Dahlia Williams and her daughter Cecelia move into a rundown apartment on New York’s Roosevelt Island. She is currently in midst of divorce proceedings and the apartment, though near an excellent school for her daughter, is all she can afford. From the time she arrives, there are mysterious occurrences and there is a constant drip from the ceiling in her daughter’s bedroom. There are also the noises coming from the apartment directly above hers, though it would appear to be vacant. Is the apartment haunted or is there a simpler explanation? Written by garykmcd

(more…)

In this remake of the Japanese horror film “Chakushin Ari” (2003), several people start receiving voice-mails from their future selves — messages which include the date, time, and some of the details of their deaths.

Writer/director Takashi Shimizu took his Japanese blockbuster “Ju-On: The Grudge” and along with screenwriter Stephen Susco, revamped it for American audiences. The filmmakers cast familiar American actors, fleshed out the English-language version with unneeded extraneous scenes, and in a sense, dumbed it down. Plot points that were left up to your imagination in the original Japanese film are explained in detail in the new version. And while the original was creepy/spooky, the new one offers only a scattering of scary moments surrounded by scenes that only serve to test your patience and kill time.

(more…)

In Pasadena, Mrs. Davis sends her daughter Aubrey Davis to Tokyo to bring her sister Karen Davis, who is interned in a hospital after surviving a fire, back to the USA. After their meeting, Karen dies and Aubrey decides to investigate what happened to her and gets herself trapped in the same situation, being chased by the ghost of the house. Meanwhile in Tokyo, the three high school mates Allison, Vanessa and Miyuki visit the famous haunted house and are also chased by the ghost. In Chicago, Trish moves to the apartment of her boyfriend Bill, who lives with his children, the teenager Lacey and boy Jake. On the next door, weird things happen with their neighbor. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

(more…)

Don’t let the ads or the poster fool you, this isn’t “Snow Dogs” (thank goodness) and you’d be wrong to dismiss this as just another Disney dog movie. Inspired by real events, “Eight Below” is a first-rate family film loaded with terrific performances by two and four-legged actors. “Eight Below” director Frank Marshall and Disney deliver a film that satisfies on multiple levels and should find box office gold with this genuinely touching movie.

(more…)

John Smith is an amoral gunslinger in the days of Prohibition. On the lam from his latest (unspecified) exploits, he happens upon the town of Jericho, Texas. Actually, calling Jericho a town would be too generous–it has become more like a ghost town, since two warring gangs have ‘driven off all the decent folk.’ Smith sees this as an opportunity to play both sides off against each other, earning himself a nice piece of change as a hired gun. Despite his strictly avowed mercenary intentions, he finds himself risking his life for his, albeit skewed, sense of honor…. Written by Tad Dibbern {DIBBERN_D@a1.mscf.upenn.edu}

The hacker Josh invades the computer of Douglas Ziegler, who is developing a powerful wireless signal and accidentally releases a mysterious force that take the will to live of the human beings, generating a suicide epidemic and increasing the force. His girlfriend and student of psychology Mattie sees each one of their common friends die and the destruction of the modern world, and together with her new acquaintance Dexter, they try to plan a virus developed by Josh in the network to shutdown the system and save mankind. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

(more…)

A montage of French nuclear tests in the Pacific Ocean, observed by many marine iguanas. Then, in present days, a Japanese fishing ship is being attacked by an unseen monster; only one survived. Traumatized, he is later questioned in a hospital by a mysterious Frenchman and repeatedly says only one word –”Gojira”. NRC scientist Niko “Nick” Tatopolous is called in to investigate the matter, and he quickly arrives at the conclusion that a giant, irradiated lizard known as Godzilla has been created by the explosions. Then Godzilla makes its way north, landing at Manhattan to begin wreaking havoc in the big city! Even with the combined forces of the U.S. military are going to destroy Godzilla at all costs, but will it ever be enough to save the people of New York? Written by Anthony Pereyra {hypersonic91@yahoo.com}

(more…)

Just in time for Halloween comes one of the creepiest films in years, “The Ring.” Filled with spooky special effects, “The Ring” will have you cringing in your seat and watching parts of the movie through the slits between your fingers placed firmly over your eyes.

(more…)

An anonymous, but deadly man rides into a town torn by war between two factions, the Baxters and the Rojo’s. Instead of fleeing or dying, as most other would do, the man schemes to play the two sides off each other, getting rich in the bargain. Written by Andrew Hyatt {dres@uiuc.edu}