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This past weekend I was fortunate enough to attend Bruce Campbell's Horror Film Festival as part of the Chicago Wizard/Comic Con and see some horror flicks. Here are my brief thoughts on the films I saw:

The Green Inferno (2013)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2403021/

Got to see a special advanced screening, which also included an introduction by writer/director Eli Roth and star Lorenza Izzo! Much influenced by the Italian cannibal films, it also has the perfect dose of dark humor that Roth is known for. You find yourself horrified and humored as the film is spot on with its critique of social justice warriors. Overall, it's a lot of fun and right up there with Cabin Fever as Roth's best work.

Turbo Kid (2015)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3672742/

The ultimate 80’s throwback flick! It's essentially a super gory post-apocalyptic film with romance that feels genuine and not hokey or forced. Also, Michael Ironside makes for one hell of a great antagonist!

Body (2015)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3732950/

It's a well-paced and well-acted film that starts off light hearted, but shifts gears about halfway through and becomes dark. There's never a dull moment and it doesn't fall into the trap of becoming predictable like a lot of modern day thrillers do. The three main actresses, Helen Rogers, Alexandra Turshen, and Lauren Molina are all great and have perfect chemistry and Larry Fessenden is solid too. It also happens to be set on Christmas, which will make it a required Christmas horror viewing here in the future.

Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0281686/

It's been out for a while and isn't a new release, but it was shown at the festival and remains an awesome flick. It's a smart horror comedy that addresses the issue of growing old and wanting to end on a high note as opposed to dying in an undignified manner. Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis are both phenomenal as Elvis and JFK respectively, who team up to take down the ancient mummy that is terrorizing their nursing home and give the little time they both have left some meaning. Bruce Campbell did a brief Q&A after the film and the universe proceeded to implode, at least for me.

Bunny the Killer Thing (2015)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3375286/

A half man, half rabbit creature goes around killing people in Finland with his penis. yeah, that's pretty much the entire film right there. A real trash epic!

Some Kind of Hate (2015)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3698558/

It's an okay slasher film with a strong premise that could've been so much better. It's a little too dark for its own good, although there are some cool kills and gore effects. It also suffers from being the sort of horror film you'd only watch on Netflix by accidently stumbling upon it.

Synapse (2015)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2747766/

Essentially, it's a low budget mash up of Looper and Total Recall (the original, not the remake!). For what it is, the film's entertaining and well made. Some of the cast & crew did a Q&A after the screening and it was both informative and inspiring to hear all the hell they had to put up with to make the film with practically no funds and limited time.

Sun Choke (2015)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3395582/

It's easily the most artsy film that was screened, and the film unfortunately suffers because of it. It's a lot similar to May, featuring a psychologically damaged female protagonist, which is cool, but because of the way they approach it, you only get a vague sense of story and narrative coherence and don't find yourself sympathizing with her much at all. Had the film not taken that approach, it would've been so much better. On the plus side, it's a well shot and edited film and features yet another great performance from Barbara Crampton.