Milo (1998)

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Not that you'd want to watch this piece of shit anyway.

 
  I am not sure whether to be offended or bored by this tepid entry in the killer kid department. Milo is about a peculiar little boy with an unnatural interest in gynecology. I can't believe I just typed that sentence.

  Milo lures five little girls to his house under the guys of seeing aborted fetuses. Yeah, that's totally what girls are interested in seeing. I'll admit Milo is creepy with his raspy voice and face dutifully hidden by a yellow slicker. Well Creepy Hauser M.D. ignores his Hippocratic oath and goes scalpel crazy.

  We flash to present day and the scariest part of the movie, the main character's fashion sense.

Headless Marie Antoinette doll not included.

    This fashion victim is Claire and apparently one of the aforementioned little girls. She returns to her hometown for a wedding only to learn that the bride, Ruth, died the night before. To Claire, death is synonymous with job opening and takes over Ruth's teaching job.

Oh hai, Mila Kunis!

    We learn that Claire is a mediocre substitute teacher who is not married. She talks to goldfish, I wonder if they call her out by name. She is seen opening a cardboard box that was delivered to her. What's in the box? A plastic baggie with her goldfish inside. Did she Fed Ex the fish to her house?

   Claire begins to repeatedly see and hear Milo everywhere she goes. Is he really haunting her or is he a manifestation of her guilt? Here's a better question: How long before this film actually gets interesting?

  Claire confides in one of the other girls, Abigail, who reminds her that Milo drowned when they were young. Claire leaves and naturally Abby has an unfortunate run-in with Milo's scalpel. Claire tries to convince her last surviving friend, Marian that Milo is back.

   Marian reminds Claire that she went a little nuts after the Milo incident and suspects that she is going crazy again. Ethan, a troubled student of Claire is seen talking to Milo. Or was he? And Claire's is attacked by someone in a rain slicker. Or was she? And LadyJ finally finds this film interesting. Or does she?

   Claire breaks into Milo's father's office and is caught by Daddy Dearest. Daddy shows her Milo's grave but she still isn't convinced. Milo manages to dispatch Marian via bicycle and drags her into the woods. Marian tries again to talk to Daddy while Milo assaults the school janitor in the hallways.

   Rather than take him to a real hospital they return to Milo's father's clinic where Claire finds some freaky deaky medical equipment. Daddy bounds and gags the janitor as Milo chases Claire. Guess what Milo is alive and well and was apparently a stillborn baby that Daddy resurrected. Yeah, it makes no sense to me either.

    Claire gets knocked out and awakens wearing a wedding dress. And they say men can't commit. The janitor somehow gets loose and drowns Milo. Since he's a black man in a horror movie, he dies as well.

   In Milo's chamber of horrors, Claire finds the bodies of her friend clad in wedding gowns as well. Great not only is he a psycho killer/amateur gynecologist but he's a polygamist as well. As for poor Marian, well, Milo kind of took the choice out of pro choice. Milo killed Marian which would be believable if the actresses' legs weren't moving throughout the scene. Acting like a corpse is not rocket science, people.

   Well Claire kills Milo and escapes. We are treated to the strangest ending ever where the new janitor finds graffiti reading "Milo Was Here" Then they cut to a blink and you'll miss it scene of a young Milo attacking a young Claire.

   Congratulations Milo, you officially suck worse than Troll 2.

31 Days Of Horror #2: Daddy's Girl

   

The '90s were a breeding ground for the killer tot genre. You had Mikey, The Paperboy, and even Macaulay Culkin in the Good Son. However, Daddy's Girl set itself apart as being the only film where the killer was a girl. 

    Gabrielle Boni plays Jodie the aforementioned Daddy's Girl. She predictably slices and dices her way through anyone who stands in her way. Boni is a great child actress and possibly the only really good part of the film. It also stars William Katt, Whip Hubley, and Peggy McRea who just seem to be going through the motions.

   The chief problem with this film is that it is phenomenally boring, with drawn out suspense scenes and one too many nightmare sequences. The kills are mediocre and the majority of the characters are just assholes.

  Seriously, there are no redeeming qualities to anyone in this picture. We are supposed to care about these victims not root for the killer.   They even shoehorn in a orphaned cousin  who realizes what Jodie really is about. This leads to a vague attempt at a back story for Jodie, which like this film is uneven and half baked.

   The ending is the real insult of the movie. The boy killer movies always have their killers going out in a blaze of glory and sometimes even surviving. The lone girl killer movie goes out with a whimper.

  She attempts to kill her mother who unfortunately survives. Daddy saves the day and realizes what a holy terror he was raised. He is very disturbed by this knowledge and turns away from his crying daughter. Does she grab a garden tool and punish him for his betrayal?

  No, no, a thousand times no. She simply bursts into tears and begs her Daddy to love her again. And that's how this film ended. No follow up or grand finale. Just tears and jeers for all. Avoid this film, you've been warned.


 

Whatever Mikey wants Mikey gets

    In the '90s, it was all about the killer child. You had such classics as Daddy's Little Girl and The Paperboy, even Macaulay Culkin got in on the action in The Good Son. Out of all of them, Mikey is hands down the best.

    Rather than waste half the movie with long drawn-out suspense scenes, Mikey cuts right to the chase. His family doesn't make it past the first 15 minutes. Mikey is adopted by another family who have no idea who they brought into their home. Of course, once things don't go his way he resorts to some very tough love.

   The most refreshing aspect of this movie is the death scenes, they are fairly realistic. These are kills that a young person could conceivably do. Some of the deaths in the other films would require the main character to have super human strength to pull it off.

    The cast of the film are pretty fun too. Mikey is played by Brian Bonsell, who is known for his roles as Andy Keaton on Family Ties and Worf's son Alexander on STNG. Brian Bonsell is a perfect choice for Mikey. He can play innocent just as well as psycho and there some really chilling scenes in the film. 

   A pre-Melrose Place, Josie Bisset, plays a neighbor who unfortunately catches Mikey's eye. And there's some horror royalty with Whit Hertford, who played Jacob in Nightmare on Elm Street 5.  They actually put in some fine performances despite the film's B movie status.

    The film does lose points for having the obligatory sequel hook but then again what horror film doesn't? It may be a B movie but it's actually well done. Any fan of the slasher genre should check this out, it's worth it.

Whisper

Whisper is hands down one of the better horror/suspense films I have seen in awhile. It stars Josh Holloway (Lost) and Sarah Wayne Callies (Prison Break) with a great performance from Blake Woodruff (Cheaper By The Dozen 1 & 2)

Holloway plays ex-convict Max Truemont who just wants to settle down and go legit. His dreams of owning his own diner go up in smoke after his felonious past interferes with his getting a loan. Max eventually agrees to kidnap a young boy and hold him for ransom. Along with his reluctant girlfriend Roxanne (Callies), Vince, and and ringleader Sydney they keep the boy David (Woodruff) in an isolated cabin.

However there is more to David than meets the eyes. And soon he begins to play on their emotions and slowly turns them against each other. This movie in a word awesome, it doesn't insult the viewer and actually is a great and original story. The actors really embody their roles making you actually care what happens to them what happens to them. Woodruff is wonderfully creepy while Holloway proves he can carry a movie.