Sara Paxton

CHICAGO – Ti West’s “The Innkeepers” is one of the most divisive films of the year, a love-it-or-hate-it affair — my favorite kind of movie. I see both sides. I get how the slow burn doesn’t work for some people (and, honestly, it didn’t really work for me in West’s “House of the Devil”) and I get how modern horror fans might be upset at the lack of a sure payoff in this ghost story.

CHICAGO – Ti West’s “The Innkeepers” is one of the most effective horror movies of the last several years, a true gem of the genre that reminds a scary movie junkie like myself why I fell in love with them in the first place.

CHICAGO – Director Ti West has formulated a career re-imagining some of the scare tactics used in the classic horror films of the late 1970s and early ‘80s. His deliberately paced style created a frightening “House of the Devil” in 2009, and now he’s back with up-and-coming Sara Paxton for “The Innkeepers.”

CHICAGO – In our latest horror/thriller edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 50 admit-two movie passes up for grabs to the advance screening of “The Innkeepers” starring Sara Paxton from “The House of the Devil” director Ti West!

CHICAGO – There may be little LESS scary in horror than a CGI shark. From the very first scene of “Shark Night,” one knows they’re in movie-watching trouble. A personality-less drone in a bikini gets tossed around a seemingly placid lake by an unseen shark. One can’t tell what the hell is going on. There’s no shots below the surface (not really to build tension but because this movie is inexplicably PG-13). And there’s no fear, tension, or actual interest. From here, it’s much of the same. Dull, dull, shark attack, dull, shark attack, end. Throw this one back in the water.

CHICAGO – “Shark Night 3D” is at the top of the food chain when it comes to the people-so-stupid-they-lack-basic-survival-skills category of horror thrillers, and has so many wrong elements it nearly swings back to be right.

CHICAGO – Dennis Iliadis’ brutal and accomplished remake of Wes Craven’s influential horror classic “The Last House on the Left,” now available on Blu-Ray and DVD, deserves a much better home release than the typically reliable Universal/Rogue has delivered for horror fans this week.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Dennis Illiadis’ remake of “The Last House on the Left” is the exception the proves the rule that most horror movie remakes are a complete waste of time. With an incredible performance by Garret Dillahunt (“Deadwood,” “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”) and great supporting work by Monica Potter, Sara Paxton, Tony Goldwyn, and others, “Last House” is the best mainstream horror movie in a long time.

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The vicious family of Krug (Garret Dillahunt).

CHICAGO – This 18-image slideshow contains the available press images for Rogue Pictures’ “The Last House on the Left,” starring Tony Goldwyn, Monica Potter, Garret Dillahunt, Sara Paxton, Martha MacIsaac, and Riki Lindhome. The film, written by Carl Ellsworth and directed by Dennis Iliadis, opens on Friday, March 13th, 2009.

CHICAGO – We have been sent the official poster art for the new simply titled film “Superhero Movie,” which is a send-up of superhero films including “Batman Begins” and “Fantastic Four”.