Reviews From the Horror Chamber -- Spiral, The Rage, Beneath the Surface

Welcome to Reviews from the Horror Chamber. I am your chamber keeper, Anthony Thurber.

I would normally go into a rant but I don’t feel like whining about The Weinsteins again after ranting about their handling of Diary of the Dead. You can click here to read the article, which got me upset at them again. Also, besides that you can go to to last week’s edition to read why “The Signal,” which is theaters now, is the first great horror film of 2008 by clicking here. I have two big horror films to review including an advance review, so let’s get started.

Spiral

Year: 2008
Directors: Adam Green and Joel David Moore
Stars: Joel David Moore, Amber Tamblyn, Zachary Levi
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment / Ariescope Pictures
Running Time: 91 Mins
Review Rating: 5 Stars
Official Website: http://www.sprialthemovie.com/

Spiral reteams both director Adam Green and actor/director Joel David Moore. The duo was last seen in Hatchet, which I recommend you check out on DVD. Spiral has played in various horror festivals including the Fantasia Film Festival and the London Fright Fest.

This psychological thriller is about a lonely man (Joel David Moore) who is a telemarketer. He only has one friend in life, his egotistical boss (Zachary Levi, who also executive produced this film) and enjoys drawing portraits of women. Everything is lonely in the world for him until he meets a shy girl (Amber Tamblyn) at his office. He then starts to go out with this girl and begins to draw her a portrait of herself. Then, all of a sudden, he begins to hear voices and ghosts start to creep into his head and dark secrets start to come out about him. Soon it begins to take over him as descents into a dark spiral in his mind that’s out of control.

This could also be called, the third film from Adam Green (Hatchet, Coffee and Donuts) and first for actor Joel David Moore. Battlestar Galactica’s Tricia Helfer also co-stars in the film.

It very rare that a PG-13 horror film would highly get praised by me but Spiral is very good. One of the main reasons is that this was an independent film and had no studio input. This is a completely different film compared to Adam Green’s last film, Hatchet. Much of the credit has to go to Joel David Moore, Green and co-screenwriter Jeremy Daniel Boreing. It is very character driven. The story and atmosphere of the film were dark and creepy which it’s dark tone. It really kept me on edge, as it made me wonder if the events were occurring in the film were real or in the main character’s head. It focuses very well on the Moore’s character’s past and his relationship with Tamblyn’s character, which makes a very good character study piece, in the end. Another thing that makes it very good was the fact the screenplay doesn’t rush his descent to the point where it becomes uninteresting and just pain stupid. Also, both directors used the scenery in the film well, as contributed to the film’s atmosphere.

The acting was very good, as it has to be for this type of film. You can see with this film that Joel David Moore is starting to show some range as an actor as long as he’s not working on films like “The Hottie and the Nottie”. In most of the films that I have seen him in, he usually plays either sidekick or dorky type character in films like in Art School Confidential and Hatchet. He gave a very good performance as the lead here. He does more with this type of character than in pervious films. Amber Tamblyn is one to watch out for seriously as an actress. Her chemistry with Moore was great as she brings this innocent charm to her character, which makes her character more effective. Also, fans of Zachary Levi will surprised that he can more than be the dorky computer salesman/working for the CIA, as the title character on Chuck. He nails his arrogant boss/only caring friend role very well here. He also manages in the process shows that he can play a more than one-dimensional character than what he does on the TV show.

This is very good debut for Joel David Moore, and also this film shows that Adam Green has matured from his pervious effort Hatchet, a film that you should check out. Spiral is a psychological thriller film that will leave you in shock.

DVD Extras:

Audio Commentary from Director Adam Green, Writer/Director/Producer/Actor Joel David Moore, Writer/Producer Jeremy Daniel Boreing, Director of Photography Will Barratt, Producer / Actor Zachary Levi and Actress Amber Tamblyn
2 Behind the Scene Featurettes
Official Theatrical Trailer

Robert Kurtzman’s The Rage

Year: 2008
Director: Robert Kurtman
Stars: Andrew Divoff, Erin Brown, Reggie Bannister
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Studio: Screen Media Films
Running Time: 99Mins
Review Rating: 5 Stars.
Official Website: http://www.theragefilm.com/

Please Note: Dvd will be in stores, this Tuesday

The Rage is the fourth film from special effects wizard Robert Kurtzman. He has worked on special effects for some big horror films such as Hostel, Scream, and The Devil’s Rejects. The film has played in major horror festivals including the Fantasia Film Festival and Los Angeles’s Screamfest.

The film is about a mad scientist (Andrew Divoff) who is testing his new virus known as the rage virus on an unwilling subject in his laboratory that hidden in the woods. Soon his subjects turn into monstrous creatures and one them escapes from his laboratory. The doctor’s secrets are uncovered when a group of friends get lost in those woods. Soon, all chaos breaks loose as the unwilling subject begin to mutate and starts infecting anything that stands in his way. The film also features an appearance from the heavy metal band Mushroomhead.

This is what a horror film should be. The rage is a non-stop intense gore-fest from beginning to end. It makes it fun for horror fans to watch. Robert Kurtzman does a great job making this film intense. I liked how he incorporated elements of 28 Days Later with the cinematography aspect. It made the chase scenes and action more intense. The monsters looked like they came from The Island of Dr. Moreau, which was no problem with me. The special effects were very good, as it contributes to the film immensely with those chase sequences. He made sure that his actor’s performances were intense to go along with the story. He also provided some great special and gore effects that horror fans will definitely enjoy. The screenplay written by John Bisson is very good. The screenplay provides a lot of scares and intense moments. It didn’t feel like a boring gore-fest as his story focuses on the intense action and interesting characters. His screenplay also develops his characters very well like Divoff’s character, as you get a sense to why this is happening and what makes someone do this.

The acting was good. Andrew Divoff, who also stared Robert Kurtzman’s second film Wishmaster, was very good as the mad scientist. He makes his villainous character very frightening and sadistic. I also liked the acting from Erin Brown. It really nice to see her get some work outside from what she used to do, as she has been seen in better films these days. Her performance also helps drive the intensity of the film because if your leads are not acting afraid and intense then it’s usually going to be a boring film.

The Rage is non-stop intense horror gore-fest that will make you appreciate the way horror films are supposed to be made.

DVD Extras:

Commentary from Director Robert Kurtzman and Writer John Bisson
Making of Featurette
FX Stills Gallery
Behind the Scenes Stills Gallery
Two Music Videos
“Damage” by Mushroomhead
“12 Hundred” by Mushroomhead

Beneath the Surface

Year: 2007
Director: Blake Reigle
Stars: Kyle Stanley, Dominique Geisendorff, Christian Munden
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Studio: SkullFace Productions
Running Time: 94Mins
Review Rating: 3.5 Stars
Official Website: http://www.btsmovie.com/

Beneath the Surface is currently out on the festival circuit where it has won Best Feature at the 2007 Sacramento Horror Film Festival.

The film is about a teenager named Ethan who dreams of a peaceful life with the love of his life Kahlah. But that plan gets blocked, when his love of this life is found dead and thought to have committed suicide. He then, goes to his neighbor, an archaeologist, who shows him that there’s a way to bring back from the dead. But when, he brings his childhood love back from the dead, all chaos begins to erupt, as he tries to find out what happened to her and if their love for each other can stay the same. The film also features an appearance from the heavy-metal band In This Moment and features music from Bullet for my Valentine and Hopesfall.

Beneath the Surface is a fun zombie comedy/love story. Blake Reigle’s direction was good for the most part. It was a different take on the zombie genre, as the film was more on the comedy side, as it wasn’t that ultra violent. His screenplay was good. He focuses on the two main characters very well. He develops their relationship in the beginning nicely, to help set up the rest of the film. The comedy aspects of the film were managed very well. The humor wasn’t way over the top or repetitive, as it well timed and helped move the action along in the film. The performances from his actors very good and their comedic rhythm were timed exactly right especially after the resurrection of the girl, as it’s tough when most of your performance is just movements with your body. The only problem I have with the film was the fact it didn’t feel like a horror film for most of the time as their really wasn’t much horror action until near the end of the first act and the last act of the film when it picked up in a big way. But the comedy aspect helps make up for lack of blood, in between which made the film interesting and enjoyable.

Beneath the Surface is fun zombie love story that will leave you obsessing for more.

If you’re a filmmaker, interested in having your horror film reviewed in the horror chamber, you can reach the Chamber Keeper himself at Anthonythurber@filmarcade.net or the head of Film Arcade TonyD at TonyD@filmarcade.net

Also, don’t forget to add the official myspace home of Reviews From the Horror Chamber at http://www.myspace.com/reviewsfromthehorchamber.

Well that’s it for this week’s edition of Reviews Form the Horror Chamber. Next Week, I will be reviewing 30 Days of Night among other films that I choose to review.

Until then, have a frightening week.