Brooklyn Horror Film Festival: What we watched

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) - WEAU’s Maddy at the Movies is sharing her full recap of what she saw for this year’s Brooklyn Horror Film Festival. Check out her reviews below!

“Erie”

In “Erie,” siblings Stella and Oscar are trying to connect the dots after a string of suspicious suicides, including their sister’s, in Erie, Pennsylvania.

“Erie” starts out kind of slow, as most found footage flicks do. The rules and context have to be established before anything really crazy can happen. I’ll admit, I wasn’t fully with this one until the middle of the second act or so, when the siblings set out into the woods to investigate. The found footage is good, but there is a shift out of it in the third act that, while necessary for the story and where it’s going, kind of slowed things down and took me out.

There are only a couple characters in this movie: Iris (whose death sets the story in motion), the siblings (Stella and Oscar), Red (internet guy whose girlfriend is one of the “suicides”... maybe), and a fisherman who’s stumbled across in the woods. Everyone does a good job; Stella is really unlikable, and the fact that Kim and I felt so strongly about her during our watch speaks to Carly Stewart’s performance. I want to especially highlight Ryan Garcia (Red); he does a great job of toeing the line and overall just being a super creepy dude.

I did waver with this one, but am ultimately going to give “Erie” a 3.5/5. It has some super great imagery, and while it was a bit boring to start, I think it finds its footing eventually. The ending is pretty brutal, but I think it’s right for the movie.

“Full Moon Rising: The Charles Band Story”

The name kind of says it all; “Full Moon Rising” tells the story of Charles (Charlie) Band, B-movie legend. From growing up in a filmmaking family and on the sets of epics to heading Empire Pictures (“Re-Animator,” “Ghoulies,” “From Beyond”) and Full Moon Features (“Puppet Master,” “The Gingerdead Man,” “Evil Bong”), Charlie Band is one of the most prolific filmmakers still working today.

Before watching this documentary, I knew of Band, but not super well (“Re-Animator” and “From Beyond” are some of my favorite horror movies). This was the perfect little deep-dive into his filmography. He has worked with so many people that I recognize and don’t, and they all speak so highly of him. I’m giving “Full Moon Rising” a 3.5/5. I’d recommend it for any horror fan, especially if you like the direct-to-video and more indie stuff!

“Night After Night”

Andy and Willis work as security guards at an obscure university. The two have a working relationship, but Andy keeps to himself. When Willis disappears, Andy is asked to switch to the night shift. At the university, alone, he stumbles upon a mysterious individual, and things spiral out of control from there.

I don’t think I really understood “Night After Night.” It was cool visually, but I didn’t really feel strongly about the story or characters. I’m giving it a 2.5/5. It just wasn’t for me!

“Rubberhead: The Life & Monsters of Steve Johnson”

“Rubberhead” shares the story of Steve Johnson, special effects and movie makeup icon. It’s based on Johnson’s memoir, “RUBBERHEAD: Sex, Drugs, and Special Effects.” Johnson, who worked under the legendary Rick Baker before opening his own studio, crafted monsters for “Ghostbusters,” “An American Werewolf in London,” “Fright Night,” and “Night of the Demons,” just to name a few.

My favorite kind of documentary is a moviemaking documentary. This one is especially interesting to me because I wasn’t really aware of Johnson’s name, but was aware of his work, so it’s cool to learn about the man behind the creations. A lot of the archival footage here is just dang awesome, considering Johnson did SFX; you get to see how they pulled off some of these effects over the years. “Rubberhead” also talks very candidly about Johnson’s addiction and struggle with substances over the years, which I think is hard for a subject and something you don’t really see a lot of. I also wasn’t aware he was married to Linnea Quigley for some time. I’m giving “Rubberhead” a 3.5/5. I recommend it to all film fans.