With local stores stocking up on Halloween candy and costumes, it may be time to start looking for some new horror movies to rent. Here are two new releases on Blu-ray and DVD.
Munger Road (2011)
There’s a lot of unsourced rumors circulating on the Internet about the train tracks that cross Munger Rd. in Bartlett, Illinois—something about invisible hands that will push vehicles stopped on the tracks to safety.
Using that ghost story legend as a backdrop, the effective, low-budget Munger Road is part ghost story, but mostly straight-up thriller. Four teens get stuck in the middle of nowhere after investigating the legend as an escaped murderer stalks the woods. Bruce Davison is on board to lend some cred to the project, but doesn’t add much more than a recognizable face.
Using the less-is-more approach, however, director Nicholas Smith builds the film to an effective and suspenseful climax. But then, Munger Road stops abruptly and annoyingly with a “to be continued.” Really? Let’s hope this is not a new trend in horror movies. I heard about The Devil Inside. Yeesh.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)
Out on Blu-ray for the first time is the misunderstood and controversial sequel The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, directed by Tobe Hooper, who manned the original in 1974, and starring Dennis Hopper in the same year that he also did Hoosiers and Blue Velvet.
Appearing 12 years after the original, this was greeted with catcalls in 1986, mostly because it had way too much sick black comedy and not enough genuine scary moments.
But time has been kind to this strange movie, and now it plays like a bizarre satire of 80s excess–kind of like a backwoods version of American Psycho with equal parts gross-out humor and over-the-top acting.
The Blu-ray has some really great extras, such as two commentaries, deleted scenes, and a 90-minute making-of documentary. Not bad for a film that has grown from a flop into a genuine cult classic.
Eric is the Editor-in-Chief of Scene-Stealers.com, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and contributor for The Pitch. He’s former President of the KCFCC, and drummer for The Dead Girls, Ultimate Fakebook, and Truck Stop Love . He is also the 2013 Air Guitar World Champion Mean Melin, ranked 4th best of all-time. Eric goes to 11. Follow him at:
{ 2 comments }
so who is plagiarizing who here? (in regards to the review for Texas Chainsaw 2):
http://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-texas-chainsaw-massacre-2-v49207/review
Looking at Keith’s review, we say similar things. I’m assuming you’re talking about the mention of an 80s excess satire and “over-the-top” acting, two points that aren’t so “out there” that two critics might not have the same idea. I saw this when it came out and I was a kid, when everyone hated it. I rewatched it again and found it hilarious, kind of like Romero’s consumerism slant on “Dawn of the Dead.” That’s another take on a horror film that’s pretty common. It’s a pretty far leap to assume plaigarism, Dustin.
Comments on this entry are closed.