Welcome to the Netflix Instant edition of Horror in Your House. April has brought us horror fans lots to cheer for on the Instant front and continues with the mid-month releases of Doghouse and Heartless – a pair of two very different, but equally interesting British flicks. On the flip side several classic films are about to expire in the next couple weeks including Jaws and My Bloody Valentine. Better watch `em fast lest you be left out.
Netflix Instant Horror In Your House
April 20th, 2011

Recently released (release date in parenthesis):

DOGHOUSE (4/15)

Pitting a minibus full of single men on retreat to help one of their number through a rough divorce against a town full of women driven mad by an airborne toxin that affects only the fairer sex, turning them into violent, bloodthirsty fiends who prey upon their menfolk.

MICAH SAYS: Doghouse follows the UK tradition of being hilarious and bloody in all the right ways. Between Severance, Lesbian Vampire Killers, Shaun of the Dead, and a few others, the stranglehold on horror-comedy continues for the Brits.

THE POSSESSION OF DAVID O’REILLY (4/15)

After fighting with his unfaithful girlfriend, David O’Reilly (Giles Alderson) storms out of their apartment and seeks refuge with married friends Kate (Zoe Richards) and Alex (Nicholas Shaw). But as time passes, they discover that the haunted David is lying about exactly what troubles him. As unexplainable events overwhelm them, Kate and Alex realize that David is a magnet for supernatural forces, and they are forced to fight for their lives.

MICAH SAYS: It’s billed as a “Supernatural Shockumentary” which makes me not want to watch it. Mostly because the word “shockumentary” is dumb. But I love the Cinéma Vérité craze (Paranormal Activity, Last Exorcism) so I think I will be checking this one out. Anyone out there seen it? Thoughts?

ZOMBIE WOMEN OF SATAN (4/13)

After her sister is kidnapped by a bizarre cult, rock singer Skye Brannigan (Victoria Hopkins) sets out to find her. The members of freaky burlesque troupe Flesharama become involved in the hunt, and soon they’re all attacked by a flock of gorgeous zombie women. Led by Satan and their insane creators, the Zander family, the zombies won’t stop the carnage until their lust for blood and guts is fully satisfied in this gory horror flick.

HEARTLESS (4/12)

The film follows Jamie Morgan (Sturgess), born with a disfiguring birthmark across his face, which leaves him an outcast in rough East London. While wandering abandoned yards taking photographs, he comes across a gang of thugs and soon discovers that they are something other than human. He then is led into a Faustian deal that will see him become a party to the terrifying chaos around him.

MICAH SAYS: Put this one in your queue and watch it – especially if you like Faustian tales.

About to expire (expiration date in parenthesis)

THE DESCENT PART 2 (4/29)

Emerging from the cave system alone, distraught and covered in the blood of her missing companions, Sarah is incoherent and half-wild with fear. Skeptical about her account of events and convinced Sarah’s psychosis hides far darker secrets, Sheriff Vaines (Gavan O’Herlihy) doesn’t waste time. Along with his partner Rios (Krysten Cummings), and their cave rescue team Dan (Douglas Hodge), Greg (Joshua Dallas), and Cath (Anna Skellern), Vaines forces Sarah back into the caves to help the rescuers find her friends.

MICAH SAYS: Yeah, we all know it’s inferior to the original, but it’s still pretty damn entertaining. Why in the hell Sarah would go back down there is still beyond me. Also, didn’t she die in the original? Stupid American ending ruining shit and causing sequel-itis.

STUCK (5/1)

Brandi (Mena Suvari) hits Tom (Stephen Rea) with her car on her way home from a night of partying. With Tom still alive but lodged through her windshield, she promises to go a hospital but then decides to leave Tom to die in her garage as she realizes that her future is inextricably tied to her victim. Realizing this plan, Tom knows escape is his only chance for survival.

MICAH SAYS: It’s Mena Suvari hitting a poor sap with first her car and then a 2×4. Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator) directs this “pulled from the tabloids” flick. I didn’t really like it, but hey, Mena in cornrows might be good for some.

MY BLOODY VALENTINE 1981 (5/1)

A decades old folk tale surrounding a deranged murderer killing those who celebrate Valentine’s Day, turns out to be true to legend when a group defies the killer’s order and people start turning up dead.

MICAH SAYS: Absolutely deserves it place amongst the best slashers. Great story, great kills and great fun.

JAWS (5/6)

Director Steven Spielberg virtually invented the summer blockbuster with this white-knuckle adaptation of Peter Benchley’s novel about an insatiable great white shark that terrorizes the townspeople of fictional Amity Island. John Williams’s legendary score punctuates the tension as the police chief (Roy Scheider), an oceanographer (Richard Dreyfuss) and a grizzled shark hunter (Robert Shaw) seek to destroy the bloodthirsty beast.

MICAH SAYS: Can’t go wrong with a Jaws double feature to kick off the summer. Just do it before 5/6 lest they disappear.

JAWS 2 (5/6)

Just as Amity Island begins to rebound from a spate of deadly shark attacks, a pair of missing divers and a boating accident lead police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) to suspect the worst, but his warnings go ignored by the mayor (Murray Hamilton). Sure enough, another great white lurks in the local waters, this time with its sights set on a group of sailing teens — including Brody’s two sons. Jeannot Szwarc directs this blockbuster sequel.