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Chicago – Films in general are knocked for being knockoffs of something else. Horror films in particular have it especially hard in the “new” department because we’re so quickly annoyed when we’ve “seen it all before”.

There are only so many ways to alter how you draw a circle. At the end of the day, you’ve still drawn a circle and the only difference is how you got there.

Rating: 3.0/5.0

“Oculus” starts with promise because Jason Blum is attached to it. Blum’s production company, Blumhouse Productions, is responsible for so many Hollywood horror films as of late that it’s impossible for your concept of horror in the past decade not to be impacted by him.

Just to name a few, we’re talking about “Paranormal Activity” (2007), “Paranormal Activity 2” (2010),” “Paranormal Activity 3” (2011), “Sinister” (2012), “Paranormal Activity 4” (2012), “The Purge” (2013)”, “Insidious: Chapter 2” (2013), “Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones...

                                Hey peeps! We go some cool stuff sent over to us for the upcoming horror/drama Absentia. The film stars Katie Parker, Courtney Bell, Dave Levine, Morgan Peter Brown, Justin Gordon, Scott Graham, James Flanagan and Doug Jones. The cool looking film was directed by Mike Flanagan, who is best known for his acclaimed horror short Oculus. Let me tell ya, anything with Doug Jones in it is worth checking out! The story focuses on two sisters (Parker and Bell) who begin to suspect an ominous tunnel's involvement in a series of neighborhood disappearances. Dig on the poster, images and trailer and tell us what you think.

My last two columns in this series profiled the environmental docu-drama The Green Chain and Velcrow Ripper's personalised exploration of activism and spirituality, Fierce Light. Both of these films dealt with serious topics so this time around I thought I should lighten up. Don't get the idea that I'm going to be talking about the indie equivalent of Anne of Green Gables or Disney's Fantasia, though. Neither of the films profiled here are family-friendly and one is definitely not for viewers with weak stomachs.

Dead Snow

Getting attacked by regular zombies has got to be bad enough, but getting attacked by evil Nazi zombies when you are in a secluded hut in the Norwegian mountains has really gotta suck! That mountain shack scenario is the premise of Dead Snow (Død Snø), a Norwegian made zombie movie that was an Official Selection at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

According to director Tommy Wirkola,...