Honeyspider

After wasting 76 min. of my life, enduring the abysmal ordeal that is Honeyspider, I can safely say that Mr. Hasty ( what a fitting name ) doesn't have a clue when it comes to creating horror and he should be thoroughly ashamed of himself having the affront to actually release s**t like this. Disgusting.

Nothing works in this movie, and I mean nothing. The acting is horrendous, truly the epitome of bad, not a single syllable that is being spewed out of their stupid mouths is convincing in any shape or form, they have all the charm of cardboard and the tangibility of ghosts. The dimension of reality is non-existent. The pacing and editing is all kinds of wrong; obviously this "director" thinks that spending inordinate amounts of time watching the lead wandering aimlessly around in different settings is pure gold and he clearly don't have a clue as when to switch to another shot. But I guess it's nearly impossible to get this properly done when you have the sensibility of an elephant.

The soundtrack isn't much to write home about either, and most of the time it doesn't fit the scenes at all. The story? Completely meaningless and soulless.

In other words, one of the worst movies ever made. Please don't make another one Mr. Hasty, you and the rest of your crew have zero talent.

Kenny Caperton is the writer of this occult Halloween horror tale, and it is in the same vein as Zombie's "The Lords Of Salem". The story blends aspects of chilling atmosphere, macabre theatrics and almost hypnotic surrealism- the dream sequence that seems to tap into some metaphysical state is some of my favorite moments in the film. True art-house horror moments. But there is so much about "Honeyspider" that is so cool, retro and fresh that I just really enjoyed being pulled into the main character's story. And the occult stuff always gets me giddy in horror, especially films that build it around Halloween/Samhain.

The special effects and makeup are complimentary to this dark, mystical nightmare. The atmosphere builds on some nice sounds that instantly throw you back into classic 80's horror. The cool addition of adding a film within a film gives some extra and much needed blood and gore. All of which is practical effects done masterfully. I personally loved the soundtrack from the first notes of the synth just after the intro right up until the very last moments of the film. The mix of songs from various indie genre artists and the instrumental stuff really put you in the attitude and emotion of the film. Nothing about the effects or the 80's setting felt fabricated or cheap. I guess you could argue that some of the props were more retro inspired than actual 80's, but it all looked and felt 80's to me.

Overall "Honeyspider" is a well crafted horror tale with some truly instant classic moments. This is indie/ low-budget film making awesomeness! The cast give stellar performances and the dialog is short but effective. The film does take a slow and steady build up with occult, and suspense thriller mixing together in a methodical pace in away that pulls you into the story, and you just set and watch as it all unfolds. "Honeyspider" takes the best of the horror genre-from it's "new"beginnings in the Corman era, through the occult days, right into the totally awesome slasher/splatter days of the 80's. Definitely check "Honeyspider" out. I do think the ending may bother some horror fans but only if the ending to "The Lords Of Salem" bothered you! I love it and feel it begs a second installment.

This was a long awaited throwback Halloween Horror Thriller, loved it's slow paced creepy story… I can see this becoming a cult classic!, a sort of Halloween must watch every year movie… Although it's a very slow burning movie, it keeps you hooked with it's spooky weirdness and unravelling story… It's worth the wait! to get to a well delivered and unsuspecting ending… The sound track to this movie was just amazing, well fitting and just made the movie fresh… The acting was superb from newcomer Mariah Brown playing lead role as Jackie Blue on her wonting quiet birthday, "well you can want"… I'm not getting into the plot with this as all you need to know is in the synopsis above, i won't give you any spoilers… But i will say this, it's a must for any Horror "low budget" movie lover, you need this in the collection, and dig it out every year on Hallows eve…...

Saturday, October 18th marked the official world premiere of something that had been on my radar for some time. HONEYSPIDER, the first full-length horror feature by North Carolina filmmaker/writer Kenny Caperton alongside director Josh Hasty, held its first official showing at the historic Gem Theatre in Kannapolis, NC. Built in 1936, destroyed by fire in 1942, and fully restored in 1948, The Gem Theatre is one of the most iconic theatres in the Carolinas, as well as one of the oldest continuously running theatres in the United States today. Needless to say, The Gem has a certain "Old World" charm and arguable level of beautiful creepiness that was so appropriate for a horror film's premiere in the spookiest of seasons.

Over the past several years, Caperton has become something of a fixture in the horror community, gaining much-deserved notoriety for building The Myers House: NC – a life-size scale replica of the infamous Michael Myers house from John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN franchise, which is not only his personal love-letter to his favorite genre/film, but also his own private residence. While the house has been featured in several films already, including Caperton's own Halloween-inspired fan-film prequel: 2010's JUDITH: THE NIGHT SHE STAYED HOME, this was Caperton's first attempt at writing an original feature-length horror.

Set in the late 1980s, HONEYSPIDER tells the story of Jackie Blue (Mariah Brown), a college student about to celebrate her 21st birthday, which just so happens to also be Halloween. Trying to keep her grades up, struggling with divorced and rather disconnected parents, and a rather creepy professor, Professor Lynch (played by Frank Aard) who seems to have more than a little personal interest, Jackie seems intent on just keeping her head down and trying to get by, holding a job at the local movie theatre (the location of which provided by The Gem itself) where she takes time to study between customers.

As Halloween (and of course, her birthday) approaches, Jackie begins to hallucinate, seeing tarantulas nearly everywhere she goes, and receives a mysterious ring as a birthday gift. When Jackie goes to work at the theatre for the big Halloween spookshow of "Sleepover Slaughterhouse Part III" (a film within the film) we're treated to some good old-fashioned slasher action, courtesy of a mysterious masked killer, who of course has his sights set on Jackie, culminating in a bizarre cult ritual.

Who is the mysterious killer? Why are he and the cult targeting Jackie? Will she survive? What happens next? At least some of these questions will be answered, but certainly not all, and that's part of why I enjoyed this film so much. While the cult gives the audience just enough to get the gist of things, they never actually explain anything, focusing instead on their own reasons. This was so important to me because too many films these days tend to just give everything away. I mean, why would they explain anything? They know why they do what they do, but what kind of cult and/or killer would really, actually bother to explain why? I found this to be quite pleasing story-wise.

Another thing I particularly appreciated was the authenticity of "Sleepover Slaughterhouse Part III" – the little film within the film, which not only captured the look, feel, and overall campiness of your typical 80s slasher flick, but also featured actual 80s title/credit fonts (that may or may not have been obviously inspired by another certain Part III of a slasher franchise), sound, and presentation of such a film that if I didn't know better, I'd be sure I could go find on VHS rotting away on some old video store shelf somewhere.

About my only real gripe with the film, come with the sound department, whose audio came off as a bit uneven throughout the film, which could be easily fixed with a quick trip back to the mixing boards, but likely will stay as the one shining flaw in the production. I could argue that the final sequence was a bit drawn out, and could use a slight (and I do mean slight) runtime cut, but that's such a minor thing, that even as I write this review, I don't really see that as something that actually needs fixing that bad.

Overall, HONEYSPIDER is a wonderful homage to 80s horror cinema, never taking itself too seriously, while refusing to dip into that dreaded (and quite frankly lazy) slippery slope of "horror-comedy" that so many independent horror films fall back on way too often. Hasty does a superb job of directing and bringing Caperton's story to life with excellent camera work, and the cast does an excellent job of delivering a natural, believable performance that is only strengthened by the fact that they all look like actual, real people as opposed to "Hollywood" types. There are obvious nods to Rob Zombie's THE LORDS OF SALEM with the symbolism and perhaps even some of the styling, and of course The Smashing Pumpkins with the title, but not nearly enough to be any sort of rip-off.

This is an original, innovative, and refreshing take on the horror genre that pays its respects to the past while ambitiously looking forward to the future. Not bad for a debut effort, and we can only hope this is a sign of many more great things to come.

Horror films aren't exactly what I go to the movies for. For one reason or another, most don't do it for me.

Honeyspider is one of two films that fall into the Horror genre that I can recommend to literally anyone.

I didn't expect to like it as much as I do. A few friends of mine wanted to watch it, and for the first few minutes, I didn't pay much attention. But as the movie progressed, I became more and more immersed in it. It was like I was watching what every horror film should be. Considering production budgets, the film is a technical masterwork. Add in the entrancing and open-ended story, and just the general genre-savviness of the creators, and you have an instant Halloween classic.

This isn't a movie that you watch and then go back to the rest of your day. This is a movie you watch, then watch again, then have a conversation with the people who made it on Twitter, and then write a review of while watching it for a third time. I can't express how finely tuned an instrument this film is.

If you haven't seen it yet, you need to be watching it.