Two Horror Films from Sony Pictures
Sasquatch Hunters (May 8/05)
Cheesy, ultra-low budget horror flick revolving around a scientific expedition that finds itself under attack from an honest-to-goodness sasquatch (which is described by one of the characters as "a ton of evil.") Said sasquatch is alternatingly represented onscreen by a guy in a low-rent gorilla suit or extremely shoddy computer effects, making it impossible to take the movie seriously (though to be fair, it seems highly unlikely that the filmmakers were going for a vibe of realism). While Sasquatch Hunters isn't quite as bad as it could've been, there's no denying that - as a horror flick - the film fails miserably (the gore quotient is disappointingly low, though since the movie is rated R for "some violence," it's not as if we weren't warned). There are one or two intriguing sequences - particularly one in which a would-be victim uses the flash from her camera to see in the dark, resulting in the inevitable moment in which the sasquatch appears right in front of her - but Sasquatch Hunters is the sort of genre film that's best left for diehard fans.
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Vampires: The Turning (May 9/05)
Astoundingly awful on so many levels, Vampires: The Turning follows a young American (played by Colin Egglesfield) who must save his girlfriend, Amanda (Meredith Monroe), from becoming the blood slave of a ruthless vampire. Said young man, Connor, believes that the only way to rescue Amanda is to become a vampire himself, leaving him with no choice but to turn to a group of pacifistic blood-suckers for help. Aside from the ludicrous premise, Vampires: The Turning features a miserable lead performance from Egglesfield (an actor who doesn't seem to possess an ounce of charisma), a headache-inducing sense of style, and some of the blandest and least interesting fight sequences to come along in quite some time. As a result, the film is often an interminable, mind-numbingly dull experience that often feels as though it'll never end (despite a relatively short running time).
