Bluray Tuesday!

September 15th 2015

Bluray Tuesday has arrived once again. Light week this week which is great considering Son of Monsterpalooza is this weekend. Residents of the overlook will be road tripping to the event so expect to hear all about it in the near future. Shout Factory / Scream Factory will be releasing The Legacy (1978) for the first time on bluray this week. I have not seen this film personally but have read good things may check this out soon. If you didn't pick up the Halloween Boxset last year and want to own the unrated producer's cut of Halloween 6 The Curse Of Michael Myers well you are in luck It will be be release as a standalone bluray today. The biggest release this Tuesday is Furious 7, the seventh installment in the long running Fast and Furious franchise. Best Buy will carry the steelbook exclusive for this. I am hoping those of you that preordered this title did so online and not in store, see last weeks post on our hassel with Best Buy's exclusive steelbook of Mad Max. Again light week this week for blurays but the next few weeks and October will be filled with great titles so stay tuned. What will you be buying, renting, and or skipping this week? Let us know in the comments and check out our Instagram page Here. We love the comments and talking about horror films, shows, etc. Also if you attend Son of Monsterpalooza let us know who you are excited to see and meet.

The Legacy (1978): Amazon - $19.87

Two U.S. architects (Katharine Ross, Sam Elliott) become trapped in an English mansion with a dying satanist (John Standing).
How far would you go to inherit everlasting life? When an American couple (Katharine Ross and Sam Elliott) have a mysterious car accident in the English countryside, the other driver offers to take them to his lavish country estate to make amends. But once there, the suspense deepens when they learn the other houseguests are expecting them! It's not long before the couple's fear turns to terror when the guests (including rock superstar Roger Daltrey) begin dying in unspeakable ways. Now it's clear the true master of the house is a supernatural force that will stop at nothing to find the rightful heirs for an unimaginably horrible legacy.

 

Halloween The Curse Of Michael Myers: Amazon - $7.99

This installment marks the return of the seemingly indestructible masked murderer Michael Myers (George P. Wilbur), who is targeting Tommy Doyle (Paul Stephen Rudd), a young man tied into the legacy of the killer and his connections with the Strode family. As the supernatural elements of Michael's macabre abilities are explored, his longtime adversary, Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence), is also back in yet another attempt to stop the psychopath's brutal rampages.

 

Furious 7: Amazon - $17.99

After defeating international terrorist Owen Shaw, Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) and the rest of the crew have separated to return to more normal lives. However, Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), Owen's older brother, is thirsty for revenge. A slick government agent offers to help Dom and company take care of Shaw in exchange for their help in rescuing a kidnapped computer hacker who has developed a powerful surveillance program.

 

Best Buy Steelbook

 

Walmart Bonus Content Exclusive

  

Cinderella (2015): Amazon - $19.95

After her father unexpectedly dies, young Ella (Lily James) finds herself at the mercy of her cruel stepmother (Cate Blanchett) and stepsisters, who reduce her to scullery maid. Despite her circumstances, she refuses to despair. An invitation to a palace ball gives Ella hope that she might reunite with the dashing stranger (Richard Madden) she met in the woods, but her stepmother prevents her from going. Help arrives in the form of a kindly beggar woman who has a magic touch for ordinary things. 

Best Buy Lenticular Slipcover 

  

- The Impostor 

The Berkeley Blazer Overlooks: Jim Jarmusch's "Only Lovers Left Alive"

Is your tea within arms reach?

Remember to sip with your pinky out, as you enjoy the second edition of 

The Berkeley Blazer Overlooks...

Poster art by Paul Stolper

How does a sentient being occupy himself given a virtually infinite amount of time? Jim Jarmusch explores this concept by making the titular lovers in Only Lovers Left Alive vampires, giving his characters centuries to cultivate their lives while they manage challenges of undead living, both epic and banal..

The film begins with Adam (Tom Hiddleston) and Eve(Tilda Swinton) happily married but living on opposite sides of the globe, deciding to reconnect when Adam is hit with a particularly nasty bout of ennui. Adam isolates himself in his wonderfully drab and unwelcoming Detroit home, composing funereal guitar dirges and lamenting the decline of western civilization due to the “zombies”, his euphemism for humans. Eve cocoons herself in a tiny jewel box of a room in Tangier surrounded by piles of books, stalking the Moroccan streets as a tall white stranger. Both share a cultivated appreciation for cultural artifacts: Before Eve departs on her night flight to Detroit via Paris, she carefully selects which of her favorite books she will bring with her, lovingly pouring over each page and visibly moved reconnecting with her tomes. Adam is introduced while marveling at and caressing the exotic guitars that his gofer has fetched. This epicurean taking of pleasure in fine objects of culture is central leitmotif in Only Lovers. The duo’s vampirism seems to be a purely biological phenomenon: demons, gods, and ghosts are conspicuously absent from the world of Lovers, even in conversation. They are materialists not in a shallow or crass way, but in that they have a deep appreciation of the world of the here and now. There is no communion with phantoms or summoning of familiars, and these vampires don’t seem to fit into some supernatural spectrum of monsters; they are simply nocturnal, predatory humans. Theology is not discussed in the film, and according to Jarmusch their biblical names were actually an accident that did not occur to him until later in the production.

Adam is an appreciator of science as well as music and name-drops often, telling droll stories about the great luminaries he has gallivanted with and lamenting that many like Darwin and Tesla were vilified or exploited by “the fucking zombies”. Some of these very people can be seen on Adam’s “wall of heros” where there are portraits of famous zombies like Isaac Newton and Buster Keaton. As the film progresses we come to understand Adam is frustrated with what he sees as the often squandered potential of human beings. When Adam’s sense of futility and general boredom becomes too much to bear, he sends for a bullet made of the hardest of wood, just in case he wants to commit suicide. His profound love of music and the need to share his art, see his beloved, and to take a drain of that salubrious “Type O negativo” are presumably what keep him from crossing over, and perhaps his inventions. One of my favorite scenes has Adam bringing Eve outside to fix the underground generator he built in his backyard, a splendid construction of cords, motors, and charges all linked underground like bone and sinew in the earth (there is a great article on the theoretical technology here. After fixing the generator the pair notice a lone patch of mushrooms growing out of season in a secluded nook by the house. Eve observes how the little myconids are adapting to the changing environment, mirroring the coming minor catastrophe that spurs the two to flee Detroit and escape to Tangier. 

That Adam is not at peace and that later in the film both find themselves in dire straights due to some terrible mistakes further emphasizes that both characters are in precarious existential positions despite their long practiced hand at living. Adam also is justifiably paranoid that someone may find out who he is or where he lives. Despite their physical and intellectual superiority, Adam and Eve still struggle for survival, and are in many ways more vulnerable than their human counterparts that brave the sun and who are privy to wider social structures of protection. The trajectory of Adam and Eve suggests that while there is no escaping from an occasional sense of futility and tragedy, these aspects of conscious existence are apart of a rejuvenation cycle that compels us to change and adapt. Though they are vampires, the situation of Adam and Eve is thoroughly human and something we can relate to on a personal level. In fact, Adam’s struggle for new meaning and rejuvenation is not exclusive to bored immortals, but rather anyone who cannot endorse or believe in the idea of a teleological universe. Satisfaction and meaning in life is a continuous and creative endeavor that occasionally calls for a renegotiation of one’s current circumstances, and while Adam struggles it is his better half Eve -who manages her immortality with a cruising, quietly confident vivacity- that comes to chastise her beloved. “How can you have lived for so long and still not get it? This self-obsession is a waste of living that could be spent on surviving things, appreciating nature,nurturing kindness, and friendship....and dancing!” Out of context this is a set of platitudes, but Swinton’s portrayal of Eve throughout the film, as we shall see, give her words authority: we feel her profound years and believe she has strategy for the passage of time that will keep her both sane and happy. Eve relies on friends as well as her cultivated elan. It is established early on that her friendship with the vampire poet Ben Johnson is a strong source of happiness for her, and his death is the final nail in the coffin for both her and Adam’s past life arrangements. No matter how well one can bear their station, sometimes in the tumult of change one must struggle to find a new way, and it is often through unforeseen trials that we receive the education of wisdom. Adam and Eve are in their physical and moral nadir when they hear a deep, silky serenade of longing from an otherworldly singer (Yasmine Hamdan), while Eve takes the last of their money and buys Adam a precious oud (a sort of fretless lute used mainly in middle eastern music). Even near death, the pull of living art sustain our duo long enough that they encounter two lip-locked zombies to drink from and turn.

​This interpretation may be a bit too “"Alain de Botton” does Jarmusch” for many of the people who watch and enjoy Jarmusch films. However, I’m not interested in viewing Only Lovers as an inspirational film, but as a down to earth look at possible attitudes and values a secular person might experiment with. If nothing else the film is a great vehicle of discussion about the lives of the artist and the beautiful vicissitudes of Detroit at night. 

-Berkeley Blazer

Bluray Tuesday!

September 08th 2015

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend this past weekend. Weekend may be over but today is Bluray Tuesday, my favorite day of the week. Last week was a disaster with the Mad Max Fury Road Best Buy Exclusive Steelbook. I preordered the steelbook at Best Buy in store due to it being out of stock online and on release day on my lunch break at work went to pickup my copy. I paid for it in full and arrives to pick up and three different associates in customer service were scrambling along looking all over and realized they put all steelbooks out on floor and they sold out. This was very upsetting and all stores in area are sold out and its looking like they wont get any more in due to limited copies made. Fellow residents of the overlook preordered in store as well and got the same thing happen to them, all they did for us was a $10 giftcard and exchange the steelbook for a regular copy of the bluray. In the moment I lookind on ebay to order a copy there even though these copies are from scalpers and the prices are crazy $79.99 a copy. I learned my lesson and will continue to preorder them online as quick as I can Avengers Age Of Ultron Steels are up on preorder so will be ordering that soon never in store again. Let us know if you were able to snag this awesome Mad Max steel last week or if you were messed over too. Back to this week we have a few new titles released from Scream Factory. Shocker and The Editor both really great titles to add to our collections. A few other horror titles are released today as well for the first time on bluray. Supernatural Season 10 and Gotham the complete first season are both out today too. What will you buy, rent, and or skip this week? Let us know in the comments. Check out out Instagram page Here we love to talk about horror films, blurays, Etc there as well as giveaways weekly.

Shocker: Amazon - $19.99

After being captured for a series of gruesome murders, Horace Pinker (Mitch Pileggi), a television repairman, faces execution by the electric chair -- but a deal with the devil allows him to come back as electricity. Once he changes into his new form, Pinker goes after the detective that brought him down, Lt. Don Parker (Michael Murphy), as well as Parker's adopted son, Jonathan (Peter Berg). However, Jonathan's mysterious connection to Pinker through dreams might help track the killer's moves.

 

The Editor: Amazon - $19.99

A one-handed film editor becomes the prime suspect in a series of violent murders.

 

Angst: Amazon - $31.46 

A killer is released from prison and breaks into a remote home to kill a woman, her handicapped son and her pretty daughter.

Morituris: Amazon - $14.99

While out driving, three young men meet two beautiful women and convince them to go with them to a rave out in a remote location. Once there, the women realize that there is no rave and that the men lied to them in order to beat and rape them. The women try to escape, only to accidentally unleash a pack of zombie gladiators that proceed to attack the group as a whole. 

 

Gotham Season One: Amazon - $39.99

Everyone knows the name Commissioner Gordon. He is one of the crime world's greatest foes, a man whose reputation is synonymous with law and order. But what is known of Gordon's story and his rise from rookie detective to Police Commissioner? What did it take to navigate the multiple layers of corruption that secretly ruled Gotham City, the spawning ground of the world's most iconic villains? And what circumstances created them – the larger-than-life personas who would become Catwoman, The Penguin, The Riddler, Two-Face and The Joker?
 

 

Best Buy Bonus Disc

 

Target Tin Case

 

Supernatural Season 10: Amazon - $34.99

Sam Winchester grew up hunting unearthly horrors. But now law school and a normal life beckon. That is, until Sam’s estranged brother Dean appears with troubling news: their father has disappeared, a man who’s hunted evil for 22 years. So to find their father, the brothers must hunt what he hunts... and Sam must return to the life he’d rather leave behind.

 

Society (1989) Amazon - $27.99

A Beverly Hills teen (Billy Warlock) discovers his parents are part of a gruesome orgy cult for the social elite. Even though he's from a wealthy family, teenager Bill Whitney (Billy Warlock of BAYWATCH and GENERAL HOSPITAL) just can't seem to fit in among the mysterious upper class of Beverly Hills. But when he learns that his parents and sister may be involved in secret sexual depravity, Bill begins to suspect that rich people are indeed very different from the rest of us. Can Bill escape his initiation into a nightmare world of privileged perversion or will he be forced to make the ultimate contribution to SOCIETY?

 

 -The Impostor 

Let the Halloween Season Begin!! Nightmares and Monsters Invade Bay Area Theatres

Hey guys! Our favorite time of the year is in full swing, and the movie theatre calendars in the bay area are finally starting to reflect that. Here's some of the screenings I'm excited for: 

A Nightmare on Elm Street

At the Roxie Theatre

9-4 at 9:45pm / 9-5 at 9:45pm / 9-6 at 3pm / 9-9 at 9:45pm

We were all shocked by the recent passing of one of the greatest horror nerds of the past couple of decades, Wes Craven. the man behind so many of our iconic horror characters and films.To celebrate his life and acheivments, the oldest still-functioning theatre in San Francisco will have 4 screenings of A Nightmare on Elm Street, starting tonight! Originally, this was going to be a one time thing, but when I checked back on the site the next day, they had added 3 more times! I'm really hoping they make this Friday Night Frights event a regular thing, even if it is only for 2 months.

The Tribe

At the Roxie Theatre

9-4 to 9-10

All I know about this movie is that it's a silent Ukrainian horror movie with no subtitles. It has won several awards and sounds like a very different kind of film experience. Here's their summary:

"Teenage Sergey (Grigoriy Fesenko), a new student at the boarding school, realizes immediately that he must prove himself worthy to be brought under the protective wing of the school gang’s leader to survive unscathed. After an indoctrination of harmless initiation pranks and rites, Sergey’s new-found clique soon introduces him to their common activities of robbery, bribery and prostitution. At first assimilating seamlessly into his new role in the tribe, he finds himself compromised as he begins to fall in love with his female classmate and one of the gang’s escorts triggering a sequence of stunningly diabolical events. Written & directed Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy. Director of Photography: Valentyn Vasyanovych. With Grigoriy Fesenko, Yana Novikova, Rosa Babiy, Alexander Dsiadevich, Alexander Osadchiy, Ivan Tishko & Alexander Sidelnikov. Ukraine. Not Rated. In Ukrainian Sign Language, NO SUBTITLES!. 132 mins."

Classic Monster Movie Week!
At the Balboa Theatre
10-2 to 10-8

The Balboa Theatre will be showing Jack Pierce: The Man Who Made Monsters along with two classic monster movies during the first week of October. These include Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), The Wolfman (1941), Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman (1943), Dracula (1931), House of Dracula (1945). Check their site for showtimes and dates.

Vertigo
At the Castro Theatre
9-4 to 9-7

This multi layered Hitchcockian masterpiece will be screening all weekend at the Castro Theatre on 35mm film. Check their site for showtimes.

Have a great weekend everyone!

-Huntress

Scream Episode 10 "Revelations" Season Finale!!

What a ride! This was a great season and a really addictive show, that I was glad to see it do well with people who expected to hate it. No, I’m not talking about us, although I know I had my concerns... I will say this to the people who were still lukewarm, even after a bloody finale: watching this show with your fellow horror nerds will make it exponentially more enjoyable. I’m kinda sad that the season is over and that this segment will be on hold for a while, but we will reconvene at the start of next season and I hope you guys join us!!

Speaking of next season, we have some ideas about where the writers will take things, but first I want to talk a little bit about what we just saw in episode 10 “Revelations.” We all enjoyed the quotes and references that were made to the Scream movies in this episode! And surprisingly enough, they weren’t all made by Noah. Although, a lot of them were. He maintained the self-aware voice of the audience of the show very well. Also, when Brooke mentioned the land line in the kitchen and Jake said, “What is this, 1996?” The Impostor pointed out that that was the year the first Scream movie came out. Nice touch MTV! There was also a lot of the finale pointing to itself and acknowledging that the audience is expecting a lot out of it. It was a very cheeky way of saying “you just wait” to the audience. “Everyone wants blood, and I’m going to give it to them!” This line worked on multiple levels, and the gore got a great reaction!

Lord Battle noted that, until the very end, the show was subtly pointing to Audrey. In this case it was the outfit she wore to the party; it seemed like a new-age Freddy Krueger with the pattern and color scheme of her shirt, and her vest was the color of Freddy’s infamous hat. And as soon as she faced the masked killer and said, “What are you waiting for?” we all agreed that she meant for her partner to get on with the plan, especially when they didn’t cut back to her.

Audrey managed to kill her way into the in crowd. She and her cohort got rid of a lot of people close to Emma and her mother, and after Piper was revealed to be behind the mask, Audrey changed her mind about coming out as well. I’m sure that was supposed to act as kicking Emma when she’s down, to reveal that her rekindled friendship with Audrey was not what it seemed, but her connection and acceptance from Brooke must have changed her mind. She didn’t want to lose all these people who finally accepted her as equal.

Now, as for the future of this show… Like I said, just about everyone close to Emma is dead, but everyone close to Brooke is currently not even in the picture. So Lord Battle theorized that season 2 will focus on the majority favorite and clearly capable survivor girl, Brooke, who faced the masked killer(s) three or four times and still made it to the finale. He thinks that her mother and father will be released from their respective captivities and that she will spend a lot more time with Audrey than Emma, who may even get killed early into the season. Somehow, the killings will start up again, but Audrey will no longer be involved. However, someone will find out that she was at one point and use it against her. I’m definitely on board for a slasher vs. slasher finale next year!

Now we must do the obligatory craned sweep out above the carnage, and see you guys in the sequel.

- Huntress

Bluray Tuesday!

September 1st 2015

Bluray Tuesday has arrived once again. The first tuesday of the month comes with my personal highly anticipated pickup Mad Max Fury Road finally on bluray. I loved this film, it took me by surprise when I saw it on opening night in the theaters. I went in not having seen the previous three installments in the series and I was blown away. Mad Max Fury Road will have a few retailer exclusives. Best Buy is the one I will be grabbing, they will be carrying an awesome exclusive steelbook packaging. Target's exclusive comes with a 64 page comic book. A 3D version will be available as well. On the horror front being released is a couple new indie titles. Lost After Dark is a clever homage to 80's slashers, I've watched it recently and it's worth checking out for sure. The Bloodlands and The Curse of Downers Grove also will be available. These seem interesting and look forward to checking them out. Last but not least is Scream/Shout Factory's Backcountry and The Harvest. I have seen both, liked them, and will most likely own them in the near future. What will you be buying, renting or just skipping this week? Let us know in the comments. Also check out our Instagram page Here we love to talk about horror films etc. September is filled with some great titles being released that means upset wallets for us bluray collectors.

Mad Max Fury Road: Amazon - $19.99

A apocalyptic story set in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and most everyone is crazed fighting for the necessities of life. Within this world exist two rebels on the run who just might be able to restore order. There's Max, a man of action and a man of few words, who seeks peace of mind following the loss of his wife and child in the aftermath of the chaos. And Furiosa, a woman of action and a woman who believes her path to survival may be achieved if she can make it across the desert back to her childhood homeland.

Reg Version

3D Version $27.99

 

Target Exclusive Comic

 

Best Buy Steelbook 

 

Lost After Dark: Amazon - $9.99

A group of teens sneak out of their high school dance to cruise around and have some unsupervised fun. When their car runs out of gas on a deserted road, they discover an old farmhouse and the cannibal killer living inside. In this clever homage to 80's slasher films, a group of teenagers looking to party get stranded when their ride breaks down, and end up being stalked by a cannibalistic killer.

 

The Curse Of Downers Grove: Amazon - $9.99

A teen (Bella Heathcote) fears that she's next in line for a curse that kills one high-school senior every year before graduation day. The town of Downers Grove looks like your average suburban neighborhood - but Downers Grove has a disturbing secret.... For the past eight years, one senior from every high school graduating class has met a bizarre death right before graduation day. And this year Chrissie Swanson (Bella Heathcote) has a terrible feeling that she is going to be the one to die. Can Chrissie survive the curse of Downers Grove or will she, like those seniors before her, fall prey to the town's deadly secret?

 

Backcountry: Amazon - $22.99

A couple (Missy Peregrym, Jeff Roop) on a deep-wilderness hike become hopelessly lost within an aggressive black bear's territory.

 

The Harvest: Amazon - $22.47

A physician (Samantha Morton) who keeps her dying son completely secluded becomes unhinged when she learns that her new neighbor (Natasha Calis) has secretly befriended the boy.

 

The Blood Lands: Amazon - $17.99

It's Ed and Sarah's first night at their new home - an isolated farmhouse on the Scottish borders. This should be a new beginning away from their stressful London lives. And at first it is; come sunset they fall in love all over again on a wander in the woods. But as darkness falls, Sarah suspects they're not alone, Ed goes to investigate and quickly, the evening becomes a nightmare. It suddenly dawns on them; they do not belong here. And they certainly aren't welcome either.

 

Army Of Frankenstein's: Amazon - $17.99

After a failed attempt to propose to his girlfriend, Alan Jones is beaten within an inch of his life by a street gang. Transported to the mysterious lab of Dr. Tanner Finski and his kid genius assistant Igor, Alan becomes the subject in a series of horrible experiments as part of the doctor's plan to reanimate the legendary Frankenstein monster. But all bets are off when these experiments lead to a hole being ripped in space and time, pulling an army's worth of the infamous creatures from hundreds of parallel universes and sending them all back to the 19th century – directly into the heart of a bloody battle between the North and South!

 

-The Impostor 

The Pyramid, or Not Alexandre Aja's, Not Found-Footage-Film

1 of 5 viewers "Liked" "The Pyramid" (USA, 2014)

Here's what the citizens of the Overlook Theatre had to say:

Book Wyrm - "I liked The Pyramid mainly from a historical standpoint. I enjoy things having to do with ancient Egyptian culture + lore and that's what I found to be the coolest aspect of the film. They put so much time and effort into the amazingly intricate detail of the pyramids hieroglyphics that it's crazy to think about. Story wise I didn't really like the characters + the monster reveal was okay, but I wish the ending was more satisfying." - 3 Stars

Lord Battle - "The CGI was laughable, which is aggravating since they had amazing practical effects for the same creatures. The Not-Found-Footage shooting style reads like a confusing cop-out of a narrative, honing all the bad elements of found footage while reading like the filmmakers felt above the shooting technique. On a brighter note, The Pyramid had a ton of story potential, which is too bad because as it stands I wouldn't watch it again or recommend it to anyone." - 2 Stars

The Berkeley Blazer - "I found the beginning very promising and was actually a little excited when the motley band ventured into the pyramid. At some point in the tunnels I decided to follow suit with some of the smarter adventurers and lost consciousness. When I woke up to the sight of Ascoobydoobis I asked where I was and called for an adult. This movie was a confusing and sleepy experience." - Fell Asleep - Default 2 Stars

Huntress - "The Pyramid was very tepid experience, not trying too hard to stand out but still not a complete waste of time. It was not obvious from the film itself, but a lot of love and attention to detail went into the production; the labyrinth-like walls in the pyramid were each covered with imitation hieroglyphics and assembled when the material dried. So, while the set looked great on screen, it could only make up for so much of what was lacking in the actual story." -2.5 Stars

KillDozer - "I have lost all faith in the "produced by" credit. Honestly don't attach your name to anything that you think might tarnish the horror kid's opinion of you. With that being said it honestly could have been worse. The film starts out with some fun and entertaining Egyptian lore at an archaeological dig Indiana Jones style. We are quickly introduced to our characters, "the protective father" and of course "the comic relief". Still the film is entertaining and interesting enough to continue on, then everything you think will happen... happens! Extremely obvious writing, really bad CG (Totally forgivable with a good plot), and poorly developed characters make this movie feel long and even worse, boring about half way through. After you stop caring what happens everything becomes a blur. I gave my copy away the next day. Like I said, beware the "produced by" selling point, IT'S A TRAP!" - 2 Stars (Watchable)

(This is a long spoiler heavy trailer. You've been warned...)

The Overlook Theatre Final Rating*

(Below is for after you've seen the film)

The Overlook Theatre is home to many opinions, some informed, some purely emotional, and some that are completely unique to the individual. I tend to think this is the beauty of the theater format and any film that inspires good conversation has achieved on some level. The Pyramid has inspired many conversations, they usually start with "What didn't you like about it?", but none-the-less it got us talking.

Let me address the elephant in the room by saying Alexandre Aja did not direct this film, in fact I question how much he contributed at all. Well I guess Aja did do a lot for the film, seeing as most of the horrors here at the Overlook only watched it because his name was attached and this did greatly help out his screen writing collaborator Gregory Levasseur (High Tension, P2, Maniac, The Hills Have Eyes, etc...) who directed (but didn't write) The Pyramid.

Alexandre Aja talks about The Pyramid

Each and every creepy crawly of the Overlook seemed to have 1 or 2 major issues with the film but otherwise liked it. The problem I had with the film relates to the not-found-footage style it was shot in. Films that flip flop in tone (The Texas Chainsaw 2013), subject matter (Tusk 2014), or presentation instantly lose me. The Pyramid was particularly annoying because it emerged in a time when hate was regularly being showered on found footage and you can feel how they tip toe around the medium, even though this film would've benefited from the shooting style. I'll have to paraphrase Adam Green and say found footage doesn't suck, the plot behind the film just needs to call for the medium. If you're cramming a regular story into the found footage medium it's usually just to save money and it's always at the expense of the film. The Pyramid on the other hand is a film that perfectly justifies the use of handheld cameras, head mounted cameras, and a weird NASA land rover. Geologists trying to maximize borrowed time to illegally document whatever they can, sounds like an awesome film! Then you locate it in a pyramid full of traps and an ancient cult? Someone needs to remake this film already.

Reenactment by Johnny Ocelot

- Lord Battle

*Based on the star ratings turned in by character reviewers, others viewed and got to "Dislike" or "Like" but that does not effect the rating.