THE HAUNTING OF HELENA (2012)

a.k.a. Fairytale 

RATED- UNRATED
RUN TIME- 84 MINS 
WRITER(S)- CHRISTIAN BISCEGLIA 
STARRING- HARRIOT MacMASTERS-GREEN, SABRINA JOLIE PEREZ, AND JARRETH J. MERZ 
DIRECTOR- CHRISTIAN BISCEGLIA AND ASCANIO MALGARINI 



Synopsis taken from IMDb 
A single mother moves into a new house with her daughter. Soon after the young girl has her first baby tooth fall out, she begins to recount that she is having nocternal visits by a tooth fairy. It seems the house has a sinister history. 

If this were a newer movie from this year, my title would read "THE HAUNTING OF HELENA is another terrible and pointless ghost flick". However, it's not a newer film, so I have to reserve that title for another ghost motion picture that is equally as bad, which unfortunately, there's never a short supply of. 

This was one that I found not only hard to sit through but, hard to get through. If it wasn't for my OCD, I would have turned this off less than a half-hour in. I'm adding this onto my list of movies that I strongly advise others from watching. It's not scary. The acting is atrocious, and the story is just plain old lame. It has potential, but it is washed away with hideous storytelling and lack of conviction in anything. 

I liked the tooth fairy angle but, I hate what they did with it. Taking children's teeth and putting them in her own mouth, really? What the hell kind of ghost, fairy, spirit, or whatever is dumb enough to try and fit children's teeth in their mouth? So stupid! Looks like "Darkness Falls" remains the scariest tooth fairy motion picture around... 

There's no believable dialogue spoken, no likeable characters, and there's no substance to it. It's just another half-assed attempt at cheap tricks and loud noises to create a jump from the audience. The catch is, the music overcompensates for how non-scary this picture really is. The score turns up so loud that it gives the scare away and misses the point completely. Rather than tell us when to be scared, I prefer a more classier tale that lets the viewer know when to be terrified on their own. We learn the past of the home in which Helena (Sabrina Jolie Perez) and her mother, Sophia (Harriot MacMasters-Green)are now living, and it's underwhelming. 

Although at the end, there is an effort to make a solid twist. However, it falls flat like the rest of the film. There's hardly any gore in this one as well, which doesn't sit well with me. I try to be on a positive note as often as always, this is just one of those type of movies that don't do a thing for me. It's also one that I can't understand why anyone would like it! Usually, I see what some people may find intriguing about a motion picture that I don't like. 

That's not the case here. In the end, this is a lost film and a lost cause. Screw finding it in the $5 bin at your local Walmart, you can probably get this one at a flea market for under $5. And I'd still consider that overpaying. With no redeemable qualities whatsoever, I must confess that I despise this flick as a whole. Movies like this is why some say horror is dead. 

So, I make it a point to drive home how awful this, and films like it are. The only way I'd recommend this movie is if you're looking for a bad movie that's so stupid and pointless it'll put you in a foul mood. There's nothing memorable about it other than the bad taste you're left with after wasting precious time of your life watching it.

An American Ghost Story (2012)

A.K.A. REVENANT 

RATED- UNRATED

RUN TIME- 95 MINS

WRITER(S)- STEPHEN TWARDOKUS

STARRING- STEPHEN TWARDOKUS, LIESEL KOPP, AND JON GALE

DIRECTOR- DEREK COLE

Synopsis taken from IMDb

When Paul, an unemployed writer, decides to rent and live in a house that's rumored to be haunted, he puts his life and his relationships in grave danger as he obsessively attempts to get the story that will finally make his career. 

 

I viewed a private screener for this only a few days ago, after hearing about it from several other bloggers. Like everything, I went in open minded and gave it a chance. Made on an estimated $10,000, I wasn't expecting a whole lot out of it, but I always remain optimistic.

When the film ended, I had mixed emotions. There were things that I liked, and strongly disliked. For one, this is a slow burning horror film. I've got nothing against movies that take their time building suspense and atmosphere. This one, however, was a let down in the sense that nothing ever really happens. This one burns a little too slow, and instead of building the aforementioned atmosphere, it takes the viewer out of the film. 

It is excruciatingly boring at times. I don't mind that it takes a while for events to occur but, this movie really draws out and takes it's time. And the most disappointing thing of all is that the scares that do eventually happen, they aren't worth the tiring wait that you've sat through.

Secondly, when things did happen, when the big scares did occur, they weren't anything original that we haven't seen before. It was recycled scares. At first, I was a bit creeped out, and I've gotta give the film credit for managing to get a reaction out of me at all. However, the effect wasn't long lasted and was shortly lived the second I had a minute to register what had happened. The scares are good for quick responses but, other than that, nothing memorable there. The biggest of scares has to do with a moving sheet, something we've seen 100 times over in such films as the "Paranormal Activity" series.

I can't say that I was expecting great acting but, the performances actually weren't that bad. Like all films of this quality, a lot of dialog seems forced and not genuine, and the acting can be dry and flat at times, but in the end, it wasn't too shabby. Not saying it was anything worth talking about either...

The character development is there, but it's not fully brought out and allowed to bloom. So even though the story's there, we never see anything that brings these characters out of being one-dimensional.

The story however, to me, was a watered down version of 2012's "Sinister". Guy moves into a house, and is hellbent to stay, regardless of how much damage it'll do, all for the sake of writing a book. So, the film loses out on the originality aspect too. I get that resources for low-budget/indie films are very scarce, but I expect a little more than just the standard ghost story. I want to see an inventive take on things, and a movie that isn't afraid to take risks, in which this one takes none. 

Being unbiased, I've gotta take a second to mention that I do appreciate the vision this film was going for. Instead of blowing the budget on some cheap, terrible effects, simple and subtle actions were taken. On a positive note, this is a little effective flick for what it is. It's just nothing you're going to walk away from and recommend to friends.    

In conclusion, this is worth a one time watch to anyone willing to give it a chance. It's a good motion picture to get a few goosebumps out of you, if only for a few moments. Could have been better, could have been worse. Can't say I'm really impressed, can't say I despise it either. It falls in between somewhere. Not sure I can say me and this film will ever cross paths again, life goes on. If this picture had more substance it would have been a lot more effective. 

Last Kind Words (2012)

RATED- R
RUN TIME- 87 MINS
WRITER(S)- KEVIN BARKER AND AMY RIHERD MILLER
STARRING- BRAD DOURIF, SPENCER DANIELS AND ALEXIA FAST
DIRECTOR- KEVIN BARKER



Synopsis taken from IMDb
17-year-old Eli has just moved with his family deep into the backwoods of Kentucky to work on the isolated farm of a local recluse. Inexplicably drawn into the strange forest that lies beyond the farm, Eli encounters the beautiful, sweet and mysterious Amanda, seemingly the perfect girl. But the discovery of decaying bodies hanging from the tree, he realizes that the forest- and Amanda- are harboring some very dark secrets. Suddenly, Eli is living in waking nightmare where the lines between life and death are scrawled in blood, and there's no escaping the terror from beyond the grave.




I'm a sucker for anything that Brad Dourif's in. What can I say? I'm a fan. I always talk about how underrated of an actor he is. People don't realize the potential and talent he has and that finds him often under utilized. What I like about him as an actor is that he's always genuine, and no matter what role he plays he's always empathetic and believable, because he comes off as a real guy and not an actor. When I found out he was in this, I knew I would be watching.

To my surprise, I didn't end up liking this movie too much I mean, it was well done and pretty decently acted. It severely lacks in scares though and that's what killed it for me. I only got a little creeped out once and it was very briefly when Eli angered Amanda by jumping the fence. Aside from that, this movie was actually sad, and seemed more like a drama than anything.

The story was nice, good ghost story, but it comes off like "Mama" in the sense that the point of the film is to make you sympathize with the characters, and leaves you nothing to be scared with. The first half hour of this film is good, and really builds up some suspense that it never delivers on.

I can 100% relate to Eli, granted that my growing up wasn't as bad. I know what it's like to eat a feces sandwich of life everyday due to being in a violent environment.  And the choice to somehow stay sane in your own head when all you want to do is break down, is a familiar feeling. Eli didn't become a troubled youth like most who deal with abusive households, he didn't become a criminal because daddy was a jerk. He took his verbal and physical beatings like a man and kept his chin up, which I relate to and respect. That is of course, until he makes a wimpy decision at the end that ultimately resolves in him giving up.

This particular film is a character film, the scares aren't as high up on the priority list as getting to know the character's is. I've got no problem with that as long as the movie is scary, which it's not. Instead I ended up finding myself feeling bad for most of the people in this movie, which I didn't care for.

Funny that the leads name is Eli, because his relationship with the ghost of Amanda is very similar to that of Eli and Oskar from the film adaptation of the groundbreaking vampire book,"Let the Right one In". I didn't really care for Eli and Amanda's relationship, because it was too soft and I couldn't help but wish that there was more to it other than sorrow.

There's a twist towards the end that I saw coming a mile away, and if you watched this film and didn't know it was coming, you must not have been paying attention. It's practically in big red blinking letters throughout the film. The fact that the twist was lackluster dropped the film down another peg...

What started off as a promising ghost story with real characters, turned into a slow, boring film that ultimately has no payoff. You just watch it and it's over. The characters are pushed on the viewers too hard, so you lose patience and stop caring. I guess the film ends differently than you'd expect, and it's all around negative and depressing movie. Funny thing is, I got too tired to finish this film the night I started it, but I couldn't wait to see how it concluded. I never would have guessed that my final opinion on this film would be so low.

This one is on Netflix instant now, and it may be for some of you, but it's not for me. It really is a shame that such a back story and character story was used on an uneventful ghost story. Oh well, I guess. Brad Dourif is still the man though.

ParaNorman (2012)

"You Don't Become A Hero By Being Normal"

RATED- PG
RUN TIME- 92 MINS
WRITER(S)- CHRIS BUTLER
STARRING- KODI SMIT-McPHEE, ANNA KENDRICK AND CHRISTOPHER MINTZ-PLASSE
DIRECTOR- CHRIS BUTLER AND SAM FELL

Synopsis taken from IMDb

A misunderstood boy takes on ghosts, zombies and grown-ups to save his town from a centuries-old curse.

STORY: Norman Babock is a young boy who can speak with the dead, including his grandmother that lives with him and his family. Due to this reason he is looked down on by a lot of people and he's bullied in school. Soon enough Norman meets a friend at school named Neil Downe, a chubby boy who's used to ridicule and bullying himself. They get along just fine.

During a rehearsal of a school play commemorating the town's witch execution from 300 years ago, Norman gets a ghastly vision that he's being pursued as a witch by the townsfolk. And Norman's uncle, Mr. Prenderghast, a local bum, warns Norman that the vision was a sign that he will have to take up the regular ritual to protect the town. The same ritual Uncle Prenderghast has been doing up until this point. A ritual that shields the town from the witches curse.

Soon after, the small New England town of Blithe Hollow, Massachusetts is being relentlessly pursued by zombies. Norman must find the answers on how to save the town before it's too late, and that includes contacting the witch the town executed 300 years ago.

Norman and his friends run from the living dead taking over their town

ANIMATION: The animation in this film was really good, I love good old claymation. CG is incredible and all, but it was a breath of fresh air to see a movie that went a little old school with things, though there was still some CG in the film. I liked the overall appearance of this film.



ACTION/FX: The scenes of intense action were well done, the CG looked great and I really liked how they didn't hold back with this movie. It's a horror film for children, what's not to love? It gets a little violent when the residents of Blithe Hollow strike back against the zombies, and it really puts a new perspective on things.


OVERALL: This film is funny, cute and fun. It does get a bit too serious at the end and I think it may go deeper than some kids can understand, but it's a solid film that adults will love just as much as kids. It's creepy and a good way to introduce your kids into horror, or to just have a good time with some friends. ParaNorman is a must-see for all ages. The main message in this film is acceptance and forgiveness.

THIS FILM GETS 3 1/2 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5

The Apparition (2012)

"ONCE YOU BELIEVE, YOU DIE."

RATED- PG-13

RUN TIME- 82 MINS

WRITERS- TODD LINCOLN

STARRING- ASHLEY GREENE, SEBASTIAN STAN AND TOM FELTON

DIRECTOR- TODD LINCOLN

Synopsis taken from IMDb

A couple is haunted by a supernatural presence that is unleashed during a college experiment.

The Apparition went into production back in 2009 and was released August 24th, 2012 to 810 theaters. This film was Director Todd Lincoln's debut. Despite having a decent poster and well edited trailer, the film was panned by the majority of people who have seen it. Brian Orndof from Blu-Ray.com said "The trailer for 'The Apparition' contained more story than the picture it was promoting. In fact, I think the trailer for 'The Apparition' is actually more of a movie than 'The Apparition'".

The film bombed at the box office, placing #12  it's opening weekend and making $2.84 million. Some are saying that Warner Bros tried to bury this picture and succeeded by not marketing it and giving it such a low theater count.

My first impression of 'The Apparition' was that it was going to be pretty good, based on the trailer. But I couldn't find this movie anywhere and I had to practically hunt it down. There's this thing with me that always seems to happen: I see a movie that interests me and want to watch it. I search it out 'til I can find it, regardless of the source, and then I sit down and watch it and wonder why I wasted my time. It happens quite often actually but it's a trap that I keep falling into. This film was cut from the same cloth.

The opening seance is very cheap and cheesy, it is suspenseful for a brief moment but never scary. I already had my guard up for a bad movie and I kept it on. The story isn't original, it's hacks and pieces of other films put into one film. It doesn't have an original thought and it clearly rips The Grudge off with 2 big scenes in the movie. 

How can you make a horror movie comprised of nothing more than things you've already seen done better in other movies? It's an invalid attempt, an obsolete film that's already fell through the cracks and forgotten. 

Kelly (Ashley Greene) and Ben (Sebastian Stan) see weird burn marks on their counters and can't explain it. In the middle of the night they wake up and all of the doors in their house are open, these scenes, if done right, can be particularly scary. But in this film they were built up with suspense and never the payoff.

Kelly then notices the laundry room floor has begun peeling, she investigate and peels back some of the floor and sees nasty looking mold and spores. Ben goes into the crawlspace and finds even more upon investigation.

Ben then finds e-mails that are urgent and that he hasn't gotten to yet and they're from Patrick, one of Ben's friends who were involved in the seance at the beginning of the film. The e-mails are warnings, trying to get Ben out of the house. Ben holds onto the information and doesn't inform Kelly, so when she finds out it's hell to pay. The haunting's become more severe and dramatic as they come closer to answering what it is.

As the movie unwinds it becomes more predictable and the ending is lackluster. The bad and over dramatic acting did nothing more than help kill this movie and it's attempt at being a horror film fails badly. This comes off like the dreadful straight to video horror movies you'd get at blockbuster.

THIS FILM GETS 1 1/2 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5

The Pact (2012)

RATED- R
RUN TIME- 89 MINS
WRITERS- NICHOLAS McCARTHY
STARRING- CAITY LOTZ, CASPER VAN DIEN AND MARK STEGAR
DIRECTOR- NICHOLAS McCARTHY




Synopsis taken from IMDb
As a woman struggles to come to grips with her past in the wake of her mother's death, an unsettling presence emerges in her childhood home.




This is one of those films that slowly crept its way up my list, after finally watching it I'm wishing I hadn't waited so long. This film was scary pretty much from the start, I really enjoyed this one.

The film starts with Nicole Barlow (Agnes Bruckner) taking to her sister Annie (Caity Lotz) on the phone, making preparations for their mothers funeral. From what Nicole says, it appears Annie didn't like their mom and doesn't seem too enthusiastic about helping with the arrangements. Next Nicole is on her laptop talking to her daughter via video chat and this is when the film really kicks it up. The suspense hits you quick like an uppercut. Nicole enters a dark room in the house.

When Annie arrives Nicole is nowhere to be found, making Annie suspicious. She makes some calls to see if anyone's heard from her but gets nowhere. Later that night Annie has a weird dream about her mother and someone else she doesn't know. She also dreams of a shirtless man crying. Annie sees a figure in the house and follows it into her cousin Liz's (Kathleen Rose Perkins) bedroom. She then is attacked by an unseen force, but before it gets too severe she's able to escape.

Annie tells her story at the police station but is overlooked, officer Bill Creek (Casper Van Dien) is suspicious of Annie taking part in her mother sister and cousin's disappearances. Later that night, Annie dreams of the shirtless man crying again. Soon after, she contacts Stevie Hudson (Haley Hudson), someone who's said to be a psychic. Stevie agrees to come along and check out Annie's house, it doesn't go well. Stevie becomes hysterical and screams the name "Judas" as shes moved around on the floor by an unseen force.

From there on the movie just becomes more and more suspenseful and doesn't ration the scares and jumps. There's plenty of all. There's a good handful of nail biting moments, the really turn the pressure up. It was an entertaining ride.

The acting was impressive, the movie appears low budget but they rock it. A movie of this caliber often isn't supported by the casts ability, but this cast did a convincing job. It definitely helped the movie and made the story more intriguing as it went on.

The twist was brilliant, I couldn't have called that one. When I realized what was going on I was surprised and uneasy. This film definitely heaps on the creepiness.

The ending was strong and no doubt helps add to the overall solidity of the film. Very solid horror film, it gave me just about everything I look for in a horror movie. It wasn't perfect, the acting suffered at parts and I didn't like the music choice for some scenes, it became annoying to me. Other than that, this film was really good.

THIS FILM GETS 3 1/2 REAPERS SKULLS OUT OF 5

The Haunting of Whaley House (2012)

RATED- R
RUN TIME- 89 MINS
WRITERS- JOSE PRENDES
STARRING- ALEX ARLEO, ARIELLE BRACHFELD AND GRAHAM DENMAN
DIRECTOR- JOSE PRENDES




Synopsis taken from IMDb
Just because you don't believe in ghosts, doesn't mean they don't believe in you!




Here we go again with another story about "the most haunted house in the world" or "the most haunted house in America". How can their be so many haunted houses that are the most haunted? I hate when movies use this as a promotional tactic to get people to watch their film. However, the Whaley House is supposedly the real deal.

I'm not exactly an expert on the Whaley House. I don't know the story behind it, so I have no clue how accurate or inaccurate this film is, so I'm not judging it on that.

Ghost stories are just as bad as zombie movies nowadays. Everyone and their mother thinks they can do a haunted house story, the same way people do with zombies. They're the most overused topics in horror films. I can't stress how badly they're overused and how bad most of them are. It's to the point where whenever I come across a haunting or zombie movie I get real iffy. I'm tired of wasting my time.

The film is about a group of teens who visit the Whaley House, despite being warned not to. Of course some of them don't believe in ghosts and only want to come along for laughs. Others are into the paranormal and really believe in ghosts.

This movie had very little character development, they gave you some bits and pieces of a back story between characters but nothing that holds water, or that we care about. Their acting and character development fits the standard of almost all low budget horror films, it's nothing to get you behind the characters. Characters are the most important part of the story, whenever you have a kick-ass horror film you usually have a great lead character. This film lacks that.

 The effects in this movie were disappointing. They fit a movie of this stature, but that's what hurts this film. When you do this you fit in with other films who took the cheap route due to budget. This film lacks motivation and gives you cheap parlor makeup that look like they were done at home. If you want to stand out and make a good movie that leaves an imprint and doesn't get lost in all the other deplorable ghost stories, you need something that stands out, that makes an impression. Putting more money into the makeup department on this film would have helped alot.

There's a scene in this film that stands out to me where one of the teens becomes possessed, and it was a damn near direct ripoff of The Evil Dead when Cheryl gets possessed. I appreciate the homage to a horror classic, but don't be so obvious and don't waste it on a cheap generic plot.

The acting was horrendous. I appreciate these actors and actresses playing in this movie, but they didn't put any effort into making their characters likable or believable.

Although the house in this film isn't the actual Whaley House, I liked the house. It was a nice touch. It looked like it had history and could be haunted. It looks like one of the houses you see on Ghost Hunters or Ghost Adventures.

I really liked the ending to this film. It was quite a shocker. The last 10-15 minutes of the movie actually got interesting and I thought the twist was obviously common, but it was done in a manor that made it not matter. The final scene of this film is powerful, sad and tragic.

In the end, The Haunting of Whaley House has it's perks and redeemable parts, but not enough to overlap the generic story and really bad acting.

THIS FILM GETS 2 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5

No Tell Motel (2012)

RATED- R

RUN TIME- 84 MINS

WRITERS- T.J. CIMFEL

STARRING- RILEIGH CHALMERS, JOHNNY HAWKES AND ED HOLDEN

DIRECTOR- BRETT DONOWHO

Synopsis taken from IMDb
Stranded in the middle of nowhere, Megan Walsh and her friends are forced to spend the night in an abandoned roadside hotel. Little do they know the crumbling structure is haunted by the spirit of a vengeful little ghost named Angela. As the haunting turns violent and the group's numbers dwindle, Megan realizes that the key to her survival lies in uncovering the secrets of the motel's tortured past. And even that might not be enough to save her.



I was at a Redbox a few weeks ago and saw this movie. Nothing stood out to me about it, I thought the cover looked generic and overdone and I thought the film title was cheap. But for some reason, maybe I'm a glutton for punishment, I rented the movie.

This film starts off with a little girl named Angela (Rileigh Chalmers) and she's left unattended by her parents. She soon meets her demise when she's in the road and gets hit by a car and killed.

Now in present day, Megan (Chalie Howes) and her friends are traveling and under dire circumstances are forced into staying at an old abandoned hotel. Slowly they start to catch on that the hotel isn't just some ratty, harmless broken down building. It's creepy and haunted by the spirit of Angela.

Megan and her friends are mystified by a newcomer to the group. He knows a lot about Angela and her deranged family and he fills them all in on the details.

The haunting's become hostile and Megan's friends start to die off one by one with gory fashion, the kills are so typical it may actually make you roll your eyes.

The effects in this movie are so weak and cheaply done that it comes off as a low budget Syfy channel movie. It's really hard to take this movie seriously. The only people I see this movie scaring is people new to the genre, otherwise the movies obsolete and pointless. Just another cheap horror film to slip through the cracks and gone forever.

This film isn't scary at all and it's even less suspenseful. The plot is so common and simple for ghost stories, I've seen several horror with the same story but I can't tell you their names because I forgot them, they aren't worth remembering. Here's another to add to that list.

The makeup is deplorable, looks like a trick or treater, not a ghost and not intimidating or menacing.

I don't think the actors put a bit of effort into their roles and it showed. There wasn't a character you really like or don't like. They're not likable characters and their poorly portrayed.

On the other hand, I'll compliment this movie because it isn't the worst film I've seen or even close to it. It's also pretty good amongst some of the others I've seen. It's just a poorly made movie that didn't require any originality or creativity. This was one of those movies that was typical to most horror films, but for some reason they thought it would be better than the typical standard and they were wrong.

Not too many good things to say about this movie. It's totally forgettable.

THIS FILM GETS 1 REAPER SKULL OUT OF 5

Paranormal Activity 4 (2012)

RATED- R
RUN TIME- 88 MINS
WRITERS- CHRISTOPHER LANDON AND CHAD FEEHAN
STARRING- KATIE FEATHERSTON, KATHRYN NEWTON AND MATT SHIVELY
DIRECTOR- HENRY JOOST AND ARIEL SCHULMAN 



Synopsis taken from IMDb
This story takes place in 2011, five years after Katie killed her boyfriend Micah, sister Kristi, and her husband Daniel and took their baby, Hunter (now named Robbie). Story focuses on Alice and her mom, experiencing weird stuff since the new neighbors (Katie and Robbie) moved in the town.


Paranormal Activity 4 is directed by the same team that did Paranormal Activity 3, which I thought was the best in the trilogy. This film is the sequel to Paranormal Activity 2 (2010) and takes place several years later.

The movie starts off with Alex (Kathryn Newton) recording her younger brother, Wyatt, during a soccer game. We see some family bonding and get to see how the family is. The mother and father are never on the same page and don't get along.

Then we see that there's an ambulance at Robbie's house. Robbie is the really creepy kid next door. Kathryn and Wyatt wonder what happened next door at Robbie's house.

The next day Kathryn's mom brings Robbie over and tells the family that he'll be staying with them for a few days until his mom is able to care for him again. Kathryn isn't particularly happy with this decision, she finds Robbie to be a bad influence on Wyatt as well as being very creepy. She doesn't like him.

Soon after Robbie's arrival,  Kathryn recorded a video of herself sleeping and in the video we see Robbie sneak into her room and lay in bed next to her.

Soon after this disturbing discovery Kathryn has her boyfriend set up all of the laptops in the house to record everything throughout the day in case of any more weird occurrences. I liked Kathryn's boyfriend and I think this film would have been better if he were in it more.

But Robbie's invisible friend, Toby, doesn't like being watched and recorded. And in here lies the terror...

This movie was a total letdown. I couldn't be more disappointed and I didn't even have high expectations. My not having high expectations has nothing to do with my opinion of the other films, I didn't mind them. Nothing great but fun watches. I didn't have high expectations because my interest just isn't there anymore.

One thing these movies are good for is suspense, the fear of knowing something's coming but not knowing how or when. This movie has hardly any suspense, there were maybe 2 scenes that were suspenseful.

The jumps these movies usually give you are few and far between and there isn't many in this one. The 2 key things that this series is known for is absent in this film and that hurts it bad. Without jumps and suspense all you have is webcam videos of people you don't care nothing about because this film didn't even have character development like the other films did. I don't know what they were thinking when they made this film.

In the end I guess what it comes down to is that you can only tear a sheet off of someone or make them levitate so many ways before people realize that your just tweaking things you've done several times before. Feeding this recycled strained idea to us again and feeding off the fact that they've had success with it before.

This film lacks all that made its priors enjoyable and drops the ball. Paranormal Activity 4 is a complete disappointment.

They've about drained this series dry, the fact that it's gone on this long proves that. This cash cow is out of milk, time to move forward. Shaun Monroe said that he thinks the film is only going to be enjoyable to the "die-hard" fans of the series.

THIS FILM GETS 2 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5

V/H/S (2012)

Synopsis taken from IMDb
A POV, found footage horror film from the perspectives of America's top genre filmmakers. A group of misfits are hired by an unknown third party to burglarize a desolate house in the countryside and acquire a rare tape. Upon searching the house, the guys are confronted with a dead body, a hub of televisions and an endless supply of cryptic footage, each video stranger than the last.



That's right! If you have Comcast as your cable provider you can view this movie now. I was waiting for this day since I first saw the trailer. I'm on a mission to see everything Ti West does or takes part in. For those of you who don't have Comcast, you'll have to wait to see the movie in theaters on October 5TH.


I'll start off by saying what I thought over all by the movie. I loved it. I thought it was brilliant. This movie has my vote for best horror film of the year thus far. Incredibly original. Every story is from a POV perspective.

Some people may complain about the movie do to there being some unknown dialog being said due to bad sound. However, this movie is totally authentic, they keep everything realistic. They didn't give you cliche's. It really felt like you were watching people and not actors. 

I thought the concept was engenius and top of the line in quality. I enjoyed every one of these stories. It's too early to say but it may be my favorite anthology movie. It definitely ranks among the elite.

The endings are really open and none of the stories explain anything. They kept it authentic. It's like you really just found someones video and watched it. It's very realistic.





TAPE 56
DIRECTOR- ADAM WINGARD
WRITTEN BY- SIMON BARRETT
STARING- CALVIN REEDEER, LANE HUGHES AND KENTUCKER AUDLEY

This story starts with a band of punks, guys looking for nothing but trouble destroying and graffiti-ing houses and running up on girls and pulling up their shirts all while recording it. We see them break into an old mans house, which they were hired to do. Their objective is to get a V/H/S tape from the house, only the old man has tons of tapes and this makes it impossible to know which is the right one. They then find the old man and owner of the house dead in his easy chair.


I liked this story and was intrigued to see where it was going and you knew that guys like this had something bad coming. 




AMATEUR NIGHT
DIRECTOR- DAVID BRUCKNER
WRITTEN BY- DAVID BRUCKNER AND NICHOLAS TECOSKY
STARRING- HANNAH FIERMAN, MIKE DOHLAN AND JOE SYKES

This story is about a group of guys who buy their friend glasses with a built in camera and go out on a guy night to score some chicks. And they do. And it's a night they'll never forget...

I loved this one and it may be my favorite of the bunch. I'm going to re-watch it again before I make my final assessment. I truly didn't know where this one was going and I was creeped out. 




SECOND HONEYMOON
DIRECTOR- TI WEST
WRITTEN BY- TI WEST
STARRING- JOE SAUNDERS, SOPHIA TAXAN AND KATE LYN SHEIL

This story is about a couple on their second honeymoon being stalked by an unknown female. While in their hotel room the couple receives a knock on the door to reveal a girl asking for a ride somewhere tomorrow. Later that night while they sleep, the girl returns to stalk them and watch them as they sleep.

This story had creepy written all over it. To think of someone watching you like that chills me and is disturbing. Ti West did another good job. The end has a pretty gnarly twist I didn't see coming.




TUESDAY THE 17TH
DIRECTOR- GLEN MCQUAID
WRITTEN BY- GLEN MCQUAID
STARRING-  NORMAN C. QUINONES, DREW PERLEIN AND JEANINE YOGER

This film was a new take on slasher. A group of teens go into the woods for camping only to find out they're in the woods of a maniac serial killer.

I thought this film was a very clever. The deaths are brutal and gory. This one is a salute to the slasher fans. The killer is somehow unable to show up on tape as other than a blur or pixelated. 




THAT SICK THING THAT HAPPENED TO EMILY WHEN SHE WAS YOUNGER
DIRECTOR- JOE SWANBERG
WRITTEN BY- SIMON BARRETT
STARRING- HELEN ROGERS, DANIEL KAUFMAN AND LIZ HARVEY

This one is about a girl named Emily who moves into what she finds out is a haunted apartment. She and watch the horror happening in her apartment through web cam.

What an original idea, right? I loved this one. This one stands out as one of the best to me. The ending is pretty crazy and twisted.




10/31/98
DIRECTOR- RADIO SILENCE
WRITTEN BY- RADIO SILENCE
STARRING- CHAD VILLELLA, MATT BETTINELLI-CLIPIN AND TYLER GILLETT

This bit is about a group of teens going to a Halloween party only to see a murder about to be performed in the basement. They rescue the girl but their troubles are far from over.

This one was solid, very chilling tale. This one gets good points for creativity.

THIS FILM GETS 3 1/2 REAPERS OUT OF 4