The Innkeepers (2011)

RATING-R
RUN TIME-101 MINS
WRITERS-TI WEST
STARRING-SARA PAXTON, PAT HEALY AND KELLY McGILLIS
DIRECTOR-TI WEST

Synopsis taken from IMDb
During the final days at the Yankee Pedlar Inn, two employees determined to reveal the hotel's haunted past begin to experience disturbing events as old guests check in for a stay.


The Innkeepers was a film that I've been looking forward to for a long time. After seeing Ti West's The House Of The Devil I became an instant fan of this guy. In my eyes Ti West is horror's new hope. He has a good vision and has outstanding execution. He alongside Adam Green (Hatchet) are the people keeping horror alive and in it's roots. Ti West does great buildup and suspense, and The Innkeepers was no different.

I read some internet reviews that said this movie dragged on too long and blah blah blah. I guess I see things differently. I'd rather be chilled by the suspense in a movie and scared of what's to come than to just see alot of gore. The suspense in this movie was top notch and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I jumped a few times and was even truly frozen to my seat at some points. By far my favorite part was about 3 quarters through the movie, when our lead characters are in the basement and they encounter the ghost in the building. It isn't done with cheap thrills and it isn't predictable. You actually don't see a thing. You just see the reactions on their faces as they realize the ghost is with them, leaving you to imagine what it is that they're seeing. And in my eyes making it scarier.

What you imagine is so much worse than what they could have shown and Ti West used that method and played it off brilliantly. But don't fret, this isn't a Blair Witch Project film where you see absolutely nothing, you see plenty. Ti West just picks and chooses what you see that way not only do you avoid becoming not scared by being shown the horrific stuff too much, but are also waiting for something to pop up because you know something's eventually going to happen.

To people like me this movie struck a chord in me and brought a big smile to my face. I felt like I was watching a movie that I grew up with. A truly chilling movie that makes you paranoid and excited for what's to come at the same time. I like all kinds of horror. Everything from Universal Monsters to 70's exploitation horror to 80's slasher horror. I even like some modern "torture porn" flicks, but nothing compares to the feeling of watching a movie that takes you on a journey like this one- where suspense is the terror and the fear of what's to happen to our lead characters.

And another thing that I loved about this movie was not only was the acting very well done but they were very real and believable characters. Good casting is key when making a horror film or else you end up being a cheap thrills movie that gets forgotten quickly. When you have great characters you have a believable movie. I genuinely liked the characters and thought that they'd probably be people I'd hang with if they weren't fictional.

This movie comes together perfectly and it has made me an even bigger Ti West fan. Movies like this are why us horror fans are horror fans. I made my girlfriend, mom, sister and best friend watch this film and they all loved it. We need more TRUE horror films like this. Original, funny, scary and not a remake.


3 1/2 stars for me

Scanners (1981)

RATING-R
RUN TIME-103 MINS
WRITERS-DAVID CRONENBERG
STARRING-JENNIFER O'NEILL, STEPHEN LACK, PATRICK McGOOHAN
DIRECTOR-DAVID CRONENBERG


Synopisis taken from IMDb
Darrly Revok is the most powerful of all the scanners, and is the head of the underground scanner movement for world domination. Scanners have great psychic power, strong enough to control minds; they can inflict enormous pain/damage on their victims. Doctor Paul Ruth finds a scanner that Revok hasn't, and converts him to their cause- to destroy the underground movement.




I'm a HUGE David Cronenberg fan, The Fly is one of my all-time favorite sci fi films ever. This guy is a legend of the cinema, so I'm always stoked to check out a new film by him. Especially a movie by him that has a notorious head exploding scene. But it's safe to say my expectations were pretty high...

The movie started off with a good flow, the acting seemed strong, convincing story and well directed. It keeps you enthralled, looking and waiting for the next crazy corner this film was obviously taking.

I thought this film had solid characters and character developement. The effects were well done and the movie delivered. However, it wasn't Cronenberg's best in my eyes. I expected more but I wasn't really let down by this film, I still very much enjoyed it.

One of my main flaws with the film is that i thought it dragged on a little, but the fact that it was creative as hell kept me watching. I didn't know what I was getting into, just that I was in for a Cronenberg head trip.

The ending of this film was good and had a twist that I can't say I didn't see coming but it didn't effect the film in a negative way. I do feel that there should have (could have) been more story to it than there was. I guess that's what Scanners 2 and 3 are but I can't say I'm looking forward to jumping into them. The fact that I didn't even know they did sequels signals the alarm in my mind.

Cronenberg did what he does best and that's deliver a movie that is a totally crazy idea but makes it work wonders on screen. While it wasn't his strongest film it didn't hurt anything for his career and it won't hurt other people to watch if they enjoy good films.

3 stars for me.

Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)

RATING-R
RUN TIME-79 MINS
WRITERS-PAUL CAIMI, MICHAEL HICKEY
STARRING-LILYAN CHAUVIN, GILMER McCORMICK, TONI NERO
DIRECTOR-CHARLES E. SELLIER JR.



Synopisis taken from IMDb
A young boy watches his parents by a thief in a Santa suit. He spends his youth in an orphanage, staying quietly to his self, but his mind is further bent by an ironhanded Mother Superior. He finally gets a job at a local store, where he finally snaps when he is required to wear a Santa suit, and goes on a killing spree that leads him slowly back to the orphanage.


This film is one that I've heard about for awhile but it just kept seeming to get overlooked by other films I've been meaning to tackle. So when the time came to give this movie a go I was anxious to experience this film because of all the hype I've built up for it in my mind.


From the second the film started I knew I was going to like this one. The story was pretty good, simple, but nothing short of what you'd expect from an early 80's horror film. The acting seemed good and the theme and feel for the film fit very well. The music was very fitting.


I liked the buildup to this film, I didn't get bored watching the story unwind before the killings started, I was actually glued to my seat. We see the lead character, Billy, go from being a child to being an older child in an orphanage to being an adult and working a job. We see the trauma he's encountered and can totally understand his breakdown that we knew would happen.


The killings in this movie were awesome and well done. They were fun and brutal but not overly done or ridiculous. They were the type you'd look away from but would still be entertained and want to watch/see more. And more importantly I liked the backstory to Billy this film and thought it helped alot in the buildup to his breakdown and killing spree. My favorite death by far was when Billy impales a victim on the antlers of a antelope head on the wall.


My only regret with this film is not seeing it sooner than I did. I liked this film alot, I'd even go as far to say that I like it more than the original Black Christmas. And I really like the original Black Christmas. I'll be watching this again for sure (along with Black Christmas) around Christmas this year.

I give this movie a high 3 stars.

THE THING (2011)

First Thoughts
This film is actually a prequel based on the 1982 John Carpenter film with the same title. It doesn't really make too much sense to me why they didn't title it different like The Thing: The beginning. It's kind of stupid if you ask me, to title the prequel the same. But seeing as I'm a huge fan of the John Carpenter film I was stoked to see this movie. And I could only hope that it lived up to the 1982 masterpiece...

Now this film was directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr., I don't know too much this guy has done so my initial thought was that I didn't know what to expect. It was either going to work or not, using a director who's not well known is always a gamble. However, the producers of the Dawn Of The Dead remake did this film so that gave me some hope. I thought the remake of Dawn Of The Dead was great, big fan.

Story Plot
This film is the origins of The Thing, it's the backstory of how it was found and how it escaped to wreak havoc in the 1982 film. This takes place with the team of Norwegian scientists finding a hot spot on their radar coming from under the ice of the cold Antactica.

After digging The Thing up from underground and seeing it in basically a huge icecube it's hard to really get a look at it through the thickness of the ice it's frozen in. I liked the fact that they didn't just show you the creature, you had to wait for it and just hope it was as good as your imagination envisioned. However, I didn't envision it to look like the way it did but I was pleased with it.

After showing you what The Thing looks like as it breaks free from its icy chamber caos ensues. We find ourselves in a guessing game of who is who when the team discovers that this alien can transform into any living creature, including them. This was alot like the Carpenter film to a certain degree but they go with a teeth test instead of a blood test like in the 1982 film. They start sorting out who's The Thing and who isn't by checking for teeth fillings, which back then were shiny silver and not white by today's standards to match your teeth. They do this because they discover that when immitatting things The Thing rejects any and all metal objects, therefore, anyone without fillings are suspects. I think that's the one time in your life where you'd be happy you drank alot of soda.

The film from here goes into everyone against everyone, because the people without fillings are raving that the others are crazy and are going to get them killed if they don't let them in their group. Here is where the conflict lies because that's a crappy situation you been in and you don't want to be the person accusing someone of being an alien and cause them to get killed by an alien (laugh).

After that the few members who are left of the team hunt down and search out the alien and put it out of it's mysery...or do they?

Special Effects/ Creature effects and design
I thought that the way The Thing itself looked when it broke out of the ice was pretty cool. Like I stated before, it wasn't what I was expecting but it was still a cool design. It looked alot like a menacing bug. A big black insect with sharp legs.

I also liked the way some of the other effects look but I feel that they dulled it down with bad CG, so that was disapointing. I also think they showed too much of The Thing and it's transforming ways. I would have liked it more if they showed it less to keep it scary. The more you see it the more used to seeing it you become. So the more you see it the less scary it is. Do glimpses or momentary shots to keep the suspense and mystery going. Not long drawn out shots like they did in this film.

I liked the two-headed Thing, it looked very close to the one they showed in the 1982 film. But they ruined it with the long scenes they did showing it. After awhile it just kind of showcased how bad the CG was and made is disapointing.

Final rating for the movie is
CG/Creature effects get a 2/4 rating from me.

Actors And Characters
This film has a pretty good cast although I think that for this movie, if they even wanted to try and live up to the Carpenter film, could have been better. There was definately room for improvement.

I think that Mary Elizabeth Winstead did a good job as the lead role but they should've gone for a stronger leading role.

I also wasn't a fan of  Eric Christian Olsen. I usually never am though.

Casting/Characters gets a 2/4  rating from me.

Gore/Violence
The gore in this film was pretty decent, they definitely didn't go over board with it like most movies tend to do today.

The violence was pretty good as well but nothing memorable from either the gore or violence.

Gore/Violence gets a 2/4 from me.

Most memorable quote
"So, I'm gonna die before I floss?"

Final Thoughts
I started off really liking this film but as it went on it got progressively worse. I didn't like how much they showed the alien and I didn't like the ending at all. The spaceship scene ruined the whole movie for me. I thought it was utterly ridiculous. They showed too much ruining most of the mysery and making the movie a failure in comparison to the Carpenter film. This film had potential but I guess this is what happens when you get a weak cast and a unfamilliar director.

The movie overall gets a 2/4 from me.