Horror DVD Review Roundup
Horror DVD Review Roundup
Now on DVD: Brit sci-com "Alien Autopsy" - Adam Green's suspenser "Frozen" - monster movie "What Really Frightens You?"
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Alien Autopsy DVD Movie Review
American actors Bill Pullman (Independence Day) and Harry Dean Stanton (Alien) play second-fiddle to British comedy team Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (aka, Ant and Dec), in this wry, dry mockumentary based on supernatural events of the E.T. kind in Roswell, NM, circa 1995.
Ray (Donnelly) and Gary (McPartlin) are a couple of schemers who stumble upon footage of an 'authentic' alien autopsy filmed in Area 54 in 1947 and find a way to capitalize on it — of course, once the aliens' invasion is revealed to the world, all hell breaks loose and the comedy ensues. Sort of.
Personally, I didn't much care for Alien Autopsy. It was only intermittedently amusing, and it certainly wasn't scary (paranoid horror fans will be better off with The Fourth Kind). It's a decent timewaster for fans of Brit-com and sci-fi, but that's about it.
Given the fact Alien Autopsy came out in 2006 in the U.K. and is only just now coming to DVD in the U.S., Warner Home Video does a decent show of extras with a 30 minute overview ("The Making of Ant and Dec's Alien Autopsy" - lifted from a British television show, and unlike the usual promo puff piece one sees tagged as a featurette), deleted scenes, director Jonny Campbell's audio commentary, a gag reel, and an alternate opening.
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Frozen DVD Blu-ray Movie Review
Most horror movie fans know writer/director Adam Green for his goofy, gory, fan-boy fests Hatchet and Hatchet 2… Frozen is nothing like those movies. Although Green's snarky sense of humor and his insidery dialogue still shine through, there's nothing funny about Frozen. And that's a good thing.
The simple yet effective and (I daresay) chilling tale focuses on three young friends stranded on an abandoned ski-lift, with only the freezing night sky above them and a pack of chop-licking wolves below. It's an excellent "What would you do?" tale of suspense, which plays out all the scenarios (spoiler: jumping out of the ski-lift is not among the more viable options).
What really makes the flick work is the acting — casting of Dan (Kevin Zegers), his best friend Lynch (Shawn Ashmore), and Dan's new girlfriend Parker (Emma Bell) is flawless, as each dovetails perfectly between the verbal barbs and physical wounds with equal aplomb. In the minus column is the movie's slightly too-long running time.
The DVD includes a very funny commentary by Green and his cast, another one with Green and crew (DP Will Barratt offers up some especially interesting info), plus deleted scenes and several behind-the-scenes featurettes ("Beating the Mountain" is nearly an hour long) mainly focusing on the genuinely cold, snowy weather in Utah, where Frozen was filmed.
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What Really Frightens You DVD Movie Review
Somewhat reminiscent of the far superior Clive Barker's Dread, What Really Frightens You? follows a strange, eccentric writer (Ian Tomaschik) who is looking for the answer to the title question. He pitches his idea to the skeptical editor of a horror fanzine, gets tentative approval for a cover story, and sets off to collect the most compelling tales. The movie unfolds through his interviewees' responses, anthology style. One man fears the possibility of a monster under his bed, another man dreads gang violence, and the last subject, a woman, is scared of public humiliation.
Directed by Richard W. Haines (best-known for low-budget slasher schlock such as Splatter University and Class of Nuke ‘Em High, both released back in the 80s), What Really Frightens You? is pretty hard to watch. Although it’s obvious the filmmaker used his favorite fanzines (Famous Monsters of Filmland, for sure) as fodder, the amateurish acting, flat cinematography and hokey special effects undercut the enjoyment (and no, it's not "so bad it's good").
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson
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