MY FAVORITE PICKS THIS YEAR
|
THE BOX (2009)
(RECOMMENDED)
dir: Richard Kelly (DONNIE DARKO, SOUTHLAND TALES)
My pick of the year. A cross between DONNIE DARKO, LOST HIGHWAY, PHANTASM and THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. The premise is simple: you are given a box with a button inside. If you press the button, you get a million dollars. Also, one person, somewhere in the world dies. What would you do? What if the entire fate of the world rested on your decision? Aliens, Angels, government conspiracy and terrific acting performances galvanize this creepy, ambient horror story about the end of the world.
| |
THE ROAD (2009) (RECOMMENDED)
dir: John Hillcoat (THE PROPOSITION)
My other 'pick of the year.' Although it is perhaps, the most depressing film I've ever seen, THE ROAD is also a masterpiece. I almost ejected the DVD twice while watching it was such a downer. However, the themes in this story and their commentary on human nature are absolutely haunting. Very much a spiritual film, in the vein of I AM LEGEND (see review.) THE ROAD forces us to meditate - painfully- on what it means to be a human being- socially, personally and spiritually. The acting performances are great and there is no music, which adds to the overwhelming sense of desolation. This is a film I will be thinking about the rest of my days.
| |
CARRIERS (2009) (RECOMMENDED)
dir: Alex & David Pastor (Alex: PEACEMAKER, David: ORSON)
Similar in themes to THE ROAD, this film meditates on characters pushed toward extreme ethical dilemmas after a virus has rendered the world near dead. How far would you go to protect your own? At what point does life matter anymore if you must abandon your morality just to survive? Strong stuff. Well made and acted.
| |
SHUTTER ISLAND (2009) (RECOMMENDED)
dir: Martin Scorcese (TAXI DRIVER, CAPE FEAR, BRINGING OUT THE DEAD, THE AVIATOR)
Scorcese does a bang-up job on this tense thriller about sanity and identity. I think this is Leonardo DiCaprio's best acting performance to date. The entire nerve-wracking story is in service of the final shot of the film- where the central character makes an epic personal choice. We are left with haunting echoes about ethics, personal responsibility and the nature of what a true hero really is. In lesser hands, this twisting narrative may have come across far-fetched, but Scorcese and company knock it out of the park. Great score, terrific camera work, lighting and acting performances render a solid Hitchcockian thriller. (It's also nice to have a Scorcese film that is NOT about New York, NOT about gangsters for a change :-)
| |
SPLICE (2010) (RECOMMENDED)
dir: Vincenzo Natali (CUBE, PARIS JE T'AIME)
A very strong ethical sci-fi / horror drama about the nature of life and the role of science. Sarah Polley and Adrien Brody do a great job as bungling scientists who let their personal faults get way in the way of their professional experiments. Once the contents of Pandora's Box are out, what next? What do we do once it is too late? Terrific and understated computer effects help this story have gravity and also a lot of heart. Great ending as well that leaves us with even more conundrums to mull over once the film is finished.
| |
HUSH (2009) (RECOMMENDED)
dir: Mark Tonderai
Reminiscent of WOLF CREEK (see review) VACANCY (see review) and JOYRIDE (see review). Sometimes it is the everyday, seemingly normal world that hides the greatest monsters of all. The thought that beneath the thin veil of normalcy we walk within everyday might also be the contents of our worst nightmares- is a thought too close for comfort. What would you do if in order to stand up for your ethical beliefs you had to allow the nightmare world to descend directly on you? Director Tonderai does a great job turning a small story with average characters in an average situation into a fight for survival.
| |
MOON (2009) (RECOMMENDED) dir: Duncan Jones
As the only actor in the film, Sam Rockwell does a fantastic job holding this entire film by himself. Certainly influenced by Kubrick's famed 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, MOON deals with concepts of isolation, sanity and identity.
* See my reviews of A.I Cinema at my ENTERTAINMENT REVIEWZ page (HERE.)
| |
SHAUN OF THE DEAD (2004) (RECOMMENDED)
dir: Edgar Wright (HOT FUZZ)
Amazing how, as a comedy spoofing actual horror films, this movie is better than most 'serious' horror flicks. Awesome!
Full review coming soon!
| |
NINE MILES DOWN (2009)
dir: Anthony Waller (MUTE WITNESS, AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN PARIS)
Great script that meditates on the nature of Hell. For years, my favorite cinematic portrayal of "Hell" has been that of the wife character in WHAT DREAMS MAY COME. Having ended her own life, she exists in an abstraction of the family house, doomed to cycle over and over in the same guilt and self hate. NINE MILES DOWN is basically this premise expanded to an entire film. Although the acting/casting could have been better, what works in this film is more in its concepts than its realization. There is some nice dialogue about the differences between faith and reason and the criteria each of us uses in our own free will to "believe." The lead character, having inhaled a rare gas that renders his reasoning faculties compromised, is visited by haunting visions of guilt and paranoia and must struggle to perceive what is real and imagined. Strong existential stuff. Reminiscent of JACOB'S LADDER in many ways.
| |
P2 (2009)
dir:
Review coming soon!
| |
SPLINTER (2009)
dir:
Review coming soon!
| |
PANDORUM (2009)
dir: Christian Alvart (CASE 39, ANTIBODIES)
Review coming soon!
| |
THE ZOMBIE DIARIES (2008)
dir:
Kevin Gates & Michael Bartlett
Review coming soon!
| |
ANTICHRIST (2009)
dir: Lars Von Trier (MANDALAY, DOGSVILLE,
Review coming soon!
| |
HOSTEL (2006)
dir: ELI ROTH
Review coming soon!
| |
THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL (2009)
dir: Ti West (THE WICKED, CABIN FEVER 2)
Review coming soon!
| |
NOT GREAT, BUT DIDN'T HATE
|
CASE 39 (2009)
dir:
Review coming soon!
| |
SEVERED (2009)
dir:
Review coming soon!
| |
KILL THEORY (2009)
dir: Chris Moore
(From AFTER DARK HORROR-FEST 4 - 8 FILMS TO DIE FOR)
Really terrific script here that serves up thoughtful drama despite the films' straight-to-DVD production value.
Full review coming soon!
| |
HALLOWEEN 2 (2009)
dir: Rob Zombie (HALLOWEEN, THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES)
Better than Zombie's prequel (see review.) I've written at length about how many (if not most) horror films have at their thematic core the idea of the fractioning or destruction of the family. This film, not unlike Zombie's other films, takes this concept to a whole other level of plot and not-subtle-at-all subtext. Even the poster declares this outright.
In what I think was a clever decision, Zombie portrays the thrust of the original HALLOWEEN II (1980) all within the first 20min of his film, then has the main character wake up and realize it was just a dream. From this point, we begin an entirely new story. As with his prequel, Zombie abandons the original premise of HALLOWEEN - that "evil never dies" and creates a human story about a broken kid who grows up free from any sense of morality. Michael Myers searches endlessly, relentlessly for some missing element that can re-unify his family. Following visions of his dead mother, he butchers and slashes his way toward his long lost sister, in some vague, animalistic sense of closure. There is a nice motif of a "white pony" which a title card at the films opening describes as a psychological symbol for rage. The hapless sister character of "Laurie Strode" inherits this cursed vision at the climax of the film, after being let down by her surrogate family and society at large. Here again, Zombie paints the portrait of a dispassionate world of paradoxical ethics, in which one must find ones own way- and become susceptible to the nature of evil.
I feel as though Zombies HALLOWEEN remakes were more akin to say, HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER, than anything to do with Carpenter's original vision.
| |
SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD (2010) dir: George A. Romero (NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD series)
I'd love to give Romero a pass on this one because i am such a fan, but alas, this films' insular nature is ultimately self-defeating. Although there are certainly levels of Romero's standard moral allegory at work, the story does not serve as the kind of expansive commentary we've come to know and love from the other "DEAD" films. A spin on the "Hatfield and McCoys," the story bizarrely revolves around two Irish cowboy families on an island off of Maryland, who have been at odds for generations. Now that the presence of the walking dead levels the playing field, true intentions come out and war begins between the two clans. Although this is a sound dramatic premise, it's really another movie masquerading as a DEAD film that feels like a sudden left turn.
By placing the story on an island, Romero focuses downward and inward to meditate on separations of ideology within a microcosm. Our "heroes" are a group of national guardsmen who have disavowed their allegiance once society has broken down. Now a band of renegades, the group enters the feud between the two island families. The group reflects that by choosing sides, they would merely be repeating the kind of mentality that led the world to its present chaos. This story dynamic of "refusing to choose sides" can easily be expanded into thoughts about nation states or other ideological identities in conflict. The stories climax reveals that neither side, regardless of steadfast loyalty to their ideals, cannot offer any solution other than escalating war. Both sides turned out to be right, but lost any chance for it to matter as they destroyed each other. There is a nice final image of the two deceased family fathers, now zombies, in a standoff shooting empty guns at each other in an eternal picturization of the fruitless conflict they endeavored in life.
| |
In an early scene, the Guardsmen gang come across a group of rednecks in the woods who have beheaded Afro-American zombies, leaving their bodiless but still animated heads on stakes. The lingering question is whether the people were zombies first as the hicks claim, or if they were black people beheaded and became zombies after being murdered. In the special features section of the DVD, Romero explains that he again wanted to portray a world-gone-wrong where the inherent animal nature of man is released to wild abandon. Although these themes are poignant, the insular setting of the story really feels too strange for a Romero DEAD film, betraying what might otherwise be a broader, farther reaching allegory. The choice of Irish "cowboy" families is just so strange, especially given the essay nature of the previous DIARY OF THE DEAD film, which focused on very timely themes of a "global-village," technology, communication and ethics.
The main character "Sarge" in this film appears briefly in both LAND OF THE DEAD (see review) and DIARY OF THE DEAD (see review), serving to connect the worlds of the individual films. As Romero explains, he would prefer to have the characters overlap throughout the films, thus creating a whole universe, but the separate copyright ownership of each films prevents this legally. I ended my review of DIARY OF THE DEAD by saying "i wished Romero to keep making these films forever." Although, i still feel this way, i am disappointed with this latest entry. I look forward to a better entry in the next installment.
|
A SOUND OF THUNDER (2005)
dir: Peter Hyams (OUTLAND, CAPRICORN ONE, 2010, END OF DAYS)
Review coming soon!
| |
THE CRAZIES (1973)
dir: George A. Romero (NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD)
Review coming soon!
| |
THE CRAZIES (2010)
dir: Breck Eisner
Review coming soon!
| |
DAY WATCH (2006)
dir: Timur Bekmambetov (WANTED, THE IRONY OF FATE, THE ARENA)
Review coming soon!
| |
DAYBREAKERS
(2009)
dir: Michael & David Spierig (UNDEAD)
Review coming soon!
| |
BLOOD CREEK (2009)
dir: Joel Schumacher (FALLING DOWN, BATMAN AND ROBIN, PHANTOM OF THE OPERA)
Review coming soon!
| |
BOOK OF BLOOD (2009)
dir:
Review coming soon!
| |
CIRCLE OF EIGHT (2009)
dir:
Review coming soon!
| |
ZOMBIELAND (2009)
dir: Ruben Fleischer
Mildly funny, campy horror spoof. I didn't like it as much as others have seemed to. Could've been better.
Full review coming soon!
| |
DEAD SNOW (2009)
dir:
Horror/spoof in the vein of BLACK SHEEP (see review.) The first half of the film is pretty much normal, almost serious, until the Nazi zombies show up, then the campy splatterfest begins! There are a couple very funny moments but by and large, I felt the same about this film as I did BLACK SHEEP; mainly, that it needed to be funnier and was almost too straight. The effects are good and gross and silly, the acting is good. All in all, well made, but definitely a disposable drive-in flick.
| |
THE DEVIL'S REJECTS (2005)
dir: Rob Zombie (HALLOWEEN(2008), HOUSE OF A THOUSAND CORPSES)
To understand Zombie's oeuvre is to behold the vertigo of simultaneous loathing and fascination. Equal parts Passolini and Tobe Hooper, Zombie's aesthetic is like watching a car wreck- it turns your stomach, yet you can't take your eyes off it. I want to dismiss this film and rail against Zombie for his purely post-modern regurgitation of all things schlock and camp, but i cannot deny his artistry. Having been audience to his music, videos, photography and movies; I must recognize Zombie's nature as accomplished auteur. Whether simply echoing back all that he's consumed or invoking a sincere conscious study of his thematic concerns- Zombie is accomplished in his vision. Whatever message is in the content of this directors product and the 'validity' of such, is wide open for debate.
This film, as with all his others, is like eating the frosting and not the cake at all. Pure sugary, sickening, visceral orgy of vivid color, debauchery, and guttural hedonism. Zombie
is David Lynch on a coke high at 1000 miles an hour, or the selfish,
unrealized evil underneath Fellini's worlds of excess- the twisted offspring of Roger
Corman's grind house and Wes Craven's existential academic intellect. Zombie's work is an entire essay on "homage" and "motif" in post-modernist cinema. Descendant of Britain's Hammer Horror, American 1970's drive-in horror, 1980's slasher horror and 1990's post-grunge, nihilistic pop- THE DEVIL'S REJECTS is at once comment on, product of and meditation within- genre.
| |
I
often wonder how Zombie felt when THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE was
remade a few years ago by somebody other than himself. Although HOUSE
OF 1000 CORPSES was Zombie's obvious treatment of a CHAINSAW homage, it
was a failed film and served merely as a practice run for THE DEVIL'S REJECTS.
Having recently remade Carpenter's HALLOWEEN to great public success,
Zombie continues to reveal a clear obsession with the ambiguity of morality and human
instinct. Depravity serves as the cesspool from which evil deeds are
sprung, yet- are these environments the actual source of evil, or just another
by-product of evil? If HALLOWEEN meditates on the nature of where evil comes
from, then THE DEVIL'S REJECTS is a celebration of evils
excesses. Both methods hint at a question mark
lying underneath- what causes evil and where does it fit in our sense
of social morality? Zombie's anti-hero characters are at once the
victims and oppressors, completely ethically ambivalent.
Traditionally, much of horror cinema has at its core, issues of the dynamic of family- most specifically, the fracturing or destruction of family as a source of evil or worldly chaos. In each of Zombies' three
feature films, family is centerpiece to the story. In THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, the protagonists, despite their acute immorality, share a deep bond as a family unit. This bond allows them to act in successful ways and
survive harsh odds. Here is the twisted message in what Zombie
presents- is the only order that of the familial? If so, then is morality purely a genetic coincidence? In Zombie's universe, any moral fiber-
accidental or not- is far more structural than the unscrupulous and exploitative
nature of the outside world. Are Zombies' protagonists heroes or villains and is it even possible for any clear definition be established? Although a romp
through all things basal and sinister- Zombies' stories are a
treatise on perverted order as the only 'order' within a world of unjust chaos and
random causality. Zombie's protagonists are very empowered, decisive and
masters of their own destiny. There is no effort to be apart from the
condition of their humanity, only a deep acceptance and embrace of it- to absolute extremes.
|
|
Post "Nuclear" Family? |
|
|
I remember
reading an interview with Oliver Stone prior to the release of his
NATURAL BORN KILLERS. Stone described the effort as less socially
pertinent as his other films and "just a lot of having fun." Being
already well aware of Stone's bitter penchant for nihilism, I was none
the less, still quite shocked after viewing the film. If this was
Stone's idea of "fun," then perhaps we had grossly underestimated the
sheer depths of his bitterness and nihilism. For Zombie however, this
brand of carnage is no side-dish, but the main course from the onset.
When Friedkin made THE EXORCIST, he was not a horror director per se,
but a director of film drama making a piece that had horror themes.
The same is true for say, Roman Polanski making ROSEMARY'S BABY. When
Spielberg made JAWS or Carpenter made HALLOWEEN, we jump a level
forward with directors schooled on genre films. With Rob Zombie, we
have another level altogether- of artists unapologetic that they are "TV culture" and who turn it around and throw it back at us. The psycho/social reality of Zombie's milieu,
like that of his characters, is a product of its/their environment. Without
any specific moral compass with which to judge, Zombie simply plants
these dynamics in our laps to ponder on our own. This is not unlike a
killer condemned to prison who proclaims "society made me what I am!"
as he is dragged off to his cell forever.
|
I found myself vicariously 'getting off' on the violence and depravity in the film, from a variety of different angles. I wanted the
hero-villains to pay for their crimes, but I also pined for
the destruction of the lawful characters (equally corrupt and morally
bankrupt.) Empathetic for the innocent victim characters as I may have
been, I still enjoyed watching how they behaved under barbaric
circumstances- the choices they made, the gambles, the payoffs, etc.
Zombie clearly wants us to wallow in the hippocrissy of our
social/ethical consciousness and writhe in its unsettling, paradoxical nature. Zombie's world is that of the "Wild West" in modern
times. With no one and nothing occupying any moral high ground, why
not strap on a gun and go nuts?
Usually
I am
disaffected by this kind of anti-hero-ambiguity in exploitation
films, but with THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, Zombie's direction and vision is
so specific, so surgically precise and architected that I can't help
but be drawn in. Perhaps underneath all the layers of the onion, there
is no core to be had, but for me a question remains: is the 'telling'
of the story more important than what is being told? Is this an issue
of form-versus-content and if so, is Zombie's cinematic style, content enough?
|
|
Night of the living Zombie director! |
|
|
THE HAPPENING (2008) dir: M. Night Shayamalan (SIGNS, THE VILLAGE, THE SIXTH SENSE)
Fairly tepid entry from horror-maestro Shayamalan. Interesting enough storyline gets killed by horrible acting performances that were much more the fault of casting than directing. Mark Wahlberg does a pretty good impersonation of Andy Samburg impersonating Mark Wahlberg on SNL! ("...say hi to yer mutha for me.") Zooey Deschanel is way too quirky to play either Wahlberg's wife (just doesn't wash) or a solid enough co-star in a tense thriller. John Leguizamo gets demoted to a supporting role only. James Newton Howard delivers another terrific Hitchcock homage of a score and Tak Fujimoto's photography is excellent. Betty Buckley (Brian DePalma's CARRIE) has a nice cameo as a paranoid old lady in an abandoned farm house.
The film offers an interesting play on the "horror of silence" but betrays the mood and tone of this with bits of humor and the failed acting performances. Like SIGNS, this story meditates on end-of-the-world occurrences from the viewpoint of rural, isolated areas. Spooky news reports on TV lend the apocalyptic feel and seriously creepy scenes of human suicides deliver the horror. There is something provocative in the eerie way that humans are defeated not by an external force or a warring presence, but simply by our own quiet suicides. We are left to contemplate the hugeness of nature and the awkward identity that man has within it. Nice effort, but ultimately the casting renders this one stillborn.
| |
HOUSE OF WAX (2005)
dir: Jaume Collet-Serra
Review coming soon!
| |
THE HILLS HAVE EYES 2 (2007)
dir: Martin Weisz (60 SECONDS)
Worthless but has cool high-tech soldiers running around with high-tech gear mowing down evil things. Good as a double-feature with say, SEVERED and a six-pack.
| |
WHITE NOISE (2005)
dir: Geoffry Sax (STORMBREAKER)
Although exquisitely photographed and well acted, this supernatural drama about contact with the afterlife, falls short. Very compelling until the end, where the filmmakers rely on CGI effects to bungle the visual telling of a disappointing final climax. Confusing how a simple story can build in an engaging way only to lead nowhere in the end. Sigh... However, I can't reject the entire film for it's failed conclusion, since it was fairly solid until then. Very similar in themes to THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES. I wonder how WHITE NOISE would have been without any digital effects at all- using only inference instead of direct visuals. I think this might have played well with the themes of perception and wish fulfillment in the drama. As is, the film spelled things out too much and did not allow these themes to fully develop. Supernatural stories like these, tend to work best when they never fully answer whether magical things are happening or it is just the perception of the characters. In this film, there are definitely ghosts, they are definitely in contact and they definitely meddle in human affairs. All that's left is playing out the action- which is probably why the film had nowhere to go in the end. Michael Keaton does a great acting performance.
| |
100 FEET (2009)
dir:
Ok until the ridiculous CGI visual treatment at the climax.
Full review coming soon!
| |
THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN (2010)
dir:
Review coming soon!
| |
TRAILER PARK OF TERROR (2010)
dir:
Review coming soon!
| |
TRICK 'R TREAT (2010)
dir:
Review coming soon!
| |
THE WOLFMAN (2010)
dir: Joe Johnston (HIDALGO, JURASSIC PARK III, JUMANJI, THE ROCKETEER)
Really big and crafty production that is a giant "so what?"
Full review coming soon!
| |
JENNIFER'S BODY (2009) dir: Karyn Kusama (GIRLFIGHT, AEON FLUX)
Snarky lesbian-chic horror/comedy romp with everything you'd expect. Men = bad, Womyn = good. Yawn...
Full review coming soon!
| |
SKINWALKERS (2006)
dir: James Isaac (JASON X, THE HORROR SHOW)
NEAR DARK this is not. Forgettable low-budget, drive-in, vampire romp that is more about guns and car chases than horror. I say "forgettable" because I honestly don't remember anything about it except what i wrote above and that I gave it a thumbs down.
| |
IT'S ALIVE (2009)
dir: Josef Rusnak
Review coming soon!
| |
THE FOG (2005)
dir: Rupert Wainwright
PLEASE SKIP AND SEE ORIGINAL 1980 VERSION INSTEAD!
I avoided this when it came out because I'm a huge John Carpenter fan and love the original. The fact that Carpenter and Debra Hill exec'd this one didn't sway me either after seeing the reviews. However, curiosity (and a free copy) finally got me and I have now seen it. The critics were of course right, it's horrible.
Oddly enough, the main parts of the story aren't that bad and are a scene by scene clone of the original, however, it's the fright sequences that fall apart. Whenever there is a death scene, the film turns into confusing and amateurish mess, with seriously goofy action. Why didn't they just copy the original here as well? The suspenseful direction and blocking from the original is completely gone, as is the creepy original score. These matters render the film completely inert. The character are mostly the same including a great casting choice of Selma Blair in the Adrienne Barbeau role. However, the climactic lighthouse scene is omitted (!?) There is also a new ending that is ridiculous and makes no sense. It is clear that the makers of this version had know idea what made the original work so well. So, all that being said, it's 90 minutes of my life I'll never get back.
| |
THE UNINVITED (2009)
dir: Charles & Thomas Guard
Well produced, directed and photographed shaggy-dog tale with a big, foreseeable plot twist at the end. Very much like HIDE AND SEEK (see review) IDENTITY or GOTHIKA; with bits of GIRL INTERRUPTED. Good performances and a wonderful score by Christopher Young. The film starts out as seemingly another ghost tale that solves a murder mystery, but ends as a play on insanity. Although perfectly competent, it's nothing new if you've seen any of the above mentioned thrillers.
| |
THE BURROWERS (2008)
dir: J.T. Petty (MIMIC 3, S&Man)
Although aptly made, this movie couldn't decide whether it wanted to be a horror film or a western. It was more of a western. Clearly patterning itself after John Ford's THE SEARCHERS and say, TREMORS- the film came across more like LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE meets CHUD. The meandering pacing made for a tremendous snooze-fest. We don't see the creatures until the end and by then we don't care. The characters and their chain of command was a bit confusing and the film was more interested in commenting on race relations than scares. Apparently this feature was based on the director's 2007 TV mini-series of the same story. (I don't know if the feature was a re-edit from the series or what, but if so, that might explain the awkward pacing.)
| |
THE CRYPT (2009)
dir: Craig MacMahon (MACHINED, MACHINED REBORN, SPORTKILL, ORVILLE)
Skip it. Freshman straight-to-DVD attempt that is DOA due to its production limitations, yet maintains a solid thematic curve in its writing. An obvious play on the "decent through hell" with a nice third act turn-around (a la ALIENS) where the surviving character- after escaping hell- goes back in to save her friend. While
I cannot recommend this "practice run" of a student film, i can't shoot
it down completely. They managed to avoid a lot of standard cliches, but the horrible sound design and excruciatingly sluggish pacing were enough to put anyone to sleep.
| |
DEAD SILENCE (2007)
dir: James Wan (SAW, DEATH SENTENCE, DOGGIE HEAVEN)
Skip it. This is very much a "we have a creepy looking ventriloquist dummy, let's make a horror film around it" movie. Visual shocks, impatient pacing and models-as-actors make this a pretty standard assembly line horror flick. The plot is twisty but really implausible and almost given you're not supposed to care. It's all about the gags and effects and the spooky dummy, which I'll admit, was really quite creepy. Donny Wahlberg does a tongue-in-cheek portrayal of the crusty cop, which despite its tired presence, almost feels a bit of relief in its sarcasm. There was, however, one production design element I liked in the form of a forgotten old gothic theater half submerged in a river. Some great clips for the camera crew's show reel, but not much of a movie going experience unless you're say, 8 years old maybe.
| |
OPEN GRAVES (2009)
dir: Álvaro de Armiñán
Skip it...
Review coming soon!
| |
CABIN FEVER 2 (2009)
dir: who cares
Skip it. Not even worthy of a review. I can't believe I watched the entire thing. Beyond insulting.
| |
|