Today's first installment of the remainder of October Halloween season Halloween class horror movie reviews is the 1998 Creature Feature straight to VHS classic dun da da da! Shrieker (1998)
This film should be filed under "so bad their good" blah blah, but I don't like that. I prefer something like "sincere flop" or "heartfelt nonsense" along with films like Troll II, Troll, and the 1990s classic, starring Friends actress Jennifer Aniston, Leprechaun.
Clocking in at an hour and 12 minutes, Shrieker is a creature feature that teases you with the monster in the first two minutes. The denouement involves a group of stereotype college student squatters in an abandoned hospital (thanks privatized medicine). The protagonist is a math major that pretends she's smart but isn't. The men are clueless mansplainers always appealing to a backward sense of "reason" and "sanity." The communist, feminist roommate is always pissed off.
The dialogue is forced, but I think that's what I like about this film. The film says exactly what it intends to say without subtlety. It is exactly what it is. It is the story that it is laboriously telling. IT'S THE SHRIEKER!
While I was watching this film I happened to glance over at our dog. He was laying in front of the screen, his ears perked up and his eyes were locked on the television screen. He was actually paying rapt attention to the film. I started to understand why. The film was so simple in its form that a canine mind could actually grasp and be entertained by it.
Rating: 6/10
This film should be filed under "so bad their good" blah blah, but I don't like that. I prefer something like "sincere flop" or "heartfelt nonsense" along with films like Troll II, Troll, and the 1990s classic, starring Friends actress Jennifer Aniston, Leprechaun.
Clocking in at an hour and 12 minutes, Shrieker is a creature feature that teases you with the monster in the first two minutes. The denouement involves a group of stereotype college student squatters in an abandoned hospital (thanks privatized medicine). The protagonist is a math major that pretends she's smart but isn't. The men are clueless mansplainers always appealing to a backward sense of "reason" and "sanity." The communist, feminist roommate is always pissed off.
The dialogue is forced, but I think that's what I like about this film. The film says exactly what it intends to say without subtlety. It is exactly what it is. It is the story that it is laboriously telling. IT'S THE SHRIEKER!
While I was watching this film I happened to glance over at our dog. He was laying in front of the screen, his ears perked up and his eyes were locked on the television screen. He was actually paying rapt attention to the film. I started to understand why. The film was so simple in its form that a canine mind could actually grasp and be entertained by it.
Rating: 6/10
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