This week brings the releases of the much ballyhooed The Thing prequel along with the Daniel Craig vehicle Dream House. Also out and finally getting a proper DVD release is the indie DIY flick with an undeniably great name, Dead Hooker In A Trunk. If you’re not down for anything this week, get off your couch and go watch Liam Neeson punch wolves in The Grey. It’s amazing and worth every penny. Horror In Your House
January 30th, 2012

2-HEADED SHARK ATTACK (DVD/Blu-ray) – Asylum Home Entertainment
Survivors escape to a deserted atoll after a Semester at Sea ship is sunk by a mutated two-headed shark. But when the atoll starts flooding, no one is safe from the double jaws of the monster. Starring Carmen Electra.

DEAD HOOKER IN A TRUNK – IFC Independent Film

Four friends race to get rid of the dead hooker discovered decomposing in their trunk, and learn that disposing of a dead body isn’t nearly as easy as it looks on TV. A tough-talking babe, her nerdy sister, their God-fearing friend, and a junkie rocker are preparing for another typical day when they make a grim discovery. Someone has murdered a hooker and stuffed her in their trunk. But who did it, and why? As the quarreling foursome search for a place to dump the deceased streetwalker, the police close in and the freaks come out of the word work. Meanwhile, a serial killer is on the loose, and an eccentric cowboy pimp has some pretty big plans for the troublesome cadaver.
MICAH SAYS: PICK OF THE WEEK. It’s not a perfect 10 nor is it a 1 or a 2. But it is a fun grindhouse exploitation style flick from the Soska Sisters (their first effort). I like to think of this flick as the trashier, lower budget Canadian cousin of Hobo With a Shotgun.

DR. JEKYLL VS. THE WEREWOLF – Apprehensive Films
Paul Naschy returns once again to his famed role as El Hombre Lobo. This time out he’s searching for a cure to his full moon bloodlust and seeks the help of none other than Dr. Jekyll’s grandson. Aided by the beautiful Justine (Shirley Corrigan) Naschy and Jekyll attempt to cure his werewolf problem by turning him into Mr. Hyde!! This plan doesn’t exactly turn out as they had hoped. With loads of creepy atmosphere!

MICAH SAYS: Limited edition release of 500 copies, each DVD is hand numbered. One can never have enough Paul Naschy in their life and home.

DREAM HOUSE (DVD/Blu-ray) – Universal Studios

The Sheridan-helmed psychological thriller follows a family that relocates into what appears to be the ideal residence in small town Connecticut. However, the husband (Craig) and wife (Watts) are disturbed to discover that their beautiful new home was the site of another family’s slaughter, believed to be at the hands of the husband who survived.

MICAH SAYS: Run of the mill generic film that completely wastes the talent of a fantastic cast.

SPIDERHOLE – IFC Independent Film

They say squatting is dead – a term that takes on a sinister double meaning when four homeless art students decide to take up residence in an abandoned London House where a hidden terror lurks.

TEXAS KILLING FIELDS (DVD/Blu-ray) – Anchor Bay

The story focuses on the true story of a pair of police officers who undertook to solve two decades of disappearances and homicides — totaling as many as 60 victims — in the industrial wastelands surrounding Gulf Coast refineries.

THE THING (2011) (DVD/Blu-ray) – Universal Studios

It’s not human. Yet.   From the producers of Dawn of the Dead comes the chilling prelude to John Carpenter’s cult classic film.  When paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) travels to an isolated outpost in Antarctica for the expedition of a lifetime, she joins an international team that unearths a remarkable discovery.  Their elation quickly turns to fear as they realize that their experiment has freed a mysterious being from its frozen prison.  Paranoia spreads like an epidemic as a creature that can mimic anything it touches will pit human against human as it tries to survive and flourish in this spine-tingling thriller. Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ulrich Thomsen, Eric Christian Olsen, Trond Espen Seim Directed by: Matthijs van Heijningen

MICAH SAYS: If this flick wasn’t imposed with living up to the insane demands of Carpenter’s or Nyby’s classics then it might get a pass. But it doesn’t. By now everyone has probably seen or heard that the filmmakers ditched a ton AMAZING practical effects for shit CGI – which pissed off nearly everyone ever. And rightfully so. But the biggest failing for me is where the ’82 version focuses on the characters and the claustrophobia, the prequel focuses almost entirely on the monster – turning it into something we’ve all seen a million times before. Simply put, they sucked the special out of the The Thing in favor of safe and normal.