31 Days of Horror 2018: The Quick and Dirties

I haven't done one of these in a little while, but here they are: the Quick and Dirties. And since this is October, that means it's all about horror flicks. Let's get to it.

47 Meters Down

(2017)

A pair of sisters, Lisa (Mandy Moore) and Kate (Claire Holt) go on vacation to Mexico in hopes of cheering up Lisa, who just got dumped by her boyfriend for being too boring, an assessment Kate agrees with. While there, they meet a couple of random, but very shady dudes who invite them to go out on their boat, hop in a cage, and get lowered into the water in hopes of seeing a great white shark. Lisa only agrees to prove she isn't boring. They get in the cage, get lowered into the water, then things go wrong and the cage can't be brought back up. The girls are running out of air, sharks are zeroing in on that cage, and trying to get in it. Apparently, I'm in the minority, but I really had fun with this. Watching Moore and Holt trying to figure a way out of this mess and having to do things that put them even more in harm's way than they already were, is intense stuff. Both make more than capable scream queens and we're really rooting for both.

Cabin Fever

(2016)

A bunch college kids go to a secluded cabin in the woods, stop me if you've heard this one before, to get drunk, high, and laid, in no particular order. Things go awry when someone contracts a highly contagious, flesh-eating disease. This is a remake of the 2002 movie of the same name. This one doesn't add anything except updated gore effects. The tone is also just a bit different. It's predecessor was a dark comedy that also happened to be a horror flick, while this one is a horror flick that includes some dark comedy. It's not much, but enough to make this version a little less charming than the Eli Roth directed original. The other problem is this movie telegraphs the ending that gives the first film its big "a-ha" moment. That said, it does what it sets out to do: gross us out and deliver lots of dead teenagers.

Boo 2! A Madea Halloween

(2017)

Tiffany (Diamond White) just turned 18, and is tired of the lame birthday parties her family throws her. This year, she goes with her friends to a much cooler party at a supposedly haunted campground. Of course, Madea (writer and director Tyler Perry) intervenes and decides she is going to show up at this party and bring Tiffany home. When her and her cronies get there, they encounter all sorts of monsters, including the Boogeyman. However you feel about Madea movies, this won't change it. It's the same jokes on a never-ending loop. Me? I had no choice but to watch this one. Mrs. Dell is a Perry fan, even though she didn't much care for this one. On top of that, my two daughters are obsessed with way too many YouTubers, and since a number of them show up in this movie, it was a must-see in their eyes. Chances are, you don't have those same shackles. Run.