Welcome to Reviews from the Horror Chamber. I am your chamber keeper, Anthony Thurber. I’m taking the week off from ranting, since today is the Easter Holiday and still getting over the abomination of my feature film of the week. Even though there is no rant this week, you can find my latest rant on Film Arcade by clicking here. Now on to the reviews.
The Haunting of Rebecca Verlaine
Year: 2008
Director: Olaf Ittenbach
Stars: Natacza Soozie Boon, Bela B. Felsenheimer, Daryl Jackson
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Studio: MTI Home Video
Running Time: 91 Mins
Review Rating: 1 Star
(Please Note: This is an advance review. DVD hits stores this Tuesday)
The Haunting of Rebecca Verlaine (aka Garden of Love) is about a
woman, who wakes out of coma, two years after being seriously wounded in a massacre that killed her whole family on Christmas Eve. When she wakes up, she has no memory of the incident. She is then, adopted by her uncle and aunt, who keep the truth of that night from her. Then ten years later, her life is just getting back to normal, as she has a boyfriend and her life is joyful. However, that is ruined when she begins to see strange visions of the dead that begin to haunt her and wanting revenge for that night.
The Haunting of Rebecca Verlaine was a boring and unsuspenseful gore fest. It felt like one of
those boring hack and slash films. Director Olaf Ittenbach was so obsessed with making this a gore flick; he forgot to develop his characters or have a backstory. Ittenbach’s direction wasn’t very good. Some of the characters came off as laughable, like the detective. The guy, who plays the detective, cannot act to save his life. He comes off as someone trying to imitate Vincent Price, in the way he delivers his lines. It almost made me fall asleep, whenever he was onscreen talking.
The screenplay written by Ittenbach and Thomas Reitmair was much worse. There is no coherent plot to the film. I had a feeling I was in for a long movie when they were killing characters left and right, three minutes into the film, which is not a way to
build suspense. It seemed like the filmmakers were only concerned with using an abundant amount of gore. The screenwriters never spend much time going into Rebecca’s family background or why the massacre happened. The characters were lifeless, as they were boring to watch. Amidst all that and not having a coherent plot, Ittenbach and Reitmair don’t even bother build any suspense at all. I can’t understand, why in the first ten minutes of the film, ghosts are suddenly haunting the main character without any build up of suspense. It’s just mind-boggling to watch, as it seemed like the screenwriters were only interested in having characters heads pulled off. No wonder, why it took five year to get to the states, as the film was shot in 2003 and under the title of Garden of Love (according to imdb.com)
The Haunting of Rebecca Verlaine is very boring gorefest that should have stayed in Britain.
DVD Extras:
The Haunting of Rebecca Verlaine (aka Garden of Love) is about a
woman, who wakes out of coma, two years after being seriously wounded in a massacre that killed her whole family on Christmas Eve. When she wakes up, she has no memory of the incident. She is then, adopted by her uncle and aunt, who keep the truth of that night from her. Then ten years later, her life is just getting back to normal, as she has a boyfriend and her life is joyful. However, that is ruined when she begins to see strange visions of the dead that begin to haunt her and wanting revenge for that night.The Haunting of Rebecca Verlaine was a boring and unsuspenseful gore fest. It felt like one of
those boring hack and slash films. Director Olaf Ittenbach was so obsessed with making this a gore flick; he forgot to develop his characters or have a backstory. Ittenbach’s direction wasn’t very good. Some of the characters came off as laughable, like the detective. The guy, who plays the detective, cannot act to save his life. He comes off as someone trying to imitate Vincent Price, in the way he delivers his lines. It almost made me fall asleep, whenever he was onscreen talking.The screenplay written by Ittenbach and Thomas Reitmair was much worse. There is no coherent plot to the film. I had a feeling I was in for a long movie when they were killing characters left and right, three minutes into the film, which is not a way to
build suspense. It seemed like the filmmakers were only concerned with using an abundant amount of gore. The screenwriters never spend much time going into Rebecca’s family background or why the massacre happened. The characters were lifeless, as they were boring to watch. Amidst all that and not having a coherent plot, Ittenbach and Reitmair don’t even bother build any suspense at all. I can’t understand, why in the first ten minutes of the film, ghosts are suddenly haunting the main character without any build up of suspense. It’s just mind-boggling to watch, as it seemed like the screenwriters were only interested in having characters heads pulled off. No wonder, why it took five year to get to the states, as the film was shot in 2003 and under the title of Garden of Love (according to imdb.com)The Haunting of Rebecca Verlaine is very boring gorefest that should have stayed in Britain.
DVD Extras:
Trailers
The Ghosts of Crowley HallYear: 2008
Director: Daren Marc
Stars: Aaron Kadsdy, Annabel Keough, Katherine Copeland
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Studio: Walrus Films/ Dark Mask Films
Running Time: 83 Mins
Review Rating: 4 Stars
Official Website: http://www.crowleyhallghosts.com/
The Ghosts of Crowley Hall chronicles the investigation of one of Britain’s most haunted halls. The investigation stared back in early 2007, when Aaron Kadsdy began conducting tests by taking photographs. Those photographs produced strange images in certain rooms in the building. Kasady, then began to conduct a full investigation on the haunting of Crowley Hall in May of 2007. During that time, he brought a team of Ghost hunters. The team was comprised of a parapsychologist, a spiritual medium, a journalist and a film crew. They spend two nights at this place. During that time, the team conduced various experiments that were done in order to provoke paranormal activity through out the building. But thing didn’t go right for Aaron Kadsdy and his team, as they had to abort the investigation.
Now fast-forward to August of 2007, Aaron Kadasy and his team of ghost hunt returned to Crowley Hall to continue where they left off in their investigations. Both attempts are the basis for this film.
I’m one of those people that usually don’t see many of these ghost shows like Ghost Hunters and Paranormal State because I don’t put too much stock into the existence of ghosts, until I watched this film. I was frightened at times with The Ghosts of Crowley Hall. Maybe the reason I was scared during this document, was the fact that this event really took place.
Director Daren Marc does a very good job in documenting the failed attempts that Aaron Kasady and his team had. Marc doesn’t inject himself too much into the film unless he was asked to by Kasady. The team’s frightening moments were captured very well. There were a few dead spots there and here, but it’s supposed to happen in a documented investigation like this. I liked, how Marc also adds interviews before the attempts as he makes get a sense of what the main players in the investigation were going through in their minds before entering the haunted halls.
If there is one problem, I had with The Ghost of Crowley Hall, it was the fact that Daren Marc didn’t tie up the film with some closing thoughts about from Arron Kasady. It would helped given a little closure to what was happening with him and the team afterwards, but you can find in the bonus interview with Kasady, which is located in the bonus features section.
The end result with The Ghosts of Crowley Hall made me believe that ghosts really do exist. Also, I highly recommend this film particularly to fans of these paranormal series that I mentioned in the opening of my review.
You can purchase this film at the film’s official website at http://www.crowleyhallghosts.com/
DVD Extras:
Theatrical Trailer
Ghosts Promo
Aaron Kasady Promo
Interview with Aaron Kasady
Music Video
The Invitation by LadyAxe
Short Film:
Ukoyika
Zombie Love
Year: 2007
Director: Yfke Van Berckelaer
Stars: Brad Culver, Esme Allen, Chris Payne
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Studio: McGuffin Productions
Running Time: 37 Mins
Review Rating: 4 Stars
Official Website: http://www.zombielovethemovie.com/
Now fast-forward to August of 2007, Aaron Kadasy and his team of ghost hunt returned to Crowley Hall to continue where they left off in their investigations. Both attempts are the basis for this film.
I’m one of those people that usually don’t see many of these ghost shows like Ghost Hunters and Paranormal State because I don’t put too much stock into the existence of ghosts, until I watched this film. I was frightened at times with The Ghosts of Crowley Hall. Maybe the reason I was scared during this document, was the fact that this event really took place.
Director Daren Marc does a very good job in documenting the failed attempts that Aaron Kasady and his team had. Marc doesn’t inject himself too much into the film unless he was asked to by Kasady. The team’s frightening moments were captured very well. There were a few dead spots there and here, but it’s supposed to happen in a documented investigation like this. I liked, how Marc also adds interviews before the attempts as he makes get a sense of what the main players in the investigation were going through in their minds before entering the haunted halls.
If there is one problem, I had with The Ghost of Crowley Hall, it was the fact that Daren Marc didn’t tie up the film with some closing thoughts about from Arron Kasady. It would helped given a little closure to what was happening with him and the team afterwards, but you can find in the bonus interview with Kasady, which is located in the bonus features section.
The end result with The Ghosts of Crowley Hall made me believe that ghosts really do exist. Also, I highly recommend this film particularly to fans of these paranormal series that I mentioned in the opening of my review.
You can purchase this film at the film’s official website at http://www.crowleyhallghosts.com/
DVD Extras:
Theatrical Trailer
Ghosts Promo
Aaron Kasady Promo
Interview with Aaron Kasady
Music Video
The Invitation by LadyAxe
Short Film:
Ukoyika
Zombie LoveYear: 2007
Director: Yfke Van Berckelaer
Stars: Brad Culver, Esme Allen, Chris Payne
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Studio: McGuffin Productions
Running Time: 37 Mins
Review Rating: 4 Stars
Official Website: http://www.zombielovethemovie.com/
Zombie Love has been a hit on the film festival circuit.The film has won awards 
at various festivals including Best Horror Film at the California Independent Film Festival, Best Short film at the Sunscreen Film Festival and Audience Awards at the Zompire Film Festival, Sacramento Film & Music Festival and Faux Film Festival.
This horror/comedy/musical tells the story of a 200 year-old zombie named Dante (Brad Culver) who falls for a young teenage girl named Claudia after saving her from two grave robbers. Dante decides then to changes his flesh-eating ways to win the woman of his dreams despite what his zombie friends want him to do. Little does he know that Claudia is madly in love with him, as she’s desperately wants to be with him.
Zombie Love turns the zombie genre upside down, in a good way. This was a fun film to watch. Director Yfke Van Berckelaer blends the elements of Horror, Comedy and Musical into this film.
Berckelaer does a very good job pulling that off. I liked how Bercklaer makes her screenplay original from most zombie films. The story is told from the zombie perspective which not seen in many zombie movies. It also stays true to the zombie genre, as this film has its moments of gore, which you gorehounds will like. The film’s humor along with the musical sequences was timed very well. The songs had that Broadway play type feel to it, which made the film enjoyable and different from many horror films. The acting was good. Berckelaer directed the actors well, as their performances and their chemistry with each other helped contribute to the film’s success
Zombie Love is fun filled horror/comedy/musical that will make burst into song.
You can purchase this film at http://www.zombielovethemovie.com/
DVD Extras:
Theatrical Trailer
3 Teaser Traliers
Deleted Scenes
Outakes
3 Behind the Scene Featurettes
If you’re a filmmaker and interested in having your horror film reviewed in the horror chamber, you can reach the Chamber Keeper himself at Anthonythurber@filmarcade.net or if you have any film in any genre that you want Film Arcade to review. Send us a email at screeners@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. This upcoming week, Tony D and me will each be reviewing four of the Eight Films to Die For, the 2007 After Dark Horrorfest for our columns. The Reviews start this Thursday with Tony D’s The Indie Scene and your truly will be reviewing the other four films in the next edition of Reviews From the Horror Chamber.
Until then, have a frightening week.
at various festivals including Best Horror Film at the California Independent Film Festival, Best Short film at the Sunscreen Film Festival and Audience Awards at the Zompire Film Festival, Sacramento Film & Music Festival and Faux Film Festival.This horror/comedy/musical tells the story of a 200 year-old zombie named Dante (Brad Culver) who falls for a young teenage girl named Claudia after saving her from two grave robbers. Dante decides then to changes his flesh-eating ways to win the woman of his dreams despite what his zombie friends want him to do. Little does he know that Claudia is madly in love with him, as she’s desperately wants to be with him.
Zombie Love turns the zombie genre upside down, in a good way. This was a fun film to watch. Director Yfke Van Berckelaer blends the elements of Horror, Comedy and Musical into this film.
Berckelaer does a very good job pulling that off. I liked how Bercklaer makes her screenplay original from most zombie films. The story is told from the zombie perspective which not seen in many zombie movies. It also stays true to the zombie genre, as this film has its moments of gore, which you gorehounds will like. The film’s humor along with the musical sequences was timed very well. The songs had that Broadway play type feel to it, which made the film enjoyable and different from many horror films. The acting was good. Berckelaer directed the actors well, as their performances and their chemistry with each other helped contribute to the film’s successZombie Love is fun filled horror/comedy/musical that will make burst into song.
You can purchase this film at http://www.zombielovethemovie.com/
DVD Extras:
Theatrical Trailer
3 Teaser Traliers
Deleted Scenes
Outakes
3 Behind the Scene Featurettes
If you’re a filmmaker and interested in having your horror film reviewed in the horror chamber, you can reach the Chamber Keeper himself at Anthonythurber@filmarcade.net or if you have any film in any genre that you want Film Arcade to review. Send us a email at screeners@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. This upcoming week, Tony D and me will each be reviewing four of the Eight Films to Die For, the 2007 After Dark Horrorfest for our columns. The Reviews start this Thursday with Tony D’s The Indie Scene and your truly will be reviewing the other four films in the next edition of Reviews From the Horror Chamber.
Until then, have a frightening week.
The last two sound interesting.
I am really lloking forward to what you and Tony D. have to say about the Afterdark Horrorfest films.
Great reviews.