Easily the second-best, tie for first, scariest movie in the entire After Dark Horrorfest, "Wicked Little Things", packs an explosive and downright scary punch.

With a DVD menu capable of even blowing away the great "Gravedancers", "Wicked Little Things" brings us a tale of a widow who moves to the wilds of deepest Pennsylvania with her children. They're out to start a new life in a house left to her by her late husband's family. And waiting for her is a tale of zombies, ghosties, and child labor gone horribly awry.

"Wicked Little Things" is quite fun, in its way. The house used for a setting is a nightmarish, rambling monstrousity and the oppressively wooded set makes for plenty of scares. And even some rare laughs, too--I like how our widow brushes off her daughter's comments about going to school with inbred mountain hicks. Though it could have been even more fun:

"Why, of COURSE you're going to school with inbred mountain hicks, honey! You'll be valedictorian because you could add before you were twelve! AND, you'll be the prettiest girl in school because you have all your own teeth and have mastered a bra. You'll have your pick of boys to squire you to the Jeeeeu-nor PROM! This year's theme is 'I Gots My Own Shoes'!"

Now, I could continue having fun by introducing fun with cigarette lighters or borrow from the legendary Ed O'Neill for "nothin' spells lovin' like marryin' yer cousin!"--

Addytown, Pennsylvania! Where, as Einstein would put it, everyone's relative!

..but okay, enough fun. Back to the movie.

After about a third of the way through, the movie's tension levels will, almost with an audible snap, switch gears and go from mildly scary mock-the-redneck fest to wet-yourself holy-shit-scary fest. For those of you who have, for some reason, wondered what a pig sounds like when it screams in some combination of rage, pain and terror, now you will know.

And pigs shrieking in all the worst emotions is only the tip of this particular monstrous iceberg. Some of you purists out there may be thinking that this has been done to death. Granted, it's all a little familiar, what with the vengeful zombie / ghost children attacking the living, but it's the way in which it's done that gives "Wicked Little Things" its extreme punch. There's a certain something to it--maybe it's the fact that they're all children, or the other more plot-related oddities, but there's something in "Wicked Little Things" that gives it plenty of extra kick.

The ending has plenty of action to go around, and more than its share of scares. Most of the scary footage in the movie occurs in the last two thirds, and the last fifteen minutes of that will make an excellent climax. Plus, there'll be a nifty little twist at the end.

The special features include audio commentary and trailers for the After Dark Horrorfest, "Dark Ride", "The Hamiltons", "Reincarnation", "Gravedancers", "Unrest", and "Penny Dreadful"

All in all, "Wicked Little Things" is just one more reason to make me question why the films to die for aren't the same kind of film we get in regular distribution.

Reincarnation

If there was any movie in the After Dark Horrorfest expected, even required, to be good, it is "Reincarnation".

Why so much pressure on this one particular film? That's an easy one. See, the director of this little beauty is none other than Takashi Shimizu, director of the Ju-On series. Longtime readers will remember that I consider the original "Ju-On" to be one of the scariest movies of all time. So with the baddest of the bad ass Japanese directors at the helm of both the film and the script, it had damn well better be good.

The menu will bear out--though not quite as good as the amazing wonder "Gravedancers" was, it's apprpropriately ominous, with plenty going on in the background

The plot certainly suggests no problems. It's a ghost story, just like "Ju-On". Except this time, a film crew's gone to a hotel with a particularly violent history to re-enact the killings that took place there thirty five years ago. Anyone who's seen ghost hunting shows on various cable channels will understand that this is widely regarded as a Bad Idea. And indeed, that's what happens. Fact became fiction becomes fact again as the cast of the film are killed off in the manner in which they are to die on film.

Freaky, no?

Shimizu employs one of the guaranteed best scare devices the Japanese cinema has ever known--silent, freaky little girls holding creepy, deformed dolls. Now THAT is scary shit. Think about it--watching some little six year old with a pug-fugly little doll in her arms as she stares you down like she's trying to figure out whether or not you taste good? Creepy!

And the often-favored Japanese plot device of "there's something creepy in the background and it's just STANDING THERE!!" will also be in frequent attendance.

The more you watch through "Reincarnation," the more you realize that you have to watch it like a hawk. Because on more than one occasion, someone will react to something scary they just saw, only to miss something else completely different and equally frightening happen in the background. Watching reality occasionally boil away to be replaced by some new phantom reality is a shock, and not surprisingly, quite a treat.

The ending launches off the biggest surprise I've seen in a good long while. Frankly, if it came any farther out of left field they'd be calling this sucker "The Green Monster" instead of "Reincarnation". Oh, there's also going to be a really, really freaky scene involving that pug-fugly doll. Trust me, don't eat or drink anything during the last nine minutes. You're likely to choke.

The special features include a director's introduction, a couple of making of featurettes, deleted scenes with commentary, and trailers for the After Dark Horrorfest, "Dark Ride", "The Hamiltons", "Gravedancers", "Unrest", "Penny Dreadful" and "Wicked Little Things".

All in all, Shimizu does not disappoint. Though it's not quite the wild, insane romp of terror that "Gravedancers" was, it's easily got the number two slot.

Unrest

One of the first medical ghost stories I've ever seen comes to us via "Unrest" a dark and sinister story featuring a whole lot of corpses.

Perhaps the only problem is, most of them are already dead when we find them, as opposed to being seen alive earlier in the film.

And this medical ghost story involves Alison, a young woman well on her way to becoming a doctor. But the road to physicianhood goes through Gross Anatomy, a class involving the dissection of human cadavers. But one cadaver, which happens to be the one Alison and her team are working on, seems to be a bit livelier than most. And Alison must find out exactly what is behind the cadaver before the cadaver can take more revenge on those disturbing it--or the spirit therein.

The menu for "Unrest" is a step down from "Gravedancers"--it doesn't have the impressive opening animation, and doesn't even offer animations when clicking an option.

One thing I do love about "Unrest" is their use of lighting. Whenever our dear heroine Alison is stalking the hospital halls, she walks into darkness for a couple seconds until limited-range light comes on around her. This provides some absolutely frantic tension sequences, and it's used to good effect, though not to its best effect. Light will also go out behind her as she moves, another excellent trick.

"Unrest" doesn't have the same kind of constant assault of creepy moments that "Gravedancers" had, but it's still got a lot going for it. First off, we don't see very many serious medical horror movies. In fact, I'm hard-pressed to think of one outside of your occasional "Dr. Giggles" or "The Dentist" type of second-rate splatter.

And there is definitely a shortage of ghost stories fused into a medical room drama. Think a weird combination of "The Eye" and "ER", and you'll get the general idea of what kind of movie "Unrest" actually is. Which, frankly, is wildly original.

Wildly original, granted...but not all that scary. There's one death in the first half of the movie. There's no appearance of ghosts, and there's really only a smattering of unusual phenomena. That's a whole lot of buildup for the entire first half of a movie, and that drags heavily on a movie advertised as "too graphic" and "too shocking for general audiences".

The ending is actually quite thrilling, with lots of near-miss fatalities. If they would've put this kind of thrill into the hour and fifteen minutes preceding it, it would've easily been on par with the best. There's even a little bit of a twist ending, which is an extra plus.

The special features include trailers for The AFter Dark Horrorfest, "Dark Ride" "The Hamiltons", "Reincarnation", "Gravedancers", "Penny Dreadful", and "Wicked Little Things".

All in all, there's nothing wrong with "Unrest" by any stretch of the imagination. It's only real failing is that there's not a whole lot specifically scary about it. It's a very original movie, but as a horror movie, it's a bit lacking.