourselves. Consider this week a celebration of streaming horror staples, as dictated by personal favorites and recent discoveries. Maybe a haunted attraction found footage flick I finally caught up on. Maybe an old favorite my Netflix scroll-through uncovered. In any case, we’ve got 10 more horror streaming recommendations coming your way whether you like it or not. Hopefully the former, because why else would you be here?!

Chris: While I love the “theme” entries Matt and I have come up with in the past, we both needed a reprieve this week. So if you’re looking for a theme, you’re screwed! That said, if you’re looking for some great horror options, you’re in luck! The themed entries will return in our next edition. For now, just enjoy this laid-back installment, won’t you?

Hell House LLC

Now Streaming on Shudder and Amazon Prime

Matt: Stephen Cognetti’s Hell House LLC has evaded my gaze for the last few years, but news of next month’s surprise sequel made viewing a necessity. The premise (of Cognetti’s original)? Veteran haunted attraction creators select an old hotel with a dark past for their latest project. My immediate reaction? I was in the mood for a The Houses October Built double-bill. This is a good thing, because The Houses October Built is a good movie. Hell House LLC goes behind the scenes of Halloween event magic to provide a glimpse into the world of “scare actors” and architects of fear, while also injecting horror by way of unexplainable occurrences. A fake haunted house that’s actually haunted – not the most “creative” idea, but Cognetti executes manageable frights on a small budget. Those of you who found enjoyment in The Houses October Built, check out Hell House LLC and vice versa. Sure as hell safer than attempting the real thing based on these movies (j/k MOVIES AREN’T REAL LIFE).

Chris: I watched this film on Halloween last year, and was not disappointed. While the movie has a few issues here and there, its heart is in the right place, and there are some genuinely creepy moments peppered throughout. And now I’m 100% ready for summer to get the fuck out of here, so Halloween season can come rolling in.

Killer Klowns From Outer Space
Now Streaming on Hulu

Matt: The Chiodo Brothers’ Killer Klowns From Outer Space is legendary cult classic content when it comes to horror circles, so my assumption is many of you will be marking this as a rewatch, not new discovery. Small town America, alien clown monsters, sticky pink cocoons. This big-top midnighter buys into a carnival of chaos with such effusive creativity and commitment to theme, from bright stripy costume designs to whirring cotton-candy-shooter guns painted like a small child might design extraterrestrial tools. Not exactly a frightening endeavor, but the Chiodo boys evoke hammy delights of cream-covered humor and B-movie performances from such actors as John Vernon or Christopher Titus. Worth it alone for the clowns themselves, full-body goofy goobers whose hijinx are only out-shined by their massive practical masked heads. They just don’t make ‘em like they used to (pours one out for the ’80s)…

Chris: This is one of those rare movies that starts off clearly as a joke – “Hey, what if there were clown aliens?!” – and somehow keeps the momentum going throughout. Every now and then, someone in Hollywood will pump out a goofball film that sells itself through title alone (cough cough Snakes on a Plane cough cough). But more often than not, the film itself turns out to be a bust. The filmmakers never get beyond the initial joke. Killer Klowns is the opposite. It takes its silly premise and runs with it, rewarding us all in the process.

Cult Of Chucky
Now Streaming on Netflix

Matt: When MGM’s Child’s Play remake was announced, I had some feelings to work out. None of them particularly supportive or cheery. That said, what irked me even more was the outpouring of “fans” labeling Don Mancini’s franchise “stale” – then admitting they stopped watching after Seed Of Chucky. Frustration and rage aside, I’m here to say if you’re one of these people, or simply just haven’t gotten around to Mancini’s currently direct-to-video Universal run, please change that. Cult Of Chucky – Curse Of Chucky’s continuation – ventures into realms never even pondered by franchise lovers, opening new worlds for Chucky’s continued massacre. “Stale?” Did you see the shot with three Chucky dolls all in frame, animated and…well, I’ve said too much already. Just know that anyone calling Chucky’s current run “stale” surely hasn’t educated themselves properly or just wants to score some outrage points. Well, it worked. Now it’s my turn to remind everyone how wrong such a statement truly is.

Chris: Child’s Play is my favorite horror franchise. The way Don Mancini and company have adapted and evolved the series, essentially rebooting the story with each new entry, has kept Chucky alive while other slashers have faltered. I say all this to preface this controversial comment: this movie is bad. I wish it weren’t true, because Fiona Dourif – daughter of Chucky voice actor Brad Dourif – is a wonderful addition to the franchise, and she does some great work here. But hoo-boy, this movie…just never comes together. I’ll always love the Child’s Play franchise, but this is the entry I know I won’t revisit that much.

Intruders
Now Streaming on Amazon Prime

Matt: When you watch as many new-release horror movies as I do, the gems shine so much brighter. Adam Schindler’s Intruders is one such surprise thriller that captured my attention with no warning, as original as it is home-invasion vicious. What you need to know is three criminals break into an agoraphobic woman’s house and her affliction won’t allow her to flee. What you don’t need to know – and need to experience yourself – is the secret Anna keeps, which leads to a far different cat-and-mouse game than expected. The criminals – including Martin Starr – might enter with an upper hand, but don’t expect Anna to roll over. Actress Beth Riesgraf fights back in a most surreal way that makes for a feisty lead performance drenched in dread, while Rory Culkin shows up as Dan the sweet food delivery boy who, well, we’ll say “gets involved.” Truly one of the more enjoyable horror twists of 2016, which most of you probably didn’t even hear about.

Chris:  Intruders is surprisingly clever, especially in terms of the already overused home invasion subgenre. You might think you know where this movie is going when it starts, but I promise you, you’re wrong.

The Last Circus
Now Streaming on Shudder

Matt: Álex de la Iglesia’s The Last Circus is the ballad of a sad clown, a happy clown, and the beautiful trapeze artist who must choose between the two. Guess I’m on a bit of clown kick this week? In any case, sad clown Javier (Carlos Areces) has witnessed too much tragedy in life to be funny – hence his role as abused patsy to happy clown Sergio (Antonio de la Torre). Sergio’s wife is Natalia (Carolina Bang), the alluring acrobat, whose conflicted love interests begin slinging jealousy like fluffy whipped pies. Where Killer Klowns From Outer Space plays towards chuckles, The Last Circus evokes darkness uncompromised. Clowns forced into Spanish Civil War battle while swinging machetes and slicing through invading forces. Heavy artillery, white face makeup running downward under the sweat of combat. As one IMDB user review states, “Crazy Clowns with guns….what could be wrong?” Nothing, CrazinessCax. It’s the tragic human tightrope walk only Mr. Iglesia could pin a bright red nose on.

Chris: I’ve never seen The Last Circus, but one time I went to a circus, and an elephant picked my pocket with its trunk, and then ate all the money in my wallet. “That’s it!” I cried, throwing my popcorn to the floor. “This is the last circus I’ll ever come to!”

Continue Reading Now Scream This >>

The post Now Scream This: Close Out Summer With These Great Horror Movies appeared first on /Film.

from /Film https://ift.tt/2KUm1vx