OFFSPRING ** USA 2009 Dir: Andrew van den Houten. 80 mins Adapted by Jack Ketchum from his own novel sequel to the superior “The Off Season”, this is a tacky poor man’s THE HILLS HAVE EYES. Retired, hard-drinking cop Art Hindle is dragged out of retirement when the brutal…
Browsing: Franchise Corner
CHILD’S PLAY **** USA 1988 Dir: Tom Holland. 87 mins A mainstream, slasher-era reworking of the unforgettable Zuni doll story from Dan Curtis’ TRILOGY OF TERROR, this also replays the “boy who cried wolf” scenario from director Holland’s earlier FRIGHT NIGHT. Hapless vampire-bothering teen William Ragsdale is replaced with juvenile…
CHILDREN OF THE CORN *** USA 1984 Dir: Fritz Kiersch 94 mins Stephen King’s 15 page “Night Shift” story first saw cinematic life in the form of this box-office hit in which young couple Peter Horton and Linda Hamilton (who starred in THE TERMINATOR the same year) are terrorised by…
PET SEMATARY **** USA 1989 Dir: Mary Lambert. 103 mins Stephen King’s “Pet Sematary” (1983) is perhaps his darkest hour, taking the shocking child death of his earlier “Cujo” (1981) to its natural next stage: an oppressively grim, “Monkey’s Paw”-inspired study of a nice family man who goes to extreme…
Franchise Corner Entry: SAW SAW **** Australia 2003 Dir: James Wan. 9 mins. This dynamic short film represents a filmed excerpt from a script by James Wan and Leigh Whannell designed to attract film studios in the pursuit of funding for the feature length version. By the end of 2004,…