Hannibal: episode 8 "Fromage"

***SPOILERS***

Last night's Hannibal really turned up the heat and for the first time, we got some action! 

We see Will becoming more unstable, dreaming of being in places and waking up in others. His mental decline is steadily increasing.

We see a new foe introduced, a musician by the name of Tobias. He makes his strings not out of cat guts, but out of human guts. The scene they show of him making the strings lead me to believe he was making spaghetti at first. Tobias claims a victim and flays open their throat revealing the vocal chords, and stuffs the neck of a cello down into the throat. Making a human instrument.

Hannibal's patient, Franklin suspects that Tobias is the one behind the murder and tells Dr. Lecter in a therapy session. This arises a suspicion of curiosity with Hannibal. 

After consulting with Lecter, Will Graham decides that this killer is serenading another.

When Will starts having audible hallucinations about animals in pain and his feelings for Alana Bloom are rejected, we see his mental state deteriorate even further. 

After Franklin confesses that Tobias wanted him to cut open someone's throat and play them like a violin, Lecter feels the need to confront Tobias. Finally coming face to face with him, Lecter finds out that not only is Tobias a murderer, he also knows of Lecters "extra curricular activity", and feels that they have a bond. Hannibal was the one being serenaded. Over dinner, Tobias admits that he was going to kill Lecter and Lecter confesses that he had plans to kill Tobias as well. But before things can get too heated, Will invites himself into Hannibal's house, chasing Tobias off.

Hannibal gives Will some clues that lead him to Tobias and when he and Tobias meet, the two officers that accompanied Will are murdered. Tobias escapes and head's to Hannibal's office.

At Hannibal's office, Lecter tells Franklin that he's giving him a recommendation to another shrink due to Franklin making their relationship too personal. Tobias shows up and comes at Franklin, but Hannibal breaks Franklin's neck in hopes to end the anger in Tobias. Instead, Hannibal finds himself in the fight of his life against Tobias. After taking a beating, Lecter gets the upper hand and kills Tobias.

Once the FBI show up at Hannibal's office to discover the dead bodies of Franklin and Tobias, Lecter tells a story of how Tobias came in and killed Franklin and then tried to kill him. The funny thing is, Will and Crawford don't buy the story so easily, even though Hannibal was confident in his lie.

Later, Hannibal tells his psychiatrist Dr. Bedelia  Du Maurier, that he thinks he found a true friend in Will.

This episode was very thrilling and shows us some more of what we can expect from the future of this show and where it's heading with the story and characters. I thoroughly enjoyed the fight scene with Hannibal. It's the first time we really got to see him in action and although you knew Hannibal would overcome and win, it was thrilling to see what would happen.

Will is becoming a more enjoyable character, it's becoming scary to see where his character's mind is going. You feel sorry for the guy, but can't help but find his situation entertaining.

I also like that they're introducing some villains that are serious threats now, even to Hannibal. This beefs up the story a lot when you have twisted bad guys who pose a real threat and I hope there's more to come!

THIS EPISODE GETS 3 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5 

Maniac proves to be one of the best horror remakes ever

RATED- R
RUN TIME- 89 MINS
WRITER(S)- ALEXANDRE AJA, GREGORY LEVASSEUR AND C.A. ROSENBERG
STARRING- ELIJAH WOOD, AMERICA OLIVO AND NORA ARNEZEDER
DIRECTOR- FRANCK KHALFOUN



Synopsis taken from IMDb
The owner of a mannequin shop develops a dangerous obsession with a young artist.




You all know that just about everybody is a fan of the original William Lustig 1980 film, it's one of those horror films that always gets brought up. It's a gore filled movie that's as disturbing as it is thrilling and violent, so when word hit about the remake, a lot of people weren't happy and weren't willing to give this movie a chance. I'm here to tell you that you shouldn't go in expecting it to fail because it's actually a great horror movie. There's some horror films that come out from time to time that really actually strike the chord that we're all hoping someone would play and this is one of them. This remake ended up being one of my favorite  horror films of the last ten years, along with "The Descent" and "The Hills Have Eyes" remake. Elijah Wood gives the performance of his career, he really nails it. 

Wood doesn't usually do films like this, so it's a good change of pace to see him in  role that really shows off a new side of his acting and skills. Watching his performance is like watching Bryan Cranston on Breaking Bad for the first time. You just don't expect this type of performance from someone that you're used to seeing in other less serious roles. Elijah had to really get into character for this role and it shows. The camera is on him the whole movie! He doesn't get a break of camera time because the whole movie you're in his head. 
He carries the whole film on his shoulders and doesn't let it slip. I was genuinely impressed with him and gained a new respect for him as an actor. 

The entire film is shot in Frank's (Wood's) point of view, only showing you his face when there's a mirror or something to give off a reflection. You view the entire film through his eyes.Wood said in an interview that being on set felt more technical than emotional, and that he's never played someone so dark before. And that due to the strenuous 4 week shoot that he became desensitize to the disturbing material. Watching how he acts and how awkward he is around people, how he views people and how he views people viewing him. You see his insecurities and his phobia's come to life and you suffer with him. 

It was a perfect touch to do this type of film making because it allows you to have sympathy for the character, and understand his madness. It also makes you understand on a whole new level how damaged and demented he is compared to the original movie where there wasn't as much character development. Director Franck Khalfoun, stated "POV has been in movies since "Peeping Tom", but no horror film had ever been entirely shot that way...I wanted the audience to feel trapped in his body"

The film opens with a gritty, unsettling scene that let's you know within 5 minutes of the film that this is not a remake for the faint of heart. This is a horror film for the real horror fans, not the popular crowds who go after school on a Friday night to annoy everyone in the theater. You'll mostly find hardcore genre fans bragging about this movie because we're the only ones who can appreciate it over the average viewer. This is a movie for the true fans of the brand, it doesn't pull punches and it has a big brass set of balls. The gore is stellar and not over done but, there's enough blood and brutality to go around. Franck Khalfoun really had an artistic, original view for this film and takes it to a new level. 

Most importantly the gore and brutality is used as a tool to tell the twisted story of Frank, and how his relationship with his mother when he was younger has permanently scarred him. This movie doesn't use gore as a means to try and make the movie good, the gore relies on the story, not vice versa. I knew once I saw Alex Aja was involved in the making of this film, that this was going to be something special. He's one of the most talented writers and directors in horror today and, has a graphic vision of grounding horror and making his films uncomfortably intense.

The music in this film was one of the key elements that helped with it's success. It's like plucking a chord to your nerves when you hear it. The French composer known simply as Rob made the music have an 80's horror undertone, but it feels modern. Paying true homage to the original film while also giving us a fresh and unnerving score.

Dare I say that this film surpasses the original in my eyes, though it is missing the notorious and iconic shotgun scene the original had. My favorite scene of the movie is probably when the cover art of the primordial film (Frank from the waist down holding a knife in one had and severed head in the other) is acted out and shown. It has a better story and acting than the 1980 film and is scarier. This is one of those remakes that surpasses it's predecessor. Thank God they got the right people involved with this film because it could have been a disaster. Luckily, it hits a home run that all horror fans can enjoy. Even if you don't agree that it's superior to the original classic starring the late Joe Spinell.

THIS FILM GETS 4 REAPERS SKULLS OUT OF 5

Behind the Cross (short film)

This is another short film I've been asked to view and review, so I'm always happy to oblige. This little devil comes from Macabre Media and is an artistic horror film from Finland.

I've never personally been one for art films. I wanted to try this film though because the trailer caught my eye and so I gave it a watch. Like most art films, this film has a barrage of crazy, twisted images that flicker here and there. Some happen so quick that your eye catches it, but your mind catches up after you've thought it over. It reminds me of the Nine Inch Nails music video for "Closer". If you've ever seen that you'll get what I mean.

Even though I'm not keen on artsy films, I could read the lines on this one. It's a sadistic vision but has underlying sarcasm. It's all about how you can't run from who you are or what you've done. No matter how far you travel or how you change your identity, inside we are all the same and we are all flawed at our center core. 

What I got out of this film was that no matter how much you'd like to run from your problems you'll end up back in the same situation in the end because you are who you are. 

It calls out out the hypocrisy that we all have and our primal need to do bad things. 

 There's a few quick shots that stand out to me, one of them being the clip with the broom. Wait 'til you see it and you'll understand. It's full of creepy shots and noises including the priest's laugh...

While I didn't find anything great in this short film, I appreciate it's purpose. If you like artistic horror films, this may just be a film for you. 

The acting and camera work doesn't stand out, but it's exactly what you'd expect from a short film that's built around dark humor and sarcasm. I feel that if I were into artsy horror films that'd I'd probably like this one.

View the trailer here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB79aMtOGYc

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

Bates Motel: episode 9 "Underwear"

***SPOILERS***

Last night's episode was pretty intense, they got a lot going on right now with this show. Every character is in their own world and you've got their personal stories to go through as well as when they interact. Lots of layers of story here. They're building these characters to have rich and full stories.

The episode starts off with Deputy Shelby's body being taken out of Norma's house by the authorities. She tries to reason with the Sheriff about how she knows it's the weird guy that's been hanging around the hotel, but he doesn't listen. I don't think that he was being rude honestly, Norma's been a headache since arriving in town and she complains about a lot of things. He follows procedure and says he'll follow up, nothing more, nothing less.

Norma sees some of Dylan's co-workers smoking reefer on the hotel porch and snaps on them all and makes them put their joints out. In the fit she takes she reveals that she wants to move. Dylan and Norman express "here we go again" glances at each other.

While in town, Dylan bumps into Bradley who mentions to him that her dead father had a desk where he used to work beside the top boss. She and Dylan's chemistry begins to build and you can see in their eyes that they're totally into each other.

At the hotel, Norma receives a beautiful bouquet of flowers. After the excitement passes, she reads the card only to find that it's from Jake, the creep from room 9. The note reads "see you soon" and Norma tells Emma to lock up when no one's around. She also tells Emma to enforce her no smoking pot rule.

Norman sees Bradley in the school hallway and they give each other nice, lighthearted smiles. As Bradley walks further away and Norman passes her, we see his expression change to a hurt and angry look. Making it obvious that he's only pretending to turn the other cheek, he still has feelings for her.

Norman tells Norma that he's not going to move and she brushes it off.

Emma has to tell a boy from Dylan's crew to stop smoking weed while Norma's away and instantly has a connection with him. The first thought that goes through my head is that Norman has really screwed up! The one chick that actually dug him is moving on now while he tortures himself over wanting Bradley. Now he's not going to have any girls but his mother...hmmm...

Norman finds out that his short paper is being entered into a contest and that his grade point average is 4.0. This puts him in good spirits.

Dylan meets with Bradley and agrees to sneak her in to her father's office so she can collect some things. When they arrive, Remo comes out guns blazing, not knowing that it's only Dylan. He agrees to let them go in the office for 10 minutes. It doesn't take even that long though, Bradley sees letters confirming that her dad was cheating on her mom and leaves.

Norman brings home his completed Juno, he's doing good at taxidermy. Norma is creeped out but tries to show support. Dylan has a more open reaction, which I thought was funny. 

Norman has a dream about drowning Bradley and later searches it on the web for dream analysis. Dylan comes into the room and sees the computer screen, and asks who Norman was drowning in his dream. Norman reluctantly reveals that it was Bradley he was drowning and although he plays it off cool, you can see the look of concern on Dylan's face. He's really beginning to see that something is off with Norman. This was a really good bonding scene between them though, which only means that the writers are doing that so they can tear in down in front of our eyes when Norman discovers Dylan and Bradley's relationship. 

Emma gets a weed cupcake from her new friend and eats it, getting completely stoned. She comes up to the house in the middle of a big argument between Norman and Norma, in which Norman called his mother crazy and got hysterical.

Once the realtor tells Norma she can't get her money back or sell the house, he recommends that she walk away from her investment. Norma reacts violently and beats him up with her purse.

Upon getting into her car, she's greeted by Jake in the backseat who holds a gun to her throat. He tells her that he doesn't care what happened between Shelby and Keith and her, he only wants the hundred grand Shelby owed him. He tells Norma to have it tomorrow night by 9 or he'll be visiting her and killing her sons first.

Good episode and I'm really stoked to see what happens next week for the finale. I predict death. If I were to guess I'd say Jake's going to die but at a high cost and it won't be easy.

THIS EPISODE GETS 3 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5