Customer Reviews

Horror

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

HORROR is a dream come true for fans of offbeat horror movies. This movie is not for everyone but if you like dreamlike sets and demonic music you're in for a nice treat. Lots of crazy, deeply creepy imagery and sounds here. What did it all mean? You Are Going to Hell, which I gather was the premise since the director talks about it during his commentary. I also read the article in Fangoria Magazine - Alice in Wonderland on Acid. I liked HORROR better than DESECRATION, the director's first devil-movie effort. I thought the acting was actually quite good for a film of this budget (only $200, 000 and House of 1000 Corpses was about 7 million!!!!). Tomaselli works wonders with such a low budget. Lizzy Mahon as the Reverend's daughter was definitely the stand-out here. Some of the other actors were questionable. I have to mention there is a scene on a torture rack that will make you squirm. Kreskin is demented and sometimes funny as Grace's grandfather (who may be alive or dead?). The cinematography is gorgeous. Even if you have no idea what's happening, Tomaselli's usage of colors and sounds to paint his landscape of eerie nightmares is impressive. Now I hear that there is a remake of SUSPIRIA coming out. I'm upset and ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE!!!!!!! that Hollywood will ruin it (Isn't this happening to Texas Chainsaw Massacre as well?). I'd only want to see the Suspiria remake if Dante Tomaselli is directing. Is he? If he's not - somebody should get him because he really REALLY should. It would be fascinating to see the results. I know the director has got to be a fan of DARIO ARGENTO. Argento's influence is all over this movie (and DESECRATION). All in all, HORROR is an interesting little treat, from an underrated horror director we will hopefully be seeing a lot more from in the future. I dig his freaky satanic-themed movies and I can't wait for the next. Keep them coming.

Having seen Dante Tomaselli's first feature film, Desecration, his latest, Horror, demonstrates that this up-and-coming filmmaker is perfecting his own style of filmmaking. While he does harken back to Italian horror maestros like Mario Bava and Dario Argento, the complex soundscapes Tomaselli creates for his movies are quite reminiscent of David Lynch's movies. And like John Carpenter, he also composes much of the soundtrack for his movies. This puts Tomaselli in good company indeed.

Horror is a creepy, waking nightmare a la Lost Highway where the protagonist is eternally damned. There are some truly striking images in Horror that linger in the brain long after the film ends. This is a truly unsettling, old school horror movie that is a breath of fresh air after the self-reflexive cycle of Scream films.

The DVD is packed with some nice extras. The real stand-out is the audio commentary by Tomaselli. He provides many fascinating insights into what inspires and influences him and unravels a bit of the ambiguity that the film creates.

Along with Larry Fessenden's Wendigo and the low budget Canadian werewolf film, Ginger Snaps, Tomaselli's Horror heralds a new wave of horror films that echo the no-holds-barred aesthetics of the '70s generation. Horror is definitely worth a look and remember the name Dante Tomaselli -- he's a filmmaker who's going places.

Illicit drug use and bad religion mix to become an ill-omen for five escaped mental patients when they arrive at a remote farm owned by a deranged preacher. Their minds create a hallucinatory nightmare that drives them to murder and madness as they attempt to escape from their own personal hells. HORROR adheres to a surreal dream-logic, where scenes bleed into one another and dreams blur into reality without ever distinguishing between the two. Director Dante Tomaselli focuses entirely on creating a frightening aesthetic, atmosphere, and mood, rather than establishing a linear story structure. Backlighting, fog effects, color filters, high- and low-angle shooting, each of these techniques are combined to heighten the constant state of unease and terror. HORROR also introduces a number of truly disturbing images that are accompanied by an unsettling score. The performances by the untrained cast are also forgivable given the size of the picture and the minimal dialog. Tomaselli comes through with this twisted vision of hell from the same vein of Horror as the works of Jim Ven Bebber.

-Carl Manes
I Like Horror Movies

This film is plodding, incoherent, and put me to sleep two nights in a row. Sure there are some frightening visuals (not as crazy as Desecration's scissor scene, however) and an eerie circular plot structure, but this film is just hard to get pulled in by. I kept wanting to pay attention and get "into" the story, but I found it too out-there to follow. I'm very glad to hear that Tomaselli's new film "Satan's Playground" will have a strong script and a plot that the audience will be able to follow. Buy this film if you like; however, I do expect you will be a bit disappointed in this sophomore effort from a hopefully soon-to-be-great filmmaker.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. I'm a fan of (but not zealous towards) Argento's movies, but really prefer horror to slasher, so this one hit me just right. Every possible creep shtick is utilized; it's both very effective and embraceable. I found myself nodding in appreciation while still being creeped out---the director knows how to pull it off, even with a lower budget than most slasher films use. Great fun, play this one as part of a halloween mini film-fest!

The second effort from independent filmmaker Dante Tomaselli, "Horror" blazes much of the same trail set forth with his first film "Desecration". "Horror" is a non-stop assault of strange imagery, drugged-out hallucinations, unexplainable continuity jumps and zealous religious fanaticism. Despite the obviously limited budget, "Horror" manages to raise some serious scares and contains some memorable scenes.

5 drug-addicted teenagers escape from a rehab clinic, steal a van and head on their way to the house of Salo, a psychotic preacher who visited them while they were locked up and offered promises of salvation. On the drive to Salo's house, the youths indulge themselves in all the booze, marijuana and mushrooms that their hearts desire. Upon arriving to Salo's house "Luck" the leader of the gang and most intoxicated of the group, stumbles into the house to find a young woman (Grace) being physically abused by what he sees as two demons. After shooting them both with his revolver, he discovers that he has in reality shot Salo and his wife, Grace's abusive parents. Somehow, the killings trigger a supernatural force over the house and its surroundings. The woods bordering the house are now filled with satanic symbolisms, trippy-looking trees with candy canes and Jack-O-lanterns attached to the branches and hordes of night-crawling ghouls.

It is noticeable right away that "Horror" is trying mightily hard to be a scary genre effort. For the most part, it succeeds. The woods bordering the house are filled with mist and fog and impending doom. This is one of the best examples I've seen in a while of a movie that effectively employs the use of sound as a tactic to scare the viewer using such devices as creaking doors, insane female giggling and blowing wind. And shooting the movie in the middle of winter amid heavy snow and blistering cold add to the feeling of dread.

Curiously enough, one of the things that failed to spook me was the goat itself. On the DVD cover as the film's mascot and a species that has long been linked with Satanism, the goat appears in several scenes, usually as the terror factor is mounting. But instead of being scary I found this goat, with its fluffy fur and "who me" look of innocence, to be kind of cute and cuddly-looking. I'm quite certain that's not the effect the director was hoping for but that's how I took it. And of course this being an indie low-budgeter, the acting is at times quite horrid. Although Reverend Salo Sr. (played by "The amazing Kreskin") and the character of Grace (Lizzy Mahon) gave admirable performances, everyone else's acting left LOTS to be desired especially the woman who plays Marissa, one of the 5 escaped addicts. To say that woman couldn't act her way out of a paperbag would be putting it kindly.

Despite the low-budget cheapness, I found "Horror" to be highly enjoyable and very creepy. Dante Tomaselli is a stylistic director whose work conjures up flashes of Mario Bava and Dario Argento's classic Giallos. I admire Tomaselli for playing it straight-up and going for scares instead of resorting to comedic gore or self-referential nonsense like so many horror movies that are manufactured for the masses.

How my ratings work:
5 - I really liked/loved it
4 - I liked it
3 - Could've been better/worth a look
2 - Just didn't live up to the potential
1 - Simply awful

I kinda forgot about this movie till I cam across it while looking for dvds to add to my Netflix queue. I had no idea someone would actually put money inot releasing this piece of shitaki mushrooms onto DVD! "A living nightmare in Hell caught on film" -Cult Cuts Magazine. The real quote should be "A living nightmare in Hell is having to watch this movie!" Don't get me wrong, when I saw this movie at age 14 at a horror movie marathon in Columbus, OH (which featured guest Bruce "Don't call me Ash" Campbell! WOOT!) I laughed my head off more than I had in probably a long time at that time. But the fact is, this movie is 1 star quality, but 3 stars worthy in terms of being good for a laugh. But don't watch it alone, this is a movie that you need to watch a la Mystery Science Theater 3000 style with some friends. I lucked out having an entire theater to laugh along with.

Even if I had watched it recently I couldn't give a proper plot description because there's barely a plot to be had. Oh sure some kids escape a drug rehab clinic and there's some old man who's a religious nut, and a demon goat. The special effects guy was at the marathon and he said that they used a goat becuase they couldn't get a spider (how you go from goat to spider I have no idea) and towards the end of his speech I personally yelled at "NEVER SHOW THIS MOVIE TO ANYONE!" Later in the lobby some kid who was a couple years younger asked if I had ever made a movie or knew what went into making one and of course I said no; and he responded with how can I judge it. Of course I responded with "Are you $#!++ing me?" And while in my life so far I've only made two short films, I've also watched many many MANY making of features on DVD's so I do have a good idea what goes into making a movie. Some of my reviews on here poking fun of the more artsy films has made people comment that I should stick with Jackie Chan movies or something I guess not much of a thinking movie.

I love plenty of crazy and or artsy and or avant-garde movies. But that's if there is a real point to it, not just because is doing it to appear that way. The image of a the man with the goat head is crazy for sure, but it's not enough to sustain the film really. It's not a long movie i recall, but it feels longer than it should be because it is terribly slow. It's never a good sign when the movie starts off with every single credit appears before the movie. Some could argue that's because it's a throwback to older films, which is cool, but it seems more like it's because the editor knows that nobody is gonna wanna watch the end credits so they might as well get that over. There's a scene where a kid's face turns blue and I suppose that's because he's detoxing, hard to say. The special effects aren't bad, but at times they are just so random and stupid and don't fit in with the movie. The main kid will start making out with his girlfriend and then start to puke blood (seems to be a bit pre mature if you ask me). The audience was literally freaking out when they saw that the movie wasn't quite over after it faded to black and faded back in. Tahnkfully it was just a preview for his next movie or something.

But as said before, this is a fun movie to watch with friends becauase it's so over the top silly.

Horror (Dante Tomaselli, 2002)

I was quite fond of Tomaselli's first feature, 1999's Desecration, though judging by its IMDB rating I was one of the few. In any case, when I had a chance to see his second movie, Horror, I jumped. Once again I'm in the minority; while I laughed at the jack-o-lantern demons just as much as everyone else did (and no, they're not supposed to be funny), I found the movie quite watchable, and not nearly as confusing as everyone else seems to have. (Here's a hint: look at the final scene as a well-worn horror movie trope, though to tell you which one would spoil the entire film.)

The plot: Revered Salo, Jr. (Vincent Lamberti, who previously worked with Tomaselli on Desecration), visits a drug rehab facility to spread the good word. He also spreads some goods of the more illicit variety, while telling certain of the patients to come see him when they get out. (This all happens before the opening scenes.) When we open, a number of those patients, high on said goods, have decided to take him up on his offer by breaking out, stealing a van, and heading for the good father's farm. When they get there, however, they find out that perhaps the good Reverend may not have had their best interests at heart. The preacher's family is, shall we say, a little off. And what's up with that goat running around all over the place? The only halfway normal one of the bunch is Grace (In and Out's Lizzy McMahon), who may or may not be Salo Jr.'s daughter, but she's been messed up with years of brainwashing by her insane father. Her grandfather (played by the Amazing Kreskin-- yes, really)is the only stabilizing force in her life, but he's not exactly a rock in this ocean of chaos. Yes, this is one messed-up family, and it's about to get even more so with the advent of five tripping teens. And a pair of jack-o-lantern demons that were probably bought at the local discount store.

Even the movie's harshest critics have admitted that the film is a visual delight, and that is certainly the case. Tomaselli, younger cousin of Alice, Sweet Alice director Alfred Sole, learned his trade from a man who directed very few films, but always brought his A game when he did. Tomaselli is no different in that regard visually, as both Desecration and Horror show. Yeah, some of the special effects are about as cheesy as they come (do I mention the jack-o-lantern demons again? It seems I must), but they're at least well-framed. Tomaselli knows his way around a camera, that's for sure, as does cinematographer Tim Naylor (who would team with Tomaselli again three years later for Satan's Playground).

As for the negative charges often aimed at the film, yes, some of the acting is less than perfect. Most of these actors had never been in front of a camera before, and the amateurism does show, but then, as with Desecration, you're looking at a film that had essentially no budget; do you really expect DeNiro and Pacino? Many have also dismissed the plot as nonexistent or far too confusing. Granted, the movie does take some paying attention to really get what's going on, but I didn't find it all that hard (and I watched it while playing poker, as I do with many movies these days, so I wasn't paying complete attention myself and I still kept up with it with no problem). I think that may say more about the reviewers and their lack of exposure to microbudget horror films than it does about Tomaselli's movie. The same criticisms were levelled at Desecration, and I found them equally spurious there.

Overall, I found it enjoyable. Your mileage may, and probably will, vary, but approach all reviews of the film--including this one--with as much salt as necessary. ***

HORROR is meant to be disjointed, disorienting, and disturbing. It achieves all three objectives. Like any nightmare, things jump around in time and space, or mutate into something completely different. Being off kilter is a big part of the fun! The imagery (that devilish goat, the jack-o-lanterns, etc.) is all part of Dante Tommaselli's bad dream / funhouse approach to horror film-making. It's said that H.P. Lovecraft wrote his stories based on his own nightmares. I believe Tomaselli does the same. The main character, Grace Salo (Lizzy Mahon) is doomed to roam this terror-scape, at the mercy of forces unspeakable. Her mother (Christie Sanford) and father (Vincent Lamberti) are depraved demons in human form. They keep Grace doped up w/ injections so they can carry on with their kidnapping and God knows what else. A group of rehab escapees -(high on alcohol, pot, and mushrooms)- stumbles right into the middle of this insanity. They've been invited to the Salo place for a little party. Due to the combination of drugs, a constant dream-state, and the forces of evil, the story twists around like a non-linear pretzel. In dreams (as well as in hell) time and space don't really matter. HORROR only makes sense to me if I accept it on it's own maniacal terms. There are plenty of great horror movies w/ perfect chronological order. This isn't one of them! This is a mindf***, designed to leave a dark impression in our minds. That's what I like about it...

Dont bother wasting your money on this low budget movie. Besides Kreskin the acting was terrible. The story line is hard to follow, and isn't really that good to begin with. I have no idea why people are hyping Tomaselli, his work is cr*p. I wish I could get my money back.