TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

Horror's been getting a bad rep nowadays. The only horror movie to top the box office last year (if you don't count Dumb and Dumber To ) was Ouija . With a...um...less than certified score of 7% on Rotten Tomatoes, the film benefited from having weak competition that Halloween weekend, though it incredulously beat out the excellent Nightcrawler the next week, which was far more superior in creeping you out, trust me, I've unfortunately seen both. But those are the cash-cows studios push these days: cheapo horror flicks that (primarily) teenagers flock to see to get a burst of adrenaline and nervousness (take a college midterm, it has a similar effect and it kills fewer brain cells). They have D-list acting and make as much sense as the people who actually assign power to ouija boards do. So that's why, when the super-low-budget Australian horror flick The Babadook was widely lauded at the '14 Sundance Film Festival, you could imagine my surprise. A horror flick ge...

After a tsunami of homework, projects and social activities (well....let's be honest, mainly a lot of homework) it was sweet relief to go back into a place that demanded nothing but my money and my attention: the movie theater.  I knew little about "Frankenweenie" except that it was supposed to be a scary movie...you know, for kids.  Wanna know what's really scary?  Running into your teacher at a movie theater and pretending you're happy to see them. That didn't happen to me, (though it has happened in other public outings) but I didn't expect to be scared at "Frankenweenie" like I was when I attended "The Woman in Black" (yeah, you forgot about that one, didn't you?)  That movie scared the bejeezus out of me, and I went into this film thinking it would have the same effect on younger kids.  I'll admit some jump cuts did scare me and the five other people in the audience, one of whom looked a decade younger than me.  I'm...