|
World War Z
Phantoms Review: Far better than I expected. Plenty of fast paced action, a couple of decent BOO scenes and some good acting. Not an "instant classic" but entertaining. |
So having shamelessly raided Roshiq's post above for my afternoon's entertainment ...
No One Lives Still a somewhat confusing film even when watched in English. Not that I have anything against confusing films per se, but this one just didn't work for me - some style, but little or no content to speak of. I found it a frustrating film to watch - there were openings for some intelligent psychological exploration of the relationship between Driver and Emma (could have been an interesting look at Stockholm/Lima syndrome for example) but this to me was more or less ignored in favour of unconvincing and OTT kills. Nothing against OTT kills either, but I'd far rather have seen some deeper examination of the characters/relationships. It's almost as if the film wants to be a fun gore fest and an intelligent story but doesn't really succeed at either. I spent half the movie thinking I might be in for some interesting and intelligent story-telling, but although it teases with a few moments/flashbacks it just doesn't develop what could have been an excellent storyline. **SPOILERS** Emma/Driver relationship ... I think, that Driver wanted to keep Emma and "create" her, i.e. make her into a killer like himself. But there's no examination of this, i.e. Why her? What did he initially see in her to make him want that? What else did he do with her during this process? Emma the killer ... she kills (the copper at the motel etc) because she wants to kill Driver herself. It's rubbishy though that in the junkyard he's really pleased that she tried to kill him, while he seemed to completely ignore her shooting of the policeman earlier on. The tracking device ... total guesswork here but I think it was probably a part of the 'creation process'. I'm thinking that he allowed her to escape several times from captivity but was always certain of recapturing her thanks to the tracker. Something about breaking her spirit, making her resign to being his. So many silly plot holes ... This gang of apparently hardened robbers, who are about to torture and probably kill their latest victims, are suddenly panicked by somebody wanting to kill them? And are then overpowered by a slight girl who has supposedly been locked up in a car for goodness knows how long?? The suicide is totally unbelievable, and then they astonishingly fail to notice that Ethan has suddenly gained about 12 stone in weight??? Hmmmmmm.... Favourite moment ... the two guys who offer Flynn a ride, and then disappear from the story with no further mention of them or their fate (aside from the credit card). An indication of how good this film could have been. **WAFFLE OVER** The Seasoning House British horror of the bleak and harrowing variety rarely disappoints and this one's no exception, I was absorbed pretty much from start to finish. Rosie Day as deaf/mute Angel is very watchable, and Sean Pertwee is always enjoyable while Kevin Howarth is quite nicely ambivalent as Viktor. Several tropes (or cliches depending on your point of view I guess) but it goes quite nicely from nasty brutality to revenge flick. My only real gripes are the setting (some indeterminate part of ex-Yugoslavia... to me that just seemed lazy for a film made last year), and the ending is pretty weak - it's barely an ending even, more like the film just stops. |
Saw Gravity over the weekend. Kept expecting a space alien to jump out and kill the astronauts. But the movie made pure oblivion in outer space look far more sinister. Recommended.
Now watching Halloween 4, on AMC's FearFest. |
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...sL._SX215_.jpg
Bleak, harrowing, fighting survival tale. Make sure you catch the scene after the end credits. * * * ½ |
Innkeepers -
This is a good one. I wanted to see it for a while. It's old school horror and I like how they broke the movie into acts. I think a person's enjoyment of this one depends on how much they like the main character. If they don't then I can see a person disliking this movie. I think it was a stong performance by the actress. The other characters are played well too. I was surprised by how old the actress from Top Gun looks. I almost didn't recognize her. I think the director is saying something about modern versus classic horror movies in Innkeepers. There is a modern reference and without spoiling anything something in the final shot. All horror fans need to see this one. Monster Squad - I can't believe I never saw this when I was a kid. It's like The Goonies but with the Classic Horror Monsters. This movie is great. |
Saturday Morning Mystery (2012)
I had such high hopes for this one. I mean, a live-action "dark parody of Scooby Doo" for adults in which the haunting turns out to be real ... what could possibly go wrong making this film?
Hmm. To be fair I did go into it with expectations of something funny and witty. Once I'd let go of that the film did improve a bit, also helped by the pace finally starting to pick up about half way through. But it isn't funny, in fact I wouldn't even call it a parody. Does it work as a straight horror? Well I hate to knock independent film makers, but no I wasn't impressed. It's not a bad plot albeit an unoriginal one ... it's just let down by unconvincing acting and poor production, plus some really silly bits. It lacks atmosphere and didn't scare me or move me. On the plus side there's some good music, and I would give the makers another chance if/when they try again. |
hide and seek (2005)
|
Night of the Living Dead
In the theater. With Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett doing "RiffTrax" on it broadcast live from Tennessee. "That guy's loving the chaos, just going around beating zombies off left and right." |
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...xL._SY300_.jpg
I admit it - I watched the film purely because of the 2 gentlemen highlighted on the cover. While Cage was his usual restrained self like he's been in recent films and doesn't bring anything new to the table, Cusack did his best with the ill-fitted role which totally goes against his silver-screen character. The makers should have gone for someone like Stanley Tucci, who could have nailed Cusack's role to a T. Cusack at times seems too sweet and unbelievable to pull this off convincingly, which is the film's biggest sore point. The events are supposedly based on actual stuff (and we get to see plenty of evidence before the end credits), but it's hard to suspend belief by that time. A serial killer who has gone through decades doing his stuff undetected and unnoticed, wouldn't become so careless all of a sudden, would he? Nevertheless, recommended only to die-hard fans of the above two. * * ½ |
Dawn of the Dead - 2004
As far as unnecessary remakes go this isn't dire. I enjoy many of the elements of this film and think it brought some new, genuinely interesting characters to the table and I liked the changes in the third act - I'd rather have a new pretty good ending than a poor imitation of the same wonderful ending. Pretty good for simple, unapologetic fun. 6/10 |
"Sleepy Hollow" (1999)
-Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci Plot: Constable Ichabod Crane is sent from New York to the small village of Sleepy Hollow, to investigate a series of gruesome murders. Phantoms Review: A Halloween staple at my house. Tim Burton's last great film. (oh , how I wish Dark Shadows had been more like Sleepy Hollow and not like it was) Beautifully filmed in dark colors to give it an almost black and white feel. Well acted, well written, with some great sounding dialog, scary,and just dripping with atmosphere. I thoroughly enjoy this movie. |
I saw VHS 2 last night. Holy crap was that good. Especially the Indonesian cult story. :eek:
|
Snuff 102 (2007)
The film begins with a (to me) pretty disingenuous warning that says "All documented torture scenes in this film are real", which they obviously aren't. What it means is that there are scenes of animal suffering and some images from the internet that are real. Not a good start. There are a couple of animal scenes but this is no Cannibal Holocaust; they are real sequences of vivisection and slaughter of the type you'd find in a PETA release - distressing but relatively tame compared to animal rights films. Aside from that there are some bits of internet footage which are difficult to make out because of being "artistically" degraded for the movie. So all that aside ... the plot revolves around an investigative journalist who goes looking into snuff movies, with not unpredictable results. It isn't a linear film either so it's a little confusing until you get the hang of what's going on. There's some nasty and horrific stuff in here, so if you're a fan of Vogel et al it's worth a watch. I found it quite annoying though - I mean there was obviously some time and effort spent on creating some pretty convincing footage, but then the effect is ruined by OTT music and sfx that detracts totally from the sense of reality. A "real" soundtrack would have made these bits infinitely more shocking and disturbing. Some reviewers praise this movie for asking "Important Questions", which I guess it does really. The thing is though that it asks them directly and overtly, in voice overs and in interviews carried out by the journalist. This approach does work, but ultimately it doesn't raise any questions that aren't raised by any other piece of extreme cinema, or indeed any other screen violence. The ending is ok I thought - it moves from faux-snuff to a more traditional horror sequence and finishes in a way that enjoyably (to me at least) reverses the trend in this type of movie. Why "102"...? You'll have to watch it. :-) |
The abc s of death.............like chronogrl said huge disappointment. This was awful. Made myself watch it to the end hoping for something. They should have made a short of me watching this. R for Rage.
|
also checked out After Earth. Kept falling a sleep. I guess my prob with this one is i just dont like jayden smith. Thank god for his dad or he would never be working.
|
Trick r Treat -
SPOILERS!!! I finally watched this one. I think horror anthologies might not be for me. At least in movie form. The tone always shifts from segment to segment. It was like that in Creepshow, Twilight Zone the movie, and other things that I can't remember. With TV shows it's ok because it's episode to episode. But with movies I like consistency. Or a constant build up. There are some moments in this movie that lose some of the horror feel from the first segment, which I thought was great. I thought I was in for a really good horror movie in the opening. After all, people are saying that this is one of the best Halloween movies. And saying that puts it against Halloween. But when then they start to develop things and other stories it backs down a bit from that first segment and leans towards twists and gets away from dark slasher type horror of the opening. Which I guess is the point of anthologies. The movie is still kind of dark but in other ways. But once I realized that every segment had some kind of twist and how far the writer would go for that twist and to be clever, I was ahead of it. Except in the case of the Vampire. At least at first. The movie certainly wasn't that scary. Not like movies I was able to see when I was very young. Movies that after watching them I didn't want to go to sleep. Or was scared at the idea of a guy not being able to be killed. Movies like Halloween which is still scary. Or Nightmare on Elm Street and a few of the Friday the 13th movies. It is a cool idea of showing what goes on during Halloween in a small town. But I thought it could and should have been darker. Especially going from the opening and what one character that's everywhere does and symbolizes. Maybe he should have been more prominent instead of just a look who's around type. Because he's the most interesting thing in the movie. And the idea that this character wanders around, watching the activity, enforcing things in the open, and he's so small. That's freaky. A lot of bad things happen on this night. Especially to kids. I wonder what the town's reaction would be the day after? Perhaps this is the type of movie that actually needs a next year Halloween sequel. And since it was just announced I'm looking forward to what direction they go in. I do wish that the twist with Anna Paquin's character was with witches, chanting, and something with human sacrifice. Sort of a reverse burning thing. That would have been more scary I think. At first I thought they were Vampires. But the idea of witches doing this every Halloween and waiting for this moment is more scary to me. Since this happens with Anna's type every so often I would imagine. It's not as special as needing to wait for every Halloween. I watched the movie a second time and from many pieces of dialog it's obvious what they are from the beginning. I guess the Red Riding Hood costume should have been enough for me to guess. But I knew she wasn't going to be as innocent as Red Riding Hood. The appeal of this movie kind of feels like Cabin in the Woods. It wraps up a lot of horror stuff in a modern package. Which is cool I guess. But once you get past all the twists what sort of movie do you have? I don't think one as good as many are saying and not one to compare to Halloween. |
our town 2003
one of my fav plays |
Last Seen Movie
Two on the same day, first a morning flick on TV, Flight of the Living Dead: Outbreak On a Plane, I rather enjoyed it, so I picked that up, then off to the theater! The lady wanted to see the Carrie re-remake, and while far more faithful to the original, I prefer Sissy Spacek in all her pissed off teenage glory to Chloe Grace-Moretz, who I always remember as "Hit Girl".
|
Mama (2013)
Not sure exactly how I feel about this film. I think it started off fairly promising and slowly devolved into something ever so slightly cliché, although it did eventually redeem itself. If nothing else I appreciated how fine the line between mortifying and heart warming was throughout. Shame about the overuse of CGI towards the end. |
Last Seen Movie
Evil Dead - The Musical
Yeah yeah, it's not a movie but who cares, it was an absolute pleasure to go back again this year. Same cast, improved set, and more eyeballs and organs in the splatterzone. I can't wait for next year. |
Evil Dead The Musical??? That sounds fantastic! I hope it gets released as a film as there's little hope of my seeing it otherwise :-(
Last night's viewing ... Sinister (2012) It was ok. Hawke does a pretty good job considering the film is all but a one-man show. I can't say I found it particularly scary although the atmosphere is fairly immersive. Some non-sensical plot holes, some irritating loose ends and the usual kinds of unbelievable behaviour. I'd even call it a little twee in places. Some reviewers found it "deeply frightening" and "undeniably scary". Not me sorry. The highlight is an all-too brief appearance from Vincent D'Onofrio, one of my all time favourite actors. Love him. Skinwalker Ranch (2013) An enticing premise - Paranormal Activity meets The X Files - with some enjoyable sequences and scary moments, but ultimately the whole thing is let down by unconvincing performances and poor pacing. I was hoping for some real mayhem and frights as the film came to its climax, but sadly I was disappointed. |
Quote:
|
I have 'Ilsa' the musical as well as 'Reefer Madness' but not got around to looking at em yet.
|
Ilsa the musical lolololololololololol now that's something I wanna see :D
|
I dunno if I could make it all the way through, not much of a musical person lol.
|
Dead Hooker in a Trunk (2009)
What a great film :-D This is the debut of Canadian sisters Jen and Sylvia Soska (aka Twisted Twins Productions) who wrote, directed, funded and starred in Hooker and then went on to make the stylish American Mary and watching this, it's easy to see why someone felt inclined to put up the readies for a more ambitious project. So much going on in this film, from the brutal assault at the beginning (in a seedy club that's immediately reminiscent of the Mary locations) through the mayhem and madness that follows the gang's discovery of a body in the trunk of their car, to the wonderfully feel-good ending. So much to like here too ... the sisters and their mates/co-actors, the great music throughout (a lot of it local Vancouver bands apparently), excellently OTT fight scenes, some marvelously twisted humour and some bouts of brutally unpleasant violence accompanied by the most incongruous of music. Some influences are quite plain to see but I didn't for a moment find any of it derivative. I gather the twins are seen by some as feminist film-makers ... true the men in Hooker are all either vicious misogynists or weak and needy types but I think 'feminist' is a bit of an over-simplification of what's going on here, it's just a knee-jerk response by some critics I think to the sisters not populating their movie with cinema sterotypes. Sure the acting isn't the best but for such a great slice of pulp, with heart, this is instantly forgiveable and probably even adds to the charm. Brilliant, I'll definitely be watching this one again. Interview here if anyone's interested - Horrornews.net - Soska sisters interview |
I'll have to check that one out, along with Audition and Let the Right One In.
|
Lucifer Valentine's Vomit Gore trilogy (2006-10)
http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/122/sgui.jpg I'm undecided about this series. Halfway through the first I had a negative review composed in my mind but then near the end, there's a scene (for want of a better word) in which we see Angela crying and she was so convincing that I started to take more of an interest... Slaughtered Vomit Dolls - The first of the trilogy that depicts the descent into hell of runaway bulimic stripper Angela Aberdeen (Valentine is a big Kurt Cobain fan apparently). I found it very hard to watch, not so much because of all the blood and piss and vomit but because of the incessant Twin Peaks-style vocal fx and the unremitting stroboscopic visuals. It's all too much and for me just detracts from the impact of the rest of it all. At this point I was willing to sit through it to the end and then tell everybody how little I thought of it ... but then suddenly there's Angela with tears streaming down her face, either genuinely crying or acting well. After reading some background on the trilogy, I think probably the former. So I checked out some articles and interviews which gave me an idea of where Valentine was coming from and decided that I wanted to watch the rest of it. ReGOREgitated Sacrifice - After my brief stint of research I went into this one with fresh eyes, looking on it at as something like a very extreme and surreal 21st Century Justine ... It's way more watchable, thanks to Valentine moving on from the audio/visual OTT headache-inducing mayhem of the first. Visually and audially it's all toned down quite a lot, while content-wise it certainly goes further in depicting Angela's increasing madness and descent. Many gruesome moments and of course lots more porn and pissing and puking most of which seems to have little to do with the "story" other than to create an atmosphere of disgust and revulsion as Angela descends ever further into hallucinations and hell. Which to be fair was probably Valentine's intention in which he succeeds and then some. Not much development here though, just an assault on your sensibilities and boundaries. Slow Torture Puke Chamber - Despite the title there's little or no slow torture in this final installment (unless of course you're really hating the trilogy and are slowly tortured by it, in which case switch it off for crying out loud). As far as gore goes, we're just treated to a lengthy and broken up sequence involving a pregnant woman and baby ... if you thought A Serbian Film went a bit too far then you'll be wanting to give this one a miss I think. Aside from that, more assorted body contents and porn go to make this film pretty much the same as ReGOREgitated, except that in this one there's less gore. What kept me watching to the end though (aside from the masochistic desire just to see it all) were the brief intercut monologues from Angela Aberdeen in which she talks about bulimia, vomiting, incest, childhood abuse and general self-loathing ... compared to the first two, this film is positively verbose. I don't know for sure but I'm guessing that most if not all of these monologues come from Valentine's personal experience or somebody close to him and to me they had way more impact than the rest of the films put together. For various reasons it got to me, indeed had me close to crying a couple of times. Finally we have another shot of Angela's face crumpling into tears and that's it, trilogy over. So yeah, I don't know. To me the trilogy says nothing about anything. What it does do very effectively though is put you in the midst of a lot of surreal horror and revulsion and guilty pleasures too if you're into that kind of thing (not that there's anything remotely erotic about it when characters are so overtly emotionally damaged and abused). Then in Chamber a few well-chosen words movingly express a lot of what it is to be damaged and self-hating. I can understand why so many people call these films boring, pointless, lacking story etc. and also why people see them as nothing more than an attempt to shock. Ultimately though it did give me a real emotional response, albeit one that could probably have been achieved without three hours plus of graphic porn and horror. I don't think the trilogy is something I'd recommend to anyone but I'm glad I gave it a chance. |
Quote:
|
This past weekend I watched a number of films. I watched the following for the first time:
Inside (2007): 10/10 V/H/S (2012): 9/10 Cabin Fever (2002): 9/10 The Eye (2008): 8/10 The Lords of Salem (2013): 9/10 I also re-watched the following films: Halloween (1978): 10/10 Rec (2007): 9/10 Cloverfield (2008): 8.5/10 |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Hehe my eyebrows went up at 9/10 for Lords but then I noticed that you seem to be quite generous with your points anyway.
I can't do points, I have no system for it. Can't even do favourites lists for that matter :D |
Inside was brilliant.
Watched Meet The Millers... much better than I was expecting. One of the more solid comedies of the year. |
^I'm going to take you up on that.
I will be back. |
Quote:
|
Quote:
BTW - The 'Hot Tub incident' we are talking about is the shitty 'Hot Tub Time Machine' film and not the incident and subsequent deportation from Australia a few years back. |
Just finished watching Inside. Jesus Christ. I had heard that movie was brutal, but I wasn't expecting that. I really need an aspirin now.
|
Quote:
|
The Faculty
|
| All times are GMT -8. The time now is 02:37 AM. |