Ringu 0: Birthday (2000)

"Ringu 0: Birthday" is a prequel to the original "Ringu" and takes place before 30 years before the mysterious video tape is ever found. In this movie, Sadako Yamaura is the protagonist rather than the antagonist, showing how she tried to contain her powers and her evil "alter ego"and the eventual attack by her father and becoming trapped at the bottom of the well. The film doesn't go into detail how her powers are associated with the video tape or why the person dies within seven days after viewing the video clip (unlike the American version that stated that Samara lived for seven days before dying inside the well). What we do see in "Ringu 0: Birthday" is how she tried to live a normal life as a young adult by seeing a therapist for her powers and joining a theater troupe. As soon as she joins, the other troupe members begin having bad dreams about the well and realize that it has something to do with Sadako. The director of the play realizes Sadako's connection to the ESP demonstration that her mother was involved with and plans to use her talents for his own means. Only the sound tech, Toyama, doesn't have any ill or negative feelings or ideas about Sadako. Sadako loses control of her alter ego after being exposed by a reporter whose fiancee had been killed in the original ESP demonstration. In the end, Sadako becomes one with her alter ego and her adoptive father is forced to end her rampage the only way he knows how.

Junk (2000)

Even Japan wasn't immune from the outbreak of zombie themed horror movies. It could be argued that the Japanese helped usher in the movement with such films as "Versus" from 2000 as well as today's review, "Junk". Personally, I found "Junk" to be more entertaining and ridiculous than "Versus". Labeled as a Yukuza Zombie film, "Junk" pays homage to zombie classics like "Re-Animator" and "Dead Alive". Because of these obvious influences, the zombie make-up is kept cheesy and barely a step above the quality of work that Tom Savini was doing in the early 1980's. But the film does capture a hint of the comedic undertones that both movies had, sometimes to the point that you think that the acting is a bit too much over the top.

A team of four amature thieves pull off a daring jewelry robbery and make off with an estimated 100 million yen worth of loot. They make plan with a local yukuza boss to sell the stolen goods to and begin daydreaming of what their lives are going to become. The trade is to take place at an old abandonded military base. Unknown to these two groups, the US military was using the base to conduct unauthorized tests in reanimation. The tests were successful but the scientists and other personnel were all killed and turned. It's not long before the thieves and the yukuza run into the zombies, and during a fire fight between the two, more zombies are created. Now it's a race for survival until the military can come save the day, led by the co-creator of the reanimation serum.

Favorite moment - Watching the "zombie queen" in action, clearly more of a video game final boss than a regular old standard zombie!

Kyoko the zombie queen is hungry

Kyoko now has white hair! Whaa?

Yukuza checking out the stolen loot.

Versus (2000)

While many consider the film "Versus" an original break through, I was simply not impressed or entertained by it. There were moments that had my attention but those were unfortunately few and far in between. The acting was mediocre, the plot was meandering, and the comic moments came across as flat. I appreciate that the director, Ryuhei Kitamura, tried to incorporate so many different styles and succeeded in doing so for the most part, but it failed to keep me invested with the characters or the story itself.

The "hero" is simply known as Prisoner KSC2-303 and he is on the run from a group of Yakuza strongmen who want to kill him and a mysterious girl that they brought along to a secret meeting. The action of the movie takes place at the Forest of Resurrection, a location that is suspected to be one of the 666 portals on Earth that connects it to the Other Side. Prisoner KSC2-303 and the Girl run off and hide in the forest while the Yakuza follow, trying to capture the two before their boss, the Man, comes. Inside the forest, everyone encounters and is forced to fight a horde of hard to kill zombies. The film is a twisted mess of nonsense, sword fights, zombies, and eternal show downs.

Uzumaki (2000)

"Uzumaki" or "Spiral", is easily one of the most confusing and yet entertaining films I've ever seen. I was first introduced to this amazing piece of work when it was showcased as one of the major films at the H.P Lovecraft film festival in Portland, Oregon one year. It was a perfect addition to the line up just because it's so odd and other worldly. It was adapted from a popular manga of the same name and includes several of the story lines into the film. It's because the movie touches on several story lines that there isn't one completely clear focus. The other issue that most people have is the weird ending that doesn't make any sense; like most cartoons or movies adapted from a manga, the manga wasn't yet finished and the ending was left up to the director and his creative team to figure out what would work for the film. If anything, this approach makes me want to read the manga that much more and see what the real ending could have been. What I really appreciate are the translated, subtitled director comments that you can turn on if you have the DVD. These comments help fill in some gaps that are missing in the film.


Kirie is a high school student whose small town develops an unhealthy obsession with spirals. Spirals are seen all over and have different effects on the various characters that are introduced. Shuichi, Kirie's boyfriend, is the first to notice something is odd when his dad begins filming snails and collects any and all objects with a spiral on them. Shuchci's father eventually kills himself when he tries to record from inside a washing machine. Kirie's classmates begin to be influenced by the spirals as some turn into giant snails while the "popular" girl in school is turned into a medusa-like host for her wild, spiraling hair. As Kirie and Shuichi try to figure out what is going on, their loved ones and friends continue to fall under the mystical influence, that has something to do with the nearby pond, and even Shuichi himself will find it hard to resist for long!


Favorite moment - I love how the director and crew try to add as many moments and screen shots with a spiral throughout the film.

Lost Souls (2000)

To wrap up my themed week dedicated to big Hollywood names that appeared in a horror film, I've chosen "Lost Souls" because it stars Winona Ryder and was produced by Meg Ryan. MEG RYAN of all people?!?!?! These are two names that you would not think would be associated with a demonic/satanic movie. Including John Hurt and Elias Koteas to the cast helps to give it some genre credibility. The overall story of "Lost Souls" is pretty simple and feels like a watered down, realistic version of "End of Days". The lighting is inconsistent and at times annoying and film quality made it feel like the movie was produced years before it's time. The good thing about the film is that the clues to the mystery of the film are revealed in a moderate pace and nicely build upon each other.


Peter Kelson has been raised and tailored to become the human host of Satan himself. Peter is unaware of this and only finds out when Maya, a member of a small Roman Catholic group that knows about this secret, tries to warn him of his fate. She begs him to find the clues for himself, and when he begins to find such clues, he realizes that everyone around him and his entire life has been a lie....

Bless the Child (2000)

"Bless the Child" is a bloated, slow moving horror film about a satanic cult and the religious war between good an evil, a popular theme around this time period that includes such films as "The End of Days", "Lost Souls", and "Stigmata". The movie stars Kim Basinger in her first horror film; her performance is the best part of this film and I wouldn't mind seeing her taking another role some day. Having 19 years worth of film experience which include several major blockbusters, she is by far the biggest star in the film. She appears along with Jimmy Smits, Rufus Sewell, and drama/action/horror regular Ian Holm; Jimmy Smits also gives a great performance and it's a shame that he has such little screen time.

What I don't like about this film is the pacing; it takes over an hour before the action really begins with the first sixty minutes spent building up the plot. A little less exposition, a more effective soundtrack, and less random coincidences might have made the film more enjoyable. And as always, I hate when movies use CGI poorly and this film is very guilty of this habit.

What I did enjoy is the performance of the young girl who plays Cody, the character that the movie is based around. She has some amazingly tender and touching moments. I also enjoyed the random appearances of guardian angels because they are used so sparingly and at the right moments.


Maggie is visited one night by her drug addicted sister Jenna, who has an infant her arms. Jenna tells Maggie that she doesn't know who the father is and that the infant is a little weird. Before Maggie can respond, Jenna is out the door and leaves Cody in Maggie's care. Six years later, Jenna comes back for Cody, just as unexpectedly. This time she is clean and healthy and a newlywed to Eric, a famous self-help guru. They want Cody because they believe that she is special "servant of god". They kidnap Cody, forcing Maggie to turn to the police for help. At the station, Maggie meets FBI agent John Travis, an expert occult and ritual killings. He believes that Eric and his cult are responsible for the recent series of killings of small children who were all born on the same day as Cody. Cody is gifted and Eric gives her the choice to join him and grant him her powers or to die as the servant of god that she is. It's a race against time as Maggie and John try to save Cody from Eric's plan.

In the Light of the Moon aka Ed Gein (2000)

"In the Light of the Moon" is a biopic of the crimes committed by Ed Gein. Ed Gein, for those who don't know, is the person who inspired the characters Norman Bates from "Psycho", Leatherface from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", and Buffalo Bill in "The Silence of the Lambs". Ed barely qualifies as a serial killer since he only killed two victims but he did earn a great deal of infamy after digging up nine graves and robbing the corpses, who reportedly looked similar to his deceased mother. With the dead bodies as well as his victims, the police found various body parts around Ed Gein's house, some which had been turned in to bowls, lamp shades, a drum, and even a partial suit made of skin. He was later diagnosed with having a long standing schizophrenic condition and was sentenced to life in jail due to insanity.

"In the Light of the Moon" follows the Ed Gein, showing flashbacks of his troubled and difficult youth and his overbearing mother Augusta, as well as showing Ed dealing with the townsfolk that he interacted with before he began killing. It is quickly established that the adult Ed is seen as odd but harmless, unknown to anyone that he has been going into local graveyards and grave robbing. His awkwardness peaks when he honestly asks if anyone has ever thought about having a sex change operation while having a drink at the local bar. Since this is during the late 1940's, such questions are not asked or discussed. Ed soon begins having hallucinations of his deceased mother who orders him to go and kill the owner of the bar, Mary Hogan , for being vile and foul mouthed. Ed does what he is told and shoots her as she is locking up for work one night. He takes her back to his house where he ties her up and until she finally dies. During the weeks and months after Mary's disappearance, Ed begins to tell people why the police never found her, it's because she was locked up in his house. The townsfolk think he's just joking (because he's seen as being that odd) and no one takes him seriously. A hallucination of his mother soon orders him to kill the grocery owner, Collette Marshall, which he does, taking her back to his place and hanging her upside down and gutting her like a deer. It's when Collette goes missing that Ed is discovered as being the killer of both woman. He's taken into police custody and lives out his final days in a mental institution.

Ed wearing his skin suit, made up from the skin of the bodies his stole form the grave and Mary Hogan

Ed Gein, simple country boy

Mary Hogan, shot and tied up in Ed's house

American Psycho (2000)

"American Psycho" the film is a completely different beast from the novel and the two mediums should never be compared. They both have something unique to offer and the book has aspects that couldn't be transferred to a movie. The film does take some aspects from the novel and finds a clever way of inserting them into the movie, such as having the main character Patrick Bateman talk about his views on the different musical performers from the 1980's to his soon-to-be victims. Christian Bale gives an amazing performance as Patrick Bateman, killing his victims with such a detached zeal that comes across so strongly in the novel. The character of Patrick Bateman is perfect as a possible serial killer because he is often described as the boy-next-door throughout the novel and the film. He kills because it's another form of consumption, referring to one of his victims as a piece of meat; Patrick is living at the height of the 1980's consumerism boom, consuming drugs, sex, high profile dinning spots, business cards, and killings as if they were all the same thing.

Patrick Bateman is a successful 27 year old yuppie who works on Wall Street, is obessessed with his looks and moisturizing creams, is engaged to a beautiful young woman who he is cheating on, and who has a compulsion to kill. It might be all in his mind because he thinks about it all the time, even threatening people with death right to their face. He starts off small (to him) by killing a homeless man and his dog. Then he kills his assumed rival Paul Allan. As Patrick becomes more and more bored of his real life, his alter life becomes filled with murders and sex. Even when he believes that everything is spiraling out of control, that he's gone to far over the edge, he's rudely reminded that "Patrick Bateman is too much of a wuss to ever kill anyone". So he's left brooding to himself while his "friends" and co-workers decide where to go for dinner next.

Final Destination (2000)

"Final Destination" is the first film in a franchise that features a different group in each film that has somehow avoided a gruesome death only to be killed off one by one in a different, violent fashion. Each film builds up on the last while adding it's own unique detail in how Death is completing it's job. The original film keeps things simple and effective, proving to have it's fair share of interesting death scenes involving whatever might be around the victim at the moment. The acting is equivalent of most slasher films and that's ok, this is just a creative slasher flick without a slasher.

A high school group is on their way for a senior trip to France, accompanied by two teacher chaperones. Alex Browning has a terrifying vision that the plane is going to explode shortly after it takes off and has a panic attack, screaming that everyone has to get off the plane. He is kicked off the plane along with his best friend, a trouble maker and his girlfriend, a kid who was running late, a chaperone, and a girl who just believed what Alex was saying. While the fight continues at the gate, the group sees the plane explode and fall into deep shock. Each one is questioned by the FBI who is highly suspicious of the event, keeping a close eye on Alex.

A month after the event, the survivors begin to die in bizarre and mysterious ways that at first look like suicides. First Alex's best friend Tod is killed in his bathroom and then at a chance meeting in town by the entire group, Terry, the rival's girlfriend, is killed when she steps in front of a speeding bus. Alex soon realizes that everyone is dying in the order that they were sitting in on the plane, essentially dying in the same order as if they had stayed on the plane. With this new information, he tries to save the next victim, the teacher Valerie but she is killed in an explosion at her house, where Alex leaves evidence that makes it look as if he killed her. Clear Rivers, the girl who followed Alex off of the plane, is still the only one who believes his theory and tries to help him solve the mystery as to how to stop Death's design.

Pitch Black (2000)

"Pitch Black" was one if the best horror movies I've ever seen in the theater. I knew very little about it beforehand, I went in opening night with a few friends, and the theater was sold out with energized and excited people. And every one left pumped. Awesome monsters, a great and simple story, and a breakout movie making moment for Vin Disel. 

A transport ship in deep space enters an unidetified asteroid field and is badly damaged, being sucked into the gravity pull of a nearby planet. The captain is killed so two other flight crew members hustle to save the ship and themselves. The woman who takes the controls has no choice but to begin purging extra weight...including sections of passengers. She jettisons two sections and is about to release the third when they finally crash land on the planet. The remaining survivors thank her, not knowing that she killed the others and was seconds away from killing them. 

She's an ethical villain and so is the cop/bounty hunter and his "cargo", the dangerous criminal Riddick. Their petty differences quickly lessen in importance when the survivors learn that they are stuck in a planet with a very mean, very vicious creature that comes out only in the dark. And the planet is about to become a very dark place once its multiple suns set. 

Favorite moment - I love how quickly Claudia Blacks character is eaten alive as one of the first victims.

Ginger Snaps (2000)

What happens when you take the curse of a werewolf’s bite and a victim who is a teenage girl who hasn’t started puberty? You have “Ginger Snaps”, a clever and entertaining movie about that special time in a young woman’s life when her body is going through certain changes…or not. I love how this movie takes this premise and utilizes it for all it’s worth.

“Ginger Snaps” is a movie about Ginger (16) and Brigitte (15), two sisters whose  are obsessed with death. They spend their free time posing for pictures depicting horrible death-like scenes and talk about various ways that they could kill themselves. Of course their behavior makes them outcasts as their high school and they get in fights with the other girls from time to time. Late one night, the girls are out at a playground when Ginger realizes that she’s having her first period. After this realization they are attacked by a werewolf. Ginger is bitten but the werewolf is killed when as it continues to chase them into the street, being hit by a local drug dealer named Sam. Over the course of the movie, Ginger begins to experiences changes, which their mother says is all a part of becoming a woman. As Ginger tries to hide her tail and other wolf-like qualities and starts to date, Brigitte forms a friendship with Sam as they try to find a cure. Time is running out as Ginger becomes increasingly violent and deadly, steadily losing her humanity and turning into a giant wolf.

This movie is followed up with the sequel "Ginger Snaps: Unleashed" and a prequel "Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning". Both films were filmed back to back in 2003 and continue to star Emily Perkins as Brigitte and Katharine Isabelle as Ginger.

Favorite moment – I really enjoyed watching the steady visual changes that Ginger goes through in the film. First a few white strands of hair appear, and then so on. I don’t want to ruin the surprise, or what’s left of it.