This is truly a weak week for buying new releases.

If we're being honest, we'd tell you to go out of genre and buy Peter Pan (if Disney flicks are your thing), Flight (because Denzel is the man), or the Digital Cinema Documentary, Side by Side (because it's interesting as hell), and call it a day. At least those are entertaining and worth the money.

As far as the genre fare goes though... like I said, it's a weak week.

Alex Cross is honestly one of the worst movies we've seen in years, and I can't imagine who would pay $20 to own that POS. Tyler Perry can eat a dick.

Bigfoot: The Lost Coast Tapes and Deadfall were both underwhelming, and you should really give them a rent to see if you really need to won them. 

I guess the Haunting Hour DVD's would be cool for those who grew up watching them, but they're not for us. Same goes for Nosferatu; we've seen it, respect it, but we don't really need to buy it again for the sake of it having a new score.

As for the rest of the week's releases... save your money for next week when we get Skyfall and some cool re-releases of some 70's classics.

Who will be February's Horror Hottie of the Month?

There are so many hot chicks in so many genre flicks each month, that it gets tough choosing just one. I mean, whoa re we to say that Girl A is hotter than Girl B? Sometimes, we're just ashamed of ourselves for making this such a tawdry competition (not really.)

Still, we have to choose just one.

Here's our list of finalists for the month of February. Some girls are here because they are genre vets, some are here because they have high profile releases coming out soon. They're all here because they're sassy and sexy, and who doesn't like looking at pictures of sassy and sexy chicks?

If we're going by genre contribution, Ingrid Bolso Berdal would probably win, because she's been in plenty of genre fare, past and present. Going by just plain hotness though... I don't know; that Alexis Knapp hasn't been in much, but good God, just look at that girl.

Anywho, we have a few more flicks to watch before we narrow this month's field, so until then, just enjoy the pics below. They're all winners anyhow, aren't they?

Brittany Snow has Would You Rather? coming out this month.

Alexis Knapp stars as a sexy vampire in the upcoming Vamp U.

Elisabeth Harnois is currently starring in Riddle and Bad Meat.

Genre fave Ingrid Bolso Berdal is currently starring in H&G: Witch Hunters and The Abc's of Death.

The Walking Dead returns this month, along with the hotness of Lauren Cohan.

Teresa Palmer is currently starring in the #1 flick at the Box Office, Warm Bodies.

Katie Cassidy is currently starring in Arrow, and has Kill For Me coming out soon.

Danielle Panabaker has Girls Against Boys coming out this month.

Yes, Al, they all do... but which one do we choose?

Theatrical Release Date List Updated

Our Theatrical Release Date List has been updated through April, so that you know what to go see and when.

Stoker, Evil Dead, Lords of Salem, and even a new Danny Boyle flick... there's plenty coming out, both big and small, in the months ahead, so go and make your plans now.

Seriously, go.

!0 Horror Eyes for February!

Another month, another 10 Horror Eyes!

Is there a Horror movie out there that doesn't offer at least one close-up of someone's eyes during its runtime? We sure hope not, because we just can't get enough of them. They're windows to the soul, you know.

So once again, let us celebrate the ocular images that add that extra tension and emotion to our favorite films. *We mean that as a generality, as these are not necessarily our favorite films. Then again, they're not necessarily not our favorite films, either. Could go either way.

Enjoy.

Creepydaga Eyes (Cassadaga)

Argento's Finest Eye (Deep Red)

A Young Buck's Eyes (The ABC's of Death)

Poor Kelen's Eyes (Children of the Corn: Genesis)

Angry Amanda's Eyes (Gone)

Drained Brain Eyes (The Horror Express)

Reflective Eye (F13th Part 6: Jason Lives)

Sexy Alien Eyes (Lifeforce)

Crazy Eyes (Lovely Molly)

Simple Folk Eyes (Nailbiter)

Mama (2013)

(aka A Mother's Love is Creepy.)
Release Date: In Theaters now.
Country: Spain & Canada.
Written by:  Andres Muschietti and Neil Cross.
Directed by: Andres Muschietti.
Starring:  Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier, Isabelle Nelisse, and Javier Botet.

Mama is a top-notch Horror flick that had us engrossed in its creepy shenanigans from the get-go... and then the ending happened.

After losing it all during the 2008 financial crisis, which lead him to kill killing his business partners and his own wife, Jeffrey decides to take his sweet little daughters on a drive down an icy, snow-covered road. While doing his best 100 mph impression of The Fast & Furious on ice, he loses control and the car and slides off of a cliff, crashing into the forest below. He and his daughters trek through the snowy woods and take refuge in an old abandoned cabin, where he whips out a gun and prepares to finish his murder-suicide plan... until some creepy spirit shows up and drags him off into the woods. The ghost then gives the terrified little girls a cherry, because, why not.

"Daddy?"

Five years later, the girls are found alive in a feral state, and are brought back to society. Jeffrey's twin brother, Lucas, vows to take care of his nieces with the help of his "I don't want no kids, I just wanna rock!" Goth/Emo-looking girlfriend, Annabel. The dysfunctional Brady Bunch settles into their new home, only to have odd things begin to happen, including creepy visions of shadow figures and the kids talking and playing with someone they call "Mama."

Creepy kid is creepy.

It's clear that Mama doesn't want anyone touching her babies, and so things get creepier and more violent. The older girl, Victoria, tries to warn Lucas and Annabel about the dangers of Mama, while the younger girl, Lily, just tends to growl a lot and talk like Jodie Foster in Nell. Even though Annabel doesn't seem to like kids, and is a horrible role-model for them anyway, she isn't about to let Mama scare her off or hurt the kids. She's learning to love again, you see.

She's also learning to scream again.

As people around the kids start to get hurt and even die, Annabel races against time (don't they always?) to discover who Mama is, and to figure out a way to save the girls. Will Mama kill everyone and get her babies back? Will these creepy kids help Mama kill everyone? Will Annabel ever rock out with her band again? Far be it from us to spoil things for you, but suffice it to say that in the end, there will be hugs. Hugs and moths.

Worst babysitter ever.

Guillermo Del Toro loves genre storytelling, and his movies show it. They tend to be well-crafted, atmospheric, and laced with emotion, and for the most part, they are fantastic. Though he only produced Mama, you can see his imprint on the film, and the movie is definitely better off for it.

Mama is a feature length adaptation of Director Andres Muschietti's short film of the same name. At times it feels as if the concept of that short was stretched out a bit too much to make it feature length, but for the most part the movie works well. If nothing else, it feels earnest and real, and its atmosphere did a great job at sucking us in, and making us forget that CGI ghosts aren't all that scary. Mama was pretty creepy at times, and genuinely compelling overall.

Is there an actress that is hotter (career-wise) than Jessica Chastain is right now? Between Mama and Zero Dark Thirty, the girl owns the top two spots at the Box Office right now, which is no mean feat. She's great in this movie (although her character annoyed us at times), and it's not hard to see why she's such a hot commodity. Nicolaj Coster-Waldau is no slouch either; the guy rules on HBO's Game of Thrones, and as a film star, he's just as compelling. We also can't forget to mention the little actresses who played the girls in this movie, because they were great in this one too.

"A Lannister always pays his debts, bitch."

As much as we enjoyed Mama, we were a bit let down by the way the CGI Mama looked at times. The movie overall does a good job of portraying the vengeful spirit in a realistic and creepy light, but the problem is that it's near impossible to articulate realistic facial expressions with CGI, thus, CGI can look cartoonish at times. Javier Botet did an excellent job playing Mama; the way that guy can move and contort his body is truly a thing of creepy brilliance. I would have much rather preferred practical FX for the facial shots to complement Botet's performance, because some of Mama's transformations and expressions just felt too fake.

Next time, no close-ups.

**SPOILER WARNING** Does every Guillermo Del Toro movie have to go and get all sentimental at the end? This movie was fantastic... right up until its last few minutes, where the ghost is shown in a sympathetic and caring light. I love Del Toro and the emotion his films always convey, but I neither need nor want catharsis in the midst of getting the shit scared out of me. Nothing (usually) ruins a good Horror flick faster than an antagonist (killer, spirit, et al.) being portrayed in a sympathetic light. If you have to explain motivation, fine, but showing too much of it changes a movie's dynamic, and with Horror flicks, it tends to suck the "scary" right out of things.

The interpretive dance scene.

 

Mama is filled with all sorts of disturbing imagery and scenes, but as far as the bloodletting goes, it's a relatively dry affair.

Much to our chagrin, Jessica Chastain kept her clothes on in this one. She's just too big of a star now to be running around naked anymore, we guess. For shame.

Those are not the eyes of a good girl!

 

Mama is a movie that works on most levels right up until the very end, and then still works, but just doesn't work as well as it could have. Make no mistake about it; this is Jessica Chastain's movie. The whole "reluctant step-mom vs. vengeful maternal ghost" thing is most definitely a meditation on motherly love, and sexy Jessica pulls it off quite nicely. Mama is creepy and atmospheric, and despite its flaws, it entertained us just fine.

B+

It's nice to see one of Hollywood's hottest Gingers starring in a Horror flick like this, because it shows that she's cool people, as well as being really hot. We just love us some Jessica Chastain.