***These are not movies I have seen before August of this year. These are just first time watches only.*** 1. The Brood (1979) 2. The Orphan Killer (2011) 3. Abe Lincoln Vs. Zombies (2012) 4. The Yellow Wallpaper (2011) 5. Dark Side Of The Moon (1990) 6. The Devil Within Her (1975) 7. Evil Weed (2009) 8. The Beyond (1981) 9. 3 Extremes 2 (2002) 10. The Landlady (1998) 11. Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings (2011) 12. Sweet House Of Horrors (1989) 13. Lethal Dose (2003) 14. Cabin in the Woods (2011) 15. The Silent House (2011)
RATED- R RUN TIME- 88 WRITERS- GUSTAVO HERNANDEZ AND LAURA LAU STARRING- ELIZABETH OLSEN, ADAM TRESE AND ERIC SHEFFER DIRECTOR- CHRIS KENTIS Synopsis taken from IMDb This movie is about Sarah as she and her dad go to their lakeside retreat to pack things up inside because it is being sold. While there, her uncle also helps get the place up to scratch so they can sell it. The uncle has to leave to get an electrician to check the wiring, but after he goes she starts hearing noises and seeing are people inside the house. Soon she and her dad are attacked by someone or something and they end up in a fight for their lives. But there's something more going on here than she thinks.
When I first saw the original foreign version I was hype to see it but ended up being disappointed. I loved the concept but it just didn't mesh well. I think all the things it had going for it were great but there was just something that didn't click well with me.
So I was hoping this one would be better and maybe smooth out the rough edges that the original had. I wasn't as hyped to see this one as I was the other due to being let down the first time. So I didn't have alot riding on this one, but I always remain optimistic.
From the instant the film started I liked Elizabeth Olsen as Sarah. I'm not familiar with her, haven't seen any of her other work, so this helped me see her as the character and not as someone acting. She was believable and sympathetic. And the scenes where she's freaking out due to the chaos going on were well done and really put you in the moment.
When Sarah starts hearing taunted by the intruder things pick up intensely. I knew where the film was going, I knew the twist so it hurt these scenes a bit for me because I wasn't really effected by them.
I think that if you pay close attention it's kind of easy to predict who the intruder is. Especially in this one. They make it very obvious and that hurts the film bad. At first I liked where they were going and then I changed my mind. I didn't find it creative at all. They're trying to fool you but are making it too obvious.
When the uncle returns to help out with the hunt for whoever is screwing with them things quickly go even faster down hill. But like I mentioned, the suspense didn't do anything for me since I knew the payoff. I was kind of hoping they'd go somewhere else with it but it was pretty close to the original.
When the truth comes out and Sarah figures out just who exactly it is who's screwing with her and her father and uncle it hits home. It's a good twist but was executed way better in the original. It was overly obvious and that hurt this film alot.
Long story short. What could have been a better attempt at the original concept turned out to be worse. The payoff isn't worth the 88 minutes you sit through.
STARRING- KRISTEN CONNOLLY, CHRIS HEMSWORTH AND ANNA HUTCHINSON
DIRECTOR- DREW GODDARD
Synopsis taken from IMDb
Five teenagers head off for a weekend at a secluded cabin in the woods. They arrive to find they are quite isolated with no means of communicating with the outside world. When the cellar door flings itself open, they of course go down to investigate. They find an odd assortment of relics and curios but when one of the women, Dana, reads from a book she awakens a family of deadly zombie killers. There's far more going on however than meets the eye as the five campers are all under observation.
I didn't follow this movie, so I didn't know anything about it. I tend to do that with horror films to avoid spoilers. All I look for is positive or negative reviews, and even then I don't let that change my mind in either direction. I like to view and experience movies on my own.
That being said, when I saw this trailer for the first time during a TV commercial I thought 2 things:
1). Holy **** Thor is fighting zobies
2). It's The Evil Dead remake
This movie turned out to be a pleasure to watch and enjoy. It was a fresh film that holds its own. And it's a kick-ass horror film.
The cast in this movie was very well done, it didn't come off as too "poppy" or directed at teenagers like most of today's modern horror films are. Although I'm sure that's why they went with a young cast, they did a good job at making a legit horror film.
The story in this movie is very compelling. When you find out that they're being watched and even directed into the paths they're taking to bring upon chaos, I couldn't help but want to know how the hell this was going to pan out. Luckily it panned out very well and was very original.
The reading of the passages from the found book they read did remind me alot of The Evil Dead, but I saw it as more of a salute than them mocking or attempting to remake what was already done.
The zombies and other creatures we see in this movie were well done. They were done in a 'popcorn flick' way that made them scary but entertaining and fun to watch. I especially liked the scenes with the werewolf. I think that may have been the coolest looking werewolf I've seen, it's a shame they only showed it briefly. Hopefully we'll see similar designs like that in future werewolf films.
The gore and effects were top notch! I was surprised by how gory and brutal this movie could be as well as how pleased it made me that I wasn't wasting my time on another horrible horror film. This film delivers in ever aspect, I'd watch it a couple more times and will probably buy it on Blu-Ray. Shame I got into this movie so late in the game but better late than never, right?
I was satisfied after viewing this movie and am definitely a fan. I loved the ending and thought the way it all came together and ended was brilliant. Great horror flick. We need more like this.
RATED- R RUN TIME- 95 MINS WRITERS- GEORGE SAUNDERS AND FRANK REHWALDT STARRING- TALIA SHIRE, JACK COLEMAN AND BRUCE WEITZ DIRECTOR- ROBERT MELENFANT Synopsis taken from IMDb Melanie decides that one of her tenants would be perfect as her husband and decides to eliminate everyone who might interfere in her plans.
The movie starts off with Melanie (Talia Shire) spying on a couple having sex. She stares at them through their half open window and absorbs all the filth being done. We see the look on her face telling us that she's upset by what she's seen.
She then goes home to poison her husband's food at dinner. And she does it like she's a pro. Not second thoughts or panic attacks. She simply does it and moves on. At this point I could get where the film was going and what kind of film it was. I knew it wouldn't be very believable but wanted to see what could come of it. And it's not everyday you get to see Mrs. Balboa be a serial killer.
Shortly after the murder of her husband Melanie inherits an apartment building in which she is to be the new owner/landlady. She has no idea how to do her job and doesn't really care. She soon starts to take charge and becoming decent at her job which includes cracking down on tenants who haven't paid rent in a long time. It turns out the previous owner was very lenient with the tenants who can't afford rent.
She instantly gets off on the wrong foot with the 2nd in command at the apartment building and threatens to throw her out if she doesn't pay her rent, even after it was explained to her that her 2nd in command isn't supposed to pay rent. This gets her in deeper water when she finds out her 2nd in command has done some background digging and found out about Melanie's late husband and intends to blackmail her. This doesn't go over well with Melanie and Melanie only knows of one way to dispose of the problem...kill it.
Melanie draws some attention through this, because the building maintenance man is a close friend of the 2nd in command who's now gone mysteriously out of town (in Melanie's words) and he instantly smells something fishy.
Melanie then discovers a young, strong and handsome young man living next door to her who she instantly becomes obsessed with. Talia did a good job of showing you just with her eyes and expression that she was pulled into the young gentleman's lure.
She even goes as far as to watch him through a two-way mirror that connects his and her rooms. Only it isn't double sided for him, to him it's just a mirror. He has no clue he's being watched. And this all happens when she offers him her 2nd in command's apartment now that it's vacant, a plot she came up with soon after he mentioned to her he was interested in a bigger apartment.
Once they're in Melanie's apartment and having a nice home cooked dinner, which to him is a dinner among friends, he finds out that she's madly in love with him. He tries to let her down nicely but she won't hear it. Forcing him to be rude about it hoping to make her back off. Instead she only goes crazier...
Now, she already kills off several other people in the building who pose a threat to her and her new love interest but after she finds out he doesn't like her she practically takes him hostage. Forcing her will and opinion on him. She wants him all to herself...forever.
This movie has alot of flaws, making alot of it unbelievable (as I said earlier) and making some of it even laughable. It's a corny movie that's hard to really take seriously but it's entertaining. Not necessarily something I'd say I'd watch again but it isn't something I'd say I regret watching.
I do think Talia Shire was good in this role, she plays a good crazy chick. But Melanie's very sloppy and has poor excuses, which to me would have had her caught within days of her first murder. If they had kept Talia as the same character but put a little more thought into her stories it would have been alot better.
RATED- R RUN TIME- 87 MINS WRITERS- DARDANO SACCHETTI, GIORGIO MARIUZZO AND LUCIO FULCI STARRING- CATRIONA MACCOLL, DAVID WARBECK AND CINZIA MONREALE DIRECTOR- LUCIO FULCI Synopsis taken from IMDb A cellar of an old hotel is built on top of the door to the beyond. Bloody zombies roam there. A young woman who is heir of the hotel wants to restaurate it. She is confronted with strange events. A painter has a lethal fall, a plumber vanishes and her friend breaks his neck. When she escapes to the hospital of a friendly doctor she doesn't know what a nightmare is waiting there.
Here I am again after watching yet again another Fulci classic. This was one I've heard of my whole life but it slipped through the cracks and was forgotten. Until I made my post on head shots and saw the scene from The Beyond. That put this movie back at the top of my list.
The movie starts of with a violent and brutal death, very gory as well. So I was hooked right away.
The make-up in this movie was well done for the time, and isn't anything I haven't come to expect from Fulci.
The blind eyes were probably the creepiest part for me, it reminded me alot of The Sentinel (1977) and the old priest sitting in the window. White eyes always creep me out, especially on women. And in this film it truly added a haunting feeling to the characters who had these.
There was alot to this movie that I didn't understand, including the ending. I don't give away spoilers but let's just say that if you don't understand it you aren't alone.
The zombies in this film were the slow retro type that us horror lovers have come to love. I personally prefer faster zombies because I find it scarier when a zombie chases you rather than be left in your dust trail. But I'm not knocking the slow zombies, they're OG, so they win whenever they're in anything.
Like all Fulci movies, the gore and deaths in this movie were awesome! Brutal as hell. One thing you're getting into with every one of his films is a nice bloodbath/gore-fest. If you haven't come to expect this by now then you don't know Fulci.
I think Fulci's films are more notorious for being brutal and controversial due to being some gruesome. I believe that is why he's been such a success in the horror genre. While most of his movies aren't very good, they're forgivable because all in all it's a really bloody slaughterfest that's entertaining and fun to watch.
And last but not least the head shot scene in this movie is jaw dropping as I've said before. The little red headed girl takes a pistol blast straight to her little possessed brain. Horrifying stuff.
RATED- R RUN TIME- 93 MINS WRITERS- DECLAN O'BRIEN AND ALAN B. MCELROY STARRING- SEAN SKENE, BLANE CYPURDA AND DAN SKENE DIRECTOR- DECLAN O'BRIEN Synopsis taken from IMDb Following a group of friends that decide to go snowmobiling during their winter break. They make a "wrong turn", getting lost in a storm, and seek shelter in an abandoned sanitarium. They are completely isolated by the storm and are thankful they can get out of the elements. But the sanitarium has a troubled past, and some of its former patience still reside there and are not happy about the intrusion. In a deadly game of cat and mouse, the college kids must fight to survive the night.
I am a big fan of the original Wrong Turn, yeah it has its flaws but it's a fun, brutal and shocking movie. Everything us horror junkies are entertained by. I was strongly disappointed with the sequel and I gave up after the third film. But like the sucker I am I gave the new one a shot just for the hell of it, and it didn't turn out quite that bad...
The movie starts off in the inside of the sanitarium and we see the inmates of the sanitarium who're all deformed and mutated in some way. I'm not sure if all of the inmates were like that, but there definitely was alot of mutant/deformed inmates. And we learn that the lead mutants, who are our villains in this film, are deformed do to inbreeding.
We see the inmates breakout and murder the doctor in a viscous and brutal, bloody way. Something you'd expect out of a Saw movie. One thing off the bat that I didn't like was that they made these mutants too smart, I don't think they should have been able to pull this kill off. They got the savagery right but they were too smart.
The inmates Three Finger, One Eye and Saw Tooth all get there names from where you can imagine just by hearing their names. One Eye stabbed his own eye out with a fork and ate it. Saw Tooth has to wear a facial mask to protect the sanitarium security guards because he sharpened his teeth to jagged points and killed a security guard by bite before. Three Finger cut his own fingers off.
They were sick looking, and while I have seen better make-up for mutants, this gets the job done and makes them look hideous. These bastards were gnarly.
After the college kids show up decades after the incident with the mutants and the doctor, things slowly start to pick up and build some suspense for the characters. The main problem with the cast for me was that they weren't likable. I'm not saying because I don't like them they deserve to die, I'm just saying that it's harder to get behind the characters when they're total douche bags.
One Eye, Three Finger and Saw Tooth start their new reign of terror as they pick off the horny, drunken teens one by bloody one. They eat the bodies as well, and they don't always wait for their beaten prey to be dead before they start their feast.
The gore in this movie was over-the-top but worked for this film seeing as the film itself is totally over the top. There were some good and nasty deaths. Some that make ya laugh and some that make you jump or hold your face. Either way it was a fun thrill ride, but not to be mistaken for a great horror film or masterpiece.
I have to say that I love the ending of this film. The last handful of minutes take place in a blizzard outside the sanitarium and it's a fight to the blood splashing finish. Survival is the name of the game. The ending threw me back to 2001 Maniacs' ending. It wasn't something I haven't seen before but it's acceptable because it hasn't been over used yet.
For those of you who have seen 2001 Maniacs you'll know what I mean when you see this film.
RATED-R RUN TIME- 83 MINS WRITERS- SAM BISBEE, VINCENT D'ONOFRIO AND JOE VINCIGUERRA STARRING- BO BODDIE, ERIC BOGOSIAN AND GWYNN GALITZER4 DIRECTOR- VINCENT D'ONOFRIO Synopsis taken from IMDb A young band heads to the woods in order to focus on writing new songs. Hoping to emerge with new music that will score that will score them their big break, they instead find themselves in the middle of a nightmare beyond comprehension.
I didn't know much about this movie before going into it so I didn't know what to expect. My mind was open to observation. I knew that this film was practically a musical, that's about it.
The films started off and I was intrigued to see where it was going. It looked to possibly have some potential and that kept me in my seat. I wasn't a fan of the type of music that was being played. It was too whiny or 'emo' as some say. I'm a fan of the harder stuff myself. But I tried to not let that judge my thoughts of the movie because I've seen musicals where I don't like the music before.
I was waiting for the kills to progress in order to keep me into the movie, hoping that at some point the kills would become brutal and original. And it is my sad duty to admit that that moment never came.
The gore was lackluster and the kills were so generic it was offending. I don't understand how people can make a movie like this, it's ridiculous. Any and all hope it had of using its potential was shot down my incompetence.
The cast in this movie wasn't bad to start but honestly, all the annoying music made them annoying and I was just waiting for the killer to shut them up. This film wasn't what I expected it to be.
Pretty much the band members start wanting to party and not focus on the music unlike their group leader. So he gets all mad and starts playing guitar in the woods singing and making up songs. I got so sick of hearing his songs about relationships and betrayal and whatever else. I got tired of listening.
This film's ultimate failure is how forgettable it is.
The Stand was a made-for-TV movie, or otherwise considered a mini-series of 4 90 minute episodes. It is based off of Stephen King's ground breaking and best selling novel about the end of the world. When a nasty flu starts spreading and killing off civilization only few survive, and it's up to them to take a stand against Lucifer from ending the world. The survivors are split up between followers of sister Abigail, an old woman touched with visions of what's to come and fights on the side of God, and Lucifer, the king of the damned, trying to deceive the survivors and make them follow him and lead them to their ruin.
EPISODE 1: "The Plague" When a deadly virus escapes from a government research facility, few prove to be immune to its effects. With symptoms similar to the flu, those who come into contact with it quickly die. One survivor is Stu Redmond, a gas station attendant from Texas, who suffers no ill effects what so ever. Kept in a medical research facility in Vermont, doctors try to determine why he is still alive. Others that also survive include Frannie Goldsmith who lives with her dad; Nick Andros, a deaf mute; a rock musician, Larry Underwood; and Lloyd Henreid, in jail for murder. Survivors...
EPISODE 2: "The Dreams" The plague has taken its toll and only those immune to the virus are alive. The forces of good and evil are slowly taking shape. Those that have been dreaming about Mother Abigail are slowly making their way towards her in Nebraska. Stu Redmond joins up with Frannie Goldsmith and others. When Nick Andros and the first of the travelers arrive, Mother Abigail tells them they will soon be moving further west, to Colorado. Randal Flagg is gathering his own forces as he releases Lloyd Henreid from jail. Through her dreams, he also recruits Nadine Cross, who had been...
EPISODE 3: "The Betrayal" Hundreds are now in Boulder, Colorado with Mother Abigail but Randall Flagg has sent Nadine Cross to infiltrate the group. Unable to seduce Larry, she then sets her sights on Harold. So just as the citizens begin to organize their lives, Mother Abigail leaves Boulder. The residents do become concerned about what Randall Flaggl, based in Las Vegas, may be up to and decide to send three people west to find out.
EPISODE 3: "The Stand" The final confrontation between good and evil takes shape. Tom Gathers information and tries to return to Boulder. With Mother Abigail gone and several members of the committee killed in an explosion, Stu, Larry, Glen and Ralph set off west as instructed. Nadine and Harold set off for Las Vegas but Randall Flagg has something special in store for both of them. Flagg's group starts to fall apart. Trashcan Man decides to set the biggest fire of his life.
I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, it was something special. The cast and acting was well done and the film leaves a deep powerful mark on you. The mark of hope.
Now, I've never read the book but I have plans on doing so late this year/early next, but even I could tell you that this movie was cut down alot. There was hardly any real character development and I know in the book there will be. It was the time restraint that hurt this movie. There was too much going on and too many characters for such a short run time. This movie should be 6 or 7 hours long.
That being said I am eagerly awaiting to read the book and being able to compare them. I loved this movie so I know I'll love the book.
RATED- R RUN TIME- 93 MINS WRITERS- KARL T. HIRSCH, J. LAUREN PROCTOR AND RICHARD SCHENKMAN STARRING- BILL OBERST JR., KENT INGLEHEART AND RHIANA VAN HELTON DIRECTOR- RICHARD SCHENKAMAN Synopsis taken from IMDb As Abraham Lincoln labors over the Gettysburg address, the importance of which he is fully aware, he learns that a menace from his past has returned, threatening to tear the already fractured nation to pieces. He must journey behind enemy lines to face a foe far more fearsome than the confederate army: the walking dead.
I went into this movie on "guys night" for the intentions of having a corny movie to laugh at on as background noise. Tune in here and there to laugh at dumb parts and make fun of the effects. But then once the movie started we didn't find ourselves laughing...
This movie does not come off as a low budget movie, when I found out that it was only made on $150,000 I was shocked. The film comes off very well made for that budget. The lighting is good and that has alot to do with it. As well as the acting and effects weren't that bad. What was supposed to be a background flick turned out to steal our attention.
I liked Bill Oberst Jr. playing Abe, he did a good job and executed the role well, without overacting it or making it come off cheesy. However, I guess to enforce how they wanted to portray what a leader he was, there were alot of prolonged speeches. He gives several of them and they tend to be long. I liked the speech idea, I just feel they made him go a little too hard on it.
The acting in this movie wasn't anything break but I can't express how surprised I was with this movie. The acting worked and wasn't bad enough to ruin the movie, it was actually well acted. The supporting cast do a good job of keeping the story going and contributing to the action.
When the zombies start to pour in and war breaks out, Abe starts tearing zombies up. Brutalizing them left and right and looking untouchable while doing it. The whole time you can't help but realize how ridiculous it is that Abe Lincoln is slaying zombies, but then again, it's so entertaining you let it slide.
The zombie effects in this film aren't bad, the gore is good but the zombies look very generic and I found that as the movie progressed, its quality went down eventually leading to a very weak and corny explosion stunt involving a zip line.
This film is just as much about Abe and his emotional struggle to lead and not fall or fail under such dire circumstances as it is zombies. Abe is the star, no doubt, and the zombies are the background characters.
So this movie was entertaining, fun, surprising but it also has bad effects and cg some points and that hurts the film because they did such a good job making it not look low budget. But all in all they did a good job.
