Truth or Die (2012)

RATED- UNRATED
RUN TIME- 95 MINS
WRITER(S)- MATHEW McGUCHAN
STARRING- TOM KANE, LIAM BOYLE AND JACK GORDON
DIRECTOR- ROBERT HEATH



Synopsis taken from IMDb
Young British boys and girls travel to an isolated cabin after being promised a night of heavy partying. Instead of the fun they hoped for, they meet a killer out to reap vengeance on them for the death of his brother.




While scrolling through the horror films on my Netflix, I decided this one looked to possibly be my best choice. Seeing as I wanted to stay awake and not fall asleep, I wanted to pic a quality movie. I'm glad I picked this one, because I stayed awake for the duration.

Formerly known as "Truth or Dare", this is more of a thriller to me than a horror film. There's nothing scary that happens, no jumps, and nothing that'll cause you to sleep with the lights on. But, it is very thrilling and interesting. The effects are based around torture mostly, or just gun shots. So, there wasn't any reason for this film to really be scary in the first place. It's just a entertaining revenge film.

This movie suffers from a lot of predictability. I saw the protagonist a mile away, but what struck me as weird, was that I kept watching, and wanted to watch. Here we have all the elements of a bad horror film, yet, I was entertained.  

This film didn't have a very large budget, so it's smart that they kept the setting in a cabin and simple. It left room for them to use the budget elsewhere, like the gore. There isn't too much gore, which I liked. They only used it when it was needed. I never do understand movies that have people bleeding out gallons and gallons of blood, it's unrealistic and doesn't do nothing for me. However, of course there are exceptions to what I just said. 

If a movie is meant to be fun, than over-bloodying things up is fine. But in a serious film, realism is everything. I'm pleased with what was done in this film.

There's two twists in this film that I can count. One of which, I did not see coming, but due to the slow and dramatic build up, it started to become obvious. The second twist didn't really do anything for me, it was a bit shocking, but not anything that'll win the movie over.

I think the idea of this movie is good, a little tired, but good. I feel that the scares and jumps and suspense were on vacation while this movie was shot, though. It kept me watching, but I can't really say I enjoyed it all too much. I wouldn't buy it, and will probably never watch it again. But a part of me found it entertaining. I think I just wanted to know who sent Felix the postcard and caused him to kill himself.

The characters seemed genuine, unfortunately, there is hardly any character development. It's just torture and a cat and mouse game. Without solid characters, a movie isn't very successful. I can honestly say that I only liked one character. I felt like this was "I Know What You Did Last Summer", only with more torture and less of everything else. 

The conclusion of the film falls flat, it's not very impacting when you can't really relate to any of the characters. I didn't side with anyone in the film, so the fact that I was so disconnected with the characters killed this movie for me. Otherwise, I'd say it was entertaining enough to watch. Don't watch this one because of me, spare yourselves the trouble.

Inbred is a brutal and bloody blast!

RATED- R
RUN TIME- 90 MINS
WRITER(S)- ALEX CHANDON AND PAUL SHRIMPTON
STARRING- JO HARTLEY, SEAMUS O'NEILL AND JAMES DOHERTY
DIRECTOR- ALEX CHANDON



Synopsis taken from IMDb
Four young offenders and their workers spend a weekend in the remote Yorkshire village of Mortlake, which prides on keeping itself to itself. A minor incident with locals rapidly escalates into a blood-soaked, deliriously warped nightmare.




I heard a lot of good things going into this British horror film. Just the title says enough. You know what you're getting into with a movie named "Inbred". I knew the reputation this film had, so I was anxious and eager to view this one. 

The film starts off a little dry and silly, and I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know if it was going to go a ridiculous route and just be funny or, if there would be a decent balance. As it turns out, the humor works great! Even though this is a very dark film, it's still amusing and packs a lot of dark humor.

The deaths in this film are absolutely horrendous and brutal. I'm still replaying the horse scene in my head, and I saw the film a few days ago. There's a lot of gore and blood in this one. It's a weird balance of a hardcore horror film, and a comedy. I was shocked by how brutal it is! The special effects were fantastic!

Once the first 30 minutes or so have passed and the film picks up, I wasn't ready for how serious it was about to get. I was thrilled and pleasantly surprised. It kept me watching, I didn't even want to send a text through it. I love how it's still funny no matter how hardcore it gets. Once everyone's seen this, I think this is going to be one that everyone brings up when their engaged in a conversation about brutal horror films.

There's a good vibe flowing from this film, and after watching it I couldn't stop talking about it. It's refreshing seeing all these new original horror films come out as of late. It puts a smile on my face. Especially when everybody loves to throw around that horror is dead, but that's clearly overly dramatic and very false. If you look, there's been a good lump of horror films that have come out over the past few years. People just tend to want to focus in on the bad ones and magnify how poor it is. Clearly some of these so-called horror fans have been missing out on a lot. 

"Inbred" is just a fun film to watch. There's some moments that'll make you close your eyes or turn your head, and there are parts that'll get a loud reaction out of you. And there's plenty of laughs to go all around! The comedic spin takes the edge off of how screwed up this film is, and how gruesome it can be. 

I almost have nothing but praise for this film. Aside from some poor acting done by some of the minor cast, I don't really have anything bad to say. It's a completely solid horror film and it's a blast to watch.

Another thing that works for the film is that it isn't predictable. Well, some of it is predictable, but there's a good amount of things that took me by surprise. It's part of the reason I couldn't stop watching. It felt so real, but I was never fully terrified, because the humor keeps it grounded. It was a constant reminder that this is only a movie.

I'm not entirely sure if some of the inbreds in the film were genuinely deformed, or if it was makeup effects. Some of the people are definitely freaking looking and gives you an eerie, itching feeling. This movie is like "Freaks" meets "Eden Lake", combine them and you'll get an idea of what you're in for with this one.

I was so close to giving this film a 4/5, but due to the bad acting I mentioned, I can't rate it that high. But it's up there. As time goes on, I may grow to give it that 4.

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

Kill List (2011)

RATED- NR
RUN TIME- 95 MINS
WRITERS- BEN WHEATLEY AND AMY JUMP
STARRING- NEIL MASKELL, MyANNA BURING AND HARRY SIMPSON
DIRECTOR- BEN WHEATLEY




Synopsis taken from IMDb
Nearly a year after a botched job, a hitman takes a new assignment with the promise of a big payoff for three killings. What starts off as an easy task soon unravels, sending the killer into the heart of darkness.




Let me start off by saying that when a movie has critical quotes such as "Will unhinge even the hardest of genre fans" and "Kill List will leave your bones rattling" it's pretty much a sure thing that I'm going to watch that movie sooner rather than later. It has my name written all over it.

The movie has a real vibe to it that not only makes it seem very real, but it's unsettling. The acting is convincing and well done as well, which helps make the movie's impact more detrimental.

This film is about two friends, Jay and Gal, who are former soldiers. Since the military, they've become hitmen and partners. Gal is the one who's very relaxed and calm and has his affairs and life in order. Jay on the other hand is the complete opposite.

They don't go into detail but we're led to believe that Jay was a part of a disastrous mission in Kiev, and he hasn't worked since. Even with his wife Shel, breathing down his neck due to their running out of money.

Jay and Shel have Gal and his new girlfriend over for dinner. At the dinner Gal surprises Jay with the news that he has a job for them to do. Jay's wife Shel, eagerly wants him to take it. Meanwhile, Gal's girlfriend proves to have some suspicious intentions.

When Jay agrees to take the job, he and Gal meet up with their client who they'll be doing the job for. He's very shady to say the least, he gives them a list of 3 people he wants killed. He cuts Jay's hand, making the contract between them signed in blood.

The first person on their list is a priest, and he acts as though he knows Jay and thanks him before Jay kills him.

The second person is a child pornographer who also thanks Jay before dying. This scene was intense for me, it involves a hammer. I'll leave it at that.

At this point in the movie you're totally brain fried, trying to understand what the hell is going on and why these victims on the kill list are acting happy and relieved to be killed.

Jay proceeds to chase down some of the other pedophiles, Gal finds a folder that has information on himself and Jay as well as the incident that occurred in Kiev.

From here the movie gets very chaotic and intense until the final shot. It's complete anarchy and a fight for survival.

This movie came off like The Boondock Saints for the first 75 minutes. Kill List is more gory, brutal and gritty, but it has some similarities. But in the last 15 or 20 minutes it becomes a heart and pulse pounding horror film. This film gave me the creeps and that's not easy to do. I was genuinely scared.

The fact that you never get any answers to anything blows my mind and I loved it. You don't always need answers for everything. All ends don't always need to be tied.

After a while of sitting with the movie in your head you can start to piece it together and make some sense of it, but all of the pieces aren't there to make a full picture. When this film ended I was speechless and my first thought was "what the hell was that?". I was completely dumbfounded.

Kill List is a paranoid and brutal horror film that delivers. I'm glad I stumbled onto this movie. I'd be missing out if I hadn't.

THIS FILM GETS 4 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5