American Mary (2012)

*** S  P  O  I  L  E  R  S ***

"Pain is Inevitable, Suffering Is Optional"

RATED- R

RUN TIME- 103 MINS

WRITER(S)- SYLVIA SOSKA AND  JEN SOSKA

STARRING- KATHARINE ISABELLE, ANTONIO CUPO AND TRISTAN RISK

DIRECTOR- JEN AND SYLVIA SOSKA

Synopsis taken from IMDb

The story follows medical student, Mary Mason, as she becomes increasingly broke and disenchanted with the surgical world she once admired...

STORY: A fellow horror blogger, Dr Blood, suggested this movie to me. So, of course after hearing it's good and seeing the poster above I was convinced. Not to mention the gorgeous Katharine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps) is the lead character Mary Mason.

Mary Mason is a sympathetic character and a reflection of the America's medical school students; broke and in need of money. Always working and studying and only getting deeper into debt. She goes to a strip club owner Billy (Antonio Cupo) and he gives her a job, $5000.00 for one night of work. The catch? Use her surgical training to torture a guy and disfigure him. Mary plays it off cool but when she gets home she's paranoid and not sleeping.

Then she meets Beatress Johnson (Tristan Risk), a woman who's undergone 14 surgeries to make herself look like Betty Boop, and I must add that she was creepy as hell looking. Beatress gives Mary some money to see her friend who wants a weird procedure done. Mary is apprehensive at first but is convinced in the end to do the procedure, which is to make a woman look like a barbie by cutting off and out all of her "woman parts". Now that Mary's doing good for herself and feeling good about herself, she's invited to a party with a bunch of Doctors. This makes her feel special until she gets drugged and raped by her teacher who suspected her of coming into wealth by being a prostitute. This is when the film really gets good...

Mary goes back to Billy and pays him to let her use his back room, and in that back room she has her teacher tied down to a table and uses her surgical magic to disfigure him for life, the ultimate revenge. She splits his tongue and makes him a complete amputee. As she put it, she gave him 14 of the most bizarre and requested surgeries in one night. Mary is soon pursued by a cop looking for her missing teacher.

From here the movie gets more and more twisted and the ultimate lesson of this movie is that revenge is a bitch and that once someone's done what they have to do, they'll never get to do what they want to do. Mary Mason's story is simply about greed and the power of the mighty dollar and in today's society. It really hits a high note because not a lot of people can't say that they wouldn't do what she does in this film. And that's a sad, tragic thing, losing your moral to have the finer things in life. Mary Mason finds what she's good at and capitalizes. And in the end, her sins and her unethical actions that she does for the big pay-offs costs Mary very, very dearly.

Mary exacts revenge on her teacher and rapist.

ACTING: The acting in this movie is spot on, there wasn't anything I can really complain about. Katharine Isabelle puts on her best performance yet and although she isn't very well known, I think this movie is going to make her known. It should anyway, after this film she deserves some credit.



KILLS/GORE: The killings and torture are well done and very vague at points. I love that they don't show you everything! If you read my blog then you know I don't mind a movie that doesn't show you every single last drop of blood spilled. Horror movies started as dark, romantic movies, so I sincerely don't like it when people complain about lack of gore because to me that shows that you aren't a true horror fan, you just like the twisted stuff. A horror movie is supposed to give you the creeps and if it does then it does it's job. Gore and brutality don't make a horror movie, but this film still has it's share of gore malevolence.



OVERALL: I'd say this movie is damned near perfect. It's got all the right ingredients to be an instant classic. It's Nip/Tuck with a bigger set of balls and a more twisted personality. Almost everyone in this movie except for Mary and Billy are suspicious and creepy, you don't know who to trust or what their motive is. The Soska sisters nailed the eerie atmospheric feeling to this film and it keeps you enthralled and on edge. This movie rocks!

THIS FILM GETS 4 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5

Iron Man 3 Tony Stark by Hot Toys

Hot Toys proves again why they are the best high-end action figure company on the planet with their latest release. Every single figure Hot Toys does is a step up from the last and this Tony Stark is amazing! We all knew that with the success of their previous Iron Man stuff that there would be Iron Man 3 products. The likeness of Robert Downey Jr. is perfect and creepily realistic in this new collectible.

This bad boy comes with some exceptionally awesome accessories and an incredible base. I won't be purchasing this figure, not that I don't want it because I would love to have it. This hobby is simply too expensive to keep up with everything and if you don't have an unlimited budget you have to pick and chose what you collect and you don't. For me, it's easy, The Dark Knight Trilogy and horror, that's it. But if I had enough disposable income I would buy this in a heartbeat. Even if I can't buy it I can still admire it!

Hot Toys have done every Iron Man suit to date and this is their 2nd Tony Stark figure, and probably the best figure from their series of action figures.

You can order him here: https://www.sideshowtoy.com/?page_id=4489&sku=902013&ref=home_new#HotToysItem

Mama (2013)

*** S  P  O  I  L  E  R  S ***

""A MOTHER'S LOVE IS FOREVER"

RATED- PG-13

RUN TIME- 100 MINS

WRITER(S)- NEIL CROSS, ANDRES MUSHIETTI AND BARBARA MUSHIETTI

STARRING- JESSICA CHASTAIN, NIKOLAJ COSTER-WALDAU AND MEGAN CARPENTIER

DIRECTOR- ANDRES MUSHIETTI

 Synopsis taken from IMDb

Annabel and Lucas are faced with the challenge of raising his young nieces that were left alone in the forest for 5 years...but how alone were they? 

STORY: Whenever Guillermo Del Toro's name is on something I'm always up for giving it a shot. However, with him being a producer, we all know that just means they wanted his name on it. How much he did or didn't partake in the making of this film I don't know, but it's still worth a viewing. Mama is the story of two young girls Victoria (Megan Carpentier) and Lilly (Isabelle Nelisse), who after a tragedy are left without parents and on their own in an estranged cabin in the woods. They end up becoming ferel children, animalistic and anti-social with other humans due to their being cut off from the world and left to fend for themselves at such a young age. They aren't alone though, an entity they call Mama has been watching and taking care of them.

Victoria and Lilly are found by some men that their uncle Jeffrey (Nikolaj Coster) hired to find them, Jeffrey has been searching for them the whole five years they were gone. When the girls are brought back into society they need a lot of therapy and aren't willing to trust anyone, they're completely wild. Once uncle Jeffrey gets injured his girlfriend Annabel (Jessica Chastain) has to take over taking care of the girls until he gets better. Even though Annabel isn't very excited about taking care Victoria and Lilly, it ends up being a good thing because the girls are able to warm up to her. Annabel begins to gain their trust slowly but surely and she begins to get used to them and like them.

Victoria and Lilly are talking to the walls and playing with something when Annabel isn't around. Someone they call "Mama", this same entity that took care of them in the cabin for five years. Annabel starts picking up on their weird behavior and even hears a grown woman's voice humming a lullaby coming from the girls room. Whenever she goes to confront the girls and ask them about their actions, they won't say a word because they say they don't want her to get hurt. And they also tell her not to go in the closet...

One thing that I was caught off guard by and didn't expect was that "Mama" wasn't Victoria and Lilly's actual Mom. Mama is the ghost of a woman named Edith, a mental patient in an asylum back in the 19th century. Edith killed a nun and stole her baby back from the church that separated them and is then given chase by the townsfolk. After seeing no alternative, Edith jumped off a cliff while holding her child so they'd die together. Only her baby got snagged on a tree and died from impact as Edith fell to her watery grave below. Since she died without her child, Edith's spirit can not move on and she's reliving that cycle over and over again.

Only now "Mama" has new children to look after...

Jeffrey, Annabel, Victoria and Lilly are all confronted by "Mama"

ACTING: The acting in this movie was pretty well done! There isn't Oscar winning performances but there isn't any really bad ones either. I like the cast chose for this movie. The little girls did an exceptional job for their age and for this being a horror movie. Jessica Chastain did a very good, grounded performance and she looked great.

SCARES/FX: This movie is a "less is more" type of horror film where they don't show you everything. A lot of the scares are in the general creepy feel the movie and there's some solid suspense. They rely a lot on these factors to scare you as much as what you do see and I tip my hat to this movie. Because if done right, you don't have to show everything, if you build enough suspense and give us characters we can relate to it'll take care of itself. Now, I'm not saying I don't like movies that show us everything, I'm simply saying it's stupid to judge a movie on how much isn't shown. You can show as much or little as you want and still get it done right. And Mama was pretty creepy looking if I must say so and I liked when they went into her backstory.

OVERALL: This movie starts off very strong and keeps that integrity until the end of the movie. However, the last 10-15 minutes of the movie become less horror and more drama. I think they spent too much time showing Mama at the very end, even though I can see how it was necessary with the story climax. This film is about isolation and the fear of loneliness and abandonment. And how now matter how good or how bad someone can be, as long as they're willing to ease our minds and our fears, we'll be loyal to that person. It's also about how not having parental figures can damage us.

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

Monster Brawl (2011)

*** S  P  O  I  L  E  R  S ***

"It's the fight of the living dead!"

RATED- R

RUN TIME- 89 MINS

WRITER(S)- JESSE T. COOK

STARRING- DAVE FOLEY, ART HINDLE AND ROBERT MAILLET

DIRECTOR- JESSE T. COOK

Synopsis taken from IMDb

Eight classic monsters fight to the death in an explosive wrestling tournament set inside an abandoned and cursed graveyard.

STORY: This was a movie that I've had on my Netflix instant queue for a while now. I've heard some things about this movie and it got me interested enough to give it a shot. The whole movie is shot like a wrestling pay-per view from hell. Cameo's are made by UFC referee Herb Dean and long time wrestling manager Jimmy Hart, who is held in the company of some very attractive ring girls. Jimmy Hart actually favorited a tweet I made right after watching this movie, which I thought was cool.

I liked that it was filmed in a cemetery, although the set was somewhat poorly done and in one of the scenes where Frankenstein is being bashed with tombstones from The Wolfman you can see how apparent it is that the tombstones are foam. The setting of the film wasn't creative but it was fitting. The commentating during this movie will keep you laughing as well and I especially like that there are backstories and promo's for the monsters. The Wolfman comes off the most like a wrestler with some decent microphone skills.

There's some good monsters in here like Lady Vampire and The Mummy. They also have what I guess is their version of the Creature from the Black Lagoon, Swamp Gut, a gassy and nasty slob of a being. Swamp Gut reminds me of what I think Swamp Thing would look like if he stopped working out. However, due to the caliber of the monsters, I found it obvious that it would come down to Frankenstein and The Wolfman. I was rooting for good ol' Frankie to win, and he does, but what an epic fight it is. I'm not certain on if there will be a sequel to this or not, but they definitely leave it open for one when Frankenstein is confronted by a zombified Kevin Nash.

Swamp Gut prepares to face off against the angry Wolfman

ACTING: The acting in this movie is poor and downright cheesy and ridiculous. But that is the type of movie this is, you'll find no Christian Bale in this movie. It isn't about acting, it's the entertainment value you get out of it.



SPECIAL FX/CREATURES: The special effects in this movie suffer a bit with some of the creatures looks and designs. You can tell this wasn't a big budget movie, Frankenstein and The Wolfman looked cool though. I like the intensity Frankenstein had because it matched his severely disfigured face and body. The other creatures weren't very creative in their designs or execution of their designs. I felt like the whole movie was just a means to let Frankenstein rip the Wolfman's head off.



OVERALL: This movie appeals to the manly nature in us men, you women may not like it as much. It taps into our inner child who used to watch wrestling and watch these monster movies and have our minds blown. It combines both things and is pure fun, I don't mean to sound cliche but it's a blast. It's a movie you can watch over and over again. It's a good one to watch with your buddy's while passing the popcorn and drinking beer. This is also a good way to introduce your kids to these monsters, but there is some gore.

THIS FILM GETS 3 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5

Oh yes, there will be SPOILERS

Recently I've been doing some changes to my blog, as you can tell. I've gone from using a reaper rating system to a reaper skull rating system. And I've summed up my reviews for an easier read.

However, since I'm a huge fan of cinema, one of my favorite things to do is analyze films. Break movies down and dissect them, see all the hidden messages or underlying moral. I love to see and understand the big picture beneath the the movies and I simply can't do that without spoilers. I need to discuss and describe all aspects of the films and without spoilers it's simply impossible. And because I don't do spoilers, my reviews and my writing have suffered due to how vague I have to be, without spoilers there's nothing to analyze.

So from now on I will be posting spoilers for all of my reviews and full descriptions. I know I'll lose a lot of fans, but hopefully I'll gain some new ones. I know there are some people reading who would love to have a discussion on a films unseen layers and subliminal messages. Now I'll be able to review films the way I truly want, with elaborate and in-depth details. However, I will be doing less reviews due to this since my new reviews will take quite a bit of effort and be somewhat longer. Out with the quantity and in with the quality is what I say.

So I ask you to please share your thoughts. Am I going the right way? Is this direction one you'd like to see?

John Dies at the End (2012)

"Just so you know... they're sorry for anything that's about to happen."

RATED- R 

RUN TIME- 99 MINS

WRITER(S)- DON COSCARELLI AND DAVID WONG

STARRING- CHASE WILLIAMSON, ROB MAYES AND PAUL GIAMATTI

DIRECTOR- DON COSCARELLI

Synopsis taken from IMDb

A new street drug that sends its users across time and dimensions has one drawback: some people return as no longer human. Can two college dropouts save humankind from this silent, otherworldly invasion?



STORY: This is one film that I've been looking forward to for a while now, especially after hearing all the positive feedback it's been getting. People have even been getting tattoos! Don Coscarelli's name being on it was enough to make me give it a shot. For those of you who don't know who he is, he's the guy who brought us Phantasm and Bubba Ho-Tep. This tale starts with Dave (Chase Williamson) beheading a skinhead with an axe. Then poses the question of if an axe that's had it's head and handle replaced is still the same axe.

Dave talks with a reporter, Arnie (Paul Giamatti), about weird and bizarre events. Dave tells Arnie that he and John (Rob Mayes) received a call from Shelly Morris asking for their help, she said she was being harassed by her ex and after coming to her aid, Dave and John came to realize that they're seeing two different visions of her. Then we go back to when all the bizarre stuff started to happen two years ago when John's band was playing and Dave ran into a Jamaican guy who not only could do some fancy tricks, but can tell Dave about his past and future. That night John calls David for help and once Dave arrives he finds John to be having a bad trip off of this black liquid known simply as "Soy Sauce". John starts telling Dave that he's losing touch with reality and has been calling Dave all night. But to his disbelief, while John is with Dave, Dave receives a call from John.

Some time after, Dave accidentally takes the drug. After doing so, he sees that the drug itself is a living thing, moving on it's own. That's when he realizes the severity of this situation and is pulled into the craziness that John talked about. Only now he knows that John isn't crazy, and neither is he. Due to taking the drug, Dave can do some extraordinary things like read minds and know things he shouldn't.

Dave and John come face to face with a lot of ground beef...

ACTING/PERFORMANCES: The acting in this movie was awesome, nothing award worthy, but very well done. There's a hint of sarcasm and smart-ass about the whole movie and I loved it. Very entertaining performances. Paul Giamatti said he was in this movie because it was a chance for him to be in the type of movie he'd watch.



SPECIAL FX/CREATURES: The special effects are cheesy but forgivable, when you see the type of movie it is the FX really fit the feel of the film. They help keep that humorous tone and definitely make you laugh. There's a part where Dave is being attacked by a cop's mustache, absolutely ridiculous but hilarious as well.



OVERALL: This film is a blast and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a very entertaining movie and is one you'll remember for a long time. Don Coscarelli nailed it again, while not as good as Bubba Ho-Tep, John Dies at the End hits a home run.

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

A Haunted House (2013)

"This $*%! ain't paranormal"

RATED- R
RUN TIME- 86 MINS
WRITER(S)- MARLON WAYANS AND RICK ALVAREZ
STARRING- MARLON WAYANS, ESSENCE ATKINS AND MARLENE FORTE
DIRECTOR- MICHAEL TIDDES

Synopsis taken from IMDb

Malcolm and Kisha move into their dream home, but soon learn a demon also resides there. When Kisha becomes possessed, Malcolm-determined to keep his sex life on track- turns to a priest, a psychic and a team of ghost-busters for help.



STORY: Marlon Wayans gives the horror-spoof genre a go on his own in this film,without his brothers Sean and Keenan Ivory Wayans. In this film, like all the other Wayans films, it's laced with jokes with the butt end being racial or potty humor. This film is shot in POV mode with a camcorder, just like in the Paranormal Activity movies. Malcolm (Marlon Wayans) lives on his own in with his dog and maid, Rosa (Marlene Forte) and he decides it'd be a good idea for his girlfriend Kisha (Essence Atkins) to move in with him. Upon her arrival, Malcolm starts to immediately wonder if his friends were right in telling him not to go ahead with the move. Most importantly, he's not getting laid and that sets him off.

Kisha mentions she's been hearing noises and at first Malcolm doesn't believe her, but he becomes convinced. They call upon a Psychic for advisement on what is haunting their house. Chip the Psychic (Nick Swardson) comes to their aid and is more caught up in his crush on Malcolm than the haunting.

Things get even worse when Kisha becomes possessed, and Malcolm calls upon "The Ghost Guys", a team of wannabe ghost hunters and a Priest named Father Williams (Cedric the Entertainer). As they all try and help, they none seem to able to do anything effective.They're in over their heads.

Malcolm and Kisha are terrified of their unwanted visitor

HUMOR/LAUGHS: This movie is laugh out loud funny. The whole theater was in hysterics! This movie didn't let up with the humor and it was pretty funny the whole way through. Cedric the Entertainer was a show stealer as Father Williams, his scenes were cracking me up. He was a good addition to the cast.



SPECIAL FX/STUNTS: The effects in this movie were cheap gag jokes that you could tell didn't cost a lot, but that makes it funnier. The point is to see how they react to the bizarre events going on, that's where the real funny stuff is. There was a lot of cgi used in this movie for some of the gags and other scarier elements of this film but nothing fancy.



OVERALL: If you go into the theater expecting a Christopher Nolan or Francis Coppola film, and judging it on the terms of being a "good movie" than go see something else. The people making this movie knew exactly what they were doing, going of an over-the-top funny movie full of raunchy humor and sterotyping. They aren't concerned with winning an Oscar. Judging this movie on a fair grounds, being that it's a movie meant to entertain you and make you laugh, it's a total blast. I can't wait for it to come out on Blu-ray.

THIS FILM GETS 3 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5

HOT TOYS RELEASES THEIR FINAL PRODUCT IMAGES OF THE JOKER

 Hot Toys has finally released the final product photos of their Joker masterpiece. Based after the late Heath Ledger's genius performance in 2008's blockbuster The Dark Knight, this figure is as realistic as they come. This is the one piece to own if you are a hardcore collector like myself, this figure is a must-own for any fan of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy. 

The figure features two realistic and beautifully sculpted likenesses of Heath Ledger's Joker and a crapload of accessories, such as the interrogation table that can also be used as the pencil trick table and multiple well crafted weapons and extra hands. The non-laughing headsculpt has a parallel eye rolling system (PERS) and this allows you to make his eyes look in any direction you desire. This figure goes for around $275.00 and I've had mine on order for months. He's due for release next month and can be found to order here:

http://www.sideshowtoy.com/?page_id=4489&sku=9018901#HotToysItem

"THIS CITY DESERVES A BETTER CLASS OF CRIMINAL, AND I'M GONNA GIVE IT TO 'EM."

Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013)

"Evil has many faces"

RATED- R

RUN TIME- 92 MINS

WRITER(S)- ADAM MARCUS AND DEBRA SULLIVAN

STARRING- ALEXANDRA DADDARIO, TANIA RAYMONDE AND SCOTT EASTWOOD

DIRECTOR- JOHN LUESSENHOP

Synopsis taken from IMDb

A young woman travels to Texas to collect an inheritance; little does she know that an encounter with a chainsaw-wielding killer is part of the reward. 

STORY: This film isn't a remake like I was expecting, it's a sequel to the original 1974 classic. The movie starts off with a quick summary of what happened in the original film with clips of the madness and chaos that went down. This film picks up right after Sally escapes, showing you the hell that was brought down on Leatherface and his family. A lynch mob shows up and overrides police procedure and burn the house down along with everyone in it. A lone woman escapes with her infant newborn and one of the townsfolk there take the child and bring it home to raise as their own.

Now in present day, Heather Miller (Alexandra Dadddario) is living with her boyfriend, Ryan (Trey Songz) and they receive a knock on the door. When Ryan answers the door all he sees is a letter addressed to Heather. Once opening, Heather finds that she's inherited  a house in Texas, so she and her friends go on a trip to check the house out after confronting her parents and finding out she's adopted. At first glance Heather and her friends love the house and are insistent on celebrating, but little do they know that there's a madman known as Leatherface residing in the basement, he somehow escaped the fire from 1974 that burnt his house to the ground. 

Once Leatherface is let loose and the chaos begins, Heather's friends start dying off quickly and it's up to her to escape the madness and run for her life.Leatherface is hellbent on getting revenge on all of the townsfolk who killed his family and burned his house down. Heather does some research and finds out the truth about her past, her real family and who Leatherface is, but what part does she play in all of this?

Heather (Daddario) runs for her life from the masked man known as Leatherface.

ACTING: The acting in this movie is pretty horrendous with just about no effort put into it. It's rushed, it's weak and it's disappointing, but it's nothing short of what I expected from this unnecessary and obsolete film.

KILLS/GORE: The kills were lackluster, nothing new or innovative. Just the same old same that we've seen. The lack of originality really crippled this film, with nothing but the same stuff we've seen before and done better this film doesn't have a leg to stand on. There is a lot of gore in this film, but that's to be expected. Gore can't save a movie, you need more than that.

OVERALL: This film is far, far inferior to the Platinum Dunes 2003 remake and the prequel that came out in 2006. This film is nonessential and forgettable. This is just Hollywood milking another franchise for ever drop it's worth and this well has run dry. The only thing saving me from absolutely hating this movie was the fact that I had no expectations going into it, so I wasn't let down. If you want to see this film for the sake of seeing a good horror movie then save your money. If you want to see a movie that is mildly entertaining and fun to watch with friends, then you should check this out.

 At the going rate of a movie ticket these days I suggest you all wait 'til it comes out on DVD and rent it at Redbox for $1.22, that's about what it's worth. It's only saving grace was getting to see Alexandra Daddario for 90 minutes.

THIS FILM GETS 2 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5 

 

 

HOT TOYS RELEASES THEIR FINAL PRODUCT IMAGES OF BANE

THIS, LIKE ALL OTHER OF HOT TOYS' PRODUCTS ARE NOTHING SHORT OF MASTERPIECES. I RECENTLY GOT THE BATMAN FIGURE AND IT'S AMAZING. NOW COMES THEIR EPIC BANE FIGURE DUE OUT IN MARCH. I'VE HAD MINE ON ORDER FOR MONTHS.

HOT TOYS IS A QUALITY ACTION FIGURE COMPANY BASED IN HONG KONG WHO SPECIALIZE IN HIGH-END QUALITY FIGURES. THIS BAD BOY IS GOING FOR $200.00

"I'M GOTHAM'S RECKONING. HERE TO END THE BORROWED TIME YOU'VE ALL BEEN LIVING ON."

Evil Dead (2013) 2ND REDBAND TRAILER UP NOW!

Men In Black 3 (2012)

"This summer, he'll have to find the answers...in time"

RATED- PG-13

RUN TIME- 106 MINS

WRITER(S)- ETAN COHEN, LOWELL CUNNINGHAM

STARRING- WILL SMITH, TOMMY LEE JONES AND JOSH BROLIN

DIRECTOR- BARRY SONNENFELD

 Synopsis taken from IMDb

Agent J travels in time to M.I.B.'s early days in 1969 to stop an alien from assassinating his friend Agent K and changing history.  

STORY: Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement), an alien known as a Boglodite, is the last of his kind and in 1969, a younger Agent K (Josh Brolin) arrested him. In doing this, Agent K stopped the alien takeover that Boris was trying to mastermind, and in doing so all the Boglodite's were faced with extinction. Boris is missing and arm that Agent K is also responsible for.

 Now Boris has come up with a new plan to escape imprisonment and go back in time to 1969 and kill Agent K, as well as follow through his maniacal plan to have his kind invade Earth and dodge extinction. Agent J (Will Smith) wakes up and realizes something sketchy is going on when he's the only one who knows who Agent K is, he then finds out that his partner doesn't exist because Boris succeeded in his plan to kill Agent K in 1969. So Agent J must travel back in time and stop Boris and warn his future partner.

However, Agent J finds that convincing his younger partner that his story is true isn't as easy as he was hoping. Agent K is weary of Agent J and suspects him to be up to no good. Agent J must find a way to convince his partner of the truth before time runs out.

Agent K (left) and Agent J (right) find that they make a great team after all

ACTING: The acting in this movie is really well done and humorous. Will Smith is hysterical at several parts and Josh Brolin even has his moments. Josh Brolin steals the show with his acting, he does a perfect job impersonating Tommy Lee Jones. The acting is well done all around.

SPECIAL EFFECTS: The CG and creature effects are on par with today's standard of technology and it's nothing short of what you'd expect from this movie. The creatures are all goofy looking and have quirky personalities, like they always have. They effects are well played.

OVERALL: This film isn't anything more or less than you'd expect from this series. It fits right in with the other 2 films. It's got it's funny and serious moments and overall it's entertaining and fun, but that's as far as it goes. It's not a great film, or one of the best of 2012, it's just a blast to watch and is enjoyable on all fronts.

THIS FILM GETS 3 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5

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